Iron Powder and Spellcasters

  [The living room of the Montagne house]

   Just when little Priskin announced the name that didn't surprise Winters, Anna walked into the room with cups and drinks.

  Her corner of the eye inadvertently glanced at the flyer Winters placed on the small table, and the sensational headline immediately caught her attention, and she couldn't help but look at it a few more times.

   "What is this?" Anna asked Winters curiously while pouring drinks for the guests.

  Little Priskin, who was personally entertained by the "Wolf Queen", was flattered and quickly picked up the porcelain plate with both hands.

   "This?" Winters reached out and put the leaflet in front of Anna, then glanced at little Priskin meaningfully, and teased, "It's Mr. Kay Moreland's 'masterpiece'."

  Little Priskin stared at the scum in the dish in embarrassment, not even daring to lift his head.

  Anna calmly slapped Winters on the back of the hand—the well-educated Ms. Navarre has always disliked Winters speaking in such a sarcastic tone, especially in front of outsiders.

  Next, Anna poured Winters a drink, and then turned her attention to the flyer again, instead of picking it up, she sat upright and read it at a glance.

   "So it's about the story of Mr. Kai's escape from the Castle of the Kings?" Anna smiled and commented: "It's very interesting."

   "Where is the fun?" Winters half-lyed in the soft chair, put his boots on the small table comfortably, and commented lazily:

"Escaping from the tiger's mouth is thrilling and twists and turns. There is no shortage of decent and villains. There are both sinister and cunning villains and heroes who stand up. The most precious thing is the happy ending. What a good subject! He insists on writing it Drink plain water.

   Especially this title, who can understand XX, XX and XX! Is he still very proud?

  Ah, but it’s true, how much can he write on a half-open paper... Ugh! "

   Just as he was getting excited, Winters suddenly received a heavy blow to his shin, causing him to bounce off the recliner instantly in pain.

  Anna let go of her fist, smoothed the wrinkled tablecloth of Winters carefully, smiled, and reminded softly: "Don't be so mean."

Winters didn't dare to be presumptuous anymore, he sat down properly, reorganized the language, and said to little Priskin: "This thing written by Kay Moreland, give it to Maplestone City, Artemis It’s okay, gentlemen. But if he wants more people to know what happened in Kings Castle, he still writes too politely.”

   Facing the sudden serious comment from the blood wolf, little Priskin was a little at a loss: "Uh, this..."

"However, Kay Moreland asked you to come to me with this piece of paper. He probably didn't want to engage in literary appreciation with me." Winters crossed his arms and asked with great interest: "Tell me, he wants to What are you doing?"

Encouraged by Madame Montagne's gaze, little Priskin replied cautiously: "Mr. Kay would like to borrow the printing press of the town hall from you. He said that he would print thousands of copies of this leaflet and distribute it." Go all over Plato, and let all know the crimes of the Pseudo-Government of Kingsburg. He also hopes to publish an article in your "Newsletter", revealing the true face of Grove Magnus to the people of New Settlement. "

  Little Priskin asked tentatively: "I don't know you..."

  Winters was noncommittal, but stared at little Priskin, and asked with a smile: "It seems that 'Mr. Kay' must be very likable. When did you become his mouthpiece?"

   "Absolutely not! I...I went to spy on Kai Moreland for you! This guy has been getting very close to the leaders in the city recently. I don't know what tricks he is playing, and he must have no good intentions."

  Little Priskin jumped up from the chair in shock, and was about to break up with Kay Moreland immediately: "I'm going to refuse him right away!"

"No hurry." Winters gently raised his hand, stopped little Priskin from walking towards the door, and rubbed his chin: "The printing press is nothing, just ask Mason tribune to wait a few more shifts; It's okay to publish articles in the "Communication", although his writing is not very good, but he can always polish it. But..."

  Winters stretched out his finger and rubbed it on the leaflet, and the fresh ink immediately left a black mark on his fingertip.

   "He has already printed it out." Winters looked at the little Priskin, and asked coldly: "What do you want me to borrow the printing press for?"

  The blood wolf was not angry, and little Priskin knew that the blood wolf was not angry, but when little Priskin faced the blood wolf's eyes that seemed to be able to peel off the skin, he still trembled uncontrollably.

Little Priskin explained in a panic: "Kay Moreland uses a small printing press in the workshop under the name of Gwadani Yuzoff. He said that the machine is too small and the printing is too slow. Until your permission, this leaflet will not appear anywhere except in the workshop—except, except in your house! The one I brought with me is the only leaflet from the workshop, and this one..."

   "Don't be nervous, Mr. Priskin." Anna picked up the glass jug, poured a glass of cold water for the little Priskin at the right time, and comforted him softly: "He just regarded you as Kai Moreland asking questions."

   Immediately, Anna looked at Winters again, with a slightly reproachful tone: "Mr. Priskin is not Mr. Kay, how could he know what Mr. Kay is thinking?"

  Winters shrugged, no longer staring at little Pliskin, but forced a smile to the latter rather reluctantly.

  Little Priskin quickly stood up, and quickly sat down again under the signal of the blood wolf. He nodded gratefully to "Madame" and took a sip of cold water, which eased his anxiety and tension a little.

  Anna turned her eyes to the flyer on the small table, and she reminded Winters softly: "Sometimes, people who ask you for help don't necessarily really need your help, they just want to show you their favor."

   "He asked me to borrow the printing press." Winters asked back, "Is he showing his favor to me?"

  Anna didn't answer, but looked at Winters patiently with her beautiful eyes.

   There is a clear understanding of the heart, and Winters quickly understood the joints.

  He thought for a while, and finally smiled: "Then lend it to him—friendship is always pleasant."

   "It's just this, it's not enough." Anna reminded again.

   "You mean." Winters pondered: "I should also ask Kai Moreland for a favor, so that I can convey the correct information to him?"

  Anna blinked.

  Winters raised the corners of his mouth unconsciously as if he had received the most beautiful compliment, but he was a little distressed: "But, what do I need from Kay Moreland?"

   I don’t know when, little Priskin couldn’t keep up with the conversation between “Blood Wolf” and “Wolf Queen”.

  But when little Priskin heard the blood wolf talking to himself, he suddenly realized, and replied: "Why don't you ask Kai Moreland to find a 'teacher' for you."

   "Huh?" Winters looked at little Priskin, subconsciously frowning.

  But soon, under Anna's reminder, Winters coughed lightly, and he flattened his eyebrows again.

   "What did you say?" Winters asked again, this time with an unusually kind expression on his face.

"The upper-class families in Maplestone City have teachers specially hired to teach children how to read and write. Since Kay Moreland is very close to the major families, let him come forward to ask, the top figures in Maplestone City I will never refuse. In this way, all the enlightenment teachers in Fengshi City can be safely recruited..."

Little Priskin explained as calmly as possible, but the more he pretended to be calm, the more pitiful he looked: "I heard that the school you want to run does not have enough literacy teachers. There is no way to hire a lot of money. People were recruited. It made Mason tribune very worried. So..."

  Winters listened to little Priskin's suggestion and fell into deep thought.

  …

  The average score of the "All-Army Exam" was worse than the worst expectation.

  The cultural examination scores of non-regular officers—especially the reserve officers of the Iron Peak County Army—are simply unsightly.

  Mathematics and geometry, general knowledge, current affairs, politics, geography, grammar, six test papers, 120 questions.

  Reserve officers who can answer three questions correctly on each test paper are rare.

  Current affairs, politics, and grammar are the worst. The vast majority of reserve officers can't even get a point on these three test papers.

   Not to mention, there are quite a few unofficial officers whose test papers are marked with a conspicuous "no reading and writing ability" assessment.

  The only thing that makes Winters feel gratified is that the regiment, battalion and senior company-level officers under the Tiefeng County Army have quite dazzling achievements.

  These soldiers who followed Winters before the first army was built literally handed over a "satisfactory answer sheet".

  In the camp on the outskirts of Wolf Town, the knowledge that Winters worked so hard to impart to them was not in vain after all.

  Of course, many of them are due to "one more root".

  As for the "commissioned officers" in Baishan County, Leiqun County, and Bianjiang County, although they have a relatively high level of education-still can't be compared with regular officers, their military skills are generally unqualified.

  In theory, commissioned officers come from two sources:

   One category is the promotion of senior non-commissioned officers and meritorious soldiers from within the army;

  Another category comes from outside the military, allowing those who qualify to pay for military ranks.

  Although almost all the commissioned officers in Baishan County, Leiqun County, and Bianjiang County come from the latter, in fact, the basic quality of these wealthy children who "spend money to buy their backgrounds" is quite good.

  They were generally able to read and write, in good health, and well-nourished.

   But the problem is that they just "spend money to buy their background", and never thought that one day they would really set foot on the battlefield.

  So compared to fighting skills, they lack the will and determination to fight.

  Some people even deliberately gave wrong answers to the test papers, hoping to be kicked out of the army and regain their civilian status.

   All in all, if you don’t take the test, you don’t know, and if you take the test, you will be shocked.

  Inside the coalition forces, the situation of the informal officer corps and the reserve officer corps is so bad that one can't help but doubt whether they can really support an army in the future.

  The "admission plan" formulated in advance by the preparatory meeting had to be adjusted according to the actual situation.

  According to the original plan, for unofficial officers who have already obtained official positions, such as Tamas and Bart Shiring, the "Second Army Academy" will focus on short-term military and cultural training for them based on their test scores.

  After all, these officers are all on duty, and it is impossible and not allowed to leave their posts for a long time.

  After the short-term training is over, they will be awarded the appropriate "Agent" military rank.

   As for when can I become a regular?

  That depends on when some unknown captain gets promoted.

   Those reserve officers and commissioned officers who have not obtained official positions will become the first and second students of the "Second Army Academy".

  According to the original plan, the "Second Army Academy" will select the first class of students from reserve officers and commissioned officers based on their test scores.

  Those who are not admitted will be given basic training courses. After the course is over, the exam is held again.

   Those who pass the second examination will be admitted as the second batch of students.

   This set of plans was finally approved by all parties after several twists and turns, but the reality still slapped the "preparatory meeting" severely.

  If the original plan is strictly followed, the "Second Army Academy" will surely face the dilemma of "no students to teach".

  In the end, it was Captain Richard Mason who made the decision—all of them were recruited to teach tactics and culture at the same time.

  Unqualified students, what should I do?

  Captain Mason also gave a solution—to change the selection process from the initial entrance examination to the final final examination.

  Those who are unqualified will be delayed.

  Faced with this "innovation" that completely subverted the teaching tradition of the Union Army, although other officers in the preparatory meeting felt that something was wrong, they couldn't come up with a better way.

   So the "Mason Plan" was passed.

  The next question is where to find enough "reading and writing teachers" to meet the most basic cultural needs of illiterate students.

   It's just that Mason's plan fell into a trap as soon as he took the first step.

  I heard that Captain Mason was looking for someone to teach the probationary students how to read, and the regular officers avoided him when they saw the former.

   The clerks under Mason couldn't avoid it, so they pushed back and forth, looking for life and death. No matter how good Mason had to say, no one was willing to teach a group of big bosses how to read.

   Open recruitment, more people watching the excitement, less applicants.

   In just a few days, Captain Richard Mason has aged several years.

  He wandered alone in the City Hall of Fengshi City, looking for any unlucky person who would become a teacher of reading and writing, just like some lonely ghosts wandering in the world because of unresolved knots in the market legend.

  …

   "That's right." Winters nodded solemnly: "We should really share our worries for Senior Mason."

  Anna was a little worried and asked puzzledly: "Live-in teachers usually teach children. Can they really help Mr. Mason?"

   "It's okay." Winters replied with a smile: "Teachers who teach children are definitely not enough to teach others, but teaching those guys is just right."

  Anna couldn't help smiling.

"Then there is only one question left." Winters looked at little Priskin: "Does Kay Moreland have enough influence to make the 'upper class' in Maplestone City obediently hand over their staff?" ?”

"Don't worry!" Little Priskin jumped up and made a promise: "Cai Moerlan is now being choked by Colonel Gaisa, even if you want the moon in the sky, he will build a ladder for you to pick it off !"

   "Then I'll wait and see." Winters paused and said meaningfully, "Let's see if Kay Moreland is good enough to serve on the table."

  …

  …

   I don’t know what kind of skill Kay Moreland has used. On the night when little Priskin brought back "two good news" to the former, Mason rushed to Winters' house excitedly.

   "The matter of the basic culture teacher." Senior Mason smiled with tears: "Solved!"

  Winters also laughed, and he made a pun: "That would be great."

  The next day, Winters commissioned Charles to visit Kai Moreland to thank him.

   Another day later, Kay Moreland, who was sure he had received the "correct signal", sent a message, hoping to pay a visit to the Montagne Tribune and express his thanks to the Tribune in person for the printing press.

  Winters readily agreed.

  That night, under the **** of the Baishan County military police, Kai Moreland appeared at Winters' door.

   After a solemn salute, the Baishan County military police "handed over" Kay Moreland to Winters.

  But the military police of Baishan County did not leave just then, but stood guard outside the courtyard, waiting to take Kai Moreland away again.

  The front door of Winters' residence is slowly closed, shutting out the heat, noise and White Mountain County military police.

  As soon as the last gap between the wooden door and the door frame disappeared, Kai Moreland, who was still reserved in front of the military police just now, couldn't wait to greet him, and grabbed Winters' hand.

   Kay Moreland had no idea that he had just nearly died from a split-skull operation.

  His eyes were red, his pupils dilated, and his nostrils fluttered violently with his breathing. He grabbed Winters' arm like a prisoner holding a file or a drowning man holding a handful of straw.

   "Mr. Montagne." Kai Moreland stared at Winters: "Please save the country of galloping horses."

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