Han Shizu

Chapter 1578 Reform of the Military System
Under the instructions of Emperor Liu, the reform of the military system must still follow the principle of slowing down and proceeding cautiously. Emperor Liu directly and strictly prohibits the large-scale reduction of troops to maintain the stability of the Han Dynasty and ensure the security of national defense. in the first place.

Therefore, even if Zhao Pu, Wang Zhu, Shen Yilun and other ministers desperately hoped to reduce the number of soldiers in the court, they had to follow Emperor Liu's wishes and adopt a more secure method to complete the process of upgrading the army.

At least, Emperor Liu's unshakable attitude has been completely loosened. With a start, a good result can be expected.

Drafted by Zhao Pu, Cao Bin and other civil and military officials, and approved by Emperor Liu, the reform of the military system of the Han Dynasty was officially launched on July 13, [-] years.

According to the reform plan, over a period of ten years, the internal and external troops of the Han Dynasty will be gradually reduced. After ten years, the registered army of the Han Dynasty, including the Imperial Army, will be maintained at a scale of 400,000.

Among them, there are 150,000 imperial troops, 150,000 frontier troops, and [-] local troops. Of course, this is only a rough goal. The specifics will depend on the final disarmament results.

However, in any case, according to this goal, we should strive to achieve it. Judging from the current size of the army, the imperial court needs to abolish at least half of the army. This is definitely not an easy task. This is a large systematic project. A smooth landing will take time, as well as financial support.

According to the plan formulated by the Privy Council, starting from 13 years, the army inside and outside the Han Dynasty will be reduced on a scale of 5 to 6 people per year. At the same time, the number of newly recruited soldiers will be controlled each year to achieve the goal of reducing the size of the army. .

In fact, in the normal management of the country's military and political affairs by the Privy Council, elimination and recruitment are also maintained, but that is a normal military and political operation.After all, soldiers also get old, and those older soldiers in the army also need younger and stronger people to replace them, which is a healthy and virtuous circle.

In the past ten years or so, the number of newly recruited soldiers was basically far greater than that of retired soldiers, and the rapid expansion of the Han army was also formed in those ten years.

After all, as the size of the country grows, the pressure on national security is also rising, and troops are needed to garrison everywhere, maintain law and order, and suppress rebellions.In addition, several wars of external expansion required the supplement of soldiers and horses, and the first Northern Expedition made the big man carry out the craziest violence. Although some were abolished after the war, most of them were retained and became registered soldiers. Soldier.

It was not until recent years that the entry and exit of the army entered a relatively slow pace. The number of retired troops and new recruits each year was maintained at a low level of around [-] people and maintained a balance.

Parallel disarmament and recruitment are still the main policies of military size management, but in the context of disarmament, the proportion of the former is greater.Moreover, the requirements for new recruits are also higher. They must be of clean origin, have no criminal record, and have better physical fitness. It is best to have a good family.

According to the reform plan, in the remaining half of the 13 years, the disarmament operation will be officially launched. The scale will not be too large at one time, and it is not required to be fully rolled out. Forbidden soldiers.

Up to now, around the two capitals of the Han Dynasty, the imperial court has stationed more than 150,000 forbidden troops all the year round. If you add all the important cities, strategic passes, and border guards in the country, the total strength of the forbidden army will be more than 20 people.

With the current situation of the Han Dynasty and the authority of the center, the safety of the capital is completely guaranteed, and there is really no need to maintain such a large-scale forbidden army.Among them, in order to avoid the imbalance of military power, it is a very important reason.

When it is decided to disarm, it will naturally be carried out simultaneously both internally and externally. When the military strength of the center is reduced, the army and local army over there will naturally be reduced accordingly.And after really taking this step, there is no room for repentance.

Originally, Zhao Pu and other ministers planned to start rectification from the frontier army, and chose Liaodong as the first place, but was rejected by Emperor Liu. In terms of national defense security and internal and external balance, Emperor Liu chose the former.

Obviously, compared with the reform of the inland Daozhou army, Emperor Liu should be more cautious in dealing with the frontier army. For the sake of national defense security and frontier peace, he would rather postpone it temporarily, and directly ask the Privy Council to deal with the frontier army in the future. In the military's disarmament plan, it must be more detailed.

Reducing the imperial court's registered officers and soldiers will of course greatly reduce the imperial court's financial burden, and it will be beneficial in the long run.But this process is not simply a matter of reducing the number of troops and retiring soldiers.

In order to alleviate the long-term financial pressure, you will face a heavier burden in a short period of time. Disarmament is not free. At least, tens of thousands of troops are retired every year. How to arrange these officers and soldiers will require the imperial court to pay a certain price to appease them and take care of them. Otherwise, the army will be dissatisfied, the hearts of the people will be turbulent, and there will be big problems.

Those who were laid off were all professional soldiers. In the army, in addition to receiving education in loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, they also trained military skills and trained in fighting. Tens of thousands of people went to civilian jobs in waves. threaten.

In the early years, the imperial court basically made proper arrangements for the elimination of officers and soldiers. In addition to giving money and land, they could also try their best to arrange a position in the local area, either to become a poorly paid auxiliary soldier, or to return to the hometown.

But it’s no longer possible now, the ranks of officials in the Han Dynasty are already large enough, and there are not so many positions. At the same time, the scale of the reduction of troops is large, calculated as 400,000 people, even if there is a ten-year buffer, even if it is only the lowest position It is impossible to free up 400,000 seats for official affairs.

Therefore, the current treatment of retired officers and soldiers of the Han Dynasty is far worse than before, and in order to appease people's hearts, they can only find a way from money.

For this reason, Emperor Liu asked the Financial Secretary to allocate 2 million yuan a year, and the Privy Council, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Households sent special officials to manage the retirement of officers and soldiers. Compensation was given according to the size of the military position. This was regarded as severance pay.

In order to ease the pressure on the Financial Secretary, Emperor Liu agreed to borrow money from internal funds. The original loan, after several years, has not been fully repaid, that is, Emperor Liu does not charge interest.

But this time, Emperor Liu took the initiative and didn't talk too much nonsense. Everything was about military affairs.Although 2 million per year is not too much for the court, the cost of the court's disarmament is not just a "severance payment".

Most of the people of the Han Dynasty are very simple. It is the same in the army. They have been trained and strictly disciplined. They may have some complaints in the face of abolishment, but it is unlikely to directly resist. Of course, the premise is to give The treatment is sufficient, and sufficient sincerity must be shown.

However, for another group of people, they cannot simply rely on money to appease them.In the military system of the Great Han, if the captain or above is considered an officer, then the abolition scale of 50,000 people means that thousands of officers will be "unemployed" every year.

Of course, they can't be so demanding that they go home to farm and farm like ordinary soldiers. The higher the military rank, the more so.In addition to money, power must be given. Transferring the local government office to be an official is the best way to deal with it.

In addition to continuing to strengthen the imperial court's control over the local area, it is also because those who can serve as officers in the army can be called great men. It is also a loss for the imperial court to abandon so many talents with management capabilities.

Of course, this also brought a new test to the court's administration of officials, that is, the court had to guarantee an additional more than 1000 official positions every year to meet the arrangements for retired military officers.

This may be a little troublesome, but it is just a small trouble after all, Zhao Pu almost patted his chest to assure Emperor Liu that this matter can be resolved.The solution that Zhao Pu intends to adopt is to carry out a clearing operation of local officials and bureaucrats to make enough positions.

In Zhao Pu's words, the affairs of the army are not just the affairs of the army. The reform of the army also needs the coordination and support of the whole country.The army has begun to reform and upgrade, and the bureaucracy should follow closely behind, and make adjustments to those who are old, corrupt, and dead. This is the consistent requirement of the court and officials. In line with the principle of official governance.

Of course, no matter how beautiful the words are, the fundamental reason is to cooperate with the reform of the military system and arrange retired officers conveniently and properly.In this regard, Emperor Liu still agrees very much, and feels that Zhao Pu has taken the overall situation into consideration and is determined to reform, which is worthy of the appearance of a prime minister.

In this regard, Emperor Liu is also experienced. In his early years, in order to gather power and cultivate the imperial party, he used various reasons to remove some veterans and honorable officials in the court to make room for young and promising people. And it is easy to appoint and control the latecomers.

(End of this chapter)