Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 62 Military Parade
"Greetings to Your Highness!"

On the parade ground to the west of the East Palace, Zhao Xing was wearing casual clothes and standing on a high platform. On one side were the deputy commanders of the left army Cao Qin and Cao Mian, and on the other side were the deputy commanders of the right army Fang Zhongrong and Xue Qing.

Today is a day off, and Zhao Xing suddenly felt like coming to take a look at the army's training.

The left and right armies guarding the Eastern Palace were nominally commanded by Ningyuan Hou Gu Yankai and Zhongjing Hou Zheng Jun.

In fact, the two of them did not interfere in the specific affairs of the East Palace Guards, they were just there in name only.

Looking at the thousands of people below lined up in neat rows and kneeling on one knee to salute, Zhao Xing also felt his blood boiling.

"No need for formalities!" Zhao Xing said in a deep voice.

There were thousands of people in the queue, and no matter how loudly he shouted, only the people in the front could hear him.

However, there were messengers on horseback on both sides of the parade ground. When they heard the sound, they would ride their horses and shout to convey the orders.

On the high platform, the flag bearers waved flags, and the soldiers shouted in unison to thank His Highness before standing up.

"Let's start." Zhao Xing turned his head and looked at Cao Qin and others and said.

"Yes!" Several people bowed and went downstairs to prepare.

"Dong Dong Dong~"

After a while, heavy drum beats were heard and the soldiers in the parade ground began to train.

Whether it is the daily training of soldiers or on the battlefield, it is all done with flag signals, drums and some musical instruments.

That’s why there are idioms such as beating drums to cheer, waving flags and shouting, and sounding the horn to call back the troops.

To the sound of drums, the soldiers practiced various military formations in an orderly manner.

"What does Marquis Ningyuan think of these soldiers' training?" Zhao Xing asked with his head tilted.

Gu Yankai would come to teach him martial arts every morning. During his rest time, he would also come to teach him military tactics and explain the situation in the army to him.

Zhao Xing came to watch the soldiers training, and Gu Yankai was naturally there too.

"The formation changes were very smooth, which shows that they are well-trained on a daily basis. This is an elite team." Gu Yankai said.

"What I want to ask is how they compare with the soldiers in the western suburbs camp?" Zhao Xing asked.

These two armies were drawn from the Palace Front Department, and naturally they were the strongest in the Song Dynasty's army.

The Dianqian Division is the palace guards. Strong combat capability is one thing, but the most important thing is their clean family background.

The emperor has only one son, so he naturally pays attention to his protection. These people are elite selected from the imperial guards of the Palace Front.

"Even the most elite soldiers in the Western Suburbs Camp are slightly inferior." Gu Yankai said.

"Marquis Ningyuan, what do you think, if the Song army is like what we see now, which one is stronger, the Liao or 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 Department train every day, and the other Imperial Guards train more frequently at the beginning, but only once every three days. On weekdays, they only train in the use of equipment."

"What if we reduce the number of troops? Doesn't the art of war say that quality is more important than quantity?"

Zhao Xing knew what Gu Yankai meant. In ancient times, due to the shortage of supplies and insufficient nutrition, soldiers could not withstand long-term high-intensity training.

This training refers to physical training and military formations.

On weekdays, I only train in areas that don’t require much physical effort, such as the use of equipment.

Even in peacetime, in order to save money, it is normal to conduct exercises every ten days or half a month.

Because the amount of food and fodder required during training and not training is different.

If the hundreds of thousands of imperial guards in the Western Suburbs Camp were to be trained every day like the imperial guards in the Palace Front Department, military expenditures would increase.

Zhao Xing's idea was to cut part of the army and use the saved money and food for military training.

"Your Highness, I am a rough man who only knows how to lead troops in battle. I don't know much about these things." Gu Yankai said.

It is not so easy to reduce the military. The Song Dynasty has a large number of troops. In addition to the fact that there is no strategic location to defend in the north, another reason is that the imperial court incorporated the young and strong refugees and rebels into the army.

If we disarm, how will these people be resettled?

Gu Yankai didn't want to get involved in such a sensitive topic.

Zhao Xing looked at Gu Yankai deeply, then turned around and continued to watch the soldiers' training without saying anything else.

These soldiers were already elite, and knowing that the crown prince Zhao Xing was watching, they trained very seriously and with high morale. Although this was just training and could not represent combat effectiveness, it shocked Zhao Xing greatly.

After the soldiers finished the drill, Zhao Xing gave them some encouraging words and then told them that he had ordered people to prepare meat and give them a snack at noon.

The soldiers were so moved that they shouted loudly, "Your Highness is mighty!"

Amid the loud shouts of the soldiers, Zhao Xing led his men away from the parade ground.

"I have something else to do today, so I won't learn military tactics from you. You can go back first." Zhao Xing said.

"Yes, I'll take my leave!" Gu Yankai bowed.

"Your Highness!"

Gu Tingye bowed and said, "I have something to tell Your Highness."

Gu Tingye was not only Zhao Xing's study partner, he also practiced martial arts with him. Even on his days off, he would come to the Eastern Palace.

"Come with me." Zhao Xing said as he got on the sedan chair.

Gu Yankai glanced at Gu Tingye, bowed, turned and left.

……

Arriving at Chunhe Hall, Zhao Xing sat down at the main seat, waved his hand and said, "Zhong Huai, sit down and talk."

"Your Highness!"

Gu Tingye knelt down on one knee, clasped his hands and said, "Your Highness, please make the decision for me!"

"Why do you need to perform such a grand ceremony? If you have something to say, please stand up and tell me." Zhao Xing said.

Gu Tingye stood up and bowed, saying, "I have found out that my biological mother's death is related to my current stepmother."

Zhao Xing tapped the table lightly, without any surprise.

I have already 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 won't be difficult to deal with Xiao Qin.

All he needed was for Empress Cao to issue a secret decree ordering the death of Xiao Qin.

It's fine to tell the public that he died suddenly of illness. With conclusive evidence, neither the Gu family nor the Qin family will make it public.

Even if outsiders knew about it, they would only think that this was done to save the Gu family's reputation, and no one would dare to discuss it in private.

But if there is no evidence, it will be troublesome. As a marquise, Xiao Qin also has an imperial decree.

Without a legitimate reason, Queen Cao would never agree.

What would people think if they knew that a marquise with a royal title was executed for no reason?
"I didn't!" Gu Tingye said with a gloomy look.

After Zhao Xing reminded him last time, Gu Tingye went back and thought about it carefully, and then he suspected Xiao Qinshi.

After all, apart from Gu Yankai, the only one in the entire Gu family who can do this is Xiao Qinshi.

The reason why he did not suspect Xiao Qinshi at the beginning was because Xiao Qinshi had been very good to him since he was a child.

Gu Tingye, who lacked maternal love, felt maternal love from Xiao Qinshi, and always respected her as his own mother.

However, once the seed of doubt was planted, Gu Tingye slowly realized something was wrong.

After several attempts, he realized that Xiao Qin was not as simple as she appeared.

Gu Tingye couldn't accept this reality and kept investigating secretly.

Not long ago, he finally learned a piece of news from an old servant of the Gu family. Before his mother died of 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 nominally sold at the request of Gu Yan, they were actually sold by Xiao Qinshi.

However, Xiao Qinshi's actions were too clean, and he could not find any evidence at all, so he asked Zhao Xing for help, because apart from asking Zhao Xing for help, he could not think of any other way.

"Without evidence, I can't help you." Zhao Xing shook his head.

Thank you brothers for your support of monthly tickets and recommendation tickets.

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(End of this chapter)