Theodore Roosevelt gritted his teeth, unable to wait any longer, and said, “The body-tempering method is extraordinary! I must go to the barracks myself and meet this boy!”

Chapter 10 Heir of the Grant Family

“Father, could you bring a gift for me?” Little Frederick Baker made a request. He had already taken a big stack of gymnastics sketches from Brian Clark, but hadn’t given anything in return. That wasn’t the way the eldest son of the Prince of Yan should behave.

A few days ago, the chubby boy wouldn’t have dared to ask, but after witnessing the argument between Brian Clark and Theodore Roosevelt, it was clear the Prince of Yan’s face wasn’t so stern anymore. Frederick Baker had grown bolder and actually dared to make such an “improper” request!

Theodore Roosevelt snorted, “No!”

The chubby boy immediately lowered his head in fright. One mustn’t get carried away with success… Suddenly, Theodore Roosevelt added, “Your father won’t be your messenger. If you want to give something, you go yourself!”

The chubby boy was stunned. Grace Wright covered her mouth and laughed, patting her son’s bottom.

“Silly boy, hurry and take your gift, go with your father!”

Frederick Baker’s eyes widened in surprise and delight!

He turned and dashed straight to the kitchen.

A moment later, he came out lugging a food box almost as tall as himself, huffing and puffing, filled with delicious treats!

Theodore Roosevelt reached out to take the food box and casually handed it to James Baker, then scooped the chubby boy up into his arms, and together they mounted a big black horse!

“Father will teach you to ride!”

……

The Prince of Yan took his eldest son out of the city, surrounded by guards, moving like the wind, and soon arrived at the city gate.

By coincidence, an ox cart approached from the opposite direction.

“That’s Master Arthur!”

Theodore Roosevelt quickly dismounted, set the chubby boy aside, and went over to greet him respectfully.

The old monk Arthur, who looked like a sick tiger, smiled as he got off the cart.

“Your Highness, off hunting again?”

Theodore Roosevelt’s face flushed slightly. That made it sound like he was always neglecting his duties.

“Master, take a look at this.”

Theodore Roosevelt handed over the drawings by Brian Clark to Arthur. The old monk took them, studied them for a while, and suddenly turned pale with shock!

“Your Highness, this—this is a body-tempering method. Where did you get it?” Arthur’s voice changed with surprise. “Your Highness, since ancient times, every famous general has had their own unique and profound training methods for their troops. Like the Wei Wu soldiers, the Qin elite, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry—all were trained this way. Unfortunately, these training methods are rarely passed down, while books on the art of war fill entire libraries. But you must understand, without elite soldiers, how can you make use of any strategy?”

The old monk Arthur truly knew his stuff, and Theodore Roosevelt nodded repeatedly. Indeed, there was never a shortage of books like Sun Tzu’s Art of War or the Thirty-Six Stratagems, all about military tactics and schemes, but methods for turning an ordinary person into an excellent soldier were extremely rare!

It was like there were countless stories of wealth and entrepreneurship, all sounding grand, but few ever mentioned where that first precious bucket of gold came from!

Without startup capital, how could you possibly get rich?

Without enough background, could a college junior who drops out, hides in a basement garage, and gathers a couple of people really become the world’s richest man?

Who are you kidding!

Theodore Roosevelt had been through many ups and downs and knew well that without elite soldiers, everything was just empty talk!

“Master, do you think these things can really train elite troops?”

The old monk chuckled, “It’s not that easy! Your Highness, I think this method doesn’t even count as a foundation, it can only strengthen the body. But in my opinion, whoever devised this method must be a great talent. If you recruit him, perhaps he really could train a strong army for Your Highness!”

Arthur had come to Beiping in the fifteenth year of the Hongwu reign, traveling all the way from the capital.

That year, George Washington’s beloved Empress Ma died, and the heartbroken Hongwu Emperor assigned a high monk to each of his sons to pray and chant for her.

Arthur came to Beiping under these circumstances. In fact, Matthew Young was only seven years younger than George Washington; they had almost become monks at the same time.

But the paths of these two men’s lives were worlds apart… George Washington joined the Red Turban Rebellion, rose from a common soldier to a regional warlord, then swept across the land and became emperor!

As for Arthur, he first became a monk, then went to study Daoist yin-yang arts—astronomy, geography, divination, all sorts of esoteric skills and political strategy—he mastered them all.

But by the time Arthur finished his studies and wanted to show his talents, the chaos had ended, George Washington was firmly on the throne, ruling with an iron fist… Arthur was left dumbfounded. He had learned so much, but had nowhere to use it, and as he grew old, he had accomplished nothing!

How could two little monks end up so different?

After a brief period of grief, Arthur pinned his hopes on Theodore Roosevelt. Perhaps this martial-minded Prince of Yan could help him achieve his dream of making a name in history!

So when he saw something that could increase Theodore Roosevelt’s strength, Arthur was happier than anyone.

He cheerfully accompanied Theodore Roosevelt to the barracks, and thus, the future “Iron Triangle of the Jingnan Campaign” met for the first time.

But these three didn’t feel any camaraderie at all; on the contrary, each harbored his own secrets.

First was Arthur. Ever since he saw Brian Clark, it was as if he’d swallowed a fly. Turns out he could be wrong too! What genius? Just a kid!