In the Tianzhang Pavilion, Du Zhongxiao held the wat and saluted. Zhao Zhen nodded and ordered to give a seat.

After serving the tea soup, Zhao Zhen looked at Du Zhongxiao and said, "It's been a few days since I arrived at the privy council, how does the deputy envoy feel?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Back to Your Majesty, these days the affairs are slowly getting acquainted, and everything is fine." ”

Zhao Zhen nodded, was silent for a while, and said: "When the forbidden army was reorganized, the deputy envoy said that the Privy Council and the Sanya should be changed. A few years have passed, and the deputy envoy has also been in the Privy Council for a few days, do you think it is better to change? ”

Du Zhongxiao thought for a while, nodded and said, "I thought it was still necessary to change." If the Privy Council and the Three Secretaries do not change, it will be difficult for the forbidden army to retrain. And like the forbidden army in the past, the small war is fine, but the big war is really difficult to deal with. ”

Zhao Zhen looked at Du Zhongxiao and said in a deep voice: "I want to hear the details." The deputy envoy can elaborate on what the difficulties are. ”

Du Zhongxiao praised the wat: "Your Majesty, since ancient times, the army has gone to war, but in fact, the number of soldiers is not large. At its peak, it was none other than the Qin and Han dynasties, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers pouring the country. Since then, there have been only a handful of people who have used more than 100,000 soldiers in a campaign in previous dynasties. Once the number of troops exceeds 100,000, either the troops must be divided, otherwise there is likely to be an accident. Especially for the northern captives, the Han destroyed the Xiongnu, and the Tang broke the Turks, most of them accumulated small victories for big victories, and there were few battles of hundreds of thousands of troops. Manpower is sometimes poor, if there is no strong system, how can you command hundreds of thousands of troops by relying on the commander alone? ”

Zhao Zhen said in a deep voice: "During the Han and Tang dynasties, there were many battles of hundreds of thousands of people. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Most of them are extraordinary times, and several generals lead together, and there are very few generals who command hundreds of thousands of troops. The number will be shared, the number of needs will be comparable, there will be no shortcomings, and it will not be held back. This is only possible when there is a lot of fighting—"

Zhao Zhen nodded silently. Ancient wars, in fact, were not large-scale. Except for the Warring States Period and the Qin and Han dynasties, hundreds of thousands of troops fought each other at every turn, and most of the time tens of thousands of people were already big wars. The Warring States period and the Qin and Han dynasties were periods of frequent wars, and the system was harsh, which could not be compared with other periods.

Before the Tang Dynasty, most of the military and political were integrated, and the distinction between military and political was not obvious. As a manager, he has a lot of helpers. After the late Tang Dynasty, it was different, the military and politics were separated, with henchmen as the core, supplemented by other troops. In the Song Dynasty, the total number of forbidden troops at the time of the founding of the country was only one or two hundred thousand, and there was no need for hundreds of thousands of people to fight.

Du Zhongxiao said: "Now the Khitan, if it is forced to come, with a million, it is not comparable to ordinary opponents." To defeat the Khitan, it is impossible to fight a rare battle to destroy the country without hundreds of thousands of troops. In the past, the forbidden army commanded 500 people, and the commander of thousands of people could still command, but tens of thousands of people could not command well. Hundreds of thousands, without waiting for the battle, they will be in chaos first. ”

This is the real stubborn disease of the forbidden army since Taizong, and it cannot be changed at all if the military system is not changed. The forbidden army is based on the command unit, and the commander of the army holds absolute power, and the establishment above is indefinite. The generals who command the operation can be mobilized is the commander, and there is a blank at the top, and there is no control at the bottom. The number of people that one person can directly manage is limited, and the commander can manage an army of 5,000 people, but 10,000 people are actually powerless. Fan Zhongyan's practice of general warfare in Shaanxi is to add one level above command, called general, and the number of people who can directly command has increased significantly.

Zhao Zhen nodded: "The coach directly commands, and it is really difficult to do." In wartime, it is difficult to send more generals to do everything smoothly. ”

Du Zhongxiao praised the wat: "But if you let one general manage the army, everything will be decided by one person, and the power is too great." Tens of thousands of people can dump the society, and those who are masters have to guard against it. The military system of the Hequ Road is to make the establishment of the army larger, and the commander of the army has no power, which can be regarded as a compromise. There are more generals in the army, and each performs its own duties, and does not contain each other. In wartime, the commander only needs to manage the generals, not the general affairs, so as not to be distracted. The subordinate generals have led the army for many years, but they are inevitably careful in wartime and do not obey military orders, so they supervise the army as a deputy. By doing so, the army cannot endanger the community and has combat power. ”

These days, Du Zhongxiao, together with the cadets of the military academy, purposefully gave lessons to the ministers of the DPRK and China. The rest were selected by Zhao Zhen, and only Zhao Zhen has been involved. After studying, the current Zhao Zhen is no longer ignorant of military affairs, and has a general understanding. The characteristics of the military system of Hequ Road and its purpose, Zhao Zhen slowly understood. Zhao Zhen doesn't know much about fighting, but he is familiar with politics. The new military system actually replaced the emperor's control over the army with a political issue. Understood, Zhao Zhen consciously could control it.

With the end of the party-related war, the army must be restructured, which has become the consensus of the government and the opposition. The most important thing about the easy victory in this battle was that Du Zhongxiao had surrounded the party on all sides and divided it into several war zones before the war. These theaters could not coordinate with each other, and the party completely lost its strategic depth and room for maneuver, so it could only be captured by the Song army city by city.

If there is no Hequ Road and no Western Regions, it is not so easy for Di Qing's 300,000 army to destroy the party. If the battle line is extended, the party can harass the rear road and at the same time launch an active attack on the Song army in other directions, instead of being threatened by the Song army in every direction. And if the Song army divides its forces, the final attack on Hengshan is an example, and it is likely that Di Qing will not be able to control it.

The officials of the DPRK and China can see it clearly, but why is Zhao Zhen not clear? The 300,000 troops under Di Qing's department were originally trained by Zhao Zhen who wanted the original forbidden army in the capital to accept guns and cannons. Originally, it was planned that if this battle was fought well, the Song army would be like this. In the end, it turned out that this would not solve the problem. Such a Song army is still in danger against the Khitan.

After thinking about it, Zhao Zhen said: "How the Privy Council and the Sanya will be changed, can you tell me in detail." ”

Du Zhongxiao sorted out his thoughts and said: "Military power can be divided into military administration and military orders, and the minister thinks that the Privy Council and the foreign marshals are in charge of military orders, and the Sanya is in charge of military affairs, which is about the case." Such as recruiting soldiers for training, book assessment, and general affairs, all of which are under the Sanya. The Privy Council is in charge of the establishment of the army, the selection of commanders, and the places where they are stationed. When there is no war, the military power naturally belongs to the three ya, and once the war is fought, the military power goes to the Privy Council and the commanders. ”

Zhao Zhen said: "If this is the case, the current Sanya is far behind. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The current Sanya is only in charge of the edition, of course, it is far behind. It is necessary to add a large number of generals, many officials, and the right to money and food. In fact, not only the three ya, but also the current Privy Council, is far behind. ”

Zhao Zhen thought for a while and said, "If the forbidden army is all trained like this, I don't know how much the generals will increase!" Too many generals, how can money and food support! ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "This matter has been calculated by Weichen. After the training, the most important thing in the army is the general and the utility, and the old pawn does not matter. If the old soldiers in the army are replaced by conscripted sons of good families, part of the military salary is exchanged for local exemption from conscription, and some money and food are distributed, the cost is not much more than before. Moreover, after the whole army is reorganized, there is no need for so many forbidden troops in the world, 500,000 is enough. All in all, the money and food can still be supported. ”

Zhao Zhen thought carefully, weighed it again and again, and didn't speak for a while. Now there are more than 800,000 forbidden troops in the world, and if 200,000 are cut, it can indeed cost a lot less. At present, there are a large number of front-line armies that have military merits but no official positions, and they are similar after training. But the number of generals in the army will increase a lot. It is not worth it to add so many generals, and it needs to be carefully weighed.

After thinking about it again and again, Zhao Zhen said: "The party has been destroyed, and I want to use two or three years to retrain the forbidden army again." Then take Yanyun in the north to fulfill the ambition of the ancestors. How sure does the deputy envoy feel that he will take Yanyun in two or three years? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "If the whole army is trained into several large military groups, and there are 500,000 soldiers who can fight, why worry about a Khitan!" ”

Zhao Zhen nodded heavily: "Okay, the deputy envoy assists the imperial court, reorganizes the forbidden army, and rearmaments to Tu Khitan." If you can achieve this great cause, it is not too much to make the deputy envoy the king! At that time, the world will be unified, and the hegemony of the Han and Tang dynasties will be reproduced, and there will be a dynastic atmosphere! ”