Water Margin: From a White-Robed Scholar to Donning the Yellow Robe

Chapter 54 Welcoming the New Year

With the recruitment process on track, Chao Gai was extremely busy.

The heavy responsibility of training soldiers fell on Lin Chong and Yang Zhi, who rarely rested from morning till night.

Following Wang Lun's suggestion, Yang Zhi became the head instructor of the recruit camp. The training of the recruits focused on physical fitness, formations, and flag commands. Every day, they ran ten miles every morning and evening without fail. The formation training was also a hardship for the soldiers, but they were able to roughly master the flag commands after a few days of learning.

Wang Lun proposed the concept of "military posture," and first standardized the soldiers' clothing, which consisted of short, tight-fitting reddish-brown trousers and a reddish-brown shirt, making them look very smart.

Soldiers stood at attention under the scorching sun, adhering to the standard of "standing like a pine tree." Yang Zhi was extremely strict, often extending training time, leaving the new recruits angry but unable to voice their dissent.

After a month of basic training, the recruits will be assessed. The assessment will be based on the same training content, and those who pass the assessment will be transferred to the second battalion.

The Second Battalion was managed by Lu Zhishen, who was in charge of strength training, including weightlifting, standing at attention, and running with weights. The training was as fierce as hell.

Strength training is not scheduled at any time, but there is an assessment every ten days. Those who pass the assessment will enter the third camp.

The third battalion was led by Wu Song, who taught them martial arts. His Drunken Fist, Jade Ring Step, and Mandarin Duck Kick were too complicated for the soldiers to practice.

He taught simple fist and foot techniques, which were also derived from Wang Lun.

Wang Lun had learned military boxing during his university military training. He practiced a set of military boxing techniques based on his memory, and Wu Song combined military boxing techniques to create a set of boxing techniques.

He named it "Tiger-Taming Fist," and the moves were simple, but each move was ruthless and merciless.

Vicious moves such as "Black Tiger Steals Heart" and "Monkey Steals Peach" were all incorporated into Wu Song's style.

The soldiers learned quickly and easily mastered the skills. In just a few days, they were able to spar in pairs, using various offensive and defensive techniques, completely breaking away from the chaos of thugs fighting.

There was also an assessment here. Anyone who could skillfully use the "Tiger-Taming Fist" could enter the fourth battalion. The assessment depended entirely on Wu Song's eyesight; if he thought someone was qualified, they were qualified.

Lin Chong served as the chief instructor of the Fourth Battalion, where they practiced marksmanship, including simple thrusting, stabbing, sweeping, smashing, and grappling techniques. These techniques were also very applicable on the battlefield.

Having gone through the previous three training sessions and assessments, those who made it to Lin Chong's place already possessed certain abilities, with significant improvements in physical fitness, martial arts skills, and military discipline.

Wang Lun participated in every round of training as a new recruit, and eventually became a soldier in Lin Chong's camp two months later.

Knowing that his martial arts skills were not high, and in order to set an example by taking the lead, he took the initiative to join the new recruit training.

Under his leadership, the soldiers trained with even greater enthusiasm and diligence.

Wang Lun's martial arts skills also improved, and he was able to go toe-to-toe with Lin Chong for twenty moves without being defeated.

Wang Lun was also very studious, learning spear fighting from Lin Chong and Yang Zhi, and boxing from Wu Song, rarely taking a break.

Three months have passed in the blink of an eye, and it's already the end of the year.

Wang Lun's fair face had turned bronze from the sun and wind, and all the fat on his body had disappeared, replaced by taut muscles.

She has completely changed.

During this period, Liangshan Marsh recruited civilians and soldiers. Now, there are about three thousand households in the back village. In addition to farming and fishing, the people are also organized by Wang Lun to do some handicrafts.

Such as weaving, sewing, and making armor.

The number of soldiers has reached four thousand, and nearly two thousand have successfully completed three rounds of training and arrived at Linchong Camp.

In other words, in the past six months, two thousand soldiers have passed the physical fitness test and can be considered the "elite troops" of Liangshan.

Wang Lun was very pleased with this.

He was the busiest member of Liangshan, not only participating in training and improving himself, but also researching weapons with Tang Long. Through purchasing from outside and preparing on his own, he had already produced the first batch of Divine Arm Bows.

There are a hundred of them, which is an outstanding achievement.

Tang Long was a master weapon maker. He initially made a simple model of the Divine Arm Bow using Wang Lun's blueprints and the resources on the mountain. After successfully making it, he began the formal production process.

The materials for the Divine Arm Bow could not be obtained overnight. Tang Long went to great lengths, and Wang Lun did his best to meet Tang Long's needs, allocating funds in batches.

Having these 100 successful Divine Arm Bows today has already significantly boosted Liangshan's fighting strength.

In addition, when Wang Lun first arrived, he had Chao Gai go down the mountain to rob the saltpeter mine. He obtained several cartloads of saltpeter. He knew the gunpowder formula. Gunpowder was already widely used in the Song Dynasty, but the formula was wrong and the power was insufficient.

He also led a group to prepare a batch of gunpowder and produce a small number of thunderclaps.

The Song Dynasty had already used the Thunderclap Bomb on the battlefield, and the Thunderclap Bomb made by Wang Lun should be the most advanced at present, but it has not yet been used in actual combat.

However, Ruan Xiaoer had already used several of the bombs to blast fish, and the effect was remarkable.

When the first thunderbolt exploded in Liangshan Marsh, the sound reverberated for miles, the water rippled, and countless large fish immediately floated to the surface.

Wang Lun led the leaders to stand on the high observation platform to watch, and the leaders looked at each other in astonishment, remaining silent for a long time.

Wang Lun was also thrilled, never expecting that the Thunderclap Bomb he had improved would be so powerful.

Among the heroes of Liangshan is Ling Zhen, nicknamed "Thunderbolt," but unfortunately he hasn't joined Liangshan yet. He's working for the imperial court, so it seems we need to find him as soon as possible.

After all, Wang Lun only knew the gunpowder formula; he wasn't really an expert on firearms.

The leaders were all filled with excitement at the growth of Liangshan.

They never imagined that such a small mountain village could have achieved so much; it was truly unbelievable.

And all of this is thanks to Wang Lun.

Everyone looked at Wang Lun, whose figure appeared exceptionally tall and imposing.

Everything proceeded smoothly, and before we knew it, it was the Spring Festival.

During the Song Dynasty, the Spring Festival was called "Yuandan" and the Lantern Festival was called "Shangyuan Festival," both of which were extremely grand festivals.

On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, Wang Lun, following custom, led his leaders to worship the Kitchen God, thus officially beginning Wang Lun's first Spring Festival in the Water Margin world.

After that, the Liangshan leaders and soldiers officially began their "vacation," and the leaders finally had time to travel, enjoy the scenery, drink, and have fun.

Wang Lun was filled with emotion about his first Spring Festival. If he hadn't been limited by his lack of talent, he would have composed a poem long ago.

When the Spring Festival arrived, Wang Lun gave all the leaders and the entire army a bonus, which he euphemistically called a "red envelope".

This made the Spring Festival atmosphere in Liangshan even more lively, with everyone singing, dancing, drinking, and having a great time.

In places like Jeju and Yuncheng, beautifully printed paper suddenly appeared on the streets, attracting crowds of onlookers, and even quickly ending up on the desks of the prefects and magistrates.

The four large characters at the top of this paper read: Jianghu Daily!

Below is a line of smaller print: "Published by Wu Yong, Director of the Liangshanbo Printing Bureau."

The main text is a poem written by Wang Lun, the leader of Liangshan, on behalf of the Liangshan leaders, to extend greetings to the people of the nearby prefectures and counties, wishing them a happy Spring Festival.

Poetry:

On the first day of the new year, the two new houses were opened and the morning sun shone brightly.

At midnight, plum blossoms add another year to my life; in my dream, firecrackers announce the passing of the night.

Only then did I realize that when people rejoice, Heaven rejoices too, for the first bell tolls before the rooster crows.

Don't ask about my age, for after drinking the Tusu wine, I have no more brothers.