Han Shizu

Chapter 1572 The pressure brought by the 800,000 army
The summer breeze was blowing, and as the three of them shut up one after another, the water pavilion became quiet, only the slightly undulating water of Jinming Pond under their feet made some waves.

Seeing Emperor Liu put the wine glass to his mouth again, with high brows and a look of deep meditation, Liu Yang couldn't help grabbing Emperor Liu's hand holding the glass, and persuaded him with concern: "Father, you should drink less bitter wine. , it is important to take care of your body!"

"It doesn't matter!" Emperor Liu replied softly, he actually just put on a show, and just took a shallow sip when the glass reached his mouth, but he still put down the wine glass when he felt Liu Yang's strong hand.

Seeing this, Li Jilong clasped his hands and said with shame: "This minister has narrow vision and shallow knowledge. It's hard to understand the embarrassment of the court!"

"This is not your problem. You are in Shanyang Monan, and of course all you can see is that corner of the land. What you said is also relevant to current affairs. Standing on your side as a general, there is no fault. The embarrassment of the court, Let me and Liu Yang and those ministers go to have a headache!" To his son-in-law, Emperor Liu's attitude was still kind, feeling ashamed, and even offered words of relief.

"However!" Emperor Liu turned his head to look at the surface of the pool outside the waterside pavilion, the soft waves shone in his deep eyes, and he said flatly: "Since we have talked about this, we can also discuss it! You are the side general. , I am also more familiar with the situation of frontier soldiers, in your opinion, is there any proper way to ease the country's finances and ensure the consolidation of the territory?"

This problem is obviously embarrassing for Li Jilong. Even after so many rounds of discussions with the prime ministers of the big man, he has not yet come up with a practical solution. How can Li Jilong solve it? The conversation went on.

As expected, Li Jilong frowned and pondered for a while, and then, somewhat unexpectedly, said to Emperor Liu and Liu Yang: "Your Majesty, Your Highness, I have an idea, please review whether it is feasible or not!"

Emperor Liu suddenly became interested, and Liu Yang also looked at Li Jilong.

"Let's just say it, don't have any scruples!" Emperor Liu said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Li Jilong saluted cautiously, and then said: "Your Majesty, the composition of the Northern Frontier Army of the Great Han Dynasty is divided into several parts. Taking Shanyang as an example, all of them will deploy [-] cavalrymen under their command, and soldiers guarding the castles of various gates. , the regular rotation of the Imperial Army, and the soldiers and horses under the command of Sanyo. Defense duties.

Among the troops guarding the border, the ones that cost the court the most money and food are undoubtedly the court's regular soldiers. Therefore, I think that if the role of the frontier township bravery in frontier defense can be improved, then the number of the court's regular soldiers can be slightly reduced. ! "

Hearing what Li Jilong said, Emperor Liu frowned subconsciously, apparently aroused by Li Jilong's words, his eyes quickly regained clarity, revealing a trace of thought.On the side, Liu Yang also seemed more serious.

The military expenditure of the Han Dynasty remained high. Although there were reasons for the vast territory of the country and the gathering of soldiers to defend it, the root cause lay in the recruitment system.

Inside and outside the imperial court, whether it was the guards, the forbidden army, the local capital soldiers, or the frontier garrison troops, they were all recruited by the imperial court with money.The rotation system that has been implemented for a long time is only to rotate among these various armies to balance and strengthen the imperial court's control over the army.

And these troops are all full-time professional soldiers. They don't need to farm or raise silkworms, but only rely on food, salary, and hard work for the court.

During the war years, the imperial court needed a large number of troops to quell internal strife, but foreign aggression, and rule the world. No matter how expensive it was, they had to grit their teeth and persevere.

However, today's large-scale wars are basically declared far away for the big Han. In peacetime, maintaining a large army at a high price seems to be costly and not beneficial.

The main soldiers of the Han Dynasty are not just recruited and finished. The quality of the soldiers is high, the training tasks are heavy, the equipment is excellent, and the treatment has never been lower. In this way, the cost of raising soldiers for the court will be even greater.

Today, there are three to 400,000 garrison troops on the borders of the Han Dynasty alone. If there are guards in the imperial city, guards in the capital, and many important pass forbidden troops, the commanders and horses stationed in the hinterland Daozhou, as well as more than 800,000 naval forces Counting it, the total army strength of Dahan has exceeded [-].

The standing army of 800,000 is 800,000 people who are not engaged in production or farmland, but are only waiting to be fed by the court, and these people are also young and middle-aged, and they are the most valuable labor force among the people.In terms of the population of Dahan more than 5000 million, it is really not a small number in terms of current productivity and social conditions.

Under such circumstances, it is no wonder that within the imperial court, whether it is the political affairs hall or the financial secretary, they have tirelessly asked Emperor Liu for instructions to reduce the army and reduce military expenditures. He really saw the danger of maintaining such a large army all year round.

The military's annual expenses are constantly rising, and there is no visible trend of restraint. However, the government's fiscal revenue is not unlimited. Even after a new round of fiscal and taxation reforms, it can barely make up for the original deficit.

Shen Yilun, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, said to Emperor Liu last year that if this continues, he does not know when the country's finances will collapse. .

Among the soldiers and horses of all walks of life, the navy is easier to raise. First, it does not pay enough attention, second, it has a small number of people, and third, the navy also gets a share of the current booming maritime trade, which can make up for some of the cost of raising the army. .

However, the army on land did not have that kind of unique convenience. There were some army farms in various places, but they were not large in scale and lacked the labor force for farming. In terms of the huge horse infantry system, it was really a drop in the bucket.

Therefore, when Li Jilong proposed to increase the duty of guarding the frontiers and lighten the burden on the court's soldiers, terms such as conscription and compulsory soldiers suddenly appeared in Emperor Liu's mind.

Noticing the expressions of Emperor Liu and his son, Li Jilong continued: "The border areas are no worse than the Central Plains. The conditions there are more difficult, and the people living in them are more aggressive, and they are more active in training martial arts and weapons. They are enough to become the imperial court. A powerful arm to consolidate the frontiers! At the same time, using them will cost much less money and food than imperial soldiers, and they will also guard their homes, fields, and pastures on the spot."

"En!" Emperor Liu responded softly, without directly expressing his opinion, but there were many unspeakable meanings in the sound of this word.

Seeing this, Liu Yang was full of energy immediately, and looked at Emperor Liu: "Father, what Tyranny said is a good strategy, it seems that we can try it!"

"This is to brake the knives for the soldiers of the big man!" Emperor Liu frowned and said in a deep voice.

(End of this chapter)