Chapter 1163: Experience (2)

Little Bear said righteously, “Daddy, I’m not afraid of hardship. You can’t stop me from going to train just because of some hardships. You overly doting on me won’t do me any good.”

Qi Haoran’s hands itched and he couldn’t help but beat him up. “Dote on you? Tsk, that’s not it. To tell you the truth, the reason I’m not sending you back to the military camp is because there isn’t enough grain! Do you think training soldiers is like fighting a war? By training them every day, do you know how much grains they will consume?”

“But Father, this is how you trained your soldiers in the past!” Little Bear was puzzled.

“Bullsh*t. When have I ever done that?”

Great Qi’s army was considered diligent in training. Basically, they would train once every seven days, and some armies even trained once every five days. As for the imperial guards, they trained once every two days.

The intensity of the training was just like what Little Bear was advocating for now. Starting from five o’clock in the morning, the soldiers were trained non-stop. Because of the heavy intensity of exercise, soldiers consumed a lot of food when undergoing training. Not to mention anything else, their daily three meals had to be dry.

Usually, when they “didn’t train”, the soldiers had to learn how to stand in formation. The instructors in the army would teach them basic martial arts. Basically, they would practice for two hours every day after noon.

This was because other than having a dry meal at noon, they usually ate porridge or steamed buns in the morning and at night.

Even then, such a treatment was much better than the previous dynasty.

This was because the previous dynasty only fed their soldiers porridge three times a day, and they would only train once every five days during wartime.

When General Yuan and Qi Xiuyuan trained their soldiers at higher intensity back then, they had to source for the military rations themselves.

However, Great Qi’s military rations were all paid by the military households. Only when there was a shortfall would they seek reimbursement from the Ministry of Revenue. Little Bear had only been in the army for 25 days and trained the soldiers at the highest intensity every day. He was only in charge of one battalion, but he dragged the other battalions to compete with his battalion. This caused the entire camp to train bitterly every day. Trained under such high intensity, they naturally had to eat more.

Looking at Little Bear’s appearance, it was obvious that he was not full yet. Otherwise, he would not have lost so much weight in just 20-odd days.

Even as his army didn’t get to eat their fill, the rations were decreasing three times as fast. What would happen if the soldiers actually ate their fill?

Considering the Ministry of Revenue consisted of a bunch of stingy people, it would be unlikely that they could get grains from them. How were they going to make up for the shortfall in military rations then?

After telling his son about the various implications, Qi Haoran concluded by saying, “I thought about it carefully. What you ought to cultivate now isn’t your military abilities, since you’ve been learning that since you were five years old. Now, you’ve already far surpassed others in that aspect. Instead, what you ought to learn about now is the ways of the world. Even though you’re supposed to gain experience in the military, you don’t even know why your superior, Assistant Commander Wei, sent you back.”

With a sigh, Qi Haoran stroked his son’s head. “Alright, rest well at home first. Your mother and I will think about your next step.”

Little Bear was a little sad. After hearing his father’s words, he felt that he had been such a failure because he wasn’t even told the reason why he was sent back.

Seeing him leave dejectedly, Mu Yangling asked worriedly, “Is this too much of a blow?”

Qi Haoran waved his hand nonchalantly and said, “If he can’t even handle this, how can he fight a war in the future? He should stay at home and be an idle prince in that case, lest he loses his life on the battlefield.”

The military capabilities of a person on the battlefield was only the second most important, while good mental fortitude was the most important. Mu Yangling also knew this, but Little Bear was her son, so she couldn’t help but worry.

Qi Haoran held her hand and walked back. “He’ll have to experience many more blows in the future. Aside from him, we have four other children. We won’t have the energy to worry about each and every one of them. Just let him calm down by himself.”

“What do you plan to do? This kid has been on the battlefield before. If we send him to the academy or the Royal School, he definitely won’t be able to sit still. We can’t send him to the six ministries, right?”

Qi Haoran shook his head. “Although I want him to learn the ways of the world, I don’t want to wear down his will. Why should a young person enter the six ministries to listen to those old farts?”

Although the six ministries could allow one to gain experience and smoothen their edges, it also wore down their willpower. This was not what Qi Haoran wanted to see.

“Royal Brother doesn’t even want Wenchen to go to the six ministries because he’s afraid that his drive will be worn away. He’ll only send him over when he’s a little older.” Qi Haoran pondered and said, “Wenchen is going to the north to train and will set off in a few days. I’m thinking of letting Little Bear go with him.”

Mu Yangling whispered, “By putting them together, what if these two get into trouble?”

Qi Haoran sighed faintly. “Will they not cause trouble if they’re apart? Let’s just put them together. Little Treasure is steady and our son’s martial strength is high. If they really get into trouble, with Little Treasure around, they should be able to reason their way out of things. With Little Bear around, it shouldn’t be a problem for them to escape.”

Mu Yangling: “…”

After making up his mind, Qi Haoran entered the palace to look for the Emperor. In order to make his argument more persuasive, Qi Haoran also brought along the disappointed Little Bear.

Qi Xiuyuan was on a break today. After attending the morning court assembly, he dealt with the government affairs for the entire morning and spent the afternoon leisurely looking at flowers in the imperial garden.

The Empress and the children were accompanying him. The other Concubines and Consorts who had just received the news had just dressed up and were walking over casually. From afar, they saw the Emperor and the Empress standing under the pavilion admiring the flowers.

A few young concubines couldn’t help but smile gently. Just as they were about to step forward, Qi Haoran arrived with his tanned and skinny son.

Qi Xiuyuan looked at Little Bear in astonishment and asked, “What’s wrong with Little Bear?”

The concubines hesitated. Although King Rong was the Emperor’s biological younger brother, he was still an outsider to the palace. As the Empress was his proper sister-in-law, it was fine for her to meet him. But they, the concubines, had to try their best to avoid him.

It wasn’t easy for them to have a chance to meet the Emperor, but it was taken away just like that?

The few of them were very indignant and almost tore the handkerchief in their hands.

It had to be known that the Emperor was diligent in politics and rarely came to the imperial garden. Even if he did, he would mostly accompany the Empress or a few princes. They had been in the palace for many years, but they had never heard of the Emperor accompanying concubines other than the Empress to stroll around the imperial garden.

This was a rare opportunity.

Li Jinghua also saw the group of concubines. Seeing that the brothers were going to the pavilion to talk about serious matters, she wanted to go over and take those concubines away.

Qi Xiuyuan noticed her actions and waved his hand nonchalantly. “Get Wen Cui to inform them to go somewhere else to play.”

Li Jinghua stopped in her tracks and agreed to send Wen Cui.

After glancing at the Emperor, Eunuch Wan retreated respectfully with Wen Cui. With the two of them going over to pass the decree, those concubines and consorts would know that the one chasing them away was not the Empress, but the Emperor.

Qi Xiuyuan sized up Little Bear carefully and turned to ask Qi Haoran, “Didn’t you send him to the military camp to train? Why did he become so skinny?”

Heart aching terribly, Li Jinghua held Little Bear’s hand and sat at the side. She took the snacks on the table for him to eat. “Did you eat poorly in the military camp, or did someone bully you?”

Qi Xiuyuan immediately sat up straight and said seriously, “Little Bear, tell Royal Uncle who bullied you.”

Little Bear shook his head dejectedly. “No one bullied me. I was stupid.”

Qi Haoran smacked his head and said, “Do you really think you’re stupid? You just don’t know the ways of the world and haven’t communicated well with the soldiers in the army. You can always learn.”

Qi Xiuyuan glared at his brother and pulled his nephew to his side. “Don’t hit his head all the time. I think he only became stupid because you keep hitting him. I remember he used to be quite smart.”

Little Bear also looked at his father bitterly.

Qi Haoran almost stomped his feet. Although he was smacking his son’s head, what was the difference between using strength and stroking? If this could make him stupid, how weak was his son?

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