Located ten miles away from the northwest of Kaifeng Fucheng, the painting fairy view built along the Jinshui River is now a new look. The main gate was changed to face the Jinshui River and opened, and a small wharf was built with bluestone outside the door, and the wharf was weeping willows on both sides, which was very charming. The newly repaired Taoist temple portal is exquisite, although the scene is not big, but a pillar and a stone, a hall and a pavilion, as well as a small courtyard in the Taoist temple, obviously have spent a lot of thought, the repair is very meticulous and exquisite, it seems that Huang Zhisheng this material craftsman still has real skills.

Although the Taoist temple is beautifully repaired, the immortals enshrined in this Taoist temple are a bit unpopular, and the two Taoist priests Guo Zhenren and Liu Zhenren who presided over it don't seem to care about incense. So the business of this temple has always been cold.

However, today this small Taoist temple seems to have come to a big deal, and on the road not far from the Taoist temple, there is a long line of chariots and horses, as well as a well-armored van guard. These van soldiers, coachmen, grooms, and even the servants who followed and served were all entertained with wine and meat from the Taoist temple at this time, and sat in groups under the willow trees while enjoying the cool while eating and drinking with juice.

As for the traitor of the Great Song Dynasty they escorted, the left servant archery under the door Lang Zhangdun, at this time had already entered the Taoist temple, accompanied by Wu Haogu and Zhang Dan's henchman Zhang Yi, climbed to the commanding heights in the painting immortal temple Wangxian Pavilion.

Wangxian Pavilion is a three-storey pavilion, not wide, there is only a small "pavilion room" on the three floors, there are windows on all sides, and there is a big four-corner spire above.

It's summer, so the windows on all four sides of the "pavilion" are open, and under each of the four windows is a table with a copper basin filled with ice. The fresh breeze blowing from the Jinshui River passed through the house, bringing a little coolness to the people inside.

In the "pavilion", there are not many people sitting, and in the center are two old men, one Confucian. The Confucian scholar was dressed up as Zhang Dian, with a soft hat and a hat, dressed in casual clothes, which was cool and chic, and did not lose his graceful bearing. The Taoist priest is dressed as Murong Forget Worries, with a feather coat and a star crown, holding a feather fan, talking and laughing, and he seems to be very popular.

The two of them were accompanied by Wu Haogu and Zhang Yi, both dressed as Confucian scholars and looking very talented. You can also talk about the general trend of the world between talking and laughing, and between the two famous ministers and Confucians, they can also respond to a few words.

Behind Murong Wangwu sat a tower-like man, it was Brother Zhong who had traveled thousands of miles to Kaifeng Mansion to come to the surname Zhao, who did not participate in the conversation, but just twisted his brows as if thinking about something.

After talking for a while, Mr. Murong shook his feather fan, looked like a master, and said to Zhang Dian with a smile: "Zhang Xianggong, the general trend in the world, you and I have also said a lot today. Speaking of which, it is nothing more than that the Khitan will perish, the northern country will be chaotic, and if the Great Song Dynasty wants to be stable, it must take Yanyun to consolidate the mountains and rivers...... This truth is easy to explain clearly, but if you want to restore Yanyun, you can't rely on reason alone, you have to do practical things!

And today's Da Song Dynasty, can he do practical things? When the lower body was in the north, I heard that the most uneasy thing about the Great Song Dynasty official family was the elite soldiers who could fight well, for fear that someone would embrace the elite soldiers and learn the yellow robe of Emperor Yizu to add their skills, but is there such a thing? ”

Murong Wang's words were too straightforward, which made Zhang Dun's old face a little unbearable, and in his heart, he looked down on the so-called Confucian scholars of the northern region even more - these Confucian scholars in the northern region are really not very humble gentlemen!

looked down on the other party in his heart, but he still didn't show his face clearly, but he just smiled: "The troubled times of the five seasons can be attributed to peace, isn't it the Taizu and Taizong generals of this dynasty who have a way?" As for the elite soldiers who can fight, aren't the 200,000 useful soldiers of the Western Army of this dynasty? ”

The so-called "utility" is also known as "utility" or "brave utility". These people do not have a fixed establishment, and they do not need to be used in the barracks, and of course they do not need to tattoo words on their bodies, as long as they report to the barracks regularly, and they can go out with the army whenever there is a war. The income of the utility soldier is equivalent to the sergeant of the upper forbidden army and the middle forbidden army.

Because it is relatively free and the treatment is not bad, there are often some warriors in the army, children of officials, high-rollers, and even non-scribes who will go to the effect.

In Shaanxi Sixth Road and Hedong Road, utility soldiers have become synonymous with elite soldiers. Many children of local tyrants in Shaanxi and Hedong joined the army in the name of utility, so as to seek a military career. The core forces of the Western Army's generals, that is, the private soldiers of each family, will also be in the name of "utility". For example, there are more than 1,000 effective soldiers in the Fuzhou Zhejia, and there are also hundreds of utility soldiers in the families of the Western Army generals such as the Chongjia, the Yao family, and the Liu family.

However, "200,000 utility people" is bragging, that is, counting "Fan brave", it would be good to have 20,000 utility people. If it really has a utility of 200,000, it will not be the destruction of Western Xia, but the death of the Great Song Dynasty officials who lamented all night......

Murong forgot to worry and waved his feather fan lightly and smiled: "If the Western Army of the Great Song Dynasty really had 200,000 brave effects, Western Xia would have died a long time ago, and the land of Yanyun would have been restored a long time ago, and Xianggong would not have come to see me, a minister in the northern land." ”

Zhang Dian squinted his eyes and looked at Murong Forget his worries, but did not answer, as if he was waiting for the other party's next step.

Murong Forget smiled worriedly: "The old man heard that in the Western Army, most of the effective people are the private soldiers of the generals. It seems that the official family of the Great Song Dynasty is not completely intolerant of soldiers, and this effective method can be used to train soldiers with a little improvement. ”

"How?" Zhang Tun asked.

Old man Murong shook his feather fan and said with a smile: "Let's talk about whether the utility soldiers raised by the generals of the Western Army can fight, does Xianggong think they can fight?" ”

"Nature is capable of fighting!" Zhang Duan replied, "If you can't fight, who will spend money to support you?" ”

Murong nodded and said, "The effectiveness of the Western Army is probably the same as that of our Yandi's big clan private soldiers, recruitment, training, equipment, usage, and salaries are all found out of their own pockets. Private soldiers who can eat but can't fight, but no one will raise them. ”

Zhang Dian said: "The utility of our court can get the rewards and money and food of the imperial court. ”

"To whom?" Murong asked, "To the utility man himself, or to the general who supports the utility man?" ”

Zhang Dian said: "In Shaanxi Sixth Road, it can be flexible. ”

"If you can be flexible in Shaanxi, why can you only stay the same in Kaifeng?" Murong Wangwu shook his feather fan and glanced at Wu Haogu, who was sitting sideways. The things he wanted to talk to Zhang Dian today were actually put forward by Wu Haogu.

He, a military advisor, seems to have become the mouthpiece of Wu Haogu!

But this Wu Dalang really has a lot of ghost ideas! I don't know if he is the "reincarnation of the painting immortal" or the "reincarnation of Guiguzi"?

"Flexible?" Zhang Dian asked, "What does Mr. Murong mean to let the generals of Kaifeng Mansion raise utility people?" ”

"Of course not." Murong Forget smiled worriedly, "The old man is saying that the method of raising utility soldiers can be used to train the new army...... The reason why the effect of the gate can be fought is that the soldiers are generals. ”

"Soldiers will have ......," Zhang Dian frowned.

"Soldiers are generals" is taboo! When the Great Song official family heard these four words, they were afraid that they would immediately think of the rebellious ministers and thieves!

Murong looked at Zhang Dian who was full of worries, and said with a smile: "There are big and small soldiers who are generals, and if a general is a general, there is a hidden danger of supporting the army and self-respecting."

But what about a soldier or a troop of soldiers? A team of no more than 100 people, supporting 100 people to carry out rebellion, I'm afraid it's a dead end, right? ”

"This ......"

Zhang Dian nodded, this is a way.

In fact, when the bureaucracy is not efficient, the shortcut to enhancing the combat effectiveness of the army is to decentralize power!

Wu Haogu, who majored in Western oil painting in later generations, still has a good understanding of the history of the Western Renaissance and the next few hundred years, and of course knows some Western military systems. For a long period of time, almost between the gradual collapse of feudal military service and the full maturity of compulsory military service, there were also a large number of mercenaries in Western armies, and for a time mercenaries were even the main components of the armies of Western countries.

And during this period, the bureaucracy in Western countries was not very efficient, lacking supervision and bribery. If, like the Great Song Dynasty, the bureaucratic system was relied upon to control the army to death, it would not be able to meet the needs of the fierce and frequent wars in Europe.

Therefore, the armed forces of various countries have more or less adopted the "contract system" of "soldiers for the generals," that is, regiment commanders, battalion commanders, or company commanders are responsible for recruiting and training soldiers, and for purchasing equipment and baggage -- the scope of contracting is not necessarily, sometimes large, sometimes small, and sometimes they can buy and sell military positions.

For example, the Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, and Hugh, who led the army in the Opium Wars. Gough is a "donation class" who spent money.

In short, from a traditional Chinese point of view, they are all very corrupt.

However, it is undeniable that under the low efficiency of the feudal bureaucratic system, it is still conducive to improving the combat effectiveness of the army by appropriately engaging in some contracting.

If it is not reassuring to treat a team of several thousand people as a separate contractor, then a team of 100 people should always be relieved, right?

I had never heard of a hundred soldiers who could plot to usurp the throne...... If you don't feel at ease, then you don't have to think about what to restore Yanyun, just eat and wait for death.

Zhang's brows twisted again: "But...... If you want to train 50,000 elite soldiers, you have to have 500 teams, where can the imperial court find so many teams at one time? I'm afraid it's going to be a mixed bag, right? ”

The difficulty of "small packages" lies in the fact that there are so many "small military contractors" to be found, and there is always a way for Zhang Dian to find ten regular generals who can lead troops. But with 500 teams that can lead troops, Zhang Xianggong has nothing to do.

Zhang Dian said: "If you fill the numbers indiscriminately, I'm afraid it will be difficult to train into elite soldiers, right?" ”

The old man Murong was happy and said with a smile: "I heard that the Great Song Dynasty has martial arts and martial arts, isn't this martial arts and martial arts used to select the team?" ”

"Martial arts and martial arts?" Zhang's brow was still furrowed.