Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 431 Class is on

The Royal Military Academy has started recruiting students, and students recommended from all over the country gather in the capital. They must take an examination before officially entering the school.

Although they are all recommendations, there are still differences. Some people only need to take cultural exams, while others also need to take physical and military skills exams.

First there is the cultural examination, then the subject examination, and students will apply for the examination based on their personal wishes.

A total of 2,000 candidates were selected, and finally 230 were left. Among many subjects, the worst were the staff and military medical departments, with only 30 applicants, including 20 in the staff department and 10 in the military medical department.

In other words, the two disciplines cannot recruit enough people. The plan is to recruit 50 people for each discipline. Now only 30 people have been recruited, which is a huge gap.

After this situation was reported, Emperor Chenghui was stunned. He looked at the report for a long time without saying anything. Finally, he habitually said: "Call Jia Lian!"

Jia Lian, who proposed to open these two subjects, naturally has to take the blame.

Jia Lian came here in response to the imperial edict, and was also surprised when he learned about the situation. Are all the emperor's disciples unattractive? Or is there a reason for this?

"It should be that they think the chances of promotion in these two subjects are slim, and many people will regret it in the future. Let's make adjustments temporarily. Those who meet the requirements will be admitted by force, and those who are unwilling to study will not be allowed to take the exam again within three years." Jia Lian gave a sinister suggestion.

After a slight hesitation, Emperor Chenghui thought that if the enrollment was not satisfactory, he would be the one making a fool of himself and embarrassed, so he nodded silently.

So, after seventy candidates received the admission letters, they were happy at first and then sad. Thirty of them would rather give up the exams for the next three years than to study, and were determined to continue to adjust the number of students since Chenghuidi was fully enrolled.

This time Jia Lian stopped it in time and said that he could recruit people from Long Jinwei's family as a benefit. And if there is a similar situation in the future, he will deal with it in the same way.

There are tens of thousands of people in Longjinwei, and many of them have several children in their families. For one more opportunity to become an officer, everyone in Longjinwei is naturally grateful.

In fact, there are people in the military who know the importance of staff, but they are just unwilling to explain it.

The rule of generals leading the troops has continued to this day. It is not easy to change, and there has been no sharp backlash. This is entirely because the emperor's prestige has increased and he has a gold medal thug.

As one of the instructors, Jia Lian was responsible for teaching infantry tactics. This appointment was not questioned by anyone, one because of his background and the other because of his military achievements. No one could say anything against it.

On the first day of school, Emperor Chenghui came to the military academy and delivered an enthusiastic speech. The new students were full of enthusiasm and shouted "Long live the emperor". From then on, they were all disciples of the emperor.

After school started, Jia Lian’s first class was when he stood in front of a group of infantry students. Looking at the fifty students in front of him, there was a big age gap between them.

Some of the students were obviously around 30 years old, and some didn't even have beards. Well, there was a familiar face among the students. Jia Lian pretended not to know him and continued without changing his expression.

"I am Jia Lian, your tactical instructor. Please observe classroom discipline. This is a military academy and military law is enforced. I hope you will remember what I say so that you won't be punished for not teaching."

The opening remarks were quite effective, and the students in the audience had a very good attitude, and none of them looked like they had stye on their butts.

Jia Lian looked at the pairs of eyes that were staring at him, nodded with satisfaction, picked up the chalk and started writing on the blackboard.

[Tactics and Weapons], after putting down the chalk, Jia Lian turned back to continue the class: "Please look at the title. The birth of any battlefield tactics comes from the combination of people and weapons. As the most basic type of soldiers and the decisive force on the battlefield, infantry must be the first to face the enemy's weapons and tactical changes. As long as the infantry formation is not in chaos on the battlefield, the victory or defeat is uncertain. Any general who is not good at using infantry cannot be called a talented commander."

"The reason why firearms will become mainstream is because of the physiological limit of human beings and the cost of training. No matter how good an archer is, the number of consecutive shots he can make is far lower than that of a musketeer. It takes two to three years to train a qualified archer, while it only takes two months at most to train a qualified musketeer."

"Before discussing infantry tactics, we must first discuss military discipline. Military discipline is not only reflected on the battlefield, but also in daily life. A team with strict military discipline is much more capable of withstanding casualties than a team with loose military discipline."

"After the rifle was rifled, the bullet increased its rotation during flight, greatly improving the shooting accuracy. Please see, this is a new model of rifle, with muzzle loading and percussion cap. Please pay attention to the design of this ammunition. This design ensures the speed of loading, which gave rise to a new tactic, the skirmisher tactic."

"The skirmisher tactic is derived from excellent archers. In a frontal field battle, they break away from their own team and advance fifty to one hundred steps, using accurate shooting to open fire before the enemy. Before the enemy reaches the attack distance, they have already suffered a heavy blow and their morale has been frustrated, thus achieving the goal of gaining the upper hand."

"I call artillery the god of war. On the battlefield, especially on the front battlefield, artillery is always the most important. How to use artillery tactics correctly is a skill that you must master."

Jia Lian felt that the class time design was too unscientific. A class lasted two hours, and if he hadn't brought a teacup, he would not have been able to hold on.

Such a class is held every two days. Jia Lian feels that he should be paid more to soothe his wounded heart.

After class, Jia Lian immediately ran away, unwilling to stay even a minute longer. To be honest, Jia Lian didn't have much enthusiasm for being a teacher. Unfortunately, the editor of the textbook was Jia Lian, so he had nowhere to escape.

The reason why Jia Lian was appointed to be responsible for the writing of infantry tactics is very simple. In the practice of the new tactics, Jia Lian is the best choice.

If the battles of Yunyang and Jining were not convincing enough, then the battle against Li Ni's rebellion on the eve of the Spring Festival and the battle of Zhangjiakou undoubtedly proved that Jia Lian was the first to use the new tactics.

In fact, Jia Lian was the chief editor not only of the tactical textbooks, but also of the staff department and military medicine.

It can only be said that when Emperor Chenghui used Jia Lian, he really used him to the utmost.

On the way back to the office, a man followed Jia Lian in. After entering the door, he said with a smile: "Should I respect Brother Jia as Mr.?"

"I was wondering why there was an extra person in the classroom. How did Your Highness get in? None of the classmates know you." Jia Lian was also very curious about how he hid his identity.

"Even if I know him, I will pretend not to know him." Li Heng gave an explanation. It was he who took the initiative to propose to come to the military academy to attend classes, and Emperor Chenghui actually agreed.

To be honest, Jia Lian didn't understand why Emperor Chenghui agreed. In any case, this was also a victory for Li Heng.

Unfortunately, Li Heng's next words made Jia Lian realize that he had guessed wrong. As expected, Emperor Chenghui was as cautious as ever in choosing his successor.

"Not only I will come to attend the class, the second brother will also come. He and I can only attend the class and do not need to participate in the training."

Seeing the slightly regretful expression on Li Heng's face, Jia Lian said calmly: "Your Highness should stay away from me."

Li Heng turned around angrily and said before leaving: "Next time Li Yuan comes near you, you should say the same to him." Jia Lian sneered. How could Li Yuan do that?
A moment later, when Jia Lian walked into the classroom of the staff class, he glanced at the students below the stage, was stunned for a moment, and quickly regained his composure.

By the way, infantry tactics class is a compulsory course, and Jia Lian has a heavy teaching workload, having to teach one day in two days, four classes a day.

The content of the previous lesson was repeated. This time Jia Lian was more calm. He didn't even open the textbook and easily finished the introduction of the first chapter.

After class, I returned to the office. Li Yuan followed me in and clasped his hands politely: "Li Yuan meets Mr. Jia!"

Jia Lian returned the gift with a smile. Putting aside personal feelings, Li Yuan's appearance was indeed much better than Li Heng's.

"Your Highness is too polite. Teaching students is my job. I don't deserve the title of teacher."

Jia Lian deliberately kept his distance, even walked to the door and opened it. He absolutely could not let outsiders cause misunderstandings. If he had known this situation earlier, he would not have had a separate office, and he did not have a female secretary.

Li Yuan was not dissatisfied with Jia Lian's behavior. Instead, he silently approved of it in his heart. He was worthy of being his father's most trusted minister. He was cautious and loyal.

"In ancient times, there was a teacher who could only be called a teacher with one word. Now that I have listened to Mr. Jia's class, I deserve the word "sir". I came here just to thank Mr. Jia and will not cause any trouble to him. Goodbye!" Li Yuan left after explaining his purpose. Jia Lian clasped his hands and saw him off. After watching him go away, he thought to himself that this kind of demeanor is indeed excellent.

There are two more classes in the afternoon, eight hours a day, Jia Lian is very tired. Fortunately, it is only eight hours. Compared with the capitalists, there is still a bottom line and no overtime is forced.

The next day, Jia Lian had no classes and planned to deal with matters in other government offices, but he was called into the palace for questioning by Emperor Chenghui.

"The second and third brothers have attended your class. They all praised your teaching content for being profound and easy to understand, and they benefited a lot from it." Emperor Chenghui came up to praise him, and Jia Lian relaxed his guard and said modestly.

"Your Highnesses, you are too kind. I am just following the instructions."

Emperor Chenghui suddenly asked, "In your opinion, which of the two princes is more suitable to inherit the throne?"

"Of course..." Hmm? Jia Lian almost blurted out, but he realized something was wrong and shut up in time, looking at the emperor speechlessly.

Emperor Chenghui, whose sneak attack failed, was not embarrassed at all. At least he gained something, as he knew that Jia Lian actually had a candidate in mind, but he did not express it due to his duty as a subject.

Emperor Chenghui's judgment was correct. After Jia Lian came into contact with Li Yuan, he found that Li Yuan was indeed more suitable than Li Heng to be a peaceful emperor. The problem was that the dynasty was facing external competition, and it was very fierce competition. If we were not careful, the whole country would fall behind the great powers. When the advantages of the great powers were not obvious, it would be fine. Once the advantages of the great powers were obvious, they were destined to come and rob.

The problem is that Emperor Chenghui believes that what he needs is an emperor who can maintain the status quo and bring peace to the country. In his mind, now is the eve of a peaceful and prosperous era.

Little did they know that in the next few decades, the Western world would undergo tremendous changes. The Industrial Revolution initiated by the British established their hegemony over the seas, while Napoleon ushered in an era of hegemony over land.

At the same time, the North American colonies completed their independence and began rapid expansion.

In the next hundred years, the entire Western world, under the dominance of capitalism, embarked on a rapid growth in productivity.

Once the Zhou Dynasty fell behind, it would no longer be a matter of catching up. It would most likely be another century of humiliation before it could be reborn from the ashes.

Jia Lian's mentality now is no longer the same as when he first arrived, where he just wanted to eat and wait for death. Standing in a position, he should consider the issue of height.

"Your Majesty, why do you have to embarrass me?" Jia Lian pretended to be in pain. Emperor Chenghui smiled and did not press Jia Lian any further.

"I would like to ask for the assistance of Zhang Qing and other ministers. I am confident that before my death, I can bring the Great Zhou to a level that future generations will find difficult to reach."

Jia Lian felt a headache after hearing this. Where did you get this confidence from? This is not a country, but a civilization disguised as a country.

The agricultural civilization that has existed for nearly two thousand years since the unification initiated by Qin Shihuang is facing an unprecedented challenge.

Jia Lian has no confidence at all in the confrontation between agricultural civilization and industrial civilization, and is currently trying hard to push China into the industrial age.

"I will do my best to assist His Majesty in achieving great things." No matter what Jia Lian thought in his heart, he would not say the wrong thing. Thinking one thing and saying another has become his instinct.

To be honest, his age is very deceptive.

Emperor Chenghui was very moved and said something from the bottom of his heart: "I have indeed thought about it carefully. The second and third sons are both good children, but the third son is more aggressive and is not suitable for maintaining the status quo."

The implication is that Emperor Chenghui still has a tendency, which shows how terrible the first impression is.

"Your Majesty, I have heard what you said, and that's all I have to say." Jia Lian decisively interrupted the emperor.

Emperor Chenghui looked at Jia Lian and decided to push him: "Why, Jia Qing, do you really not want to say a word?"

This time Jia Lian decided to take a risk and spoke without thinking: "In life, fairness is relative. However, Your Majesty is too unfair."

Emperor Chenghui laughed when he heard this. He finally told the truth. I thought you could keep hiding yourself. That’s right. You are not even twenty years old yet.

"Yes, I was indeed unfair! Well, then give them a fair chance." Emperor Chenghui was very happy to hear the truth from Jia Lian, and he also knew that he was indeed biased.

He would not think that Jia Lian was biased towards Li Heng. If that were the case, when Li Yuan made repeated mistakes, Jia Lian should have added insult to injury instead of speaking fair words.

The fairness shown by Jia Lian on the issue of the prince just demonstrates his loyalty.

Before leaving, Jia Lian made another request: "Your Majesty, I will resign from this position before the provincial examination."

Emperor Chenghui understood Jia Lian's meaning and approved his request. He nodded and said, "You don't have to attend the class, but your name still needs to be on the list. You can attend the class when you have time. You must know that no one is more proficient than you in the tactical changes brought about by the new equipment."

(End of this chapter)