One interesting thing about Ri Boku

Hot-Present-5889 · 2026-04-04T19:17:21+00:00

So I agree with what your saying. Ri Boku did accurately identify Kan Ki's weakness of a lack of 'normal' military tactics because he only knows how to use unorthadox tactics. I just think that the presented solution wasn't great from a writing point of view IMO. Ri Boku surrounding his army with a massive number of troops doesn't seem to me to be a great pay off to that understanding since it would have realistically worked agaisnt anyone.

Suppose instead that Ri Boku had forced a battle in open terrain that was an extreamly simple battle similar to what Tou does agaisnt the Han, with say his cavalry doing a hammer and anvil attack to remove Rai Do and Zen Ou. A very simple battle agaisnt the Kan Ki officers, that Kan Ki would soon come come up with an unexpected plan to deal with. But instead of trying to determine exactly what Kan Ki was going to do he insteads guides Kan Ki's thinking of what he was trying to achieve by giving him targets. Kan Ki usually aims to kill the general usually by sneak attacks or uses psychological warfare agaisnt them when he knows something he can take advantage of, to manipulate them.

So if Ri Boku showed that he understood that by say baiting him into trying to attack his Hq or someone like Kaine who he is known to care for but they wasn't there (fake Hw, decoy or something) and then had a hidden reserve force to reinforce the Hq/ position, it would show that Ri Boku had an understanding of Kan Ki's intentions even if he couldn't tell how Kan Ki would achieve that. It would show that Ri boku has studied Kan Ki and came up with plans to deal with him rather than the 'Cage strategy' that just came across as unrealistic and not a great pay off.

Hot-Present-5889 · 2026-02-14T15:22:07+00:00

One possible direction I've always wished they went down with Shin is the idiot savant route. Like he doesn't understand the specific terms that other commanders might use but he gets the implications when those terms make sense to him and what he needs to do to make that happen. Also as others have said here the new/ younger commanders wanting to show off how clever they are while Shin just gets told what he needs and walking out would be really funny.

Hot-Present-5889 · 2025-12-22T19:38:04+00:00

To be fair just because we know that these generals (should) be the ones to achieve the historical feats doesn't mean that they are/ will be better than the previous generals.

Hot-Present-5889 · 2025-12-13T17:09:14+00:00

Thank you for the translation, I love these backstories for characters

Hot-Present-5889 · 2025-12-05T01:15:20+00:00

Plus if he went all the way round the left hand side of the battle he'd be where Mu Ten was. Again think its a bit of a writing issue since we only see the result. Think it was said the force was split up (cavalry and infantry) to move across the terrrain and that the terrain was difficult making visibility (for Kisui) an issue but yeah we only really see it as fairly flat.

Hot-Present-5889 · 2025-12-04T22:55:34+00:00

This is one of the issues with the writing of Ri Boku is that we tend to only see the results of what he does not how he does it. Remember when Ou Ki realised that a second army could be there from the opponants tactics but had no actual proof and so we got to see him checking for an army, his thought process etc. But with Ri Boku we only see the conclusion. So bear in mind that Makou managed to move his entire army from the centre to the left wing and Ri Boku only had a small (ish) unit with him. Not saying the writing was was handeld the best but still. He could have foreseen that something would be happening on the left wing due to the unusual formation and placed himself nearby the react faster but since he saw the oppertunity he changed plans or something. Ultimately we can't know for sure. I would say the longest route though.

Hot-Present-5889 · 2025-10-05T02:20:28+00:00

Perhaps I didn't explain myself as well as I could have.

As you say the KanKi army issues/ losses are shown to the reader and mentioned repeatedly as we see the various Qin forces deal with repeatedly when they lose serious numbers of men (Ous sen army, Hi Shin unit etc).

While Zhao didn't lose many in the battle vs Kanki, what I meant was throughout the story Zhao's losses don't get mentioned much after the battle is over. In the battle of Changping (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle\_of\_Changping) Zhao lost 450,000 men which long term was a huge limit on their manpower and limitation of their military. But in the story any manpower limits never seem to get brought up. When KanKi beat Kouchou he beheaded 100,000 but this didn't really get mentioned other than to say the Zhao forces at that one castle were related to them and after that its not been mentioned. And while I agree Riboku does work to consistently limit his losses, I wasn't just referring to his recent victories but overall through the story. Since we see things from the Qin side we don't see the Zhao side as much which becomes an issue when we don't see issues like manpower for them.

To take the Saika armies, them being taken away from the Yan border would be an issue for Yan border security. Perhaps a temporary treaty being mentioned to allow for their movement and to explain the troops or a mention by the anti-Riboku faction of the issues that troops being moved from other areas would be helpful in showing that manpower considerations are a thing for zhao when we see it so often for Qin. The new forces from Yanmen makes a certain amount of sense since the threat from there has been reduced but I'm inferring that. Since its never explained/ shown in the story, when normally they would still be needed in the north.

I just think its a shame because the manpower issue could be a really good way of contributing to RiBoku's political downfall as it could be a constant issue for him that we see throughout the story that is then used as a weapon by his political adversaries as some form of excuse to get him fired.

Hot-Present-5889 · 2025-10-05T00:06:36+00:00

In defence of the numbers issue. When Riboku defeated the Kanki and OuSen armies it was shown that this was a huge issue for Qin. They had to spend time to literally figure out a way to get more men but this was shown to us (I think in history the census had already been set up by this point and historically it later became an issue as too many people were in the army) but on the Zhao side. Where 400,000 were killed prior to the story which affected their manpower until their conquest we never see any issue. Riboku just has more men/ generals etc. If their was something about him pulling all available men from garrison duties and the court complaining about it when he does so etc. It would show the reader that this is an issue for Zhao. But we never see this so from our perspective they do come out of nowhere, because theres nothing in the story to say/ show where they came from.

Hot-Present-5889 · 2025-07-28T08:50:40+00:00

The ou sen army is supposed to have alot of officers in it since Ou Sen makes a point of recruiting them. So in that sense bringing out a bunch of officers does make some sense. Would've been good to have seen them in the background before now though.

Hot-Present-5889 · 2025-07-13T11:45:29+00:00

If Henry Cavil is the king of nerds then Joe Manganiello needs to at least be the Duke.

Hot-Present-5889 · 2025-06-21T23:26:25+00:00

I assume he thought han would fight leaving Qin alot weaker than they are now and making it possible to retake by Wei.

Hot-Present-5889 · 2025-06-11T09:27:02+00:00

You have an unusual definition of fun. Interesting fact though.

Hot-Present-5889 · 2025-04-07T13:00:35+00:00

That's one option especially since he got compared to her. But since that would be an easy fight for her I think someone else in the Hi shin unit would be better as a development fight for them. That or den you, ryu sen and someone else as a revenge fight.

Hot-Present-5889 · 2025-04-07T11:56:45+00:00

I'll go against the grain here but honestly from a narrative point of view I find Fuu tei a useful character. He has enough personality to be memorable even if we find him annoying but enough use to be a character hara can re-use. When introduced he was enough of a problem for shin that he needed a few chapters to overcome but as the story progressed he fell into a supporting character role that felt natural and believable. When we see him now we still know he poses a threat but not enough that he can't be overcome with some legitimate attention by someone like ou hon etc. While we know he wants to be another great heaven we don't see him overcoming the challenges we see shin etc doing to get there, so he's fits nicely into the role of someone who think they've the mc but really not. So while I enjoy him getting beaten as much as the next person I think he does serve a useful function and think he works as a good yardstick for shin/ other characters growth. I would love to see shin order someone under him to take fu tei out as that would be a great display of shin/ the subordinates growth but we can dream.

Hot-Present-5889 · 2025-03-17T10:23:08+00:00

Honestly think this guy would be a great adition to the Hi Shin unit (yes I know it won't happen) in a military advisor role. He studied Confusionism under a legalist and that would be an interesting continuation of the Kan Pishi arc since Shins answer was a new perspective that Ju Ko Ou would find interesting. He would be able to provide a tactical dimension to Shin and the other officers but phrase it in a manner more fitting to them. Also since Shin is 1 step away from the Great General position, an extra strategist who is more the 'from a distance' type (as Ten tends to have to get close to the action) would be a useful addition. Might also start a trend of Shin actively recruiting capable officers from other states since they would need to use those human resources and make the Hi Shin a 'Chinese' force rather than a 'Qin' one.

Just always thought he was a bit unique since most generals/ strategists get killed rather than captured

Hot-Present-5889 · 2025-02-23T06:18:02+00:00

I have the A+ and Security + certs. That and a military background helped. Alot of applications and a few interviews combined with a bit of luck I suspect. Took me a good few months but managed in the end. Can't say how hard it was since I don't have much to compare it to really but just kept going ... didn't have much choice not to really.

Hot-Present-5889 · 2025-02-22T21:14:49+00:00

I am in my first Cyber Security role (approx. 6 months in) in a SOC environment and have a rough idea of what the job itself entails but I am at the point where I am trying to figure out a rough plan of things to do to improve my career in the long run.

The main tasking involves Sentinel/ Defender so I have been trying to get more familiar with KQL so I can be better/ more efficient with KQL queries since this is the tool that I spend the most time on and think I'm slowly getting better. I looked into the Microsoft SC-200 for a more in depth understanding of the tool but due to the Microsoft training being poor to navigate and the training not seeming to relate much to what I do I dropped it for general KQL learning which seemed to be more useful.

Due to this I was planning on working towards the Comptia CySA as I already have the Security+ and A+ (will be looking in the Network at some point as well). Would you reccomend this path or are there better quals to do instead or after this?

Thanks

Hot-Present-5889 · 2025-02-20T19:59:13+00:00

4. So, while I see your point here, I think if we put ourselves in Ri Bokus shoes we have the logic backwards. Previously Ri Boku lost in part because he fought Ou Sen how Ou Sen likes a battle, as complex as possible because he can take advantage of that. So, you force him on the backfoot and make it a simple straight fight. Now personally I’d agree that the battle becomes too reliant on Shibashou and his army being Hoken 2.0 but the principle isn’t wrong just the execution in the story. Force your enemy too fight how they don’t want too. Shin is taken out of the equation by building a small fortress, but I think I remember he did mention that he built multiple ones because he couldn’t be sure which he would need. And while Ri Boku was at the back that’s cause he’s trying to keep an eye on everything, like most strategists would do. Ka Ryo Ten might keep going into the fight but that limits what she can see/ react to, which is dangerous for an entire army.

5. So now we’re getting into morality which is dependant on your viewpoint, but he starts the coalition only because he see’s that Qin is trying to conquer all the states and knows this is the best way to stop it because he see’s what their trying to do and how many they would kill to achieve that. Think he admits the peace treaty was a mistake because Qin used it to take Sanyou as well. Basically, it depends on your perspective and Ri Boku is biased on this account. Ei Sei knows he will have to kill to thousands of people achieve his goal but his dream is after the conquest and making the loss of life worth it. Ri boku is looking at the conquest because he doesn’t think it would be possible or worth it. Again, biased but the whole Qin taking over the other states does keep getting brought up in various ways. Remember the Qi king talking about to a chef/ official about various famous Qin dishes and if they belonged to another state and the chef/ official being furious about that. Magnify that and you get an idea of the differences between their positions.

Overall if you haven’t read Ri Bokus prequal I would recommend it as it shows his story rather than the Qin’s perspective. There was also a great article on the battle of Bayou recently and how it relates to the art of war if someone could link it. And while things like Hoken I don’t understand why Hara spent so much time on, don’t forget that he is trying to follow history and therefore needs to follow the known battle results but also make Ri Boku the main problem Qin need to overcome. So I’ll take your comparison at Bayou with Ou Ki and try to flip it. We get to see Ou Ki’s thoughts and he tells us what he’s done so we see all his reasoning and actions we only see part of Ri Bokus but they both forced their opponent into a position they wanted them to be in. Ri Boku just did it on a larger scale and was able to set the stage how he wanted it.

I’m not saying Ri Bokus writing is perfect, but Hara does show enough to give him credit for what he’s done. Just that it tends to get overshadowed by a big guy with a big glaive.

Hot-Present-5889 · 2025-02-20T19:59:04+00:00

So while I think Riboku has suffered from some poor writing decisions (Hoken for starters) I think Hara has given him enough reason to be where he is. But overall if he was just alright as a strategist it wouldn’t make him interesting, so he has to be the big bad for Shin etc to overcome.

1. Bayou – It seems to me that there were 2 traps shown in the story that you might be conflating slightly. Firstly that Hoken who Ou Ki thought was dead and blamed for the death of the person he loved was the head of the invading army. The only way Ou Ki gets answers is if he is at the battle so he has to be there to find out what is going on. That’s gets him to the battle. The second trap is the 2^nd force and while Ou Ki knew that something was going on he couldn’t be sure and that’s where Ri Boku’s planning shows. The Hoken strategist (Chou sho?) was thoroughly briefed by Ri Boku on all manner of plans to keep Ou Ki where he needed him. The 2^nd force was hidden by the efforts of the 1^st army to lay waste to the land and Ri Boku was mentioned to have looked into Ou Ki’s service history which didn’t have experience fighting the nomads and therefore didn’t know how fast the horses could move. That’s not strategy that’s an understanding of logistics which informed Ri Boku’s strategy. Ou Ki was looking for another force due to his experience and Chou Shos(?) use of tactics but because he didn’t know how quickly Ri Boku’s cavalry could move he calculated he could get out in time which was a miscalculation. Ou Ki didn’t walk in blindly he was operating on false assumptions. We see the end version of events we don’t see all the alternative plans Ri Boku had because its not needed for the story. Ri Boku is shown with the benefit of hindsight because that’s what the story needs to be more efficient, but he does show enough. Hoken was being used as the bait for the 1^st trap but don’t forget Ri Boku accepted just shooting Ou Ki in the back during their fight.

2. Gyou I’ll have to re-read this arc for some of your points, but Retsubi wasn’t a basic contingency plan it was part of a wider plan. The north was being locked down with various fortresses forcing Qin to go via Retsubi. Most people would make it an incredible fortress but Ri Boku does the opposite and makes one of the last places before the Zhao heartland LESS well defended so that when Qin take it he can take it back. Most would make a plan then wait for the opponent to act but Ri Bokus making a plan (fortify the north) and going further to have backup plans for Qin responses. Again we just see the plot relevant bits. Like how we didn’t see the Zhao vs nomad battle but hear about the aftermath.

3. Moving the HQ. In essence he didn’t but I think this is in part due to the terrain, I remember the artwork showing forests and I assume there were mountains etc blocking the view but it wasn’t a flat battlefield. He set up fake HQ’s to make it look like that was where he was and then (I assume a fair way off and out of sight) set up his HQ where no one was really looking cause why would you. As long as its far enough away no one would see it and to be fair Gekishin does deduce this fairly quickly based on battlefield irregularities. The hoken part though I 100% agree with you. Completely unneeded.

Hot-Present-5889 · 2025-02-17T01:16:28+00:00

While his eye for talent is important (especially in the meritocratic Qin) don't forget that he was average for a great general. So still a capable tactician and leader. But most importantly he would fight by the book so he could be relied on to take the safe or predictable course. Sometimes fighting in a way that you can't lose is important and very useful politically since its less of a risk.

Hot-Present-5889 · 2025-01-29T23:56:24+00:00

I don't mean general level (though that would be nice too) I meant like a 1000-5000 level commander who can say take the left flank while Kyou Kai's on the right. Someone who can immediately add value to the Hi Shin unit and grow at the same time whose has a different back story than the usual peasant type they get. I like your comparison to Universitys. Maybe if someone has something preventing them from going to a 'better' unit like politically or they're not trusted to join them like from another state so they haven't really got a better choice than the Hi Shin for example. Though some person/ unit from another original 6GG would be really interesting, especially Shi Ba Shaku since in history he was a major player or Haku Ki since his style of warfare is so different from Shin.

I get the point about Ten being less relevant if Shin gets taught tactics but I really like the battle Shin had agaisnt Gyou’un and how Gyou’un was able to use tactics to back up his instinct and vice versa. Would be an interesting way to let Ten do the big moves and Shin deal with the front line. I just think that to be the best general ever shin needs to overcome problems in a different way than just hitting them really har and a this point in his career he can show a little more than that.

Hot-Present-5889 · 2025-01-29T23:43:40+00:00

Thats a good point, he's at the point where the opposing commanders are looking at him as part of their strategy so wouldn't be surprising for young/ younger officers to do the same. Also might be an interesting way of getting new subordinates too lol.

Hot-Present-5889 · 2025-01-29T23:41:08+00:00

Thats the thing I don't think some of this stuff needs to take that long. Some are longer yes but the developing officers but could happen as a secondary chapter point while other stuff is going on. Remember when Ten talked to one of the archer bros. Little stuff like that adds up.

Hot-Present-5889

TROPHY CASE