The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 86 The Spring of a Reckless Man

The Nanyuan Parade Ground was completed.

The middle of the slightly yellow grassland looked like a huge military camp.

The large parade ground was surrounded by a circle of wooden railings taller than a person, and tall gates were built on all four sides.

On the inner side of Mu Lanshan was a circle of neatly arranged tents, with more than 2,000 tents on each side. Twenty thousand soldiers from the Beijing camp, ten thousand Jinyiwei and ten thousand imperial guards were stationed here.

Inside the tent are rows of neatly arranged fighting arenas.

The height of the fighting arena is about half a zhang, and the width is about three zhang. There is also a pavilion-like roof on it. There is also a five-person marching tent next to each fighting arena. There are 1,200 fighting arenas and 1,200 military tents, neatly and staggeredly arranged.

In the middle of the large parade ground is a command platform that is dozens of feet wide.

This general's platform is about ten feet high, with a palace-like ceiling on top and half-person-high fences on all sides. In the middle is a large square table. The large chairs with backrests around the table can face inward or outward, which is very convenient.

The entire Nanyuan Parade Ground was organized like a huge military camp, extremely spectacular and full of military atmosphere.

It was around 3:00 PM, a time of crisp autumn air. Wanli stood on the reviewing platform, holding up a telescope and taking a closer look. He nodded slightly and said, "Well, it's well built. It looks like a large military camp. It even has a bit of a battlefield vibe. This is how a military examination hall should be built."

Upon hearing this, Yongnian Earl Wang Wei humbly said, "This outer perimeter was built by General Qi and his soldiers from the Beijing Camp. I also led others to build the martial arts arena and the general selection platform."

Qi Jiguang is worthy of being a world-famous general. The outer camp he built looked like a template.

Wanli nodded slightly, and then instructed: "Don't withdraw all the craftsmen. Leave 10,000 to renovate the palace complex in the middle and turn it into the headquarters of the Beijing Camp."

Upon hearing this, Yongnian Earl Wang Wei nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Qi Jiguang said cautiously, "Your Majesty, that is a temporary palace. It would be inappropriate for me to live there, wouldn't it?"

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "What's the big deal? Those eunuchs in charge all live there and enjoy themselves. What's wrong with you moving in?
This is actually just a cover. You should always maintain a force of around 40,000 troops here. After training, select the soldiers from the Beijing Camp and transport them to the Mountain Resort on food carts. This way, others will not be able to figure out the actual number of troops in the Beijing Camp.

Oh, so this is just a cover.

This premise is really big, covering hundreds of thousands of acres, and there is also a general's mansion which was converted from a palace.

Qi Jiguang nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Qianji, how many examiners have been recruited? How long will it take to finish grading the military strategy and formation theory exams?"

Liang Menglong said rather embarrassedly, "Your Majesty, not all the officials in the Ministry of War understand the art of war. I have only recruited a dozen or so, so there are 4,800 candidates. The three art of war and three formation theories mean nearly 30,000 examination papers. It would be good if each of them can read about 100 papers a day.

I estimate that it will take at least twenty days to mark the papers. After the military strategy and formation theory exams are completed on September 15th, the list of martial arts examination candidates will be posted around October 6th or 7th.

This is too slow. The palace examination will be held on October 9th.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then said decisively: "Yingzhen, each of your three dukes' houses should select five genuine military scholars to help Qianji mark the examination papers. Try to finish marking the papers within ten days."

Why is he in such a hurry?

There is naturally a reason for this.

This military examination is not just about selecting military scholars. He also wants to secretly select a group of border soldiers to control the other five border towns.

In order to show his importance to this military examination, he stayed in Nanyuan Parade Ground and did not return to Beijing. As the examination date approached, candidates from the two capitals, thirteen provinces and nine border towns of the Ming Dynasty came one after another.

Before these candidates came, they had never imagined that not only would the martial arts examination be reformed this time, but even the examination venue would be built so well.

When they saw the huge Nanyuan parade ground, they could hardly believe their eyes. When they saw Wanli wearing a dragon robe often appearing on the stage to review the generals, they were even more shocked.

The current emperor actually attaches so much importance to the military examination. Is it a good thing or a bad thing for them?

This scorer is naturally a good thing for Ensheng, who came here for military merits and honors.

If they had no connections or backing, they wouldn't have been sent to the battlefield to kill the enemy. If they had taken the exam according to the previous rules, they wouldn't have been able to surpass those wealthy and well-connected martial arts candidates.

Now that His Majesty is here, those people should not dare to cheat. They have great hopes.

This is not a good thing for those military examination candidates who passed the exam through connections or bribery.

The Emperor is here, who dares to take their money?

Since no one charges them money, you can imagine how they perform on the exams.

On September 15th, the military examination officially began.

Early in the morning at about 1 a.m., just as the sky was getting light, bursts of commands were heard in the Nanyuan parade ground.

The soldiers of the Beijing camp lined up in neat rows and poured into the examination hall like water. Soon, ten people were lined up around each competition arena.

The candidates who were going to take part in the military examination had already stood up and were ready. Following the order from the commander of the Beijing camp, they all stepped onto the stage.

The test on the first day was not about martial arts, riding, archery, etc., but about military tactics and battle formations.

There were no weapons or stone locks placed on the arena, but four small tables and four sets of pens, ink, paper and inkstone.

As soon as the candidate knelt down in front of the small table, Wanli appeared on the platform in the middle wearing an imperial robe.

This is enough to prove how much importance he attaches to this military examination.

The military examination is different from the liberal arts examination.

The liberal arts examination consists of three sessions, each lasting three days, and each session has a pile of questions that make people's scalp numbing.

The military examination lasts for three days. The first day tests military tactics and formations, the second day tests basic skills, and the third day is for riding, archery, and martial arts competitions.

In order to show his importance to this military examination, Wanli actually got up early every morning to supervise the examination on the platform with Qi Jiguang, Liang Menglong and others!
The first day of the exam was nothing special. You just had to kneel down and write essays. There were nearly 30,000 essays written by 4,800 candidates, and it was impossible for him to read them all.

The next day was different. The first competition in the morning was to lift stone locks. The starting weight of the stone locks on the competition arena was 100 jin. If you couldn't even lift 100 jin, then it would be embarrassing. You definitely had no chance of becoming a military scholar.

Of course, if you can lift heavier, there will be a bonus, and the heavier you lift, the greater the bonus.

These people dared to take part in the military examination. They must be able to lift a stone lock weighing 100 kilograms. There were quite a few who could lift 200 kilograms. The soldiers of the Beijing camp around them could not help but cheer for them.

This was also approved by Emperor Wanli. The military examination no longer had to be as boring as the liberal arts examination. Who would remain silent on the battlefield? Shout when you need to, and cheer when you want to.

He saw people on the arena near the reviewing platform lifting 300-jin stone locks, and couldn't help but ask with interest, "Yuan Jing, what do you think of this group of candidates?"

How do you say this?

Qi Jiguang thought for a moment, then said carefully, "We won't know the specifics of this batch of candidates until all of them have taken the exam. However, there are quite a few with sharp eyes among them, and it's obvious that they are veterans of many battles.

Your Majesty, I have an idea. If there are some who have outstanding military achievements but whose military tactics and formation theories are not as good as others, could you directly recruit them into the Beijing camp and appoint them as Qianzong, Bazong, etc.?

This is a good idea. A general does not necessarily have to be an expert in all military tactics and battle formations. Not all generals in the army are in charge of the overall situation. Many of them are there to lead the troops into battle.

Those who have made outstanding military achievements must be extremely brave on the battlefield. Even if such people cannot be the main general, they can still be a captain or a lieutenant commander who leads troops into battle and kill the enemy.

Upon hearing this, Wanli nodded repeatedly and said, "Okay, when the results come out, go ask. Anyone who comes from a frontier army and participates in the examination based on military merit can stay in the Beijing camp regardless of their results."

Now, the reckless man is also blessed. It is much better to directly join the Beijing Camp as a captain or a lieutenant commander than to be a cannon fodder in the border town.

Moreover, Wanli attached great importance to military merit. As long as they killed the enemy and made meritorious service, it would not be impossible for them to be promoted to guerrilla general, lieutenant general, or even general.

(End of this chapter)