I was compiling the daily records during the Wanli reign

It was the tenth day of the tenth lunar month, near the fourth watch of the night.

The night was as dark as ink, without stars or moon.

A sudden burst of rapid drumming sounds came from the Jingwu Academy on the outskirts of Beijing.

"Assemble at the training ground! Assemble at the training ground!"

Soon, someone recognized the sound as the drumbeats of the assembly at the drill ground and immediately shouted from inside the tent.

Swish!Swish!Swish!
In almost a few breaths, a thousand prospective trainees quickly dressed and rushed to the training ground ahead.

They had practiced this kind of sudden mobilization training many times, and they did it smoothly and skillfully.

Many prospective trainees speculated that the assessment might have already begun.

After a while.

One thousand prospective students and more than two hundred instructors gathered in the large training ground on the southeast side.

Two people stood on the high platform in front of the training ground: Shen Nian and Yang Bing, the Earl of Zhangwu.

Behind the two was a group of Imperial Guards representing the royal family.

Shen Nian looked around and announced loudly, "The civil service examination will be held in the Martial Arts Hall in half an hour, ending at noon!"

Shen Nian finished speaking.

Immediately afterwards, an instructor repeated Shen Nian's words aloud five times in succession to ensure that all one thousand prospective students could hear them clearly.

Subsequently, dozens of Imperial Guards began distributing wooden plaques engraved with serial numbers.

The prospective trainees are no strangers to this.

The wooden plaques correspond to the room and chair numbers inside the military academy, and this is also done for local military examinations.

What puzzled the prospective trainees was—

How did the selection process for students at Jingwu Academy turn into a civil service exam within the martial arts examination system?

It should be noted that the previous selection process had very low requirements for military knowledge, because the Jingwu Academy will teach these skills later.

Some prospective students who were good at military strategy were very excited, while others who were not good at military strategy or had very bad handwriting frowned slightly and felt very helpless.

In a short while, the wooden plaques were all distributed.

Shen Nian waved his hand and shouted, "Dismissed!"

Immediately, the thousand prospective trainees rushed towards their tents.

This half-hour preparation time is for them to wash up, eat breakfast, and use the toilet.

At this moment, none of the prospective students dared to discuss the literary selection, question the decision, or inquire whether there would be a martial arts selection later.

Because even the slightest misconduct could lead to elimination.

At Jingwu Academy, anything unexpected can happen.

……

Half an hour later.

One thousand prospective students appeared in different rooms of the military academy.

These rooms are used by the Jingwu Academy for martial arts lectures and student examinations (i.e., examination rooms), and each room is equipped with a hundred sets of tables and chairs.

At this moment, their desks were fully prepared with writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones; all that was left was to distribute the scrolls.

Inside an examination room.

An instructor, acting as the proctor, held up the exam papers and announced loudly, "The martial arts academy's written exam is officially beginning! Distribute the papers!"

Immediately, two Imperial Guards began distributing scrolls.

Swish!Swish!Swish!
As the Imperial Guards distributed the exam papers, the proctor continued, "His Majesty will personally review and select the candidates for this exam. Please answer carefully. During the exam, you must not look around, make any noise that might disturb others, or leave your seats prematurely. This exam will end at noon!"

Swish!
Just then, a student raised his hand.

The proctor looked at him and said coldly, "Put your hand down. If this happens again, I have the right to expel you from the examination room!"

Upon hearing this, the student quickly lowered his arm.

He wanted to ask what to do if he needed to use the restroom in the middle of the session.

When the proctor said this, he already knew the answer.

Jingwu Academy, though called an academy, is in reality a military camp, where obedience to orders is the primary principle.

Even if you have doubts, you must obey.

For minor matters like going to the toilet, according to military regulations, one should naturally hold it in; if one can't hold it in, one can simply urinate in their pants.

Soon, the exam papers were sent to each prospective student.

When the prospective students saw the four questions on the exam paper, almost all of them frowned, unsure of how to begin.

At that moment, Shen Nian and Yang Bing were patrolling the examination hall.

Seeing the reactions of the test takers after seeing the exam questions, the two were quite satisfied.

That's exactly the effect they wanted.

If the civil service exams at Jingwu Academy were easier than the civil service exams for the imperial military examinations, then Jingwu Academy would have no reason to exist.

These four questions are not meant for ordinary people.

Rather, it is designed for military geniuses who love and understand the military, have independent thinking abilities, and whose cognition far surpasses that of ordinary soldiers.

If you can get "good" on three questions, you are considered to be very excellent.

These four questions are—

Question 1: "Emperor Taizu established garrisons to house soldiers and farmers, but now the soldiers rely on recruitment. Recruiting soldiers costs more than six million taels of silver a year, and the garrisons are short of 300,000 men a year. The Ministry of Revenue says it has no money, and the Ministry of War says it cannot be without soldiers for a day. How can we ensure that the financial resources are inexhaustible while the fighting strength increases?"

This is a question about whether to adhere to the garrison system or the conscription system.

At present, the Ming Dynasty has a system of garrison and conscription, with frequent recruitment of soldiers during wartime. The court has been trying to find a way to balance the two.

Even if an official of the fifth rank or above in the Ministry of War were to answer this question, he might not be able to answer it well.

These were clearly not things that soldiers should be thinking about.

It's normal that they can't answer, but if they can answer in a way that satisfies young Wanli, then they are worthy of being given special training by the Jingwu Academy.

Question 2: "Our dynasty uses civil administration to control the military and internal affairs to govern external affairs. However, border matters are urgent, and border generals often have to make decisions on their own. They have to ask for instructions on everything, which delays the opportunity to win battles. If they are too powerful and make decisions arbitrarily, we are afraid that they will repeat the mistakes of the Tang dynasty's regional military governors. What is the solution?"

Compared to the overly ambitious first question, this question is practically a death trap.

It is common knowledge that the young Wanli Emperor is currently elevating the status of military men, but the general trend remains one of civil officials controlling the military.

How to balance the autonomy of generals and commanders with the degree of control by the court is a major problem that has troubled the court. The fact that the young Wanli Emperor is setting up the Jingwu Academy indicates that there will be further actions. If the emperor's intentions are misjudged, not only will the results be poor, but the emperor may also be reprimanded.

Question 3: "Zheng He's voyages to the Western Ocean brought glory to the world. Now, the nation has opened up the seas and attracted silver, and maritime trade is booming. However, coastal defense cannot be neglected. How can we balance the naval power to control the seas and the prosperity of maritime trade?"

This is a new question.

Many prospective trainees come from the North and have no understanding of maritime trade and defense, so there are bound to be very few who can speak on the subject.

Question 4: "Draw a map of the nine border defenses or explain the firing principle of a musket."

This is a detail-oriented question, and only those with technical expertise could possibly solve it. Even the instructors at Jingwu Academy would find it difficult to answer this question correctly.

There wasn't much time all morning, with four major questions.

After a moment of thought, the prospective students all gritted their teeth and began to write.

Since the emperor was reviewing the papers, they absolutely dared not submit blank papers. Therefore, even if they did not write well, they had to show the young Wanli Emperor their serious attitude.

About half an hour later.

A sound of collapse came from one of the examination rooms.

"It's too difficult, I can't do it!"

As soon as the voice fell, two Imperial Guards dragged him away.

His actions had affected others, and he was directly disqualified from the selection process.

After that, the other prospective students dared not be restless anymore. Even if they couldn't write anything, they all sat obediently and didn't dare to move at all.

Subsequently, another trainee was expelled for crying out loud, and two others fainted and fell off their chairs.

These types of trainees have too little resilience and are not suitable to serve as military officers, let alone go to the battlefield.

Near noon.

Shi Qing arrived at the Jingwu Academy on the orders of the young Wanli Emperor.

He came here to collect the scrolls.

After collecting the exam papers, he would take them directly to the Wenhua Hall and hand them over to the young Wanli Emperor for grading. Neither the Grand Secretariat nor the Six Ministries had the right to interfere.

……

In the blink of an eye, it was noon, and Shi Qing personally led people to collect the scrolls.

After the prospective students left the examination room.

Some burst into tears, some collapsed to the ground, some were preparing to return home, and some were slapping themselves in the face, cursing themselves for using muskets so often but never understanding the basic principles of musket firing.

After the prospective trainees had finished venting, they suddenly received a new message.

After the civil service examination, there is a martial arts examination. Even if you don't pass the civil service examination, those who excel in the martial arts examination can still become students of the Elite Martial Arts Academy.

This news rekindled hope among prospective students.

However, the date for the martial arts selection is still undecided, and they must remain highly focused from now on.

……

In the afternoon, the clear laughter of the young Wanli Emperor could be heard from time to time inside the Wenhua Hall.

This was the first time he had graded such a large number of papers.

These exam papers are much more interesting than the imperial examination papers.

Some people have terrible handwriting, some always make spelling mistakes, some draw very ugly pictures, and some are talking nonsense with a straight face, ultimately losing sight of the bigger picture.

The young Wanli Emperor followed the method taught to him by Shen Nianzeng.

It was discovered that these exam answers not only revealed the test taker's family background, but also their temperament and hidden cunning.

The young Wanli Emperor corrected errors very quickly.

In less than three days, he had finished grading a total of one thousand exam papers.

The reason it happened so quickly was that almost all the prospective students were equally bad.

Of these, only three people met his approval.

After Emperor Wanli finished reviewing the exam papers, he first set the three papers aside. Then he divided all the papers he had reviewed into two categories and ordered the eunuchs on duty, led by Fang Ping, to list the candidates and their backgrounds for each paper.

At the same time, the three exam papers he selected required all military registration information to be presented to him.

Fang Ping and the other eunuchs worked very quickly, completing the task assigned by the young Wanli Emperor in just half a day.

After reading it, Emperor Wanli admired Shen Nian's foresight even more.

The two types of exam papers he selected corresponded to the sons of military officers and the lower-ranking soldiers, respectively, and their real backgrounds were almost identical to what he deduced from the exam papers.

The sons of military officers were indeed better at writing than the lower-ranking soldiers. Even if both were poorly written, the former were still poorly written in a way that reflected a fixed pattern of thought.

The exam papers for lower-ranking soldiers, on the other hand, contained a wide variety of content, including everything imaginable.

If the military examination system were followed, military officers would be monopolized by the sons of military families. Therefore, it is necessary to leave opportunities for soldiers at the bottom. They have more potential for development and are more loyal to the monarch if they fight their way up from the bottom.

Then, Emperor Wanli began to look at the three prospective students he had chosen.

Regardless of their backgrounds, the young Wanli Emperor decided to recruit these three individuals as students of the Jingwu Academy because they were exceptionally talented.

It would be a loss for the court not to select them.

Swish!
Emperor Wanli looked through the three men's military records and couldn't help but smile helplessly.

All three were scions of military families.

A man named Ma Gui came from Youwei, Datong, Shanxi, and was a member of the Ma family, a military family in Shanxi.

A man named Chen Ke, from Guangdong, whose grandfather had been the Vice Commander of the Left Guard of Guangzhou, greatly excited the young Wanli Emperor with his knowledge of coastal defense and trade.

There was another student named Da Shan, who came from Liangzhou, Gansu, and was a member of the Da family, a military family in Gansu. He was the only one who not only explained the firing principle of the musket but also provided specific diagrams.

“In terms of strength, the sons of military officers are indeed the best. However, if the military is strong, and there is no internal strife, it cannot be monopolized by the family. We need to cultivate more military talents!” the young Wanli murmured.

"Summon Minister Shen and Earl Zhangwu to an audience!" said the young Wanli Emperor.

……

Half an hour later.

Shen Nian, who was busy with the military selection, and Yang Bing, the Earl of Zhangwu, appeared in front of the young Wanli Emperor.

The young Wanli Emperor cut to the chase, asking, "How are the preparations for the military selection progressing?"

"Your Majesty, everything is ready, and we can begin at any time!" Yang Bing replied.

Immediately afterwards, the young Wanli Emperor informed the two of the results of his grading of the examination papers and showed them the three candidates he intended to hire.

Three people were selected from a thousand applicants.

This ratio surprised Yang Bing, but Shen Nian felt it was normal. He knew that the young Wanli Emperor hoped that lower-ranking soldiers would step forward, while the second-generation military officers had other opportunities to become officials.

"Your Majesty, these three are all exceptional talents, appearing only once every fifty years. Even if I were to answer these questions, I could not do as well as they could!" Yang Bing said excitedly, always speaking with a sweet tongue.

The young Wanli Emperor smiled slightly.

"Although these three have been chosen by me, let them participate in the martial arts selection as well. This kind of experience will be unforgettable for every participant! As for the start date, let's set it for... tomorrow at midnight!"

"Your subject obeys!" Shen Nian and Yang Bing bowed simultaneously.

……

The next day, it was nearly midnight.

Boom, boom, boom! Boom, boom, boom! Boom, boom, boom!
The sound of drums assembling the training ground echoed from within the Jingwu Academy, and a thousand prospective students quickly donned their uniforms and arrived at the main training ground.

They knew that the martial arts selection was about to begin, but no one knew exactly what form it would take.

Upon their arrival at the drill ground, soldiers began distributing armor and weapons to them, and then signaled for everyone to put on their armor and stand with their weapons.

Before long, Shen Nian and Yang Bing arrived at the training ground.

Shen Nian looked at the prospective trainees and announced loudly, "The mission for this martial arts selection is: to run sixty miles in full armor!"

"A sixty-mile raid in full armor!"

"A sixty-mile raid in full armor!"

……

The instructors' voices echoed throughout the entire training ground.

The prospective trainees were all dumbfounded when they heard this.

They never expected that the mission for the military selection would be a long-distance raid, something they had already trained for in the military camp.

Since the greatest threat to the Ming Dynasty was the northern cavalry, soldiers needed to have strong mobility, such as the ability to quickly outflank or retreat.

These sprint training exercises are not for speed, but for real combat, to help soldiers remain calm on the brutal battlefield.

It tests not only physical strength, but also willpower.

They had participated in training for a 30-mile march in armor, but almost never in a 60-mile march in armor.

Running sixty miles in full armor would be enough to kill a person.

Shen Nian continued, "This is not a simple sixty-mile march in armor. You will also be surrounded and attacked by the Imperial Guards. Anyone whose weapon is stolen will be eliminated. Anyone who cannot complete the entire mission will be eliminated!" Upon hearing this, some prospective trainees trembled, feeling that they would have a hard time completing the mission.

Fighting while on the run, the task was quite arduous.

Some people murmured to themselves, "I'm afraid I won't pass the martial arts selection, but I might pass the literary selection. The literary selection will admit at least three hundred people, and with my strength, I'm definitely among the three hundred. If I don't write well, others must write even worse than me!"

Shen Nian continued, "Casualties are allowed in this training. If the Imperial Guards besiege you, you can also attack them. However, you cannot attack each other. If you really can't hold on, you can abandon your weapons and armor and withdraw from the martial arts competition!"

"In addition, I have some good news to share. The results of the civil service examination are in, and three students have been granted special permission by His Majesty to be admitted to the Elite Martial Arts Academy!"

Three people? Only three out of a thousand were selected?

The prospective students were immediately disheartened, not expecting such a low acceptance rate.

"After the martial arts selection is over, I will announce the names of these three people. I hope everyone will do their best to complete this test!"

After saying that, Shen Nian waved his hand dismissively.

Swish!Swish!Swish!
Military flags waved, camp gates opened, torches blazed ahead, and cavalrymen led the way.

The route for the raid had been marked in advance, and soldiers were stationed along the way. The trainees only needed to follow the marks made by the cavalry.

"The martial arts competition begins!"

Boom, boom, boom! Boom, boom, boom! Boom, boom, boom!
As a drumbeat sounded, a thousand prospective cadets, clad in over ten kilograms of iron armor and wielding long spears, rushed out of the military camp.

Before long, a cloud of dust rose from the back of the military camp.

After the prospective trainees rushed out, Shen Nian asked a member of the Imperial Guard standing nearby, "Get the physician ready. There will be bloodshed after dawn."

"Understood. The physicians will be in place after dawn!"

……

Wow! Wow! Wow!

On the training trails, specially laid out for training purposes, the clanging of armored vehicles echoed.

The prospective trainees all ran forward as fast as they could.

As dawn approached, the sky gradually brightened.

The thousand prospective trainees maintained their formation, with virtually no distance between them.

The pace wasn't too fast either, treating this martial arts selection as a slightly faster forced march.

Many people think that since there is no set time, they can save their energy and exert themselves later. As long as they can get into the top 500, they will have the opportunity to become a formal student.

at this time.

Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves, "clack-clack-clack! clack-clack-clack!" came from not far away.

The trainees running behind turned around and were shocked to see what was happening.

Behind them was a dense mass of Imperial Guards on horseback, galloping at full speed, each wielding a long spear; there were at least two hundred of them.

The leader was Shi Qing, a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

"It's...it's the Embroidered Uniform Guard! They're chasing us on horseback! How...how are we supposed to run? This...this is bullying!" Someone panicked.

No matter how hard two legs try, they can never outpace four legs.

"This...this isn't telling us to run, it's telling us to fight and run at the same time!"

"Infantry fighting cavalry? Are you crazy? And those are the Embroidered Uniform Guards! This is clearly telling us that those who are behind will get beaten!"

……

Soon, the prospective trainees understood.

If you fall behind, you will be attacked, and even if you are not eliminated, you will fall further behind those ahead of you.

As a result, a large group of prospective trainees stopped conserving their energy and began to accelerate.

Wow! Wow! Wow!

soon.

The armored rushing column was stretched out, and the trainees at the back were gradually caught up by the Imperial Guards.

"Brothers, take them down!" Shi Qing slapped his horse's back, holding his spear, and said excitedly.

Immediately, Shi Qing struck first, his spear hitting the armor of a prospective student.

"Oh!"

The prospective trainee fell to the ground.

He hadn't expected his pursuer to be so ruthless. He immediately rolled on the ground, quickly parried with his weapon, and then ran forward at breakneck speed.

Shi Qing did not give chase.

Instead, they joined the Imperial Guards in whipping the lagging trainees, striking their armor, faces, or legs.

Every move is ruthless.

Some people had blood coming from the corners of their mouths, while others had injuries to their waists and legs.

The Imperial Guards showed no mercy, but they did not disarm them.

According to the rules, they are eliminated only if they disarm themselves or have their weapons knocked away.

The reason for doing this.

It was all to humiliate them and make them run faster.

After a while.

Under Shi Qing's orders, the Imperial Guards stopped chasing them on horseback and instead watched them leave.

After this commotion, all the prospective students began to run with all their might.

……

At that moment, Shen Nian and Yang Bing appeared under a simple shed at the finish line, sixty miles away.

In the middle of the greenhouse, there is a sand table.

The sand table shows the route the prospective trainees would take as they rushed through armor.

Shen Nian divided the sand table into several sections, and the chess pieces on them were the positions of the prospective students.

Every half hour, cavalrymen would report the locations to Shen Nian, such as how many people were between 15 and 20 li away, and how many were between 20 and 25 li away.

Shen Nian would devise a sneak attack plan based on the location of the prospective trainees.

"Order Shi Qing to send twelve Imperial Guards to attack the group at the back for half an hour, mainly to drive them away. Then, pretend to stop, rush up again, and beat them up. This group is too slow!"

"In addition, set up two teams of Imperial Guards at a distance of twenty-five to thirty li, mainly to drive them away, so that these people in the middle can catch up with the group at the front!"

"Surround and attack the group at the front, make them band together to fight back. You can hit their faces and bodies, but don't cripple their legs. If you see any cunning and treacherous people using their teammates as shields, you can trample them with your horse's hooves. If they are injured and have to abandon the race, quickly send the medic over!"

……

As Shen Nian listened to the reports from one cavalryman after another, he quickly issued orders.

Beside him, Yang Bing looked at Shen Nian with a face full of admiration.

Originally, Shen Nian intended to give this task to Yang Bing, but Yang Bing was not good at it.

He couldn't memorize the reports from different cavalrymen like Shen Nian did, and then issue orders accordingly. He couldn't explain every detail as clearly as Shen Nian did, and he certainly couldn't casually say that people could be trampled by horses' hooves as long as they didn't die, like Shen Nian did.

At this moment, Yang Bing felt that this was exactly the kind of leader he envisioned.

Shen Nian is playing a game of chess.

The thousand prospective trainees were treated like chess pieces; Shen Nian could make them move however she wanted.

Yang Bing watched intently and studied diligently.

This military selection model will not only be used in this exercise, but also in the training of local military units.

In particular, Shen Nian's command style is something that many generals lack.

Half an hour later, prospective students began to drop out.

Some were injured by being kicked by horses' hooves, while others were constantly beaten and driven away by the Imperial Guards, and out of fear, they directly removed their armor and abandoned their weapons, giving up their opportunity to become elite martial arts students.

In the blink of an eye, the sun was high in the sky.

The first group had run fifty miles, but everyone was injured.

They can't run forty to fifty miles, so they have to fight their way through.

After fifty miles, Shen Nian stopped the Imperial Guards from pursuing them, because they were completely exhausted and could only rely on their willpower to reach the finish line.

Not long after, Shen Nian learned that the remaining people had all run forty miles away.

"Order Shi Qing to lead thirty men to launch an attack between forty and forty-five li away and seize weapons with all their might!"

Being robbed of your weapons means being eliminated.

Before long, after receiving the order, Shi Qing led thirty Imperial Guards to a point forty li away.

"Listen to my command: seize all weapons! Anyone whose weapon is stolen will be eliminated!"

After Shi Qing finished speaking, the soldiers standing guard on both sides of the road immediately repeated it loudly.

These words spurred the exhausted prospective students to speed up once again.

Some prospective trainees were supporting each other, seemingly using willpower to walk briskly.

At that moment, a soldier on guard suddenly shouted, "When you become students of the Elite Martial Arts Academy, you will receive more than five times the salary of ordinary soldiers, your families will be taken care of, your children will be able to go to school for free, you will be the emperor's personal guard in name and in fact, your future will be limitless..."

These encouraging and simple words were also crafted by Shen Nian.

For many soldiers, becoming a student at the Jingwu Academy was no different from a scholar passing the imperial examination; it was an achievement that defied fate.

At this moment, this goal can be quantified, and it is only a dozen miles away from them.

This statement is effective.

Some prospective trainees gritted their teeth and ran for their lives again.

……

Half an hour later, prospective trainees began to arrive at the finish line one after another, and all of them had injuries.

The medical officers quickly began to treat them.

Fifteen minutes later, Shen Nian and Yang Bing walked out of the tent. By this time, the attack and driving had completely stopped.

Shen Nian looked at the recorder beside her and asked, "How many people are there?"

"Two hundred and fifty-six people have completed the mission, three hundred and eighty-eight have been eliminated, and six hundred and forty-four are still on their way."

Shen Nian looked up at the sun high in the sky and said, "Light an incense stick. When the incense goes out, it's over. Take as many people as you can!"

Yang Bing was taken aback.

"Grand Secretary Shen, if we only have the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, I'm afraid there won't even be four hundred people who have completed the task. Should we extend the time a little more?"

As Yang Bing listened to the report, he learned that of the more than 600 people still on the road, over 80% were within 50 li and were exhausted, so they would definitely not reach their destination within an incense stick's time.

Shen Nian smiled slightly and said, "Better to have none than something of poor quality!"

Yang Bing stopped arguing. At Jingwu Academy, Shen Nian was the undisputed number two, and the number one person almost always listened to him.

He thought for a moment, then said to the Imperial Guards standing nearby, "Go and block the wind; it's strong and the incense will burn faster."

One incense stick, about 15 minutes.

Just as the incense was about to burn out, a few more forty people came running over, bringing the total number of people who have completed the task to 299.

"Alas, I'm afraid we won't even be able to gather three hundred people!"

at this time.

Yang Bing suddenly saw a prospective trainee crawling towards him from the front.

There are still more than a hundred steps to the finish line.

His forehead was covered in sweat, there were bloodstains between his legs, his weapon was on his back, and both arms were covered in blood.

"There's still time, hurry! Hurry!" Yang Bing shouted.

Immediately, the prospective student crawling along attracted the attention of everyone standing at the finish line.

Everyone was on edge, watching the incense burn out and him slowly crawl forward, hoping that he, who had suffered so much, would be the last one to complete the task.

"Still ten steps, hurry! Hurry!"

"Nine steps left, hurry, hurry!"

With each step this student took, a long trail of blood appeared on the ground. His eyes were glazed over, and he was running entirely on willpower.

When he was just a foot away from the white line at the finish line, he suddenly stopped, his head touching the ground, as if he had fainted.

The incense was about to burn out.

Shen Nian stood up, looking at the incense as she shouted, "There's only one last step left! Think of your family!"

Swish!
The student suddenly braced himself with his hands, rolled over, and crossed the white line at the finish line. At that moment, the incense had completely burned out.

Yang Bing's eyes welled up with tears as he looked at Shen Nian. Everyone else also looked at Shen Nian. Whether this student passed the martial arts selection depended entirely on Shen Nian's opinion.

"Passed!" Shen Nian said.

Immediately, a huge cheer erupted from the finish line, and the medical officers rushed forward to treat the unconscious student.

About a quarter of an hour later.

Shen Nian obtained the list of those who passed the martial arts selection, totaling three hundred people. Among them, the three who passed the literary selection also passed the martial arts selection.

This means that the number of students selected for this year's Jingwu Academy will be set at three hundred.

Shen Nian let out a long breath.

Almost everyone in the martial arts competition was injured, with more than 80 people seriously injured and more than 40 people suffering broken legs or ribs. Fortunately, none of them were in life-threatening danger.

at this time.

Someone reported to Shen Nian that the young Wanli Emperor had arrived, accompanied by a group of officials from the Ministry of War and the Five Military Commissions.

Shen Nian smiled helplessly.

The young Wanli Emperor did not appear in this military selection because Shen Nian's selection strategy was too cruel, and he did not want to be scolded by the soldiers.

He arrived with a group of officials after the martial arts selection.

On the one hand, they came to comfort the students who had passed the exam, and on the other hand, they wanted to show these students how the Jingwu Academy selects talent so that they could also use it in their future training.

In short: the credit goes to the young Wanli Emperor, while Shen Nian is the one who gets scolded.

Faced with such a clever but cunning monarch, Shen Nian could only pretend to be stupid and then go out to explain to the officials this set of martial arts selection methods that could be used for daily training.

This method trains not only soldiers but also generals. Although it seems cruel, if they can be trained, they will be able to save their lives on the battlefield.

The meritorious officials of the Five Military Commissions, the senior officials and assistant ministers of the Ministry of War, were all astonished to see that all one thousand outstanding soldiers selected from the local areas were wounded and in such a state.

Some people even think that Shen Nian is a cold-blooded madman.

On that day, the method for this martial arts selection was given a resounding name: the Shen Yanwang Training Method.

Upon hearing the name from Zhangwu Earl Yang Bing, Shen Nian wore a forced, official smile.

"Isn't this letting me take all the credit? I think it should be called the Shen Yang Training Method, or the Royal Training Method. The Royal Training Method is good; it highlights His Majesty's achievements!"

"The Shen Yanwang Training Method was bestowed by His Majesty!" Yang Bing said with a smile.

"Never mind what I said!" Shen Nian said, shrugging.

The young Wanli Emperor clearly didn't want any association with this cold-blooded training method when he chose this name. (End of Chapter)