In mid-June, after Du Zhongxiao rectified the Xiang army and reported to Jingxi Road and the imperial court, the whole army assembled along the railway to the vicinity of the railway prison and began a large-scale all-army exercise. As soon as he got off the train to Yamen, Du Zhongxiao got the news that Di Qing had been transferred from Yanzhou to serve as the deputy privy envoy.

After Nong Zhigao besieged Guangzhou, the imperial court made large-scale personnel adjustments on the east and west roads of Guangnan, and the lost prefectures and counties, including Yongzhou, were regained and vassals were appointed. Cao Cong's son Cao Xiu was ordered to be a thief of the Guangxi Road Economic System, to know Guangzhou with Wei Qiang, and to bring the Jingluo to pacify the envoy with Yu Jing of Guizhou.

It was also at this time that Wang Deyong, who had already been a scholar, was restarted to make Zhengzhou a judgment. The public statement is that the Khitan envoy came to the south, and when he was on the birthday of the Qianyuan Festival, he saw Wang Deyong and asked, "Is the black king the prime minister resurrected?" Therefore, Wang De was re-used.

Du Zhongxiao didn't believe this statement, how could the important ministers of the court be so casual? Moreover, at the same time as Wang Deyong's recovery, Di Qing was deployed from Yanyan Road, knew Yanzhou, and entered the Privy Council as a privy deputy envoy. It is more likely that the emperor intended to appoint military generals into the Privy Council, regain military power, and began to prepare for a crusade against Nong Zhigao in Quang Nam.

At the end of June, more than three months, enough time for Di Qing, who entered the center, to prepare, just in time for the miasma to fade after autumn, to go south. Du Zhongxiao is now training the army, and it happens to be at this point in time.

Until now, there is no certain rule on whether the chief officer of the Privy Council is a civil servant or a military general. In fact, it was Wang Yiyong, who was born as a military general, who served as a privy envoy for a long time, and many people were replaced in the privy council of Wenchen, and he never moved. Recently, Wang Yiyong's health has not been good, Wang Deyong has recovered, and Di Qing has entered the Privy Council, not necessarily to prepare for replacing Wang Yiyong. However, whether it is Wang Yiyong or Wang Deyong, they are both from the generals' families, which is different from Di Qing, who was promoted from the soldiers. Di Qing went from the three government to the commander of the army, and also served as a strategic envoy, to the Privy Council, almost all important positions in the army, from soldiers to commanders, unprecedented after the founding of the country. What can be compared with him is only the situation when there were five generations, and the military generals were completely in charge of the military power.

At this time, the emperor used more relatives for positions in the army, because the military general's salary was high. Another one uses more cronies, and with the consolidation of power, he likes to use military generals. Di Qing was looked at differently by the emperor, and his promotion has always been rapid, and he is the most important person in the army. At least together with Wang Deyong, he is the successor of Wang Yiyong, the privy envoy of the emperor.

Of course, the most important reason why Di Qing became a privy envoy at this time was that Fan Zhongyan, who appreciated him back then, died.

After Fan Zhongyan left Dengzhou, he changed his knowledge to Hangzhou, and changed his term of office to Qingzhou. Because of his illness, he asked to know Yingzhou, which was closer to the capital. When he traveled from Qingzhou to Xuzhou, he passed away last month. As the leader of the scholars, Fan Zhongyan has a very high prestige among the civil officials, and since the failure of the Qingli New Deal, he has never had the opportunity to enter the center. With his passing, one era ended and another began. When he was alive, many people who were close to Fan Zhongyan or had similar interests were put in place intentionally or unintentionally. He died in Xuzhou, and these people began to re-enter the center.

Without Fan Zhongyan, Di Qing could be reused by the emperor with confidence. With Fan Zhongyan, Di Qing could only be outside, waiting for the opportunity.

The current emperor is a very scheming person, and many things he does seem to be unintentional, but in fact, he has always maintained the balance of the government and government, and the power has never been sidelined. He is very scheming, not necessarily a sinister villain in the city, who does not threaten the layout of the world, has always been very kind, willing to listen to the opinions of courtiers, and knows self-discipline. This is a smart person, but a smart person who wants to be a good person, not a sinister villain.

Sitting in the yamen drinking tea, Du Zhongxiao figured out these things and couldn't help but feel a little deflated. The emperor himself made it clear that whether it was marching and fighting, or managing army affairs on a daily basis, he preferred military generals, and his hope of doing a great job in Guangnan was much slimmer.

At the beginning of the party's chaos, it was not Wenchen who was used in the front, but Liu Ping, who was in charge of the military power. After several defeats in a row, Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi were finally transferred to the northwest to stabilize the situation, and it became a practice for Wenchen to serve as a strategic envoy. The exception for more than ten years is Di Qing, who is a military general. Later, no matter how the minister advised, the chief official of the Privy Council was Wang Yiyong, and the emperor did not trust the civil officials to lead troops to war. Those who really have martial arts, such as Zhang Kang and others, will also do everything possible to change the military with literature, including Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi, who have just arrived in the northwest.

Is it better to use civil law to control the military, or to let the generals hold the supreme power? Clearly, there is no point in such a discussion. According to the current military system, it is impossible to let military generals take power in normal times, otherwise the power will be in hand, and it will be another five generations. The Song army could not win the battle, and it had nothing to do with the fact that the Privy Council was a civilian official, and it was the military generals who were in charge of the Privy Council, and the fight was even more ugly. In history, it was Song Shenzong who really established the civil officials of the Privy Council, and it was a little better to look at the outside world at that time.

The Song army's combat strength was not strong, which was related to the military system and the positioning of military power by the imperial power. What do you say, because it doesn't matter if you emphasize literature and ignore martial arts, whether you worship literature and suppress martial arts, or whether you use literature to control martial arts, there is no difference between talking about military with readers in this era, and it's just an itch in your boots.

Give the warriors a higher social status, give them a higher official position, or more money, satisfy all their desires, and even let them grasp the power of the world, and they can change the dynasty at any time, and the army can fight? There has been no such thing in history, and it cannot happen. This is the same as thinking that the landlords exploit the peasants and the capitalists exploit the workers because they don't make enough money. If you make more money and want to make more, the army is facing a life-and-death threat at the front, what treatment can compare to surrendering and being the victor and robbing it in turn? If the rear is too strong, it can still take power on its own, share the benefits with the invaders, and it is not much easier to suppress the civilian population in the rear than to fight with the regular army.

After the five dynasties of the late Tang Dynasty, including later dynasties, a practice emerged for imperial power out of fear of military power. Military generals were not allowed to interfere in the government of the court, and the ability to support the army was in the hands of the court bureaucrats to prevent them from rebelling. In order to ensure the stability of the imperial throne, the emperor firmly controlled the military power, except for the time of war, the power of the army was separated from the government, and the commander of the army was directly responsible to the emperor himself, and the military force was used to ensure the rule.

This system was not created by the Song Dynasty, but stabilized by the Song Dynasty. The Great Song Dynasty was founded by the military, and it is clear that military strength is the basis for ensuring the emperor's rule. The primary purpose of the government is to raise the army and ensure that the army can be governed. In the event of resistance, the military force suppressed it. Even if it is to be appeased, it is to recruit the rebels into the army. Just as the most powerful tribe of the Khitan is the imperial family, the most powerful military force is mainly in the hands of the emperor, and the queen mother has a palace when she is powerful, and even ministers such as Han Derang have a mansion. The obvious difference in status is how much military strength there is under his command, and if there are soldiers, he will have status. The country does not have a great unity, it has typical feudal characteristics, and the country does not seem to be in a national community. What status? You have a lot of status. The Song dynasty was different, and the army was completely in the hands of the emperor himself.

First of all, the army guarantees its rule internally, and its external purpose is to serve the internal, and as long as there is no internal chaos, it is not a big deal, and it can even cede interests. The consequence of this is that the bottom limit of the army's combat strength is internal suppression, the upper limit is the ability to resist external enemies, and the ability to take the initiative to attack is an accident. How could such an army be combat-ready? It can only be corrupted step by step over time, until it can no longer be continued internally, and either the emperor will decentralize power to rebuild the fighting power and resume the former warlord melee, or it will be completely replaced. As for the expansion of territory, that does not exist. If he wants to open up to the outside world, the emperor needs to give up something and let there be no internal chaos before he can send the army out with confidence.

Du Zhongxiao's specialization in the army, and even the intention of cultivating military officials and bureaucrats, was motivated by the intention of changing this situation. Only by replacing the authoritarian feudalism of the army with a bureaucratic system, as in the case of civilian officials, can the emperor let go of the psychological restriction of managing the army by people and putting the reliability of generals first. If you can't do it, everyone who leads the troops is considered a potential thief and must be guarded against everywhere. How to manage the army? How to fight? If the subordinates are not strictly controlled, the treatment is poor, the war is unfavorable, and they are considered incompetent. Be too good to your subordinates, let them be fed and clothed, share difficulties and blessings, treat your subordinates as family brothers, and charge ahead when fighting, and it will be considered that they have bad intentions. The dilemma, this errand is not usually done by people who can do things.

Thinking of Di Qing's entry into the court as a privy deputy envoy, Du Zhongxiao sighed helplessly, and the tea tasted no at all in his mouth.

With such a situation, what if you can really go to the south to quell the chaos? It's not to help Di Qing make a wedding dress, so that the emperor can further regain military power. If you can get military merits, you can get promoted faster, and you have to get rid of the army in time, otherwise you won't have much success in the future.

Without victory, without great achievements, Du Zhongxiao's idea could not be implemented. If you don't change the army system, what if the world is rich? The army is just constantly changing its face. Over time, technology will spread abroad, and one day it will become the current situation. It's nothing more than that in the past the enemy came on horseback, with guns and cannons, and later with ships, they came in a different form.

If you want to make meritorious contributions, it seems that you have not reached a certain status, and it is difficult to change the situation. And in the army, it is impossible to rise to the position you imagined. is not in the army, and there is no chance to prove yourself from the top. For Du Zhongxiao, it is also a dilemma.

When Du Zhongxiao was sitting in the yamen and thinking nonsense, the governor Guo Jian and the general judge Wang Gongyi came in, followed by Tao Seventeen.

After seeing the ceremony, the guest sat down, and Guo Zhi said: "Shicai is following the general judgment and Seventeen Lang is behind, looking at the new machine." Lifting from afar, it was said that tomorrow will come, but it has not been welcomed, and I hope to forgive my sins. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The army was tidy up, so I came by car a day earlier, but I forgot to inform you that I would reschedule." ”

After changing the tea again, Du Zhongxiao said: "This time I came to the Iron Prison, I brought a lot of people and horses, and I have to practice and train in the nearby Fangcheng Mountain, and there are a lot of troubles in the place." In addition to providing grain and grass, you should also inspect the place and let the people who have been zoned into the drill area move out. ”

Guo Yan said: "The inspection place can be handed over to the Ye County local government. As for grain and grass, the iron prison is a big place, so don't worry about it. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded. Ye County is the only subordinate county of the Iron Prison, and the officials are complete, but at this time it has moved to the old site of Kunyang in the north. The exercise area decided by the Xiang Army is under the management of Ye County, so naturally they should cooperate.