Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 116 Unity exists, but soldiers do not

Needing to recruit united soldiers by himself was just one of the worst things that Fang Zhongyong encountered after he became the governor, and it was not the worst part of it.

The "Autumn Defense Order" was originally called by Pei Yaoqing as "Defense the Frontier in Autumn". Although it did not specify which one it was for defense, basically, apart from Tubo, there is no one in the surrounding forces that deserves a special law to be targeted by the Tang Dynasty. .

It's just that the formulation of the law is simple, but it is difficult to implement it.The autumn prevention order is not the "autumn prevention system" in Fang Chongyong's previous life in the history of the middle and late Tang Dynasty.The source of anti-autumn troops is more fixed, the law is clearer, the content is less and it is more practical.

The Autumn Defense Order is not just a military regulation, it also covers economic issues, such as tax collection, such as pensions for wounded soldiers.

At this moment, Fang Chongyong was sitting at the desk in the lobby of the Ganzhou government office. Looking at the government order sent from Liangzhou, he was so speechless that he wanted to curse!

The first decree is: the local soldiers who have already joined the field are not allowed to rotate, so as to ensure that the troops against the Tubo army are sufficient!The Ganzhou government is responsible for appeasing those military households who cannot go home on time, and cannot pretend that nothing happened.

This one is pretty routine.

After all, if the soldiers in the field can't go home on time, it will affect the harvest of the field and the harvest of the family where they live. The consequences of this kind of thing are obvious.

This pot belongs to the government, so the government has to carry it. In terms of taxation, it must give certain preferential treatment and subsidies.

But when it comes to preferential subsidies, it must be directly linked to the government's treasury, because no matter whether it is money or food, it will not be changed out of thin air.If there are more military households in the fields, there will be fewer government offices.

How to reconcile this contradiction will test the wisdom of local officials.

If this one is understandable, then the next one is a bit too much.

The second decree is: Ganzhou is rich and located in the rear.Therefore, it is necessary to specially prepare money, rice and grain, as well as idle land and farm tools, to solve the problem of rehabilitation of wounded soldiers, and to arrange their livelihoods.Those who want to move to Ganzhou should be properly resettled, and those who don't want to move should be given financial subsidies and sent back to their original places.

Most of these origins are from the five states in the Hexi Corridor. However, it is not ruled out that there are people like Liu Zhan who traveled thousands of miles from Gyeonggi and even Guandong to serve.It would be very troublesome for such a wounded person to go back to his hometown, not only would he need to pay a lot of money, but he would also have to send someone to escort him to the county where his hometown is, and let the people there take over.

This is also one of the reasons why the Hexi states hate Fubing Fanshang: it's too troublesome!Don't worry about fighting, even if you are disabled, someone will take care of you all the way home!

These measures are what should be done and are also one of the guarantees for the morale and courage of the Tang army.Only when the worries of the officers and soldiers are solved can they be expected to fight the enemy bravely.This is beyond reproach.

However, the decree did not explain why the injured were assigned to Ganzhou for resettlement, and where the money and food were allocated from.

Thinking about it, it must be called from the Ganzhou government treasury first, and the account will be settled later.Fang Chongyong felt that because of Ganzhou's superior geographical conditions and small population, the imperial court also had the principle of resettlement nearby, and emigrated by the way.

Although Liangzhou's economy is second to none in the Hexi Corridor, and it is also the most populous and richest town, it is also responsible for the supply and transfer of soldiers from the Anxi Dufu and Beiting Dufu further west.

In the Beiting Duhufu alone, the army needs more than 20 pieces of cloth a year.

With such a heavy burden, Chang'an's central finance was always unable to provide timely supplies and was always in arrears, so Liangzhou was unable to afford more money, food, and silk for military supplies.In addition, there are so many people there and there is no extra land to accommodate all kinds of people.

From this point of view, it is actually easy to understand the difficulties of border towns, which is one of the reasons why Liangzhou is also resisting this autumn prevention order.

This problem seems simple, but in fact it is difficult to solve.

The third decree is to ask the Ganzhou government to cooperate with Zhang Ye in the capture and make up for the [-] united soldiers.

As for where the soldiers came from, the decree did not say.

But it "hinted" that it could borrow troops from Liangzhou. As for how many troops could be "borrowed", it would depend on the ability of the Ganzhou governor.

Fang Chongyong thought about it and found out that whether it was Hexi Jiedu envoy Xiao Jiong or Chishui army envoy Wang Zhongsi, it would be difficult to allocate some troops.

The meaning of the unity soldiers is very simple. To put it bluntly, they are semi-military soldiers. When recruitment is needed, they are incorporated into the "wartime establishment."

But the source of the united soldiers is very complicated.

In the formation of the regular army of the Tang Dynasty army, there is a difference between "ordinary state" and "preparatory state".

Normal state, namely: "Team" and "Fire", corresponding to "Captain" and "Fire Chief".There is also a "battalion" on it, and the corresponding person who commands the troops is the "battalion master".

The United Army has no such organization.They are engaged in farming on weekdays, and only when temporary training is organized, the "state regiment training envoys" gather together for training!
But this is not the case in the battle situation!
When going to battle, the army is divided into: general, left and right side soldiers and horse envoys, soldiers and horse envoys, Du Yuhou and other positions, and the corresponding army sequence.

This kind of sequence is completely different from the usual organization. Even two armies with different numbers may be integrated together.Which unit is paired with which unit has nothing to do with the daily marching organization, it only depends on how the commander arranges it!

The united soldiers will be assigned to these battle sequences according to needs, no different from regular frontier troops.

So the imperial court's autumn defense order is to gather these united soldiers to fight?Is it to strengthen the local defense of Ganzhou?

No, no, the decree does not mean that at all.

It just put Guo Ziyi in charge of training these 6000 people.The local governor should be responsible for deploying and recruiting these 6000 people, and handed them over to Guo Ziyi for training.

As for fighting, who is in command of these united soldiers is a very profound question, and it is not mentioned in the decree, but it is clear that those who train the united soldiers do not have the power to command the united soldiers!

Ganzhou locals also theoretically do not have the right to use these soldiers and horses, but recruiting and maintaining unity soldiers also requires costs.The Ganzhou government government still has to pay for this money, and it is not a lot of money!
Fang Chongyong understood these well-trained united soldiers as a high-quality "soldier pool", which was specially set up for the "replenishment" of the troops under the command of the Hexi Jiedushi on the front line.

Fang Chongyong only saw the eloquent government decree with thousands of words: food, money, and manpower, and the rest were all nonsense for embellishment.

This situation is serious enough. Not only do they have to collect an unknown amount of money, food and personnel, but they also have an astonishing amount of money, food, and personnel, and they don't even have the right to dispatch and use the united soldiers!

Full horse riding is the job of making wedding clothes for people!

As for Guo Ziyi's idea, Fang Chongyong felt that if the opponent used the 500 people in his hand well, it would be interesting to see if he could fight a so-called "miracle battle" with a loss ratio of [-]:[-].

At least it is much more reliable than thinking about the six thousand united soldiers.

"The requirements of the Hexi Jiedu Mansion were too strict, and the local officials in Ganzhou knew that they couldn't be fulfilled, so they all pretended to be deaf and dumb.

I just don’t know how to deal with it? "

Yan Zhuang asked cautiously.

Fang Chongyong has now become his boss, and is also his backstage, so Yan Zhuang no longer does what he thinks, and decides to fully support the other party's work.

However, difficulties exist objectively, and no one can conjure these materials out of thin air.The number of personnel is also limited, and they are all strong laborers responsible for producing goods and food.If used as a united soldier, it will inevitably affect the local economy of Ganzhou.

What's more, united soldiers are not that easy to recruit!
"Of course I have to find a way, but what's your best idea?"

Fang Chongyong asked in a deep voice, saying nonsense.

"My subordinates believe that the nine surnames of Zhaowu are powerful in the local area. Outside Ganzhou City, they are all around the city. If we want to borrow troops, these Sogdians must be the ones to do it.

But the problem is not whether there are people, but whether the government has the money to do these things.

As long as you have money in hand, are you afraid that there will be no one? "

Yan Zhuang laughed.

It has been an old tradition for the Sogdians with the nine surnames of Zhaowu to participate in the Tang army. Even the Chishui army was one of the capital contributions they made to the Tang Dynasty.In order to protect the interests of the Silk Road, the Sogdians with the nine surnames of Zhaowu are very willing to send people to join the army, not to mention that this united army is not about to go to the battlefield.

It’s just that based on the Sogdian business tradition, if there is not enough interest to satisfy their appetite, then the other party is likely to send hundreds of strong men living near the city to participate in the training of the united soldiers in order to save face for the government.

No more!
The "cityside" system was a system in which the Tang Dynasty resettled foreigners who were naturalized in border towns by settling them next to state capitals and county towns, allowing them to graze or live in their own way without forcing them to change their original living habits. , providing preferential tax policies.

The cityside system greatly promoted the integration of Hu and Han and the strength of Datang in the border towns. By the Kaiyuan period, most of the foreign races beside the city had registered as registered households, but the taxation and service methods were different from those of the Han people.

In Fang Chongyong's previous life, during the Tianbao period, many generals in the Western Regions were from the tribes around the city, such as Ge Shuhan, Gao Xianzhi, Bai Xiaode and so on.

When Ganzhou Prefecture was short of soldiers, it was just a routine operation to look for soldiers from the Zhaowu Nine Surnames settlement living next to the city.

However, Fang Chongyong understood that there was a quota for the number of soldiers imported from the city to the border army every year, and they had to be rotated regularly.Nowadays, these soldier quotas have long been used up. In other words, it is no longer easy to use the past "free prostitution" method to recruit people from the settlements near the city.

The Tang Dynasty's border town policy was not to enslave naturalized foreigners like Tubo, so no matter what, you had to follow the rules.Breaking the local rules will inevitably lead to alienation from the aliens around the city.

Yan Zhuang's solution is to ask the Ganzhou government to pay for it, and additionally recruit people from the side of the city to be united soldiers.As long as there is money, the quality of soldiers is guaranteed.

"Ganzhou's money is actually not much, right?"

Fang Chongyong asked helplessly.Although he didn't have time to look at the account books, he knew that the finances of Ganzhou Prefecture were very difficult now.

Yan Zhuang nodded slightly and said: "That's true. Although my subordinates haven't seen the account books, judging from the expenditures of the Ganzhou government office in the past two years, it is very likely that the government treasury can run away with mice!"

In the past two years, from the beginning of the Tang Dynasty to the continuous use of troops against the Tubo people, until now that the Tubo army has suppressed the border, all the states in Hexi are working hard to supply logistics. It would be a strange thing if Ganzhou can have money!

Soldiers need to pay extra "conquest fees" to fight wars, and it is not the same in normal times.After the war, rewards and pensions are also needed to ensure morale.

The number of local farms in Hexi is astonishing, and the problem of self-sufficiency in food is not a big problem.Even for the training of united soldiers, there must be enough food and fodder.The only trouble is that the local population is small, and if they are all recruited to fight, there will not be enough people to farm.It is hard to say how to live next year, and a substantial reduction in production is a foregone conclusion.

What's more, the local cloth production in Hexi is horrifyingly low, completely inconsistent with the grain production, and it is almost completely dependent on the supply from Chang'an.How to ask for money from the central government is also a question that the governor of Ganzhou needs to consider.

Fang Chongyong rubbed his temples in pain. The problem of the possible surprise attack by the Tubo people has not been resolved yet, so a lot of troubles have been spread.

"How does the government government make money? Do you have any ideas?"

Fang Chongyong asked with a sigh.

"You can try to increase taxes and collect business taxes on Hu merchants traveling to and from Ganzhou."

Yan Zhuang said with some uncertainty.

The local government of the Tang Dynasty has many ways to deal with military affairs, but they are not good at how to make money. In many cases, they are waiting for the central supply.

The local financial power has been transferred to the central government. Ganzhou is better because it is located in a border town, so there is no need to send local products to Chang'an during the war.

How to make money, it is obvious that it can only increase taxes and corvee. If you don’t serve, you have to pay, and then use the money to hire Sogdians near the city to fight.

All in all, these are all poisonous ways to quench thirst. No matter how clever or fancy they are, they are essentially tax increases!

"There are thousands of registered households in Ganzhou, but only tens of thousands of Dingkou. I roughly checked, and the rest are all Zahu (including the nine surnames of Zhaowu), and the total number is only more than [-].

If there is a tax increase, it will be a big expense to spread to everyone. At that time, Ganzhou may be in chaos. "

Fang Chongyong said in a deep voice.

Ganzhou's population is not large, at least not yet.If you want to complete the tasks of the imperial court, you have to squeeze local talents desperately.

The folks in the border town are tough, aren't they afraid of the government forcing the people to rebel?If these people seek refuge with the Tubo people, the fun will be great!
“We have to find another way.

I heard that Gaochang cotton is famous for its ability to keep out the cold.What do you think about planting Gaochang cotton on a large scale in the dry land of Ganzhou and selling it back to Chang'an to make a profit? "

Fang Chongyong looked at Yan Zhuang with burning eyes and asked.

Promote cotton!Vigorously develop cotton cultivation!The climate in the Hexi Corridor is very suitable for growing cotton!

Xizhou, where Gaochang is located, happens to be a node on the Silk Road.It's the right time for Ganzhou to undertake cotton planting there!
Fang Zhongyong is full of confidence, this move can break the game!

"Well, I don't know, but the dry land to the east outside Zhangye City is all cotton-growing fields!
Moreover, this cotton is not even enough for military needs. Where can I send the excess to Chang'an?The cotton-padded jackets used by the defenders of Anxi Protectorate and Beiting Protectorate in winter were all supplied by Ganzhou. "

Yan Zhuang looked at Fang Chongyong with confusion, not understanding what the other party meant by what he just said.

Many people have seen the benefits of cotton-padded jackets.Therefore, the cotton produced in Ganzhou is not circulated in the market at all, let alone marketable. It is all used by the army!Even the organizations that request cotton-padded jackets from Ganzhou Prefecture every year, mainly from the prefectures and counties in the Western Regions, always have to wait in line.

In this situation, how can we sell it to Chang'an?

Yan Zhuang's words made Fang Chongyong look embarrassed, he coughed lightly, sighed and said with emotion: "I didn't expect the padded jacket to be so popular, it has already become popular in the army."

"Master Hui, that's exactly the case."

"Then what to do..."

Fang Chongyong was in trouble.

Brother Ji is too arrogant and unbecoming of a human being. He has used military force to oppress the frontiers like this. How can he still use this autumn defense order?

"My lord, in fact, border towns have always been suffering. This is the case in Youzhou and Hexi, and the local households are also used to it. The local officials in Ganzhou are also more diligent and caring for the people. In order to guard against the Tibetans, they maintain the Silk Road. , everyone is in the same boat, and they will not look for trouble on weekdays.

As long as the envoy lowers his profile and goes door-to-door as a governor, he will probably get some results.This is enough to explain to the court.

It is impossible to complete the autumn defense order, so you don't have to think too much, just do your best.Neither Hexi Jiedushi nor a sage will criticize the envoy. "

Yan Zhuang suggested in a low voice.

"Let me think about it."

Fang Chongyong waved his hand. He hesitated in his heart. He was going to convene a meeting of local officials tomorrow. Should he first listen to what those people had to say?

(End of this chapter)