Since its establishment, the Imperial Guard has been training here for several months, with young men from all over the Han Dynasty training here.
Under the tutelage of Huangfu Gui, Huang Zhong, Wang Yue, Xu Rong, and the Imperial Guards, everyone made significant progress.
Several months of sharing joys and sorrows and arduous training also fostered deep friendships among these teenagers, who formed their own circles and groups, especially those who shared dormitories.
For example, Cao Cao and Liu Bei in Group 10, under the mediation of Yuan Shao, became close friends who could talk about anything and often expressed their ideals and ambitions to each other.
However, there are exceptions. The relationship between Sun Jian and Hua Xiong in Group 15 is quite delicate. Although they live under the same roof, they don't communicate much. As the saying goes, there is no first place in literature, but there is no second place in martial arts. Hua Xiong always wants to be superior to Sun Jian in everything, but things always go against his wishes.
Hua Xiong, relying on his age and strength, had fought Sun Jian several times, but he had never won and was even at a disadvantage on several occasions. This made the self-important Hua Xiong very dissatisfied.
"Thump thump thump!!"
That night, at the third quarter of the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), just as all the young men of the Imperial Guard were sound asleep, a rapid drumbeat sounded.
Hearing the noise, Sun Jian, who was fast asleep, immediately opened his eyes, threw off the covers, and got up. Hua Xiong, who was not far away, also woke up immediately.
"Everyone, get up! Emergency assembly!"
As they were getting dressed, Sun Jian and Hua Xiong shouted almost simultaneously, and the others in the dormitory opened their eyes and quickly began to dress. After training, everyone's movements, though hurried, were not chaotic.
Each group is a team, and if one person falls behind, the whole group will be punished. Everyone has their own pride, and they may also face criticism from everyone in the dormitory, so no one dares to slack off.
Soon, all members of Sun Jian's group were dressed, and everyone rushed to the center of the training ground. Hua Xiong, who was in front, saw that he was half a step behind Sun Jian, so he suddenly accelerated and overtook Sun Jian to run to the front.
At this moment, students from other groups also ran out of their dormitories and converged on the center of the training ground, where they began to line up according to their respective groups.
Soon, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao's tenth group were the first to line up and complete the task, followed by Sun Jian and his group as the second to finish.
Sun Jian and Hua Xiong couldn't help but glance at Yuan Shao and his group's location, their brows furrowing slightly. Every time they gathered, they were always a little behind Yuan Shao and his group, never taking first place, and were therefore ridiculed as the eternal runner-up, which made them very uncomfortable.
One after another, the other teams also lined up and completed their tasks.
Xu Rong then slowly walked up to the crowd, stood at the front of the line, and looked at everyone.
"Hello, Instructor!" As soon as Xu Rong stood still, everyone greeted him loudly in unison.
"Hello, students!"
Xu Rong nodded to the neatly lined-up crowd and then responded loudly to them.
This is also one of the rules set by Liu Hong: trainees must greet their superiors and officers, gradually increasing their obedience through small things.
Xu Rong glanced at the crowd, then shouted loudly, "The last group to finish lining up, step forward!"
As soon as Xu Rong finished speaking, Yu Linlang, the leader of the twentieth group, led his team members to take a step forward in unison.
Xu Rong turned to look at them and said coldly, "As punishment for coming in last, each of you must do one hundred push-ups!"
"promise!"
The leader of the team, Yu Linlang, responded loudly, and then led his team members to do push-ups with their hands on the ground.
"One, two, three, four..."
For each task they performed, the imperial guards leading the way would announce a number.
The other trainees kept their eyes fixed straight ahead, and none of them dared to turn around to watch the excitement.
Xu Rong approached the students who were doing push-ups and said loudly, "His Majesty gets up to handle state affairs before dawn every day without fail."
As proud members of the Imperial Guard and disciples of the Emperor, you should take His Majesty as your role model and follow closely behind him.
But what about you? Your actions are so slow and sluggish; this is disgracing the Imperial Guards and bringing shame upon His Majesty!
Xu Rong's reprimand was undeniably serious. Through the political and ideological education that Xi Zhicai had provided them with, each of them felt a strong sense of honor.
To tarnish the reputation of the Imperial Guard? To disgrace the Emperor? Such words would undoubtedly be an insult to most of them at this moment.
"Ninety-nine, one hundred..."
!
As the team leader announced the last number, everyone stood up, standing straight in place, their chests heaving.
The officer leading the group looked at Xu Rong and shouted, "Reporting to the instructor, all push-ups have been completed! Please give further instructions!"
"Return to the team!"
"promise!"
As soon as Xu Rong finished speaking, everyone took a step back and returned to their original positions.
Xu Rong returned to the crowd and shouted loudly:
"Attention! Left turn!"
"tread!!"
All the trainees of the Imperial Guard turned at a 45-degree angle to face the gate of the Imperial Guard camp. Everyone knew that another wonderful day was about to begin.
"Our first goal for today is a 5-kilometer obstacle course! Everyone, let's run!"
As soon as Xu Rong finished speaking, the entire formation slowly began to run outwards from front to back.
"One two one, one two one..."
The Imperial Guard trainees shouted slogans as they ran towards the outskirts of Luoyang. Hearing the commotion, the common people turned over and continued to sleep, feeling safe and secure.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
