Upon hearing this, Zheng Quchi suddenly looked at him.
"General Huo, you..." are secretly training the regular garrison soldiers and guards?
Huo Ting looked extremely serious at this moment: "General's wife, I know that at the banquet, the group led by the Empress Ye acted erratically and arrogantly, leaving you isolated and helpless. We can only act like cowards, and we even have to shamelessly and break our backs to please the foreign envoys. You must feel particularly disappointed."
Zheng Quchi was at a loss for words.
His assessment of the matter was quite fair.
"Old Huo is a rough man with no great wisdom. Even if I had stepped in, I wouldn't have been able to make any waves. In fact, it would have implicated my whole family afterward. But I always thought that even if I couldn't handle matters of national importance, there were some things that Old Huo could do."
Huo Ting gave a bitter laugh, his eyes dim and self-deprecating: "General's wife, do you think I, old Huo, am cowardly and useless? Although I am a general, I can't defeat the enemy army. I can't even handle the trivial matters in front of the enemy country. Compared with the peerless hero General Yuwen, I, old Huo, am really not even as good as one of his fingers."
After listening quietly, Zheng Quchi exclaimed, "Oh, so General Huo was also at the banquet that night."
Huo Ting: "..." Madam, can you at least listen to the important points?
Zheng Quchi continued, "So, you've been secretly training these soldiers, thinking that one day they'll be of use, right?"
"General, look."
Zheng Quchi pointed to the drill ground below and said, "Were these soldiers, who look like tender seedlings, nurtured by the general himself? If one day they grow into towering trees, the general can have a clear conscience."
Huo Ting wanted to laugh after hearing this, but his eyes reddened first.
He shook his head: "I am incompetent, useless, just an old good-for-nothing. I don't deserve to be without guilt."
Seeing his agitation, Zheng Quchi advised, "General Huo, I am here today to select a secret team to participate in the Six Kingdoms Military Trial the day after tomorrow. Complaining to me will not alleviate your heavy heart. Why don't you join us today and contribute your strength to the rise of Ye Kingdom? Some things are better late than never. You still have time. Saying those discouraging words is premature."
Upon hearing this, Huo Ting immediately wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes with the corner of his clothes, looking as if he had made up his mind: "What the General's wife said is very true. I, Huo Ting, will make my word here today. From now on, I will stand with His Highness the Crown Prince. Please be sure to convey my heartfelt wishes to His Highness the Crown Prince."
Zheng Quchi was stunned by his sudden sharp turn, but after a little thought, she understood what was going on.
She said with a forced smile, "General Huo really knows how to show his loyalty."
So all that talking to her was just a ploy to use her as a stepping stone to board the Crown Prince's big ship.
Huo Ting was indeed very cunning. Just think of Wang Feichen, who only knew how to get things done, and then look at his "perfect performance." If it were someone else who came today, Wang Feichen would probably find that the person had already become close to General Huo after he finished his work, while he would only get credit for running errands.
"In the past, I, Old Huo, did not associate with the Empress of Ye and was often treated coldly and ostracized by her followers, so I often had no say. However, now that His Highness the Crown Prince has returned, not only is Ye saved, but those of us who are loyal to the country can also stand up." He said this with great emotion, almost bursting into tears.
Zheng Quchi couldn't match his emotional delivery, so after a moment of silence, he said, "General Huo, His Highness doesn't really like noisy and boastful people. He prefers subordinates who are concise and to the point... and so do I."
Huo Ting's expression immediately froze, clearly understanding Zheng Quchi's meaning.
When his thoughts were exposed on the spot, Huo Ting's face quickly showed a hint of unease. He cleared his throat with his fist, but quickly recovered and said in a serious tone, "Old Huo thanks Madam for the reminder."
Huo Ting is indeed a rather "interesting" person. In just a short chat with him, he not only distanced himself from the Empress Ye's faction, but also expressed his merits and loyalty to the Crown Prince. He even planned to appeal to her emotions and make her empathize with him, so that she would speak well of him to the Crown Prince.
In order to establish this relationship, he meticulously planned and executed every step of the way from the very first moment she came into his view.
Zheng Quchi thought to himself, "This kind of person must be very successful in officialdom. He's so shrewd and has friends everywhere. It's a pity that he didn't become a scheming civil official, but instead became a military officer."
Having received Zheng Quchi's "warning," Huo Ting dared not continue the previous topic. He returned to the main point with her: "Madam, please look, the lieutenant had someone bring over the stone-lifting equipment used in our usual training."
"Lifting a stone?"
Sure enough, those "stone lifting" shapes looked somewhat familiar. Upon closer inspection, Zheng Quchi's eyes widened. Aren't these the barbells used by weightlifters?
However, the kind she had seen was made of stainless steel rods and rubber-coated iron blocks, while the "stone lifting" of Ye Kingdom was made of a wooden stick with stone rings strung at both ends, which looked somewhat similar.
"The weightlifting is divided into small weightlifting of 120 jin, medium weightlifting of 180 jin, and large weightlifting of about 240 jin. Usually, we mainly use small weightlifting in training. As for large weightlifting, very few people in our camp can challenge it."
Upon hearing the weight, Zheng Quchi exclaimed in astonishment: "This is indeed an extraordinary feat. I see that they mostly chose the minor and intermediate levels, yet nearly half of them were still eliminated?"
“Not everyone in the army has strong arms and backs; the foot soldiers are mostly trained in footwork and formation.”
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