Chastity Layman

  Chapter 685 Deep Water Area

"Wouldn't it be good to continue to maintain the system of granting land to soldiers and exempting them from the two taxes?" Wang Gui believes that the current system of soldiers is very mature and originated from Yuwentai's system in the Western Wei Dynasty. It has changed a lot now. The current Fubing system is basically inherited from the Fubing system of the Sui Dynasty, but it is really easy to use.

The earliest Fubing system established by Yuwentai is the six pillar states, twelve generals and twenty-four Yitongs. One pillar state leads two generals, and each general leads two Yitongs. In fact, it is a disguised form. The implementation of Xianbei's military system of people and troops will make it possible to engage in soldiers.

   Even let all the soldiers have the surname of the general, making it look like the six major tribal armies.

After Yang Jian established the Sui Dynasty, he devoted himself to nationalizing the army, abolished this system, and created a system of separating soldiers from the government and returning to the dynasty. Not only did the soldiers no longer belong to the generals, but even the generals They are all completely separated. Usually, the government soldiers belong to the Hege Military Mansion, while the generals are arranged in the Twelve Guards Yamen of the capital, and have no direct command relationship.

As long as there is a war, the emperor selects generals from the twelve guards, and then recruits soldiers from the military mansion below, and reorganizes the camp during the war. The result is that the soldiers do not know the generals, and the generals do not know the soldiers. A situation that threatens the court.

   Even later, Fubing was included in the civil registration.

  These measures have indeed allowed the central court to have stronger control over the army, and it is rare for soldiers to support troops and cause chaos.

   Not to mention, under the military system of the Tang Dynasty, the imperial court hardly needed to spend any money on raising troops. It only needed to raise war horses and build ordnance. In case of war, it only needed to recruit and consume military rations. Usually, there was not much money for raising troops.

  In contrast, the emperor’s recruitment of soldiers and the imperial army was only tens of thousands of horses, and it cost millions of dollars a year to spend. Just the military pay, rations and rewards of the soldiers, the average soldier is at least fifty guan.

  In reforming the existing military system, the biggest problem is not other things, but money.

   "Could it be that Duke Wei wants to change the government military system to the same recruitment system as the Beiya Forbidden Army? But the cost of recruiting soldiers is quite huge, and the cost of raising a soldier is at least 50 guan, and that's not counting other things."

If the 600,000 government soldiers are converted into recruits, it will be considered as the basic military expenditure of 50 guan for one soldier, and at least 30 million guan for that year. , the cost is greater.

  The cost of tens of millions of strings is astonishing when you think about it.

  "Wang Xianggong, the land equalization system has been abolished. Even if the imperial court maintains the granting of land to the government soldiers, there will still be land to grant in five to ten years, but ten to twenty years, thirty years? Where will the land be granted?"

"Mr. Wei is good at calculation, why is this account confused? Now the imperial court has 600,000 to 700,000 soldiers, as long as this number remains unchanged, every three years, one point selects soldiers, and they will retire when they are old or die in battle. As much as there is a lack, just choose as many as possible.”

"Why did Wang Xianggong forget one thing? The court stipulates that if the soldiers of the government die, the sons will not leave the land, and the officials will not lose their land when they grow old? There is also a rule that all the princes will not be returned due to the decline of the king's affairs, and there are relatives who live together The land of his status shall be pursued in six years. On the day of returning the body, it shall be given first. That is to say, those who die in the king's affairs, although their descendants are not mature, do not pursue their status. Supplementary reduction, listen to it for the rest of your life."

  Qin Lang believes that the fundamental reason why the government army system is difficult to implement is the fields. Although the number of government soldiers has always been maintained at 600,000 to 700,000, there will be no major increase or decrease.

  The military system of the Tang Dynasty stipulates that the soldiers of the government are selected once every three years. First look at the family property, second look at the physique, and third look at the number of people in the family, so the rich family strengthens the family and joins the army.

  There were more than 600,000 government soldiers in the Tang Dynasty, and the annual expenditure on clothing and food was at least 15 million guan, but in fact the imperial court had no expenditure, and the government soldiers basically paid for it themselves.

   These more than 600,000 government soldiers also represent more than 600,000 powerful landlord families above the middle class in the Tang Dynasty, and they are also the backbone of the Tang Dynasty.

   If you can order soldiers, the imperial court grants you 100 acres of land.

  Enlist in the army at the age of 21, and have to be discharged at the age of 59. This must be lucky and long-lived. Otherwise, if you die in battle, are captured, disabled, etc., you will not wait until the age of 59.

  One hundred mu of land is the same as the common people, 20 mu of permanent employment, 80 mu of koufen, and one mu of residential garden.

  When you order soldiers, you will have 20 mu of land that can be passed on to your son in the future, and the remaining 80 mu will be returned after you leave the army. The one mu of home garden is for building a house and growing vegetables, so you don’t need to return it.

  Theoretically, after a mansion soldier retires at an old age, he can still return 80 mu of land, divide 101 mu, and return 80 mu of land. But in fact, the government soldiers may die in battle, be captured, or become disabled. If they die in battle, the 80 mu of land will not be returned, and will be directly inherited by their descendants. The captured ones will continue to be used by their relatives for six years. If they can return, they will continue to be farmed by him until they die.

   Those who are disabled will also be handed over to them to plant the land until they die. Therefore, even if there are many people who are killed, disabled, captured and other reasons every year, they are discharged from the army and reduce their staff, but in fact not all the land can be flowed back and re-granted.

   Not to mention that the government soldiers fought as soldiers and were under so much financial pressure. They went to serve as officials for meritorious service and rewards. Once meritorious service is received or given to an official, and both the honor and the official are awarded Yongye Tian, ​​this field can be directly passed on to the descendants, and the field will not be returned after death.

  Many men from the Tang Dynasty went to serve as military soldiers for this reason, to be able to get land to grant officials, and in this era, land and official titles are the greatest pursuits.

  Therefore, in theory, the existing fields of the Fubing will only become less and less, and a large number of military fields will be transformed into permanent fields.

  The imperial court must constantly replenish new fields before they can grant fields.

  As a matter of fact, it is because there is no land to grant that the imperial court abolished the land equalization law, recognized private ownership, and implemented the tenancy law.

   What Wang Gui said about maintaining the original law is naturally unfeasible.

  Many people said that the government military system in the Tang Dynasty was a combination of soldiers and farmers, and that soldiers were integrated into farmers, but they are actually wrong.

  The Han Dynasty was a military system for all farmers, and the real soldiers were in the farmers. When a war broke out, all the common people were soldiers, so the peasant class was also an armed group. Farmers also bear the task of fighting.

  The government military system implemented since the Western Wei Dynasty is actually the opposite. It is a system of combining soldiers with agriculture, similar to the farming system that Cao Cao once implemented. It means that armed groups engage in agricultural production part-time, rather than farmers serving part-time as soldiers.

  The core of the government military system is the professionalization of military armed groups. They are soldiers for life, and then engage in agricultural planting and production when they are not fighting, just like military colonization in the frontier.

  The earliest Fubing was set up as a regiment, and it was later merged into the management of prefectures and counties.

Datang has set up more than 600 zhechong mansions throughout the country, which is equivalent to more than 600 armed groups. Their main tasks are to practice martial arts, practice bow and horse, and then go to the capital or border areas in batches to serve as guards or guard the border land. If there is a war, you have to follow the order to go to the front line or stay behind.

   Only plant the land without affecting these duties. If it affects these, the land can only be handed over to the family members for planting.

After the end of the Sui Dynasty and the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, there were indeed a lot of land in his hands. Therefore, under the army-first policy, the soldiers selected by the army could be awarded a full 101 mu of land, and at the same time, it was guaranteed that those selected A strong person in a family above the middle class.

   Therefore, during the Zhenguan period, the government soldiers had the highest quality and the strongest combat effectiveness.

Li Shimin also used these soldiers very carefully. Although there were many wars, they basically did not mess around. Unlike Li Zhi and Wu Zetian's period, tens of thousands of people were wiped out at every turn, and even more than 100,000 people were wiped out. Once, the essence of the government soldiers engaged in was lost.

To put it bluntly, the risk of being a government soldier is also very high. Although the future is good, it is the same as working on a construction site. Fan is border defense or training, and family production is actually not of much help.

  But if the imperial court cannot grant enough land, and cannot give enough land and money rewards after the war and meritorious service, then it is easy to go bankrupt as a government soldier.

  Why from the time of Wu Zetian and his wife, there are many people who would rather chop their hands and feet than become soldiers? Isn't it the same as when Yang Guang conquered Liaodong in the Sui Dynasty, the risks and benefits were not directly proportional, who would want to go.

This is the same as the grain chief in the Ming Dynasty. Originally, the small landlord was the grain chief, responsible for collecting the imperial grain and helping to organize the delivery of grain. It turned out to be like a contract. If any of your households did not pay enough, you have to make up for it first. , Someone escaped, you have to make up for it, the freight on the road has to be covered, and the loss has to be covered, who can afford it.

  In the Han Dynasty, all the people were soldiers. Although the military expenses were not borne by the imperial court, it greatly affected the combat effectiveness. After all, the farmers’ job was to cultivate the land, so how could they have too much energy for training?

  The soldiers of the Sui and Tang Dynasties were soldiers in agriculture, and the healthy children of rich families above the middle class were lifelong soldiers.

   It’s just that this kind of military system, in the final analysis, still needs to have the guarantee of equal land, as well as the smooth ascension channel and the rigid fulfillment of military rewards. If anything goes wrong, this powerful army group will collapse.

   It is precisely because of the high status and good prospects of the Fubing that someone becomes a Fubing.

"My lords, the number of the Nanya army in the capital is now 36,000, which is roughly the same as that of the Beiya army. However, in recent years, the imperial court has fully implemented the frontier guarding system in the frontiers. In Youyun, Shuofang, and Long You, Hexi, Jiannan, and even Lingnan have added many frontier troops, and they have maintained a large number all year round. For example, Longyou has established nine armies, with 27,000 permanent frontier troops. The total number of frontier troops in the country exceeds ten. The number of tens of thousands, plus the soldiers of Fanshang, basically 30% of the soldiers of the government should be kept in Fans..."

  In recent years, Datang has no longer been self-defense, but aggressive and aggressive.

While expanding the territory, Tang also had to maintain a strong frontier defense army on the border. In the past, the government soldiers took turns to defend, and they often changed their defenses every two months, almost once a year, two months . But now, the frontier guards mainly guard the border, but they can't do it every two months. Firstly, the distance is far away, and secondly, the replacement is too frequent and it is more troublesome, so now it is basically once a year.

   Even many frontier generals have proposed that they hope to last longer, because frequent turnover will reduce the combat effectiveness of the frontier army.

  Everything shows that the current military system is indeed full of loopholes, and it is becoming more and more difficult to adapt to the new situation.

  (end of this chapter)