Chapter 153: Proposing the Establishment of the Royal Military Academy!

"Little fellow, do you know why I kept you behind?" Inside the Wanchun Hall, Emperor Li looked at Li Yi with a half-smile.

Li Yi remained completely calm. "It must be because of the War Wolf Squad, right?"

"Oh? Why do you say that?"

"It's very simple! You are worried about their loyalty!"

Emperor Li looked slightly surprised. "Heh! You are certainly a straightforward lad!"

"Haha, Uncle Li, do you think it would work if I weren't straightforward?"

"Er... I suppose so! Sigh! You rascal, I truly don't know how Daoist Wang taught you. A mere fifteen-year-old youth, yet as shrewd as an old fox! What you said is correct. If you still tried to play clever tricks in front of me, I indeed wouldn't dare to use you!"

"So that means Uncle Li trusts the War Wolf Squad now!"

"Did I say that? Can you give me a reason to trust them? A clever fellow like you must have a reason that can convince me, otherwise you would never have proposed this military exercise!"

Li Yi chuckled. "Nothing can escape Uncle Li's notice. Indeed, your nephew did come up with an idea before the exercise, but in the middle of it, I thought of an even better one!"

"Hahaha! I knew it. Tell me about them!"

"Very well. The first idea is to resolve the issue concerning the War Wolf Squad. Uncle Li, the expansion of the War Wolf Squad is inevitable. As for the candidates, they should naturally be selected from various armies—including the Elite Armored Cavalry, of course!"

A sharp gleam flashed in Emperor Li's eyes. "You want the Elite Armored Cavalry to enter the War Wolf Squad to monitor them?"

"Yes. The Elite Armored Cavalry is your personal imperial guard and the force you trust the most, so this is the safest method."

"Little fellow, if that happens, the War Wolf Squad will truly no longer belong to you alone. Are you willing to let that go?"

Li Yi suddenly straightened his posture and said solemnly, "Uncle Li, the core of special forces training is ideology. Only by mastering special warfare ideology can one be considered a true special force. Conversely, once they have learned the special warfare ideology, they have essentially learned special warfare itself. The special warfare ideology of the War Wolf Squad is already quite mature, and everything that should be taught has been taught to them. As for what else they need to learn in the future, it will depend entirely on themselves. Therefore, from the moment they participated in the exercise, the War Wolf Squad has had nothing more to do with me! As I said from the beginning, this War Wolf Squad was trained for you!"

Emperor Li's expression startled, then completely softened. "Young man, I owe you this favor."

Hearing Emperor Li switch to referring to himself as an elder, Li Yi relaxed completely. He knew he had already passed half of the trial! "Uncle Li, what favor or no favor? We are family! As long as you don't oppose the matter between Princess Changle and me, your nephew will be endlessly grateful!"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Li immediately changed his expression. "Ahem, Wenyong! Tell me about your second idea!"

***

*Damn it! I knew it would be like this!* Li Yi muttered inwardly, but what needed to be said still had to be said. "Uncle Li, the previous idea was to relieve your worries regarding the War Wolf Squad, but this second idea is meant to resolve your worries concerning the military power of the entire realm!"

"What?" Emperor Li was so startled by Li Yi's words that he accidentally knocked over the teacup in front of him. However, Emperor Li paid no attention to it; his mind was entirely occupied by Li Yi's statement. Resolving the problem of the realm's military power? For an emperor, what could possibly be of greater concern?

A eunuch, hearing the sound of the shattered teacup, rushed in wanting to clean it up, only to be driven away by a fierce shout from Emperor Li: "Get out!" This alone showed how much importance Emperor Li attached to this matter.

"Little fellow, explain in detail. If you dare utter a single word of nonsense, don't blame me for having you flogged!"

"Your nephew obeys your decree. Uncle Li, what do you think is the most crucial group to control if one wants to command an army?"

Li Yi frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "Captains?"

"Heh, yes and no. Captains must be controlled, but they are not everything. An army is mainly composed of three parts: First, the generals—meaning the high-ranking officers; Second, the captains—meaning the middle-ranking officers, including military advisers, adjutants, marshals, vanguard officers, standard-bearers, major-generals, captains, battalion commanders, and squad leaders among all middle-ranking officers; Third, the ordinary soldiers who hold no official rank or post. Among these, controlling the generals is equivalent to controlling the army on the surface, but once a general turns traitor, the army turns with him. Therefore, controlling the general only means controlling the general himself! The ordinary soldiers at the bottom, holding no rank, simply obey their superiors. Thus, they are the easiest to control, yet also the hardest to control—or to put it accurately, the most unstable! To sum up, the best way to control an army is to control its middle-ranking officers! As long as you control them, if a general ever rebels and the middle-ranking officers refuse to cooperate, that general will be unable to command the troops, effectively being sidelined because the lower-ranking soldiers follow the middle-ranking officers."

The more Emperor Li listened, the more excited he became. Seeing Li Yi suddenly pause, he urged, "Speak! Continue!"

"Yes! Uncle Li, to control all the middle-ranking officers, there is a method that achieves multiple goals with a single stroke: establish a military academy!"

"A military academy?"

"Precisely! A military academy! You can personally select a batch of promising soldiers or recruit directly from among the common people, gather them together, and provide unified instruction. The content of the instruction will be all knowledge related to military affairs! Then, you can personally serve as the headmaster of this academy. When the time comes, everyone who graduates from this academy will be the Son of Heaven's own disciples, and you will be their teacher. You can then assign them to various military units. In this way, you will securely and firmly grasp the military power of the entire realm!"

"A military academy? Hahaha, excellent! What a brilliant military academy!" Emperor Li became so excited that he began pacing around the room again.

"You brat, who is going to teach them? You surely can't just find a couple of Confucian scholars!"

"Uncle Li, our Great Tang has a large group of retired old generals sitting idly at home with nothing to do! When it comes to military instruction, who could possibly be more suitable than them?"

Emperor Li slapped his thigh. "That's right! How could I have forgotten them? Indeed, it's time for them to come out of retirement. I reckon they've long grown weary of staying at home. Alas, a few days ago, General Sun passed away at home, and I was just lamenting that the Great Tang had lost another fierce tiger general. I was even wondering how to allow these veteran generals to pass down their lifelong skills, and today a solution has appeared! Splendid! Splendid indeed!"

"Uncle Li, establishing a military academy is, on one hand, to solve the issue of military loyalty. On the other hand, it is also meant to raise the overall quality of the soldiers. A nation's overall literacy level is closely related to its people's literacy rate, and for an army, this is even more paramount. Uncle Li, it is no exaggeration to say that the cultural level of the War Wolf Squad is definitely no lower than that of a seventh-rank civil official! And you have seen the combat effectiveness of the War Wolf Squad; those tactical maneuvers are not something an illiterate brute could learn. Therefore, raising the cultural quality of the army is an inevitable path we must take. Just imagine the effect of having the War Wolf Squad serve as middle-ranking officers commanding an army, and you will understand! Conversely, the reason why so many people in history could raise their arms in revolt and have masses of people follow them is simply because the common people were ignorant and knew nothing of state affairs, making them easily duped. The army is no different! Therefore, the significance of this military academy is not only for loyalty, but even more so for combat capability!"

"We will build it! It must be built! Little fellow, give me your word: if I hand this military academy over to you, can you build it for me?"

Li Yi had been waiting precisely for these words. "No problem, Uncle Li. Your nephew guarantees he will complete the mission. However, I am only responsible for setting it up; the management matters will not fall under my purview. Your nephew lacks the qualifications for that!"

After a brief moment of thought, Emperor Li said, "Very well! Done! I will take care of that part for you."

***

"That's wonderful. With Uncle Li taking care of it, your nephew will definitely handle this task splendidly!"

Emperor Li nodded with satisfaction. "Indeed! With you handling things, I am at ease." Pausing for a moment, he added, "Little fellow, did you know that someone actually suggested I confer an official title upon you today? Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, a solid fifth-rank post with real power!"

Li Yi gave a bitter smile. "Sigh! I knew it!"

"Heh! I knew you'd be able to guess it! Tell me, what are your thoughts?"

"Eh? Uncle Li, is this something I get to decide?"

"I didn't say that. I just wanted to hear your opinion."

"Oh! Uncle Li, as you can see, your nephew's personality is simply unsuited for serving as an official. Otherwise, with my temperament, I would surely cause a huge mess for you! Therefore, your nephew truly does not want to be an official!"

Hearing this, Emperor Li chuckled. "I figured as much. If an opinionated fellow like you entered officialdom, heaven knows what kind of trouble you'd stir up for me. But if you don't become an official, it really would be a waste of all your talents!"

"Is that so? How come I don't feel that way? Your nephew is currently without any official rank or post, yet I haven't done any less work!"

"I know, but like this, I have no reason to reward you!"

"Ha! Your nephew doesn't need those things. Uncle Li, you know very well what I want. As long as you agree to that matter, it will be the greatest reward you could ever give your nephew!"

Emperor Li's eyebrows shot up. "Get out! Scram right out of my sight! You ungrateful brat, why are you always scheming to snatch my precious daughter? Get lost, disappear from my sight immediately!"

Li Yi rubbed his nose and walked out awkwardly, unable to help muttering inwardly: *Can I afford not to scheme? With your habit of marrying off your daughters at the drop of a hat, who could ever feel at ease?*

Just as Li Yi reached the doorway of the grand hall, he suddenly heard Emperor Li's leisurely voice echoing behind him: "Wenyong, as long as you do not fail me, I shall certainly not fail you!"

A smile appeared at the corner of Li Yi's mouth. Without looking back, he replied, "Your Majesty, your nephew has always regarded you as his father-in-law in his heart!"

Having said that, Li Yi bolted, vaguely hearing Emperor Li's furious roar from behind: "Get out!"