Out of the cafeteria, the sun shone on my body a little lazy. Shi Quanbin looked at the quiet military camp and said to Du Zhongxiao: "I have been in the army for many years, except for the army that is fighting along the border, there are very few such quiet. The daily barracks are always very lively. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "After lunch in the army, it is customary for each team to arrange this afternoon's affairs, give a lecture, and then rest. It's time for a midday break, and it's naturally quiet. After another hour, after the rest, it will be lively. In the barracks, there is also everything. ”

Shi Quanbin became interested, and asked Yao Shouxin on the side: "Gun master, what do you artillery do on a daily basis?" ”

Yao Shouxin said: "Big things are arranged by the camp. What to do, how many people are needed, and from which classes. The general day-to-day affairs are arranged by the team. Those who train go to train, those who maintain go to maintain, and there are idlers who help tidy up the barracks. ”

Shi Quanbin listened to it and said curiously: "In this way, don't you have no free time in the army?" What day is the school? What time do you read in January? ”

Yao Shouxin said: "The rules of our battalion Tianxiang army are different from those of other armies, and there is really no idle time in daily life. Even if there are days of relaxation, it is also arranged uniformly in the squad, led by the officer. Generally speaking, soldiers do not have much leave, except for injuries or special matters. In terms of utility, there are a few days off per month, which are set according to different levels. When you want to take a holiday, the following effects shall be signed by the class general, and the envoy and above shall be signed by the battalion. There are officers on duty in the battalion every day, who are dedicated to these things. ”

Shi Quanbin looked at Du Zhongxiao and shook his head again and again: "It's not easy to join the army, you guys are so busy and don't have a trace of leisure, which one can stand it?" How much money did you pay for your army? Otherwise, wouldn't the soldiers flee? ”

Yao Shouxin said: "In the regimental training, the soldiers in our army are all selected from the local government, except for some pocket money, there is no money. However, if there is a person in the army, the family can also be exempted from one more person's labor, which is equivalent to exemption for a family of five. The above is effective, there will be daily income, and the family is also exempt from military service. Compared with the forbidden army, the utility is higher than that of the ordinary soldiers there, which is enough to support the family. ”

At this time, whether it is a forbidden army or a box army, it is a professional army, unless the old and weak are selected, being a soldier is a lifetime. Because their families are in the army, many families rely on the soldiers' salaries to support their families, and the population can still support them a little, and the population has a very difficult time for a long time.

Because so many families rely on the military to eat, the first major task of the imperial court is to raise the army. As long as there is a shortage of money and food, I don't know how many families have no food and clothing, and these people still use knives. For the regime, this is a very dangerous thing, and it is equivalent to having a sharp sword hanging over the head at all times. The officials' refusal to do so is nothing more than dissatisfaction in their hearts and their lack of ability to rebel. As soon as the military rations are cut off, the army will also use knives to ask for explanations in order to eat. Along the border, it was too much pressure to replace the forbidden army with village soldiers, archers, and soldiers.

With a fully professional mercenary army, the regime faces a dilemma. In order to maintain the necessary military strength, the number of troops must have a certain size. The huge amount adds up, even if the military expenditure of each soldier is not much, it is a huge amount to the imperial court. At its peak a few years ago, the forbidden army reached more than 800,000, and more than seventy percent of the imperial court's financial revenue was spent on the army. And for the soldiers, no matter how large the total amount of the imperial court spends, it is insignificant to spread it on themselves, and they are always struggling on the food and clothing line. The imperial court felt that it was difficult to raise an army, and ordinary soldiers felt that their lives were not easy, and they were not satisfied.

This is a dead knot, the servicemen are not satisfied with the treatment, and the morale and combat effectiveness cannot be too high. The combat effectiveness is poor, and more troops are necessary, and the number of troops is too large for the imperial court to afford, and the treatment for a single soldier is even worse.

No matter how rich the imperial court is, as long as it raises all the armed personnel, it is impossible to pay too much. Ordinary laborers are generally poor, and how high can the standard of living of the army that is not engaged in production be? If this system is to be maintained, it can only maintain a small number of full-time elite regular troops, supported by a large number of reserve forces. Most of the cost of the reserve forces is allocated to the civilian population, and the regime mainly bears the military expenses of the regular army. This is also the direction in which officials are constantly reforming the military system, expanding the box army and the township army, and at the extreme, it is a completely militarized armor protection system, and at the same time reducing the number of forbidden troops.

The situation of the Song Dynasty was special, the basis of the political power was the forbidden army, the strong cadres and weak branches, and the overwhelming superiority of the forbidden army over other military forces must be ensured in order to have the stability of the political power. The military threat along the border was huge, and it was necessary to ensure that there were enough regular troops to confront the enemy, and the capital had to ensure that it was overwhelming, and the number of forbidden troops could not be reduced in any way. There are more than 1 million troops in the world, 670,000 forbidden troops, and the box army is only a few.

Listening to Yao Shouxin talk about the military system of the Yingtianxiang Army, Shi Quanbin felt very novel. Originally, officials in the DPRK and China all believed that the Yingtian Xiang Army had come from the Xiang Army in the past, but it was just a selection process, and in the final analysis, it was still the Xiang Army. Now that I listened to it, I realized that the Yingtian Xiang Army had nothing to do with the Xiang Army that came to Yingtian, and it did not inherit the former at all, and it was completely newly built.

After Yao Shouxin finished speaking, Shi Quanbin asked with great interest: "So now in the army, how much of the effectiveness of the envoys accounts for the whole army?" What percentage of the soldiers? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Artillery requires a lot of knowledge, which is different from other branches of the military, so that the ministers are more effective, accounting for nearly fifty percent." If we add officers at all levels, then ordinary soldiers account for about 50% of the total number of soldiers. It is mainly distributed in the place of transporting artillery, baggage, guards, etc., and does not need special knowledge. ”

Shi Quanbin frowned: "Like this, a soldier is a soldier, and a cannon is used as a minister, and the person with a knife can be willing to obey?" Even the food is different every day, it is different everywhere, and there are no soldiers to make trouble? ”

Yao Shouxin said with a smile: "The regimental training is a joke, the effectiveness of the envoys who operate the cannon is all learned with others, and they are examined, why should others not accept it?" When a battle starts, I don't know how many soldiers are on top of a cannon. If the artillery soldiers are going to make trouble, what about the infantry troops who benefit from the artillery? Besides, the utility of the envoy is not the same as what the soldier only does in the army, and the treatment is naturally different. If they have the ability, they can also learn to operate the gun. ”

Shi Quanbin once led troops for a long time, and felt that Du Zhongxiao's box army was different from the ordinary forbidden army. If it is in the forbidden army, how can a person who fights the guards with a knife be willing to be treated worse than others? According to tradition, there is chaos several times a year. The imperial court doesn't give it to them, of course they have to pick up the knife and ask for it themselves, how can they have the knowledge to study for the exam and fool the past? I don't know how many illiterate people in the forbidden army are, and many commanders know one of the big characters, and they all rely on their official positions to do things. According to the rules here, wouldn't an illiterate commander still have to live under the officials?

Yao Shouxin said with a smile: "In regimental training, when the Xiang Army first came to Jingxi Road, there were also many commanders who were illiterate. At that time, the organization organized people to compile a lot of study booklets, and those who could not learn the army would not enter the army, and they all went to the local camps. In our army, all officers must be able to handle official documents within their duties, and there are no official positions, only various auxiliary officers and functions. This is true not only of artillery, but also of other armies. At present, the main general is not allowed to come forward in the promotion of war, and the army itself has its own wartime rules and methods, and it must follow the rules. ”

"How to determine military merits?" Shi Quanbin blurted out. This is a big problem in the army, and military merit is the yardstick for measurement, and we must not be sloppy at all.

Yao Shouxin said: "Military merit has its own charter. The effectiveness of front-line operations and the fact that soldiers have their own algorithms for military merits, and generals and commanders have different algorithms, and the army has its own divisions for military merits, and after the commanders agree together, they will report to the higher authorities for discretion. Compared with the forbidden army, our military merits are much less, but as long as we win, we should have a lot of promotion rewards. I remember mentioning that now the DPRK has a heavy reward and a light punishment for fighting the enemy, and everyone is vying for the first place when they see the opportunity to win, and everyone grabs more military merits. When encountering danger, everyone retreats, knowing that there will be no multiple punishments. The balance of rewards and punishments in the box army is somewhat different. ”

Shi Quanbin nodded, silent for a while. I have a lot of doubts about Du Zhongxiao's statement in my heart. As long as you lead the troops to fight on the front line, which one is not to remember as many military merits as possible after the war, and the cause of defeat can be blamed, so as to maintain the hearts of your subordinates. The battalion and the field army are like this, how can the officers and soldiers be willing to obey?

Can such an army fight? Shi Quanbin had doubts in his heart. Du Zhongxiao, a young jinshi, had a smooth journey, and made a sharp weapon like guns, and it is not uncommon for him to be stubborn and self-serving. A few years ago, he fought so many battles with the party, and he must have seen it in his eyes and had his own ideas. But after all, it is only on paper, how can it be so easy to really implement it in the army?

According to Shi Quanbin's understanding of the forbidden army, this method is not feasible at all, and it cannot maintain the morale of the army. From the fundamental point of view of the regime, the combat effectiveness of the forbidden army was maintained by the imperial court with money, and the strictness and leniency of military discipline were the result of the game between the commander-in-chief and his subordinates, and there were great differences between different armies. However, if the reward cannot be regained, the morale of the army will be dispersed, the morale will be low, and no other means can replace it.

Thinking of this, Shi Quanbin said: "In the past, when there was a war, the commander of the army discussed merits, and the main thing was promotion. Utility and merit are mostly rewards, and the same is true in your army? The army is practicing operations, do you want to talk about special money? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The battalion field is different, whether it is a general, a utility, or a soldier, the merit is mainly for promotion, supplemented by rewards. The reward in the army is just a meaning, not much money, mainly a change in status. For example, the average soldier in the army joins the army because he is exempted from military service in addition to himself, and one person is added for one merit. To the third merit, it will be suspended for life, and it will be accumulated in turn. ”

Shi Quanbin shook his head again and again: "This kind of practice, the local government will recognize it?" Will the soldiers recognize? In wartime, who will fight bravely! ”

"Of course, the place must be recognized! There are regulations on the affairs of the battalion and field, as well as the prefectures and counties where conscription and enlistment, and all soldiers who participate in the war with the army have a separate roster, called the military register, which is under the control of the governor. These people are soldiers when they go to war, and they are natural township soldiers when they return to their hometowns after being discharged, how can Zhizhou not recognize them? ”

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