At five o'clock the next morning, a sharp assembly whistle sounded. The two uncles were still confused, but Li Shouzhong and Gaoda had already shouldered their 20-30 kg field backpacks and rushed out of the house.

Yang Dacai and Malu were both from the Jinyiwei after all, so they quickly put on their shoes and went out.

Then I saw that the young and old men in the village who were always laughing and joking in the village were all carrying the same backpacks and lined up in the yard to receive their guns and bullet belts.

Everyone seemed like a different person. No one was playing around anymore. Everyone followed orders and behaved in a disciplined manner.

In the dim light of day, my cousin saw that the muskets he had been given were all of the Longqing style... He thought it was such a waste of resources, what was the difference between giving them to these peasants and using them as fire sticks?

At this time, the militia captain began to speak. For some reason, he spoke particularly long-windedly today and wanted to start from the establishment of the militia reserve.

Thanks to him, my uncle learned that all adult males overseas, as long as they are not disabled and have not committed any crime, are in the reserve force. The military training time is no less than 300 hours per year, including no less than 10 days of off-duty intensive training.

Today is the day for full-time intensive training.

The first training item was a five-kilometer cross-country run. Led by the militia captain, the militiamen, fully armed, lined up and ran out of the village, then ran north along the road.

Yang Dacai and Malu followed behind and were a little surprised after running two miles. They didn't expect that these mud-legged people were carrying such heavy things and still running without slowing down.

After running four miles, the team gradually lengthened, but no one fell behind, because the young and strong would help the older ones carry the load, and the older ones would grit their teeth and persevere.

Accountant Zhu, who was specially responsible for answering questions, told the two uncles that armed cross-country running is not a race, but a matter of not abandoning or giving up...

When they reached Liuli, the human body had passed its peak and the team's speed actually increased.

After running eight or ten miles, when the last person arrived at the destination - Xiaoyangshan Shooting Range, exactly half an hour had passed.

My cousin's heart almost jumped out of his chest. Damn it! Why are they all so physically strong? They are totally qualified to be Jinyiwei...but they are just a bunch of peasants!

On the contrary, the two genuine Jinyiwei officers who ran down empty-handed were so tired that they almost died and lay on the ground without being able to move a finger.

Accountant Zhu kindly helped them sit down under the shade of a tree, as lying down would cause trouble...

I also told them that there was still another five kilometers to go on the return journey.

My cousin was stunned to see that the militiamen had no time to rest and immediately reorganized themselves to the dense drum beats, forming two long battle lines.

The front row loaded bullets, raised their guns and fired, then retreated to reload. The back row stepped forward, raised their guns and fired, then retreated to reload, repeating the cycle for several rounds in a row.

Although the movements cannot be described as smooth, they are very skillful.

The shooting range was soon filled with white smoke, and it was impossible to see anything. But the militiamen did not panic at all, and they followed the drum beats to load their guns, raise their guns, shoot, and retreat... It was obvious that they had practiced this countless times.

"Firing in a line doesn't require accuracy, as long as the firing rate is maintained, there will be lethality." Accountant Zhu explained during the interval between shootings: "Our firing rate is barely acceptable, but it cannot completely resist the cavalry's charge. So after the shooting training, the next step is the assassination training..."

Not long after he finished speaking, two teams of militia were seen standing opposite each other, replacing their real guns with wooden guns, and starting bayonet training.

Wow, every move was so powerful. There were only about a hundred of them, but they were shouting and killing...

As the saying goes, laymen watch the excitement, while laymen watch the doorway. The two Dongchang spies who came from the Jinyiwei were naturally proficient in cold weapon combat. Naturally, they could see that although these militiamen's stabbing, stabbing, blocking, and swinging were simple, they were extremely practical. They were definitely the moves tempered by martial arts masters who had been in the army for a long time.

These peasants even cooperated with each other, and the formation seemed to be derived from Qi Jiguang's Mandarin Duck Formation, which was completely off the mark!

The two Dongchang secret agents looked so pale that their crotches felt wet.

Is this the Jiangnan Group's militia? Even the Shenji Battalion is not this good...

I heard that there are already 20 million Han Chinese overseas. Even if there are only 3 million militiamen, what the hell is there to fight? Just lie down...

In short, after that day, the two cousins' eyes completely lost their luster.

The Gaoda brothers took a leave to take them to Wushantou Reservoir to relax and let their uncle experience the power of the group to move mountains and fill the sea.

The effect was quite good. If Yang Dacai hadn't been quick to grab Malu, he would have jumped into the reservoir.

However, Yang Dacai also knew that the imperial court was hopeless and there was nothing to spy on. If he continued to spy, he might even jump into the river or surrender to the enemy.

But it was impossible for him to surrender to the enemy, not in this lifetime. No matter if he was the chief flag of the Jinyiwei or the head of the Dongchang, either status would allow him to bully others in the mainland and trample the common people under his feet.

This is something that Jiangnan Group cannot give him.

His breakdown was mainly due to the fear that this kind of life of superiority might soon come to an end.

So before they had even lived there for a full month, they returned home in despair. They had to hurry back to report to the factory manager, because it was a big deal - something bad had happened, the house was going to collapse!

~~

Beijing city.

Emperor Wanli has been unhappy lately. To be more precise, he has been unhappy since Zhao Shouzheng retired.

Although Shen Shixing, who succeeded him as the Prime Minister, was better at smoothing things over and over again, there was no money to be found in the mud. He could not satisfy the emperor's desire for money again and again like Zhao Gongming did.

Although Zhao Shouzheng couldn't give the emperor whatever he wanted, at least he could always reach a compromise and pay the money after some bargaining.

When it came to Shen Shixing, well, he had no money but his life! No matter how hard the emperor tried to persuade him, he would not pay a penny.

The emperor found him increasingly hateful and didn't even want to look at him.

In fact, it's not Shen Shixing's fault. Old Shen is a very good person, if he had any other ideas, he wouldn't have done it so drastically.

But he really had no other choice. The drought in the north had lasted for several years, and this year it had not improved at all. The three provinces of Henan, Shanxi and Shaanxi were no longer able to send money and grain to Taicang, and instead had to rely on the court for continuous transfusions of relief.

Last winter, Wanli set his house on fire again, and the entire Qianqing Palace was reduced to a frame. The Ministry of Works gave a budget of two million taels for reconstruction.

Moreover, given the emperor's character, he would have to hand over the project to his uncle, and overspending was inevitable. We would be thankful if the project could be completed with four million taels.

The borders also began to become restless. In Yunnan, Mang Yingli had been quiet for only two years before launching a series of northern expeditions. The various officials were unable to resist and asked for help, which shocked Yongteng. Duke Mu and Yunnan Governor Feng Yinglong frequently submitted petitions requesting additional troops.

The Ministry of War first dispatched the strong soldiers of Bozhou to the south to assist in the defense. However, Yang Yinglong, the envoy of Bozhou, took the opportunity to rebel. He led the Miao soldiers to attack dozens of garrisons and towns in Sichuan, Guizhou, and Huguang, killing the residents and looting.

In short, the situation in the southwest has become extremely chaotic, and a new round of military deployment is inevitable.

But Shen Shixing was undecided about this, because his mother's house was leaking and it was raining continuously, and the northwest was also in chaos...

Li Lianfang, deputy general of Gansu, was ambushed while leading his troops on a border patrol and his entire army was wiped out.

How could this be tolerated? Although in the eyes of civil officials, military generals were dogs. But beating the dog was bullying the master! And the deputy general was also a big dog, so the court was indignant. Ministers filed petitions one after another, clamoring to send troops to retaliate against the dog Tartars!

Although Shen Shixing's cabinet strongly advocated the use of diplomatic means to resolve the issue in the hope of maintaining peace with the Tatars for the past twenty years, even the emperor was clamoring to go to war with the Tatars. How could he dare not make preparations for both situations and prepare money and food for the war?

He was so eager to spend every penny he could, how could he satisfy the emperor's selfish desires?

But Wanli scroll is so important, I have to do whatever I want. He was embarrassed to make things difficult for Shen Shixing directly, after all, they were teachers and students, and if Shen Shixing gave up again, who would smooth things over for him?

He took advantage of the situation to make things difficult for poor Yang Wei, and sent eunuchs to the Ministry of Revenue every day to convey instructions. The only content was: give money, money, money!

Yang Wei’s answer was also very simple – no money, no money, no money!

Yang Butang had long been fed up with this maid holding the keys - a job that made her unable to make decisions. If it weren't for Zhao's sake, he would have resigned long ago. Now that Zhao Shouzheng had left, what was there for him to linger on?

However, Wanli could not sympathize with Lao Yang's suffering at all and gladly accepted his resignation!

Who would have thought that the new Minister of Revenue, Li Shida, would still say the same thing - no money, no money, no money!

Because the Kedao had already spread the word that anyone who dared to give money to the emperor would be shot to death!

Wanli was furious in the Yiku Palace, but he couldn't just replace the Minister of Revenue immediately, right?

Seeing the emperor with a donkey face, the extremely smart Concubine Zheng gave him some advice: "Your Majesty, can't you change direction?"

"I just like to be passive... uh, what do you mean?" Wanli stopped the movement of his hands.

"What I mean is, can a living person be killed by holding his urine? If the Ministry of Revenue doesn't give you money, can't you do it yourself?" Concubine Zheng said while sitting on Wanli's belly.

"I did it, but making money is not that easy!" Wanli was so worried that he was like the previous Minister of Revenue.

"I asked those people in the inner court to find ways to make money, but they were just a drop in the bucket and made a big joke..."

He was talking about what happened last month.

Before Wanli, he heard that printing books was profitable, and some people made a lot of money by publishing books like "Jin Ping Mei" and "Journey to the West", so he became jealous and asked the scripture factory under the Imperial Household Department to solicit work everywhere under the name of "Imperial Printing Bureau".

As for the Royal Printing Office, there is nothing we dare not print as long as you pay, so business is really good.

As a result, something went wrong last month. Shuntian Prefecture intercepted a batch of White Lotus sect's rebellious printed materials. Upon investigation, it turned out that they were printed by the "Imperial Printing Bureau"...

At that time, the court and the public were all laughing. This emperor was really the most money-grubber in history! In order to make money, he even helped others print materials for rebellion. Some people even threatened to report it to the emperor, asking why His Majesty was rebelling?

It made Wanli lose face.

"Oh, Your Majesty, please don't always stare at this little piece of land in front of you. The really profitable business is out there." Concubine Zheng puffed out her chest and felt that she was really wise.

Wanli looked at her turbulent waves and understood immediately: "Are you talking about maritime trade?"