Chapter 21: Ye Zhi's Transformation

  It's over 50,000 words now. It's really not easy for a new author like me. I hope those of you who have the power to vote can spare a vote for me, and if you haven't collected my work yet, please consider doing so - I'll be eternally grateful. After the Battle of Baekryong-chang, both China and Japan fell silent for a while in Korea, each licking their wounds and brewing up for the next big battle. During this time, Ye Zhui was certainly not idle.

  Yeh's current troops are quite mixed, with original braves, Hu Ziying's battalion, Lutai Zhujun's army, Feng Sheng'a's Fenyang battalion and Jilin Junjun, as well as Korean troops, including the wounded, totaling over 4,000 people. Among them, there were more than 1,000 Korean troops, which was related to Yeh's prestige in Korea and Queen Min's secret help. Therefore, the first choice for Koreans to join the army was Yeh. And Yeh, in order to preserve his strength, did not want his troops to suffer heavy losses, and also favored the Koreans, treating them as equals. One wanted to fight, the other wanted to take a beating, and the Korean army developed very rapidly. If it weren't for the limitations of guns and ammunition, there wouldn't be just this many people.

  For the Korean army, since it had not yet formed its own military style, Ye Zhikui took out some training methods he wrote for future generations and falsely attributed them to new-style training methods from Germany and other Western countries. He showed them to Feng Guozhang, who was shocked and no longer dared to be arrogant in front of Ye. After revisions and editing by Feng, Wu Xujie, and others, a complete set of new military drill regulations was formally established, and drills began for Korean soldiers.

  As for his own troops, Ye Zhi Kui was really worried. These motley troops came from all over the country, and the soldiers were divided into groups by region.

  Ye Zhi Kui could only rack his brains to think of ways, using his personal charm, to organize various military competitions, such as martial arts competitions and shooting competitions. The winners not only received rewards but also gained good reputations, such as being known as the "First Godly Marksman" in the army. These virtual honors were more effective than actual rewards, and each battalion and sentry post also competed with each other. The winners got extra food and meat, while the losers could only eat plain rice. These competitions not only allowed soldiers to communicate and get familiar with each other, breaking regional restrictions, but also improved the positivity of soldier training, allowing the entire army to quickly integrate together, greatly improving the skills and literacy of the soldiers.

  For those old-fashioned officers, Ye Zhiwei held various study classes and asked Feng Guozhang, Song Pinglan and other military academy graduates to retrain them. Of course, Ye Zhiwei would also come to give lectures from time to time, and after the training, he would conduct regular exams and post the results on the door of each battalion's cafeteria. This move immediately made those officers who ranked behind lose face, but they didn't dare to go find Ye Zhiwei to beg for mercy, so they could only hold their breath and strive to be the best. Of course, this did not include Wu Dashan, that silly man, who came to see Ye Zhiwei after getting the lowest score in the exam.

  Wu Dashan said with a twisted expression: "Ye Shao, can you remove my name?" Ye Zhi Kui was eating and didn't understand what he meant for a moment.

  "It was the name of the last person in that exam." Wu Dashan felt a bit embarrassed.

  Ye Zhi Kui has been quite busy lately, and he usually leaves the affairs of the study group to Song Ping Lan and Wen Bai Shan to handle. Song Ping Lan is a shrewd person who is very clear about right and wrong, while Wen Bai Shan is extremely loyal to Ye Zhi Kui and has a wealth of experience, so Ye Zhi Kui feels very at ease.

  Song Pinglan has now been promoted to the position of Youziying Camp Officer by Ye Zikui, who holds him in high esteem. He had already submitted the list to Ye Zikui, but unfortunately, Ye Zikui was too busy and hadn't had a chance to look at it yet. Unexpectedly, Wu Dashan actually scored the lowest mark.

  Ye Zhi Kui stuffed the remaining steamed buns into his mouth, Ye Zhi Kui's dinner was simple, plain steamed buns with salted vegetables, not because he was being pretentious, but because he had been in the military camp for some time and didn't want to make a fuss.

  Yè Zhī Kuí took a sip of water, looking at Wú Dà Shān who was staring at him eagerly, and said: "Why do you want to take it away? If I remove your name, the last one will come looking for me again. Should I remove them one by one? Are there still people on this list?"

  Wu Dashan awkwardly scratched his head and said with a smile: "Ye Shao, you can ask me to charge into battle without any problem, but if you want me to study military strategy and all that, I'm really not up for it."

  Ye Zhi stood up, patted Wu Dashi's shoulder and said: "I still want to hand over the Second Brave Battalion to you, but looking at you now, even reading books and recognizing characters are afraid, really not reassuring. It seems that we need to reconsider."

  For convenience and simplicity, Ye Zhiwei reorganized the previous Fengsheng'a troops into the second and third battalions of the "Brave" unit, reorganized the Lutai Zhuliang Army into the second, third and fourth battalions of the "Tiger" unit (the first battalion of the "Tiger" unit was led by Jiang Zikang, which had also been assigned to Ye Zhiwei), and reorganized the Korean army into the First and Second Battalions of Korea.

  The Second and Third Battalions of the Yongzi were mainly composed of former "Duck Egg" soldiers, so he needed to find a fierce general to lead them, and Wu Dashan was just the right person for the job.

  Wu Dashan hastily said: "Ye Shao, I'm your father, I'll go back and study hard, this second battalion of the Brave Army will be handed over to me."

  Ye Zhi said with a smile: "I don't have such a big son, if you can advance ten places in the next exam, I will hand over this camp to you."

  Wu Dashan left with great joy, patting his chest to indicate that he would definitely make Ye Zhi Kui satisfied.

  After Wu Dashan left, Ye Zhikui fell into deep thought. Ye Zhikui would certainly make drastic changes and install his trusted followers everywhere, but he actually had many soldiers and few generals, with hardly anyone useful under him.

  All the old men under him have already held high positions: Song Pinglan is the captain of the first battalion of Yongzi, Wu Dashan is the captain of the second battalion of Yongzi, and the captain of the third battalion of Yongzi is under Yuan Fengsheng's command. Jiang Zikang is the captain of the first battalion of Huzi, Wu Xiu Jie is the captain of the second battalion of Huzi, and the captains of the third and fourth battalions of Huzi are under Nie Shicheng's command. Even Bao Butong was promoted by him as the captain of the second battalion in Korea, and the captain of the first battalion in Korea is Jian Renshiwu. These are not a big problem, because they have accumulated merits, and no one dares to say anything about it. However, there were too few lower-level military officers who could satisfy him, Ye Zhi Kui wanted people with both literary and martial skills, but unfortunately, he had to make do with the best of the worst.

  It seems that on the one hand, we should open more study classes, and on the other hand, let Feng Guozhang, Tu Fu and others recommend some people to come up.

  Feng Guozhang was retained as an instructor at the Tianjin Military Academy due to his excellent performance, and he was highly respected by the students. He should be able to produce several outstanding military talents. As for Feng Guozhang, although Ye Zhikui believed that he could control this "Northern Tiger", he would not let him take command of the army for the time being. Instead, he would let him serve as a staff officer for a period of time, assisting him in training troops. Only after his own foundation was solidified would he consider letting Feng lead an army. This is what Ye Zhikui thought to himself.

  It is easy to get a thousand soldiers, but it is hard to find a good general. The chief of the leaves cannot help but sigh.

  Just as Ye Zhi was deep in thought, wondering which celebrities he could invite himself, a knock at the door came from outside. Opening the door to take a look, it turned out to be Little Linglong standing at the entrance with a food box in her hand.

  Ye Zhi Kui welcomed him in and said: "How did you come here? This is a military camp, it's all a bunch of stinky men. It's not a place for girls to come."

  Xiao Ling said in a soft and gentle voice: "Little sister was afraid that Brother Ye would go hungry, so she brought over some food."

  Ye Zhi Kui took the dish and opened it, looking inside for a long time without being able to tell what the stir-fried vegetables were. He picked up his chopsticks, put some in his mouth, and was so salty that Ye Zhi Kui almost spat it out on the spot. Seeing Xiao Ling Long staring at him with eager eyes, Ye Zhi Kui still didn't understand what was going on, so he could only swallow hard and say "delicious".

  Xiao Linglong was praised by Ye Zhiwei, and she happily jumped up and clapped her hands, saying: "I knew Brother Ye would like it, little sister will make it for Brother Ye to eat every day from now on." Then, as if discovering that her actions were a bit rough and revealing her true nature, she hurriedly put on a serious face again, bowed to Ye Zhiwei, and said: "In that case, little sister will take her leave first, Brother Ye please enjoy your meal slowly."

  Ye Zhi Kui couldn't help it and burst out laughing, saying: "Ling Long, who did you learn this from? You should just be yourself again, I'm getting a cramp from watching you. I've always treated you like my little sister, why are you being so polite with me?"

  Xiao Ling lowered her head and muttered in a voice that only she could hear: "Those women all say that men like gentle and virtuous girls, but why doesn't it work on Brother Ye? Brother Ye, I don't want to just be your little sister."

  "What's taking you so long! Come quick and let's eat together, take a look at the delicious food you've made yourself." Ye Zhui beckoned.

  Xiao Ling didn't think much and returned to her usual self, walking over with a big stride, picking up a black thing and stuffing it into her mouth, then spitting it out and shouting: "Ptooey! Ptooey! It's so salty, Ye Da Ge cheated us, saying it was delicious."

  Inside the tent came wave after wave of joyful voices.