maintain and train troops
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 4 examplesverb
to maintain and train soldiers; to support and drill troops
formalPrimarily used in military contexts. Most commonly appears in the idiom 养兵千日，用兵一时 (An army is maintained for a thousand days to be used for one hour), emphasizing the long-term investment required before soldiers can be effectively deployed.
Yǎng养
bīng兵
qiān千
rì日
，
yòng用
bīng兵
yī一
shí时
。
An army is maintained for a thousand days to be used for a single hour of need.
Guó国
jiā家
měi每
nián年
dōu都
yào要
huā花
fèi费
dà大
liàng量
zī资
jīn金
lái来
yǎng养
bīng兵
。
The country spends vast amounts of money every year to maintain its armed forces.
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Yǎng养
bīng兵
bù不
jǐn仅
jǐn仅
shì是
tí提
gōng供
liáng粮
cǎo草
，
gèng更
yào要
zhù注
zhòng重
jūn军
shì事
xùn训
liàn练
。
Maintaining troops involves not only providing food and supplies, but also emphasizing military training.
Gǔ古
dài代
yǎng养
bīng兵
hào耗
fěi费
jù巨
dà大
，
yīn因
cǐ此
bīng兵
yuán员
bù不
yí宜
guò过
duō多
。
Maintaining armies was enormously costly in ancient times, so troop numbers should not be excessive.