pdf-ebookys Chapter 714 Yesterday was always the most comfortable day.
Chapter 714 Yesterday was always the most comfortable day.
Chen Xingzu and the other successful candidates felt that something was amiss.
However, when they thought of the eight characters "to rise to high office and to be tempered," and the saying "the difference between scholars is greater than the difference between a person and a dog," Chen Xingzu and the others felt a vague discomfort in their hearts.
Why?
Why should I be inferior to Yang the Madman?
Yang Dianfeng was just lucky. First, he was valued by Chang Pingzhang, and then he was valued by His Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince because of his efforts in fighting drought and locusts.
If such an opportunity were to fall into our laps, we might not be any less capable than Yang the Madman.
Chen Xingzu and the other Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) were filled with resentment, but Yan Weiming glanced at them coldly and said sarcastically, "Anyone want to leave? If so, step forward quickly. I'll say it again, Ningyang County doesn't support useless people."
After waiting for a long time without anyone stepping forward, Yan Weiming and the last soldier who spoke exchanged a glance, then looked at the group of scholars and snorted coldly, "Since no one wants to leave, then you all better remember this: here, you are soldiers of Liu Miaoqi, and I am your living Yama!"
"Here, I control your lives, your deaths, and everything about you!"
"The most comfortable time here is always yesterday!"
"Let me make it clear to you, I have absolutely no interest in training you!"
"Therefore, I will only intensify your training so you can get out of here sooner!"
Seeing the clear-eyed stupidity still lingering in the eyes of the assembled scholars, Yan Weiming shouted loudly, "Did you understand?!"
The scholars answered sparsely, "Understood."
"understood."
"You're dreaming!"
"Don't even think about it!"
"understand!"
"..."
The sparse, uneven, and varied answers made Yan Weiming laugh in exasperation.
"Look at this, look at this! This is the scholar who passed the imperial examination in our Great Ming Dynasty. He doesn't know any manners at all!"
"Listen up, all of you! When I give a speech, you can only answer 'I understand' or 'I don't understand.' There is no third answer in the military!"
After a slight pause, Yan Weiming sneered again, "Of course, whether you understand or not, what I say is a military order, and military orders must be carried out! If you understand, you must carry it out; if you don't understand, you'll understand it through carrying it out! Even if you have different opinions, you'll have to wait until you've finished carrying it out before you talk to me! Do you understand now?"
The group of scholars were startled by Yan Weiming's sudden raised voice and unconsciously replied, "Understood!"
Yan Weiming grunted in response with a dark expression, then turned to the last soldier who had spoken and ordered, "These idiots are yours to handle. If they can't learn the most basic military posture and running by dark, you two will have to go and practice extra!"
The two soldiers, who had been grinning, stood up straight with their legs together and shouted with serious expressions, "Understood!"
……
The scholars who had passed the imperial examinations no longer had the mood to compose poems.
Chen Xingzu finally understood what it meant to say that "the most comfortable time is always yesterday".
We were woken up and made to line up as soon as it got light in the morning. After that, we had to run. The ruthless man not only required everyone to keep their pace in unison, but even the way they swung their arms had to be the same.
Walk in an orderly fashion.
Run in unison.
Two people walk together, three people form a row.
Even squatting has specific rules. Everyone must step back with their right leg, bend their knees, and squat down. There are even requirements for where to place your hands on your legs.
The weather's nice now, time for training.
We must train even when the weather is bad.
Even the occasional rain cannot delay training.
Everyone was a cog in Liu Miaoqi's machine, and no one could afford to make the slightest mistake. If anyone did, everyone would be punished.
Chen Xingzu and other scholars even felt that farming was quite easy. At least farming was only physically tiring, unlike now, where, in addition to being repeatedly tormented by those three living devils, they were also suffering mentally.
Chen Xingzu especially hated Xiao Qi, nicknamed "Living Yama," and wished he could sew his mouth shut with needle and thread.
"You are the worst soldiers I've ever led!"
"Even an eighty-year-old man can run faster than you!"
"Get back to the Ministry of Personnel and file a complaint! This place is not suitable for you!"
"From now on, stop shouting slogans of loyalty to the Ming Dynasty while running. With your pathetic state, you'd be wet in the pants on the battlefield!"
"You think you can become generals and prime ministers? His Highness the Crown Prince has definitely misjudged you. You should all go home and play with your children!"
Humiliation, insane humiliation; he didn't even consider us, the successful candidates in the imperial examinations, as human beings.
Of course, there are good people as well as bad people; at least the other two sergeants who were responsible for training them were slightly better.
"These are the most basic things."
"It doesn't even meet the minimum training standards of the Hundred Households Training Center."
"Once you go to the Hundred Households Office, you will know what true suffering is."
"Do you think running two miles in the morning is tiring?"
“Every day we have to carry 30 pounds of stuff for 10 miles. If we carry less stuff, it will be 20 miles.”
"The prince consort once said, 'If you don't sweat on the training ground, you'll bleed on the battlefield.'"
"..."
This was said by the sergeant who mocked them, saying, "The difference between scholars is greater than the difference between a person and a dog."
His speech is slightly better than that of the living Yama, but the improvement is limited, very limited.
Who wouldn't envy you?
"No matter what, we'll just be ordinary soldiers for the rest of our lives."
“You scholars who have passed the imperial examinations are talents whom His Highness the Crown Prince believes should become generals and ministers. Even if you are transferred to the Grand Commandery, you will start as centurions or even thousand-household commanders and can easily become commanders.”
"Moreover, you really have no idea how rare this opportunity is."
“Take Xiang Fei, the former commander of Lingshan Guard, for example. He was a veteran who had fought his way up from the battlefield, but he couldn’t last more than two moves against the Prince Consort.”
"If it weren't for His Highness the Crown Prince valuing you, how would you have had the opportunity to receive training here?"
"..."
This was said by another sergeant in charge of deceiving them.
This soldier named Wu Ping was the easiest to talk to and the kindest to them.
But I always felt that one of them was playing the good cop and the other the bad cop.
In fact, Chen Xingzu and other scholars who had passed the imperial examinations were not wrong.
With a red-faced man, a white-faced man, and a black-faced Yama (King of Hell) suppressing them from above, the scholars like Chen Xingzu, if not completely fooled, were utterly disoriented.
In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed, and these scholars had completely transformed into something else entirely.
His once fair face turned dark.
The once lean arms and legs began to develop muscles.
Even if these people's own mothers came, it would take them a while to recognize their own sons.
After secretly observing, Emperor Zhu couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.
Our Biao'er originally planned to send these three hundred Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) to Ningyang County for study, right?
But if they really continue to study like this, can these three hundred Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) still be used as ordinary Jinshi?
No, when did it become possible to mass-produce scholars like this who are skilled in both literature and martial arts?
But then Emperor Zhu thought again that there didn't seem to be any problem.
Aren't scholars just mass-produced by schools?
It seems that mass-producing scholars who excel in both literature and martial arts is not a difficult task at all.
Then the problem is coming.
A large portion of these successful candidates came from gentry families in Jiangnan.
If we train all these people to become accomplished scholars and officials skilled in both literature and martial arts, will there really be no problems?