Chapter 62 Military Parade
"Meet Your Highness!"
On the school field on the west side of the East Palace, Zhao Xing was wearing regular clothes and standing on a high platform. Next to him were Cao Qin and Cao Mian, deputy commanders of the Zuo Army. On the other side were Fang Zhongrong and Xue Qing, deputy commanders of the Right Army.
Today's rest, Zhao Xing came to see the army's training on a whim.
The guards on the left and right of the East Palace are nominally led by Ningyuan Marquis Gu Yankai and Zhongjing Marquis Zheng Jun as the capital commanders.
In fact, the two of them did not interfere in the specific affairs of the East Palace Guards, they were just in name.
Looking at the thousands of people lined up neatly below, kneeling on one knee to salute, Zhao Xing was also a little excited.
"No courtesy!" Zhao Xing said solemnly.
With a queue of thousands of people, no matter how loud he shouted, only the people in front could hear him.
However, there are messengers on horseback on both sides of the school grounds. After hearing the sound, they will mount their horses and shout to convey the order.
On the high platform, the flag soldiers waved banners and slogans, and the soldiers simultaneously thanked His Highness and stood up.
"Let's get started." Zhao Xing turned his head and looked at Cao Qin and others.
“Yes!” Several people bowed and went down to prepare.
“Dong dong dong~”
After a while, heavy drums sounded, and the soldiers in the school field began to drill.
Whether it is the daily training of soldiers or on the battlefield, it is all accomplished by flag language, drums and some musical instruments.
That’s why there are idioms such as beating drums to cheer, waving flags and shouting, and shouting gold to withdraw troops.
The soldiers practiced various military formations in an orderly manner amidst the sound of drums.
"How do Marquis Ningyuan think these soldiers drilled?" Zhao Xing asked, turning his head.
Gu Yankai would come to teach him martial arts every morning. When he was sleeping, he would also come to teach him the art of war and explain to him the situation in the army.
Zhao Xing came over to watch the soldiers drill, and naturally Gu Yankai was also there.
"The formation changes are very smooth. It can be seen that they are well-trained on weekdays. This is an elite division." Gu Yankai said.
"What I'm asking is, how does it compare with the soldiers in the western suburbs camp?" Zhao Xing asked.
These two armies were drawn from the Dianqian Division, and were naturally the strongest among the armies of the Song Dynasty.
Dianqiansi is the forbidden army of the palace. On the one hand, he has strong combat power. The most important thing is that he has a clean family background.
He was the only son in the official family, so he naturally paid attention to the guards. These people were all selected from the imperial guards in front of the palace.
"The most elite soldiers in the western suburbs camp are slightly inferior." Gu Yankai said.
"Ning Yuanhou thinks that if the Song army is like this, which one is stronger and weaker than the Liao Xia army?" Zhao Xing asked.
Gu Yankai was silent for a while and said: "Your Highness, this is impossible. The Imperial Guards of the Palace Front Division train every day, while other Imperial Guards train more frequently at the beginning. They train once every three days. On weekdays, they just simply train on the use of equipment. "
"What if we reduce the number of troops?
Both Gu Yankai and Zhao Xing knew what Gu Yankai meant. In ancient times, due to lack of materials and insufficient nutritional intake, soldiers simply could not withstand long-term, high-intensity training.
This training refers to physical training, military formations.
On weekdays, I only do training that does not consume much energy, such as using equipment.
Even in peacetime, in order to save money, it is normal to practice once every ten days and half a month.
Because the food and grass that need to be consumed are different when training and when not training.
If the hundreds of thousands of forbidden troops in the western suburbs camp, such as those of the Dianqian Division, are allowed to practice every day, military expenditures will increase.
Zhao Xing’s idea is to lay off part of the army and use the money and food saved to train troops.
"Your Highness, I am a rough man. He only knows how to lead troops and fight. He doesn't know much about these things." Gu Yankai said.
It is not that simple to disarmament. The Song Dynasty had a large number of troops. In addition to the lack of danger in the north, another reason was that the court incorporated all the young refugees and rebels into the army. .
If there is disarmament, how will these people be placed?
Gu Yankai didn't want to get involved in such a sensitive topic.
Zhao Xing took a deep look at Gu Yankai, then turned to continue watching the soldiers' drill without saying anything else.
These soldiers were already elite, and knowing that the prince Zhao Xing was watching, they trained very seriously and their momentum was high. Although this was just training and did not represent combat strength, it shocked Zhao Xing greatly.
After the soldiers finished the drill, Zhao Xing gave them some words of encouragement, and then told them that he had ordered people to prepare meat and give them extra meals at noon.
The soldiers were so moved that they shouted "Your Highness is mighty".
Amidst the loud cheers of the soldiers, Zhao Xing led the people out of the school grounds.
"I have other things to do today, so I won't learn the art of war from you. You can go back first." Zhao Xing said.
"Yes, I'm resigning!" Gu Yankai bowed and said.
“Your Highness!”
Gu Tingye bowed and said, "I have something to tell His Highness."
Gu Tingye not only accompanied Zhao Xing in reading, but also practiced martial arts with Zhao Xing. Even Xiu Mu would come to the East Palace.
"Come with me." Zhao Xing said and got on the chariot.
Gu Yankai glanced at Gu Tingye, cupped his hands, turned and left.
……
Arriving at the Chunhe Hall, Zhao Xing came to the main seat and sat down, waved his hand and said: "Zhong Huai, sit down and talk."
"Your Highness!"
Gu Tingye knelt down on one knee. , cupped his hands and said: "Please, Your Highness, make the decision for me!"
"Why do you need to pay such a big courtesy? If you have anything to say, please tell me." Zhao Xing said.
Gu Tingye stood up, bowed and said: "I have found out that the death of my birth mother is related to my current stepmother."
Zhao Xing tapped the table gently without any surprise.
I have reminded him that Bai's death has nothing to do with Gu Yankai. If he still can't react, then Gu Tingye is really stupid.
"Do you have any evidence?" Zhao Xing asked.
If there is evidence, it is not difficult to solve the Xiao Qin family.
All he needs to do is ask Queen Cao to issue a secret decree to kill Xiao Qin.
It doesn't matter if he died suddenly or due to illness. If the evidence is solid, neither the Gu family nor the Qin family will make it public.
Even if outsiders knew about it, they would only think it was to save the Gu family's face, and no one would dare to discuss it privately.
But if there is no evidence, it will be troublesome. As a marquise, Xiao Qin also has a destiny.
There is no way that Queen Cao would agree without a legitimate reason.
If you kill a marquise who has a destiny for no reason, what will others think if they find out?
"No!" Gu Tingye said sadly.
After Zhao Xing reminded him last time, Gu Tingye went back and thought about it carefully, and he suspected Xiao Qin.
After all, apart from Gu Yankai, the only one in the Gu family who can do this is Xiao Qin.
The reason why he did not doubt Xiao Qin at first was because Xiao Qin had been very good to him since he was a child.
Gu Tingye, who lacked maternal love, felt maternal love from Mrs. Qin when he was a child, and he always respected her as his biological mother.
However, once the seeds of doubt were planted, Gu Tingye slowly noticed something was wrong.
After several trials, he realized that Xiao Qin was not as simple as she showed.
Gu Tingye couldn't accept this reality and kept investigating secretly.
Not long ago, he finally learned the news from an old servant of the Gu family. Before his mother died in childbirth, Xiao Qin had visited the Gu family in the name of visiting his eldest brother Gu Tingyu.
Although many of the old servants of the Gu family were sold by Gu Yankai in name, they were actually made by Xiao Qin.
However, Xiao Qin's work was too clean. He couldn't find any evidence at all, so he asked Zhao Xing for help because he couldn't think of any other way except asking Zhao Xing.
“Without evidence, I can’t help you.” Zhao Xing shook his head.
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(End of this chapter)