Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 253 The Shadow of Officials

"I have seen this kind of people in my hometown city. But now, it has nothing to do with paganism." Joanna thought for a while and said.

"But it still has something to do with crime." Guo Kang pointed out: "Moreover, we have had related experiences in the past, leaving a lot of psychological shadows."

"In ancient times, people in Seris didn't like tattoos, and they regarded it as a punishment for prisoners. But in the Tang and Song Dynasties, people cared less and less. Many people in the market began to tattoo, forming a custom. By the time of the Song Dynasty , this trend has reached its peak. Not only the citizens like it, but even the generals and even the royal family have tattoos."

"But on the other hand, from the end of the Tang Dynasty, there was a habit of tattooing soldiers' faces to prevent them from fleeing. This kind of behavior, even in the era when many people liked tattoos, was a great insult."

"During the Northern Song Dynasty, the militiamen in the countryside were an important part of the Northern Song Dynasty's armed forces. For example, in the Northwest, the militiamen were often organized to supplement the front lines. Because they were defending the countryside, the militiamen could sometimes exert high combat effectiveness."

"Unlike the regular army, the militiamen don't need tattoos on their faces, which is what they value. But later, the government deceived them and forcibly tattooed a group of militiamen who were organized to fight. This incident caused a large number of militiamen to flee , and in the end there was no way to control it.”

"Is this important?" Joanna was a little puzzled: "Why would the government take such a big risk and force tattooing? Is there any benefit to them?"

"I don't know, I'm not an official." Guo Kang himself didn't understand, so he had to avoid the question.

"In short, from these things, we can see the attitude of the people at that time."

"Moreover, the most important thing is not only the social customs at that time, but their actual performance." He added: "The quality of these tattooed soldiers in the Song Dynasty was very worrying. '."

"In the Southern Song Dynasty, the general Zhang Jun also organized an army. Many of them were simply street rogues. These soldiers had large tattoos on their arms and legs. They did not train or fight on weekdays. They just wore clothes every day. The short clothes are flaunting in the market, or they are for Zhang Jun to run a business and build a mansion. However, although it looks scary, this army has no combat effectiveness. The allusion of "fancy fists and embroidered legs" in later generations comes from this."

"After such a toss, the descendants have a psychological shadow, and it has gradually declined since the Yuan Dynasty. When the Ming Dynasty was first established, Zhu Hongwu Hehan ordered a number of activities to be banned, including tattoos, playing football, etc. This trend It also disappeared."

"It's hard for us outsiders to understand such a big psychological shadow." Joanna sighed with emotion, and then wondered: "What's the matter with playing football? Why is it even banned for playing football?"

"It was also in the Song Dynasty that the cultural meaning of playing football changed. From a sport in the army, it became a symbol of rascals in the city." Guo Kang said: "This typical culture can be seen in literary works. Symbol—if there is a character who plays football every day, there is a high probability that he is not a serious character.”

"It is said that when he was fighting Zhang Shicheng, Zhang Shicheng's younger brother was playing football in the barracks with a group of prostitutes. This scene... obviously left a deep impression on both sides of the war. So, it was simply linked to this later. Forbidden."

"So that's the case." Joanna nodded: "Then I have another question. Do you think it is the act of tattooing that causes the soldiers to be discriminated against, or is it because the soldiers' status is low that the tattoos spread and even become a trend? of?"

"This is clearly recorded, and the status of soldiers was lowered earlier." Guo Kang said: "During the early Tang Dynasty, this trend existed."

"General Liu Rengui led the army to crusade against Baekje and Wa, and found that the soldiers stationed there were old and weak, and even their clothes were thin. They didn't have any fighting spirit. Every day, they wanted to finish the job and go home. Liu Rengui was surprised and visited Soldiers, investigate."

"The soldiers said that this is because the government's policy has changed, so people's hearts have also changed. During the Zhenguan and Yonghui years, the officers and soldiers who died in battle were given compensation and condolences, but it was cancelled after the fifth year of Xianqing. Attack Baekje , The feat of attacking Pyongyang, the court no longer recognizes it, and even the promised rewards are not issued.”

"Not only did the treatment suddenly decrease, but the supplies also shrank considerably. The supplies for the past five years were only distributed for one year, and the soldiers suffered terribly for this."

"During the Han Dynasty, four prefectures were established in the local area as local operations, which shows that the local area has such material conditions. Therefore, Liu Rengui originally hoped that he could 'level the Liaohai Sea, promulgate the country's Zhengshuo, and make the barbarian customs follow'." . But the condition of the army was so bad that it could no longer be maintained and had to be abandoned.”

"This incident was a well-known sign, and it was the beginning of a sharp decline in the status of soldiers. Afterwards, people who were capable, strong, or wealthy all refused to apply. The officials were forced to conscript old, weak and remnant soldiers. Send it to the front line to recharge. Of course, the combat effectiveness of the army has also declined."

"Looking at it this way, it doesn't seem complicated..." Joanna seemed to understand it directly.

"Yes, there is a characteristic of Serris. Their civilian foundation's organizational capabilities and combat effectiveness are already very high, and because of the tradition of civilization, the potential for increased combat effectiveness is also great. So most of the time, it is the government that is willing to issue With how much money, the army can exert as much combat power as possible," Guo Kang said.

"Basically, as long as the military pay is enough, it is enough to fight all over the world. If the imperial court can increase investment and conduct more professional training, it will be completely different from other armies. There are such examples in all dynasties. "

"This is actually a rare feature." He scratched his head: "After all, in the case of most civilizations, even if you give enough money, you can't fight, and it will even become a special gift for the other party..."

"In addition, most of the soldiers on the expedition at that time were recruits. In the Seris tradition, these recruited with additional money are the most elite. They are more proficient in combat and are willing to serve for a long time. They regard participating in the war as a This is a kind of occupation. Compared with the "volunteers" who bring their own weapons and supplies to join the army, and ordinary soldiers, they generally have more willingness to fight and have higher quality."

"The combat effectiveness of these people has nothing to do with things like land annexation and family changes. The quality of the recruits has declined rapidly, and even from the elite to the strong, there are not so many influencing factors. It is simply that the court does not give money, and the Bullying veterans. In this case, of course, there is no fighting power."

"In this way, a vicious circle is formed. Soldiers are treated poorly, and decent people are unwilling to join the army, which leads to a decline in the combat effectiveness of the army; the decline in combat effectiveness of the army and poor record make the civilians and even the government even more distrust the army and further discriminate against them; Discrimination will make capable people more reluctant to participate, or even avoid it, which will further affect their combat effectiveness... If this cycle continues, there will be a situation where the two promote each other, as you said, low status and discrimination .”

"This kind of cycle developed very quickly. More than 30 years later, in the first year of Long Live Tongtian, Wu Zhou's army was defeated by the Khitan. In order to replenish soldiers, they had already begun to recruit soldiers from prisoners. After that, there were some improvements. time period, but the declining status of the soldiers has become irreversible, and the 'thieves with the army' began from then on."

"But in this case, the beginning of the whole thing seems very strange." Joanna wondered: "What happened in the fifth year of Xianqing?"

"Uh, there is a person who can't fight, but is good at dealing with veterans, and he is officially in power." Guo Kang shrugged: "However, this is another story about the psychological shadow of the Seris people..."

"That's not enough, why cut the soldiers' treatment first? Doesn't this person know that the army is the most important thing?" Joanna said in surprise: "I thought that the rulers of Serris, at least Smarter than our aldermen."

"I don't know, I'm not an official." Guo Kang didn't know how to answer, so he had to avoid it again.

(End of this chapter)