Dust billowed across the training grounds, but it could not drown out the uproar of voices. The soldiers under the colonel's command had all been summoned early that day to line up and await orders.
Chen Mo stood among several other grooms. The ranks were naturally far from orderly, with people whispering and wandering about at will.
And this was after the colonel's personal guards had arranged them several times. Otherwise, the disorder would have been even worse.
"Mo-ge, I reckon the people responsible for testing us will be here soon." Though Ma Cai kept his voice low, he could barely conceal his excitement.
He had waited this long precisely for this opportunity, and now it had finally arrived.
"Mm." Chen Mo nodded in response, wasting no more words.
The injuries on his body had long since healed completely. Some time ago, he had even secretly tested his own strength. He might not have the strength of a thousand jin, but five or six hundred jin was absolutely within his power—perhaps even more.
There was nothing he could do about it. He normally had no chance to come into contact with anything that could test his strength, so his current judgment was only a rough estimate and not entirely accurate.
Even so, his strength far surpassed that of most people. Calling it heaven-given strength would not be an exaggeration.
Not long after the two finished speaking, billowing clouds of dust rolled in from the north. Three soldiers clad in leather armor, with long sabers at their waists, rode straight into the training grounds.
"What fine horses!" He Ma Guan could not help murmuring in admiration when he saw the steeds.
Mo Hu reined in his horse and swept a contemptuous gaze over the many soldiers below.
In principle, a Rank 9 Colonel's command should have had at least four hundred and fifty soldiers. Yet no matter how one looked at it, there were at most three hundred people before him.
The local provincial troops were ultimately different from the border troops. The practice of drawing pay for nonexistent soldiers had become far too severe.
"May I ask whether you are under General Sun's command?" Colonel Wang led his personal guards forward to greet them.
Although the visitors did not have specific official posts or ranks, as the saying went, even a gatekeeper outside the prime minister's residence held the rank of a seventh-grade official.
Anyone who could come to select personal guards must have won considerable favor with General Sun.
If one carefully discussed their status, they might not be inferior to a colonel like himself.
If he treated them coldly now and they happened to return and complain a few words to General Sun, then his career as a colonel would be finished.
"That's right. We came here under the general's orders to conduct the selection at this military camp," Mo Hu replied coldly.
"I already had my men summon the troops in advance. The selection can begin at any time. I've also prepared food and wine. Since you've come from far away, why not rest for a while first?" Colonel Wang's plump face was piled with smiles, and he looked delighted.
Even if General Sun directly took people from under his command, effectively poaching his best men, a higher rank could crush a lower one—and General Sun outranked him by far more than one level.
Thus, no matter how unwilling he felt inside, he still had to pretend on the surface that he had not the slightest objection.
Besides, General Sun could not poach his personal guards. His nephew would never abandon his own clan uncle to follow some unfamiliar outsider.
So he felt only a trace of displeasure deep down and did not have any major objection.
"No need. We should complete the general's orders first," Mo Hu said, as though nothing could sway him.
"I also prepared some gifts for General Sun and you in my tent. Why don't you go take a look first?" Colonel Wang suggested with a smile.
The moment he learned that General Sun had been transferred here, he had begun racking his brains over how to find an opportunity to give a gift. Now, the opportunity had arrived.
Giving this gift might not earn him a promotion, and General Sun might not even remember him. But if he did not give one, General Sun would certainly remember him.
To keep his position secure and continue bleeding the army dry and drawing pay for nonexistent soldiers, he had to give this gift no matter what!
"Oh? Then let's go take a look first!" Mo Hu immediately became interested, and his expression changed completely.
"Good, good, good. Please, follow me." Colonel Wang smiled radiantly.
He had originally thought that the other party was upright and incorruptible, impervious to inducements, which would have made things extremely difficult. But now, it seemed they were no different from him.
Laughing and chatting, the group entered the barracks, leaving the assembled soldiers standing where they were.
These soldiers had never received much training to begin with. Now that they were left waiting around, their tempers quickly grew restless.
They still feared the colonel's personal guards, however, so the formation barely held together.
More than half an hour later, Colonel Wang finally emerged from the barracks with several of General Sun's personal guards, all smiles.
"Silence!" When Colonel Wang saw the uproarious scene, the smile on his face vanished abruptly.
He knew that his soldiers had little military discipline, but losing face before outsiders still made anger flare in his heart. With outsiders present, however, he could not vent it directly.
"Shut the fuck up and behave!" Several personal guards shouted harshly, raising their whips and lashing several ordinary soldiers.
After that show of force, the ranks quickly fell silent and slowly regained some order amid the chaos.
Mo Hu was not particularly surprised by the disorder before him.
He had traveled all the way back to Xingyuan Prefecture from the border. He had long understood the military discipline of the local provincial troops, so he was entirely unsurprised by the scene before him.
He could only pray inwardly that too many of these people would not meet the selection standard. Otherwise, merely training them would be an enormous headache.
"Today, I have come on General Sun's behalf to select personal guards from among you." Mo Hu's voice was loud and ringing; anyone could tell that he possessed tremendous strength.
"Anyone who can lift a two-hundred-jin stone wheel may enter the military camp under General Sun's command for training. Those who pass the training may enter the Guard Camp. Anyone who can lift a three-hundred-jin stone wheel may enter the Guard Camp directly."
He announced the standards for this selection. Anyone capable of lifting a two-hundred-jin stone wheel would be chosen, but they would still have to undergo further training before they had a chance to become personal guards.
Those who could lift three hundred jin, however, would need no further testing and could enter the Guard Camp directly.
Many sturdy adult men could lift a two-hundred-jin stone wheel and hold it aloft, so it was not especially difficult.
Meeting this standard meant that their physiques had no major shortcomings. Recruiting them into the military camp for the next stage of training would not be a waste.
A three-hundred-jin stone wheel, on the other hand, was not something an ordinary person could easily lift. Such a person either had a naturally powerful build and strength surpassing that of ordinary people, or had practiced martial arts.
Even if such talent had deficiencies in other areas, they had to be recruited into the Guard Camp first and foremost.
After he finished speaking, someone brought out the stone wheels that had lain sealed away in the military camp for years.
The so-called stone wheel was not much different from a barbell, except that stone had replaced iron plates.
As the stone wheel was pushed out, one soldier after another stepped forward to test his strength. Most could not even lift the two-hundred-jin stone wheel.
Many soldiers could barely eat their fill on ordinary days, much less undergo any training. Where would they find the strength to lift a two-hundred-jin stone wheel now?
One after another, they tried. One after another, they left with their heads hanging in dejection.
They all knew that being selected as one of General Sun's new soldiers would mean changing their fate and turning their lives around. For lowly foot soldiers like them, it was a chance to rise up and become masters of their own lives.
But a two-hundred-jin stone was not something they could lift merely by gritting their teeth and straining a little harder.
Still, some soldiers who did more physical labor in their daily lives, though they might not have eaten their fill either, still possessed a bit of hard-earned strength and could lift the two-hundred-jin stone.
Chen Mo was also considering how heavy a stone wheel he should lift. He did not hesitate for long before making his decision.
He would lift the three-hundred-jin stone wheel directly!
Before you continue