The weather in early autumn is refreshing, not as hot as summer nor as cold as winter, with only a gentle breeze. The autumn tiger also seems to have dozed off and has not arrived on schedule like previous years, making this year's autumn particularly pleasant.

  In the Yan Mountains, the thousand households of the Imperial Guard had recruited 600 new soldiers this time. For these new recruits, Prince Zhu Di was very concerned. This was his personal guard, a force he could fully grasp, and other generals who nominally accepted his command still didn't quite look up to him as a king who had just been appointed. So Zhu Di planned to train them well, with all their rations and supplies never lacking, determined to turn them into an elite army.

  The Western School Grounds of Beiping City.

  "Today, you will abandon your past identities and become one of the millions of soldiers of our great Ming dynasty. However, you are not yet qualified soldiers. In the next month, I will appoint Liu Sheng, Wang Zhen, and Ni Dian as the three hundred officials in charge of your training. During this period, all major and minor matters will be handled by Wang Zhen, with Liu Sheng and Ni Dian assisting on the side. Do you understand?"

  "I understand..." a faint voice responded, Zhu Neng furrowed his brow and loudly shouted:

  "What was that? I didn't quite catch it!"

  "Understood!" This time the voice was quite uniform, but Zhu Neng was still not very satisfied.

  "Say it again! I didn't hear you!"

  "Understood!" The last response was neat and loud, Zhu Neng nodded in satisfaction.

  "From today on, for the next month, you don't need to remember who I am. All you need to remember is this whip in my hand. If you don't want it to lash at your body, then train diligently and honestly. Although you are not yet qualified soldiers, while in the military camp, you must follow the rules of the military camp. Whoever breaks the rules will have no one to blame but themselves when I, Wang Mou, take action without mercy. Liu Baihu, come tell them what the rules are."

  When drums beat, they do not advance; when gold is offered, they do not halt. When flags are raised, they do not rise; when flags are lowered, they do not lower themselves. This is called a rebellious army. Those who disobey shall be beheaded.

  Second: When called, they do not respond; when summoned, they do not arrive on time; violating the appointed time and altering the teacher's rules - this is called a slow army. Those who commit this offense will be beheaded.

  Third: When night scouts are sent out and they fail to report back, or when the signals for advance or retreat are not clear, this is called a lazy army. Those who commit such errors shall be beheaded.

  Fourth: frequently expressing discontent, resenting one's commander, refusing to accept discipline, and being difficult to control - this is called "inciting the army". Those who commit this offense shall be beheaded.

  Fifth: To shout and laugh loudly, despise prohibitions, and rush through the military gate, this is called disrespecting the army. Those who commit this offense will be beheaded.

  Sixth: The weapons used, the bow and crossbow have broken strings, the arrows have no feathers or arrowheads, the swords and spears are dull, and the flags and banners are tattered and worn out. This is called deceiving the army, and those who do so will be beheaded.

  Seventh: Spreading rumors and deceitful words, fabricating gods and ghosts, falsely claiming to have had dreams, wildly spreading evil doctrines, bewildering the soldiers - this is called licentiousness in the army. Those who commit this offense shall be beheaded.

  The eighth: Those who are eloquent and have sharp tongues, arbitrarily making judgments, stirring up discord among the soldiers, this is called slandering the army. Those who commit this offense will be beheaded.

  Ninth: Wherever they go, they tyrannize and oppress the people, if there is a case of raping a woman, this is called a treacherous army, those who commit it will be beheaded.

  The tenth: To steal others' property for personal gain, and to take others' heads for personal merit, is called a bandit army. Those who commit this shall be beheaded.

  Article 11: When military and civilians gather to discuss matters, privately approaching the commander's tent to eavesdrop on military secrets is called "spying on the army". Those who commit this offense shall be beheaded.

  If there be any who have heard and know the plans of our army, or have received orders from the enemy, and have leaked them out, making it known to the enemy, this is called "betraying the army". Those who do so shall be put to death.

  Thirteenth: When summoned, if one is tongue-tied and does not respond, lowers his eyebrows and bows his head, with a look of difficulty on his face, this is called a brutal army. Those who commit such an offense shall be beheaded.

  Article 14: When marching in formation, those who lag behind or push forward, making loud noises and disobeying orders shall be considered a disorderly army. Those who commit this offense shall be beheaded.

  Fifteenth: To feign illness or injury in order to avoid being drafted for military service, or to pretend to be dead and then escape, is called deceiving the army. Those who do so shall be beheaded.

  Sixteenth: In charge of money and grain, when giving rewards, being partial to those close to him, causing soldiers to harbor resentment. This is called corrupting the army. Those who commit this offense will be beheaded.

  The seventeenth: Failure to properly observe the enemy, failure to thoroughly scout out bandits, arriving without reporting arrival, speaking little when there is much to say, and speaking much when there is little to say - this is called misleading the army. Those who do so shall be beheaded.

  Liu Sheng's icy voice finished reciting the seventeen forbidden and fifty-four beheadings, the new recruits below the stage were all silent as cicadas in winter, even Zhang Feng was intimidated by this severe military order, for the first time feeling the stern atmosphere of the military camp, secretly raising his spirits a few points.

  "Tomorrow at 5:00 AM, assemble here to formally begin training. Dismissed!" Liu Sheng shouted as he dispersed along with the other generals on the platform.

  The officer left and the new recruits on the platform were no longer as serious as before, chatting with each other in twos and threes.

  "Wow, the hundred-household officer who just read out the military order was really intimidating. I still feel a chill down my spine..."

  "It's not like that, this fifty-fourth cut is too severe, if I had known earlier I wouldn't have come..."

  Zhang Feng and Lao Gu gathered together, Chen Hua was still worried about the bet this morning, Lao Gu squinted his eyes and knocked on his legs that had not been in a military posture for a long time, Ma Liu Da Niu was discussing whether the military order before the enthusiastic conversation was really so strict.

  Chen Hua didn't go forward, instead he muttered to himself: "It's all over, this time we're definitely going to lose. I don't mind shouting 'I'm a dog' three times, but it'll be embarrassing for Wang Baihou again. Alas, what can be done about it?"

  "King Baihu? Is that the hundred households who led just now?" Zhang Feng heard Chen Hua's whisper and couldn't help but ask.

  "That's right, Wang Baihu is usually very particular about his dignity. If we lose, it would be a slap in the face for him, and our future days will not be easy to get by..." Chen Hua said with a bitter face. Zhang Feng did not expect that his direct superior was so concerned about his reputation.

  This month's training is nothing more than practicing combat skills, performing formations, and tempering physical strength. As for archery, crossbow, and horsemanship, they will be specifically arranged after being formally qualified in a month.

  Practicing martial skills is practicing the use of weapons such as swords, guns and spears; tempering physical strength is practicing with stone locks and wooden stakes; drilling formations is even more complicated, requiring soldiers to be familiar with multiple battle arrays. These are routine for old soldiers, but for new recruits, they are a huge problem.

  The next day at 5:00

  Six hundred new recruits stood on the drill ground, not one missing. After all, the chilling seventeen prohibitions and fifty-four beheadings of yesterday still lingered.

  First, Wang Zhenbai, the commander of Zhang Feng and others, came to train them in formation exercises. Since there were only 600 new soldiers, the formations that could be used for training were much simpler, such as sparse arrays and numerical arrays.

  Sparse formation is used for luring. Dense formation is used for being unassailable. These two formations both come from "Sun Bin's Art of War - Ten Formations".

  Sparse formation emphasizes the appearance of strength, with a small number of troops pretending to be many; dense formation is a tight combat formation that prevents the enemy from breaking through. On the surface, it looks simple, but in actual practice, mistakes are frequent, either because some soldiers can't find their own flag when changing formations, or because some people can't tell east, south, west, and north apart. Even Wang Zhen, the hundred-household leader directing on stage, is helpless. This group of new recruits is really too inexperienced, even with the guidance of the commander's flag, mistakes are still rampant.

  Zhang Feng and his ten subordinates were also struggling to adapt, except for Lao Gu who had experience, everyone else including Zhang Feng frequently made mistakes, and everyone's body was whipped, Ma Liu, who was physically small, was beaten until he cried but didn't dare to make a sound. Just because someone was whipped earlier and couldn't help but cry out loud, the soldier supervising next to him whipped him again several times.

  Until the sun sets westward, Wang Zhen announced the end of today's training. Zhang Feng's team, who had been flogged all day, returned to their barracks one by one, carrying their tired bodies...

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