The process of the exercise is actually quite simple, consisting of only two parts. One is an artillery bombardment, the other is a landing. These were all subjects that Wallace had in the Dutch Navy, and the reason why he had to take out a solemn drill was not only to test the results of the training of new sailors, but also to increase Li Xin's confidence in the navy. The latter was also one of Wallace's arguments to persuade the overseer Miyan to agree to his acting.

However, Wallace did not have much hope for new sailors, after all, they had only been officially sailors for a little more than a month, and a well-trained sailor needed at least a year of training. Therefore, after consulting with the overseer Mi Yan, Wallace decided that all the key and important positions would be operated by the original sailors, and the new sailors would all serve as assistants, seizing this rare opportunity to learn from the experience.

As a result of the prior notice, almost all the heads and brains of the Three Guards in Nanjing attended the exercise. Only Zhang Shi was ordered to lead the three battalions of men and horses to Dasheng Pass to set up defenses, in case the army of Wei Guogong in Taiping Mansion collapsed.

Li Xin specially took Heisenberg as an attaché and boarded the flagship of the Pingbo fleet, and the sailors, both old and new, put on the new military uniforms issued by the Three Guards, and the white cloth was washed clean and straight, and the rows of sailors stood along the side of the ship and the cabin, looking both spiritual and mighty from a distance. But when you get closer, you can find the unpleasantness. Because of the background of the Three Guards, the recruit sailors have always been forbidden to do so, and there is no case of turning heads and ears with the upright of the station.

But the old sailors, especially the Westerners, were different, and as soon as the officers' eyes were out of them, they began to talk to each other, and some even made a loud noise in the language of chirping.

"General! These mercenaries are so unbelievable! Please allow your subordinates to teach them a lesson! ”

Heisenberg, as the attaché named by Li Xin, also followed the ship, apparently understanding the language of those Western sailors. By this time, his face had become extremely ugly, and it was conceivable that the sailors had spoken some excessive words.

Li Xin waved his hand and rejected Heisenberg's suggestion, and soon several foreign sailors exchanged words behind Li Xin.

"Damn, it was supposed to be my last month on the Cohen, and now I'm in the fleet of the Orientals, and my plans to go to New England are going to be postponed!"

"Oh hell, my God! The Marquis of the Ming Dynasty just walked over, aren't you afraid that he will hear it and send you to the guillotine? ”

"John, you coward. How many Orientals can understand English? Their marquis won't take the time to learn our language, only pirates and merchants in the East will learn it! Now even if you call him a pig to his face, if you smile at him, he will think that you are complimenting him! ”

"Oh God! You reckless fellow, don't talk big to me! ”

The sailor's exaggerated tone was evidently drunk, and his tongue was a little knotted when he spoke. He probably thought that this guy named John didn't believe that he dared to call the Marquis of the Ming Dynasty a pig in public, so he put his finger in his mouth, whistled loudly, and shouted at the high-ranking generals who had already walked over: "You stupid pigs! Hey, that Marquis of Stinky Pig, come and shine my shoes! ”

"Oh, hell! You madman, stay away from me, and don't get me guillotined with you! ”

"You see, they don't understand ......"

At this time, Li Xin and Heisenberg understood the words of the drunken sailor at the same time.

Many of the old sailors on the ship were British exiles, and the language of communication was English, and these people thought that the generals and nobles of the Ming Dynasty could not understand English, so they unscrupulously made their own high-minded remarks, many of which were derogatory and sarcastic. Li Xin did not care about the derogatory ridicule, it is impossible to conquer a person's spiritual world by force, and even if coercive measures are used against these people, he is afraid that the final result will be counterproductive, and it will arouse their antipathy to the East.

Westerners pay attention to practical profits, as long as they know that they follow the Ming Dynasty and have gold to make, sooner or later these people will forget those wandering days in the past. What's more, these old sailors were all over-the-top sailors, and he had to rely on the first batch of recruits to join the navy in order to train a navy that had always been loyal to him.

However, this kind of blatant clamor is something that Li Xin cannot tolerate, otherwise it will greatly affect the prestige of the senior generals of the Three Guards Army in the army. He came up to the drunken sailor and shouted in English to stand upright.

The foreign sailors standing in front of Li Xin all stood up straight, and the drunken sailor also stood up straight, but he couldn't suppress the swaying of his body, and his eyes quickly turned from doubt to fear, this Ming Dynasty marquis can speak English! Could it be, did he understand?

"Where's the sheriff?"

The Westerners were lax in discipline on their ships, but after these sail battleships joined the Pingbo fleet, Li Xin set up a number of law enforcement officers on each ship, whose main duty was to maintain military discipline on board. Li Xin had personally participated in the formulation of naval discipline and regulations, and on the issue of whether to allow sailors and sailors to drink alcohol, he fully consulted many Westerners who had experience in the sea, such as Wallace and other Western officers, as well as Han pirate officers, among whom He Bin was the representative.

The vast majority of people agree that long sea voyages are boring and arduous, and that banning the crew from drinking alcohol will obviously increase the mental stress of the sailors and may even cause riots. It is precisely because of this that Westerners do not prohibit alcohol on their ships, and it is not uncommon for captains and first mates to be drunk and command ships.

However, Li Xin had reservations, believing that if he was drunk during the battle, he would cause irreparable damage, so he made further compromises on military regulations.

Except for sailing, it is forbidden to drink alcohol during the battle, and the offender will be punished with thirty lashes!

Therefore, Li Xin directly proposed punishment measures against the drunk sailor in response to this article.

"The Marquis of Yuzhen, according to the military discipline and regulations of the Three Guards, the exercise is equivalent to fighting, and William, the spinnaker bearer, knowingly committed, should be hung with thirty whips!"

William, the spinnaker driver, suddenly woke up a little, and although he couldn't understand Chinese, he could guess from the stern expressions of these officers that he was going to be unlucky. He casually glanced at John next to him, only to see this guy covering his mouth and gloating.

William, the spinnaker driver, was a headache for Wallace, and before the drill had even begun, there was an incident in which the sailors insulted His Excellency the Marquis. He regretted not telling the unruly sailors that His Excellency the Marquis was proficient in English. But it's too late to say anything, and we can only do our best to minimize the adverse effects of this accident.

Wallace scolded William the Spinnaker with a slap in the face, and then had the sheriff rip off his straight, straight white shirt, revealing his scarred and angular back, and his hands were tied with hemp rope and hung from a crossmast. Wallace took the whip from the sheriff's hand, and after getting it in the water, he used all his strength to whip William thirty lashes so hard that he cried out in pain.

After thirty lashes, Wallace was also tired and sweaty.

"Carry him off the ship, and he will not be allowed to go on board without permission!"

Li Xin disposed of the unruly spinnaker William in just a few words, and frightened all the Western sailors into a daze. The noble and young Marquis was able to understand their language, and many people began to rejoice that they had not spoken ill of the Marquis behind his back.

In fact, the crime of insulting the boss on the boat is even more severe, showing that the severity of the offense is divided into three degrees, the first degree is the heaviest, and the execution is carried out by hanging, and there is no room for mercy. Second, a hundred lashes were hung and expelled from the navy. The lightest of the third class, with thirty lashes, worked in the bilge for a month.

Everyone on board the sea knows that the work in the bilge is the hardest, most tiring and dirtiest, usually done by two kinds of people, slaves and prisoners of war, and this punishment will make the punished life worse than death. Therefore, Li Xin was actually merciful to his subordinates.

Everyone on board only needs to think a little bit about this to understand this. William, the spinnaker, did not understand that the Marquis could punish himself with the heaviest punishment, and that the act of insulting his superiors could not be denied by everyone, but he chose the lightest punishment.

When William was carried off the ship, he involuntarily glanced at the Marquis on the ship. He came to the conclusion of two possibilities, either the Marquis was an idiot, or the man had let himself go!

"That's it! Let's move on! ”

This little episode made Li Xin feel that it was necessary to do ideological work on the whole ship of sailors, so as to unite people's hearts, instead of being scattered like now. The first step is to name the ships that are available, and the old names of the ships must no longer be used.

William's troubles did not make the Marquis angry with him, and Wallace was secretly glad in his heart, and immediately issued an order to the captain to immediately raise the sails and anchor.

With a flurry of shouts and the sound of trumpets at their respective posts, Li Xin only felt that the deck under his feet shook imperceptibly. Soon he discovered that the buildings and people on the shore of the military port began to move slowly, in fact, this was just an illusion, and what was really moving was actually the sail battleship under his feet.

Five miles upstream there were targets that had been set up long ago, and a beautiful show was about to begin. The gunners were veterans of naval warfare, and a single salvo from a battleship could easily destroy a gun target on the shore.

"General Wallace, please take everyone to the artillery deck for a tour!"

This was a deviation from Wallace's expectations, and he wanted to lead the group to the bridge of the amidships, where they could enjoy the magnificence of the fleet from a high vantage point. Unexpectedly, His Excellency the Marquis had to go to the hot, dirty, cramped, and dangerous artillery deck.