Chapter 3 Military School

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  At the first family meeting, Zhu Yinglong specially set the direction for his three wives: Tian Shuying was in charge of craft design, Zhou Yuning followed him to learn modern management methods and served as his first private secretary, Ye Liangwei studied military affairs with Sun and Xiong, two military experts, Xu Yingyuan was in charge of internal affairs, responsible for food and accommodation in the mansion, Wang Chengen was experienced and capable, serving as the external manager.

  When this arrangement came out, Zhou and Tian had no opinion, but Ye Liangwei's small mouth was raised very high, one hundred unwilling. Although Zhu Yinglong liked the kind of autocratic feeling that was high above, after all, he had been indoctrinated with communist ideology for 25 years and was still very democratic at heart. However, a single sentence from Zhu Yinglong made this little girl go happily, and she even took Mei'er with her. The temptation to be a female general was greater than being an obedient wife.

  "Your Highness, what do these 'Military Command Department', 'Logistics Management Department' and 'Firearms Research and Design Bureau' mean?" Just as he had finished dealing with the three ladies, Sun Chengzong came running over with his own draft of "A Proposal for Establishing a Military Academy".

  Zhu Yinglong patiently explained: "These three departments are the three parts of the Military Academy, the Military Command Department is to cultivate military command talents, the Logistics Management Department is to cultivate logistics talents, and the Firearms Research and Design Bureau is an institution for improving or inventing new weapons..." He detailed his ideas and purposes for setting up these three departments to Sun Chengzong, speaking until his mouth was dry before stopping. In fact, Zhu Yinglong also wanted to establish a Medical College, but there were no suitable personnel at hand, so he didn't mention it for the time being.

  Sun Chengzong was stunned for half a day before he finally understood, and then knelt down on one knee to Zhu Yinglong, excitedly saying: "Your Highness is an unprecedented military genius in history, I admire you the most."

  Zhu Yinglong took a sip of water to moisten his throat, and upon hearing this, he almost choked. This is just the third time, if all the etiquette from later generations were brought over, wouldn't he have to prostrate himself on the ground? It seems necessary to abolish this three kneels and nine bows ritual first. Always bowing like this, what if one day he gets a fever and slowly accepts it, that would greatly violate his original intention. He hurriedly helped Sun Chengzong up: "Director Sun, I'm not used to this kneeling and bowing etiquette, from now on, we don't need this ritual between us."

  "Your Highness, there is a distinction between superior and inferior, and etiquette cannot be abandoned!" Sun Chengzong exclaimed in surprise.

  "Director Sun, I'm asking you, when you kneel before me, is it truly out of respect for me in your heart?" Zhu Yinglong asked with a smile.

  "Of course, I have the utmost respect for Your Highness!" Sun Chengzong said emotionally.

  "What about others? Does Dean Sun also respect Wang in his heart just like you?" Zhu Yinglong asked with a smile.

  "This old fellow..." Sun Chengzong was suddenly at a loss for words.

  "You respect me in your heart, whether you kneel or not, but others may have knelt and shown respect on the surface, and also performed the proper etiquette, yet they may not necessarily respect me in their hearts. Some of them only feel fear or flattery, or even just go through the motions. Tell me, do I want respect from the heart, or just superficial courtesy?" Zhu Yinglong asked very calmly.

  "Your Majesty, although it may be so, the rites cannot be abandoned. If we do this, wouldn't it disrupt the established order?" Sun Chengzong said with a worried frown.

  "This king only said to abolish the courtesy of kneeling and bowing, not to abolish the courtesy between superiors and inferiors. For example, next time when you see me, Director Sun, just give a slight bow and it will be enough. If in the military, we should also implement a military salute and abolish other complicated rituals." Zhu Yinglong said firmly.

  "Your Highness, absolutely not! You're going against the ancestral laws!" Sun Chengzong hastily interrupted.

  "Director Sun, don't you think it should be abolished? Didn't you also petition for reforming the military system and not letting literary officials govern the army back then?" Zhu Yinglong countered.

  "Your Highness, this is different..." Sun Chengzong wanted to refute, but suddenly couldn't find any powerful reason to do so, and his expression was quite awkward.

  "Dean Sun, do you think this world is unchanging?" Zhu Yinglong guided him.

  "Of course not." Sun Chengzong said with certainty.

  "Since the world is changing, there must be times when the old rules are not suitable. If we know they're no longer suitable, why can't we abolish them?" Zhu Yinglong retorted, "The ancestral laws cannot be violated doesn't mean that everything from our ancestors should remain unchanged. If it were so, would we still need an emperor or all of you high-ranking officials? Can't everyone just follow the old rules and be done with it?"

  Sun Chengzong pondered for a moment, his eyes suddenly brightening as he bowed to Zhu Yinglong and said, "Your Highness makes sense, I am enlightened."

  "The world is changing, and we must change with it. If we don't change, others will change us, and this world is not just the Great Ming Dynasty of one country. We must change. If we can't understand this point clearly, the final cost will be the downfall of our nation." Zhu Yinglong's eyes gleamed deeply as he gazed forward, and Sun Chengzong couldn't help but feel moved, suddenly feeling that the fifteen-year-old young king in front of him had grown taller and more majestic, radiating a dazzling aura that made him dare not look directly at him.

  Who says that the thoughts of the ancients are all outdated and unchanging? This is a one-sided view. If people like Sun Chengzong and Xiong Tingbi were completely unchanging in their thinking, they would not have become brilliant military strategists. Of course, there are some aspects where the ancients are inferior to modern people, but they can still be influenced and transformed.

  Here is the translation:

  Due to weather conditions, construction at Shadow Dragon Villa has been suspended. Zhu Shadow Dragon began reorganizing a thousand troops from the original Divine Machine Regiment, cutting off the old and weak ones, and relocating their garrison to the new campsite at Shadow Dragon Villa. Some went out on business, leaving less than six hundred troops behind. Expansion was not very realistic and would only bring trouble. Zhu Shadow Dragon had always had an idea - to establish a versatile attack unit modeled after modern special forces, using the three-three system. This would allow them to reorganize into two regiments, with Lü Haotian and Xiong Zhaoxun as regimental commanders, and Xiong Tingyi as division commander. Although this was a regular army, Xiong Tingyi initially disagreed with Zhu Shadow Dragon's methods, but after the reorganization, he discovered the benefits of the three-three system - flexible command, strong cohesion, and a hint of a powerful military presence.

  They replaced war drums with bugles, as the drums were too cumbersome to carry around during marches. Every day began with a wake-up call from the bugle, followed by drills, a 5-kilometer cross-country run, combat training, and practice with firearms. They also learned various fighting techniques and underwent ideological reeducation. These were all new things that neither Xiong Tingyi nor Sun Chengzong had ever seen before in their lives. Especially Xiong Tingyi, who always felt that the young king's brain was full of strange ideas, but every time he came up with something new, it seemed to make sense after being put into practice, and he was thoroughly convinced. Zhu Yinglong opened his eyes to a whole new world of warfare, from cold steel to firearms, and his unorthodox fighting methods, training techniques, and military ideology captivated Sun and Xiong. Unfortunately, they were not on the Liaodong front lines; otherwise, Sun and Xiong would have probably tried them out immediately, as they were itching to do so every day.

  Ye Lianwei followed Sun and Xiong, according to the regulations, military academy students must follow the army together, five kilometers of cross-country training can't be less, she just needs to spend more time, with two battalions to select potential officers and soldiers to learn military command together. Sometimes Zhu Yinglong would also come over to teach them some theories about modern warfare infantry and artillery coordination, while Sun and Xiong had rich combat experience, basically teaching them after taking the strengths and weaknesses, and then passing it on to the lower-ranking officers and men.

  The two newly formed battalions were named "Wild Wolf Battalion" and "Fierce Tiger Battalion" by Zhu Yinglong, with Xiong Zuoqi as the battalion commander of Wild Wolf Battalion and Lu Haotian as the battalion commander of Fierce Tiger Battalion. However, due to the "Dark Shadow" incident, Zhu Yinglong had Xiong Hu temporarily take over as the battalion commander of Wild Wolf Battalion. This made Xiong Hu, who was full of fighting spirit since childhood, extremely excited, and even his gaze at Zhu Yinglong became somewhat affectionate. This matter was both public and private, and neither party was willing to give up, so why not just go with it? However, the relationship between the two was still unclear, and Xiong Hu's feelings for Zhu Yinglong were ambiguous and uncertain, leaving a layer of tension that had yet to be broken.

  Men and women work together, not tired of working. This is a great saying. The princess also comes to do an internship with herself, suffering the same hardships. These wolves and tigers-like men are still learning tirelessly, training hard. Thanks to Wei Zhongxian, he drove all the capable people who were excluded from the mainstream to his own department. These people are those who have made contributions but cannot be promoted, and they are also very difficult to control. Zhu Yinglong attracted their curiosity with his practical military theories, and then gradually gained their trust and loyalty through new training methods. If not for considering her identity and not giving others a chance to take advantage of it, she would probably eat and live on the construction site of Shadow Dragon Villa.

  Zhu Yinglong not only changed the military salute, but also changed the military rules, dividing them into peacetime discipline and battlefield discipline. In peacetime, not only were they not allowed to beat or scold soldiers, but even if they made mistakes, they were not allowed to be beaten. Instead, they were locked up in a large, empty room with nothing but a bed, where they would stay for a whole day. They couldn't take it and after trying a few times, they became honest. This was more unbearable than being beaten with thirty military clubs. Learning wasn't a bad thing either, as they learned a set of skills and later had opportunities for promotion, which were hard to come by!

  Sun Chengzong and Xiong Tingbi both thought that Zhu Yinglong was making a big deal out of nothing, but after implementing it, they realized that this was not an overreaction, but a very good method. Not only did the combat effectiveness increase, but also the cohesion increased. During training, the voices complaining of hardship basically disappeared. The two men had even more respect for Zhu Yinglong.

  One day, Xiong Tingbi mentioned to Zhu Yinglong that the combat effectiveness of their own soldiers was not as good as that of the Eight Banners of the Later Jin. Usually, three Ming soldiers were needed to deal with one Later Jin Eight Banners soldier. If on horseback, it would be even more absurd, and five Ming soldiers might not necessarily be a match for them. Xiong Tingbi had been in Liaodong for many years and had trained many elite soldiers, but the results were still not ideal. This doubt also existed in Sun Chengzong's mind, which led to a heated discussion among the three of them.

  Xiong Tingbi believed that the Later Jin was a nomadic people who lived on horseback, and these men were far more skilled in archery and horsemanship than the Ming army. They were basically born on horseback, so it's no wonder they couldn't be defeated. Moreover, many of them made a living by hunting, and their physical strength was much greater than that of the Ming soldiers from the Central Plains, so they couldn't be defeated.

  Sun Chengzong affirmed Xiong Tingbi's view, but added that the Later Jin had an outstanding military leader, who was Nurhaci. It was under his leadership that the Later Jin had such strong combat effectiveness, with eight banners not exceeding 10,000 men, and more than 10,000 being unbeatable.

  Zhu Yinglong knew that the two military men were both right, and the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners soldiers was indeed stronger than that of the Ming dynasty's soldiers. However, this was an inevitable result, determined by their innate talents. Zhu Yinglong did not directly explain, but instead asked: "Your Honors, I would like to ask you a question. If one person is fighting with another person and is no match for them in terms of speed or strength, what can they do to win?"

  "He can win by strategy," said Xiong Tingyu.

  "He can use firearms or even sharper weapons." Sun Chengzong followed up with his own views.

  "What if this person has no strategy and no firearms or sharp weapons?" Zhu Yinglong asked with a smile.

  The two of them fell into deep thought for a long time before one of them spoke up: "Neither of those is possible, Your Highness. Then how could he have won?"

  Zhu Yinglong did not answer, and instead asked: "If the enemy punches you once and you can't withstand it, and you fall down, then don't you lose the opportunity to turn defeat into victory?"

  Both of them shook their heads.

  "You two are wrong, when facing a stronger enemy than you, you must first prepare to take a beating, and the longer you take a beating, the more energy your opponent will consume, until finally you can easily win." said Zhu Yinglong.

  "Isn't this still a trick, Your Highness?" Xiong Tingyi asked in puzzlement.

  "It can also be said that if the enemy knocks you down with one punch, will your many plans still be useful?" Zhu Yinglong said with a smile.

  "To learn how to hit people, you must first learn how to take a beating." Lower official suddenly enlightened. Said what Zhu Yinglong wanted to say.

  "It's not that our soldiers are inferior to the Eight Banners of the Later Jin, but rather that our soldiers' bodies are too weak and can't withstand their combined forces. Although this has something to do with the way of life of our nations, the most crucial factor is that there is a great difference in what we eat. The Eight Banners sons mostly eat meat, while our Ming dynasty soldiers mostly eat rice, vegetables, who is strong or weak, it's clear at a glance!" Zhu Yinglong finally expressed his own views.

  The two famous generals who had fought on many battlefields found Zhu Yinglong's views refreshing, but they couldn't help admitting that the young prince made some sense.

  "Sweat more in peacetime, bleed less in wartime. You two gentlemen, don't be afraid of getting hurt, don't be afraid of hardship. Our current conditions are naturally not as good as those of the Later Jin, so we mustn't slack off when training troops!" Zhu Yinglong exhorted with deep concern.

  The two old generals were shocked at the same time, "It's good to sweat more in peacetime and bleed less in wartime." The four eyes shot out complex and firm light, looking at Zhu Yinglong's eyes was even more different, they said in unison: "Your Highness, if you lead the army to fight, I think no one in the entire Ming Dynasty, including Houjin, is your opponent."

  Zhu Yinglong sighed and said, "Don't think of me as a reincarnation of Sun Wu or anything. In fact, my current level is about the same as Zhao Kuo's - all talk and no action. When it comes to actual combat, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to match one of your nine cows' hairs, Your Majesties!"

  "Prince Wang is really too humble!" The two of them naturally said respectfully, but they had no idea what Zhu Yinglong was thinking in his heart. What he said only stayed at the theoretical level, and he wasn't even sure if it would have the same effect when applied to this time and space as it did in his own time. After all, people's thoughts and understanding differed by several hundred years, a gap that Zhu Yinglong might not be able to bridge even until death. At the same time, he was also glad that his vision was higher than theirs, because without this advantage, how could he make these exceptional talents serve him?