The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 736

The Tiger Legion has always maintained a strength of around two thousand men. The Xuanwu Army had expanded once when it was recruiting along the Fujian coast, but some of them joined the Ming Navy, and now many of them are captains or even generals.

The Xuanwu Army still has about three thousand men.

"Do you still think you don't need to train?"

Zhou Chu looked down at the soldiers with their heads bowed and spoke loudly.

No one spoke, including Chen Huan, who also chose to remain silent.

"In that case, let's begin the first field training exercise. Zhixin, integrate these thousand Tiger Warriors into these ten thousand-plus people, with each person responsible for training a dozen or so. These students will be assigned separately. At the beginning, pay attention to their training intensity and don't make it too high."

Zhou Chu looked at Lin Lu beside him and said.

Upon hearing this, Lin Lu looked down at the soldiers.

"Attention everyone! Students, stand on the right. General Chen's soldiers, stand on the left. You have one hour. If anyone is not standing properly by the time's up, the training will be doubled!"

Lin Lu shouted.

Lin Lu was extremely skilled at training troops. Many years ago in Suzhou Prefecture, Lin Lu was the one who trained Zhou Chu's Tiger Army most of the time.

Lin Lu's decision to give the students only one hour was already exceptionally lenient.

Upon hearing this, the students below were immediately filled with panic, fearing that they would be singled out as an example. After Zhou Chu's reprimand, they had completely immersed themselves in the role of soldiers and hurriedly moved to the right.

Compared to their panic, Chen Huan's soldiers were much more orderly and quickly took their positions.

After a flurry of activity, the students managed to get into position just before the time was up.

Lin Lu looked at them, nodded, and then incorporated the thousand Tiger Warriors into these teams.

The Tiger Legion soldiers were incredibly excited to hear that they could train these soldiers and students, especially those Tiger Legion soldiers assigned to train the students, who were all thinking about how to properly train these young masters.

"First, we'll do a 10-mile long-distance training exercise. After that, you can do whatever you want, just be mindful of the intensity. Don't make the intensity too high for the first training session."

Zhou Chu shouted.

Hearing this, the Tiger Warriors below became even more excited, while the students around them trembled with fear at the sight of their excited expressions.

Lin Lu didn't give these people a chance to think too much and directly led the main force to begin a ten-mile training exercise.

Chen Huan's soldiers were alright. Although it was their first time running like this, they were able to keep going easily. After all, they had regular training, and they just found it a bit strenuous.

But the students were different. Some of them who persisted in practicing martial arts and stance training were doing better, but those who hadn't practiced much martial arts felt like they were about to collapse halfway through the race. Many of the young masters fell behind and were about to fall behind the main group.

"If you can't run, slow down. Don't rush. If you really can't walk, help each other and finish the race."

Lin Lu approached these people and spoke loudly.

The entire military academy was filled with torches, making it quite bright even though it was night. In addition to the students who practiced martial arts every day, the students from ordinary families were also in good physical condition and could basically finish the run.

Zhou Chu stood at the finish line, watching the soldiers and students arrive one by one. Most of the soldiers took about 15 and a half minutes, while a few took 25 minutes.

Most students took 45 minutes or more to finish, and some even took about 45 minutes. The last group could no longer be described as running; they were simply helping each other along.

Although many of these students practiced martial arts, very few actually persisted in practicing standing meditation every day, so their overall physical fitness was not as good as that of the soldiers.

After the last group of students reached the finish line, they all plopped down on the ground, their chests heaving as they gasped for breath.

"Everyone stand up, you can't sit down."

Lin Lu said sternly.

Upon hearing this, the students sitting on the ground, like frightened birds, used their last bit of strength to barely stand up.

"Zhixin asked you to stand up for your own good. If you sit down in your current condition, you will have health problems."

Zhou Chu looked at the students who were barely able to stand and spoke gently.

The students were flattered and overwhelmed by these words.

"Let's continue training."

Zhou Chu's next words instantly chilled their hearts, which had been somewhat warm.