Chapter 51: Stirring Up a Wave of Learning Characters

  Yang Du walked in when Ye Zhi Kui was revising documents. He nodded to indicate Yang Du to sit down, and after a while, Ye Zhi Kui stopped his actions and looked at him, asking: "Xiao Zi, has your opium addiction been acting up lately?"

  Yang Du was a bit embarrassed and replied: "I haven't taken opium for many days, I believe it won't take long to quit."

  Yang Du was assigned to work under Xian Ren Shi by Ye Zhi Kui for a period of time. Initially, he did some menial tasks such as serving tea and water. After observing that Xian Ren Shi was relatively honest and loyal, Yang Du began to entrust him with writing records of bribes. Since taking on this task, Yang Du gradually became more disillusioned with the imperial court. In the past, Yang Du would occasionally mention the imperial examination or read the Four Books and Five Classics, but as he gained more insight into the inner workings of the Qing dynasty's officialdom, he became increasingly disheartened by its darkness and was left feeling battered and on the verge of collapse. From then on, he began to diligently work for Ye Zhi Kui.

  Ye Zhiyuan nodded and encouraged: "You are still young, opium harms people, it's not good for your body in the end. Moreover, our army has clearly prohibited smoking, if anyone violates this rule will be expelled from the camp. As my confidant, you should set an example for those who smoke."

  The two of them chatted for a while, and soon Ren Shi and Wang Shizhen arrived. Seeing that everyone was present, Ye Zhiwei invited them to sit down and discuss the matter at hand. Ye Zhiwei said: "I have called you three here this time to solve the problem of how to improve the cultural level of our Wu Yi military officers."

  "What's cultural level?" Wang Shizhen asked somewhat puzzled.

  Ye Zhiwei smiled and said, "Many soldiers are illiterate, while officers can learn some knowledge in the battalion school, but soldiers have no place to study. We cannot ignore these people who may become squad leaders or platoon leaders in the future. Moreover, with increasingly diverse weapons and complex operations, soldiers still need to recognize some simple characters. Most importantly, we must make them understand why they are fighting."

  When I heard the last sentence, I stood up and said with a sudden realization: "Oh! I understand!"

  "Do you really understand?" Ye Zhi Kui asked uncertainly.

  When I saw him, I patted my chest and replied, "Don't worry, Ye Shao, just leave this matter to us."

  After finishing speaking, he pulled along still unclear Wang Shizhen and Yang Du to stand up and bid farewell.

  It only took one day, and when See Ren Shi Wu returned with Yang Du and Wang Shi Zhen to report the results, See Ren Shi Wu walked into the camp with his head held high and a calm expression, while Yang Du and Wang Shi Zhen looked at him with embarrassed faces and admiring eyes.

  Ye Zhi accepted the three people's work that took a day to produce, which was a fairly thick handwritten book. The cover only had the words "Ye Shao Teaches You Chinese" in large letters, with a note on the side: "Introduction to Basic Chinese Characters".

  Open it up and even those with thick skin like Ye's would feel a little embarrassed. The first page reads: "The sky is big, the earth is big, but not as great as the kindness of Wu Yi Jun; Father and mother are not as good as Ye Shao; A thousand good things, ten thousand good things, are not as good as Xin Jun being good." This one isn't even the most shocking. Look at these others: Holding high Ye Shao's "all enemies are paper tigers" argument, vowing to "look down on the enemy strategically and take them seriously tactically"; The brilliant commander, handsome teacher, heroic helmsman Ye Shao is healthy, forever healthy; With great enthusiasm, strive for excellence, build a good Wu Yi Jun with speed, quality, and efficiency.

  Ye Zhi Kui rubbed his scalp, no wonder many people like to listen to flattery. In the eager and expectant eyes of his number one bootlicker, Ye Zhi Kui felt that if he didn't give him a word of praise, it would be a crime. So he had to say: "Not bad, let's go with this textbook, make full use of every spare moment of the soldiers, mobilize everyone to study Chinese characters seriously. As a member of our Wu Yi army, how can we not have culture?"

  Yezhi Kui thought for a moment, then said to Jianren: "Add a few more sentences of loyalty to the imperial court inside, but grasp the degree well, don't be too excessive, mainly let the soldiers feel my care for them at all times."

  When I saw Ren, I batted my eyelashes and replied, "Your subordinate understands!"

  Then, under the leadership of Jianren Shi Wu, the first round of literacy education campaign in the Wu Yi army was launched with great fanfare. Each soldier was required to memorize at least five big characters every day. Later, Ye Zhi Kui asked Wang Shizhen to compile some military rules and regulations into simple rhymes, making it easier for soldiers to remember them by heart. As the study went deeper, Ye Zhi Kui's image became more impressive. Jianren Shi Wu secretly praised Ye Zhi Kui in his heart, thinking that even a piece of toilet paper could have its own great use, depending on how you used it.

  Through the long corridor, Ye Zhiwei followed Butcher and turned another corner, finally arriving at an underground room. Pushing open the door and entering, there was no sign of the usual crowding and dampness found in such rooms. Instead, numerous candles were lit, giving the entire space a dreamlike quality. On the wall opposite the entrance hung a massive world map, with many cities marked on it. Next to the map was a flag bearing an eagle in search of food - the banner of the Thirteen Hawks.

  In the center of the basement, there was a long table, and at this time, both sides were lined with silent black-clad men. There were about twenty people, all dressed alike, with their faces covered with cloth, unable to see each other's appearance.

  Ye Zhi Kuai walked straight to the top of the world map and said: "Sit!"

  With a rustling sound, these black-clad men almost simultaneously sat down, without any disorder. Ye Zhikui continued: "Begin the report!"

  The first black-clad person on the left immediately stood up and began to report, and upon hearing this voice, it was surprisingly a woman's. However, there wasn't the slightest bit of femininity in her tone, instead it was stiff and rigid as she said: "Reporting to Young Master Ye, the major events that occurred in the capital this month are..."

  The woman finished her report and sat down automatically, and the people behind her reported one by one. Throughout the process, without Ye Zhiwei's interruptions, it was smooth and flawless. After the report was completed, these thirteen eagle intelligence personnel would personally hand over some important intelligence that everyone analyzed to Ye Zhiwei, and these personnel were all in single-line contact with the persons in charge of other regional thirteen eagle branches.

  Ye Zhi Kui finally finished listening to the report, and took a few copies of what he thought were important intelligence documents. Some of them still needed to be discussed with his staff before deciding on a countermeasure. After all, one person's ability is limited.

  Ye Zhi Kui swept his gaze over the black-clad men and said in a deep voice, "Number One, stay behind. The rest of you can leave first."

  Number One, the first woman to report, was in charge of gathering intelligence in the capital. After Ye Zhikui and others had finished speaking, she asked: "What's been going on with Yuan Shikai this month?"

  Yuan Shikai visited Weng Tonghe twice this month, and visited Ronglu ten times. He also visited other ministers more than ten times. His main activities took place at the Songyun Grass Hall, Xu Shichang's residence, and he joined Kang Youwei's Strong Learning Society as an active member. After investigation, it was found that Yuan Shikai's goal is to replace Hu Yufen in Xiaozhan for military training.

  Unexpectedly, due to his influence, Kang Youwei's Strong Learning Society was established a whole year ahead of schedule. It seems that in the future, he can no longer rely solely on his original historical knowledge.

  Ye Zhiwei remained silent for a moment, then instructed: "Contact the person in charge of Beijing and ask them to pay close attention to Zhang Jian's and Yuan Shikai's movements at all times. If anything important happens, report to me immediately."

  Number One hastily took note of it, and seeing that there was nothing else, Ye Zhi Kui ordered Number One to withdraw. However, before she left, Ye Zhi Kui casually said: "I heard that your family members all died at the hands of corrupt officials, but the deceased are already gone, you're still young, don't always live in pain." Number One's body trembled slightly, and she didn't respond, Ye Zhi Kui let out a faint sigh.