Chapter 70 I Have A Dream

  Li Zhen stood on the high platform, slowly straightened his chest, upright as a pine tree, and his spine was like a dragon, standing tall like a mountain. His eyes were calm and deep, scanning each soldier in the training ground one by one. Every soldier looked at Li Zhen with hope and excitement in their eyes. They concentrated and held their breath, waiting quietly.

  At this moment, Li Zhen's mood suddenly became heavy.

  Before this, Li Zhen only came to inspect the results of the soldiers' training and had no intention of speaking. In front of more than 2,000 soldiers, Li Zhen was not nervous at all and could speak fluently and easily for a long time. After finishing a series of encouraging words, he would adjust the atmosphere, boost morale, and the soldiers would be excited for a long time.

  However, Li Zhen felt uneasy and somewhat oppressed in his heart.

  More than two thousand soldiers in the schoolyard were Li Zhen's foundation, loyal to Li Zhen. For such a group of soldiers, Li Zhen wanted to say something else, because they would follow Li Zhen to fight and struggle for this great country.

  Li Zhen did not want the soldiers under his command to only know how to fight, but also to have a firm spiritual belief, to know what they were fighting for, this was Li Zhen's sudden thought.

  Li Zhen was thinking about what to say in his heart and did not speak for the time being.

  Silence!

  The courtyard is silent, with no sound of birds chirping, extremely quiet.

  Huang Shi Hai, Yang Ban Hou, Zhou Xiu Ying and Huang Hu were all staring at Li Zhen, their hearts secretly anxious, not understanding why Li Zhen was slow to speak. At the same time, Huang Shi Hai and others also began to speculate about Li Zhen's intentions, wondering why he didn't speak.

  The atmosphere in the field became oppressive.

  All eyes of the soldiers were focused on Li Zhen.

  Five minutes of silence.

  No one dared to make a sound, not even a cough, only faint breathing sounds. From this, it can also be seen that the soldiers trained by Huang Shi Hai, Yang Ban Hou and Zhou Xiu Ying were well-disciplined and obedient. Some of the soldiers also took Li Zhen's silence as a test, waiting patiently.

  Li Zhen looked up, closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again, saying loudly: "More than 4,000 years ago, China had the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, who multiplied and thrived on this land, beginning to prosper."

  "Wow!"

  Li Zhen's opening remark shocked the soldiers below.

  Yang Banhou, Huang Shihai and Zhou Xiuying were also wide-eyed, their mouths slightly agape, with expressions of utter incredulity on their faces. Li Zhen's opening remarks were too unexpected, no one could have guessed that he would say such things. The usual speeches given to soldiers were words of encouragement, followed by promises of benefits and rewards to entice them to fight to the death.

  Suddenly returned to several thousand years ago, everyone was stunned.

  Fortunately, no one spoke up.

  Li Zhen's expression was serious, his eyes scanned the room and he continued: "More than 4,000 years ago, China began to rise, the Chinese nation stood at the top of the world. At that time, China had civilization, where were the United States, France, Russia, and Britain? They were still a group of savages, and some places didn't even have people, only birds, beasts, insects, and fish."

  "After the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, there were Xia, Shang, Zhou, then Qin Shi Huang, and also Han Wu's majestic wind."

  "Majestic China, standing tall in the world, can be called a heavenly kingdom."

  "Han General Chen Tang once said: Those who openly offend the Han, no matter how far away they are, will be punished! This sentence expresses the voices of many Han sons. Such heroic words, even now, still make me feel my blood boiling with excitement."

  "By the Tang and Song dynasties, it was even more the center of the world."

  "Since the founding of the great Ming dynasty, there has been no tribute paid to others, no land ceded, no indemnity given, and no kowtowing. The emperor guards the country's gate, and the king dies for his country. How magnificent! But in today's world, it is all about ceding territory and paying indemnities. Foreigners are arrogant, and I feel ashamed."

  "China stands in the world, as the center of all under heaven, and the head of all nations."

  "But more than 4,000 years later today, we can no longer hold our heads up high. The Han people are inferior to the Manchu people, and the Chinese people have to be inferior to foreigners, bowing their heads and being subservient. Why is this? We have tens of millions of brothers and sisters, can't we win a fight? I don't think we can't win, it's just that we dare not fight, this country dares not fight."

  Li Zhen swung his fists and gradually got into a state.

  Zhou Xiuying's beautiful eyes sparkled with excitement. Although Li Zhen didn't mention the Qing dynasty, his words also had a hint of allusion. Huang Shihai and Yang Banhou clenched their fists, with a surge of hot blood flowing in their hearts.

  In those days, mighty and heroic!

  But now it's desolate!

  In such a situation, everyone felt indignant and had an unusual emotion deep in their hearts.

  Li Zhen continued: "The northern Russia was once conquered by the Mongols, and it has only been established for a few hundred years. Now it is occupying the northern territory, like a ferocious bear. Britain and France are also countries that have been established for several hundred years, but they are already pressing in on us, forcing the Qing government to sign unequal treaties. Even the United States, which is less than a hundred years old, is becoming increasingly arrogant."

  "What about us as the Celestial Empire?"

  "When the enemy comes to attack, the imperial court does not resist, it is frightened, only prolonging its life in a state of desperation, only humbly surrendering."

  However, the imperial court did not resist, we must rise up.

  "Shanghai is a place where foreigners are all over the place, I came here and it's my territory, I'm in charge. If foreigners dare to be reckless in Shanghai, I'll suppress them. If they dare to kill me, I'll fight back. Foreigners have strong ships and good cannons, but we also have the wisdom left by our ancestors, as long as we dare to fight and struggle, there are no foreigners that we can't defeat."

  When it came to the exciting part, Li Zhen's face also turned red with excitement.

  Li Zhen said excitedly: "You have trained diligently, honed your skills and martial arts, I am deeply gratified. From you, I see the hope of our country, I see the unyielding spirit deep in our hearts. I have a dream, I want us to be a strong and prosperous nation, where our country is not bullied, our people are free, and the Han people are not oppressed."

  Gradually, Li Zhen calmed down again.

  Li Zhen looked at the soldiers and calmly said, "I want to tell you that following me is not about being comfortable. You can drink, eat meat, even take money to visit brothels and find women, but you are soldiers, the sharp tools for protecting the country. On your shoulders, you bear the responsibility of protecting the nation and its people."

  "I say this, perhaps some soldiers would say that I'm just a small soldier, how can I protect the country? The country is the emperor's concern, it has nothing to do with me."

  "If you think so, then you're absolutely wrong."

  "The emperor cannot protect the country, nor can he protect the people. It is you soldiers who truly safeguard the border and bring peace to the people. With you, the country can eliminate external threats and resist invasion." Li Zhen's task was to instill in the soldiers the idea that their participation was meaningful, making all the soldiers feel that their sacrifices were worthwhile.

  Some soldiers looked serious, while others still had a dazed expression.

  All sorts of reactions, varied and diverse.

  Li Zhen said loudly: "Actually, the principle is very simple. You think carefully, when foreigners come to kill and bandits rebel, will the emperor go to the battlefield to fight? Will officials in the court go to wave flags and shout slogans? In the end, it is the soldiers who are fighting on the battlefield, it is you people who bear the heavy burden."

  "Some soldiers will say, others who serve in the military have nothing to do, why do we need to train so hard? I'll say it again, you're shouldering the country and its people, this is responsibility!"

  Li Zhen gave soldiers a goal, a sacred belief and an unshirkable responsibility.

  "Huang Shi Hai was the first to shout: 'General, I'm with you.'"

  Immediately afterwards, Huang Hu and Yang Banhou responded loudly, and the voices of the soldiers began to rise and fall in the training ground. Even the three hundred female soldiers behind Zhou Xiuying started shouting loudly.

  The whole campus started boiling up.

  P.S: The second of three updates; this chapter took more than three hours to write, it's exhausting, come give me some encouragement.