"I don't have much time left. I need to find out which troops were mobilized for this Six Kingdoms Military Trial?"
Zheng Quchi deliberately prevented Wang Zebang and Wei Yao from accompanying her into the palace during the day, intending to allow them more freedom of movement and convenience when investigating matters.
Wang Zebang nodded: "We have investigated this matter thoroughly. Besides the Fubing (府兵), there are the Changxu soldiers stationed in the capital, as well as some local guards. They have no experience in fighting outside the capital. They usually live, farm, and train in the garrison city. However, these soldiers and the Changxu soldiers take turns to relieve each other, so they are not entirely without combat power. Among these three forces, the Fubing are relatively stronger, as they regularly train at the Piaojifu (骠骑府) and Chejifu (車骑府).
After listening, Zheng Quchi took a while to digest the information. She scratched her cheek and said, "I don't really understand these troop deployments, but I can tell that the troops preparing to participate in the Six Kingdoms Trial are cobbled together from various places in our Shengjing. A large part of them have not participated in professional group training or large-scale battles, right?"
Wei Yao's fox-like eyes curved slightly as she praised, "That's right, Madam is too modest. You said you didn't understand, but you've hit the nail on the head regarding their shortcomings."
“When I say I don’t understand, I really don’t understand. I’m not being modest. If you know the problem but can’t solve it, then you don’t really understand,” Zheng Quchi said honestly.
Wang Zebang shook his head and said, "Madam, this problem is not difficult to handle if it is left to any experienced general. The difficulty is that there are only three days left before the trial of the six kingdoms. It is impossible to transform a hastily assembled ragtag army into a well-coordinated elite force without enough time."
He makes a good point.
"There's something I've never understood. Don't the Queen of Ye and the officials in the court want to win the military trial among the six states? Why send such an army, and why appoint a prince who has just returned and whose legitimacy is still uncertain as the commander?"
Other countries carefully selected their troops, determined to field their most powerful and imposing armies to awe the other five nations. But these countries, on the other hand, simply assembled their soldiers haphazardly, and even their generals and adjutants were hastily brought in.
Wei Yao narrowed his eyes, the candlelight on the table flickering, his eyes filled with a dark look: "There is indeed something strange about this matter, but Ye Kingdom does not have any good troops at the moment. Before the General established the Four Symbols Army, Ye Kingdom had the Imperial Guard and the Northern Wilderness Army, but they were all lost in the wars between the various countries and no one returned. The newly added Fubing is barely passable, but compared with the armies of other countries that have fought their way out, they are completely incomparable."
Wang Zebang chimed in: "In recent years, Ye Kingdom has relied on its generals for both foreign wars and defense. If we send those good-for-nothings from the capital to the battlefield, I'm afraid not a single one of them will be able to accomplish anything."
Zheng Quchi never expected things to turn out this way. The once mighty Ye Kingdom had fallen into such a state of decline. No wonder the Queen and courtiers of the mighty Ye Kingdom had to be so obsequious and smiling when facing generals from other countries, for fear of offending them.
"They probably already believe they're going to lose this game."
Wei Yao and Wang Zebang also tacitly acknowledged this statement.
Since they were bound to lose, there was no need to struggle or bother preparing anything. As for dragging her and Yuan Xingzhou to the Six Kingdoms Trial, that was purely a scheme to harm them and make them take the blame.
"Madam, why did you agree to that?" Wei Zhuang asked her.
There was room for refusal, but she resolutely chose to accept.
Zheng Quchi recalled his feelings at the time and said, "I was not convinced, I was unwilling, and I did not want to lose."
She said "no" three times in a row, each time more forceful than the last.
The two were taken aback by what they heard.
Unconvinced? Resentful? Don't want to lose?
It all sounds like they were provoked into losing their minds and making a decision on a whim.
“Madam, acting impulsively…” The words were on the tip of his tongue, but Wang Zebang knew that saying them would sound bad, so he swallowed them back down.
But how could Zheng Quchi not understand his hesitation?
She sighed softly, "I've also told myself that one must think thrice before acting, proceed cautiously, and consider things carefully before acting impulsively. But if everything is about waiting and seeing, then Ye Kingdom is truly doomed." She raised her head, looking at their puzzled eyes, "Look at you, in terms of national strength, we can't compare to any other country. In terms of military quality, we probably can't compare either. In terms of defense and economy, we can't compare. Even in terms of the king and the officials in the court, these people are now corrupted; who can stand up to them?"
There was fire in her eyes, a small flame that had just begun to ignite, but now it was growing ever larger.
"In this situation, is there any need to think? Even a child could see we're doomed to lose. Look, that's what they all think. But... should we just lie down and let ourselves be mocked, trampled on, and humiliated? Along my journey, the Ye Kingdom I've encountered is a country that has absolutely no ambition. I've heard and seen how we are ridiculed and humiliated by other countries outside of Ye Kingdom. You've seen it too, haven't you?"
She recalled what she had heard and seen when she went to Julu Kingdom to participate in the "Jichun Craftsmen's Guild".
"Many people don't even dare to say they are from Ye, for fear of being discriminated against or driven away. But that time, that time at the lantern-lighting ceremony of the Jichun Craftsmen's Guild on Yongfeng Mountain, when I stood at the highest point as the leader and spoke, I thought that no one from Ye was participating at all, and even if they were, they probably wouldn't dare to show their faces..."
At this point, she smiled slightly: "But I was wrong. I clearly heard their excited and loud response below. A very small number of people, as insignificant as stars compared to the vast population of other countries, were people of our Ye Kingdom. They usually cower and hide, disguising themselves, afraid of being recognized. But at that moment, they felt a sense of pride. They were no longer afraid of what people said or what they saw, and bravely stood with me in the light."
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