Chapter 53 Chen Qi's Arrangement

After coming out of Liangyi Hall, Li Ke went to Qianqiu Hall to visit Yang Fei. Although Yang Fei wanted to praise Li Ke in his heart, because Li Shimin was present, she and Li Ke could hardly say a few words. When he saw Li Ke at this moment, he was filled with joy and could not help but praise Li Ke. Li Ke could hear that Yang Fei was very proud of having his son in his tone, which made him very pleased, so he stayed to have lunch with Yang Fei.

When Li Ke returned to the Han Palace, it was already afternoon. As soon as he arrived at the study, he heard Yang En report that Ma Zhou, Liu Rengui, and Xu Jingzong asked him to see him. Li Ke asked Yang En to take the three of them to the study. After the four of them sat down, Li Ke asked, "Bin Wang, Zhengze and Yan clans don't know what to do when they come to find this king?"

Ma Zhou first said: "Your Highness, the announcement of the Chang'an City Tournament has been released, and the time is set at November 20. For Cuju, the preparation time is only twenty days. There are many things that Weichen, Zhengzhou and Yan clan cannot make up, and they still need to discuss with Your Highness."

Li Ke knew that Ma Zhou was serious and cautious in his attitude, so he asked: "Binwang, don't worry, please do it, what do you need to support me?"

Liu Renguidao: "Your Highness, there are many teams participating in the Chang'an City Competition, and the scale is large. There are many referees, scoring, and other personnel. Weichen wants to recruit scholars with Binwang in Chang'an and then train them so that they can become qualified Cuju talents as soon as possible."

"The idea is good." Li Ke said: "The focus of training should be on referees and coaches. As for other personnel, they also need to be trained, but only short-term training is enough. However, short-term training is only an emergency. In the future, Cuju Department is in charge of all competitions in Datang. People who have short-term training cannot hold regular competitions, so they do not have enough staff and are not professional enough. Therefore, we must look at the long-term. The current training must be considered for future competitions."

Liu Renguidao: "What Your Highness said is, so, Binwang and I want to hold a three-month training after the Chang'an Tournament, which will train referees, coaches and venue staff respectively."

"This is the best." Li Ke said happily: "What else does it need to support me?"

When Xu Jingzong saw that Ma Zhou and Liu Rengui had both said that, he also spoke: "As for the review of the participating teams, the registration of the competition teams, the division of registrations, Weichen and Ma Jingshi, Liu Fuqian discussed for a long time, but he still didn't discuss any results. I hope your highness can give me some advice."

Li Ke knew that the teams in charge of the Tang Dynasty had to register the throne, and the financial resources and training qualities of the personnel, organizers, etc. were reviewed to determine which level of competition should be participated. This work was complicated and heavy. He said: "The Chang'an Championship was held for a short period of time. Just initially review the team's personnel and financial strength. After that, let them compete in their own workshops, and the winners participated. As for the Tang Dynasty League, there were many teams participating and the areas involved were wide. Each prefecture and county should send official documents according to the ranking of their prefectures and counties, and then send someone to conduct on-site inspections before registering and making a record."

Speaking of this, Li Ke took a sip of tea and continued: "Now, except for you three, there are only a few pen officials in the royal palace. They are lacking in staff, so let's organize the Chang'an Tournament first. After this year and the imperial court will select talents tomorrow, I will ask my father for a few more people. Then I will not be as tired as I am now."

After hearing this, Xu Jingzong nodded in agreement.

Li Ke asked again: "Do you have anything else?"

Ma Zhou, Liu Rengui and Xu Jingzong both said that there was no.

Li Ke said: "Then you guys can do it quickly."

"Since that's the case, then I will do it with Zhenglu." Ma Zhou said neatly, "Do you have nothing to explain to your Highness?"

Li Ke suddenly asked: "How is the venue for the competition stipulated?"

Ma Zhou replied: "The weather in November is no longer suitable for playing football on the grass outside the city, so he arranged to choose a site for His Highness Chang'an to form four stadiums. Because the emperor is expected to watch the final, there is no arrangement yet. Then your Highness asks the emperor to make a decision before making a decision!"

"Yes." Li Ke said: "Just as King Bin wants."

Seeing that Li Ke agreed to their proposal, Ma Zhou, Liu Rengui and Xu Jingzong quickly went to recruit scholars, train personnel, and review the team.

After Ma Zhou and Liu Rengui walked, Li Ke felt a little uneasy. He had two purposes: to increase his reputation to a certain extent, so that Chang'an City knew him, King Li Ke; and what Geng Cen Wenben said, he wanted to lead his mastermind who was trying to murder.

However, he always felt that something would happen in the Chang'an City Tournament. As for what would happen? He could not predict.

It is certain that the Chang'an City Tournament will be a very serious test for him and a turning point in whether he can establish prestige in the Tang Dynasty. Also, the hands that framed him will not be able to put such a good opportunity to not take action.

However, now the enemy is in the dark and the things are not easy to handle. If you have a spy system equivalent to the Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty, it would be easier to handle.

"Chang'an Tournament!" Li Ke sighed: "If the Chang'an Tournament is successfully held, my prestige will be extremely high for a while, and even far exceeds Li Chengqian. If I fail, then all my efforts will be wasted. I can only be a idle prince, or I may not be demoted to the frontier. If I want to do anything in the future, I will have to make a long-term plan."

After thinking for a long time, Li Ke finally made a decision. He shouted, "Chen Qi."

Chen Qi walked into the study and said, "What are your instructions?"

Li Ke was still hesitant, thought for a while, and said, "Organize the Eagle Guard to thoroughly investigate the suspicious figures in Chang'an to ensure the smooth progress of the Chang'an City Tournament. If necessary, you can ask Dugu Mou of Jinwu Guard and Deng Tongda, the Chang'an County Magistrate, to assist in the thorough investigation."

Chen Qi said: "I will obey the order." After that, he stepped out.

Li Ke said to himself: "Changsun Wuji, you should have taken action too! Otherwise, if you let me hold this competition successfully, Li Chengqian would feel uncomfortable sitting in the East Palace! Alas, I just don't know where those hands are? How should I deal with him?"

Ma Zhou, Liu Rengui and Xu Jingzong left the study. Xu Jingzong continued his team review, while Ma Zhou and Liu Rengui began to call on everyone to post publicly in Chang'an City, which said that the Cuju Department of the Hanwang Mansion wanted to recruit scholars to deal with the November Chang'an City Tournament. Many people in the city watched the game and also learned what the new Cuju was. They were clear about what the Hanwang Mansion recruited and what they did. So, shortly after the list was posted, the people who came to apply for the recruitment lined up in front of the Hanwang Mansion. The scene was spectacular, no less than the job fairs of some well-known large enterprises in later generations.

Ma Zhou and Liu Rengui selected one by one according to their requirements. In the afternoon, nearly 100 people were selected, but the long team in front of them indicated that people were constantly joining the recruitment team, which made them unexpected. However, more than 100 people were enough, and there was no way to accommodate so many people. They couldn't help but worry. In fact, they couldn't blame the two of them for not expecting this matter, but the salary offered by Li Ke's mansion was relatively generous, which allowed some scholars who had no income to get a share of their income that could satisfy their living conditions without physical labor. How could they not come?

Li Ke also saw a long queue in front of the door. After asking the whole story in detail, Li Ke smiled and said, "Don't worry about Binwang and Zhengze. Continue to recruit according to your requirements, and then, train them. I will make arrangements."

After hearing Li Ke's words, Ma Zhou and Liu Rengui were no longer worried and continued their recruitment work. Li Ke thought in his heart that it would take many referees and coaches to make Cuju a professional league. If these people were trained and then issued a document in the name of King Cuju of Han, saying that they had already been trained and qualified as coaches, the coaches would not have to worry about becoming guests of the wealthy businessmen's mansions, and the referees could be sent to various states and counties to judge the game. Doesn't this solve the problem of the team's talents in the future? Li Ke thought of this and smiled slightly.

After leaving Li Ke's study, Chen Qi summoned fifty eagle guards together and said, "The Chang'an City Tournament is about to be held in November. Your Highness is afraid that someone will make trouble in the game. Therefore, the special orders of the Eagle guards secretly investigate suspicious people who have no intention of the competition. Now, everyone obeys my orders." When the fifty eagle guards heard this, they all looked in awe. Chen Qi sent out: "Wang Zhongchang, Zhu Tong led two teams to secretly supervise and investigate suspicious people in Chang'an City. When there is information, they can repay me in time. Whenever necessary, they can hand them over to Jingzhao Yin first."

Wang Zhongchang and Zhu Tong came out and said, "Abide by the order!"

Chen Qi also said: "The remaining three teams, Hou Hu and Mengshan, each led a team to secretly monitor all the situations of each team and its formation."

The two of them said in unison: "Abide by the order!"

Chen Qi continued: "The remaining team is responsible for protecting His Highness's safety."

Everyone took the order and left and began to carry out their own tasks.

"Hou Hu, Meng Shan and the others stayed." Chen Qi called out the two of them just as everyone was about to leave.

Hou Hu and Meng Shan are Chen Qi's sworn brothers, so if you know that Chen Qi will keep them, you must have other arrangements.

After Chen Qi and others left, they said to Hou Hu and Meng Shan: "Two brothers, we are ordinary soldiers and are destined to be wrapped in corpses on the battlefield; and now we have entered the palace, we are deeply trusted by Your Highness and appointed important positions. We must repay Your Highness for your grace to the death."

Hou Hu and Meng Shan both were appointed as the captain of the guard after Chen Qi was appointed as the captain of the guard. After Chen Qi recommended them to him, they were appointed as the commander of the team by Li Ke. Although they were small officials, in the Tang Dynasty, if they had not achieved military merit and had no extraordinary talents, a civilian would not dare to expect to obtain a single and half position. Therefore, the two were even more loyal to Li Ke and swear to be loyal to the death.

When Chen Qi first met the two, he knew that they were extremely powerful and loyal, so he would become brothers with these two people. Now, Chen Qi no longer concealed his thoughts and said bluntly: "Your Highness is worried that some people will secretly destroy the Chang'an City Tournament, making it difficult to complete the game successfully. Therefore, Your Highness asked us, Eagle Guards, to seize all the unfavorable things to the game before the game. Today, I have arranged for Wang Zhongchang and Zhu Tong to thoroughly investigate the suspicious people in Chang'an, which can only prevent but not completely eliminate them. Because, those who can make things difficult for Your Highness are definitely not mediocre. Therefore, for your brother, I will arrange for you to lead your subordinates to closely monitor every move of the ministers in the court, and you must repay me immediately if there is any situation."

After hearing Chen Qi's arrangement, the two were not surprised. As their sworn brother, they fully trusted Chen Qi, so they said without hesitation: "Please rest assured, brother, I will definitely complete the task and will not disappoint Your Highness."

Chen Qi knew that his two brothers were capable, but added: "If you encounter something, be sure to act cautiously."

The two said, "Okay!"

Chen Qi said: "You guys go down!"

After the two left, Chen Qi felt a little nervous. He arranged the surveillance of the loyal ministers of the court without authorization, but he didn't know what Li Ke would do to him after he found out. However, he didn't care about these things, but more about how to let the Eagle Guard use his abilities to ensure the safe progress of the game.

Li Ke, who was practicing calligraphy in the study, did think of Chen Qi's arrangements because he knew Chen Qi. Moreover, for a long time, he had instilled knowledge in Chen Qi about establishing a spy system. Therefore, he was confident and satisfied that his Eagle Guard would become a spy system similar to the Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty under the leadership of Chen Qi, and would provide strong support for his struggle for the stock market."
Chapter completed!