Chapter Twelve Going to the School Grounds

  Red ticket, red ticket, where are you...

  ………………………

  Yun Qi's words about the power of the bow and crossbow were so astonishing that the prince still had some doubts, and insisted on taking Yun Qi to the training grounds for a test. Yun Qi also felt that verbal claims were unreliable, if he didn't let the prince witness the power of the bow and crossbow with his own eyes, how could he truly be convinced? Since he had decided not to remain uninvolved, Yun Qi generally preferred to use facts to speak for themselves, so he followed the prince to the training grounds.

  The school grounds are not far away, the venue is just east of Huadu, and it's only two streets away from the East Palace where the prince lives. The prince has a special carriage, a large, high-canopied, lacquered car with four horses, and even if only the prince and Yun Qi were sitting in it, it would still look spacious and bright, let alone adding seven or eight more people. Yun Qi sat in the carriage with both hands on the side window of the canopy, constantly stroking the gold-inlaid window frame, exclaiming "tsk tsk" in admiration: "Prince, this carriage must be worth at least a thousand taels of gold!"

  "Haha, Yun brother is joking, this is the vehicle arranged by Father Emperor for my trip, actually I don't like such luxurious extravagance."

  The prince's tone was calm, but he couldn't help feeling a bit embarrassed by Yun Qi's surprised expression. The prince had been taught to be frugal and courteous from a young age, which was thanks to his mother, Empress Duanmu. More than 20 years ago, when Zhu Zidao was still the crown prince, he would often sneak out of the palace, disguising himself as a common scholar, to travel and have fun in the southern regions. In the western part of the south, there was a city called Zhihe. Zhihe City was located near the border, with poor soil quality and scarce merchants, causing most residents to move to other cities. Although Zhihe City's area was not inferior to Huadu, its population was only around 1 million due to various unfavorable environmental factors, which was only a quarter of Huadu's population. When Zhu Zidao arrived in Zhihe disguised as a scholar, he found an inn to stay in, but since it was still early, he decided to take a stroll down the main street.

  However, in the city, he coincidentally met another Duanmu Rong, Empress Duanmu. Zhu Zidao was deeply infatuated with her stunning beauty and followed her to where she lived. Before even entering the house, just from outside the courtyard, it could be seen that this family's living standard was very poor. Afterwards, Zhu Zidao tried every means to use various coincidences that had formed after spending a lot of time to get close to Duanmu Rong. After several chance encounters where Zhu Zidao knew exactly what was going on, the two became acquainted.

  Zhu Zidao and Duanmu Rong, one was as rich as a nation, the other's family was extremely poor. Zhu Zidao would often send silver to Duanmu's household under various pretexts, but Duanmu Rong would immediately take it to rescue orphans without parents in the city. Until one day, when Zhu Zidao made up his mind to go to her house and confess his feelings, he was blocked at the door by a single sentence from Duanmu Rong.

  "If you want to marry me, then build a school in Zhìhé City and let all the orphans in the city have a place to study!"

  This is not easy to say to Zhu Zidao, who let him be the crown prince? He rushed back to the inn all the way, wrote a letter, and hastily asked the eunuch disguised as an attendant to send it to the palace urgently. The big men in the Ministry of Works who were idle every day saw that it was the Crown Prince's handwriting, how dare they slack off? Minister Tian Zhipeng led the team personally, pulled a ticket of younger brothers, and also found many construction workers in Huadu. A large team of hundreds of people went to Chihetian City.

  Everything was ready, and Zhu Zidao took the opportunity to assist Duanmu Rong in registering the orphans in the city, intentionally drawing closer to each other. On the day of the groundbreaking ceremony, Duanmu Rong, Duanmu's father, and other citizens came to watch, seeing that the construction site was filled with officials wearing official robes, while the original master of the city, who had been the "earth emperor" in the past, had become a low-ranking servant running errands. Meanwhile, Zhu Zidao stood proudly on the side, constantly glancing at Duanmu Rong with his eyes.

  Tian Zhipeng saw Zhu Zidao coming, and hastily summoned everyone to run to Zhu Zidao's side, kneeling down and shouting: "Your subjects pay their respects to the Crown Prince!"

  This shout made Duanmu Rong feel as if she had been struck by lightning, and she stood there in a daze. After a while, the clever Duanmu Rong quickly reacted, turned around, and faced Zhu Ziyu with a curtsy: "Commoner's daughter Duanmu Rong, greetings to Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

  Zhu Zidao, how could he bear to let the one he loved be treated as a gift for himself? He hastily stepped forward and helped Dongmu Rong up, personally brushing off the dust from her body. On the other hand, he left a large group of kneeling officials and common people waiting on the side.

  It was on the day when the school was completed that Zhū Zǐ Dào left Chí Hé with Duān Mù Róng and her family. Later, Duān Mù Róng naturally became the crown princess, and after Zhū Zǐ Dào ascended to the throne as the new emperor of Nán Guó, she became the empress. The two loved each other for decades but always treated each other with respect. Duān Mù Róng was frugal and managed the household well, and from the day the young crown prince was born, she began to teach him by word and deed. Therefore, the current crown prince naturally received his mother's good education.

  …………

  The prince's carriage drove along the flat bluestone road and arrived at the drill ground after about an incense stick of time. The entire drill ground was where the East Forbidden Guard, under the command of the prince, practiced. There were two thousand men in the East Forbidden Guard, all of whom were the strongest elite selected from the entire army. Since the prince's birth, the East Forbidden Guard had been responsible for guarding the prince and protecting the Eastern Palace. When the prince came of age, Zhu Zidao handed over the right to command the East Forbidden Guard to him.

  At this time, there were still many soldiers practicing in the school field. In the field, several hundred people formed a square array, holding the same weapons in their hands, with uniform footsteps and movements that seemed to be performed by one person. They shouted loudly: "Kill! Drink! Ha! Kill!" The simple piercing and sudden killing, in Yun Qi's eyes, were practiced to be extremely brave, but still not enough to enter Yun Qi's eyes.

  The prince, still in the carriage, saw the soldiers on the training ground practicing seriously, with a majestic momentum. He turned his head to ask Yun Qi beside him: "Brother Yun, what do you think of the combat effectiveness of my Dongjin Guard?"

  "Your Highness, take a look at the armor on each of them, at least several dozen pounds, and then look at their repetitive movements, Yun Qi can only say that they have strength to spare, but mobility is not their strong suit."

  Yun Qi was a man of two lifetimes, and when it came to commanding soldiers in battle, he might not be as good as the generals of this era. However, training soldiers was child's play for him. He deeply understood why the seasoned veterans on the battlefield could win every battle, which was inseparable from their daily training and the methods they used. Yun Qi could say such things because he had that piercing gaze in his previous life, which allowed him to assess a soldier's overall combat strength with just a few glances, no matter who the soldier was.

  Yun Qi had never seen the scale of war in this era, but Yun Qi knew from watching Three Kingdoms that when two armies clashed in ancient times, why were there countless casualties? This was due to insufficient mobility.

  Yun Qi was still watching the soldiers training on the field when he heard the Crown Prince's strange question: "What do you mean by mobility? What is mobility?"

  "Your Highness, mobility refers to the military's advancing mobility, such as speed, mountain agility, reaction speed, and stimulus agility. Uh, roughly like that."

  The crown prince didn't listen, but when he did, he felt a wave of dizziness in his mind and asked vaguely: "What are you talking about? I've never heard of these before. Are they some kind of dialect from your hometown?"

  "Hmm!" Yun Qi forgot that they were in ancient times, and these words were all new and trendy terms that appeared later. The prince didn't understand, which was understandable. After thinking for a moment, he said: "Your Highness, these are indeed professional terms from Yun Qi's hometown. Roughly speaking, it means wanting the army to grasp mobility. Whether it's a group or an individual, they must be agile and adaptable. Looking at the big picture, if each of your Eastern Forbidden Guards' personal mobility is improved, then when combined into a whole, they can increase many tactics. Such an army, even in bad weather, can have absolute superiority over regular troops."

  The crown prince's eyes lit up and he praised: "Alright, I'll entrust you to take over the training of the Eastern Imperial Guard. If it's really as you said, I will report to the Emperor and let you train the entire army."

  Looking at the prince's shining and urgent eyes, Yun Qi only wanted to slap himself twice, his mouth had owed him many times before, each time owing him with such artistic sense, it really made him feel like he was going to die.

  …………………

  PS: Old Mo worked all day today and only finished this chapter when he came back tonight. I hope everyone will actively point out typos, there is a typo floor in the book review area, and anyone who points out correct typos will be rewarded with a bonus. The next two chapters will be updated very late because Old Mo has to go out for a while and won't be back until late, still hoping for everyone's continued support!