Chapter 71: The First Guard of the Zhang Family

  Rodman walked over and took a look at these people, laughing and saying: "You can't be thinking of having me train these people?"

  Zhang Lei glanced at these people and said, "What? Not possible?"

  "This... isn't impossible, actually training troops is just that simple, on the way here Caesar already told me to respect the customs of Eastern people, so at the very least I will strictly follow the requirements for training, as for other trainings, it can't be done now." Rodman said.

  The current conditions are too simple, wanting to train a modern European army is simply impossible. Zhang Lei didn't expect Rodman to have such great abilities, he said: "No, no, no, I just want them to undergo the most basic training, first solidify their foundation, and then talk about other things. I am currently looking for people to study seamless steel pipe technology, only then can we manufacture good weapons."

  Since it's just basic training, there shouldn't be any problem, Rodman agreed. Zhang Lei then said: "The effectiveness of physical training is just that, I hope you can teach them how to be a soldier."

  "That's for sure," Rodman replied.

  Zhang Lei turned around and said to everyone: "I suppose Old Seven has already explained the purpose of my visit to you all?"

  Jiang Yuyang smiled and said, "Boss Zhang, there's no need to say more about these things. I've made it clear that Boss Zhang has brought such great changes to Xujiayuan. We are all resources following you. What do we need to do? Just give us orders."

  "In that case, there's no need to say more. Zhang Lei pointed at Rodman and said: 'From now on, he is your teacher. Whatever he teaches you, you will learn. His words are the same as mine. You're not allowed to object. Did you hear that?'"

  "I heard it." Everyone said in unison, then Jiang Yuyang asked: "Boss Zhang, can you tell us why this is?"

  "Right, right, why should we listen to this old guy?" Several people echoed in agreement.

  Zhang Lei said, "This is a special instructor I've invited from outside to train you into qualified soldiers. If you want to join my guard, it's not enough to just rely on your individual strength, you must undergo training. Only through hard and scientific training in peacetime, even if you shed a lot of sweat and tears, is better than shedding blood on the battlefield! Do I need to explain further?"

  "We all know, we will definitely not disappoint Mr. Zhang's hope." Jiang Yuyang said.

  "Alright, that's settled then, Mr. Rodman," Zhang Lei said with a nod. "I'll leave these people to you. I'm going to take a look at the church construction site."

  The church was built by Zhang Lei on the west side of the village, overlooking a water area and a barren mountain planted with tomatoes. Although it's still early, dozens of craftsmen are already busy as bees.

  "Boss Zhang, you're here." Keller said when he saw Zhang Lei. He also followed everyone to call Zhang Lei "Boss Zhang", and Zhang Lei didn't bother to correct him. During his time in the capital, his Mandarin had improved a lot.

  Zhang Lei smiled and greeted him: "How's it going? Are you pretty satisfied with this church?"

  "Satisfied, too satisfied, praise the Lord, Mr. Zhang, the Lord's mercy shines on you, if you can join..." Caesar looked up at the sky with a devout expression, then said to Zhang Lei.

  Here is the translation:

  "Here we go again... Zhang Lei felt depressed and before Caesar finished speaking, he hastily refused: "Don't say any more, I won't join. And if you dare to preach your doctrine in class, I'll demolish this church. You're a believer, but you have the mission of educating people."

  "Oh...... alright......" In the face of Zhang Lei's strong stance, Cai Sa immediately lost his temper and could only reluctantly accept reality, "I will do as you say. Master will prove it for me."

  Just as they were talking, Rodman came running over with a group of young men. As they approached, Zhang Lei saw that everyone was covered in sweat and panting, so he gestured for them to stop and rest for a while.

  "Weren't there just a few of them? How did so many suddenly appear?" Zhang Lei called out to Jiang Yuyang and asked.

  Jiang Yuyang wiped the sweat from his forehead, his red face panting heavily. After a while, he said: "Earlier, everyone was still busy at home, I was going to report to you first, but I didn't expect to start training so directly. So when the instructor took us running around the village, I called up all the people."

  "Oh, I see, so let me ask you, what do you think of this instructor?"

  "What he said makes a lot of sense, and everyone admires him for that. Moreover, he always does things together with us, so we all respect him from the bottom of our hearts." Jiang Yuyang said happily.

  Zhang Lei and Luo De Man shook hands, saying: "In that case, won't you be too miserable?"

  Rodman said: "As a teacher, if you can't even do it yourself, why must you demand others to do it?"

  For his theory, Zhang Lei deeply agreed and recalled the past when he had to accept the teachings of more than a dozen teachers alone. He sighed and said: "Yes, if it's not one teacher teaching all subjects, why do students have to learn all subjects?"

  "After resting for about a quarter of an hour, Zhang Lei said: 'Alright, alright, since I've helped you invite such an excellent Mr., then you must work hard and don't disappoint my expectations. You are the first team I formed, and in future military strength, you will all be considered veterans. As long as you perform well, I absolutely won't treat you unfairly.'"

  "Alright, I'll continue leading them on. If we rest for too long, it will breed laziness," Rodman said as he led everyone on again.

  Zhang Lei looked at these dozens of people, feeling very excited. He was now a legitimate and powerful military man. As long as his younger brother passed the imperial examination again, things would progress quickly. As for Yan Jue's side, this county magistrate had recently been enthusiastic about running schools. Not long ago, he even went to other places to invite famous teachers.

  Half a year has passed, and Zhang Lei felt that he should study another essential item. That is steel.

  In any modernized facility, good steel is indispensable. To illustrate this point, the example of Damascus steel knives is sufficient. In front of Zhang Lei, he cannot be satisfied with cold weapons alone. If repeating rifles use seamless steel tubes, if warships are made of steel...