Chapter 123: The First Batch of Students of Hexi Military Academy

Go to the Desert to sell wine?

It must be a trustworthy person.

So, the scope was narrowed as much as possible, preferably finding someone within the Li clan.

As the current patriarch of the Li family, the Old Master knew every clansman best.

He pondered gently for a moment, then said, “Let Ergunzi (Two Sticks) go.”

“He spent two years in the Desert before and is relatively familiar with that side.”

“Moreover, that kid’s temper and character take after his maternal grandfather, very slick, just right for doing business.”

Hearing the Old Master’s words, Li Xiao murmured gently: “Uncle Gunzi?”

Then he nodded lightly: “That could work.”

“Although a bit slick, he is quite reliable.”

Most importantly, Li Xiao trusted him!

The Li family was considered a relatively large clan in Hexi Fortress.

The first ancestor was named Li Qiming, a person from Yanyun, who came to the Northern Frontier following Yelü Dashi’s western expedition.

Subsequently, Li Qiming had three sons.

The eldest son was Li Xiao’s great-grandfather.

The great-grandfather had four sons, who were the Old Master and his three brothers.

Only the second brother died young a long time ago, leaving only the three brothers.

By the fourth generation, it was Li Dahai and his six brothers.

Now, Li Dahai and the fifth brother had died in battle, leaving five brothers.

Three Thousand-Man Commanders and two Hundred-Man Commanders, all holding high positions.

And Ergunzi’s name was Li Ergun.

He was from the second branch of the Li family, that is, the grandson of the Old Master’s second uncle.

The brothers of this generation in the second branch were named after parts of trees.

The eldest was named Li Dagen (Big Root), the second was Li Ergun (Two Sticks), and the third was Li Sanzhi (Three Branches).

Dagen and Ergun were biological brothers, but their temperaments and characters were completely different.

Li Dagen inherited the character of the Li family, steady and honest, resolute and unyielding.

But Li Ergun had been a loafer since childhood, with a slick character, taking after his maternal grandfather’s side.

However, in Li Xiao’s view, Li Ergun having such a character was not necessarily a bad thing.

In a clan, there also had to be some brothers with different temperaments and characters.

In the Li family, there were already enough brothers like Li Dahai with tough tempers and steady, honest characters.

Li Ergun’s existence was like a ‘muddy stream’ in the fourth generation of the Li family.

Some jobs were really suitable for people like him to do.

…

Soon after, the distillation work of West Wind Fury was completed.

A total of two hundred jars were brewed.

Ten jars per cart, loading a total of twenty horse carts, prepared to be transported to the Desert.

This was only the first batch— there were at least five hundred more jars being brewed subsequently.

“Sixth Uncle, after arriving at Beshbalik, visit Xiao Tuladuo at the Military Governor’s Office first.”

“Leave him two carts of West Wind Fury as a gift.”

Before departure, Li Xiao instructed Li Dashan and Li Ergun.

Because it was the first time going to the Desert, and they also needed to visit Xiao Tuladuo.

So, Li Xiao asked Li Dashan to lead the team, because he knew Xiao Tuladuo.

In the future, Li Ergun would need to go alone.

“Alright.” Li Dashan nodded gently.

With Xiao Tuladuo’s face, their batch of wine should be sold very quickly, and the task of purchasing grain and cotton wouldn’t be too difficult either.

Moreover, besides this wine, Li Xiao also gave Li Dashan some copper coins.

In this war, the gold, silver, and copper coins he obtained were about five thousand strings.

Later, Xiao Sima rewarded another ten thousand strings.

Li Xiao was a rich man now.

So he took out two thousand strings and gave them to Li Dashan.

All to be used to buy grain and cotton.

These supplies must all be transported back to Jin Prefecture before heavy snow blocked the roads.

Subsequently, Li Xiao looked at Li Ergun and said, “Second Uncle, your task is to familiarize yourself with the situation in the Desert as soon as possible.”

“Get in touch with those restaurants; our wine will need to cooperate with them in the future.”

“Also, contact those traveling merchants more; it’s best if we can sell our goods to them.”

Hearing this, Li Ergun nodded heavily: “Rest assured, Dalong.”

“If you asked me to go into battle and fight, I might not compare to Dashan.”

“But speaking of doing business, ten Dashans can’t compare to me.”

Li Ergun chuckled.

Looking to be in his thirties, tall, and not solidly built, from a distance he really looked a bit like a stick.

“Alright, with you two there, I’m relieved.”

“This batch of goods is entrusted to you.”

Li Xiao nodded gently and said.

After watching their retreating figures disappear, Li Xiao turned his head and looked at the little buddies behind him.

“Little ones, have you played enough?”

“Today is the first day; get ready to start learning.”

Hearing Li Xiao’s words, Erhu, Shouhou, and the others immediately wilted.

Howling and screaming “Ahhh”.

“No, Brother Dalong, we just had breakfast.”

“Let’s race horses for another round!”

“How about going to cut grass instead?”

“Why don’t we go down to the river to catch fish?”

In fact, by this time, every family’s grain had long been harvested, and winter pasture was stored almost enough.

These kids basically had no serious business to do.

So, Li Xiao gave them a task.

Learning to read.

But as soon as this matter was mentioned, these kids looked full of complaints, preferring to work rather than sit down and study.

But at this moment, Li Xiao seemed to transform into a ruthless teacher for the students.

Looking at these guys with a cold face, he snorted— “Saying anything is useless. Unless you learn ten characters today, no one leaves.”

The reason Li Xiao made these teenagers literate was also to plan for a rainy day.

They were people who grew up with Li Xiao and were the team Li Xiao could trust most in the future.

But just training their riding, archery, martial arts, and fighting abilities was far from enough.

That would only make them boors.

To become a qualified general and commander, or even govern a region in the future, literacy was the most basic ability.

Of course, what Li Xiao taught them was not the current Han characters (Traditional Chinese), but the Simplified Chinese of later generations.

Writing Han characters in this era meant Traditional characters, which were very troublesome; even Li Xiao got a headache learning them, which also caused the literacy rate of people in this era to be appallingly low.

And the Huaxia of later generations had proven the success of simplified characters, which played a great role in improving literacy rates.

Soon, Li Xiao took them to a piece of soft sandy ground and started teaching from the simplest.

“This is another way of writing ‘One’…”

Li Xiao used a wooden stick to write the Arabic numeral ‘1’ on the ground.

Regardless of whether the Indians invented this way of writing, from now on, this was a way of writing numbers in Han characters.

It had nothing to do with Indians or Arabs; it was invented by Li Xiao.

In a quarter of an hour, Li Xiao taught these teenagers how to write numbers.

Although very simple, there was no lack of stupid students anywhere, and of course, there were also straight-A students.

“Wei Xuan writes the best; you should all learn from him.”

Li Xiao specifically praised Wei Xuan.

Being about the same age, ever since Wei Xuan’s injuries improved, he had led the teenagers of Sanhe Fortress to slowly integrate into the circle of Li Xiao and these Hexi teenagers.

However, Li Xiao gradually discovered that this kid Wei Xuan was really a talent.

Although his martial value was average, his understanding of the art of war was much deeper than other teenagers. When replicating battle formations, he could always offer unique insights.

Now, Li Xiao discovered another talent of his.

Stronger learning ability!

Hearing Li Xiao’s praise, Wei Xuan said somewhat ‘flattered’, “Everyone writes quite well and mine is nothing special.”

He suspected that this guy Li Xiao was drawing hatred towards him.

Just like when a teacher praised a good student, the students with poor grades would definitely be unhappy.

It was just because he didn’t let him talk to his sister two days ago!

“Good is good; no need to be modest” Li Xiao said domineeringly.

Then he let Wei Xuan replace him to teach those teenagers who still didn’t know how and continuing to practice.

This guy was considered Li Xiao’s teaching assistant.

A few days later, the Thousand-Man Commanders and Hundred-Man Commanders of various fortresses in Jin Prefecture all received Li Xiao’s order.

“What?”

“Asking us to bring bedding and daily necessities to go to Hexi Fortress to study?”

Li Sanhe looked at Tietou, who came to deliver the message, with a face full of astonishment.

After Xiao Sima’s grand army left Jin Prefecture, Li Xiao simply stopped hiding that army.

Ordering the more than one thousand one hundred soldiers to enter Jin Prefecture directly.

Occupying the pastures originally belonging to the three Karluk tribes, turning them into their territory.

The designation of this unit was the Golden Mountain Thousand-Man Army.

Li Sanhe was the Thousand-Man Commander of the Golden Mountain Thousand-Man Army.

But unexpectedly, just as he brought his whole family to settle down in Beishan (North Mountain), Li Xiao’s order followed.

Asking him to take five of the Hundred-Man Commanders under the Golden Mountain Thousand-Man Army to Hexi Fortress for study.

“Tietou, tell me honestly, what exactly does the Governor want us to go back to Hexi Fortress for?” Li Sanhe asked with a serious face.

Tietou, however, looked schadenfreude, grinned and said, “Third Uncle, I told you it’s just going back to study.”

The pain these teenagers had experienced was finally others’ turn to experience once.

“what study?”

“I’m at this age; what is there to study?” Li Sanhe asked, puzzled.

Tietou grinned again: “Learning to read.”

Li Sanhe instantly widened his eyes and asked in astonishment— “What? Making me go back to learn to read?”

“What is Dalong thinking?”

Tietou said, “Brother Dalong’s order is just this. Not only you, but half of the Hundred-Man Commanders in other Thousand-Man Armies have also been drafted back to Hexi Fortress.”

“After your batch finishes learning, the remaining Hundred-Man Commanders will go over.”

“Rotating turns; no one can escape,” Tietou said with a chuckle.

Li Xiao’s intention was to take advantage of this winter, with no war, to summon the core strength of the five direct line Thousand-Man units under his command to come to Hexi Fortress in batches for study.

Ordinary soldiers could be illiterate, but these Thousand-Man and Hundred-Man Commanders must be literate.

At the same time, what these core members learned was not just simple characters.

Li Xiao would also impart his combat experience from later generations to them, and let them share their own combat experiences with each other.

Learning together, progressing together.

So, what Li Xiao created in Hexi Fortress was not a schoolroom.

Accurately speaking, it should be a military academy.

“Hexi Military Academy!”

And these teenagers under Li Xiao, as well as those Thousand-Man and Hundred-Man Commanders, were the first batch of students of the Hexi Military Academy.

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