Du Zhongxiao pointed to the slippery egg shrimp that had just been served and said to the rest: "There are a lot of prawns in the nearby river swamps, so I let the shrimp come out and stir-fry it with egg liquid." Stir-fried like this, it is very fragrant and delicious, you can taste it. ”

Liu Ji and Yang Ji ate it and were full of praise. This method not only has the crispy texture of shrimp, but also mixes the aroma of eggs and the freshness of shrimp.

In this era, wild ingredients are very abundant, and whenever Du Zhongxiao thinks of a famous dish from his previous life, he asks his subordinates to take the best ingredients and try their best to make them. Suizhou is full of lakes and marshes, and there are so many aquatic products that you can't eat them all. It's the river shrimp, and you have to pick the big ones to eat, and no one will look at the small ones.

Yang Wenguang and Zhao Zi smacked their lips, but they only felt that it was not enjoyable. When a good man eats, he should drink wine in a big bowl and eat meat in a large piece, and he will not be happy at all if he makes these many tricks.

After drinking a few glasses of wine, Du Zhongxiao said: "We have been training for many days, and now we should have some eyebrows." There are two things that are difficult to choose, and I will discuss them with you today. First, the army that is now organized by the Faculty is about one out of five from the battalion and field army, and it is inevitable that there will be more soldiers and fewer soldiers. Most of the officers used in the military are drawn temporarily, and they do not know whether they are virtuous or unscrupulous. A few days ago, one of the military leaders only ordered the soldiers to buy chickens and drink wine, and the soldiers complained, so they beat dozens of military sticks. In addition, we used to use knives and guns, but now we use guns and cannons, and the way of practicing and playing is different. The new tactics naturally have new requirements for generals, and it is difficult to train suitable generals as they are now. ”

Zhao Zi said: "The low-level generals in the army, because there is no money from the minister, there are many people who collect money from the soldiers. It's okay to teach the Xiang Army, but I don't know how many people in the army used to deduct military food. Not to mention the envoys, or the opening of the goods, or long-distance trafficking. According to me, since there is no shortage of money and food for the camp and field work, it is better to also give some ministers' money to the subordinate generals, so as not to let them fight the idea of ordinary soldiers. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "It is difficult to fill people's desires, and it is difficult to fundamentally change the minister's money." ”

Yang Wenguang said: "In this way, we can only strictly enforce military discipline." As soon as there is an extrajudicial punishment of officials, or the accumulation of property, the punishment is severe. ”

Liu Ji shook his head: "What's the use of strict law and discipline?" How can Shangguan know about the things in the camp? If Xu Shishu surrenders, the generals will be jealous, how to manage the army? It is not allowed to make a complaint, and no matter how illegal the generals are, the army will not be able to know about it. ”

The basis of military management in the Song Dynasty was the class law, with each level overpowering the other, and each rank of officers had overall power. Corresponding to the class law, subordinates are not allowed to sue their superiors, so as not to shake their power base. In this way, the commander of the army can do whatever he wants, and the junior non-commissioned officers can only endure it, even if they know that their superiors have violated military law, they have no way to complain. Another collateral product of this pattern is that it is difficult to control the arrogant soldiers. The general has exclusive power, and the management of his subordinates is his personal affairs, and it is not good to manage his personal means. The generals are weak, and there is no way to get down to the top, so power is transferred to small gangs, and it is impossible to straighten out relations between the army and the army in accordance with the system.

These phenomena complement each other and exist at the same time. The ideal is to have the authority of the commander of the army, and to use strict military discipline to make the entire army one and give strict orders. It's impossible to do. Without institutional constraints, the relationship between the commander and the non-commissioned officer is like that between a mouse and a cat. Cats can catch mice, and rats tremble every day, and they dare not come out. It is not uncommon for a mouse to ride on a cat's neck without the ability to catch mice.

Yang Jin said: "This year, the imperial court has made a martial arts move, and some people have been selected. How about choosing officers in the army? ”

Corresponding to the Jinshi, there have been martial arts since the Tang Dynasty, and after entering the Song Dynasty, they were either prosperous or abolished. If the foreign war is not effective, there will be voices of holding military exercises. This year is the year of martial arts, and some people were selected to come out and make up for the army.

This is a simple way, since civil officials can use the imperial examination to select talents, why can't military generals? Actually, it just doesn't work. According to Du Zhongxiao's understanding, the martial arts in the Ming and Qing dynasties were almost permanent, and although there were some outstanding generals, they could not change the military appearance at all. Some people think that it is because the subjects of martial arts are not suitable. Simply trying the martial arts of archery and horses, and even setting the ranking to make a strategy, is out of touch with the military reality, and of course no one can be selected. In fact, it doesn't matter, the Jinshi exam is also a strategy, and it has little to do with government affairs, so how can it be successful.

The success of the liberal arts scholars is that the government is always in their hands, and the system guarantees that the elected people are in power. However, the army is not in the hands of the military generals, and the feudal nature of the royal private army determines that it is impossible for them to take power. The generals of the army are determined by the nobles and nobles in the feudal army at all levels, not by ability. Combat merit is very important, but it is not a determining condition, but it is also the talent in the system.

The original meaning of feudalism was to divide the land and become an aristocracy, but with the unification, the nobility was decoupled from the land and linked to power. The military is particularly typical in that it will have dictatorial power, and in essence it is to divide power layer by layer and form small independent kingdoms one by one. The Song army took the battalion as the basic unit, which was a small feudal lord one by one, so the commander and the above must be appointed by the emperor. This system cannot be broken, and martial arts are just embellishments, and cannot change the situation of the army. In fact, the martial arts of the Song Dynasty were embellishments, and no outstanding generals came out of this channel, and they were often abolished and not held.

Wuju's position is awkward. If this method is really used to select talents, a bureaucratic class will be formed like the civil bureaucratic system, and military power will be taken from the emperor. The emperor could neither fully control the political power nor the military power, and faced the danger of being overthrown by the bureaucracy.

Compared with Europe, they were constitutionally composed of various traditional nobles or new nobles and kings, and under a unified system, bureaucrats were actually in charge. Whether it is a civilian bureaucrat or a military bureaucrat, no matter how they are divided, they are still bureaucrats. As the chief head of the bureaucracy, the status of the prime minister will be elevated, and he will control the government and become the minister of power. Historically, the Southern Song Dynasty had an endless stream of power ministers, which was related to the strengthening of the bureaucratic system's control over the army.

Once the bureaucracy in the system of power was feudalized, and the positions were held by various hereditary families, and the de facto descendants succeeded each other, the emperor was hollowed out.

Du Zhongxiao knew about martial arts, but he knew that this method was useless, otherwise he would ask the court for a few martial artists to come to the army.

Seeing that a few people had nothing else to say, Du Zhongxiao said: "Electing officials is a way. It's just that you can't use the method of martial arts, compared with civilian officials, generals in the army must have the ability to lead troops and fight, and they can only manage people, but they can't. It is better to use the method of iron supervision to open schools widely, and we will compile some teaching materials, and those who have learned well will come to the army to lead the troops. What do you guys think? ”

These people were not familiar with the iron prison and did not answer for a while. Liu Ji thought for a while and said, "As long as it's an election official, you can do anything." ”

The method of using iron supervision is actually to professionalize the army. Only when it is specialized can the system become a system and be implemented. As long as the situation of a small independent kingdom is not changed, no matter how good the system is, it will not work.

Du Zhongxiao said: "When it comes to minister's money just now, the junior officers don't have it, so they can only pay it to the non-commissioned officers, which is a fact. The local county magistrates, who did not have their own ministers' money, would also apportioned them to the officers. There are honest and self-disciplined officials, and it is extremely difficult to do county duties. It is not easy to support a family, and there are many people in the county who can't eat meat a few times a year. If you are willing to pay the levy, then it is not difficult to do it every day. The same is true for the low-ranking commanders in the army. When officials are elected, there is a special person in charge of money and food, a special person in charge of ordnance, a special person in charge of military discipline, and so on, and so on, and the minister's money can be distributed. ”

Minister's money is actually office expenses, and of course, it is sometimes used as a private benefit for officials and generals. In particular, the military ministers who are actually absent from their posts are simply official benefits. For example, when there was a war with the party, the eight kings automatically demanded that the minister's money be halved, and his minister's money was part of the money. When the military is professionalized, the minister's money can be used as part of the military expenditure and managed by professional logistics officers.

Once specialization is achieved, and there are higher-level specialized departments to support lower-level professional officers so that they can compete with commanders, many problems will be solved. Specialization is the way out to solve the stubborn diseases in the military.