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"Elder Brother Li's" words left all the soldiers in disbelief. Wasn't walking just walking? There were formations, and what rules were there? Was "General Li" just looking for trouble?
"Elder Brother Li" stopped wasting words on them and called out, "Li Fugui."
"Yes!" Fugui ran out from the side and stood before "Elder Brother Li."
"Form up for drills and demonstrate for them," "Elder Brother Li" commanded coldly.
"Yes!" Fugui replied loudly, bringing his feet together with a crisp sound of armor clashing.
Fugui stood tall, pivoting on his right heel to turn his body one hundred eighty degrees, his left foot following suit to close the gap. "Crack!" The sharp sound resonated in the hearts of all the soldiers, shaking them from their previous laxity. They focused intently on Fugui, eager to see his next move.
Fugui bellowed, "Assemble!"
The soldiers heard a flurry of footsteps, and soon a hundred soldiers stood in front of Li Fugui. They finally understood why "Elder Brother Li" was frustrated that they couldn't even form up properly; compared to the hundred in front of them, their formation indeed seemed lacking. The hundred soldiers arranged themselves into ten rows and ten columns, standing perfectly straight. From any angle, they appeared as a single straight line. However, Li Fugui was still not satisfied and shouted commands that left the other soldiers puzzled.
"Stand at attention."
"Crack!" The synchronized sound of boots hitting the ground sent a shiver through everyone. Such a neat sound—was it really produced by a hundred people and not just one?
"Align to the right." The hundred soldiers, except for those in the front row who kept their eyes straight ahead, turned their heads to the right simultaneously while stepping in unison, making the formation even more orderly. What had once been a slightly crooked line now appeared as a perfectly smooth straight line.
"Face forward!" The hundred soldiers turned to look ahead.
"Count off."
"One, two, three..."
After counting off, Li Fugui ran up to "Elder Brother Li," saluting with a modern military gesture that seemed strange to the other soldiers. He reported loudly, "Report to the General: One company has one hundred and one personnel scheduled; one hundred and one personnel are present. Please give your instructions, General."
Elder Brother Li returned a military salute and commanded, "Begin the drill."
"Yes!" Li Fugui ran to the front of the formation. "All units, attention! Right turn!"
The movements of the one hundred soldiers were perfectly synchronized, their footsteps echoing as one.
"Forward march." The formation moved forward, their feet hitting the ground in unison. The eyes of the commanders lit up.
"Quick march—go!"
With a sharp sound, the one hundred soldiers transitioned their steps, kicking their left feet forward almost parallel to the ground, their legs straight like lines. The toes pressed down, and the soles of their feet were parallel to the ground, striking hard with their entire foot before following with the right foot. The sound upon landing was singular and even louder than during the previous march.
"Clap, clap, clap..." The rhythmic beats resonated in each soldier's heart.
At that moment, all the soldiers' gazes were firmly fixed on this one hundred-man unit, instinctively straightening their backs. They finally understood why General Li had looked down on them. However, they were unwilling to admit defeat; after all, it was just marching in formation. They could do it too—given some time, they could achieve similar results. Each soldier secretly memorized the movements of the one hundred-man unit, determined to practice in private. But Elder Brother Li's goal was to train them openly; there would be no private practice.
During this first drill, Elder Brother Li only allowed the one hundred men to demonstrate marching and quick marching; everything else could wait. After all, one cannot become fat by eating just one meal. The most important aspects at present were marching and walking—these two were key points for any military parade. The sight of troops marching in quick step during a parade was always impressive.
After witnessing the performance of the one hundred-man unit, none of the commanders or soldiers dared to speak out anymore; they clenched their fists tightly, eager to learn and practice, hoping to match that one hundred-man unit. This performance elevated them to idols and goals for all soldiers, making Elder Brother Li's training plan run smoothly. In no time at all, ten thousand soldiers stood in perfect formation and marched impressively. At this point, Elder Brother Li appropriately rewarded everyone by teaching them Military Boxing and Taizu Longquan. Taizu Longquan was unnecessary; it was evident from Brat Han Bin's ability to break a wooden stick after just starting school at seven years old. Military Boxing needed no introduction either; it was a powerful martial art essential for modern armies that combined kicking, punching, grappling, and twisting techniques into a coherent system that was easy to learn and understand. Each move was designed for self-defense while also enhancing physical fitness. After learning it, the soldiers' combat effectiveness increased fivefold or sixfold, prompting commanders to rush to Elder Brother Li for instruction so they could improve even more than their soldiers.
In addition to these two sets of martial arts, Elder Brother Li also taught the soldiers a set of sword techniques, a set of spear techniques, and a set of staff techniques—Elder Brother Li and Hanno had once secretly infiltrated Mandala Villa's Luminous Jade Cave and copied all of Madam Wang's Martial Arts Manual. The sword technique was called Five Tiger Breaking the Door Blade; it was powerful and vigorous, suitable for battlefield use. The spear technique was Yang Family Spear—not the family tradition passed down from Yang Zaixing nor the Pear Blossom Spear created by Yang Miaozhen from the Late Southern Song Dynasty but rather an exclusive spear technique from the Yang family known for its formidable power and suitability for mounted combat. Elder Brother Li passed this on to his commanders. The staff technique shared its origins with the spear technique; it was created by Wang Wulang from the Yang family. After learning that several brothers had died in battle while he accompanied his father against Khitan forces and that his father had died tragically at Li Ling Stele, Wang Wulang became despondent until Master Zhiguang appeared and enlightened him. Wang Wulang then became a monk at Mount Wutai. Due to Buddhist prohibitions against weapons, he transformed spear techniques into staff techniques; thus emerged a system based on Tai Chi principles evolving through various stages into sixty-four staff techniques named "Wang's Five Dragons Staff." This staff technique wielded by multiple practitioners had even greater power.
The soldiers learned skills from Elder Brother Li and benefited greatly from them; their admiration for him grew as his prestige within the army soared—almost reaching a level that could threaten his position with excessive power. Fortunately, when Elder Brother Li returned home, the emperor had arranged positions such as political commissars based on some configurations from Elder Brother Li's modern army setup to instill loyalty among soldiers solely towards him, alleviating concerns about whether Elder Brother Li would betray the emperor with military power in hand.
...
Another New Year arrived. This year, both the Li Family and Wen Family celebrated joyfully; their lives had improved tenfold compared to last year. They also anticipated new members joining them soon and were filled with excitement about Li Zhoule's unborn child.
This year's New Year's Eve dinner, Li Zhoule began preparing the day before, filling an entire table with food: a whole chicken, a whole duck, and a whole fish. Compared to last year's meager offerings of instant noodles and three or four dishes, this year's feast was truly abundant. However, for the five of them, last year's dinner was still the most delicious and nostalgic.
Not just the Wen Family and the Li Family, but every villager in Aoyama Village had a New Year's Eve dinner that was ten times better than last year. Every face was adorned with hopeful smiles: although this winter was very cold, the potatoes in the ground had not frozen at all, and they would be ready for harvest next spring, adding another staple to their diet. From now on, they would never go hungry again.
Elder Brother Li was alone in the capital, feeling quite pitiful as he had to spend the New Year by himself. In the past, he could celebrate with friends in the military camp, but now both of his friends had families to accompany. He wouldn’t want to be a third wheel. After visiting the soldiers in the camp, Elder Brother Li returned home, had some dishes prepared by the servants, and poured himself a jug of wine while waiting for a video call from his beloved wife.
"Come on, let's raise a glass. Here's to our family's health and may everything go smoothly next year," Han Dad said as he lifted his wine glass. The drinking capacity of the three family members wasn’t great, so Mom Han had bought only grape wine and blueberry wine. At that moment, they were all drinking blueberry wine.
"Here's to our daughter finding someone to marry next year," Mom Han said with a smile. Now that her daughter had someone interested in her, she felt much more at ease. However, upon seeing Chang Miao's big belly again, Mom Han felt envious. It would be best if her daughter could hurry up and give them a grandson.
Hanno rolled her eyes; whether she could get married next year didn’t depend on her. She wanted to get married too, but her groom was still in another time and space.
Hanno raised her glass: "Let’s be practical and wish for my luck to improve so I can win a grand prize in the lottery."
Mom Han gave her daughter a light smack: "Your current wish is the least practical!"
Han Dad burst into laughter.
Hanno pouted and downed her drink in one go.
"Eat up, eat up," said Han Dad as he picked up his chopsticks and took the first bite. Mom Han followed with the second dish, and only then did Hanno grab a sausage from her plate. The sausage was sliced very thinly; when held up, one could vaguely see through it to what lay beyond. Such knife skills were impressive; it must have been Hanno's handiwork. Hanno was the main chef for the New Year's Eve dinner; when Mom Han tried to help out, she found that not only could her daughter cook various dishes skillfully but she also washed and chopped vegetables with remarkable agility. Mom Han ended up with no tasks left to assist with and could only take meat filling and dumpling wrappers to make dumplings herself. Han Dad was responsible for putting up couplets and window decorations; these were not modern machine-printed ones but real paper cuttings sent over by Elder Brother Li. Along with them came a character for "blessing" written by Emperor Li Xuan Zong himself. Just like Kangxi, every New Year Li Xuan Zong would write "blessing" characters to bestow upon his ministers; as one of the emperor's trusted aides and a rising figure in court, Elder Brother Li received more "blessings" than anyone else.
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