But after actually going through it, to be honest, Zhao Jiu only had a feeling that could be described as mediocre.

By mediocre, he meant that he could not see any obvious features that were completely eye-opening and groundbreaking… There were no specific military equipment and instruments. From the perspective of the equipment of elite troops, Yue's army seemed not as flashy as the elite basic troops of Han Shizhong's army; there was no outstanding military appearance with solemn formations, not to mention the neat lines of the three armed forces' guard of honor in later generations. Just in terms of physique, they were obviously not as good as the imperial guards or even the personal army of Wang De; by the same token, the officers in the army did not have the simplicity of unity between officers and soldiers. The officers of Yue's army were well paid, and it was also common for them to buy properties in the garrison. In this respect, they were even not as harmonious as the grassroots officers and soldiers of Zhang Rong's army.

But on the other hand, the official could not find any problems... There was no phenomenon of using soldiers for forced labor; there was no obvious problem of unpaid salaries; of course there were vacancies among the soldiers, but they were all clearly marked on the documents, such as who had asked for leave, who had just chosen to quit the army due to injury or other reasons; of course not everyone wore armor, only seven or eight out of ten; some archers and logistics soldiers did not get armor, but that was because that was the amount of armor distributed by the court.

The rest of the troops conducted drills every three days, performed exercises every ten days, and only ate meat once every few days, all in accordance with their duties.

Everything is so ordinary and everything is so clear. The combat personnel can be called out and it is clear at a glance. The logistics account books can also be picked out and it is also clear at a glance.

To be honest, Zhao Jiu was a little disappointed.

But among the entourage, although Lü Benzhong and Fan Zongyin were not mentioned, Wang Yan, Liu Hongdao and Ren Baozhong seemed extremely stunned. Moreover, as the imperial carriage moved eastward, the more garrisons of the imperial camp were inspected, the more stunned they became. In the end, these senior officials who were considered to be knowledgeable about military affairs simply fell into a state of disbelief.

Even Zhao Jiu began to taste the flavor.

Or, he had sensed the secret from the beginning, but did not show it because he held unrealistic ideas at the beginning. In the feudal era, it was a miracle in itself for an army of up to 40,000 to 50,000 people to maintain such mediocrity throughout the entire line.

You know, this is 40,000 to 50,000 people!

It is common sense that an increase in the number of troops will inevitably lead to management chaos and a decrease in average combat effectiveness. At this time, it is particularly important to maintain the lower limit of the troops' combat effectiveness.

Yue Pengju was undoubtedly a talented commander in managing and fighting large military corps, and he might even be the only one of his kind in contemporary times.

Not to mention anything else, if Emperor Zhao could have this level of ability and make the 200,000 troops in the imperial camp look so mediocre, then he would dare to cross the river and try it now.

But in fact, Zhao Jiu couldn't do that, otherwise he wouldn't be forced to patrol the river in the middle of winter.

Just like that, after seeing the mediocre performance of Yue's army, Emperor Zhao continued his journey eastward, from Kaide to Puzhou, and then to Dongping Prefecture. During the journey, he even went to see the frozen Liangshan Lake and comforted the local fishermen, demonstrating the attitude of Emperor Zhao Song and his people as one family.

Towards the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, as the weather was getting colder, Zhao Jiu sent Liu Hongdao back to Tokyo to make arrangements. Finally, they entered Qizhou and came to the famous Jinan Prefecture.

Yue Fei and Wan Qi Xie went out of the city fifty miles to meet him. As usual, there were not many extra words between the emperor and his subjects. Even Wang Yan, who had been a general, was somewhat shocked after this trip, but he just kept a straight face and did not cause trouble in front of the emperor or in private.

The inspection of Jinan Prefecture was also unremarkable, except that there were some elite troops from the imperial camp, and Zhao Jiu was more familiar with these elite troops, so he did not pay too much attention to investigate. The only thing worth mentioning is that the official finally met the legendary mother-in-law and exchanged some experiences in raising children with her.

After staying in Jinan for only four or five days, Emperor Zhao continued his inspection trip eastwards. Yue Fei also led the Beiwei Army under Zhang Xian to escort Emperor Zhao eastwards, going down the Jishui River and arriving at Zibo. Zibo was still the place where Yue Fei's troops were stationed, but Qingzhou, further east, was the place where the Right Army of the Imperial Camp under Zhang Jun was stationed.

However, just after entering Zibo Prefecture and before reaching Qingzhou, an accident finally occurred - hundreds of armored soldiers suddenly came towards them, stopped the ceremonial guard outside the imperial camp's front garrison outside Gaoyuan City, and requested an audience.

The incident happened suddenly and everyone was cautious, but fortunately this place was outside the military camp and there were enough entourage. Hundreds of people coming to see the emperor in this way was unlikely to be a mutiny or something like that. So unlike the nervousness of others, Zhao Jiu remained calm and entered the Gaoyuan military camp with Wang Yan, Yue Fei and others, and then summoned the leader of this group of soldiers.

But unexpectedly, the visitor was not looking for Zhao Jiu, but claimed to be looking for Yue Fei. Even when this person came to the hall and heard that it was the emperor in person, he was simply at a loss. He was so frightened that he dared not say a word and just kowtowed.

At this moment, not only did the accompanying civil and military officials become nervous again, but Zhao Jiu finally turned his tentative gaze towards Yue Pengju.

"Officials."

Yue Fei knew the truth of the matter, it was just a little embarrassing, but now he dared not stand up and explain. "I do recognize this man. He is a surrendered general I recruited when I was in Jingxiang, Zhong Xiang and Yang Mo. He was called Guo Tai. Later, I placed him here as the deputy commander, leading 300 regular soldiers. But this man resigned a few months ago when I was still in Guanxi, so he is no longer my subordinate..."

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