Tang Dynasty Mingyue Song Dynasty Pass

Chapter 818 Song Dynasty Reforms Military System

Although Zhao Kuangyin did not achieve his goal of unifying the north and destroying the Northern Han, he did not give up. After all, this time he had friction with the Northern Han and relocated many of the Northern Han people, which was also a gain.

After returning to the palace, he thought about it and found that during this expedition, the generals and soldiers of the army still had the bad habits of the Later Zhou Dynasty. Many officers of different ranks called each other brothers and formed gangs. He believed that after the cup of wine, although some of the generals and generals of the imperial army were replaced, it was only a temporary measure. It superficially resolved the immediate danger, but it was not a permanent solution. If we want long-term stability, we must start with institutional construction.

Therefore, Zhao Kuangyin considered building a complete military system, intending to eliminate the possibility of military generals' monopoly of power from the institutional and mechanism level. This is the long-term solution to stop the problem by removing the fuel from the fire.

On the surface, the military deployment system is just a piece of paper and seems to be rigid and dogmatic, but in fact, a good system has ideas and concepts running through it and has its core.

The core of the Song Dynasty military system created under the leadership of Zhao Kuangyin is "decentralization" and "maintaining the system".

Zhao Pu once mentioned to Zhao Kuangyin: "There are two powers in the world, military and political. The military power should be divided rather than concentrated, and the political power should be concentrated rather than divided." The reason is that if the military power is concentrated in one person, one organization, one vassal state, or one army, then rebellion is almost inevitable.

Zhao Kuangyin thought it made sense, so he began to take drastic measures to deal with the chaos of military generals usurping power since the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. If the military power in the world is a big pie, it was cut into eight pieces, cut repeatedly and carefully, and then put back in place.

Zhao Kuangyin changed the military system and divided the army into three divisions. The key word was "dismantle". He dismantled the "two divisions" of the imperial army into "three yamen".

The Imperial Guards were divided into two departments: the Imperial Guards and the Palace Guards. The Imperial Guards had long been very powerful, and the power balance between the two departments was unbalanced. When Chai Rong reformed the Imperial Guards, he consciously weakened the Imperial Guards and supported the Palace Guards. Zhao Kuangyin thus took charge of the Palace Guards and served in the Palace Guards before he ascended the throne.

When Zhao Kuangyin was crowned with the imperial robe, he completed his magnificent transformation from the chief inspector of the imperial guards to the emperor of the Song Dynasty. His position was different, and his perspective on the issue also changed. He was very clear-headed and got rid of the role of the commander of the imperial guards. He looked at the issue of the power ratio of the two divisions of the imperial guards from a more macro and overall perspective.

There is no need to strengthen the power of the Palace Front Department anymore, especially the extremely sensitive position of "Palace Front Du Dian Jian" is no longer set up, and the deputy Du Dian Jian is no longer appointed from generals.

The Chuanwei Division needed to be further weakened, so it was split into two. According to the original division of the cavalry and infantry within the Imperial Guard Division, the Imperial Guard Division was split into the Chuanwei Cavalry Division and the Imperial Guard Infantry Division, with the former divisions forming a tripartite alliance.

Originally, the position of the commander-in-chief of the cavalry and infantry of the Imperial Guards was in charge of both cavalry and infantry, and he was the undisputed head of the Imperial Guards. Now, with the disintegration of the Imperial Guards Bureau, this position naturally no longer exists. From then on, the Imperial Guards no longer had a chief commander.

This was in parallel with the establishment of institutions. Zhao Kuangyin gradually started to cut off the high-ranking posts of the imperial guards. He intended to keep the five highest-level posts vacant for a long time without granting them to anyone. Later, he simply abolished all five posts.

After this series of adjustments, the Song Dynasty's imperial guards organization gradually transitioned from a "two-office" system to a "three-yamen" system, forming a tripartite structure of the Palace Front Office, the Guards Cavalry Office, and the Guards Infantry Office. The chief officers were the Palace Front Commander-in-Chief (Palace Marshal), the Guards Cavalry Commander-in-Chief (Ma Marshal), and the Guards Infantry Commander-in-Chief (Bu Marshal). From then on, the "three marshals" were in charge of their own affairs and were not subordinate to each other. No one could control the entire imperial guards, and they all obeyed the emperor.

In this way, Zhao Kuangyin step by step abolished, vacated, or reduced the power of those high-ranking and powerful imperial guards positions. There were no longer any powerful and arrogant military generals inside and outside the court who could threaten the imperial power.

The core purpose of all these reforms was to curb the power of individual institutions, positions, and generals. There was no boss or person in charge of the imperial guards, and no military commander could hold the power to command the entire imperial guards, because the power was firmly in the hands of the emperor.

"I am in the imperial city, and I can command the imperial guards and personal guards without leaving the palace, so as to prevent these senior generals from threatening the imperial power and harming me."

Sitting in the imperial study, Zhao Kuangyin sighed that he was very satisfied with the reform. Next, he took action against the military power of the garrisons outside the imperial city and began to dismantle the military power, that is, to separate the power to control the troops, the power to mobilize the troops, and the power to command the troops.

This was the highlight of the military system reform in the Song Dynasty. Zhao Kuangyin ordered a complete division of military power. The general and complex concept of military power was subdivided into the power to hold troops, the power to mobilize troops and the power to command troops.

The so-called military power, also known as the control of the military, was in the hands of the "Three Yamen" of the Imperial Guards. The Three Yamen were responsible for the daily training and management of the army, including the overall arrangement of the Imperial Guards, the promotion and reward of all soldiers, etc. As long as there was no war, the soldiers of the Imperial Guards usually belonged to the "Three Yamen", and the "Three Yamen" were regarded as having "the power to control the military".

But once the war broke out, the situation immediately changed, because the "Three Yamen" could not dispatch troops in wartime and had no power to mobilize troops.

The power to mobilize troops, also known as the power to dispatch troops, is in the hands of the Privy Council. The Privy Council is the highest military institution in the imperial cabinet. It is responsible for military affairs and is in charge of the national military registration, military appointments, military deployment, and military surrender. Once a war breaks out, the Privy Council will mobilize the national army, which is equivalent to the central command during wartime.

The Privy Council can mobilize troops and train generals before war, but the troops are not under its control. In normal times, the Privy Council does not participate in the daily management of the army.

The power to control the army and the power to dispatch troops were separated, and the Privy Council and the "Three Yamen" of the Imperial Guards checked and balanced each other, creating a subtle conflict and complementarity between the two major military institutions in terms of their powers. This wise and far-sighted decentralization system was the key reason why the Northern Song Dynasty successfully avoided military rebellions.

The reforms did not end there. Once a war broke out, Zhao Kuangyin would not use the civil servants of the Privy Council and the generals of the Three Yamen. Instead, he would temporarily appoint other military generals as commanders-in-chief. They were called "Luechen" and would lead the army into battle.

As soon as the war was over, the general and his soldiers parted ways, the soldiers returned to the jurisdiction and management of the "Three Yamen", and the "commander-in-chief" also returned to his previous post, separated from the army he temporarily led, and no longer had any relationship with it from then on.

Although military power was divided into such small pieces within the military system, in essence, all power was ultimately concentrated in the hands of the emperor.

Zhao Pu said: "Your Majesty, although these arrangements can change the power of holding and commanding troops, there is still a danger that the garrison commanders in various places will become self-reliant. This is the main reason for the separatist regimes in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, and they are fighting against the imperial court!"

"It doesn't matter. I have a method for changing the garrison!" Zhao Kuangyin smiled confidently.

He stipulated that imperial guards be drawn from the imperial guards to be stationed in foreign garrisons throughout the country. In addition, some local garrisons were required to change their garrisons every three years. Soldiers were dispatched in turns and frequently transferred, traveling back and forth on long journeys. This was called the "garrison rotation method."

Because the soldiers under the general are often rotated, just when they have just gotten familiar with each other, they are immediately replaced by another group of people. It is difficult for the general to control his soldiers and form his own faction.

From then on, the Song Dynasty's army formed a situation where "soldiers had no permanent commander, generals had no permanent teachers; soldiers did not know their generals, and generals did not know their soldiers." The "Geng Cheng Fa" cleverly broke up the close relationship between generals and soldiers from an institutional perspective.

"In this way, I will not have to worry about the generals in various places raising their own troops and resisting the imperial court."

Zhao Kuangyin expressed his pride in Prime Minister Zhao Pu, saying that this reform would be able to change the problems of local military governors in various parts of the Tang Dynasty.

Similar to the "Gengcheng Law", Zhao Kuangyin also issued an order "banning associations" in the army.

During the Five Dynasties, it was almost a common practice for military commanders to form sworn brothers and to form cliques and societies. In troubled times, fighting in a group was a natural choice to seek benefits and avoid harm. Guo Wei had the "Ten Army Leaders" and Zhao Kuangyin had the "Brothers of the Society". Back then, he was the most enthusiastic about forming societies among his many friends.

But this was a different time, and Zhao Kuangyin's status had changed. Naturally, he did not want to see this situation, so he ordered the generals of the palace guards and imperial guards not to recruit brave and capable people in the army to form guards or detachments, not to form cliques for personal gain, and not to cultivate private power. All "righteous society" gangs were disbanded.

After doing all this, Zhao Kuangyin finally breathed a sigh of relief. He no longer had to worry about the instability of the army in the Song Dynasty or mutiny. In this way, the military power of the Song people would not be consumed and would be concentrated in the hands of the emperor, who would be completely under the command of the court, making it easier for him to mobilize and command at will in the future without being restricted by generals from all over the country.