Chapter Thirty: Overnight in the Imperial Palace

  Li Shimin finished reading all the materials about polo matches written by Du He, and was deeply shocked, unable to calm down for a long time.

  "This is truly written by you alone!" Li Shimin's tiger eyes stared at Du He, still unable to believe.

  Du He nodded in affirmation.

  Li Shimin exclaimed with surprise and admiration: "Xian Sheng's talent is not inferior to his father, not inferior to his father!" He looked at the materials in his hand with great enthusiasm, saying: "I never thought that this horse racing event would require so much preparation and attention to detail, and it can be held on such a grand scale. Many things I couldn't even dream of, Xian Sheng has explained one by one, making people shocked."

  Du He secretly smiled, as for Li Shimin's astonishment, Du He had already made mental preparations before coming. The nationwide polo match he planned was a combination of the essence of NBA and various football events.

  The NBA and major football leagues are national and global competitions, which have been developed for centuries, with almost all operating systems, condensing the wisdom of millions of people.

  How could Li Shimin remain unflappable?

  Only Du He, who has experience for future generations, can formulate such a national competition.

  "Just...” Li Shimin slightly furrowed his brow: "I still don't understand many things. This competition, winning or losing is decided by strength, just like in battle, so why do local matches need to be played three times? And the championship match is even more so, actually needing to play five games in a row, isn't this too much? In battle, life and death are at stake, but there's no chance to start over."

  Du He blinked: I didn't expect the great Li Shimin to ask such a foolish question, and he even mixed up the competition with war.

  Du He smiled and said, "Uncle Li, this is not a war. The ball is round, anything can happen on the field. If one team is very weak, they may still win due to a sudden good performance or the opponent's poor state. That's why we have three consecutive matches, to eliminate such situations from happening. The championship match also has five consecutive matches, because competitive matches test the overall level of the entire team, so this consecutive match is quite necessary."

  Li Shimin suddenly understood and asked again: "This is your draft of polo rules, which seems to be different from the original one."

  "Not bad!" Du He said solemnly: "Polo is a competitive sport, what is a competitive sport? Competitive sports refer to the competition for the purpose of defeating opponents, achieving excellent sports results, and maximizing the potential of individuals and teams in terms of physical fitness, psychological quality, and athletic ability. Striving for victory with all one's might and daring to fight fiercely is the spirit of competition. The old rules are too soft and do not reflect this spirit. Therefore, I have changed the rules to make them more brutal. We vigorously promote polo in order to improve the riding skills of the people, so that they can possess the qualities of cavalrymen. If one cannot even bear the collisions on the field, how can one achieve good results on the battlefield?"

  "Uncle Li, although Confucianism is good, it lacks the spirit of competition and the spirit of winning. If Great Tang wants to prosper and make its presence known to the four seas, relying solely on Confucianism to deal with foreign countries will not work; we must strive to be superior and always maintain an advantageous position in order to make all nations come to pay homage."

  "Good!" Li Shimin applauded and laughed loudly. He was an explorer, a wise king of entrepreneurial type, all his thoughts and actions were about pioneering and advancing, with great prestige across the land. Du He's competitive spirit was exactly what he loved most.

  "In addition, the assists list, goals list, and even the most valuable player, championship game's first shooter, etc. are all wonderful to think about, and this is also a kind of competition."

  Li Shimin said with praise, and then pointed to the judge on one page: "This judgment is just arbitration, isn't your request a bit too harsh? It's not easy to find such people!"

  Du He said in a low voice: "This competition is not a fight, but during the competition, some irresistible things will inevitably occur. At this time, the referee must have absolute power to maintain order on the field. Therefore, on the field, the referee is supreme, and the referee's authority is unquestionable. But because of this, a referee's poor performance can often ruin a good team, so it's necessary to consider carefully."

  In later generations, whether it's football or basketball, referees have absolute authority, which is not without reason. Therefore, Du He attaches great importance to referees and the materials given to Li Shimin repeatedly emphasize how important a good referee is.

  Li Shimin thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

  Then Li Shimin further inquired about the parts of the data that he did not understand.

  Du He didn't get tired of answering one by one.

  Some of the proposals were not suitable for the Tang Dynasty style, so the two men discussed and revised the plan again.

  The two of them talked for a whole two hours, until late afternoon before they finally stopped.

  Li Shimin laughed again: "Wise nephew, in just three short days, you have come up with such a perfect competition system. Most of the rules are unprecedented and I am truly impressed today. Ah, looking at this system, I suddenly had an idea. Isn't there a most valuable player, the player who scores the most assists? I plan to use it in governance, I want to evaluate the best prefecture governor of the year, the best official of the year, the best remonstrance official of the year and the best general of the year. Think about it, what an honor it is! If this is announced, won't each prefecture governor be eager to bring benefits to the people? Won't each official try their best to contribute to the affairs of our great Tang Dynasty? Won't each remonstrance official think of ways to point out my mistakes? And those idle generals, won't they sharpen their swords and horses, begging to go to battle?"

  Li Shimin said as he himself was also taken aback by this sudden idea and started dancing with joy.

  Duhe listened to Li Shimin's idea, looking at the Tang Emperor who had already fallen into madness, and showed genuine admiration. The best governor of the year, the best minister of the year, and the best general of the year were all easy to say, but the best remonstrance official of the year truly showed Li Shimin's broad-mindedness in accepting advice. He thought to himself: "With such an emperor, why worry that the Tang Dynasty cannot shake the four seas?"

  Du He bowed deeply and said loudly: "Uncle Li's move is ingenious, Du He admires it."

  Li Shimin's face was filled with joy, and he hurriedly helped Du He up. "My virtuous nephew is being too polite again. Moreover, this is ultimately your achievement, and what I did was merely a slight improvement. If we were to calculate the credit, you should at least account for 80% of it."

  Looking out at the night outside the window, Li Shimin said: "Unconsciously it's already this time, come on, prepare for dinner, today I want to get drunk with Du Erlang." As he spoke, Li Shimin suddenly remembered something and paused before saying: "Right, have someone go to Lijing Hall and tell the Empress not to wait. Just say that I'm having a banquet with the talented scholars of our dynasty today and will dine with her tomorrow."

  It is also unknown who Li Shimin ordered, but his order was quickly implemented, and Du He did not even have time to refuse.

  At the banquet, Li Shimin and Du He talked about wine, continuing to talk about horse racing.

  Having eaten and drunk enough, Li Shimin suddenly asked: "When will you have your coming-of-age ceremony? I have a suitable position for you here."

  "Hmm..." In response to Li Shimin's invitation, Du He thought for a moment before answering: "Let me serve the country for another year. I dare not disobey, but I think there are still some things I need to learn."

  The politics of the Tang Dynasty were clear and bright, but internally there was the struggle for the crown prince, and externally there were wars to expand the territory, all of which were major events related to the foundation of the great Tang.

  Du He knew that as the son of a prime minister, he couldn't avoid these struggles. Therefore, until his martial arts skills reached a certain level where he could protect himself, he decided it was best to participate less in these matters.

  Li Shimin didn't press the issue, but instead took a token from his waist and handed it to Du He: "This is also an imperial edict, but it's more practical than yours. If you have any new ideas in the future, feel free to come find me, I'm particularly interested in those clever thoughts of yours."

  Li Shimin's enthusiasm was hard to refuse, and Du He also reached out to accept it.

  That night, Du He and Li Shimin chatted again, and finally stayed in the palace at Li Shimin's invitation.

  P.S: Haha, thanks for the support, book friends!

  New book ranking 25, a full advance of ten places, but the gap behind is not big, and the gap ahead is also not big. While avoiding being overtaken by others, let's overtake those ahead!

  Starting point. Welcome, book lovers! The latest, fastest and hottest serialized works are all on the starting point of original works!