Song Yi

Chapter 433 Military Transformation
Du Wenhao said: "How old are you? You are at the age when you are playing around. When I was your age, I was even better than you!"

"Really?" Song Zhezong said: "Then what do you like to play the most? Is it fighting crickets?"

When Du Wenhao was a child, he liked playing video game consoles the most. At that time, fighting crickets was out of fashion.Shaking his head, he said, "No, were you fighting crickets just now?"

"Oh, yes."

"Then take it out and show me."

"Okay!" Song Zhezong took out a cricket pot from under the table, put it on the table, and stared at the other three people: "Hurry up!"

All three took out the cricket jars.He took another big jar specially for fighting crickets and put it on the table. Song Zhezong first took out a cricket and put it in the jar, Zhao Yu also took one and put it in, and used grass roots to tease the two crickets to fight.

Soon, the two crickets bit each other.

After fighting for a while, Song Zhezong's cricket was defeated and was chased to run around the jar.

Zhao Bi laughed happily, pointed at Song Zhezong and said, "Brother Huang, you lost, come with the money!"

Song Zhezong was so angry that his nose was crooked, he took out the money bag from his arms, took out a small ingot of gold, and smashed it into the palm of Zhao Bi's hand with a snap: "Here you are! Hmph! Just wait and see, I will definitely win the next game!"

"Hey, you have already lost to me three ingots of gold in a row!"

Du Wenhao's heart skipped a beat, it turned out that Song Zhezong and his younger siblings were gambling with crickets!A win or loss is as high as one ingot of gold!
He turned his head to look at the teacher Zhao Yanruo, wanting to ask him why he didn't care about it, but seeing him looking at him with a bitter face, he knew he didn't have the guts.

Du Wenhao turned his head and was about to stop, but before he could speak, more shocking things happened one after another. ——The angry Song Zhezong reached into the cricket pot, grabbed the defeated cricket, held it up high, threw it to the ground hard, stomped on it, and stepped on it and twisted it hard.

When he withdrew his foot, the cricket had been trampled to pieces!
The shock in Du Wenhao's heart was worse than seeing Song Zhezong gambling just now. Seeing how vicious the emperor was at such a young age, in the future... Du Wenhao dared not think about it.

Song Zhezong shouted loudly: "Come again! I will definitely win you!" He stretched out his hand to catch the cricket again.

"Wait a minute!" Du Wenhao tried his best to suppress the anger in his heart, and said slowly: "Your Majesty, when Emperor Taizu played chess with Patriarch Chen Tuan to gamble on Huashan Mountain, and lost Huashan, he made a rule that his descendants are not allowed to gamble. If you bet on gold ingots with crickets today, I'm afraid it's against the precepts of the ancestors."

Song Zhezong said with a sneer: "It's a little gambling, just for fun, it's nothing."

"Your Majesty, don't do it because you are evil! Today you bet on crickets and lose gold ingots, and you will probably bet on Jiangshan in the future! I also hope that the emperor can follow the rules set by the ancestors, and don't do this again. If the Empress Dowager finds out , I’m afraid some will be punished.”

Du Wenhao put out the empress dowager, and hit Song Zhezong's death spot. Song Zhezong had no choice but to throw down the cricket pot: "Forget it, it's not fun anyway. If you don't gamble, don't gamble!" He went back to his seat and sat down .

Du Wenhao walked slowly to his side, and said with his hands behind his back: "Shicai, the emperor stomped the cricket flat with one foot, it was indeed out of anger, but has the emperor ever thought about it, it seems that doing so is not in line with the status of the emperor."

"Isn't it just a cricket? I'm wrong too?" Song Zhezong was very dissatisfied, looking up at him with his little head up.

"I remember that when the empress dowager appointed the emperor to inherit the throne, she said that she hoped that the emperor would take Emperor Renzong as a model in the future and become a benevolent and righteous king. Is it against benevolence and righteousness to use this method to deal with a weak life?"

Song Zhezong was dumbfounded again, and lowered his head: "I know I was wrong, sir, don't tell the empress dowager."

"If you know your mistakes, you can correct them. There is nothing good about being good. How can a humble minister be the one to sue?——It's almost time, let's start the class."

The little chubby Zhao Bi immediately exclaimed excitedly: "Sir, why are chopsticks bent when inserted into the water today?"

The little princess read aloud: "No, no, let's talk about why the stars blink first!"

Zhao Ji also said: "No, first teach how to draw to make it look more like it!"

Du Wenhao shook his head and said, "No, let's talk about arithmetic today!"

Song Zhezong applauded immediately: "That's right! This is good. Let's teach this first!"

He is the emperor now, and the other three people dare not directly disobey his decision.Besides, they are also very interested in Du Wenhao's new method of arithmetic.

This afternoon, Du Wenhao taught them how to write Arabic numerals, express numbers with Arabic numerals, and taught them how to use Arabic numerals for addition.

Song Zhezong found that this method is much faster and simpler than calculating and arranging various figures one by one. He was very excited and had a great time making calculations for himself.

Zhao Bi's brain is relatively stupid, and he can't even remember Arabic numerals accurately, and he keeps making mistakes, let alone addition operations.Nian Nian is the smallest, but learns the most seriously. Although writing is slow, she is meticulous.Only Zhao Ji seemed to have no interest in arithmetic operations, but he was still studying hard.

It was late in the evening after teaching, and Du Wenhao returned to Wuweitang.

Qian Bushou and Yan Miaoshou came to report the teaching situation of the new content of surgery in the Imperial Medical Bureau, and asked Du Wenhao when he would have time to give lectures in the Imperial Medical Bureau.Du Wenhao asked them to talk first, and wait until he was busy for a while.At the same time, let Yan Miaoshou prepare to train military doctors for the army.

The next day, Du Wenhao ordered Sanya to start formulating a training plan for military doctors, and began special rotation training for military doctors across the country in Jinchuang surgery.Of course, the first to train in rotation is the military doctors on the front line of the Sixth Route in Shaanxi.

In the past two days, the commanders of the three armies followed Du Wenhao's previous arrangement and wrote written reports on all the problems they thought existed in the army and submitted them to Du Wenhao.

After Du Wenhao read these reports, he found that most of the generals wrote about trivial issues, presumably because they were worried that talking too much would lead to disaster.Fortunately, there are still a small number of officers who dare to speak out, revealing many deep-seated fundamental problems in the army, quite a few of which are chronic illnesses that have existed for many years. Du Wenhao has already heard it from Mu Guiying.There are also some new problems that only appeared this year. After Mu Guiying left the army, she did not come into contact with them.The ideas for solving the problems put forward by some military officers are very enlightening. After reading it, Du Wenhao felt very enlightened.

In the next few days, Du Wenhao called all the officers who spoke out of righteousness one by one, asked them face to face, and went to the army with them to understand the truth.

During this period, according to Du Wenhao's request, master Shen Shengping basically completed the collection and sorting of various data that Du Wenhao needed.Based on the research results during this period, Du Wenhao sorted out his own ideas for large-scale military reforms in the army.

Li Pu, the deputy capital commander, had finished escorting the empress dowager Cao's coffin to the imperial mausoleum and returned to the capital.Du Wenhao called him and several confidant senior generals who participated in the battle against Xixia to discuss his new ideas for military reform. Everyone was very enthusiastic after listening to the speech, and Du Wenhao made further revisions based on everyone's opinions.until everyone agrees.

In the afternoon, Du Wenhao entered the palace and came to Funing Palace, the bedroom of the Empress Dowager Gao Taotao.Gao Taotao checked the construction of the artificial lake on the construction site as usual.

These days, the relocation work within the scope of land requisition has been completed. The ancient land requisition is different from the modern one, especially the emperor's land requisition, which is an absolute and unconditional obedience. In the face of the powerful imperial power, there is no such thing as a nail.

The relocation has been basically completed, and the housing enclosure is being demolished.Gao Taotao is studying the layout of the back garden with the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and several craftsmen who are the chief designers.

According to Gao Taotao's decree, Du Wenhao did not need to report when he entered Gao Taotao's bedroom, but after asking, he learned that Gao Taotao was busy at the construction site, so he asked someone to report.Gao Taotao immediately ended the meeting and asked the officials of the Ministry of Industry to go back and revise the plan.

Gao Taotao excitedly rushed back to the bedroom, screened away left and right, looked at Du Wenhao, and threw himself into his arms, the two embraced and kissed passionately, and they separated after a long time.

Gao Taotao said: "How is it? Have you come up with a plan for military reform?"

Du Wenhao nodded, took out the reform report from his arms, and handed it to Gao Taotao: "It's done. It is divided into existing problems and reform steps. There may be a lot of content."

Gao Taotao took it, but didn't open it to read, and said with a smile, "tell me."

"Okay."

"Wait a minute, I'll let them serve some delicate side dishes, and we'll have a drink and talk, okay?"

"Row."

Gao Taotao ordered Eunuch Jiao to let the imperial chef serve some side dishes, put them on the tea table in the middle of the soft couch, and warmed a pot of wine. The two sat cross-legged and drank a cup first.

Du Wenhao coughed lightly, and said: "Our army's combat power is weak, and the reasons are very complicated. There are both subjective and objective reasons. Every defeat in a battle has its own individuality and commonality. For the convenience of description, I have classified the causes of our army's weakness into three levels, from top to bottom, divided into the reasons of the court, the reasons of the officers, and the reasons of the soldiers."

"This classification is new." Gao Tao said, "Is it just these three categories?"

"In general, there are three categories, and each category can be further subdivided. The first category of court reasons can be subdivided into army building ideas, the status of the army and soldiers, the dispersion of military power, the use of civil to control military, the The contempt for cavalry construction, the army’s profit-making operations, etc.; the reasons for the second category of officers can be subdivided into the abolition of military laws, the corruption of military government, the corruption of military discipline, and the exploitation of soldiers by officers and local officials; the reasons for the third category of soldiers can be divided into It can be subdivided into too many stabs, false selection, waste of training, etc.”

"So many problems?" Gao Taotao forced a smile, "tell me one by one."

"Okay, but my analysis will involve comments on the late emperor and ancestors' legacy and national policy. I would like to ask you to forgive me for my innocence before I dare speak."

Gao Taotao turned around and put his arms around his neck, and kissed him: "I know that what you said has your reason, no matter what you say, even if you swear, I forgive you."

"Thank you Taotao!" Du Wenhao kissed him back.

Gao Taotao stared at him intently, and said quietly: "Actually, you don't have to be so careful, I'm already yours, can you blame me?"

When Du Wenhao heard what she said, his heart warmed up. He hugged her and made out with her for a while, and then let go: "With your words, I won't worry about it in the future. I will help you wholeheartedly and run the country well. .”

"Well, with your help, I feel at ease. Tell me."

"Let's talk about the first type of reason first--the ideological problems of our army's army building. The first problem in this regard is the establishment of the Xiang Army. The Xiang Army is a local miscellaneous army, and the source of troops is not only criminals who are assassinated. In addition, the main source is the old, weak, sick and disabled left by the imperial army. The main types of the Xiang army are the Zhuangcheng army who built the city, the Yuan army who made weapons, the bridge army who built roads and bridges, and the Chuanfang army who built ships. , the loading and dispatching army responsible for transportation tasks, the Heqing army that governs the Yellow River and other rivers, etc. It can be seen from this that the purpose and main role of setting up the Xiang army is to undertake various miscellaneous tasks. The Xiang army does not engage in direct military operations. It is not engaged in military auxiliary work, although the Xiang army is called the army, but most of the things they do are not military affairs, and the military expenditure of the Xiang army is frighteningly high."

"That's right? How much is the military expenditure of the Xiang army?"

"Last year, the military expenditure of the entire army totaled 5000 million yuan, and the Xiang army accounted for 500 million yuan! In other words, one-third of our army's military expenditure was not used for army building, but for feeding Hundreds of thousands of Xiang army migrant workers!"

Gao Taotao nodded slowly. The Xiang army is the source of redundant troops. She had heard this sentence from her husband Song Yingzong and his son Song Shenzong many times before.Song Shenzong also worked hard to rectify the Xiang army, but with little effect.Not only was he a little worried, but he asked: "You don't need to say more about the disaster of the Xiang army, I know it too, so just tell me how you plan to solve this problem?"

"This is a long-standing problem. If you move too much and rush for success, it will cause a huge backlash. So, follow the plan in steps and use the strategy of boiling the frog in warm water..."

"Boiled frogs in warm water?"

"Well, if you put a frog in hot water, it will quickly jump out and escape, but if you put a frog in cold water, heat it slowly and boil until the frog is cooked, it will not jump out. (It is said that this According to the story, someone tried it, and the result was the opposite: when the warm water was heated to a certain temperature, the frog would jump out and escape, but if it was boiling water, the frog would fall in and be scalded to death. I don’t know if it’s true.)”

Gao Taotao said: "I understand, it means step by step."

"Exactly! There are so many Xiang armies. After the first emperor's large-scale disarmament, there are still 22 Xiang armies across the country. They need to be divided and rectified, and they should be eaten one by one. You can't reform all at once."

"Tell me exactly what you think."

"The first emperor's reorganization and disarmament went smoothly. The Xiang army has been reduced from more than 50 people at the beginning to 22 now, and its number has also been reduced from 280 to more than 120. The entire army has not rebounded. We You can continue to follow the late emperor’s ideas and successful practices. Block the entrance first, and from now on, permanently cancel all Xiang army expansion plans, block them from the source, and then carry out disarmament in a planned and step-by-step manner. Wan, in about seven or eight years, the Xiang army can be completely reduced!"

"How will the reduced Xiang army be arranged?"

"The old, sick, and disabled Xiangjun will be provided for by the imperial court; technical soldiers will have the option to retain them; the rest of the professional Xiangjun will be resettled under the principle of combining military service buyout and policy placement."

Gao Taotao felt dizzy and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Old people over the age of 60 in Xiangjun, those who are seriously ill or disabled and lose their labor force will continue to receive their original monthly salary until they die. According to my statistics, this part accounts for less than [-]% of the total number of Xiangjun. The state spends money to support them. Benevolent governance, secondly, can gain a good reputation for the reform of Xiangjun."

"Very well, I quite agree. You go on."

The first plan was supported by Gao Taotao, which greatly increased Du Wenhao's confidence.Said: "Skilled soldiers in the Zuoyuan Army, Zhuangcheng Army, Bridge Road Army, and Chuanfang Army in the Xiang Army can stay in their posts as long as they are young, and they can be reorganized into professional engineers, logistics soldiers, and arsenal workers. This is the kind of arms that the army needs. According to my statistics, these skilled soldiers account for about 7% of the Xiang army. That is [-] people. In peacetime, this scale is enough. However, in terms of management, it cannot Return it to the local government office, otherwise it will become the target of the local government office again."

The Xiang army in the Song Dynasty had dual leadership. On the one hand, it obeyed the leadership of the Sanya, and on the other hand, it also obeyed the leadership of the "leaders" such as appeasement envoys and economic envoys in the locality. The magistrate and other chief executives concurrently serve.The Xiang army is under the leadership of the local government, so it is inevitable that they will be sent by the local government.

Gao Tao said: "It makes sense, how do you think it should be managed?"

"Abolish dual leadership, directly under the imperial court, unified deployment according to needs during wartime, and undertake military auxiliary tasks such as transportation, reinforcement, city defense, road repair, and bridge construction; during non-wartime, engineers can contract bridges, roads, houses and other projects to make money and pay taxes. Logistics. Soldiers can engage in trade and subsidize military use at ordinary times. But it is limited to logistics soldiers, and for combat troops, it is strictly forbidden to engage in any profitable business.”

"Well, this should be carried out step by step according to the plan?"

"Yes, all the reform plans I mentioned, unless otherwise stated, are carried out step by step according to the plan, first carry out local pilots, accumulate experience, and then gradually promote them, and strive to avoid large social fluctuations."

Gao Taotao nodded and said, "I think it's okay. Elderly, sick and disabled account for [-]%, technical soldiers account for [-]%, how to arrange the remaining [-]%?"

"The remaining [-]% belong to the resettlement targets. As for the transferred Xiangjun, they can let them voluntarily. There are two options. One is that the imperial court pays a one-time payment to buy out all his military years, and he takes the money and leaves. The first is to do whatever one likes; the second is to arrange work for the court.”

"One-off buyout? How to buy out?"

Du Wenhao snapped his fingers and said, "For senior generals at the first level of the army, they will be assigned to serve in various yamen of the imperial court. The monthly salary they enjoy will remain the same. For generals at the command (battalion) level, the service fee will be calculated according to the length of service. Buy out the military service, in addition, pay [-]% of the original monthly salary as living expenses every month; for the first-level generals, the buy-out military service fee is also calculated according to the number of years of service, one-time buyout, and no longer enjoy monthly living expenses.

"Well," Gao Taotao pondered for a moment, and said, "I think this is a very good and reasonable treatment, and the cost is not too high. It should be able to satisfy these generals and ensure the stability of the transfer. What about the soldiers of the Xiang army?"

(End of this chapter)