Ji Tang

Chapter 895 The reason for the weakness of the army?
249 chapter

"Your Majesty is saying."

Ji Song said hesitantly.

Li Shimin nodded and said: "Yes, I just want to change the functions of the Ministry of War, but I don't know where to start, so I thought of putting you in line first, and then I will tell you what you think after you are familiar with the affairs of the Ministry of War! "

"I have seen through these years. You kid always thinks about things that no one has thought of before. It's like he has no brain. I don't know how he grew his brain."

Li Shimin looked at Ji Song with a strange look, as if he was looking at you as a monster.From the moment everyone is born, they are constantly instilled with the thoughts of their predecessors by their parents, relatives, friends, and teachers. In such an environment, it is very difficult to bring out the old and bring out the new. It is always going back and forth on the basis of the past, and it is difficult to move forward. go out!
But there are always some people in history who always seem to be innovating, standing on the shoulders of their predecessors and going further, or even surpassing them.

In Li Shimin's view, Ji Song is such a person. Whether it is Sinong Temple's new approach, Horseshoe's window paper, or even going to sea, his specialness can be reflected!

Therefore, after much deliberation, he still felt that Ji Song was the most suitable for this matter, and hoped that he could give him some inspiration on the matter of the Ministry of War!
When Ji Song saw the serious emperor, he suddenly became silent.

They just rely on the history of later generations to choose the best path among many choices, which gives people the illusion that everything Ji Song does is always something they did not expect.

Logically speaking, the Ministry of War, as one of the six ministries, was the department in charge of the military when it was first established. It evolved on the basis of the Great Sima, Weiwei, and General's Office during the Han Dynasty.But the military is a violent institution of a country and a symbol of power. Any emperor who makes a difference will keep the Ministry of War firmly in his hands.

But contrary to expectations, there is a prime minister under the emperor, and the six ministries are under the prime minister. In this way, if the emperor is not strong and is not careful, this department that can mobilize troops will become a knife for his ministers, which in turn restricts the imperial power.

Therefore, any emperor with some ideas would not be able to safely hand over the Ministry of War to his ministers, and would constantly ask for the rights of the Ministry of War whenever there was an opportunity, until now it has almost become a place for those veteran generals to retire.

If there were no problems before, but as the country stabilizes and wars decrease, then it becomes extremely important to coordinate the military department of the Tang Dynasty soldiers.

The promotion of generals, rewards and punishments for officers, quota approval, military discipline, uniform changes, military layout, etc. cannot all be left to the emperor.The emperor would be too busy even if he had ten heads!

The most important thing is that there is no war in peacetime, and soldiers must have military exploits if they want to be promoted, which creates a dead end.

It is extremely important to have a method that can reward soldiers in peacetime, strictly enforce military discipline, and maintain combat effectiveness.In history, many powerful soldiers were reduced to soldiers who could not fight in just a few years without fighting, and they were all useless.

The Tang Dynasty is now prospering, but it also has a huge territory, which requires brave enough soldiers to guard it.If the combat power of the Tang army was severely reduced, could those who were defeated or even destroyed by the Tang let this opportunity pass?
No, they will be like jackals. As long as the Tang Dynasty is weak, a chaos of chaos will be around the corner.

But this is a problem that has not been solved since ancient times. Once soldiers get used to the days without war, it is simply impossible to cheer up again!
After hearing the emperor's words, Ji Song's claws were also numb. How to solve this matter?

He thought about it and couldn't think of any way. The reason why the Tang Dynasty was able to intimidate foreign races and dominate the world during the Mid-Tang Dynasty was largely due to the Jiedushi system!
But the Jiedushi system is a double-edged sword, which not only hurts others, but also hurts yourself!
What is a Jiedushi?
You are the highest official who controls all military affairs in the area under your jurisdiction. You can even make decisions on everyone in the area under your jurisdiction. It is not an exaggeration to say that you are the emperor of the country!It was okay at the beginning. Emperor Ming of Tang Dynasty was quite wise in the early days and could control these people. But in his later years, first Li Xiangguo, then Yang Xiangguo, and then he was obsessed with Yang Yuhuan. He would rather compose music in the palace than go to the palace. It's time to rectify the situation.

An Lushan and Shi Siming's rebellion completely woke up the Tang Dynasty, which thought it was in its prime. The frontier army was extremely powerful, but the domestic army had already turned into mud and almost collapsed at the first touch. In less than a year, An Lushan and others Hit Tongguan.

In the end, he borrowed troops from Tibet and plundered Chang'an, completely destroying the people's support!

It can be said that in the later period of the Tang Dynasty, two extremes were formed. The domestic soldiers had almost no fighting power, but the border troops beat the foreign races and fled.

It can be said that the essence of the Tang Dynasty's military lies in the frontier army. This is simply the way to death!
The wars in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms frightened the following two Song dynasties. Literati were as wary of military generals as they were of thieves. Soldiers actually had to have their faces tattooed?In this way, who is willing to become a soldier if he is a little ambitious?The custom of soldiers from good families established since the Han Dynasty was completely discontinued. Who were left in the army?

Exiled prisoners, refugees, and refugees who couldn't survive. Even though the taxes of the two Song Dynasties were the highest among all dynasties in China's feudal era, they were still beaten by the surrounding foreign races and could only defend themselves!

It was a great shame for the royal family and humiliated China for hundreds of years. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang recreated Huaxia, making China stand on top of the world again!

But the scholar-bureaucrats handed down from the two Song Dynasties, including Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di, and Emperor Renxuan in the early days, were quite honest, but after that they were simply replicas of the two Song Dynasties, and even worse. The first-grade generals were not as good as the seventh-grade county magistrates, which was simply slippery. The most ridiculous thing in the world!
Then China fell again for hundreds of years, almost never being able to stand up again!

It wasn't until the era of Ji Song's previous life that China once again stood tall in the forest of the world, but it was also restricted at every turn and had to be cautious. If you were not careful, you would be doomed!
But it is simply impossible to make the army of the Tang Dynasty become the army of later generations.

Not only does it need sufficient national support, but it also requires ideological transformation of the army. If you want to become such an army, Ji Song's scalp feels numb just thinking about it!
"There is no way, this is simply impossible!"

Ji Song shook his head like a rattle and said with a bitter smile: "I think I already know your Majesty's plan. Please forgive me for overstepping the rules, but I have to say it!"

Li Shimin was silent for a moment and said, "Is there really no way?"

Chen Shou standing aside was a little confused. He could clearly hear every word, but why couldn't he understand it when they were connected?
Ji Song thought for a moment and said: "There is an old saying that no matter how big a country is, if it is warlike, it will perish, and if it forgets war, it will be in danger! This sentence sums up our current situation. A country cannot be at war forever. , in this way, no matter how big a country is, it will collapse; similarly, a country cannot live without war. If there is no war, although the people's lives will be better, the soldiers will be useless. Once an enemy attacks the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty will definitely survive. Can’t live.”

"A powerful force cannot be built in a short period of time. It requires a lot of fighting, survival of the fittest, and only the strong ones remain. But will the enemy give us a chance?"

Ji Song shook his head and said: "No, they will only speed up their destruction of us!"

"There is a certain point in the middle. We can neither let the soldiers be idle nor fight every day. The best situation is a small fight every year or two, a big fight every nine years or ten years. If this doesn't work, it must be done within 20 years." Fight a war within the army to train the new generation in the army, so that a large number of military talents can continue to emerge."

"But this is almost impossible. Without a consistent national policy to stabilize the government, whether the new emperor can continue the previous emperor's decision-making and whether he can have foresight are all constraints. They say that one emperor and one courtier are all in this way!"

Ji Song stopped talking at this point. He had already exceeded the rules today. He would never have said this before, but now that the Ji family is tied to the royal family, he certainly hopes that the Tang Dynasty can be passed down forever!
"I understand what you mean!"

Li Shimin's face looked very ugly, and Ji Song also understood what he was thinking. It was strange that he looked good!

According to Ji Song, the dynasty's demise is certain, it's just a matter of how long it will take. If the person in front of him wasn't Ji Song, he would have gone crazy long ago.But Ji Song's words also provided him with an idea, that is, the army cannot be left idle, especially the domestic army. From time to time, it can be pulled out to fight in battles, and then some older veterans can be deployed to various parts of the country. As a result, it will not only increase control over the domestic situation, but also play a role in training the military.

There are also the soldiers of the Sixteenth Guards of Chang'an. These people must not be reduced to idiots. They are sent out every now and then to fight in a few battles, and then the best of them are retained, and then they are selected from various places in the border army to select those who are good at fighting. In this way, This will greatly alleviate the dilemma of declining combat effectiveness of domestic soldiers, and can also better suppress disobedience.

As long as the central government is strong, everything else will not be a problem. Anyone who has war or ambition can be suppressed with a backhand!

"I'll leave this matter to you. Write me a detailed statement and write it carefully. Then we will discuss it with the princes and finally come up with a solution."

Although I didn't get what I wanted most, it's not bad now. I originally thought that I would wait for Ji Song to stay in the Ministry of War for a year and a half, and then I would be familiar with the affairs of the Ministry of War before asking, but I didn't expect that now I have an unexpected surprise!

"Your Majesty, what are you talking about? It seems that you are very happy? It will make the ministers happy if you say it. You can't favor one thing over another!"

Who else could say this except Cheng Yaojin, who was so confused?
Li Shimin's face turned dark when he heard this, what a bastard.
After a while, after playing well, the princes came to them and looked at them curiously.

What else could Li Shimin say?
So he briefly talked about Ji Song's conversation, but after he finished speaking, he found that there was no sound?
Looking up, Li Jing and others were stunned, looking at Ji Song as if they were looking at monsters!

At this time, Fang and Du also came back from playing, and they were very curious when they saw everyone.

"Okay, what Duke Xi said has fully explained the reason for the decline of the army! Although the ministers have thought about these things, they are not as thorough as what Duke Xi said! Especially since it not only has a theory, but also has specific implementation methods. It’s rare, it’s really rare!”

Fang Xuanling understood the reason after a moment's thought and exclaimed in admiration.

"However, the difficulty is not small. Not to mention other things, just one baggage of food and grass can bring down the Tang Dynasty. There is also the cost of resettling the soldiers, which the Tang Dynasty cannot afford at all!"

As the No. 1 military officer of the Tang Dynasty, Li Jing certainly aspired to have a more powerful army, but this is not something you think about at all, but something the country cannot afford!

But as soon as he finished speaking, he found that everyone was looking at him with a smile, even the emperor!

"What? Did I say something wrong? Or is there something I don't know?"

Li Jing was a little confused. Why are everyone looking at me?

"Hahaha"

Then everyone except the princes laughed!

"That was before, but it's different now. As long as we wait a few years, it won't be a problem for Datang's national power to double. What you are worried about is the food and grass problem, but what if the problem is solved?"

Fang Xuanling laughed.

Li Jing was shocked and said loudly: "How is this possible?"

"It's not impossible. Do you think that what I said about rewarding Ji Qing and others some time ago is all false? If they just went to sea, they wouldn't have been knighted, but they brought back high-yielding grains that Datang urgently needed. , this is why I banned them again!"

"what!"

Hearing the emperor's words, Li Jing looked at Ji Song in disbelief, hoping that he could give him an accurate answer!

Ji Song smiled and nodded: "It's true. When they came back with the ship, they planted some in tanks on the ship, and some of them were already harvested on the road. According to calculations, from planting to harvesting in three months, the yield per acre It should be around ten stones. Thousands of people have seen this with their own eyes, so you can’t fake it!”

"Really? It turned out to be true?"

Whether it was Li Jing, Cheng Yaojin or others, they all lost their voices. Everyone knew better than them what food meant to the Tang Dynasty!

The Tang Dynasty did not lack warriors, let alone generals. What it lacked was food.

Thousands of miles away, if you want to transport an army's food for a year, you need at least three times the amount to be enough. The losses on the road are too great, rain, humidity, people eating horses' chews, these are all losses.

Once there is a war, the consumption will be even more terrible. Food is the courage of the general. Without food, the morale of the army will be weakened and the soldiers will have no fighting spirit. If they are not careful, the whole army will be annihilated.

Thinking of the tragic scene at the end of the Sui Dynasty, they understood better than anyone else what a crop with a yield of ten stones meant to the Tang Dynasty!
"If you don't believe it, you can come to the palace tomorrow and we, the monarchs and ministers, will personally watch the harvest. Then everyone will understand."

When it was brought back from the ship, Chen Shou personally followed it. If it weren't for the fact that it couldn't be buried in the soil after it matured, he would have waited until he returned to Chang'an to dig it up.

The better thing is that there are still more than a dozen large tanks still planted, and this time everything must be seen by the emperor and the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty.

"Okay, Tomorrow Minister, let's go and see what kind of grain it is with such a large output? Ji Song, you just hope there won't be any mistakes tomorrow, otherwise...hehe, I will burn paper for you myself!"

Li Jing looked at Ji Song with a evil smile. If this was true, everyone would definitely be happy. But if it was false, Ji Song would not be able to escape the crime of deceiving the emperor. At that time, he still wanted to live?
(End of this chapter)