Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Chapter 409 Unprecedented Fleet

In the spring breeze, everything revives. The lights behind the low-walled hut are dim, and the wind blows away the noise of the neighbors’ houses, and it gradually becomes quiet in the night. There are still bright lights on the riverside in the distance, but there are not many.

In such an era, people generally went to bed early, and firewood and lamp oil were not cheap.

Behind the low wall, a woman's cry can be heard faintly, "It's hard to live in peace for two years, and you are going to fight again.
The battlefield is so dangerous, if something goes wrong, what should our mothers do."

Trivial grievances are interspersed with the chirping of night insects, and from time to time mixed with the cry of frogs in the distance, intermittently and scatteredly.

The woman whispered for a long time before she heard the man's voice: "How can we live a good life without fighting, our family is the only one in the village who can eat meat, and there is still so much land.

Neighbors in the neighborhood, come and go, they are very envious, they are all in exchange for fighting with the emperor, others think that they haven't had that chance yet, women's families have long hair and short knowledge. "

"But." The woman sobbed faintly in the room, "I don't want anything, I just want you to be well and safe."

Now the man stopped talking, and the night suddenly became quiet.

It took a long time before I heard the man say: "This is a big event in the world."

At night, the woman's crying did not stop.

The wind blows the willow leaves outside the house and floats in all directions. Under the night, thousands of stores around Daliang are submerged in the night.

The princes and generals in the court, the emperor's supreme talker, have a strategy in mind, and control the world, but for ordinary people, it is a different reason, most of the time it is to survive and live a better life.

When the news of the dispatch of troops spread, some families were still happy and some were sad.

Naturally, the 20 forbidden soldiers and their families around Daliang were the first to respond.

In mid-March, after the order to send troops was issued, Shi Congyun sent many officials to the area where the families of the Forbidden Army gathered to express condolences on his behalf.

The state of Qin has both the military system of the Tang Dynasty and the recruitment system, but because of the frequent and cruel wars since the end of the Tang Dynasty, the main force today is the forbidden army of the recruitment system, which is a professional army dedicated to fighting.

The government soldiers are both soldiers and farmers, they farm and train in peacetime, and they are obliged to fight for the country in wartime.

The recruitment system was formed after Tang Xuanzong, and it was also one of the important reasons for the Anshi Rebellion. To put it bluntly, it was a professional army.

Armor and weapons, food, drink, and food are all contracted by the state. They don't have to do anything at ordinary times, and they only use full-professional troops who concentrate on military skill training.

It is undoubtedly very expensive to raise such an army, because not only one soldier needs to be raised, but his family is also included. If he is injured, dies in battle, or is too old to continue serving, the state will need to pay for it.

But the benefits are also obvious. Compared with the military soldiers who integrate farming and warfare, professional soldiers can devote all their energy to military skill training, and everything in normal times is just to practice the ability to kill.

Such an army will be very elite and capable of fighting, and can adapt to high-intensity warfare.

But that is the problem. These professional troops have two major problems. One is that the cost is astronomical. If the high-intensity war is over, but still maintain such a professional army, not only will not be able to achieve the result of defending the country, but it will also save the country. The country was dragged to death, and a large amount of national finances were spent on raising soldiers, but there was no war to raise soldiers.

The other is that the professional army is difficult to control, especially in this era when communication technology and transportation methods are backward, communication basically depends on shouting, and transportation basically depends on walking.Fubing is more loyal to the country, because they have their own fields and property, they fight to protect themselves, and they can live well without fighting.

The professional army is different. One is that they can easily not fight for the emperor and the country. They are not tied to the country to protect their land like the soldiers.

If there is no faith, no education, then you will become a mother whoever you are, whoever you are, if you give more money, you will fight for you. There is no such thing as family and country righteousness. I don’t even bother to shoot arrows without money. one.

The Anshi Rebellion caused by Tang Xuanzong can be said to have changed the fate of China. If we say that the Anshi Rebellion is a major turning point in Chinese history, there is no doubt that it is one.

This turning point was caused by the out-of-control military recruitment system, and the aftermath of the Anshi Rebellion is still there. Afterwards, the warlords separatist regime, the army expanded, and the court could not control it. The chaos in the world began after the Anshi Rebellion.

So Emperor Shi was actually hesitant in his heart, and once again he told Zhao Shijian about this matter under the old tree in the palace.

Today, his Daqin has 20 professional imperial troops in the central government, and a small number of professional troops in various local states and counties, adding up to about 35 professional soldiers nationwide.

Many generals in the court, including Wang Shenqi, Li Chuyun, Si Chao, etc., have written letters to him. Because of the continued expansion of the army, the forbidden army has been expanded to at least 40, and the national professional army has remained at around 80 million.

Because in the future we have to conquer Liao and deal with Jiangnan, we need more troops, and the current strength is far from enough.

But he himself is hesitant, because the lessons of the Tang Dynasty are still there. He used to boast that he knew astronomy from the top and geography from the bottom, and he knew 5000 years of history. Only when he became the emperor, amidst the tide of the times and the general trend of the world, did he realize that things were far from that simple.

It is impossible for him to turn a blind eye to the lessons of the Tang Dynasty that just passed away not long ago. The expansion of the army is naturally simple. He is now in the limelight and has a great reputation. Cutting is difficult.

The generals under him didn't have any thoughts, but when the country was on the rise, everyone's minds were very hot, and they probably thought about the 40 forbidden troops, directly stepping down to the capital and restoring the great achievements of their homeland.

As an emperor, Emperor Shi couldn't be too hot-headed, otherwise he would be the next Tang Xuanzong.

And it's not easy for him to tell outsiders about this matter, even the queen, because Fu's family is one of the largest military towns in Hebei, so he can only discuss it with Zhao Shijian in private.

In the end, he also had a fixed number in his heart. The expansion of the army is necessary, and it cannot be delayed. There will be a war in the next ten years, but it cannot be excessively expanded due to air pressure and fear, otherwise it will return to the old road of the Tang Dynasty.

In the past few days, he asked Zhao Shijian to help him carefully check the memorials of the Department of Household Affairs, review the revenue and expenditure of the court over the years, read the household registration statistics of the Ministry of Households, estimate the population of the whole country, and finally got a bottom line in his mind.

It is most appropriate to keep the national professional army below 50.

The professional army here does not include many auxiliary soldiers and township soldiers. It is a purely local professional army, plus the central professional imperial army.

Among them, the central forbidden army was kept at 30, and the local standing army was kept at 20.

Farming in peacetime, military training in leisure time, and government soldiers supporting operations in wartime are very flexible, and can be quickly recruited if needed.

In this way, the expansion of the central professional imperial army by another [-] is already the limit, and he has to be careful when it goes up.

Of course, the first step of Emperor Shi's plan is to strive to expand the army by 28 within five years, bringing his Qin Dynasty's professional forbidden army to [-].

This is not a trivial matter. The professional army these days is not just as simple as raising soldiers, there are also a large number of family members who need to be properly settled.

On March 22, [-] large and small warships of the navy, including supplies and provisions, were ready to set off first.

Emperor Shi personally went to the Bianshui River to bid farewell to the army, not only him, but also many people who saw off their children, grandchildren, husbands, relatives and friends also crowded the Bianshui River, densely packed with people.

Wang Zhong, the inspector of the capital, led thousands of people to clear the way, and only then did he open up a smooth road to the river for Emperor Shi.

The presence of the Son of Heaven also attracted the attention of many people, and the common people bowed and saluted one after another. Emperor Shi came on horseback, and he also responded on horseback, which attracted a burst of excitement from the surrounding crowd.

From the morning of that day, all Bian Rivers were blocked, and merchant ships were not allowed to pass.

This time the commander of the water army is Guo Tingwei, who is in charge of the water army.

When Shi Congyun arrived at the edge of the Bian River, the first thing he saw was No. 20 Guangwei warships in the front surrounded by many civil and military personnel. The slender ships were arranged along the Bian River, and the soft lines were particularly beautiful. There were twelve doors on each side of the top. The cannons are arranged in upper and lower layers, and the pitch-black barrel can be seen through the firing holes, which is full of power.

In the huge shadow cast by the warships on the east coast, Emperor Shi was also very excited. If there were not many things going on in the court, he would also like to visit this time. Seeing the roar of these warships would definitely be an epoch-making event.

At another moment, he even wanted to change his mind temporarily and let the old man Fan Zhi take charge of the important affairs, and he went by himself.

But in the end he still suppressed the excitement in his heart, because he was already the emperor.

Thousands of words have become a word of encouragement to the generals: "I am waiting for your triumphant return in Daliang!"

All the generals behind him immediately knelt down and saluted.

Afterwards, Shi Congyun and Guo Tingwei presided over the ceremony together, slaughtering cattle and sheep to sacrifice the commander's flag with blood, and then the officials of the Ministry of Rites came out to divination. Unsurprisingly, the result was auspicious, suitable for sending troops, and blessed by heaven.

All the generals present looked calm. They were all from the past. Flag sacrifice and divination are rituals that must be passed before dispatching troops. Most of them understand what's going on behind the scenes. Unless the officials of the Ministry of Rites don't want to do it, they will be fine anyway.

Then the drums and horns sounded, and the soldiers boarded the ship under the watchful eyes of their relatives and friends in the distance. There were faint sobs and weeping in the crowd, and the sorrow and sorrow of parting filled the shore more than ten miles away.

The horn blew, and the fleet of thousands of ships raised their sails neatly, and then slowly began to move. Many soldiers waved goodbye to their families and relatives on the deck.

Emperor Shi looked at the unprecedentedly large fleet from a distance. This was Qin's largest dispatch of troops on the water.

There are more than 200 large and small ships, and the navy has a force of 4. If you add logistics personnel and boatmen, there are as many as 5 people in the entire navy fleet. Such an unprecedentedly large-scale navy fleet is also doomed. The battles fought before are different and occupy a more important role in strategic planning.
(End of this chapter)