10. Kemari

  "Eyes left, dress, right turn, quick march!"

  Zheng Kezang slowly walked across the empty drill ground, which was relatively deserted compared to the 150 boy scouts. He heard the instructors shouting orders that even they didn't understand, while in front of him, the boy scouts who followed the orders were already showing a glimmer of future military discipline. Of course, although it's not necessary for the boy scouts to perfectly execute every detail of the drill, there was still a long way to go before they could meet Zheng Kezang's standards.

  Zheng Kezang slowly walked up to the reviewing stand, nodded slightly at the instructor beside him, and soon the instructor called over the three Zhengtai who were acting as his bodyguards: "Deng Niu, Liu Ye, Chang Tianyuan, pass on my orders, assemble everyone!"

  With their hands on their stomachs, the three men immediately ran to each team. Soon, the scout troops, who had received the order, lined up in a square formation in front of Zheng Kesuan: "You all take a good look and see what this thing is that I'm holding?"

  The rich family's son didn't understand what was going on, but a poor-born person recognized it at a glance: "Looks like a pig bladder!"

  "How can you talk like that, without any discipline?" Zheng Kesong didn't respond, but Sun Youlao, who had just recovered from his injury and was back on duty, loudly scolded him. "Speak louder, say it clearly again!"

  "This time the voice became neat and loud: 'Report to the camp officer, it's a pig's bladder!'"

  "It's like a pig's bladder, but not a pig's bladder." Zheng Kezang tossed the pig's bladder into the air and did a few keepie-uppie moves with his foot. The children under the reviewing stand were in an uproar, and it took the team leader's scolding to get them back in line. "This was called cuju in ancient times," said Zheng Kezang, taking the ball back from Deng Niu, who had run over to pick it up. He scanned the crowd below. "It existed during the Han and Tang dynasties, and by the pre-Qin era, all of China was playing with this thing. Do you want to give it a try?"

  "Think!" This time without arrangement, all the children responded in unison, their voices could be said to have shot straight up into the sky.

  "Alright, I'll tell everyone about this rule." Zheng Kezang began to explain with renewed energy.

  During the Tang and Song dynasties, Cuju emphasized standing positions, players were not allowed to move, which was contrary to the original intention of Zheng Kezang's entertainment education. Therefore, he pretended to be a Han Dynasty Cuju model. The Han Dynasty Cuju had established relatively complete rules as a means of training soldiers very early on, such as setting up a special ball field, stipulating that the ball field should be rectangular, and setting up six symmetrical "Cuju domains" or "Cuju rooms" at both ends, each guarded by one person. The game was divided into two teams, with offense and defense, and the number of times the opponent's Cuju room was kicked in determined the outcome, etc., which is very similar to the modern football that Zheng Kezang was familiar with.

  Of course, Zeng also thought that having six goals in a game was too troublesome, so he simply adopted the "Cambridge Rules", also known as eleven-a-side outdoor football. According to this rule, each class can choose eleven players to take the field, with four people serving as substitutes and one person acting as the commander-in-chief to arrange the formation.

  "Alright, the rules have been explained. Wait a moment and I'll get the instructor to copy them out and post them on the doors of each dormitory. You can study them carefully later. For now, let's proceed with the first match under my guidance." The words instantly stirred up the enthusiasm of the young scouts, and requests for matches poured in nonstop. "No need to argue, let's draw lots instead." As a result, the third squad of the first team and the fifth squad of the second team were lucky enough to get the first pick. Looking at the two excited squads, Zheng Kezang's expression turned stern. "Do you remember the rules? If the ball goes out of bounds, you must stop immediately. You can only use your feet, no hands allowed. And when you hear my whistle, you must stop right away?"

  Looking at the children running back and forth in the arena, competing with each other, Zheng Kezang was surrounded by a group of children cheering loudly on the sidelines of the temporary court. However, He Qianhe, Sun Youlao's deputy, looked worried and whispered to the officials beside him.

  "What if the young master trips and gets hurt while running around? Even if he doesn't trip, there are many reckless children on the field, what if they collide?"

  "What Brother He said makes sense," Sun Youlao nodded, he had already staked his future on Zheng Kecang, so naturally he didn't want any unexpected things to happen. "However, the young master is now in high spirits, it's probably not a good idea to advise him against it, how about we keep a close eye on him this time, and next time we absolutely cannot let the young master go up again."

  "It can only be like this." The so-called good is not spiritual, the bad is spiritual. He Qian's voice had just fallen when a group of boy scouts collided with each other, and Zheng Kezang's shadow was nowhere to be seen. Just as he was about to rush up in shock, he saw Zheng Kezang crawling out from the pile of people, blowing his whistle loudly, and the laughter on the court suddenly stopped.

  "Offside, offside, serious offside! Who dares to crash into the referee? And Qi Dagan, is that you? You'd better take a good look, you're from Class 5, what are you doing passing the ball to Class 3? Are you playing both sides?"

  The atmosphere suddenly relaxed, and Qi Dagnan, who was pointed to, touched the back of his head and said with a silly expression: "Sergeant, I'm stupid. When standing still, I know who's in my class, but when running, I don't even know who's on my own side."

  This remark caused a burst of laughter, but Zheng Kezang patted him on the shoulder and praised: "You're absolutely right. From now on, the judges will wear red robes, one team will be bare-chested, and the other team will wear small robes. This way, we can tell who's our own people and who's not."

  Then the cuju continued, but after kicking for a while, Zheng Kezang blew his whistle again: "Stop, all of you, listen up! Who told you to bunch up? You have to spread out, the field is so big, you have to be good at mobilizing the enemy. Look, Huang Qi, you run a bit further away, and Yu Chuan give everyone a demonstration."

  The ball flew over the heads of the crowded regulars, landing in an open space. Huang Qi, a descendant of Zhu Cheng's general Huang An, quickly ran over to stop it with his foot. However, under Zheng Kezang's encouraging gaze, he made a shot towards the empty goal of Class 5, and with one swift kick, he scored a goal reminiscent of Zheng Kezang's past performances in the Chinese national team.

  "Look, even though it wasn't a direct hit, with this move, the eighth defense won't be empty, right?" The children seemed to have understood and responded in unison. Zheng Kezang immediately gave orders. "Return to your original positions, put the ball at the center point, now restart."

  The killing started again on the field, and three or two instructors surrounded Sun Youlao and He Qian: "Lord Sun, Lord He, I was watching from the side and it's clear that this Cuju game is a training method for battle arrays. The young master is only twelve years old, how can he understand these things?"

  "Understand it clearly and let it rot in your belly." Sun Youlao gave a vicious glance to the instructor beside him. "Don't think that I don't know what kind of person is behind you, but the young master is the eldest son of this principality and will definitely inherit the throne in the future. It won't hurt to speak less about it, besides, Gan Luo's twelve bows are a great thing for this principality, and the young master's clever nature is a blessing from heaven. Only those with ulterior motives would not be pleased to see it succeed, are you that kind of person?"

  "Don't worry, adults," a group of teachers stared at each other with big eyes, but indeed no one dared to say that they had ulterior motives or were petty people. Even if they really had any ideas, they absolutely did not dare to speak out at this time. Therefore, after waiting for a long time, they finally saluted one after another. "Subordinates know what to do."

  "It's fine as long as you understand." Sun Youlao knew that some people were actually insincere, but as long as these teachings didn't openly harm Zheng Kecang, he could only turn a blind eye. "Everyone disperse and prepare on all sides, be careful not to cause trouble."

  After the instructors dispersed to the four corners of the court to perform maintenance tasks, looking at Zheng Kezang continuing to chase and flee inside, He Qian lightly laughed: "Sir, this time you've really done a great job of intimidating them, our Tongzi Camp can also have some more peaceful times."

  "Quiet? It's already good if it can be quiet for a few days, as long as the young master and his noble friends are in the camp, it is absolutely impossible to be quiet." As he said this, Sun Youlao looked at He Qian with a profound gaze. "Others don't say, but who exactly are you, Brother He? Can you tell me honestly?"

  He Qianqian coughed twice: "Director Sun's eyes are like a torch, don't worry, I won't enter the camp and do anything unfavorable to the young master. As Director Sun just said, one must have a long-term vision, the young master's future is boundless, and I'm not stupid enough to block the way with my arms. However, who does Director Sun belong to?"

  "Whose person am I?" Sun Youlao's eyebrows rose. "I'd say I'm the eldest young master's person, do you believe it, He brother?"

  "Believe it! From the moment I met you, I knew that Lord Sun was a man of great fortune. Now that he has entered the eyes of the Grand Prince, his future prospects are immeasurable." He Qing's gaze continued to stare at Zheng Kezang, his mouth offering lukewarm flattery. "However, I don't know if I have this good fortune, so please, Lord Sun, recommend me to the Grand Prince."

  "What's the good fortune? Brother He is joking, who knows what good fortune is on this vast road ahead." Sun Youlao chuckled lightly, he was very suspicious of He Qian's approach to Zheng Kecang, let alone that this thing called good fortune wasn't even enough for one person to monopolize, how could it be shared with others? "As for recommending him to the young master, that also depends on fate."

  "Your subordinate naturally understands, but it's still better if you, sir, don't forget either."

  Sun Youlao had not yet responded when Zheng Kecang rushed over, "I've worked up a sweat and I'm exhausted. Fortunately, they can still run around. Lord Sun, please assign an instructor to replace me as the judge."

  Sun Youlao smiled and nodded in agreement. Zheng Kechang blew his whistle again, "Now it's time to switch shifts, the two teams of the second sign will take over."

  The third and fifth classes, who had not yet had their fill of fun, dragged their feet and were reluctant to leave the stage, while the fourth and seventh classes, who had drawn the second lottery, had already rushed up at the sound. Seeing this impatient scene, Zheng Kezang ordered He Qian, who was waiting on the side: "From now on, only the two classes with the best training will be allowed to play for half an hour before dinner."

  He Qian looked deeply at Zheng Kezang and bowed down: "Yes?"