Jiangwu Hall, the supreme military academy of the Great Ming Dynasty, is purely fictional. The basis for this fiction is the Imperial Academy of the Hongwu reign.

During the Hongwu reign, the imperial examinations were temporarily suspended, while the evaluation of officials was extremely strict—many lost their lives for dereliction of duty, creating concerns about a shortage of qualified personnel. Therefore, the Hongwu Emperor extensively used students from the Imperial Academy to assume various official positions and handle various administrative affairs, such as land surveying and water conservancy construction.

What about in military matters? It’s reasonable to suppose that the Hongwu Emperor might very well have established a similar national academy specifically to cultivate young officers who were both loyal (having grown up in the new dynasty’s new era) and vigorous, to fill the numerous vacancies after the great purges.

The selection of Jiangwu Hall cadets, like that of the Imperial Academy, would naturally be extremely strict, because they represented the future hope of the Great Ming.