In the evening, Du Zhongxiao prepared wine and meat, and several officials of the Privy Council gathered in the side hall next to him for a drink.

After drinking a few rounds of wine, Zhao Zi said: "This time I returned to Beijing, I thought about many things that I might do, but I didn't expect to end up doing this job. What kind of military order department, I haven't thought about it before. Taiwei, what does this yamen do? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "You just treat it as the former commander, but you have removed the intelligence and logistics." When it comes time to do it, the national military situation will inevitably be different from that of the commander, and how difficult is it to learn while doing? ”

Zhao Zi shook his head: "Tai Wei, I don't think this matter is that simple. How can hundreds of thousands of troops across the country be the same as the commander of the road? There are no regulations and precedents to follow, so it will not be easy. ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled: "Of course it's not easy. This military reform, for the Privy Council, for the three ya, and for the generals below, is no less than fighting a big war. This matter has been done well, and since then the forbidden army has changed greatly, and it is no longer what it used to be. If we don't do it well, not only a few of us, but also many people in the country will be unlucky! Therefore, in this matter, only success is allowed, not failure! ”

Chen Xu said: "There is no such thing in the world that is bound to succeed, even if there is a war, there is no sure victory." ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "But this matter is like this, it can only succeed, once it fails, the impact on the court will be too great." In the past two years, everyone should not want to have a relaxed life, political affairs are complicated, and it is normal to be more tired than fighting. ”

Tian said: "A few days ago, I was with Captain Du to discuss this military reform with the saint. Speaking in detail, I feel that it is not easy everywhere. What you are dealing with now is only the affairs of the Privy Council, and then you have to add the armies. The military reform of hundreds of thousands of forbidden troops, how many things are there? Just the personnel changes in the army, there are thousands of people, how many things to consider? ”

Li Fugui said: "There are so many thousands? There are only a few thousand envoys in the world. ”

Tian said: "After the training, there are several times more generals than before, is there still a lot of thousands?" That is, now that the money and grain are overcharged, the court has the money to make money, otherwise, it will only be an increase in generals, and the court will not dare to train all of them. ”

Several people nodded together. According to the system after the training, the number of officers and generals is not comparable to before, but several times more. If it weren't for the increase in the income of the imperial court in recent years, he wouldn't even be able to afford it.

At present, there are less than 10,000 envoys and ministers in the Song army, and many of them are not in the army, but only military officials. There are more than 800,000 forbidden troops, and the ratio of officers and soldiers is almost 1:100. In fact, in the army, only the battalion commander and above are considered generals, and all of them may have no rank, and this is almost the case. After the training, the battalion commander was already a mid-level officer, and there were several ranks below. In addition to the effectiveness in the army, the ratio of officers and soldiers of various types of officers and soldiers has increased several times at once. These officers and generals alone are enough for a headache.

Du Zhongxiao said: "In the past, in the army, in addition to generals, there were many unranked petty officers, as well as junior colonels, and there were many of them. In fact, these people spend no less money every year than officers. In the future, except for the soldiers, only officials and utilities will be left in the army, and all other titles will be removed. In this way, there are naturally more officers, but the organization is clearer. Among them, the benefits of the river meandering road for several years, can be seen. ”

Li Fugui said: "What the captain said is good. It turns out that the number of lieutenants and lieutenants in the forbidden army is really large. The money and food they spend is not much worse than that of the officers. Not to mention that because there are no full-time grain and grass officers, there are many cases of military commanders being greedy for military salaries, which is really difficult to explain. ”

Li Zhang said: "In addition to the soldiers, there are only officers and utility in the army, and the power of the commander is much weakened. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "Yes, the commander will not have so much power in the future." There are deputy positions in the army, as well as general officers, and there are full-time officers for all kinds of powers, and the word commander is a bit out of place. There is no way, fighting now not only depends on the courage of the commanders, but more importantly, it is more important to know how to fight and how to command, and what is needed is knowledge, which is no better than before. ”

Tian Guo nodded and said: "In these foreign wars, everything is going well with the participation of the Hequlu army. The rest of the army, there are always all kinds of problems. In particular, guns are used in the army, unlike before, and the most important thing for the commander is to have knowledge, not bravery. ”

Li Zhang said: "But the generals in the army, many people can't read big characters, how can they be competent? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The most important thing for literacy in the army is to understand all kinds of official documents, not poetry and songs. As long as you put your mind to it, one year is enough time to learn the word, and if you can't learn it, you don't need to be a general in the army. From Suizhou to the present, the army has compiled many kinds of character books, and now it is very practical. During the whole training, there will be people who specialize in teaching literacy, and according to previous experience, they will be able to understand the text in one year. ”

Zhao Zi said: "The most important thing to learn literacy is to use it while learning." If you learn to read and write, you won't use it for a few years, and you will soon forget it. In the past, when I was in Suizhou, there were no suitable books, and the soldiers learned to read and write, but they couldn't find books to read. In the past few years on Hequ Road, Taiwei has found someone to compile many small books, which are popular among the people. Some are equipped in the army, so that the illiterate can learn to read, and then they will have these books to read and learn faster. ”

The villain book compiled by Hequ Road has already spread to the capital, and there are many pirated copies, which are selling very well among the people. Li Zhang knew about it, and he had seen it himself, so he nodded. Literacy is taught in the army, focusing on practicality, not all kinds of rhymes used, let alone poems and songs, but the small things around us, or the practical compilation of official duties. After learning this, it is still easy to forget without suitable reading materials. It's much better to have a villain book, you can read it after you read it, and the soldiers are interested in it and learn faster.

Tian Guo raised his glass and said, "All in all, the next few months will be extremely busy. It's not just the military that's busy, it's those of us who are even busier. In particular, Zhang and Zeng, the two deputy envoys, are not familiar with the Hequ Road army, and there is still a lot to learn. Let's have a drink and hope that the rest of the days will go well. Nothing goes wrong with being busy. ”

Everyone raised their glasses and drank them all. Du Zhongxiao and Fu Bi have been on Hequ Road for many years and are no strangers to military affairs. Tian Guo, Zhang Sheng and Zeng Gongliang are different, even if they have led troops, they are different from now. They also have to learn from the reform of the military system.

In this training, the most lacking is talent. Not only is there a shortage of officers and generals in the army, but there is also a shortage of officials in the DPRK and China.

Putting down the wine glass, Li Zhang sighed: "If you want me to be Jiyi, alas, I have looked at it these days, and it is completely different from the previous Jiyi text, and I don't know where to start." When it comes to learning, I learn a lot. ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled: "Taiwei doesn't have to worry. When the generals and officials from the outside come back, everything will be done according to the rules. Among the several divisions, there are the fewest new regulations that should be established, and there is no shortage of personnel, so the captain is at ease. ”

Li Zhang shook his head and did not speak. Of course, he knew that the most important reason for his position was his relationship with the emperor. As Zhao Zhen's cousin, the most trusted person, he is in charge of the time, which can allow the emperor to grasp the most core secrets in the army. However, although he has commanded the army for many years, he did not start from the grassroots level, nor did he go out as the commander-in-chief, so he is really not familiar with these. If you want to learn, you must work harder than others. But it is not difficult for him to shirk, Zhao Zhen wants to control everything for this military reform.