Chapter 311: The Phylum and the Ministry of War (2)

After Baifeng finished speaking, no one raised questions, nor did anyone have objections—and they certainly wouldn't dare to have any. Once Baifeng said they were dismissed, they immediately went home to pack their things. Originally, there were no issues, but Xiong mentioned one thing to Baifeng: except for the two of them, everyone else's equipment had been confiscated.

Baifeng slapped his forehead and shook his head. He had no choice but to call the guard back in. The guard was on duty and the dismissal did not apply to him. Baifeng told him to hurry and catch those people before they got too far, and have them go to the Ministry of Revenue first to collect their gear. He then immediately tore a page from his notebook, wrote an order, and handed it to him. Without this order, neither the Ministry of Revenue nor the warehouse would release any items, especially military equipment, which was managed even more strictly.

As for Xiong and Chi, Baifeng did not keep them any longer and told them to hurry off and prepare as well. Even if they had nothing to prepare, they should at least get some rest first. For the next period of time, Baifeng would use extremely abnormal methods to train them.

Afterward, Baifeng began drawing a grid in his notebook, with the horizontal and vertical coordinates representing time and to-do items.

From eight in the morning until six in the evening, Baifeng filled every slot except for a one-hour break at noon. This was mainly because this interval was during the day; any earlier or later and there would be no sun, making it inconvenient for him to work. Moreover, there was a high probability he would have to work overtime at night.

He divided this time equally among several departments, with each department coming to report their situation or express problems during their designated time slot. Of course, this was flexible and could not be strictly limited to those times; it was just a rough guide. Tomorrow morning, he would hand this schedule to Yu to coordinate and arrange.

After finishing the miscellaneous tasks, the sun had long since set, and it was past the eight o'clock evening work time Baifeng had anticipated. After returning home, Baifeng collapsed and fell asleep. Of course, when Baifeng left the office, he noticed that the lights in the other departments were also on. They were also burning oil lamps and working overtime through the night, just to get this country up and running sooner.

The next morning, Baifeng packed his things, ready to go for training. In reality, those Soldiers hadn't slept well at all the night before, fearing that Baifeng might suddenly call for an emergency assembly, which would cause them to lose the hard-won opportunity they had finally obtained.

However, Baifeng didn't intend to put them through that much trouble. Regarding their physical fitness, Baifeng didn't plan to overwork them; after all, they were a group of elite Soldiers, and Baifeng still trusted their abilities. Baifeng wanted to torture their minds and thoughts.

The first thing in the morning was a theory class. Without classes, they wouldn't know the importance of discipline. Everyone brought a notebook and sat below listening to the lecture like students. Baifeng wrote the discipline he had stipulated on the blackboard, one by one, and provided explanations. The people below copied every single word, squad by squad, because Baifeng had stated at the beginning that this was exam material. For the final exam in ten days, they would have to recite it word for word, and in the future, when they led troops, those Soldiers would also have to recite it word for word.

After the regulations were explained, Baifeng began to speak about orders and directives. Baifeng had spoken about these before, and they were already using them, but Baifeng still felt it was necessary to go over them once more.

After more than an hour, the theory class ended, and it was time for the practical class. Several sets of standard military supplies had already been delivered to Baifeng, and then Baifeng demonstrated for them: folding quilts, folding clothes, placing shoes, and so on. Baifeng couldn't fold the quilt into a perfect tofu block either, but they had to achieve the highest level of neatness. Later, once they were proficient, they could explore and practice on their own; it would be best if they could fold them into tofu blocks.

Afterward, Baifeng gave them an hour to practice, after which he would inspect them. After making the arrangements, Baifeng hurried back to his office without stopping to handle matters for other departments.

After about an hour had passed, Baifeng rushed back to check on the practice situation. Although it was very close, Baifeng still felt it was a waste of time, so he directly arranged for people to carry his desk over so he could supervise while working.

When Baifeng inspected them, because there were only eight sets, eight people started in a group at the same time. Baifeng watched from the side. For those who didn't pass, Baifeng would have them take a set back to continue practicing. They had to master it within ten days; otherwise, it would be a failure.

Then came the military posture. He had them follow a set of instructions, then hold a standard military posture for an hour while Baifeng handled Government Affairs Department work.

Just like that, the whole day passed. Baifeng was busy without stopping, and the people being trained were also exhausted. It didn't seem like high intensity, but it was particularly strenuous and tiring, just like moving bricks at a construction site for a day.

Days like this repeated for several days, until all officials for departments other than the Ministry of War and the Phylum had been selected. Baifeng then had people post a notice in the square. During the posting, someone from the Ministry of Personnel had to stand by to explain it to the onlookers, because basically, no one was literate.

No one raised objections to the selection of officials, and Baifeng breathed a huge sigh of relief. With the government framework set up, their work would be a bit easier.

The people he trained were also looking more and more decent every day. Through his military ideological education, the inner hearts of the crowd had changed; obedience, loyalty to the ruler, and a sense of responsibility had already taken root in their minds.

A good thing about primitive people is that as long as you put in the effort, their thinking is very easy to change, just like the elderly in later generations; they are easily brainwashed by advertisements and the like, and it is very difficult to change their cognition again.

The military camp was already under construction in full swing. The ground of the entire camp was paved with cement, and the training equipment inside had already been crafted by the Ministry of Works and would be installed later.

Ten days later, Baifeng's training for them officially ended. Actually, there was no need for an exam; Baifeng knew they had all passed. He had been staring at them there every day, so how could he not know?

However, Baifeng still conducted an assessment to go through the motions. He randomly picked a team to demonstrate the training content from these days. After the formality ended, Baifeng loudly congratulated them: "You have passed!"

No one cheered, but the smiles on their faces were very bright. Afterward, Baifeng brought out the results of the departmental assignments based on his observations during this period. However, basically everyone wanted to transfer from the Ministry of War to the Phylum. The loyalty education Baifeng gave them was a bit excessive; they felt that serving the ruler was more important than serving the country.

In the end, Baifeng only agreed to a few people's requests, and all other applications were rejected because they were more suitable for the Ministry of War, not the Phylum.

Then Baifeng told them to dismiss and go back to rest, but in reality, Baifeng intended to give them one last little surprise. In ten days, there hadn't been a single emergency assembly—how could that be?