养兵 meaning in English

maintain an army

At the same time , they showed enough spunk over the last week to have at least a few positive vibes during the layoff
而他们最近这一周也表现出足够士气，让他们在这段休息养兵期间可以有很好的调整空间。
As one of the most influential officials with considerable political and military power in the qing dynasty , li hong - zhang , vigorously advocated opening up to the outside world , introducing the western technologies and the ways of maintaining the army and conducting military practice , taking part in the world trade and attracting foreign investment , tapping mineral resources and handling diplomatic relations in an opener way , so as to reach the goal of learning from the foreigners to seek wealth and making use of the westerners ' technologies to make the country strong
摘要李鸿章作为掌握着清政府军政大权的重臣，为挽救清政府的衰败，积极倡导打开国门，引进西方的科技和养兵练兵之法，参与世界商贸的往来，招引外资、开发资源，以开放的姿态处理外交关系，以达到“师夷求富” 、 “借法自强”的目的。