I don't know when it snowed outside, fluttering and falling all over the branches. The little guy pushed the door in to deliver food, and the snowflakes drifted in. Looking out the door, I saw snowflakes flying, and the ground was already white.

Liu Chang said: "What a heavy snowfall! Ruixue is a good year, and the coming year will be a good year! ”

Ouyang Xiudao: "Since the railway was repaired, grain from all over the country can be transported to each other, and there has been no major disaster for several years. The so-called heaven fulfills people's wishes, politics is harmonious, and even the heavens have mercy on this dynasty, and it snows. ”

Fan Zhen said: "Snow is the weather, what does it have to do with national politics? Look at the New Year, the winter is about to pass, and there will be no heavy snowfall, when will it fall again! ”

Several people laughed together and no longer reasoned about it. The servant carefully placed the copper pot on the table and bowed out.

Ouyang Xiu said: "I heard that eating mutton like this was like this when Du Zhongcheng was in the Volcano Army, and it spread to the capital. Although eating meat like this is not very elegant, it is really a unique flavor when the weather is cold and freezing. ”

Everyone laughed together, saw that the soup in the copper pot was boiling, and each took the meat slices down. After drinking wine and eating meat, a few people ate melons and fruits and chatted.

Liu Changdao: "At first glance, I felt that the military system of Hequ Road was not very reasonable. On top of the battle array, since the fierce generals are in front, the elite soldiers follow, and they can fight bloodily to defeat the strong enemy. In the military system of the Hequ Road, when the battalion commander and above arrived, he no longer went to the front line in person, but only commanded in the rear. How can the soldiers fight the enemy without a general in front of the commander? After arriving in the capital, I learned that the soldiers joined the army, and they had to be trained first, and then they were incorporated into the military formation. How to fight, the new army learned during training. Not to mention that there is also a military academy, training generals, everything is in order. It's just that I don't know why the Beijing Forbidden Army has been unsatisfactory after the training, and I always feel that it is not interesting. ”

Wang Qi said: "What the people said is very true. As a matter of fact, many officials in the DPRK and China, when they heard about the military system on the Haqu Road, felt that it did not conform to common sense. If it weren't for Du Zhongcheng's consecutive victories, there would be no rivals around, and he would definitely not have trained heavily. Although the effect after the whole training is not satisfactory, it is still much stronger than before. ”

Ouyang Xiu said: "The ones that are stronger than before, one is that the soldiers are different, and the other is the military formation. When the two armies fought, the soldiers trained in this dynasty had guns and cannons, how could the soldiers with swords and guns compare? It is to defend the fortified city, and there is artillery, which is not difficult to break. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "If you only look at the soldiers, after all, the new military system is recruited and specially trained, so it is naturally stronger than the previous one." But the new military system is not for this purpose, otherwise it will be better as long as the guns and artillery are changed and retrained. In the new military system, unlike in the past, all affairs in the army were decided by the commander-in-chief, but each general and officer had his own responsibilities. There are good commanders, of course, the combat power of the army is stronger, but as long as it is not particularly bad, the army can always guarantee basic combat power. ”

Liu Chang said: "It is precisely because of this that the commanders in the forbidden army are very dissatisfied with the new military system. I heard that there are too few people who can learn well in military schools, and in the end it became that you can just go and learn. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Of course, under the new military system, the commander of the army has become the commander, unless it is wartime, otherwise most of the power in the army is in the subordinate officers. In the affairs of the army, the commander decides only major matters, and of course he is not satisfied. ”

Ouyang Xiu said: "This is human nature. Under the new military system, the generals under their command are no longer left to their own service, and the money and food in the army are no longer decided by the commander-in-chief. When it comes to money and power, of course they don't want to. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "In fact, the military system has been like this since ancient times. Looking at the pre-Qin and Han dynasties, how many officials were in the army, and how many are there now? Operations are very complicated things, and they certainly can't be managed without permanent officials. Everything is decided by the commander-in-chief, the victory or defeat lies in the generals, and there is a limit to the battles that can be fought. The scale is not large, and the generals can lead the troops to a decisive battle by themselves. The scale is large, and if you want to cooperate with each other, you often have to go wrong. Under the new military system, the most important thing is to cooperate with each other, and no longer rely on individual commanders to come forward to fight. ”

In fact, the Song army reached this point, there were very few qualified commanders, and there were not many people who could resolutely move forward in small-scale battles. Most of the so-called famous generals are cultivated in such skirmishes. Without a unified battle plan, each unit did its own thing, and the commander-in-chief often disobeyed orders because of various concerns. The slightest relaxation of military discipline often leads to a rout. And the military discipline is too strict, which will put too much pressure on the soldiers.

Ouyang Xiu said: "In this way, the military system of Hequ Road or the restoration of the ancient system?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "You can't say that. One part is to restore the ancient method of commanding troops, and the other is to combine the guns and artillery in the army to make appropriate changes and additions. As I have said before, the typical feature of the new military system is specialization, and it is no longer the commander-in-chief who has the final say. Commanders specialize in command, grain and grass are specialized in logistics, and various officials perform their own duties and do not interfere with each other. Coupled with the system of liuguan, the commander of the army is not so important. ”

Wang Qi said: "What are the benefits of this? In the past, it was all decided by the commander-in-chief, and there were many fewer incidents in the imperial court. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Neihan, the benefits are much greater. Before the Qin and Han dynasties, the world was divided, and Zhou Tianzi did not have much affairs. Finally, the Spring and Autumn Period for hegemony, the annexation of the Warring States, and the devastation of the world for hundreds of years. Since the Han Dynasty, it has been found that the county score is too strong. In the past, the commander-in-chief of the whole committee of the army was similar to the division of the army, with hundreds of thousands of troops in name. ”

Ouyang Xiu listened, thought for a while, and said, "Zhongcheng said this, which is refreshing. The commander-in-chief of the whole committee is indeed a bit like a feudal officer, although there are strict punishment laws, but in fact, they cannot control the army. Every time there is a big battle, there must be generals who do not fight with all their might. The restructuring of the Hequ Road military was originally meant by such a meaning. I didn't know much about it before, but there were many misunderstandings. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Of course. For the imperial court, it is the government internally and the military government externally, and the dynasty has always been divided into this way. It's just that the army only has commanders, and there is a lack of officials, and when it is in charge of affairs other than war, there are often many problems, and they have to be entrusted with government affairs. In other words, there are now too few officers in the military, resulting in unclear responsibilities. Seventy percent of the money and grain in this dynasty was used to raise the army, and it was powerless to change. There are more officers in the army, where will the money and food come from? And it went on and on. ”

Fan Zhen said: "Now that the money and food are abundant, it can be changed." However, it has been several years, and the battle of the Zhenrong army has not been satisfactory. ”

Ouyang Xiu said: "The 300,000 troops of the Zhenrong Army, the officers are all old generals in the former forbidden army, and only a very few people who have come out of the military academy are low-level petty officers in it, and they don't care about anything. The change in the military system has not actually been done. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "If you want to change the military system, you must change people, otherwise it will be empty after all." With all the old generals, I have to slow down. ”

The officers in the 300,000 army on the front line of the Zhenrong Army were not only the old people in the original forbidden army, but also the people who were personally raised by the emperor. Just like Di Qing, he went straight from the Gongsheng Army, and the emperor could often see him and was promoted to an officer. As a result, the emperor was unwilling to give up his previous efforts and use them to control the new army. As it turned out, it just seems to be a little slower now.

Speaking of substitutions, everyone didn't speak for a while. The emperor of the Song Dynasty was very strict about the promotion of the generals of the forbidden army, and during the time of Taizong, the commanders were all from the emperor, and no one was allowed to ask. Zhenzong let go of some of them, but until now, the promotion of the generals of the forbidden army in the capital is an absolute imperial affair, and other officials are not allowed to interfere. Without major stimulus, it is not an easy task to get the emperor to let go.

After the generals of Hequ Road were transferred to the capital, most of them were idle, which was related to this. Those generals were promoted by Du Zhongxiao, not out of divine will, and the official rewards given were rich enough, so they were naturally not allowed to lead troops for the time being.

Due to the incomplete system, military personnel is the main means of imperial power to control military power, and the emperor cannot change it until he adapts to other means.

After drinking two glasses of wine, Ouyang Xiu said: "The Zhenrong army is all old generals of the forbidden army, from the Holy Judge, and they are the most trusted generals of the official family. Even if the army has been reformed, it is still necessary to use them to run the army, which is no way. ”

Liu Chang said: "Relying on the commander of the army to hold military power is not the blessing of the imperial court after all. The battle of attacking Lingzhou is extremely obvious. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Is there any way?" We, as courtiers, only need to care how the army becomes the strongest and invincible to the outside world. It's not so simple for the saints, as long as the army is strong enough, the most important thing is to be obedient. Many things happen because of this. The saint is not familiar with the new military system, so naturally he will not let go of the reform, and can only do it little by little. ”

Ouyang Xiu said: "During the Qingli period, when fighting against the party, Lu Xianggong, Yan Xianggong and others used to judge the Privy Council as prime ministers, which was convenient for handling military affairs. I don't know how much bigger the war is now than it was then, but the Privy Council, for the sake of convenience, gave the government hall power. ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled and did not speak. Every time the palace discussed the military, Jia Changchao almost single-handedly fought against the ministers. For the arrangement of the front, the Privy Council has resisted its responsibility, not without reason. The emperor did not understand military power, but under the new situation, he had enough courage to take back military power from the hands of the political affairs hall. Anyway, it's a victory, it's nothing more than spending more money.

Jia Changchao was born in a non-imperial examination, and advanced as a waiter, which is deeply appreciated by the current emperor. What Jia Changchao did largely represented the other side of the emperor. If this were not the case, with the strength of the current Prime Minister Wen Yanbo, he would not be allowed to control the military and politics with one hand.

Speaking of Jia Changchao, everyone shook their heads. He obviously didn't understand military affairs, but he presided over military politics and did not allow others to interfere.

Du Zhongxiao said: "When we look at the forbidden army and military reform, we can't just look at how to change them to be more able to fight, but also see if the imperial court can control it." Now the imperial court intends to let the Privy Council hold the military and political affairs, and other ministers are not allowed to interfere. It's just that the Privy Council has a system that is not clear for a while, there are not enough officials, and they have the power but cannot do good deeds, and this is what it looks like. As he slowly got acquainted with it, there were other generals and officials who came into the eyes of the saint, and everything would change. Therefore, in the battle of Lingzhou, the courtiers just talked, and in the end, it still depends on how well Di Qing did on the front line. ”

This is the reason why Du Zhongxiao has repeatedly said that he should not interfere too much with Di Qing's command on the front line and let him play by himself. One is that since the front-line generals are sent out, they should naturally be commanded by the Privy Council, and other officials should not interfere too much, otherwise there will be chaos. Another reason is that Di Qing, including himself and his generals, is a person trusted by the emperor. Without letting go of them, the emperor would not really support the new military system.

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