The frogs around are singing endlessly, one after another, as if singing and harmonizing. The wheat harvesters had fallen asleep, and snoring could be heard from time to time in the tent.

The moon poured down from the sky like water, and Shisanlang sat at the door of the tent, looking at the fireflies flying outside from time to time, bored.

Du Zhongxiao sat in the tent, with an oil lamp, looking at the various documents of the Xiang Army in the past few days. There are not only how many acres of wheat were cut by each battalion, but also all kinds of injuries and illnesses under this labor intensity. There are also summaries of officers at all levels, and even summaries of the situation in the army.

From these documents, coupled with what he had seen and heard, Du Zhongxiao tried to grasp the pulse of this army. These trivial things reflect the mental outlook, combat effectiveness, and potential of this army.

The management of the Xiangjun was loose, and there were many redundant personnel before coming to Jingxi Road. In fact, there are many people who do not participate in labor and only take a salary. They are either sick, disabled, or even cheating. Suddenly, those who participated in high-intensity labor, not to mention the old, weak, sick and disabled, had long been eliminated and did not participate in labor, and the remaining strong men were also injured and sick in the past few days.

It is no wonder that the army of this era has to be selected from time to time, and as soon as it relaxes a little, a large number of unqualified personnel will appear.

The wheat harvest has not been long in coming, and so far there has been no demoralization or complaint. Du Zhongxiao doesn't know if it will be like this if he insists on it for a month or two.

It's useless to think about it, after three days, all the wheat in the Tangzhou area will be cut, and the army should go south.

Putting the official document down, Du Zhongxiao stood up and stretched his waist.

Seeing that Thirteen Lang was still sitting at the account gate, Du Zhongxiao said: "It's not early, haven't you slept yet?" ”

Thirteen Lang got up and said, "The official hasn't rested yet, how can I sleep?" ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded, paced in the tent for a while, and suddenly said, "Thirteen Lang, have you read books these days?" ”

Shisanlang said: "Back to the official, although I don't have to go to the field to cut wheat, I have to stand under the sun every day, where is I still in the mood to study." Besides, I don't like the things that the officials gave me in the past, whether it is scriptures or poems, not to mention any books and so on. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded and asked, "Then what books do you want to read?" ”

Thirteen Lang said: "A good man is born in the world, he should fight with a sword and a gun to be rich, and it is best to read military books." ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "Since you have such an idea, it's not bad, I'll find some military books for you in a few days." However, in order to lead troops to war, in addition to the military books, there are two other books that must be read. If not, there will be no great success in the future. ”

Thirteen Lang Qi said: "I don't know which two kinds of books?" In fact, I heard that he was a general before the battle, and it was not much use to study. Many of the generals of the forbidden army don't recognize words, and they can't read military books. ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "At this time, at that time, if you don't know how to read and read, there will be no big difference in the future." In addition to military books, it is also necessary to read the history books of previous dynasties to know the gains and losses of the rise and fall. Not only read history books, but also learn to read and arithmetic. If you don't know how to do the math, you can't do many things. ”

Thirteen Lang smiled when he heard this: "Official, I know why I read history books, and what is the use of books?" ”

"If you don't know how to count, how can you calculate the march to fight? How many people are on the enemy's side, what positions can be discharged, how to attack, how to move. How many troops does our army have, how should it respond to the battle, and what are the chances of victory after the battle. Know the strength of your troops at any time, and as the battlefield changes between the enemy and us, you clearly understand the comparison of the strength of the two sides. The ancients said that planning and planning, planning first, is calculation. It is not the destiny of gods and ghosts, but the troops, grain and grass, and geography. The clearer you calculate, the more targeted your plan will be, and the war will be in your hands. ”

Thirteen Lang scratched his head: "Official, I've never heard of this kind of thing. ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "It's not uncommon if you haven't heard of it, for hundreds of years, planning has been inferior to one generation after another. Tang set up a feudal town, and the imperial court was a general who led the troops, and he didn't pay much attention to the planners. But for the generals on the front line, they knew that without these people, the soldiers could barely be brought, and the battle would not be fought. The decline of the Tang Dynasty began with the Anshi Rebellion. When An Lushan raised troops, the one he trusted the most to plan together was the Confucian officials under him. The founding of this dynasty and the first contribution to the establishment of Zhao Zhong was Zhao Zhong's dedication to the public, and he was the secretary of Taizu. Before Yang Yanzhao guarded the north, it was called the 'Iron City', and the imperial court relied on it. However, because he couldn't understand the text, he was deceived by the little official Zhou Zheng. These things are to tell you that if you want to lead the army to fight, you will know the affairs of the officials, and you will have the ability to write and calculate. ”

At this time, the full name of Zhizhou is Zhijun State Affairs, which is to manage the army on the horse and manage the people on the horse, which is actually a continuation of the feudal town of the late Tang Dynasty. Officials are known as governors and have always been regarded as officials. Theoretically speaking, its authority was similar to that of the feudal town, except that the personnel power, supervision power, and part of the financial power were taken back by the imperial court. The Song Dynasty avoided the disaster of the feudal town, mainly from two aspects. The first is to collect its money valley, and the financial power is gradually received into the hands of the three divisions. The other is to cut off his minions, that is, his staff and staff officials only exist in their names and become officials appointed by the imperial court. His personal guards, also only in his name, became the official servants of the yamen.

Later generations paid more attention to seizing the financial power of Zhizhou and abolishing his own soldiers, but in fact, it was even more important that the shogunate and the officials of Cao Cao were abolished. Without this, the army will be cut off from the localities, and the army will not be able to meddle in local affairs. Although Zhizhou is in charge of the military, government and civil affairs, he no longer has the means to pinch the two together.

From the beginning of the Anshi Rebellion, those who were in charge of the money and grain official documents were the absolute core. When An Lushan raised his army, it was his Confucian officer who discussed. Song Taizu won the world, relying on his secretary. Without these core personnel, it is actually difficult to pose a threat to the imperial court just by controlling the army. With these inconspicuous henchmen, the subordinates of the party chief are actually a small imperial court, which can quickly form a complete ruling system.

Before the disaster of the feudal towns, most of the rebellions in peacetime were princes with small imperial courts or local royal families. The feudal town was formed, with its own ruling system, and the world fell apart when it had soldiers, money, food and territory.

Song Taizu himself was born in a feudal town, and his understanding of this is not comparable to others. Soldiers are certainly the core, but as long as the generals of the unified army do not have money, food, and minions, they will not become a big trouble in the end. The Song Dynasty was called the world of public men for many reasons, but one of the most important ones was that the local officials were actually systematic. From the capital and the leaders of the officials, to the priests, the scribes, the soldiers, the horses, the heads, etc., it was actually the system of managing the magistrates of the former feudal towns. It is these people who really rule the place. Combined with local forces, there are both historical traditions and local foundations.

The magistrates were deceived by the officials, and on the surface, most of them were ignorant and weak, but in fact, most of them had no understanding of this system. One reason for the collapse of local officials in the Song Dynasty was that the public officials were poorly treated and had no future. Although officials can be discharged, there is a requirement for the number of years. By the time they reach the age limit, most of them are already past the prime of life, and what future is there for being a lowest-level petty official? If you are well educated, you must resign from your position as a clerk and take the exam after three years. There are not many people who can make this decision.

Where is it? And what about the army? Du Zhongxiao has been thinking about this issue these days. The army is not simply leading troops to fight, in fact, it is a complex system, and it is inseparable from the non-combatants who support the system. There are these people in this era, but their status is not high, and they have no future at all. Most of the generals below the command of the capital rely on their own henchmen, some small soldiers and colonels. Handle official documents for them, manage money and food, and even maintain military discipline. The higher capital supervisors and governors were originally the leaders who led the troops to fight and had their own management systems. In the past few years, his status has declined, and he has become a middle-level commander of the army, and his management relies on his personal follower. The commanders and ministers who were in charge of the whole road did not have professional non-combat management personnel, and most of them temporarily set up close generals, or family members, or even servants to accompany them. It was only at the level of the Department of Economic Strategy that there began to be a special management officer, and it became a real marshal's office.

Most of these non-combatants, who are attached to the commanders of the army, have no official status and no future in the officialdom, either because of their special relationship with their supervisors or personal feelings, or because of money. Their instability has a direct impact on the combat effectiveness of the army. The army's logistics, weapons, and other key materials are in the hands of these people, and they can influence the opinions of the commander-in-chief at critical moments.

Du Zhongxiao thought about it, and the non-combatants in the army in later generations were of great significance to the formation of the army's combat strength, and their status was very high. Of course, things go too far, and some armies even have the spectacle of more civilians than combatants.

A few days ago, when Du Zhongxiao let go of the Iron Supervisor, the organizational problem he was most worried about was that the status of the technical personnel of the Iron Supervisor had not been resolved. They do not have official status, and now they do not have a perfect technical promotion system, and if there is a recurrence, it will affect morale and even the stability of the team. And for industrial factories, professional technicians and managers are crucial.

The problem is the same for local officials, as is for non-combat managers in the military.

The military is not necessarily professionalized, but it must be professionalized. Now it is just the opposite, professionalization has gone too far, and specialization has regressed.

Du Zhongxiao asked Shisanlang to be a general, he must learn to read and arithmetic, and learn to manage the army by himself, which is what it means. If you don't have this awareness, you will be pushed by the army of this era, and it will be difficult to build up meritorious deeds.

After these days of eating, living, and living with the grassroots troops, the first issue that Du Zhongxiao realized was to strengthen the professionalization of the army. Specialized managers, specialized staff officers, specialized technicians, and so on. It's not just about these people, it's about their political future, or it's hard to change it.

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