Chapter 37: The New Army (1)

  Yang Gaige seemed to have no feeling that Guo Huan had become a fighting cock. He was talking to himself, really too excited and forgot everything. When Yang Gaige found out that something was wrong with Guo Huan, Guo Huan had already been "frozen" like an ice pop for half a day.

  "Haha, that's it then, Guo Huan. You go back and study hard, don't rush, I have other things to attend to first." Yang Reform turned around and left before Guo Huan could even react. Yang Reform was too ashamed to face others, his own demands were indeed perverted and tyrannical. Fortunately, he was the emperor, so what he said went, and with a bit of awkwardness, he just walked away.

  Guo Huan was still standing there stupidly. Completely dazed. A cold spring breeze blew by, how desolate it was.

  ……

  Yang Gaizheng was bursting with excitement, overjoyed. He said to Wang Chengen: "Big brother, let's go take a look at Master Sun and the new army." Yang Gaizheng, this otaku, wasn't very satisfied with his physical condition, getting leg cramps after standing for just a little while, so he decided to revisit military training, exercise his body, and strive to live to be 100 years old.

  "Yes, Your Majesty." Wang Chengen replied.

  ……

  Yang felt uneasy all over. He sat on the sedan chair and moved around restlessly. Soon they arrived at the new army's training ground, northwest of the Imperial City.

  The surroundings are guarded by robust "security guards", and outsiders have no chance of approaching, Yang's reform requires them to be closed for training 24 hours a day.

  Not yet in the door, I heard the voice of the password inside "start running" "kill, kill, kill", various passwords are not uniform. Listening out, this training is very hard and also very effective.

  ……

  "...We knock to see our emperor, long live, long live, long long live..." Yang Reform entered the training ground, and the training ground immediately stopped, all knelt down to knock their heads.

  "Get up, everyone, let's continue training... Master Sun." Yang Reform greeted Sun Chengzong warmly. Since handing over the training of the new army to Sun Chengzong, Yang Reform had rarely met with him and felt a bit uneasy in his heart about it.

  "Your Majesty, I am here." Sun Chengzong's dark face was full of wind and frost, it could be seen that this training had been done with great effort. Yang Reform's training outline said it very clearly, all personnel train together as one body. It didn't say that being an official meant you didn't have to train. So, Sun Chengzong set an example by training every day with these "village people".

  "Master Sun, you've worked hard."

  "It is nothing, Your Majesty, this is what I should do." Sun Chengzong replied calmly.

  "Heh heh, Master Sun, how's the new army been lately?" Yang Reform was quite concerned about the training progress of the new army.

  "Reporting to Your Majesty, the new army's training is all in accordance with the requirements of the training manual." Sun Chengzong said.

  Yang Reform actually wanted to find a place to sit down and chat with Sun Chengzong, but unfortunately this new military training ground didn't have a single chair, even on the "spectator's platform" there wasn't one. Yang Reform suddenly realized that it seemed Sun Chengzong had indeed put in effort into the training, not even preparing a single chair, just to let these "disciples" get used to a hard life.

  On the distant wall, big red characters were written: "Work hard in peacetime, bleed less in wartime." Yang Reform looked at it and felt a sense of familiarity. He smiled and said, "Master Sun, this saying is not bad! It's so familiar!"

  "I report to Your Majesty, this is written on the wall according to what Your Majesty said and required, in order to encourage and strictly demand new military training." Sun Chengzong replied calmly.

  "Is this what I said? It seems so, haha, right, Master Sun, are these students still obedient?" Yang Reform asked.

  "I report to Your Majesty, these people are still behaving well, but recently they have been complaining and wanting to go out and take a stroll around the capital. I did not approve it because Your Majesty said that we should be in full closure training."

  "What's this! How does Master Sun feel? Should we relax or intensify our efforts?" Yang Reform was also at a loss for what to do, whether to relax a bit or intensify their training. A balance between work and rest?

  "Your Majesty, I believe that to train the new army well, we should be strict and demanding, not lenient. Only then can we consolidate our gains... Your Majesty, when I was in the north, I saw the fighting methods of the Eastern Barbarians. To surpass them in discipline and combat awareness, the training of these 'shed people' is still far from enough. I think that according to the training manual, we should add more content to their training, so that they have no time to think about anything else, and as soon as they lie down, they will fall asleep. Even when they sleep, they should keep one eye open. This way, they won't have the energy to shout slogans... I believe that the reason these shed people still have the energy to shout slogans is because their training is not enough..." Sun Chengzong firmly implemented Yang's reform and the new soldier training manual handed over to him, and he executed an enhanced version of it.

  "This, let Master Sun take care of it. I'll be your backer. If anyone makes a fuss, let them come find me." Yang Reform's face turned red with shame. As an otaku, his heart was too soft and he hadn't seen many cruel things. But Sun Chengzong, this old general, was different. He had experienced the Later Jin's fighting power and had a clear understanding of it. So, the arrangements were no problem. Yang Reform felt that apart from giving him good support, there was nothing else to say."

  "Yes, Your Majesty!" Sun Chengzong replied.

  "Master Sun, how is the current progress of your training?"

  "I report to Your Majesty, some have already started training in assassination, while others are new and still learning to form ranks. The first part of the training is going well. I plan to start practicing shooting after a period of time, followed by horsemanship. Fortunately, these 'she people' have been tempered from a young age, and their archery and horse riding skills are quite good...” Sun Chengzong spoke fluently, it was clear that he had put in a lot of effort and heart into this new army.

  "Master Sun, to be honest with you, the other day when I was testing firearms at the Armory, I found that the quality of the firearms is not satisfactory. I'm afraid the firearms training may have to be postponed." Yang Gaofeng couldn't help but scold Fu Mingde again, this guy messed up the quality of the firearms. Now Yang Gaofeng has no guns to use. It's really infuriating.

  "Your Majesty, do not blame yourself. I have also heard about this matter. In my opinion, Your Majesty has done the right thing. The muskets are of poor quality, so it's better to let the new army use them. This way, even before they go into battle, one or two percent will be lost. Based on my years of fighting experience against the Eastern Barbarians, I think our ordinary Ming troops might collapse. However, Your Majesty's new army has stronger discipline and morale, so they can probably withstand another one to two percent loss. Therefore, what Your Majesty did was absolutely right, and it is only proper that you attach great importance to quality..." Sun Chengzong indeed deserves the title of Imperial Teacher, for when speaking with Emperor Yang, he does not fawn or flatter like others do; he says what needs to be said, teaches what needs to be taught, and praises what deserves praise without holding back.

  Yang was delighted by Sun Chengzong's praise and affirmation.

  "Master Sun, I've already instructed Fu Mingde about this matter. I'm sure he'll remember the word 'quality' and if there are any more quality issues in the future, Fu Mingde will definitely have those craftsmen test their own guns first, haha! Master Sun can rest assured, the firearms handed over to the New Army won't be a problem." Yang Reform still had confidence in Fu Mingde, so he gave his guarantee to Sun Chengzong.

  "I will thank Your Majesty on behalf of these 'village people'. These 'village people' will all become successors to the positions of qianhu and zhishimen in the future. If they are disabled due to gun explosions, it would be a 'cold joke'."

  Master Sun, you don't have to be like this. You are my master, and it is your responsibility to educate and supervise me. By the way, Master Sun, from now on, let's just call these '舍人' trainees, so they won't always think of themselves as '舍人' and become arrogant, which would not be beneficial for their growth." Yang said.

  "Your Majesty is right, from now on, let's call them 'students', and make them forget their identity as 'Sheren'." Sun Chengzong thought for a moment and agreed. Always being called "Sheren", this made them think that even if they didn't train well, they could still go back to inherit their father's position, having a way out, and their minds wouldn't be focused.

  "Haha, Master Sun, I've been feeling that my body is quite weak lately, and I'd like to learn from you how to exercise and strengthen it." Yang said, getting straight to the point.

  "This... Your Majesty, is it that you wish to train with these troops?" Sun Chengzong's keen senses picked up on the Emperor's idea of training together with the new army, and his heart skipped a beat as he guessed that the Emperor wanted to firmly control this new army, not trusting the military commanders.

  "Yes! Master Sun, you are my master, and it's normal for me to learn from and train with you!" Yang Reform indeed wanted to spend more time training with these new troops. Firstly, to strengthen his body, secondly, to cultivate feelings with the new army, so that he could command them effectively in the future, and be familiar with the new army, making them willing to work hard for him. Otherwise, Yang Reform, this otaku who had nothing better to do after eating his fill, might as well go home and hug his wife and children. In this late Ming dynasty era which was about to fall into hell, it was more reliable to have some trustworthy troops in hand.

  "This... Your Majesty, I beg to speak bluntly, you are the Son of Heaven... and training with these students together, I fear..." The officials might get angry and have different opinions, not allowing the Emperor to be in the same group as those rough military men. However, Sun Shengzong thought for a moment, then swallowed his words, preparing to take on this task, as the Emperor kept calling him "Shifu" (Master), he would have to take some responsibility for the Emperor.

  Sun Chengzong did not speak out his mind, but instead prepared to take on the task for the emperor. Things are always strange, if it were another minister, they would probably not dare to accept this task, and would probably advise the emperor not to do so, in order to avoid intensifying the conflict with the ministers. But Sun Chengzong was not afraid, the reason is simple, now that the Wei Party has fallen, the Donglin Party is dominating, the scholars, the court, and the people are all speaking for the Donglin Party, the Donglin Party does not speak against the emperor, so no one else will either. And Sun Chengzong was just such a figure in the Donglin Party, even Wei Zhongxian could not do anything to him back then. So, this matter is strange precisely because of this. Many things that seem unreasonable and impossible become possible and reasonable.

  "It's all right, I feel that my body is not good enough, exercising a bit will also strengthen my physique. Sun Shifu is the emperor's teacher, and it's his duty to educate me." Yang said with excitement seeing that Sun Chengzong did not refuse.

  "In that case, I'll arrange for it to be done. Your Majesty can come here to train with these students during your leisure time. I'll assign a few people to train with you together. This set of training methods won't have much effect if only one person is training alone; it requires multiple people to be effective." Sun Chengzong keenly sensed the emperor's intention to firmly grasp control over this new army, so he pretended not to know and went along with the arrangement. The emperor exercising his body was a good thing, at least he wasn't spending every day practicing alchemy, taking medicine, or chasing after young women.

  This matter, Sun Chengzong arranged it, the Donglin Party will not say anything, others even if they speak, there is no "power", the Donglin Party's intention to resist the target, the Donglin Party has not been foolish enough to destroy its own resistance to the target, this matter can be considered settled.

  ……

  Accompanying His Majesty the Emperor to exercise. This news spread among this group of "shed people", oh no, new military academy students, and suddenly it was a big deal! Who doesn't want this opportunity to get close to His Majesty? Being remembered by the emperor means future promotion and wealth, what more could you ask for? Whatever happens, the emperor will think of you first. So, these new military academy students all broke their heads trying to get the "good job" of accompanying the emperor to exercise.

  Why, Head Coach Sun Chengzong had one more thing to say, that was whoever trained well and had a high level could be the emperor's sparring partner, changed once a month. The disciples all thought this was reasonable and fair. Now it's good, those disciples who were shouting about going out to enjoy the wind, flowers, snow and moon in the capital city, no longer shouted about going to enjoy the wind, flowers, snow and moon. They all yelled that they wanted to train and compete for a spot as the emperor's sparring partner.

  Going to the imperial court on a windy, snowy night without striving to get close to the emperor, and instead trying to become the emperor's sparring partner. If this were to be known by one's family, it would likely result in either a severe beating or the loss of one's "scholar" status. What use is there for someone who does not strive to improve?

  Then, the new army launched another training craze, which was much stronger than that forced, persuasive, and rational one. With interests driving them, these people didn't need to be forced, persuaded, or reasoned with at all. Of course, this is a later story, let's not mention it for now.

  ……

  The first batch of training partners was determined on the spot, with seven or eight people, including Wu Sangui, the buryer of the late Ming Dynasty, who was specifically named by Yang Reform, and Lei Dayong, a little kid known to Yang Reform. The others were not familiar to Yang Reform, but they seemed to be diligent in training as well.

  Seven or eight people followed far behind the emperor, and behind the emperor were five or six "top-notch" imperial guards. Then came they, "accompanying" the emperor to exercise, which was very glorious, making other students present envy and drool, with red eyes, secretly making up their minds to strive for a place to accompany His Majesty next time.

  The body of an otaku. Generally speaking, it's as expected.

  Their combat effectiveness is weak and inconsistent with their online combat effectiveness.

  Yang is one of them who has been reformed.

  It's all right, after crossing over, Chongzhen's body is in the best state of his life, an 18-year-old young man with high plasticity. Jogging, leg stretching, and waist stretching are no problem.

  Several attendants were beaming with excitement, their eyes shining like stars, looking utterly delighted. What an honor to have the chance to get close to the emperor! If their families found out, they'd probably throw a huge banquet with dozens of tables to celebrate.