Chapter 327: Zheng Guan, Xu Yanqi

At the same time the scholars were taking the metropolitan examination at the examination hall, the martial men were also beginning the first military metropolitan examination after the reforms.

Originally the military metropolitan examination had no fixed location; this time, due to the last-minute reforms, it was also improvised on the spot. After discussion between the Chongzhen Emperor and the Grand Secretariat, a portion of the capital defense forces was temporarily drawn to the drill grounds for training.

As such, the Eastern Great Camp of the city defense was emptied, and for the next half month it would serve only as a temporary venue for the military examination.

Since most of those present were rough martial men, this time, besides the nineteen co-examiners and four chief examiners, additional city defense troops were drawn to guard the perimeter, so that if anyone stirred up trouble, they could go up and settle it at any time.

The first three days were the "military preliminary tests," covering twelve subjects: mounted archery, foot archery, level shooting, mounted spear, saber and sword, weight-bearing, wrestling, running, and fist and foot techniques.

With so many subjects to be completed within three days, one can imagine how intense the military examination was.

Due to the special nature of this military examination, the number of participants was even greater than the scholars taking the examination at the hall. Fortunately, the Eastern Great Camp of the city defense, which was being used as the temporary venue, had been expanded and appeared quite spacious — even accommodating a hundred or two hundred thousand people would be more than enough — so no disorder arose, and everything was orderly.

The total number of military examination candidates was only a little over twelve thousand, still far short of the scale of the city defense forces; if anyone wanted to cause trouble, it would be basically impossible.

At this time, the mounted, foot, and level archery tests on the field had basically been completed, and those who could not even meet the basic standard of "nine shots, two hits" had already slunk away in disgrace.

Due to the special nature of this military examination, the court had not stipulated any qualifications for those who came to take it, so there were naturally many who wanted to fish in troubled waters — in just the first three shooting tests alone, over two hundred people were eliminated.

In a certain sense, the strictly regulated military examination was far more difficult than the scholars' metropolitan examination. If a scholar had connections, he could find ways to pass through various means, even bribing the gate guards to "smuggle" himself in.

Even if he failed this time, there would still be opportunities next time.

But the military examination was different. After the reforms, the three rounds — preliminary, main, and final — were entirely contests of fist, foot, and the eighteen martial arts, having basically nothing to do with military strategy or cunning.

To put it plainly, the military examination after the reforms existed solely to select a true "martial man" — one who could take the field and die for the court, one who could be utterly loyal to the court.

No matter how thick your connections were, if you were knocked down by a single punch from someone else the moment you stepped up, you simply would not pass. This was an iron rule.

"Hahaha, who else?" In the arena, a man holding a mounted spear laughed heartily. Beneath his feet knelt a martial candidate begging for mercy in a wretched state.

"Damn it, where did this fellow come from? That mounted spear of his is truly ferocious!" Among the martial candidates, one who had lost to someone else in the mounted spear competition cursed viciously.

But although this candidate's words were harsh, what his eyes revealed was genuine admiration.

"Don't know. All I know is his name is Zheng Guan. Don't let his small frame fool you — every single move of his goes straight for the vital spots. He's a trained fighter!"

"In past years the court didn't value us martial men, so naturally many with real skill didn't want to come!"

The others each shook their heads and sighed heavily. Though no one knew the origins of this Zheng Guan, the chief examiner Dong Qi sitting up above could.

This Zheng Guan's registered origin was around Jin Prefecture in the region east of the Liao River. The specifics could not be investigated too deeply at present, since that area was no longer Ming territory — it had been taken by the Qing Tartars.

Dong Qi only knew that Zheng Guan had once been a deserter who had fled back from east of the Liao, and that in the third year of Chongzhen he had participated in that year's military examination — but had failed even the written test, after which he had vanished without a trace until now.

Now that the Chongzhen Emperor was determined to reform the military examination, this fellow had immediately jumped out impatiently, not even fearing that his origins might be traced. Truly amusing.

Just as he was pondering this, he heard another round of cheers from the martial candidates around him — it was the lean Zheng Guan winning in three moves in the finals of the mounted spear category.

Dong Qi looked over. Though Zheng Guan had won, he had stopped at the point of contact, not harming his opponent's life; moreover, he reached out and helped the man up with a smile, drawing unanimous praise from those around.

"Hahaha, I won, I won!!" Zheng Guan's face was wild with joy. He tossed the tiger spear in his hand toward the foot of the platform, jumped down, and shouted loudly: "I can go to the palace examination now! At the palace examination, will I get to see His Majesty?"

"Wonderful! I finally have a chance for revenge! I finally have my chance!!"

Zheng Guan wept with joy — a grown man, actually kneeling on the platform and crying.

According to the rules of the military examination, the top three in each sub-event could be counted as directly passing the metropolitan examination, earning the title of "military examination graduate" and the qualification to participate in the palace examination.

Zheng Guan won five consecutive matches, almost all within five moves, winning by absolute superiority — without question he took the championship of the mounted spear category.

At this point, he had basically secured his opportunity to enter the Royal Academy for further study and to participate in the upcoming palace examination.

In the saber and sword category, those who reached the top ranks were almost all sturdy men skilled with the great saber. Among them was one very familiar figure — none other than Xu Yanqi, who in the fourth year of Chongzhen had placed in the same first tier as the military Zhuangyuan Wang Laipin, but had ultimately failed to make the list for various reasons.

Xu Yanqi had been able to wield a hundred-jin great saber over a decade ago, and had long been filled with indignation. This time he again participated in the military examination, and in the saber and sword competition, still no one could surpass him.

However, in the fist and foot category, Xu Yanqi encountered Zheng Guan of the mounted spear category in the finals.

One could wield a hundred-jin great saber, the other was skilled with the mounted spear. Though both already held championships, martial men placed great weight on face, and both harbored thoughts of bringing glory to their ancestors and performing before the Chongzhen Emperor — naturally, neither would yield.

Dong Qi watched the two men already building their momentum on the platform, thought to himself that a fine show was about to unfold, and signaled to the co-examiner Wang Xiantong to begin.

Zheng Guan was lean, while Xu Yanqi was a mass of bulk. Had it been spear against great saber, the outcome would have been uncertain — but in a contest where the two were clearly not in the same weight class, the martial candidates already knew in their hearts who would win.

Xu Yanqi seemed to look down on Zheng Guan somewhat, confident he would win within three moves. He stripped off his upper garment and performed a set of boxing forms — fierce and powerful, with the wind whistling around his fists.

The crowd sensed the force in his punches and broke into applause.

Zheng Guan, however, remained expressionless. He stepped back a few paces and likewise stripped off his clothes directly, revealing a frame of skin and bones, which immediately drew roaring laughter from the martial candidates.

But Zheng Guan's face and eyes were calm, still as still water, and he too performed a set of boxing forms with proper bearing.

Though this set looked quite graceful, it completely lacked the ferocity of Xu Yanqi's boxing from just before. Compared side by side, it was like a child contending with an adult — there was simply no contest.

Suddenly, Dong Qi at the very top narrowed his eyes. He had an oddly familiar feeling about this set of boxing Zheng Guan was performing. Looking more carefully at Zheng Guan's movements all over his body, then recalling Xu Yanqi's boxing from moments ago for comparison, he was immediately startled.

Wasn't Zheng Guan performing Pigua Boxing!

In Dong Qi's eyes, Xu Yanqi's set, though fierce in every move and vividly powerful, was far too straightforward and rigid. But Zheng Guan's set was not only beautiful to behold — when it reached its peak force, the muscles across his entire body bunched up like slabs of rock, every muscle tensing, and once released, it surged like a flood, unstoppable.

The more Dong Qi watched, the more he could not believe it. The set Zheng Guan was now performing looked for all the world like the "Pigua Boxing" popular among the Qi family army.

This boxing method had been specifically highlighted by Grand Commander Qi in the fist manual volume of the *New Book of Effective Discipline* — not only was its practice beautiful to watch, it was also the most formidable in actual combat.

Everyone in the world knew that the last of the Qi family army had died to the last man in the bloody battle at the Hun River — not a single survivor above or below.

Dong Qi had once privately asked Wu Chengye of the Qi family army, and even he did not know how this boxing method had been passed down. So how could this deserter Zheng Guan, who had come back from east of the Liao, perform an entire set so precisely?