Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 146 Su Tui Da Becomes an Official

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Time flies, and the month-long officer training course is coming to an end. The prospective officers have reviewed flintlock musket and line infantry tactics, learned the essentials of infantry-artillery coordinated operations, mastered methods of training soldiers and commands for combat, and have initially acquired the military qualities that a professional officer in a modern army should possess.

In his memoirs several years later, Liang Xiaoming wrote: "The officer training class that we set up back then seems somewhat naive and ridiculous from a professional perspective now. In the eyes of experts, it's more like playing house. However, it was with this training class that the Qiongzhou Battalion took its first step towards the standardization of the army and the professionalization of officers. The training mechanism that was continuously developed and improved on this basis built the Qiongzhou Battalion's own 'West Point Military Academy.' Subsequently, 90 percent of the officers in the Army and Navy came from here."

After the training, they faced an assessment. If it was a test of combat skills, these prospective officers, who had already been through several fierce battles, were not intimidated. What troubled them were arithmetic and literacy, especially the latter.

During the formal assessment, half of the people failed, mostly because they did not meet the required number of characters they knew.

"These people can wield guns, but can't they wield pens? Is it so hard to recognize a few characters?" Liu Ye snapped when he learned the result.

Liang Xiaoming advised, "Let's take it slow. Not long ago, these people were farmers who made salt and grew crops. They couldn't even write their own names. It's too difficult to make them literate in just one month."

Qian Youyu, who was in charge of teaching literacy, was uneasy, fearing that he would be punished. He said, "The time it took to go from being completely illiterate to having a basic understanding of writing was a bit too short..."

Sun Yuanhua asked, puzzled, "Why must they be literate? Few soldiers in the Ming army are literate, yet they still fight and serve."

Liu Ye explained, “Mr. Sun, let's not even talk about the need for literacy to convey military orders or the need for arithmetic to fire cannons. Is a brute who can't read a single word a qualified soldier? A true hero is one who is both literate and skilled in martial arts. There aren't many officials in the Ming Dynasty that I admire, but you, Mr. Sun, are one of them. As a civil official, you trained troops, cast cannons, and organized a new army. If it weren't for Li Jiucheng's interference, the Dengzhou-Laizhou New Army would definitely have made great achievements in Liaodong. In addition, Lord Lu Xiang-sheng is also admirable. Although he is a scholar, he can govern the region with his literary skills and fight the enemy with his sword. He has now trained an elite army in Hebei. In the second year of Chongzhen's reign, he raised an army to defend the emperor and forced the Tartars to retreat. I dare not hope for talents who are well-read and can also fight on the battlefield, but it is still possible to cultivate soldiers who can fight on the battlefield and are literate and understand the principles of things.”

Sun Yuanhua was deeply ashamed. Dengzhou had already fallen into the hands of the rebel army. How could he have the face to compare with Lu Xiangshan? He waved his hands repeatedly and said, "Lu Jiandou is both a scholar and a warrior. He can also wield a 136-pound broadsword and kill enemies with his own hands. I am absolutely no match for him."

However, he agreed with Liu Ye's words. Being literate was always better than being an illiterate and crude soldier. He had seen the so-called capable generals of the Ming Dynasty. It was common for them to embezzle soldiers' blood, collect salaries without working, and kill innocent people to claim credit. They would not fight without money to send troops. How could the fate of the Ming Dynasty be entrusted to such scoundrels?