Water Margin begins as a captain in Yanggu County

Chapter 448 Stop making a fuss and do your own thing!

The military academies in Bianjing began to assemble, and in fact, military academies in all four capitals of the country were assembling.

The instructors and students gathered in Bianjing, numbering four or five hundred. The number may not seem large, but it was still a significant proportion compared to the army under Su Wu's command.

The army under Su Wu's command in the past actually numbered less than 100,000 at most. If you add the Western Army and the troops from Jiangnan and Zhejiang, the total number was probably around 200,000...

The four martial arts academies in the capital city combined have a total of two thousand students in their first class, which is quite a large proportion. And there will be more coming in the following years...

The artillery training school is also beginning to assemble, with about two or three hundred people.

Of course, there were also accelerated training programs where students could graduate in just a few months; these were exclusively for high-ranking officers. For ordinary students, the training period was two years.

This is the initial stage. In the future, we will obviously expand enrollment, broaden the range of disciplines, lengthen the academic year, and even split the artillery training school into four parts, which will be incorporated into four military academies.

After these two thousand men graduated, Su Wu planned to send some back to their original army, and others to send them to various prefectures and cities across the country to serve as key personnel. He planned to send a batch out every year, gradually replacing the old army generals over a period of three to five years.

The transformation of the new and old armies will be completed gradually. At that time, whether it is generals or soldiers, those who should be laid off will be laid off, those who should be emigrated will be emigrated, those who should be reassigned will be reassigned, and even miners and tax collectors will be reassigned...

This task is very important. Right now, outside the capital, there are over 100,000 former soldiers who were scattered and returned to their camps. These are all urgent matters that need to be addressed.

At the Jingzhong Martial Arts Academy, there was another specially approved student, Gao Shouzhen of the Gao family from Dali.

There is also a ceremony for starting school.

The emperor himself came to inspect and supervise, which naturally served as encouragement.

Four or five hundred people isn't a lot; they can all squeeze into one courtyard.

The emperor naturally had to make a speech, offering words of encouragement that were nothing more than urging people to study literature, martial arts, and philosophy, and to serve the country, the people, and the nation.

The course subjects were all personally reviewed by Su Wu. The most basic one was indeed literacy, but not basic literacy; it was advanced literacy.

Then came ideological education on loyalty to the emperor and love for the people. This education could not be conducted in the same way that scholars used to study. It involved learning history, how this nation and country came to be, and what it means to be Chinese...

It speaks of those times of national crisis and peril, and how the country was lost during those periods…

Speaking of tragedy, the most tragic events in the internal and external wars throughout history are the most tragic. Chinese history books are best at recording these hatreds and sufferings. There is only more tragedy than the most tragic.

The incompetence of the nation and its soldiers has brought immense suffering to this country, not to mention the current plight of hundreds of thousands of people in Hebei...

They even wanted to bring the victims to speak for themselves, to tell the stories that happened right before their eyes: how their father died, how their mother died, how their elder sister was abused, and how their wife and daughters suffered humiliation...

How the neighbors are...

If the students aren't moved to tears, then the ideological education is considered inadequate.

We must even learn about the entire country's operating system, its core mechanisms, the path to national strength, and the reasons for its decline...

and so on...

Then learn basic management, and even some basic economics: what is money, what is supply and demand, what is production...

They learned basic mathematics and various arithmetic operations. Su Wu even compiled some mathematics textbooks, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The school also invited mathematics instructors. Su Wu officially began to promote symbolic mathematics in the martial arts academy.

In his own textbook, so-called symbolic mathematics uses Arabic numerals, as well as the symbols for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, without using Chinese characters, which is more conducive to learning and calculation.

Su Wu hadn't had time to promote this system yet, and it was still being delayed. But now, he decided to get started first...

The conversion between Chinese characters and symbols is not difficult for mathematics teachers to learn. It can be done in a few days, and in the future, these teachers will also be responsible for compiling more complete mathematics textbooks.

Once a basic mathematics textbook with Chinese characters and symbols is available, it will not be difficult to promote it nationwide. People who understand mathematics will naturally understand it at a glance.

As for the military training, it covered specific tactics and strategies, how to deal with soldiers, and how to improve team cohesion...

What factors are needed to win a war, and what factors contribute to defeat?

Then, in terms of specific war command and the analysis of various battle examples...

The course content for learning drafting and map reading was personally written by Su Wu.

The cartographic skills of this era were actually quite good; the gap lay in certain concepts, such as contour lines and precise scales, which are closely related to mathematics.

Therefore, math lessons were included in the curriculum, which was also the motivation for Su Wu to start promoting symbolic mathematics despite his busy schedule.

Mathematics is so important that everything, including the development of science and technology, must begin with the popularization of modern mathematics.

Su Wu even planned to establish a mathematics research institute and give officials and ranks to those there.

In essence, the government's policies are a way of telling everyone that whether you are an accountant or a scholar, you have a bright future. As long as you study hard and deeply, you can truly stand out from the crowd.

This is something that will happen several years from now, and by then we'll be able to gather a group of talented people.

When Su Wu had a little free time, he would have a serious conversation with Su Wu, but he realized that there wasn't much he actually knew.

But Su Wu at least knew what the mathematical system was constructed like: algebra and geometry, basic functions, basic analysis...

Furthermore, Su Wu also knew roughly what the foundations of advanced mathematics were, and what calculus was...

Su Wu could compile all of this into a book, not an educational or popular science book, but a guide for those with a relatively good mathematical foundation to construct a mathematical system...

Once this starts and gets on the right track, there will be a continuous stream of people following in its footsteps.

One can't help but wonder, if there's a mathematics institute, couldn't there also be a physics institute? A chemistry institute? A natural sciences institute?

People have all sorts of talents, and society is generally open-minded. It's just that Su Wu had a tough time. At the beginning, no one could help him with these things. But once he really started, Su Wu wouldn't have to worry about the rest...

Once it truly begins, things might develop so quickly that they would exceed Su Wu's expectations...

But ultimately, it's all just the beginning...

Su Wu could only transform himself into an even more diligent emperor, working tirelessly from morning till night...

A few days later, Su Wu remembered someone, Chen Dong. It wasn't that he had forgotten anything; another class of students from the Imperial Academy had graduated.

Chen Dong was among them. The Ministry of Rites reported that the new dynasty had just been established. How should this matter be handled? Should it follow the old precedent? Or are there new policies?
This inevitably meant that Su Wu would immediately have to undertake another task: reforming the Imperial Academy and the National Academy. The method of reform would inevitably be the same as that of the martial arts academy, depending on the emphasis of the subjects...

In the future, the Imperial Academy and the National Academy will inevitably become the highest universities in the country, and they will gradually change in that direction. In the future, whether it is the Institute of Mathematics or the Institute of Physics, they will have to add courses to the Imperial Academy and the National Academy.

The reforms will be implemented from top to bottom, and in the future, they will be added to prefectural schools, county schools, township schools, and eventually village primary schools. This will be a long process.

Such a system would inevitably consist of primary school, junior high school, senior high school, and university.

In villages, primary school is called "menxue" (蒙学), in townships it's called "xiaxue" (乡学) or junior high school, in counties it's called "gaoxue" (高学) or prefectural schools it's called "fuxue" (府学) or university.

The general direction of the plan is correct; let's take it slow...

That's how it is for this year. People like Chen Dong can be granted official positions, while most people will simply wait in line for vacancies. Those who wish to participate in the imperial examinations can simply take the exams again.

Su Wu planned to keep Chen Dong by his side for two years before sending him away to a distant place.

Within a few days, Chen Dong took office, his official title being: Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat, Proofreader, Rank 8... His job was... to be Su Wu's document custodian.

He collected whatever Su Wu wrote, even binding it into volumes and categorizing it neatly. He also compiled and stored away any official documents that arrived from various places.

Even if the emperor wanted to see or examine something at any time, he could find it and present it to him at any time...

This job is Su Wu's enlightenment and teaching of Chen Dong. Just follow along and watch. After watching a lot, you will understand.

If you don't understand, then study it yourself. If you really don't understand, then you won't be able to do your job well.

However, the top talents of the Imperial Academy are already the most cultured group in the talent training system of this era. If Chen Dong can't do this job well, then no one else can. It's also a physically demanding job, and we can't just find an old man whose memory is declining to do it.

It has to be someone who excels in reading and memorizing.

Chen Dong does his job, and Su Wu does his job. Aside from work-related conversations, Su Wu doesn't usually offer Chen Dong much help or attention...

But Su Wu knew that people like Chen Dong harbored a burning passion within them...

Let him hone his skills, and after two or three years, let him unleash that burning passion...

Of course, if Chen Donglai were to take the imperial examination again next year, Su Wu would not stop him. Having spent so long organizing documents and papers by the emperor's side, Chen Donglai might actually have something to show for himself next year.

However, Chen Dong wanted to participate in the imperial examinations because he already held an official position. Therefore, he first had to take the "Suoting Examination," which was a special examination for those who already held official positions.

These systems are actually not bad; they all have their own rationality, and Su Wu will not make any major changes for the time being.

Go!

Yue Fei sets out on his campaign!

The army consisted of 10,000 men, 5,000 cavalry, with supplies and logistics provided along the way. The number of civilian laborers and the like was not large.

In addition, two thousand fierce Khitan cavalry were recruited from Linhuang Prefecture.

Upon reaching the Northwest, he will combine another 10,000 troops, 3,000 cavalry, and 8,000 auxiliary soldiers...

Then they went to Xingqing Prefecture, and together with another 10,000 cavalry from the grasslands, they made a total of 40,000 men on the westward expedition, with a total of three to four thousand carriages.

With the four prefectures of Hexi already in our hands, this western expedition will begin outside of Hexi, starting from Yumen Pass.

The emperor left the palace gate, then the city gate, and was escorted all the way to the Yellow River.

On the first day, the army camped on the banks of the Yellow River. No matter how much the people pleaded with the emperor to stop, he still insisted on seeing them off.

Even the emperor himself wanted to return overnight, so that he could be back in Tokyo early the next morning.

Before leaving, Yue Fei saw him off again. He hadn't gone far when the Emperor stopped, saying, "This time I'm giving you the imperial edict to deliver to Yelü Dashi. Make sure he accepts this official appointment. It would be best to bring Yelü Dashi back, at least to the Central Plains so I can see him. Also, let him return to Linhuang Prefecture and Yanjing to see the Khitan people..."

"As you command! Your subject will certainly reason with them and appeal to their emotions, and even have your Khitan subordinates plead with them." Yue Fei nodded.

"But lastly, I must tell you something: if it is truly impossible to befriend him, then Yelü Dashi will no longer care for the Central Plains or his homeland, and we will fight him if necessary!"

"I am going there to expand our territory and fulfill my mission. If I fail, I will return with my head on my back!" Yue Fei understood the emperor's intention: no matter what, he would rebuild the Anxi Protectorate, just like the Han and Tang dynasties.

The ancestral land must not be lost by future generations!
Such a legacy will last for millennia! The history books will be filled with tales of the founding generation of the Great Yan Dynasty, a story that will surely be remembered by posterity.

"Let's go..." Su Wu waved his hand, spurred his horse, and rode away.

Everything that needed to be said has been said.

Yue Fei also knew that the news came in bits and pieces from the Beiting Protectorate. At this moment, Yelü Dashi was not too far away, roughly in the area north of the Western Uyghurs and west of the Altai Mountains, where he was fighting against the Karakhanid Dynasty.

At this moment, Yelü Dashi already had as many as 20,000 to 30,000 households of Turkic people under his command, and the development was extremely rapid.

However, it seems that Yelü Dashi is not yet able to defeat the Karakhanid Dynasty, and news of Yelü Dashi's defeat has returned.

This was good news, but Su Wu knew that Yelü Dashi's defeat of the Karakhanid Dynasty was inevitable...

Therefore, this expedition was slightly ahead of schedule. Yue Fei had to hurry to go, and at this very moment, Yelü Dashi needed allies, which was a difficult time!

Once he truly destroyed the entire Karakhanid Dynasty, Yelü Dashi became unstoppable.

At that time, Yelü Dashi will ascend the throne and establish the Western Liao Dynasty, also known as "Juer Khan" or "Guer Khan". He may indeed be "happy and forgetful of Shu" and no longer miss his homeland.

Su Wu has already returned to the capital. The reason why he was seen off for a whole day is that Su Wu had very high expectations for this western expedition. Although he did not express them to Yue Fei, his expectations were truly beyond measure.

The horse had already gone far away. Su Wu turned his head slightly to take a look. In the firelight in front of the camp in the distance, a figure was kneeling on the ground, kowtowing to see him off.

Su Wu felt a surge of warmth in his heart. Yue Fei, Yue Fei, you must return in triumph!

Su Wu's cavalry quickly disappeared into the night.

Yue Fei slowly got up, tears welling up in his eyes. He wiped them away slightly, and then a military clerk, Zhao Gou, came up behind him.

Zhao Gou bowed and asked, "General, the hot water is ready. Please come and wash up..."

Yue Fei's gaze was still fixed on the distant darkness. He was going to travel thousands of miles away and didn't know when he would be able to return. Wasn't this also a kind of longing for home?

Yue Fei waved his hand: "No rush, no rush. If we leave the capital now, when will we return?"

Yue Fei may have forgotten that when he went on the western expedition, he never thought about returning. At that time, his feelings were one of escapism and avoidance...

At this moment, however, he was already thinking about the day he would return.

"General, if the water gets cold in a while, we'll have to burn more firewood..." Zhao Gou said again.

"Yes, I understand!" Yue Fei said, and slowly turned away.

But then Zhao Gou suddenly said, "General, the day you return will surely be the day you are promoted and ennobled!"

Zhao Gou thought he was saying nice things, things that sounded good.

But Yue Fei suddenly glared at him and said, "Stop making a racket and do your own thing!"

"Yes, yes, yes..." Zhao Gou didn't know what he had done to offend Yue Fei, and kept bowing and begging for forgiveness.

Yue Fei disliked this kind of person from the first moment he saw him. Because of one incident, this fellow was captured alive and knelt down before the emperor, weeping and begging to be spared!

That's why this fellow came under his command as a military advisor.

In fact, it contains Yue Fei's last bit of emotion.

Even the Zhao family members are kneeling and begging for survival; what can be done? What else can be said?

The Song Dynasty is gone, completely consigned to the dustbin of history...

The Great Yan was the legitimate successor of the Central Plains of China!
(End of this chapter)