Kingdom of Heaven and Han

In the days that followed, Wang Xiaolie dealt with the backlog of official duties and the problems of military garrisons in various places. He was busy until the new year.

The 24th of the twelfth lunar month is the first day of the May [-]th lunar month. After Wang Xiaolie handled official duties for the day, he went to the side hall to rest. In the afternoon, the soldiers came to report, and Cao Zhiyan asked to see him.

Wang Xiaolie said: "Ask him to wait for me in the flower hall, I will go there later."

After saying that, he picked up the official document on the table, read it for a while, and then took the official document to the flower hall.

Cao Zhiyan hurriedly stood up and saluted. Said: "Xuan Fu still met with his subordinates despite his busy schedule. Thank you very much."

Wang Xiaolie motioned Cao Zhiyan to sit down and said: "The reply to my edict requesting for your promotion came here the day before yesterday. From today on, you are the official defense envoy of Xiangzhou. When you receive your salary this month, you will get the official salary of the defense envoy." "

Cao Zhiyan was overjoyed and said, "Thank you Xuanfu for the promotion!"

Wang Xiaolie said with emotion: "I wrote a letter asking you to be promoted to the defense envoy together with Xie Linong. Fortunately, the Lord showed mercy and agreed. At that time, my father's army commander, the lowest one was also the defense envoy, so I can comfort my father." "

Cao Zhiyan said: "We are only where we are today thanks to Xuanfu's support along the way!"

Wang Xiaolie said: "Based on your military merits, you should have been promoted a long time ago. But under my men, you have been aggrieved. From this month on, all troops who have participated in battles will have a combat reward added to their salary. At least In terms of salary, it can be regarded as my compensation."

Wang Xiaolie's troops and officials were always paid their salaries in full without deductions. In terms of quantity, their salaries were much higher than those of court officials. But there is also a price, that is, the power of officials and military officers is restricted, and they are prohibited from using their power to monetize it.

Officials in the Song Dynasty, especially low-level officials, had much less money than they had in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Therefore, we often see many officials selling their sons and daughters once their salaries are suspended. The Ming and Qing Dynasties were influenced by the Mongolian tradition, especially the Qing Dynasty, where Shiye was popular, and Shiye was hired by the chief official.

Therefore, officials in the Song Dynasty were very sensitive to their salaries. Of course there are people who don't like money, but among officials, they are rare.

The salary that Wang Xiaolie paid to his subordinate officials was basically slightly higher than that of court officials for high-level officials, much higher for mid-level officials, and two or three times higher for lower-level officials. This is also because when the imperial court distributes salaries, it first ensures the top officials, and the officials at the bottom have just been exploited layer by layer. For example, if senior officials do not have their salaries reduced, half or even two-thirds of the salary of lower-level officials must be reduced, which is much worse.

After chatting for a while, Wang Xiaolie said: "You can go to the South Road after the new year. I have decided to expand the army in the coming year. It is tentatively decided to recruit one division from Jin, Jun and Fang prefectures; one division from Sui and Tang prefectures; Deng The two prefectures of Cai, Ying, and Chen will recruit one division; the other prefectures on Jingxi Road will recruit one division. The new recruits recruited by each division can be adjusted to each other. In this way, five additional divisions will be basically enough to deal with the Jin Kingdom. .”

Cao Zhiyan couldn't help but be stunned after hearing this. Said: "In this way, we will have nearly twenty divisions and more than 40 people."

Wang Xiaolie sighed: "Wanting a war? We can't do without the army. Saving one division during the war may cause much more losses."

Cao Zhiyan said: "That's what Xuan Fu said."

Wang Xiaolie said: "When you go to Nanlu, you will be mainly responsible for recruiting troops from Jin, Jun, Fang, Sui, Tang, Deng, Ru and other states. You must recruit troops, train them well, and be able to pull them to the front line immediately. This is not an easy task and requires a lot of hard work.”

Cao Zhiyan said: "It is easy to recruit soldiers, but it is difficult for grassroots officers to handle it." Wang Xiaolie said: "This year, a large number of veterans have retired in those states, and grassroots officers can choose from retired veterans. In addition, the generals, military envoys and above Officers, either students from military academies, or transferred from other armies, there should be no shortage."

Cao Zhiyan said yes and thought carefully there. After a while, he asked: "I heard that the official family will be stationed in Xiangyang after the new year?"

Wang Xiaolie nodded and said nothing.

Cao Zhiyan asked: "If the official is stationed in Xiangyang, he is very close to those states. If there is an imperial edict, should I execute it or wait for news from Luoyang?"

Wang Xiaolie said seriously: "Waiting for the news from Luoyang. All court orders must be executed with the order of the Xuanfu Division. Without the order of the Xuanfu Division, even if the court order is obtained, it cannot be executed for the time being."

Cao Zhiyan nodded: "I understand."

Wang Xiaolie's meaning was very clear. Even if there was an order from the imperial court, it could not be executed without the endorsement of the Xuanfu Division. This was a way to firmly control the military power in the hands of the Xuanfu Division. Without this order, the imperial court might seize the military power by relying on imperial edicts.

Wang Xiaolie had to do this. If you want to maintain the independence of the Xuanfu Division, you must control the military power. In order to control military power, interference from the court must be eliminated. Logically speaking, Chao Ming is a higher level than the Xuanfu Division's orders and can directly command the army. If Wang Xiaolie acquiesces in this situation, Zhao Gou and the court can use the order of the Privy Council to take away Wang Xiaolie's military power. Not to mention, Zhao Gou can also directly use edicts, hand edicts and other situations.

Cao Zhiyan understood in his heart that Wang Xiaolie sent him to the South Road in the name of military expansion to consolidate military power. Only with his status can Wang Xiaolie trust him completely and hand over the power to him with confidence.

Wang Xiaolie smiled: "You'd better understand. Actually, I really don't want to use this method. We are ministers of the Song Dynasty. We should obey the imperial edict and obey the orders of the court. What can we say? But we have to do this. Do it. Now that the foreign captives have been removed, our army must be preserved. If we do not preserve our army, when we fight against the Jin Dynasty in the future, it will look like the Eastern Route Army last time. It will be too ugly."

Cao Zhiyan said: "That's what Xuan Fu said."

Wang Xiaolie said helplessly: "But how easy is it to keep our army? The area I rule spans several roads, and I command more troops than the imperial army. Who is not worried about my rebellion? Especially the emperor, who is afraid day and night Can't sleep. Let them learn how to train troops, reform their own army, and ensure that their army can defeat the Jin Army. They can't do it. The only way left is to deprive me of my military power. When they have complete control of the army , just take it and take it away."

Cao Zhiyan listened quietly and said nothing.

Wang Xiaolie said: "I personally have nothing to say in handing over military power to the imperial court. It would be good to stop being an official and become a wealthy and idle man. Even if the imperial court cannot tolerate me, I will go to sea and live in another place. Confucius said, Tao is not good. , floating on the sea on a boat, you can be regarded as a Confucian. But what should those of you who follow me do? You can't be harmed just because of me. What's more important is to resist gold. I'm not bragging, Although we destroyed most of the Jin Kingdom, if it weren't for me, the imperial court would be just wishful thinking if it wanted to defeat the Jin Kingdom. The best case scenario is to cross the Yellow River with the Jin Kingdom and rule it. Decades later, when the Jin Kingdom recovers its strength, I'm afraid they will fight again. Why should the people of the Song Dynasty deserve it? They have to endure countless sufferings for the sake of the throne!"

Cao Zhiyan said: "If there is no Xuanfu, how can we achieve a great victory?"

Wang Xiaolie said: "So, after much thought, I have concluded that now is not the time to hand over military power. When the world is at peace, the golden captives have been driven away, and the country and the people are at peace, then it will be time for me to hand over military power and retire. Now, regardless of others, Whatever you say, no matter what the world thinks of me, military power will never be handed over!"

(End of this chapter)