Yang Wenguang was ordered to form a new army, and then he was given the post of "regiment commander". The corresponding rank of the new military system is lieutenant colonel.

Meng Ming was awarded the post of political commissar of the regiment, at the same level as Yang Wenguang, and also had the right to supervise him.

At this time, Yang Wenguang came to Meng Ming's house, along with his wife Bao Feiyun and son Yang Huairen (four years old).

Meng Ming hurriedly came to greet him when he heard the news, because there were female dependents and children, so Yu Chan and Zhao Mingyue also came to greet him.

Meng Ming and Yang Wenguang went to the study, while the other ladies and children went to the backyard.

At this time, Yang Wenguang said: "Brother Zhengsheng, this time I came to thank you, the great victory I achieved in Huili is inseparable from your help, especially the muskets, mines, and grenades have made miraculous achievements. ”

Meng Ming said at this time: "Brother Zhongrong, you have won the award, no matter how powerful the weapon is, it is just a thing, the key factor of war is still people; It is still the result of your front-line soldiers who are not afraid of death and are dedicated to their lives. ”

Yang Wenguang laughed at this time, and said, "Our brothers don't have to be polite, right?" I'm here to form a new army, after all, this is your idea, and your heart is bright. Although I am the chief general this time, I still need my brother to plan in the middle, and you are the mastermind behind the new army. ”

Meng Ming also responded with a smile, and then said: "Brother Zhongrong, you'd better hurry up and recruit troops, just call them from farmers and good families; Don't summon the so-called elite men from the forbidden army, because they have the habits of the old army, and they are also veteran ruffians, and it is easy to bring bad morale to the new army if they come to them; And most of those farmers and good families are loyal and honest people, like a blank piece of paper, easy to scribble and easy to train. ”

Yang Wenguang brought a pen and paper and wrote down Meng Ming's recruitment requirements.

Meng Ming asked again at this time, "Brother Zhongrong, what is the salary of ordinary soldiers now?"

Yang Wenguang said: "The current military salary is generally about 10 yuan per month (consistent money), and the ration is two catties per person per day. ”

Meng Ming said: "The new army we trained, the training intensity is quite large, I decided to increase their salary, in addition to the military salary of the imperial court, the new army decided that I personally pay out of my own pocket and give each person an additional ten yuan of monthly salary; It is also necessary to improve their food, adding half a catty of meat per person every day, and seeing meat at once, with the exception of two eggs. ”

Yang Wenguang was stunned when he heard this, he couldn't accept what Meng Ming had just said for a while, this was beyond the scope of his current cognition, after all, such conditions were comparable to the treatment of a battalion commander from the army.

When he came back to his senses, he stammered, "Brother is not here, in... Let's joke, let's talk about it, it's a lot of money in a year, and the salary is too high, right? ”

Meng Ming said indifferently: "I still have to pay for this money, and the cost of this year is about one million yuan (one hundred thousand) is enough." ”

Meng Ming wrote a conscription notice on the spot in his study, and then asked his family's printing house to print hundreds of copies, and then handed it over to his housekeeper and asked him to send someone to the countryside to post the notice.

Meng Ming said again at this time: "Brother Zhongrong, you first send your henchmen to set up a few recruitment points in the counties below Tokyo, and then go to the Royal Military Academy with me, now the military academy is also going to recruit students, you have to recommend a few elites to me, it is best not to be a meritorious child." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Yang Wenguang jump up, and then saw that he was a little anxious, and he had an angry expression.

Then I saw him cry out strangely, "Brother, what do you mean? Your brother and I are also after the meritorious service, why can't I see your brother and me clearly, after the meritorious service, recruit you or provoke you? After the meritorious service, it is not all the gentlemen and the second ancestor,

They were indeed born "with a golden key", but their life has been designed, and they will eat and drink along the designed trajectory, pretending to live a lifetime, and they basically have no chance of fame, especially those concubines and grandchildren, so the squandering, prodigal, and second ancestors are just their appearance, and who knows the sourness in their hearts? ”

When Meng Ming heard this, he hurriedly apologized to him, and also gave him thirty enrollment places and asked him to recommend them independently.

Meng Ming and Yang Wenguang took the bus to the Royal Military Academy together, and the bus was always overcrowded, but the two sat in VIP seats.

The two arrived at the military academy, and Yang Wenguang came for the first time.

I saw that the gate of the military academy sat north to south, the style was very simple, and there was a horizontal plaque of "Great Song Dynasty Royal Military Academy" with black characters on a white background on the forehead of the archway, which was Zhao Zhen's handwriting.

At the door of the second gate hangs a couplet: "Kill the enemy and stop, and the horse leather shroud will turn back."

On the wall on the right side of the second gate, there is the school motto of "Loyal to the Country" written by Zhao Zhen.

There is a couplet hanging on both sides of the color building at the gate of the military academy: "If you are promoted to become rich, please go elsewhere; Greedy for life and afraid of death, don't enter the gate", and the banner reads "Those who are loyal to the monarch and serve the country come".

As soon as you enter the gate, you will see a bronze statue of the "grandson" of the soldier saint about four meters high.

Then walk on the main road of the school in the shade of greenery, there is a teaching building on the east side of the road, a four-story courtyard cement building, three roads and four entrances, divided into left, middle and right three roads, two floors and two floors, each floor corridor communicates; There are four deep entrances, each separated by a patio, with a total construction area of about 20,000 square meters.

On the east and west sides of the north-south axis, the houses are arranged in the same form, symmetrically with each other, and are surrounded by walls.

Under the president, the university has six departments: politics, professors, coaches, management, quartermasters, and military doctors, with a total of about 20 institutions, as well as student dormitories, canteens, exhibition rooms, etc.

There is also a three-story building on the west side of the gate, which is a staff dormitory.

The Political Department is in charge of political education, military affairs and propaganda in the whole school, and mainly wants to instill in the students the sense of family and country and the idea of loyalty to the monarch, with Meng Ming as the minister.

The Professorial Department, like the Political Department, is an important department and is responsible for formulating teaching plans and evaluating grades. The privy envoy Xue Kui served as the minister.

The chief military instructor is Yang Wenguang. Although Yang Wenguang is the chief instructor, he is not familiar with advanced coaching methods, and some things can only be taught while learning.

The largest area is the training ground, Yang Wenguang saw a lot of equipment and facilities that he had never seen, and Meng Ming explained them to him one by one.

Meng Ming focused on telling him about the 400-meter obstacle course, and the obstacles placed in turn were turning flags, cross-piles, trenches, low walls, high springboards, horizontal ladders, single-plank bridges, high walls, low pile nets, and turning flags.

Its specifications are as follows: the runway is one hundred meters long and three and a half meters wide. The turning flag is five meters away from the cross-pile, the cross-pile is ten meters away from the trench, the trench is fifteen meters away from the low wall, the low wall is fifteen meters away from the high slab jumping platform and the horizontal ladder, the high slab jumping platform and the horizontal ladder are twenty meters away from the single-plank bridge, the single-plank bridge is eighteen meters away from the high wall, the high wall is ten meters away from the low pile net, and the low pile net is seven meters away from the turning flag.

Meng Ming demonstrated how to run a 400-meter obstacle at this time, and he jumped with all his might, climbed over trenches and high walls, crawled through the ground pile network, and quickly passed all the obstacles.

Yang Wenguang was interested, he saw that Meng Ming passed very easily, so he was eager to try, so he tried to pass quickly, and fell off the single-plank bridge halfway.

In the end, he came back disgraced, with a stupid but unwilling look.

Meng Ming smiled and quipped: "Brother Zhongrong, do you think that this 400-meter hurdle is so easy to pass, brother, I also have such a training ground in the farm, I have been training hard for many years, and it requires one-fifth of a quarter (three minutes) to pass to be qualified." ”

Yang Wenguang was more interested in a tall minaret, and he pointed it out to Meng Ming.

Then he asked curiously, "Brother Zhengsheng, tell me what that huge white disc is, you see that it has two long pointers on it; The disc is evenly divided into twelve equal parts, each marked by twelve numbers, and each part is divided into five small parts. ”

Meng Ming explained: "Brother Zhongrong, at this time, the thing used for timing is the same as the sundial and missing engraving we use now, I call it a clock, which is far more accurate than the missing engraving, and it is also used for military academy training to tell the time." ”

He pointed to the clock and said to Yang Wenguang: "You see that the current hour is 9:45 in the morning, the short and thick hand is the hour hand, and the slender hand is the minute hand. ”

Yang Wenguang said: "With such an accurate clock, it is of great significance both in life and at work, and people no longer rely on experience and inaccurate omissions to predict time." This will give work life a real sense of time and a sense of rhythm. ”

Meng Ming also agreed with him, and Yang Wenguang asked to visit the bell and drum tower.

The two entered the tower, then went up the stairs, and finally entered the inside of the clock, only to see the heavy wrought copper base covered with large and small gears, chains, and huge steel screws and rivets, the gears kept meshing and running, making a rhythmic sound of "ticking and ticking".

This clock suddenly made a "dangdang" sound, and it rang ten times in a row, which startled Yang Wenguang, and he hurriedly looked around, trying to find the source of the sound.

Meng Ming looked at him and felt amused, and then he teased him, and then the two of them went down the stairs, out of the tower, and went to the admissions office to discuss relevant enrollment matters.

This time, the students were selected and screened from the Sanya Forbidden Army and the Northwest Frontier Army, and the official family also gave 40 places to the meritorious children, recruiting a total of 300 students.

Meng Ming and Yang Wenguang were looking at the list of students sent by the Privy Council, and there were many acquaintances and friends on the list, such as: Guo Zun, Cao Ning, Di Qing, Li Zhaoliang, Wang Kexu, Shi Yanbin, Chong Xu, Pan Liangzuo, Murong Junyi, and Gao Wenhuan.

Meng Ming took out the previously written "Military Training and Assessment Syllabus of the Royal Military Academy" and handed it to Yang Wenguang to watch, and he was fascinated when he saw it.

It was already noon, Meng Ming was about to go home, he called Yang Wenguang several times, but he couldn't respond, Meng Ming had to wait helplessly for him to finish reading.

In the end, Yang Wenguang was amazed after reading it, and said one after another: "With this good plan, I, the chief instructor, will settle down, and I don't have to worry about running out of goods in my stomach anymore. ”

He glanced at Meng Ming, with a hint of gratitude in his eyes, his stomach suddenly made a "gurgling" sound at this time, he was suddenly extremely embarrassed, and smiled at Meng Ming a little abruptly.

He said apologetically: "Brother Zhengsheng, it's all mine, I'm so fascinated by this plan that I forgot to eat, this time I invite you to a big meal, thank you for helping me so much." ”

Eventually, the two left the military academy and headed for the bus stop to return to Tokyo.