I am Da Song

Chapter 37
Zhao Huan's recruitment law is obviously a copy of the compulsory military service system of later generations.

This system originated in the period of Napoleon in France, was perfected in Prussia, and finally reached its peak in World War II.

Compared with the Ming and Qing dynasties, which had a population of hundreds of millions and would have no soldiers to use if a wave of elites were destroyed, the armies of various countries on the European battlefield could always be formed quickly, relying on this decree.

Not to mention World War I and World War II, these countries with a population of only tens of millions can form an army of millions.

A typical example is Germany, which was later transformed into Prussia. The population of Germany during World War II did not exceed 600 million, but the number of soldiers killed in battle was as high as 50 million.Among them, 550 were killed on the Western Front and the North African battlefield, and the remaining [-] million were killed on the Eastern Front.

In contrast, the Soviet Union lost 680 million soldiers and civilians, and a whole generation was wiped out in the war.

This kind of terrifying mobilization ability is something that the Ming and Qing feudal classical empires with hundreds of millions of people could not even imagine.

As long as Zhao Huan can successfully copy this conscription law, with the background of the Song Dynasty's population of hundreds of millions, he can also reverse the military situation in one fell swoop.

But this kind of compulsory military service system has a great background, that is, the awakening of the nation-state consciousness, civilians actively join the army, instead of relying on the government to recruit young men.

If the conscription law becomes a strong force, then the combat effectiveness of the army can refer to Chang Kaishen's logistics army.

So first of all, Zhao Huan must ensure that the new recruiting law must completely break the privileged class just like the recruiting law.

Looking directly at the ministers kneeling on the ground, Zhao Huan said: "Even the royal family's children have to serve in the army after they become adults. Are you scholar-bureaucrats more noble than the royal family? If so, then this world belongs to my Zhao family. Is it still the world of your scholar-bureaucrats?"

This is very harsh.Even Wen Yanbo dared to say that the scholar-officials and the emperor ruled the world together.

This world is the royal world!This is the undeniable bottom line.

Anyone who dares to offend this point, the emperor will not hesitate to kill.Throughout the ages, no one or any class dared to oppose the royal family on this point.

Even since the mid-Tang Dynasty, when warriors disrupted the country, such domineering warriors must admit that the Son of Heaven is the ruler of the world.

Give the scholar-officials another 1000 years, and in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the scholar-bureaucrats would not dare to compete with the emperor in this regard.

Mei Zhili categorically replied: "From now on, the time is my own. In the past, the sun and the moon belonged to the officials. The mountains and rivers illuminated by the sun and the moon are all owned by the officials. All the people in the world are princes and ministers."

"Very good, I finally understand the duty of a courtier. But I have never heard of the truth that the royal family enlists in the army, but the courtiers are superior. Right minister, tell me, is there such a truth throughout the ages?"

Sun Fu is an old-fashioned Confucianist, who has enshrined the etiquette dogma of monarch, minister and minister, father and son all his life.Hearing this, he kowtowed immediately, and then replied: "I dare not do such a thing without a king and no father. I can't convince the world, but after I return home, I will order the young and strong children of the family to join the army."

There was a smile on Zhao Huan's face, which was why he appointed him as the right minister.A gentleman can be deceived.As long as he is suppressed with Confucian righteousness, he will submit willingly.

"The matter of conscription will be handed over to the Right Prime Minister. There is no need for all the young and strong members of the clan to join the army and unify the laws. The male citizens of our Great Song Dynasty, between the ages of 23 and [-], are required to serve in the military for three years."

As soon as Zhao Huan finished speaking, Sun Fu put on a pain mask on his face.

The emperor is going to take the blame again!

As long as he walked out of this hall today, his reputation among the people would probably be no different from that of a power minister and a treacherous sycophant.

Obviously many things are the will of the emperor, but things are handled by the prime minister, but Shilin Qingliu can only curse at the prime minister.

Scholar-bureaucrats should also abide by the righteousness of the emperor, his ministers, and his sons. How can they directly scold the emperor directly among the people?Such words will directly be branded as disloyal and unrighteous.At least for the sake of His Holiness.But they are all scholar-bureaucrats, and if they scold the prime minister, they don't have so many scruples.

Fortunately, there is a precedent for the recruitment law. Sun Fu felt that he could pull out the story of Wen Gong as a shield and stand in front of him to attract the firepower of public opinion.

Regarding the conscription bill, the difficulty is how to convince these scholar-bureaucrats.

As long as Zhao Huan is determined to implement it, it will be very easy.

The literati and bureaucrats are knowledgeable and can quote the classics to find out various ways to promote Zhao Huan.This is the real model for the emperor and the scholar-bureaucrats to rule the world together.

After Sun Fu, the Prime Minister of the Right, had completely memorized this drudgery, the Prime Minister of the Left, Mei Zhili, breathed a sigh of relief, and made suggestions from the sidelines, saying: "The people on the right need to serve in the military for three years, and the Prime Minister on the Right can follow the ancient law. Confucian scholars are all Respect the old and keep the old, advocate the restoration of ancient rituals."

"The attitudes of the people in our dynasty towards the Han and Tang dynasties are completely opposite. They think that the Tang Dynasty was chaotic and unruly, but they admire the Han Dynasty. The right minister's promotion of the law of recruiting soldiers can advocate the restoration of the old system of the Han Dynasty."

Zhang Shuye is the Prime Minister, and he is more sensitive to this aspect, so he immediately asked: "What Prime Minister Zuo said is the garrison system in the Han Dynasty?"

Mei Zhili nodded, and said: "The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system, and it started at the age of 17. Later, it was sympathetic to the people's strength, and it started at the age of 23. "Han Jiuyi" says that the 23rd of the people's year is positive, and one year old is regarded as a guard. At the age of [-], he was a cavalry officer, learning to shoot and gallop on a royal cavalry."

"Under this system, the people of the Han Dynasty will go to the border guards at the age of one, and serve in the county at the age of one. Every August and September, the county soldiers will hold a large-scale military exercise called Dushi or Qiushe. In the assessment, the top one is the best, and the bottom one is the hall."

"However, unlike the Recruitment Act, the garrison system is a combination of military service and corvee service. There are two types of garrison service, namely regular soldiers and more soldiers."

"A regular soldier will serve in the military for two years, and a male soldier will take three days of military service every year from the age of 23 to 56, or pay [-] yuan to ask someone to replace the annual military service."

Sun Fu asked in surprise: "Isn't the pawn system consistent with our court's recruitment law?"

Mei Zhili nodded heavily, and said: "The reason why the garrison system was feared by the people and was not implemented in the later period is because of the heavy taxation."

"The Right Prime Minister promotes the conscription law. In order to avoid the fear of the people, he must emphasize the improvement of our dynasty and cancel the troubles of the pawns."

Zhao Huan smiled and clapped his hands. If the court can unify their positions, the Song Dynasty scholar-officials will not fall into internal friction, and they will indeed burst out with extraordinary action power.

Reforming the old system is the most high-sounding means of the Confucian school.This kind of means is indispensable in the reforms of all dynasties.

The implementation of the conscription law this time is based on Wang Anshi's recruitment law, and far from the Han Dynasty's garrison system as a precedent.The combination of the two can force the subjects of the whole country, especially the scholar-official class and the common people to agree with each other and accept the imperial government's orders.

Even if the scholar-officials are dissatisfied, it will take time to shake this decree.

In the Song Dynasty, as long as the emperor did not waver and supported a prime minister to carry out reforms, it would be difficult for the opposition to shake the national policy even if they spent a lot of time.

The biggest reason for the failure of the reforms in the Song Dynasty was not operational mistakes, but that the emperor at the top level was too soft, and he was always easy to change course, which led to the consumption of national strength in repetition.

But this time the reform is different from the past. In the past, the prime minister pushed the emperor to reform.But this time, it was the emperor who pushed Zaifu to carry out reforms.Never waver easily.

(End of this chapter)