Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"Prime Minister Ye is in charge of the Ministry of Personnel and is the head of all officials. I believe he can handle local personnel appointments properly, so why should I ask any more questions?"

"Your Majesty's words are truly unacceptable to this old minister. The Great Chu should prioritize Your Majesty's will. How could this old minister, as Your Majesty's subject, dare to presume to make decisions on Your Majesty's behalf?"

"What are you saying, Prime Minister Ye? The late Emperor mentioned to me on his deathbed that if there were any major issues in the court that could not be decided, Prime Minister Ye could handle them. Of course, I trust Prime Minister Ye, so let Prime Minister Ye decide everything."

"Since Your Majesty trusts this old minister so much, then this old minister will make the decision on Your Majesty's behalf: Xue Yongli can be given a trial as the Prefect of Jingzhou."

As for Wang Xuance, this old minister believes he should start as a junior officer in the Ministry of War.

Jiang Mengxuan frowned upon hearing this: "Isn't Wang Xuance a candidate for the Ministry of Rites? Why is he being assigned to the Ministry of War?"

Ye Mo: "After this period of observation, I believe that Wang Xuance is not suitable for the Ministry of Rites. His temperament is as fiery as fire, and he is more suited to the Ministry of War."

Moreover, the Ministry of Rites currently has no real vacancies, and Wang Xuance is indeed talented; continuing to await a post would only dampen his patriotic spirit.

Jiang Mengxuan: "Following Ye Xiang's suggestion, let Xue Yongli be the Prefect of Jingzhou and Wang Xuance be the Chief of the Ministry of War. What do you think?"

"This old minister will go and write the appointment document as soon as possible. I will take my leave of Your Majesty."

"President Ye, please take care."

After Ye Mo left, Jiang Mengxuan immediately said to Shu Yue, "Shu Yue, summon Jiang Chaoyun to an audience."

Shu Yue: "Your Majesty, have you forgotten? Commander Jiang has been transferred to Jiaozhou on official business and is not currently in the capital."

"Tsk, we've all been so busy we forgot about this. Then please invite the Imperial Uncle to come and see me."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Shu Yue accepted the order and left.

……

Shanglin Garden, at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM).

boom--

Suddenly, a loud explosion rang out in the quiet recruits' quarters.

The sounds of snoring that had been rising and falling were instantly replaced by shouts and cries of alarm.

Before they could react, a demonic voice rang in their ears.

"Girls, are you surprised? Unexpected?"

Shen Lang, carrying a copper gong, looked at the chaotic recruits' quarters with a smile on his face.

"Now that the surprise is over, the unexpected has happened too. Everyone, get up and do your morning exercises, hurry up!"

As the crisp sound of the gong echoed in the room, the new recruits immediately began to dress and get up.

"What time is it? Why is it so torturous?"

Zhang Dingbian muttered curses as he put on his clothes.

"What's the point of saying all this now? It's been seven days already, we're used to it, we just don't know when it will end."

Qu Yi put on the leather boots that had just been distributed and jumped around a few times.

"I wonder what kind of trouble they'll cause you today. My legs are numb from standing in the standing meditation posture all day."

Lu Meng patted his sleeves, his face full of dissatisfaction.

Only Meng Gong remained silent, quietly dressing himself and quickly following the crowd toward the training ground.

What they didn't notice was that many places on the drill ground were covered with a layer of grayish-brown tarpaulin.

In fact, they themselves did not realize that after seven days and nights of relentless, grueling training, the remaining four thousand-plus men seemed to have become accustomed to their current military camp life.

Looking at the new recruits gathered on the training ground, who had gradually shed their ragtag appearance compared to seven days ago and finally showed some of the qualities that soldiers should have, Shen Lang smiled with satisfaction.

At least they have developed discipline, so the next step is to train their physical fitness.

By the time they had formed their battle formation, it was already dawn.

"Girls, before we line up today, let's try a different game. First, let's run twenty laps around the training ground in light gear to liven things up. Each team, turn right at the front, and hurry up, you idiots!"

Upon hearing this, the team immediately obeyed and began to follow Shen Lang around the detour.

For the first five laps, everyone was able to keep going, but starting from the sixth lap, the formation gradually began to break down.

Upon seeing this, Shen Lang immediately ran backwards and began to mock, "What's wrong, girls? You can't even do this?"

Oh dear, look at you guys, you look like you're having your period. You're so pitiful. Fine, let me, the instructor, help you out!

Listen to my slogan!

After Shen Lang finished speaking, he turned around and began to roar as he ran.

"I!"

"Cousin—"

"you!"

"Cousin—"

"You bastard, you stole my pig's feet!"

"You bastard, you stole my pig's feet—"

"He also stole fourteen steamed buns and ten and a half bottles of beer!"

"He also stole fourteen steamed buns and ten and a half bottles of beer—"

Under Shen Lang's whipping threat, the originally chaotic running formation returned to its original shape amidst the shouts and cries of unison.

The rhythmic thud of leather boots on the ground stood out distinctly in the early morning sunlight.

After twenty laps, some people fainted, and some vomited on the spot.

Many more people slumped to the ground, feeling as if their throats were on fire.

"Om-"

Just then, Shen Lang suddenly banged on the gong.

"Girls, get up and stop resting, line up and march in place."

"Damn it, didn't you hear me tell you to get up? Looking for a beating?"

"This is the last notice: if you don't follow orders within three breaths, you won't get any food today."

Amid Shen Lang's shouts and curses, the new recruits had no choice but to obey.

During these seven days, they had a deep understanding of Shen Lang's strictness. If they were not careful, they would be punched and kicked. When the troublemakers in the group teamed up to provoke him, they were beaten so badly that they could not take care of themselves.

"March in place, one-two-one, one-two-one!"

The new recruits could only endure the intense physical discomfort and march in place as Shen Lang ordered.

They soon discovered that although they were indeed very tired at first, after walking for a while, they felt that their blood and qi were flowing smoothly and they did not feel as uncomfortable as before.

Shen Lang silently calculated in his mind, and after about five minutes, he raised his hand!

"Stop immediately!"

The next moment, the new recruits all stopped, a rare instance of synchronized movement.

"Next training exercise!"

Shen Lang suddenly pointed behind him, and the guards of Shanglin Garden pulled back the tarpaulin covering the drill ground.

Suddenly, a complete set of military training physical fitness equipment came into view.

"Starting today, the daily formation arrangement will be shortened by one hour, and a physical training exercise will be added!"

Each of you must overcome these obstacles and reach the military flag at the end in the shortest possible time to be considered qualified.

"report!"

Lu Meng suddenly raised his hand.

"ask."

"Instructor, what's the point of this kind of training? Other military camps train in physical conditioning techniques, but are those even useful on the battlefield?"

"Good question!"

Shen Lang clapped his hands.

"That's right, traditional military training mainly focuses on physical conditioning, and some even have methods for cultivating internal energy, but as you've seen..."

On the battlefield, the protagonists are always the unified teams composed of martial artists; no matter how much ordinary soldiers train, they cannot escape the fate of becoming cannon fodder.

Why? Because over 99% of people in the military lack this talent; after all, hard work is utterly useless in the face of natural talent.

You might work hard for one or two years to improve your cultivation by a tiny bit, but someone with talent might surpass your progress by ten times in just one or two days.

If things continue like this, the gap will only widen, and your attempt to change your fate through hard work and cultivation is destined to be a futile effort.

Upon hearing this, everyone was immediately disappointed.

Lu Meng gritted his teeth: "Instructor, what you say makes sense, but is your training method really effective?"

"Whether it works or not, you'll know once you're on the battlefield. You're now trying a path that no one in this world has ever imagined."

If successful, it will surely shake the entire continent. When you can one day easily kill a martial arts cultivator, you will understand that today's efforts will not have been in vain.

Alright, everyone take a 15-minute break. After that, we'll begin advanced physical training!