Kingdom of Heaven and Han

Chapter 136 Arrangements After the Year
In the back office of Xiangyang, several tables of banquets were set up.Most of the important generals in the army are present here.Taking advantage of the opportunity of Chinese New Year, Wang Xiaolie planned to entertain them well and arrange tasks for next year.After Yang Jin was wiped out, there were no large groups of thieves around, so there was no need to worry now.

When the wine and meat came, Wang Xiao got up.Said: "Before drinking, let me say a few words. It has been more than eight months from the guarding of Gong County in April to the extermination of Yang Jin now. During these eight months, we have seen many things and experienced many things. A lot. Many of you generals served as the king with my father. At that time, they thought that if they defended Tokyo and repelled the Jin army, they would be able to live a peaceful life. Now it seems that the thinking was too simple. The city of Tokyo was not defended. , the Jin army has not been repulsed, and the imperial court has no place to stay. The world is devastated, and the people are weeping. We must not make plans."

Everyone was silent, looking at Wang Xiaolie.Knowing what to say today is very important for the future.

Wang Xiaolie said: "What should we do next? This is a question that must be answered. The Holy Majesty is in the southeast, too far away from us. It's not that something extraordinary happened. For the time being, we can't do anything. We can only occupy the room between Wanluo and practice a Raise elite soldiers to guard Jinghu Lake. Jinghu Jiangnan is the essence of the world, as long as there is time, the court will always catch its breath."

This is the site for this year's event.Everyone nodded after hearing this.In fact, since the official battle with Yang Jin, things have developed so fast that many people have not thought about what will happen in the future.And at this time people are used to listening to the leader, and most people don't think about it.

Deciding to establish a foothold in Dengzhou and Xiangyang, Wang Xiaolie was deliberate.

Normally speaking, if China intends to strive for hegemony in the world, China should occupy a corner.For example, Guanzhong, Hebei, and Hedong are easy to defend and difficult to attack.You can use less troops to defend and develop yourself.With strength, you can quickly enter the Central Plains to compete for hegemony.Even if you fail for a while, you can make a comeback if you return to your hometown.Areas around Kaifeng and Luoyang were the places where the Four World Wars were fought, so they are not suitable for base areas.

But there was a special situation at the turn of the Song Dynasty.After the Jin soldiers broke through Kaifeng, they didn't think they could rule the Central Plains.Just like the Jin people at that time, the basic idea was to occupy the vast Central Plains north of the Yellow River and establish a puppet regime.This is true in the Central Plains, not to mention the South.The Jin people had the idea of ​​completely destroying the Song Dynasty, and it was time for Wan Yanliang.This reason is also the basis for Zhao Gouneng to negotiate peace with the Jin Dynasty.

In the next ten years at least, Wang Xiaolie doesn't need to think about the Jin army attacking him aggressively.Even if there are soldiers and horses from the puppet regime to attack, the defense is relatively easy.If it takes ten years and you can't train an army to deal with the Jin army, don't worry about anything else.

In fact, since the Song Dynasty, China's strategic structure has undergone great changes.Guanzhong and Hedong are actually no longer important places that are easy to defend and difficult to attack.As the land was barren, the weather became cold and not conducive to development.The important area in the north has become the Northeast Plain, and the south is the affluent Jiangnan. The entire strategic center of gravity has moved eastward.

But in this era, almost everyone's ideas come from history.In the eyes of the courtiers, the most important thing to restore the Central Plains is to guard the Shaanxi Road.Jiangnan defends and Shaanxi attacks, which is what most people think.In this situation, the Wanluo room became a place where no one paid attention.

Wang Xiaolie remembered that Yue Fei's Northern Expedition in history started from the Xiangdeng area and went north to the Central Plains.Now that I think about it, this is no accident.It is the current situation that determines that this region can develop rapidly, and it is the weakness of the Jin Dynasty.

Seeing that everyone listened seriously, Wang Xiaolie said again: "In the new year, the most important thing for us to do is a few things. The first thing is to collect the bones of the soldiers who died fighting with the Jin army when the Jin army came from the south. The world is in trouble, these people are brave Standing up, even many of them were born recklessly and fought against the enemy. Many died in the wilderness, and no one collected their remains. The first thing to do is to collect his bones and bury them properly. There are still some people, although they did not die on the battlefield , but were wounded by the enemy, and some people even had a difficult life, so we must raise them well.”

After hearing this, all the soldiers applauded together.Since the area in the west of Beijing was not taken back from the Jin people by the Song Dynasty, but the Jin people voluntarily withdrew, there was no aftermath work.Every state and every county has many martyrs and many disabled people.Proper burial of the dead and raising of the living is what a regime must do.Treating them badly will affect the morale of the army.And as the person in power now, he should do the same.

"The second thing is to collect exile. Since the Jin soldiers went south, how many families have been destroyed and how many people have been displaced. We can't just sit idly by. After the Chinese New Year, each state and county must have a special person to deal with this matter. The deceased official Money is given for burial, the living are organized by officials, and villages are built in the vacant land. The land is cultivated, farm tools are provided, and food is grown.”

"The third thing is to streamline the army and streamline administration. This includes two aspects. The first is to have elite soldiers. How to be elite soldiers? Elite soldiers are not disarmament, not reducing the army, but making the army elite. These days, the army will make samples of soldiers and distribute them to All armies and states and counties. Anyone who is not suitable for the army will be dismissed from the army, or changed to a non-combat army. In the states and counties, all those who are not suitable for the army will join the army. If the number of people in the family is small, the local government can find a way Such as helping farming, such as subsidizing money and food. How to do it needs to be carefully considered. In a word, the current situation is like this. The Jin army is extremely rampant, and it has to recruit more soldiers to defend the country! Do your part for the country!"

"On the other hand, we need to simplify the administration. In the previous government, the political affairs were very messy. When I was in Ruzhou, the public officials there listed in detail the daily tasks to be done. In the days to come, we must select the manpower and take care of the political affairs. Cut it down. To give an example, the taxes and taxes collected in the past were extremely messy and used by a lot of people. The government collected ten coins and distributed them to the people, and it would become a hundred coins. The burden on the people is too heavy! One principle, the people in the countryside, According to the number of acres cultivated, how much money to pay and how much grain to pay in a year, if the number is accurate, no exorbitant taxes are allowed! No other titles beyond taxes are allowed! How much money is collected and how much grain is paid must be clear! According to the population, the distribution of servants. The number of workers per quarter is a definite number, and local governments are not allowed to collect more than any name! If the number of servants exceeds the number of servants, we will use people, money, or food. How much is a worker, or how much food? Unify the regulations, and the place is not allowed to change! If you don’t harass the people, they can farm with peace of mind.”

"With better soldiers and simpler administration, the people can feel at ease, and we can develop. Don't just think about collecting money and food from the people, but let them farm and weave with peace of mind. Not only can't harass them, but also help them as much as possible. Try to help them! There must be a detailed system for these, and it must be finalized after the Chinese New Year is over to ensure that the spring plowing next year will be done well!"

Hearing this, Chen Yuyi's heart moved.Every official will say that he wants to benefit the people when he goes to the place.But how to benefit the people, but few can explain clearly.Wang Xiaolie was different, he explained things clearly, which he had never seen before.At this time, the most important thing for the court is to raise soldiers, and the most important thing for raising soldiers is to have money and food.Locally, in order to complete the tasks of the court, most of them tried every means to search for the common people.Wang Xiaolie's method is to eliminate the middle class, which is different from others.

Wang Xiaolie said again: "All the people in the army should be subsidized at the local level. Spring planting and autumn harvesting, daily affairs, we should do our best to help. There are also some who have no land, and the military will organize and build new villages. Collect grain In order to collect money, people and servants have to give preferential treatment. In short, in the past, the army distributed money and food to support the family. In the future, the army will take care of food and housing, and give some change, and the family will not be supported by the army. There is no way. The matter, where does the government have so much money? If there is too much money given to the soldiers, the government will be dragged down. If the money is not given out, the families of the soldiers will inevitably be hungry. These must be formulated to make it clear to the soldiers and the people. Only in this way can they grow stronger The army, let the soldiers have no worries."

Wang Xiaolie has already talked about this matter several times and established a new village.It's just that the time was too short, and everyone didn't know what the effect would be, so they didn't speak.In this era, the army not only needs to support the soldier himself, but also pays him to support his family.The Song Dynasty's finances were difficult, and the money issued was less, so the lives of the lower ranks were very difficult.For the government, the amount of military expenditure is huge and unsustainable.For sergeants, everyone has too little money to support their families.Now that vacant land is everywhere, it is better to save this money and let military families support themselves.

The Song Dynasty did this from the late Tang and Five Dynasties, and there are special historical reasons.The huge army and their families have actually become a big political burden.It is not an easy task for the court to solve it.One of the contents of Wang Anshi's reform is to seal the stakes, so that the regular army can only go out and not enter, and the number of people will be reduced naturally.In addition, the Baojia method was used to rebuild the army instead of the forbidden army.It's just that after the old party came to power, the Baojia Law was abolished.As a result, in the late Northern Song Dynasty, the combat power of the Forbidden Army was abolished, and the Baojia Law was also abolished.

Wang Xiaolie's method is actually to replace the employment system with conscription, which is what a normal dynasty should do.The key to success is whether the family members of the army can be settled well.

Seeing that everyone had no objections, Wang Xiaolie said: "In the end, the key to our success is whether the government can make money. As I said before, it is nothing more than to reduce the burden on the people and increase the number and combat effectiveness of the army at the same time. I once calculated that alleviating the burden on the common people is mainly to reduce the exploitation of powerful households. This matter can only be said to be tricky. Of course, there are extraordinary methods in extraordinary times. In the final analysis, increasing the army still costs money. At the same time, not letting public officials The servants exploit the people, and the government also spends money. In a word, it costs money! Whether the government can make money is a major issue. I have some ideas about this for the time being, and I want everyone to work together to do this matter after the year it is good."

The military costs money.Even if Wang Xiaolie changed the nature of the army, it would still cost money.Whether they can make money is the next major task.The method is nothing more than the memory of the previous life, combined with the specific situation of the society at this time.

At this time, due to the limited military expenditure of the imperial court, the army had to return.To put it bluntly, it is to allow the military to do its own business.In history, for example, Zhang Jun only had 5 to [-] people, but there were [-] people who did Yiyi.Like the Yue family army, they also have a lot of business.If Wang Xiaolie wants to strengthen the army, he must first earn a lot of money.Only when you have money in your hands can you use the money well and raise a truly strong army.

(End of this chapter)