At this time, the forbidden army has been eroded, and it is no longer the elite division when it was founded. In Du Zhongxiao's eyes, military discipline is lax, the so-called armor is just polite, and in fact, many lower-level sergeants are dressed in tatters. This kind of army, Du Zhongxiao muttered in his heart when he saw it, how to talk about war.

The most common mistake of the literati is to focus too much on the war between the two sides, and attribute most of the war to the master's clever plan. In the bloody battlefield battle, we had to fight hard to fight with the generals and commanders, while ignoring the basic construction of the army. When it comes to military appearance and military discipline, it is a harsh law, and there is no way to do it. To build a civilized division, a mighty division, they have no concept at all.

Fan Zhen saw that Mei Yaochen was a little unhappy, and said, "Du Xiaoguan is also reasonable. The Northwest has used troops for several years, not only did they not exterminate Yuan Hao's clown, but they lost their division and lost their territory, and the situation is getting worse day by day. There are many famous generals in the forbidden army, and if you really talk about it, they may not be worse than the party members. It's just that the party is poor and remote, the soldiers are hard-working, and the military law is strict, which is not comparable to the Central Plains army. When Fan Xianggong and Han Xianggong arrived in the northwest, they advocated the use of more northwest archers, which not only saved military expenses, but also fought against the party and was stronger than the forbidden army. ”

Du Zhongxiao listened, but he just said that he didn't understand, so he stopped talking. Using more northwest archers and border people as soldiers is not a return to the old road of the former dynasty to fetter the frontier. The Central Forbidden Army is stronger than the border militia in terms of both the source of troops and the equipment and training, and its combat strength is inferior to theirs, which can only show that there is a problem in a series of army building such as system and command. If you don't solve the problem fundamentally, the border militia will be used instead, which is nothing more than drinking water to quench your thirst. In the face of a strong enemy, we can only strive to improve the military strength of the border areas, and if we win by luck, the tail will not be lost, and if we do not handle one well, the border militia will once again develop into a new source of turmoil. Isn't that how the current rebellious party came from in the first place?

This is an old problem in border governance, not only in the military, but also in politics and economics. Moreover, they are interlocking, and several factors want to influence each other, and peacetime is a burden for the central government, and when it comes to turbulent times, it becomes a source of turmoil.

In fact, for the Great Song Dynasty, not only the northwest, but also the southwest. The geographical conditions are not good, and there are many different races in the country, and the independence is strong, and the most economical way in ordinary times is to buy and win over. As soon as there are economic difficulties, there is no buy-in, or ambition arises there, and there is turmoil.

After a thousand years of knowledge, Du Zhongxiao has seen a lot of this kind of thing, and it is not strange. To truly solve the border issue, in addition to being willing to spend money, what is more important is to have sufficient manpower, especially a strong contingent of officials, and to make persistent efforts for several decades in order to achieve results. However, for the regime, the cost and difficulty of doing so are far less easy than buying and dividing, and when something goes wrong, someone else will take the blame.

Mei Yaochen did not follow, and discussed military affairs with Fan Zhen at length, and Du Zhongxiao did not intervene.

When the literati talk about military affairs, what is valuable is the summing up of historical examples. Most of them are familiar with history, and they are familiar with the examples of war, and they are talking about the truth. As for whether the analysis and summary are correct or not, then the benevolent will see the benevolent and the wise will see the wise. They can't say why really meticulous military work, such as organization, training, establishment, and so on. As for the management of the army, it often slides to the strict military discipline and kills and kills if you don't agree with each other, which makes people feel murderous. Not to mention that the literati are soft in governing the army, in fact, the literati are handsome, and they often dare to kill more internally than the generals.

Finally, when he returned to the Northwest Front, Mei Yaochen said: "I have heard people who have been to the front line say that the party and military discipline are extremely strict. Tens of thousands of people gathered, the coach raised a glass to drink, and everyone dared to drink. If anyone dares to make a mistake, he will not be forgiven. It seems that this is not comparable to the forbidden army. There has been no war for decades, and the discipline of the forbidden army is lax, how can it deal with such a tiger and wolf army! From this point of view, the forbidden army in the capital - alas! ”

After speaking, it was heartbroken. Both he and Fan Zhen had lived in the capital for many years and were very familiar with the situation of the forbidden army. On the one hand, the forbidden army was inferior and disciplined was lax, and on the other hand, the officers and envoys were not properly armed, and the situation did not allow for optimism.

Fan Zhen also shook his head and drank a glass of wine with Mei Yaochen.

Du Zhongxiao couldn't help it, and said: "The good general of the ancient times will be called Sun Wu." Sun Wu was the general, and he tried the army with a palace maid, and when he was beheaded, he was beheaded, and the military discipline was strict and clean. Wu Qi is a general, regards soldiers as sons, and shares weal and woe with them. It can be seen that the method of leading troops is nothing more than this, on the one hand, the military discipline is strict, and on the other hand, the generals must check themselves and set an example. The army cannot fight, the soldiers are inherently wrong, and the generals are not innocent, and this matter is a big issue. ”

Mei Yaochen and Fan Zhen listened to Du Zhongxiao's words and laughed together: "Petty officials read a lot, but they still see little in the world. This is what is said in the books of leading troops to fight, but in reality it is not like this. In the sixty or seventy years since the founding of the Great Song Dynasty, the soldiers and generals at this time have long been different from ancient times. ”

This topic has been revealed, and it is not interesting to talk about it any further. Everyone has their own experience and opinions, and if they don't really go to the front line to lead troops to fight, who can convince whom? For the three of you here, this kind of chance is very slim.

Fan Zhen said: "In the afternoon, the little official returned to the official office with me, called the people of 'Qixiangju' together, and cut off how to make wine in the future with you, so that you can study with peace of mind and prepare for the scientific examination." With this restaurant, your family now has no worries about food and clothing, and you should put your mind on reading and learning. Life is in a hurry, but it is not a hundred years, and it cannot be delayed in vain. ”

Du Zhongxiao hurriedly got up and thanked him: "The county magistrate is so promoted, and the people are not grateful, how can they be happy in their hearts?" ”

Fan Zhen said with a smile: "I am an official of a hundred miles, so I should naturally be the master of the people." Making wine from sake lees is your family's method, the Wu family should not have made false accusations before, and now it is even more wrong to steal from school. There are gods in the head, how can things in the world be so nonsense? You can rest assured that the government will judge this matter fairly. Just one thing, I tell you again, you make wine from the lees, and after you sell it for money, you must not forget to buy porridge and give alms. The county ensures that you have money to make from sake lees, which is fundamental. Otherwise, how good it would be for the sake lees to give food to the poor! ”

Du Zhongxiao promised to promise that this matter would continue to be done.

At this time, as long as there are cities and towns, there are many homeless and idlers, which is a headache for the government. These people may not do anything for the sake of money, and this is an unstable factor in law and order. The most important thing for Fan Zhen is to give porridge after the Du family sells wine, at least to ensure that no one in the county will starve to death, and there will be a lot less trouble. As for who makes wine to make money, what does it have to do with Fan Zhen? There is a person in the Du family who is there, and he is also a scholar, and if he wants to help, he will help them. Powerful people collude with officials and are the targets of officials' attacks.

The collusion between powerful people is generally public officials, and they generally use each other with officials. When officials with achievements arrived in the locality, they would often use the powerful people to open up the family, clean up one or two families, and control the situation. Fan Zhen has a gentle temperament, and he doesn't want to take anyone under the knife, and the Wu family has a cousin of He Zhongli in the same year who was sentenced to the same year in Benzhou, and he always doesn't look at the face of the monk to see the face of the Buddha. But Wu Kejiu made trouble again and again, and Fan Zhen was also a little annoyed.

These days with leisure, Du Zhongxiao mainly reads the book that Su Shunqin gave him. This is despised by those who do learning, and in their eyes it is not the right way, it is too utilitarian. However, Du Zhongxiao's study and admission to the Jinshi is utilitarian, so he doesn't care what others think of him. Take this opportunity to ask Fan Zhen for some things he doesn't know very well.

Fan Zhen Pavilion has studied for many years and has a deep understanding of the poetry of the imperial examination. People like him don't need the slightest luck to get into the Jinshi, as long as they are admitted to the exam, they will definitely pass. To a certain extent, the imperial examination questions are tailor-made for these people, and they know exactly what they should write and what they should not write.

Seeing that Du Zhongxiao asked superficially, Fan Zhen smiled, and only then did he believe that he really didn't have a deep understanding of Shiwen Shifu, so he explained them one by one. The fixed sentences in the fugue were too vulgar in Fan Zhen's eyes, and after a little plucking, many sentences were turned upside down.