Past filth is nothing to boast about, today's unrestrained thoughts are boundless.

Early the next morning, Song Jiang took a gong and went out of his room to strike it!

The clanging sound echoed loudly in the open space, waking many people from their sleep!

"Everyone, get up! You'll only have half a cup of tea's time!" Song Jiang shouted.

Soon, everyone stood in neat rows on the open space!

"Not bad, you've improved a lot compared to yesterday!" Song Jiang praised.

The tone shifted abruptly: "However, today will be much more arduous and difficult than yesterday. I wonder if you can handle it?"

"No problem!" everyone shouted.

"You all showed me much better spirit and energy today than yesterday, so I'm quite satisfied. In that case, let's begin now. Everyone, follow me and run around the open space, round and round, until I stop!" With that, Song Jiang took the lead and started running!

When everyone saw that Song Jiang was personally leading the way and running, they quickly followed in his footsteps and started running as well!

Morning runs were one of Song Jiang's daily essential exercises before he time-traveled. Unfortunately, after time-traveling, the daily tasks piled up like Mount Tai, leaving him no time to catch his breath!

Since I have some time today, I can take them for a morning run and improve my own physical fitness!

He shouted as he ran, "Shout it with me: Strive, fight, and move towards hope!"

So, an interesting scene unfolded on Liangshan: one person ran ahead shouting slogans, and a group of people followed behind, running and shouting slogans as well. This was something that had never been seen before!

They'd run ten laps, easily six or seven kilometers, and it was definitely tiring; Song Jiang's legs were even a little swollen! Looking at the exhausted group, Song Jiang took a deep breath and said, "Walk around a bit, don't sit on the ground. Rest for a while, then I'll teach you some more moves!"

After a while, Song Jiang called everyone over and first took a few deep breaths. Then he taught them some simple movements to stretch their limbs and activate their meridians, and used his fingers to massage some sore acupoints.

Before long, many people felt less tired and even more refreshed!

Breakfast is ready too, it's noodles cooked in a big pot and pickled vegetables!

After finishing his meal, Song Jiang stood up, stretched his joints, and said, "Everyone, stand at attention! I have something to say!"

Soon, everyone stood in four rows, just like yesterday, waiting for Song Jiang to begin speaking!

Song Jiang looked at everyone and smiled, "Don't be so nervous. However, what I'm about to say is very important and will affect your future lives. Think it over carefully before you answer. If you don't want to, you can leave directly. Chao Tianwang and I won't make things difficult for you!"

No one spoke; they simply watched Song Jiang silently.

Seeing the spirited faces of the crowd, Song Jiang spoke earnestly, "After yesterday's training, you should know firsthand how arduous it is. The training to come will only be more difficult than yesterday, and there may even be life-threatening situations in the future. But I guarantee that your lives will be filled with honor and dignity. No one will look down on you, no one will be able to trample on or humiliate you at will, and no one will be able to take your lives at will! Now tell me your answer. If you want to leave, do it now! If you don't leave today, you can't be deserters again, or I will not let you off easily!"

No one spoke; the passion in everyone's hearts was ignited!

Song Jiang continued, "Since that's the case, I'll assume you all want to stay. Those who stay will be provided with three meals a day and a monthly wage of seven qian of silver. After a month, you can bring your families to Liangshan. As long as you work hard, you'll all have silver; you definitely won't go hungry!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the people below became excited. They usually ate only one meal a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and were quite satisfied with just simple food!

Now, not only do they have three meals a day, but their families can also come to Liangshan to reunite. Their lives are several times better than before. This desirable life is all thanks to Song Jiang. At this moment, they are filled with gratitude and loyalty towards Song Jiang. Even if Song Jiang asked them to stab someone with a knife, they would not hesitate to do so!

Seeing that everyone's emotions had been stirred up, Song Jiang declared loudly, "Since everyone has made their choice, I, Song Jiang, hereby swear that for the rest of my life I will not let you down, that we will share both good times and bad. If I break this oath, may I be struck down by heaven and earth!"

"Your Excellency is so kind and righteous, I will certainly not let you down!" Someone spoke up from the crowd, and as if a stone had been thrown into still water, everyone shouted, "We will certainly not let you down! We will certainly not let you down!"

Seeing that the desired effect had been achieved, Song Jiang clapped his hands and said, "I have seen everyone's determination. We must continue training. Today, we will stand at attention for an hour and a half. Is that alright?"

"Brother's courage is truly unmatched!" Hua Rong said from a distance.

"Alas, from the first time I met you, brother, I knew you were no ordinary person. I never imagined I would underestimate you!" Wu Yong exclaimed in admiration. He recalled the many things Song Jiang had said on their journey to Shijie Village, things that still lingered in his mind. He increasingly felt that Song Jiang was like a clear yet bottomless lake; the more he tried to understand him, the more unfathomable he seemed, always bringing a different feeling to his mind!

"It's a pity, I'm going to Qingfeng Village to take up my post in a few days, and I won't be able to stay by my brother's side often!" Hua Rong said regretfully.

Wu Yong was also very sorry. Hua Rong was a valiant general, and it was indeed a pity that he left. However, staying in Liangshan at this time would do more harm than good to Hua Rong. He would not be able to use his skills. It would be better for him to go to Qingzhou to develop and wait for Song Jiang to respond!

An hour and a half later, Song Jiang let everyone rest for a while, and then spent another hour teaching them how to turn left, turn right, align themselves to the right, and how to squat and stand up!

These are the most basic movements and essentials of modern military training, and the foundation of drill movements. They can reflect the best spirit of a soldier and fully demonstrate the soldier's morale!

After everyone was able to complete the action completely, Song Jiang let them have lunch.

After a one-hour rest, the afternoon training began. An hour of military posture was not an option, so they reviewed squatting and standing, turning left and right, and Song Jiang made them do push-ups, but not as strictly as yesterday. They were required to do 25 push-ups as a set, four sets, with a five-breath interval between each set!

Song Jiang was quite helpless, but there were no hours, minutes, or seconds in ancient times, and they wouldn't understand if he explained it to them. He could only measure time using the time it takes to burn an incense stick, drink a cup of tea, or take a breath!

After they finished doing push-ups, Song Jiang taught them sit-ups, an exercise that trains the core and abdominal muscles!

Many people find it very novel, but it's not so easy to do!

On the first day, there are five groups of thirty repetitions each. After completing the first half hour of military posture, you can have dinner!

The training was tough and tiring, but these guys were like they were on steroids, tireless and full of high morale!

In the past, perhaps everyone lived just to survive, and it was good enough to just stay alive. But now that life has hope, we always want to pursue something. Training is what we pursue now. When you have food to eat every day, money to receive every month, and no worries about the future, when someone has taken care of everything for you, if you don't train like crazy according to their instructions, are you being fair to yourself?

Song Jiang naturally saw this as well. The physical condition of these ancient people was indeed incomparable to that of modern people. He had trained new recruits, and several of them fainted on the first day. And that was just the most basic military posture. He later had to reduce the training content and intensity, but people were still groaning every day!

Life is different, times are different, and the environments created are different, which naturally creates different people. Who among these people did not come from a poor background and become the pillar of their families at a young age, going out early and returning late every day, just to earn a living and fill their own and their families' stomachs, nothing more!

As the saying goes, it is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. Since there is a better life available, it would be the greatest tragedy if we could not seize the opportunity and let it slip away, and then go back to the old days!

Dinner consisted of white rice, winter melon, and fish soup. After eating, they stood at attention for half an hour before Song Jiang dismissed them and had them sit together in a circle.

It turned out that Song Jiang saw that it was still early and there were no entertainment facilities, so he decided to tell them stories so that they could have some spiritual support after their training!

Amidst the chaos and turmoil of the Five Dynasties, the clouds eventually parted and the sky was revealed once more.

Plants and trees are refreshed by rain and dew after a hundred years; carriages and books travel thousands of miles across the old landscape.

In ordinary alleys and lanes, brocade and silk are displayed; in several pavilions, music and instruments are played.

On this day of peace and prosperity, countless mandarin ducks sleep soundly as the sun rises high.

It is said that after the Chenqiao Mutiny in the Song Dynasty, the generals established Emperor Taizu as the emperor, and the country was unified. The throne was passed down to Emperor Taizong and then to Emperor Zhenzong. The world was at peace and the people were happy. It was a time of favorable weather, good harvests, and a righteous emperor with good ministers.

Note: The average income of ordinary people in the Song Dynasty was about 80 to 100 wen per day. 1,000 wen was equal to 1 string of cash, but 1 string of cash was not equal to 1 tael of silver!

In the early Northern Song Dynasty, one string of coins could be exchanged for one tael of silver. However, in the mid-to-late Northern Song Dynasty, political corruption and soaring prices led to inflation and the devaluation of copper coins. Especially during the reign of Emperor Huizong, it took two strings of coins to exchange for one tael of silver. As for one qian, it was 3.125 grams in ancient times, so it took ten qian of silver to equal one tael of silver!