The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

The military officers listened intently, keeping their mouths tightly shut.

They wouldn't dare point fingers at the General Who Guards the West!
Who knows if there will be any more wars to fight in the future?

In case of a fierce battle like the one in southeastern Guizhou, they might still be counting on the general to descend from the sky and save their lives at a critical moment.

Besides, the Kansai Military Academy is about to start its semester on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.

One of the thousand spots available for students at the shopping mall was hard-won.

There will be many more times in the future when we can rely on the General to take care of his own children!
The story begins at the beginning of this year when Shangdu secured the first batch of places for the military academy's enrollment.

A thousand people sounds like a lot; it accounts for one-third of the total enrollment.

However, the garrison transferred from the border town to the capital numbered 60,000, with no fewer than 3,000 of them being rank-holding military officers.

To put it bluntly, the students who were able to get the first batch of spots were all those who had powerful connections.

All the fathers have served the emperor!
There are some interesting stories behind this.

There was a fifth-rank guerrilla general who wanted to use the quota to show off his achievements to his wife, but he was so angry with his unfilial son and wife that he almost fainted.

“My dear husband, isn’t Dalang doing well at the Imperial Academy? Don’t we know the situation in Guanzhong? It’s either garrisoned troops or immigrants. What great scholars could there be in the school?”
"Besides, this school uses muskets that are prone to exploding after just a dozen shots. Both Ang and Mother might not agree to Dalang taking that risk!"

The unfilial son said, "Father, we finally made it to Shangdu from that godforsaken border town. How can you bear to send your son to the west to eat sand? And to be locked up in school for four years? Even a dog would go stupid if locked up for four years, let alone a living person like me?"

The guerrilla general was so angry that he directly made a harsh statement:

"Then give this admission spot to your cousin! If he becomes a sharpshooter four years later and gets a good job because of it, you and your son better not be jealous!"

The rebellious son retorted, "Why should he be given to him? Ang is your eldest son!"

Even the troublesome daughter-in-law chimed in:

"Honey, don't you want to have a grandson soon? Dalang's wedding is still two and a half years away! If he goes away for four years, what will the in-laws think?"

A father's roar:
"What will the in-laws think? I don't believe that if he had a choice, he would choose a playboy son-in-law who's always fooling around instead of a sharpshooter!"

Mother: "."

A husband is unhappy with a good-for-nothing son, but to make his son successful, he has to go through a lot of hardship.

Nizi: "."

He's a rebellious son; he has no human rights!

Some were making a fuss at home, unwilling to go to the military academy and suffer.

Some families have many sons, and they fight tooth and nail for this school admission spot.

There were also favored concubines who would risk everything to give their illegitimate sons a chance.

The city's trending topics list was buzzing for a whole month over this enrollment spot.

Finally, only after Emperor Qianwu reprimanded them did they quickly report the names of a thousand students to Guanzhong.

The 1,000 slots allocated to the 15 provincial governors were like a drop of water in a frying pan.

The reaction was intense.

The present is not the same as the previous dynasty.

Military households were no longer considered lowly.

Since emperors were all from military families, it was inevitable that they would prioritize military affairs over civil administration.

All provincial administration offices are spreading the word:
"They say the soldiers trained at this military academy are different from ordinary soldiers! After four years of study, the lowest rank they'll start is a centurion!"

"For children from ordinary families like ours, this is the best possible way out!"

"Knowing that a bright future lies ahead, what hardship can't a teenager endure?"

Competition for this spot was exceptionally fierce even at the local level. Furthermore, some of the admission slots became bargaining chips and favors held by local provincial governors.

The situation is different in the Kansai region.

Students who meet the requirements can register at their local health station.

More than 10,000 people signed up in just half a month.

The only option is to hold an internal elimination round first.

The literary and martial arts competition lasted for a month, with more than a thousand winners.

Based on our understanding of the General Who Guards the West.

While the wealthy young men of Shangdu were attending all sorts of banquets, both large and small, in preparation for the last six months of their free time.

Students in the Kansai region have already begun preparing for their university entrance exams.

When the thousand students from Shangdu arrived at Heping Pass on the first day of the twelfth lunar month, carrying large bags and small packages and having traveled thousands of miles, the other two thousand students had already been waiting for several days.

After the three thousand people assembled, they were not greeted with a gentle welcome, but rather with a show of force.

The tiger-headed figure, clad in black armor, stood before the students, looking quite intimidating.

"From here to the Kansai Military Academy, there is only one newly built black asphalt road, Dachidao, which is exactly one thousand li long."

You have ten days to get to the school, starting from now.

Every hundred miles along the road, there was a shelter where people could collect food, drink and supplies to keep warm.

Those who cannot persevere on the journey may apply to withdraw at any time.

Those who fail to arrive within the specified time will be considered to have failed the entrance examination!
Anyone caught cheating will not only be eliminated, but also sent home and the incident will be reported to the entire army!

The young dandies of Shangdu are shocked! (Image of shocked faces)

Before they came, their fathers had given them detailed instructions, and they were not unfamiliar with the General of the Western Garrison's style of doing things, so they were prepared to endure hardship.

But isn't this suffering a bit too much?
In the Kansai region, winter begins as early as the end of the tenth month of the lunar calendar, with temperatures starting from zero degrees Celsius in the morning and evening.

It started snowing in mid-November!
December is the coldest month of the year.

Several spoiled brats turned pale upon hearing the content of the entrance exam:

"Instructor, are you kidding me? The snow is at least seven inches deep today. Who can walk a hundred miles every day in this weather? It could easily lead to someone's death!"

Tiger Head remained expressionless.

"This level of difficulty is just the easiest monthly training exercise for our Royal Guard Battalion. Our training exercises are always in the desert or snow-capped mountains and grasslands. We've never been given any supplies, and no one has ever died because of these exercises!"

The group of spoiled brats: "."

Is the General of the Western Garrison's personal guard a den of wolves? They're all ruthless!

Some spoiled brats expressed their dissatisfaction:
"We don't have the capabilities of your Imperial Guard. If the Kansai Military Academy doesn't want to admit us, they should just say so! We don't necessarily have to go to this school!"

Tiger Head's expressionless face lit up with a gleam in his eyes:
"Okay, please sign an agreement to automatically waive your enrollment, and we'll send someone back to Shangdu immediately."

He was indeed happy.

The vacant spots will be filled by students from Kansai.

The arrogant young master, who had just been defiant, remained silent.

He was just joking.

Seeing this, his companions quickly stepped in to smooth things over:
“Young instructor, it’s not that we’re unwilling to take the entrance exam, but isn’t the military academy mainly focused on firearms? As long as you’re bold, careful, and have good marksmanship, that’s all you need. We brothers, numbering in the dozens, have been training with muskets for almost half a year at the camp outside Beijing!” (End of Chapter)