April is a warm and sunny month.
The fish-scale-like white clouds slowly moved with the spring breeze, blocking out the bright sunlight. The surface of the Tamra Sea was filled with flowing mottled light and shadows, which contrasted with the layers of waves.
The lush vegetation of Tamra Island is like an emerald green gem inlaid on the vast blue waves. At the easternmost end of the island, the Sunrise Peak surrounded by ninety-nine sharp rocks is full of bright yellow rape flowers. Looking down from the air, it really looks like a huge crown!
A loud and orderly singing voice, accompanied by slight gasps, echoed on the Sunrise Peak.
"Today the sky is clear and the waves are high, and the battle flag is flying on the mast of the leading ship. I order the foreign ships to flee upon hearing the news, and I will only ram them, not salvage them!"
The singers were a group of sturdy men, all wearing white shorts, hard-soled straw sandals, and with short hair in buns. They were led by a man who was dressed in the same way, but with a thick red bar embroidered on his left chest. They were running along the brick and stone mountain path around Sunrise Peak.
The mountain road was built to transport supplies to the forts. On the side of Seongsan Sunrise Peak facing the sea, there are five circular concrete forts, each of which is equipped with five thick and long coastal defense guns. The black muzzles point to the sea, forming a crossfire with the Marine Police Station fort on the opposite Udo Peak, completely blocking the sea leading to Seongsan Port.
However, the Sunrise Peak, with a circumference of four miles, is as big as a small county town. It is a pity to use it only as a fort. Originally, the soldiers of the Li Dynasty used it as a pasture and planted alfalfa and rapeseed.
After the Tamra Garrison occupied this place, they originally planned to station their headquarters here. However, after field investigation, they found that it was too inconvenient to go up and down, which was not conducive to the smooth flow of military orders, and even water supply became a problem. It was better to build it next to the military port at the foot of the mountain.
Mr. Zhao decided to build the Tamra Island Coast Guard School on Sunrise Peak. Since the students in the police academy are here to be tortured, it is appropriate to build it on a mountain.
This is the earliest naval school in the Ming Dynasty and even in the world. It has three colleges: police officers, police non-commissioned officers, and police officers. It is responsible for the training of officers, non-commissioned officers, and sailors of the maritime police force.
Except for the marine officers and soldiers who joined the army before the school was established, who directly entered the corresponding academy for one year of further study, made up relevant courses, and passed the examination, all the newly recruited soldiers after the school was established must first study in the police school for one year.
During this year of study, all students start from the most basic dress, salute, and housekeeping. Then they learn the preliminary queue training, regulations, and follow the orders. Then they are familiar with the basic situation of the Coast Guard, understand the Coast Guard and their own responsibilities, and are instilled with spirit... oh no, it is repeatedly instilled with the creed of honor, loyalty, courage, determination, etc. They also have to undergo basic combat shooting training.
At the same time, all illiterate students... well, most of them are illiterate, and they have to take literacy classes at night. After they can pass the literacy and arithmetic exams, the academy will assign them to different classes according to the needs and their own characteristics.
For example, the gunner class needs to learn basic calculation and geometry knowledge, and learn to use tools to skillfully measure distances and calculate trajectories.
In the navigation class, students naturally learn how to read maps and draw pictures, as well as the use of navigation instruments such as star boards and sextants.
In addition, there are signal classes, seamanship classes, meteorology classes, damage control classes, etc., which provide training in different directions based on the needs of various departments on the warship.
At the end of the school year, those who pass the final assessment can become a formal maritime police officer with the rank of third-level police officer.
Among them, the top ten police officers with outstanding performance will be awarded the rank of Second-Class Police Officer.
In addition, only the top 20% of the police officers are eligible to apply for the Police Academy. Those who pass the exam will continue to study at the Police Academy for two years and become trainee superintendents upon graduation, joining the ranks of police officers.
Those who are not admitted need not be discouraged. After they join the Coast Guard, they have an opportunity every year to exchange their points for the qualification to apply for the Police Academy. They can take the new Police Academy entrance examination together with the new students.
However, after graduation, they will also be given the rank of trainee superintendent. This is obviously not cost-effective for veteran police officers who have been in the police force for many years, because their salaries are much higher than those of junior police officers.
Zhao Hao designed this to restrict old police officers from taking the police exam. Grassroots officers must be young and energetic, and a bunch of old soldiers will not do.
However, veteran police officers need not be discouraged, as Mr. Zhao has also designed another promotion channel for them. After completing their service as a first-level police officer or accumulating enough points, they can apply to enter the Police Academy for further studies. After one year, if they pass the exam, they can be awarded the rank of third-level police officer and obtain the qualification for lifelong service.
~~
The group of men doing the drill are none other than the second-term students of the Police Academy, and they are also the first group of trainees to receive complete subject training.
They signed up to join the Coast Guard last April. Unlike the previous police officers who were either refugees or from the Sand Boat Gang, half of the students in this period were from civilian households in various prefectures in Jiangnan, or even military households.
The reason for this change is that at the end of the previous year, a large number of police officers returned home for vacation. After long-term military training and nutritious meals, the police officers have undergone earth-shaking changes in both physique and temperament. Coupled with the well-designed and exquisitely made police uniforms, each one is particularly dazzling and has become the most handsome guy on the whole street.
Moreover, after they came back, they bought houses and land and got married, which naturally attracted more attention. Everyone knew that they had made a fortune outside.
Of course, there were also unlucky people like Chu Liuxiang, who was falsely accused of collaborating with the Japanese because of the wrong people. But after Mr. Zhao properly handled it, the bad thing turned into a good thing, and he started a propaganda machine to portray the coast guard officers and soldiers represented by Chu Liuxiang as heroes who protected the safety of maritime trade for the people of Jiangnan. He also emphasized that the treatment of the coast guard was high and they were still recruiting.
In addition to regular publicity, Zhao Hao also asked Xu Wei to write the story of Chu Liuxiang into a drama and tour it in various prefectures in Jiangnan.
With the active cooperation of the development companies in various counties, the status of the coast guards in the hearts of the people in the south of the Yangtze River has been greatly improved. Those whose sons are working as coast guards have immediately become the envy of the neighbors, and matchmakers are lining up at their doorsteps.
Naturally, there was a wave of enthusiasm for joining the police force in various prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River. At the end of March last year, when the group commissioned development companies in various counties to recruit 3,000 coast guards on its behalf, a full 20,000 people signed up at once!
At that time, Xu Wei's play had not been written yet, and the publicity was not yet in place. I heard that when the Coast Guard was recruited again in March this year, the number of applicants exceeded 50,000!
Fortunately, the recruitment was conducted separately by the 10 prefectures and 61 counties in Jiangnan. Each county only had an average of 700 to 800 applicants, which was not too unusual... The development companies in each county recruited tens of thousands of people every year. Recruiting 700 to 800 people was just a drop in the bucket and would not attract any attention.
Besides, the garrison area does not reject everyone, and the recruitment standards of the Coast Guard are still very high. Basically, they refer to the "four musts and four don'ts" of the Qi family army:
First of all, city people shouldn’t do that… because city people are cunning and don’t want to endure hardship.
Secondly, don’t hire someone who has worked in the government... These people are not easy to fool and will bring in bad habits and evil spirits.
Furthermore, those who are over 40 or white are not allowed to enter the army… Not to mention those who are too old, the garrison is not a nursing home. Considering that the navy is not a consumable but a technical force that serves for a long time, Zhao Hao directly raised the limit to those who are over 20 years old.
As for those who are white, they do less outdoor work and their physical foundation is definitely not up to standard. Some people would say that white people have good nutrition and great potential. But the reality is that even in the case of malnutrition, long-term hard work will greatly improve people's endurance and tolerance to pain. This advantage is really important for seafarers on long voyages.
Nutrition can be replenished quickly, but tolerance must be tempered over years, so Mr. Zhao did not make any changes to this rule.
Finally, those who are particularly timid and those who are particularly courageous should not... The former goes without saying, but those who are particularly courageous often do not follow the rules and are prone to being reckless, which is even more harmful to the navy that emphasizes absolute obedience than the former.
So what kind of people do we need?
Qi Jiguang said, first, they need pure working people; second, they need to be dark, big, strong, with firm skin and flesh... This is easy to understand.
The key lies in the last two points. The third one requires someone with a sharp gaze…a muddleheaded person cannot be taught.
Fourth, people who are a little afraid of the government officials... Such people are honest and easy to obey authority.
Therefore, Marshal Qi is truly the greatest military theorist in ancient times. He deserves to be invincible, and every battle is a big win.
Later, when Zeng Guofan recruited soldiers, he followed the same prescription. Since Zeng could copy the barber's homework, Mr. Zhao could also copy it without any hesitation.
He just added some supplements to the differences between the navy and the army. For example, he required the soldiers to be able to swim, not get seasick, have good eyesight, good hearing, and loud voices. Why loud voices? In this era when communication on ships is basically done by shouting, how can you drive a warship with such a low voice?
Fortunately, there are enough applicants. Last year, one was chosen from six. This year, only one is left out of twenty, which is enough for the Coast Guard to carefully select the most suitable candidates.
In addition to this kind of social recruitment, Zhao Hao also conducts campus recruitment for graduates in schools under the Jiangnan Education Group. Social recruitment is mainly for recruiting future police officers; campus recruitment is for preparing for the police officers.
Moreover, campus recruitment does not have as many restrictions as the four musts and four don'ts mentioned above. As long as you are a graduate of any school of Jiangnan Education, you are eligible to apply for further studies at the Coast Guard School.
Cai Yilin was recruited in this way. He is the younger brother of Cai Yimu, an outstanding graduate of Nanjing Caijiaxiang Primary School's first accelerated course. He also studied at Caijiaxiang Primary School and entered school on the same day as his brother. But because he was young at the time, he attended a regular class with a three-year academic system.
So he graduated two years after Yimu did. In fact, Cai Yilin wanted to continue his studies, but he was already seventeen years old at that time, and his family could not let him go to Suzhou to study in middle school, even if he didn't spend money.
However, before graduation, the school announced that all students who successfully graduated could apply to continue their studies at the Coast Guard School, and they would receive a salary from the moment they enrolled.
Although the monthly salary of two taels of silver was not much for a primary school graduate, his brother Yimu already received five taels of silver per month. But it was enough to stop his family from opposing him, so he resolutely signed up to join the Coast Guard School with a longing for knowledge and took a boat to Jeonra Island.
As a result, I almost regretted it...
P.S. Sorry, this kind of chapter is too hard to write. I have only finished one chapter so far. I can't write the second chapter. I'll talk about it tomorrow...