After finishing the meal, Lin Xuan had someone call Xue Rengui and others over.

"See General!"

Lin Xuan waved his hand and said: "No need to be polite, I have a new idea. What do you think about adding Cuju to your daily training?"

During this period, a total of three footballs were signed, and including the previous one, there were already four.

Lin Xuan thought that playing football would help soldiers learn teamwork better, and more importantly, he would have a football game to watch, which would kill two birds with one stone.

Xue Rengui and Cheng Chumo looked at Lin Xuan strangely, as if they were looking at a fool.

Lin Xuan said dissatisfied: "Why are you looking at me like this? Is my proposal not good?"

Xue Rengui held up his hands and said: "General, the army usually trains, and Cuju is one of them."

"Also?" Lin Xuan was a little surprised.

Xue Rengui nodded and explained to Lin Xuan.

Cuju, also known as "Taju", "Cuqiu", "Cuyuan", "Building Balls", "Kicking Circles", etc., originated in the Warring States Period. At that time, it was very popular among the people as a kind of entertainment.

During the Han and Three Kingdoms periods, Cuju developed rapidly. Not only did it inherit its entertainment value, but also performance Cuju and competitive Cuju appeared.

And it began to be used in military training. In addition to symbolizing "military strength" and training soldiers, Cuju was also used to enrich military life and keep soldiers in good physical and emotional condition. Ban Gu of the Han Dynasty included ancient football in the category of military skills.

, and also said: "The winner is the one who establishes offense and defense."

The nobles of the Tang Dynasty loved playing polo, but Cuju was still widely spread among the military and among the people.

Cuju is also an event that the military must practice.

Lin Xuan was a little embarrassed. He originally wanted to show off, but he didn't expect that others were already using it.

The wisdom of the ancients cannot be underestimated at all.

"Laugh if you want to, you're not afraid of getting sick if you hold it in." Lin Xuan said angrily when he saw Cheng Chumo and others holding back their laughter.

"Hahaha…"

Cheng Chumo and the others couldn't help it anymore, they were laughing so hard that they almost couldn't breathe.

This was the first time they saw Lin Xuan so embarrassed.

"Hmph! I have a better ball, I guarantee you haven't seen it before." Lin Xuan curled his lips and said.

He felt a little embarrassed and could only find it in football.

"What kind of ball have we never seen?" Cheng Chumo said disdainfully.

"Liu Da, take out the ball and show it to them." Lin Xuan said.

Liu Da took out the four footballs he brought over.

Cheng Chumo and the others were a little surprised when they saw the black and white checkered football.

"How about it? I haven't seen it before, right?" Lin Xuan said proudly.

"I've definitely never seen it before."

Cheng Chumo and the other three took the ball and played it carefully.

"Isn't this still made of leather? It's just a different color and looks strange." Cheng Chumo said disdainfully.

"What do you know, this ball is inflated," Lin Xuan said angrily.

"General, don't you know that the balls we play are also inflatable?" Yuchi Baolin said.

They looked at Lin Xuan again with the same eyes as before.

"Inflatable, how is that possible?" Lin Xuan exclaimed.

This is the Tang Dynasty. Does anyone know how to inflate the ball? Lin Xuan simply doesn’t believe that the current technology can seal it well.

"There is it in the army. General, if you don't believe it, you can check it." Cheng Chumo said.

"Liu Da, go and find someone for me." Lin Xuan ordered.

Not long after, Liu Da brought a gray-black ball over.

Lin Xuan took it in his hand and pressed it. It felt like it was really inflated inside.

Lin Xuan reluctantly threw the ball on the ground. Unexpectedly, it was very elastic.

"This is how it was done." Lin Xuan asked.

Cheng Chumo and the others didn't know much about how to make this ball. Xue Rengui stood up and explained: "General, sew eight pieces of sharp leather into a round spherical shell, and then blow up the animal urine bubbles to put them in."

Urine bubbles are animal bladders. Lin Xuan did not expect that ancient people used this thing to make inflatable balls.

"Okay, you all go back and let me have a cuju performance in the afternoon for you to see," Lin Xuan said.

He was so embarrassed that he wanted to send Cheng Chumo and the others away quickly, otherwise it would be too embarrassing.

Cheng Chumo and others also knew what Lin Xuan meant, so they smiled and said, "My subordinates, please resign!"

…

In the afternoon, when Lin Xuan came to the school grounds, his face was very dull. No one knew whether his heart was as dull as his face.

"General, please come to the stadium with me!" Xue Rengui said with his hands in hand.

Lin Xuan, led by Xue Rengui, came to the military stadium.

The stadium is not as big as the football fields of later generations, but it is not much smaller.

A fence was built around it and there were some platforms for people to watch.

After Lin Xuan sat down, he sighed, this is simply the Tang Dynasty version of the football stadium.

Xue Rengui was worried that Lin Xuan didn't understand Cuju, so he explained the rules to him.

During Cuju, two three-foot-high cue sticks are erected in the center of the court. The upper goal is about one foot in diameter, which is called "Fengliuyan." The left and right troops (two teams) wearing different colors stand on both sides, with 12 or 16 people in each team.

They are called ball head, Xiaoqiu, Zhengqiu, Touqiu, left pole net, right pole net, scattered stand, etc. The ball heads are also slightly different from the players' hats. During the game, the whistle and drums are used as trumpets, and the members of the left army

Kick off first, bounce the ball to each other several times and then pass it to the vice-captain. The vice-captain tosses the ball until it is straight and stable, and then passes it to the captain. The captain kicks the ball towards Fengliuyan. The one who passes the ball wins. The same goes for the ball on the right.

At the end, the victory is determined by the number of balls passed. The winner is rewarded, and the loser is punished. The captain must be whipped and have his face painted with white powder.

After listening to this, Lin Xuan had a rough idea in his mind that the terms "ball head" and "xiaoqiu" should be similar to the avant-garde defenders of later generations.

There are still many differences between Cuju and football in later generations. The first is the number of people.

In football matches, a team can only play a maximum of 11 players and must have a goalkeeper.

Also, according to the rules, the football goal is on the ground, but the Cuju goal is three feet above the ground.

One foot is equal to 3.3 meters, and three feet is about ten meters.

Lin Xuan was speechless, the goal was too high.

"Dong~dong~dong"

Just then, the drums sounded.

Cheng Chumo and Yuchi Baolin, each leading a team of people, walked to the field.

Cheng Chumo was on the left and took the lead to kick the ball. One player started to bump the ball and then passed it to the next one. When the ball was passed to Cheng Chumo, Cheng Chumo flew up and kicked the ball towards Feng Liuyan.

Although the goal was high, Cheng Chumo had practiced martial arts after all and his physical fitness was much better than ordinary people, so he easily kicked it in.

"good!"

The soldiers watching around applauded.

Next, it was the turn of the right side. Yuchi Baolin scored the goal without any accident, which caused a burst of applause.

"Rengui, if you tell me how to play Cuju like this, how will it help with military training?"

Lin Xuan really couldn't think of any benefit to training by throwing the ball once and then kicking it out.

"Master Marquis, Cuju is not only competitive, it can also exercise the physical fitness of soldiers, which is very beneficial to soldiers. If Master Marquis doesn't like watching it, they will know it in other ways. How about I ask them to change it?"

Xue Rengui said.

"Forget it, I'll tell you a way. You have people prepare and let them play football as I say." Lin Xuan said.

Lin Xuan told Xue Rengui about the future football fields and football rules and asked him to prepare.

Xue Rengui asked people to beat the drum and informed Cheng Chumo that they were ending the game.

Cheng Chumo and the others had just started playing, and they were confused when they heard the sound of drums.

Xue Rengui explained the rules that Lin Xuan mentioned to them and asked them to get familiar with them first, and then he found someone to start setting up the court.

Half an hour later, the court was arranged according to Lin Xuan's requirements.

The lines between the midfield and the penalty area have been drawn, and the goals on both sides have been placed.

"Master Marquis, everything is ready. Let's see if there are any omissions, so I can tell people to make improvements." Xue Rengui said.

"That's it. You did a good job. Are they ready?" Lin Xuan said with satisfaction.

Xue Rengui nodded and said: "Go back to Lord Marquis, we are ready."

The rules of football are not complicated, and the rules are somewhat similar to Cuju. Cheng Chumo and the others became familiar with it very quickly.
Chapter completed!