The Jin army besieged the city, and the Song emperor’s daughter died

On the second day of February in the second year of Jingkang, it was the beginning of Haishi.

A famous general of the Song Dynasty, Zhong Shidao, envoy of the Privy Council, passed away at the age of 77.

Wang Fu, one of the six thieves, lived a few more days as a result.

Zhao Fujin felt that he could not be allowed to go with Zhong Shi Dao and dirty the old Zhong Xianggong's reincarnation path.

Zhao Fujin went to pay his respects in person that night, and gave Mr. Zhong as a gift to Shaobao, with the posthumous title of Zhongxian.

A few days later, after the funeral was completed, the Zhong family carried the coffin out of the city and transported the coffin back to the Zhong family cemetery in Shenheyuan, Wannian County, which is today's Chang'an County, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. The soul returned to its hometown.

Before leaving, Zhong Shidao's younger brother Zhong Shizhong handed a copy of the notes to Zhao Fujin: "These are the notes dictated by my brother when he was dying. The notes are handwritten by the minister. I hope the officials will read them with tears."

Zha Zi, who cultivated the way of teaching, did not have any flattery or pretentious words. He only used his identity and cognition as a soldier and reached the highest level of military power in the Song Dynasty during his lifetime. He provided Zhao Fujin with an in-depth analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the entire military system of the Song Dynasty. , and proposed the direction that needs to be optimized in the future.

As for specific measures, Zhongshidao did not mention a word.

This made Zhao Fujin very heart-warming. Zhong Shidao probably felt that it was enough to just put these problems in front of him. As for how to solve them, he believed that Zhao Fujin could solve the problems better than him.

I originally thought that the problems described in the Ten Thousand-Character Zhazi of Zhongshi Dao should be basically the same as those of later generations, such as emphasizing literature over martial arts, redundant soldiers, unknown generals, unknown generals, etc., but in Zhongshi Dao In the letter, not only were these not problems, but he also urged Zhao Fujin to do it according to the ancestral law and to do it according to the ancestral law.

Zhao Fujin held the book with his hands behind his back, pacing back and forth in the imperial study, carefully pondering every word of the Master's Way.

"The military affairs of the Song Dynasty are by no means unique to the Song Dynasty, but are stubborn problems that began with the Emperor of Zhou..."

The opening words made Zhao Fujin feel even more admired.

Viewing problems without isolation is a prerequisite for seeing them through.

After all, the Song Dynasty was not born suddenly. It was preceded by the evolution and continuation of thousands of years of history. Many problems have also lasted for thousands of years. Some people prescribed the right medicine for these problems. It seemed to cure a disease, but it also caused problems. A bigger illness.

If not treated, die!

Cure or die!
The fascinating thing about history is roughly like this.

Unless they have a complete God's perspective, no one knows whether the policies that seemed so correct at the time will become the cause of incurable diseases a hundred years later.

For example, emphasizing literature over martial arts.

The door of the royal study room was closed tightly, and even the chamberlain and palace guards had been sent away.

In the imperial study room, there were only five people, Zhao Fujin, Li Gang, Li Bangyan, Yue Fei and Han Shizhong.

I heard Li Gang and Li Bangyan arguing about whether it was appropriate to select only five people for martial arts during the Song Dynasty.

Listening to Yue Fei and Han Shi arguing about the strength of individual combat capabilities of the Jin Army and the Song Army, who is better.

Listening to the two civil servants and the two military generals starting to discuss the issue of salary and remuneration again, Han Shizhong in particular said aggrievedly that although he was already the minister of the Ministry of War, he could be regarded as a top figure among the officers of the Song Dynasty, but now he was not even in Kaifeng. I can't even afford a three-in-one house in the city.

In the end, they actually began to complain about the current division of military power, which makes logistics, troop control, and troop deployment cumbersome and complicated, resulting in limited on-the-spot command power. Whenever there is a war, the first thing the generals think about is not how to win the battle, but how to win the battle. The most important thing is the result of winning or losing, which one has a greater impact on the situation of the government and has a good or bad impact on oneself.

Zhao Fujin's head hurt when he heard this: "Okay! Are you discussing emphasizing culture over military affairs?"

"Ah? Isn't it?" Han Shizhong curled his lips: "The warriors are so miserable, is this considered gentle treatment?"

Zhao Fujin returned to the imperial court and sat down: "The essence of emphasizing culture over military affairs is the centralization of the army! What I want to discuss with you is whether the centralization of the army is suitable for the Song Dynasty!"

No one spoke.

It's not that these few people have limited knowledge and cannot give an answer, but that the answer cannot be given. This is a question. Even Yue Fei, who is very politically insensitive, knows that there is no answer to this question.

You want to say that the centralization of the army is wrong. This will seriously weaken the combat effectiveness of the army, because it is subject to too many restrictions. How can we fight a war with our hands tied?

Then someone will immediately accuse you of not respecting Taizu's ancestral laws. This is relatively minor. If it is more serious, what do you want to do?If the army does not belong to the central government, does it belong to local autonomy? Why did the Tang Dynasty not have it? How did the Five Dynasties and the Ten Kingdoms become one pot of porridge, causing the people to live in dire straits? I don’t know what to do?

But if you want to say that the centralization of the army is absolutely correct, Taizu is awesome!That's not right. After all, over the years, under the constraints of military centralization, the Song Army's combat prowess has been obvious to all.

Especially why did the officials suddenly ask this question? What is their attitude?

Li Bangyan suddenly remembered the question that the officials asked him outside Nanxun Gate that day: "Our Song Dynasty is not without talents, but why are these people who should be the backbone of our Song Dynasty so depressed?" Li Bangyan pondered. , do the officials want to hold martial arts exams?

Li Bangyan asked tentatively: "In the official family, if we open up the subject to recruit scholars, we can increase the share of some warriors..."

Before Li Bangyan finished speaking, Zhao Fujin sighed: "What we discussed today is a general direction. Let's not talk about the specific details. There is not even a general direction. Can you treat a headache and a headache?"

Li Bangyan shrank back.

Seeing that Li Bangyan could not figure out the official's thoughts, the others did not dare to speak easily. They all looked at Zhao Fujin, as if waiting for Zhao Fujin to speak clearly.

"If you want to say whether the centralization of the army is right or not, it depends on where you sit." Zhao Fujin knocked on the table gently, as if talking to others, but also seemed to be talking to himself: "If the butt sits on the side of the imperial power, The centralization of the army is absolutely correct, as Mr. Zhong said, from the time of Emperor Zhou to the Song Dynasty, no dynasty or generation did a better job of balancing imperial power and military power than the Song Dynasty."

"Our ancestors were wise!" Li Bangyan said with a smile.

Zhao Fujin ignored him and continued: "But as Han Shizhong and Yue Fei said, the disadvantages of centralization are also obvious, but you tell me, which emperor doesn't want an army that can fight and be loyal? Where’s the army?”

Li Gang continued: "From the time of the Emperor of Zhou, except for a few emperors who were able to maintain absolute control over the army when they were in power, most of the time, the emperor's control of military power was castles in the air."

Zhao Fujin hummed: "Isn't the Three Kingdoms a chaos caused by the imperial power's inability to control the army? The chaos in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties was not also because the local armies were controlled by aristocratic families. Once the emperor could not represent their interests, the aristocratic families who controlled the army would The clan members represent themselves."

"It seems that the Sui and Tang Dynasties have solved some problems?" Li Bangyan interjected and asked.

Zhao Fujin nodded: "That was the prestige of the founding emperor and the improvement of the military system. But when these emperors died and the land was divided, the military system collapsed. Although the Tang Dynasty had more and more territories, the number of soldiers was increasing. There are so few that we have to recruit troops.”

When it comes to recruiting soldiers, Zhao Fujin is a little happy: "This thing is the same as today's work. You are paid to work. If you don't have money, you will lie flat. Don't forget that in the Fifth Dynasty, when the crossbowmen were asked to fire arrows, they were throwing money in front of the battle. Yes, when you see money, you shoot an arrow, but when you have no money, you break the string."

Han Shizhong was puzzled: "Then as long as he has money, the emperor can steadily control the army. Why did it collapse in the end?"

"I have no money!" Li Bangyan explained.

Zhao Fujin sighed: "If it was just a matter of money, it wouldn't be a problem. The bigger problem is, the money given by your emperor is money, but the money given by border envoys is not money? These professional soldiers don't care. Whether you are an emperor or an envoy, it is the same for everyone."

"So, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty established a military recruitment system, which can be regarded as an important factor in the warlordization of feudal towns." Li Gang said with a smile: "It can be seen that before the Song Dynasty, no matter what method the imperial power used to control military power, it failed. , which also led to the change of imperial power."

Zhao Fujin nodded and said: "There are some things you dare not say, but I dare to say that the existence of the Song Dynasty is also a failure of the centralization of military power in the Later Zhou Dynasty?" Everyone lowered their heads and laughed in silence.

"So, I believe that judging from the past and present, if military power is not centralized, imperial power will perish! But if we want to centralize military power, there must be several prerequisites."

Everyone raised their heads again and looked at Zhao Fujin, waiting for Zhao Fujin's instruction.

"First of all, the military should be professionalized. You have to be completely out of work. You can't fight in the middle of the war. You have to go home to harvest wheat, harvest rice, and marry your son, right. You can't use land to support an army. This is unrealistic. It is said in a storybook that one day, the emperor was so smart that he devised some kind of defense system, thinking that he could raise a million soldiers without spending a penny. As a result, the descendants of future generations were hanged under the crooked-neck tree."

"Wei's system?" Li Gang was very interested.

Zhao Fujin waved his hand: "It's not important! What's important is that the land is limited and there is no solution to annexation. Using land to support the army cannot last long. Secondly, the army's food and salary must be completely provided by the central court. Needless to say, having milk is important. Mom, if you don’t support me, someone will do it for you!”

The crowd agreed.

"Third: Limit the commander's military power. This has been done in all dynasties, but no one has done it as unprecedentedly as the Song Dynasty. Can Han Shizhong and Yue Fei understand this?"

Han Shizhong and Yue Fei looked at each other, smiled bitterly and shook their heads. They understand so well!

Zhao Fujin sighed: "Hey, just imagine, your military power is at its peak, and I believe in your loyalty. But when I am old, you are also old, and other generals and commanders take your position, will they still be loyal to me? It's hard to say if you are loyal to the Song Dynasty. Rights are the most deceptive things."

The two quickly stood up to express their loyalty, and Zhao Fujin pressed his hand: "Sit down, everyone, sit down, I am not knocking you, I am discussing with you, clarifying this relationship for you, and also clarifying it for myself. Now also It’s almost done. I just want to ask you gentlemen, is it right to centralize the army?”

Everyone expressed their stance in unison: "Good! If there is no centralization of the army and all armies fight in confusion, how can the common people survive!"

Zhao Fujin nodded: "Is there any solution to the problem of low combat effectiveness caused by the centralization of the army?"

"Appropriately relax the immediate command authority of frontline generals?" Yue Fei asked.

"Inappropriate!" Li Gang objected: "This degree is difficult to grasp. Once it is not grasped well, someone will rely on it to hold troops, which will still harm the imperial power."

"How about shrinking the power of the supervisory army?" Han Shizhong suggested.

Li Bangyan shook his head: "The Supervisory Army is the Supervisory Army on behalf of Heaven. If it suppresses rights, what's the point of the Supervisory Army?"

Han Shizhong stood up and sighed: "This won't work, and that won't work either. I want to centralize military power and have unparalleled combat power. What do you think we should do? Why not learn from the Jin Army?"

Li Gang looked up at Han Shizhong, hesitated to speak, and finally couldn't help but said: "It's different!"

"What's the difference?" Han Shizhong asked.

"Wanyan Zonghan, Wanyan Zongwang, Wanyan Yinshuke, Wanyan Loushi, Wanyan Zongbi... Well, they are all from our own family. Who is in our Zhao family? Emperor Daojun, King Zhao Heng, King Kang Zhao Gou..." Zhao Fujin puffed out He laughed out loud: "What about comparability?"

Zhao Fujin dared to laugh, but the others did not, and their faces turned red from holding back.

"The Kingdom of Jin is just a warlord and robber pretending to be a civilized country. You can't learn from it!" Zhao Fujin waved his hand: "The contradiction between the centralization of military power and combat power is not insurmountable."

"What's the explanation?" Everyone looked at Zhao Fujin.

Zhao Fujin chuckled and said: "Yue Fei is a good soldier, Han Shizhong is good at fighting, and Gao Chong is unparalleled. Let me ask you, if you command 30 troops to attack Kaifeng City, the commander of our troops and horses will still be Li Bangyan. Can you two Chances of winning?"

"Li Xiangguo is commanding the troops? Are you serious?" Han Shizhong immediately expressed his dissatisfaction: "Don't say 30, give me [-], and I can hang Li Xiangguo and beat him!"

Li Bangyan glanced sideways at Han Shizhong and wondered, are you polite?

"Don't worry." Zhao Fujin smiled and said: "There are three thousand Dongfeng cannons in Kaifeng City within eighty miles. Outside Kaifeng City, there are a total of [-] ground dragon thunders buried. There are [-] garrison troops at the head of the city, equipped with [-] thunderbolt bombs. Please tell me, Minister Han, what’s the explanation?”

Han Shizhong was stunned and thought for a long time: "I have no solution!"

After saying that, he turned to look at Yue Fei: "What about you?"

Yue Fei smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I have no solution!"

Zhao Fujin spread his hands and said with a smile: "Look, let alone Li Bangyan, you can't take Kaifeng City even if you find a pig to lead the army."

Li Bangyan's heart sank, he lowered his head with a sneer, and cursed in his heart: Are you polite?

"Bang!" Han Shizhong struck with both hands: "I understand! What do the officials mean, to solve the problem of insufficient combat effectiveness after the centralization of military power, is to reduce the number of elite troops and then equip the entire army with firearms?"

When everyone heard it, they suddenly realized it was feasible.

Zhao Fujin seemed to have finally straightened out his logic and nodded with a smile: "You can say that it is all weaponized, but a more accurate statement is that it should be a military-industrial system of thermal weapons. Once this system is established, the imperial court only needs to control this I don’t mind delegating power to the general in charge of the various chains in the system, even if you, Han Shizhong, lead the troops to separate the regime."

"If I don't go, I can't separate the Song Academy of Sciences, and I can't separate the Dongfeng Cannon and Thunderbolt Bombs." Han Shizhong smiled and waved his hand.

"Song Academy of Sciences?" Li Bangyan suddenly realized: "Guan Guan, did you have this idea from the beginning when you established the Song Academy of Sciences?"

Zhao Fujin chuckled: "Otherwise? Am I just having fun?"

"Then Yao Pingzhong fled after losing the battle. Instead of killing him, the officials asked him to dig coal in Yan'an Mansion. Is this the same idea?" Li Gang also suddenly realized.

"Without clean coal, there would be no high temperature. Without high temperature, many things would not be possible."

"Then the Song Academy of Sciences must be a top-secret yamen." Yue Fei patted Li Bangyan: "No wonder, with the status of Prime Minister Li, you have to sign and stamp before entering the Song Academy of Sciences."

"No!" Li Bangyan said thoughtfully: "Then if these drawings and formulas were stolen, wouldn't it be..."

"Hahaha!" Zhao Fujin laughed and said: "I will write all this in the "Da Song Daily" tomorrow, and no one in the world will understand it. Even if they are given decades, they will understand it. There is no raw material. , can’t even be created.”

"What about a few decades from now?" Li Gang was still thinking deeply.

"A few decades later, when a force understands this and creates thunderbolts and Dongfeng artillery, then the court may have light-armored tanks, Maxims, or even gliders."

Although everyone couldn't understand what these things were, they just felt that they were things that could crush thunderbolts and Dongfeng cannons.

Zhao Fujin made a decision: "The laws of our ancestors are correct. The issue of military reform is not up to me. However, in the Academy of Song Dynasty, although this matter is important, it is not urgent at the moment. At the moment, you have more important things to do... "

"Are you sure about the position of Privy Council Envoy?" Han Shizhong asked quickly. He has been thinking about the Privy Council Envoy for several years.

When Han Shizhong came to discuss matters today, he thought that Zhao Fujin was finally going to fulfill the big pie he had drawn before, but he did not expect that what was being discussed was the centralization of military power.

"No, revise the "General Essentials of Military Classics", military theory and military technology should match the weapons, and also form a new army and pilot training methods." (End of this chapter)