"Your Majesty, in the battle of Dingchuan Village, I used the forbidden soldiers, box soldiers, Fan soldiers and township soldiers, as well as the people, the total strength is more than Yuan Hao, but the good and the bad are uneven, from the four roads, usually unfamiliar, and there are people, there are Fanzi, and the soldiers of Tubo, the fish and dragons are mixed, it can be said that it is a miscellaneous army. On the contrary, Yuan Hao's troops are small, but they are carefully selected, and their physical fitness is composed of Qiang people and Fan people, and most of them are cavalry, no matter which aspect they compare, they are stronger than our army. Despite the numerical advantage, this numerical advantage is not much, and it is completely offset by these disadvantages. ”

Zhao Zhen's forehead.

In terms of physical fitness alone, the Fanzi and Qiang people grew up in bitter cold lands, and they mainly ate meat and fish, relatively speaking, they were stronger than the Han people. Geographical factors are also the determining factor, the colder the better, the better the physical fitness, so the northerners are relatively taller and stronger than the southerners.

"There are several reasons for the victory: our dynasty is a righteous army, and the enemy is a war of aggression and does not occupy morality. Control the war on Jingyuan Road, the right time, place and people are on my side. Although Yuan Hao was resourceful, brave and good at fighting, and the military strategy was also above the minister, but the minister was modest and cautious, and when formulating the strategy, he learned from others, and listened to the opinions of Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, Zhang Fangping, Di Qing, Chong Shiheng, Zhang Qi, Wang Ji, Jingtai, Zhao Xun and others, or provided strategies or supplements, so the strategy became relatively complete. Usually be careful in politics and treat the local people well, which has won some people's hearts and made them thank the court. Yuan Hao is brutal and unpopular. There is also the training of elite soldiers. When the minister came to Jingyuan Road, he knew that Jingyuan Road would have another fierce battle, without him, Jingyuan Road was not in Zhenrong Zhai before the establishment of Zhuzhai Fort, the terrain was flat, easy to invade. Even in preparation for the Battle of Shimenchuan, the minister had been reducing his army. ”

This is the theme that Zheng Lang wants to say, disarmament!

On the whole, Wang Anshi's changes have positive significance, but there are many drawbacks, Wang Anshi is too impatient when implementing the changes, he is in a hurry, he uses people improperly, his surname is for the benefit of the country, he does not really consider the feelings of the people, the picture is too big, and so on, so there are many side effects.

Even some changes are inexplicable, such as the Baoma Law, and some changes have all kinds of disadvantages but no benefits, such as Wang's Baojia Law and Shiyi Law.

However, some laws and regulations are very good, such as the Cangfa Law, and this disarmament law, which even the conservative ministers at the time, Sima Guang, Han Qi, Fu Bi, Wen Yanbo, and others basically agreed, except for some disputes in some details, they did not hinder major matters. Later, Sima Guang overthrew and did many ugly things in order to overthrow, including the repeal of the Cang Law, and the return of the city that the front-line generals had fought bloody battles to the Western Xia people. However, Sima Guang did not re-increase the number of troops because of Wang Anshi's disarmament.

The strict meaning of disarmament did not begin with Wang Anshi, but with Song Yingzong.

This kid has been raised by Empress Cao in the deep palace, Zheng Lang has very complicated feelings for him, standing in Zhao Zhen's position, this kid should be killed, but from the perspective of the country, as the emperor himself, he is not very evil, and he has done something in some aspects.

But Song Yingzong did not do enough.

So Wang Anshi made a series of reforms.

Simply retired from the army, those who did not let the forbidden army descend to the army, and those who did not let the army retreat to the people.

Shorten the military service period, in the early Northern Song Dynasty, it was 61 before he was allowed to retire, and later expanded the number of troops, and the soldiers were exempted from 61, which caused Zheng Lang to get a large group of old men and soldiers into the palace to show. In the four years of Xining, it is stipulated that those who are more than 50 willing to serve the people will listen to it.

Cash-for-work is used to limit the enlistment of people into the army. This is a dark dissipation, formal disarmament is an open cut, and blocking the source of troops is a dark dissipation. The Song Dynasty's political axe is kind, and the displaced people have no way to live, so let them enter the Xiang Army to avoid the outbreak of large-scale peasant uprisings, and also feed many poor people who cannot survive due to disasters. But raising and raising, how much silk does the court have to support so many homeless people. In the end, the displaced people did not live in it, but dragged the country down to the sea. However, Wang Anshi came up with a wonderful method, and when encountering disasters, the problem was not big, and it was inappropriate to forcibly provide relief, so he allocated a large amount of money and grain to organize the hungry and displaced people to participate in water conservancy construction, city construction and other projects, and to provide relief through work. And these projects have to be built in ordinary times, suffering from financial resources and hurting the people, and the construction of the harvest is not beautiful, and it is counted with one arrow, which not only relieves the hungry people, but also does practical things, and also blocks the redundancy of the van soldiers, and after the disaster, each returns to his hometown, so that many fields will not be abandoned without their owners. Immediately, this far-sighted policy could be replicated.

In the early Northern Song Dynasty, 500 infantry people were a battalion, and 400 cavalry people were a battalion. However, this article began to be implemented in the hands of Zhao Zhen, and it was not until Wang Anshi that it was popularized on a large scale, so that the commanders were full, the number of battalions decreased, and the number of military attachés in the general schools was reduced.

After Wang Anshi's reform, the reduction of 400,000 forbidden troops reduced the expenditure of more than 10 million guan in military spending alone, and if the number includes weapons and armor, the number is even larger, and 20 million guan may not be known. If you add the taxes that these 400,000 soldiers bring to the people, and the productivity and wealth they create, the number will increase even further. This is the most effective and least controversial of all Wang Anshi's changes.

Therefore, Zheng Lang repeatedly said that he came and went freely.

It is chosen in the winter when the farming is idle, but some people have a way to make money even in the winter, they are creating value, if they are forcibly requisitioned into Baoding, it is a kind of regression.

Sometimes Zheng Lang is still very grateful to him as a student.

Without Wang Anshi, he would not have been given all kinds of inspiration.

Wang Anshi doesn't know, even if he knows, it doesn't matter, no matter who it is, it's him, or Zheng Lang, fame is not in the first place, the country is in the first place.

Zheng Lang sorted his thoughts for a moment and continued: "The two armies are fighting, and the number of troops is very important, so although Liu Ping is heroic, Yu Sanchuankou will inevitably suffer a heavy defeat, and the disparity in number is too great. It is not an absolute factor, Shuai Zhi will be brave and brave, and can often make up for the disadvantage of numbers, so Zhang Qi, Zhang Kang, Wang Ji, and Wang Kai have faced more than ten times the enemy in Fuzhou many times, but they all win more with less, and outnumber. When Ranchen arrived at Jingyuan Road, he saw that there were many old, weak, sick and disabled people in the forbidden army, and there were also a few who were strong and powerful, because the imperial court forcibly recruited into the army, and the morale was not high, and there were also single people in the family, or the burden in the family was heavy, and the morale was also not high, and some people were greedy for life and afraid of death, cowardly and afraid of war. Once they are stuffed into the army, not only will they not play a good role in numbers, but on the contrary, they will demoralize other soldiers who dare to fight. So the minister knew that a large number of troops were needed, but he still eliminated them one by one. Among the four roads, Jingyuan Road eliminated the most soldiers, but they sacrificed heavily, and the ministers did not ask the court to send reinforcements. At this time, Jingyuan Road was divided into Zhuzhai Forts, and there were only more than 48,000 regular soldiers, but their combat effectiveness was far better than the original 70,000 armor soldiers. Because after the elimination of strict training and actual combat, these more than 40,000 soldiers have grown into real soldiers. Your Majesty, you can ask Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan in this paragraph, among the four roads, which one is the strongest soldier now? ”

Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi smiled bitterly, not only do you fight a lot, but also, do you really dare to use money, that is not a military training, it is throwing money, I also want to, but where is the money?

But he had to bear that the Jingyuan Road soldiers were the strongest at this time, and they nodded in unison.

"Your Majesty, just now I invited the soldiers of the Ninth Battalion, and you have also seen what the situation is like to release these old, weak, sick and disabled people into the army. If these old, weak, sick and disabled are singled out, will the overall combat effectiveness of the army rise or fall? ”

Zhao Zhen did not answer immediately.

This was also expected by Zheng Lang, so he wasted so much effort today, let these people enter the palace for Zhao Zhen to see, and then introduced the armor protection law, just to persuade Zhao Zhen. He also said: "The minister also knows that if the number of troops drops seriously, His Majesty will be worried, after all, the west and north are both strong enemy circles, but don't forget that there are also Baoding, no matter how poor their combat effectiveness is, they are stronger than these old, weak, sick and disabled." ”

"Yes, Zheng Qing, you go on," Zhao Zhen thought for a while and relaxed.

"Therefore, the minister offers a few strategies, people are over forty, their qi and blood are gradually declining, and after the age of fifty, they begin to officially move towards aging, Lian Po is old, can he still eat, that is Lian Po, Your Majesty, do you expect all soldiers to have Lian Po's body and martial arts?"

Zhao Zhen finally laughed.

"The minister thinks that a soldier must be forcibly discharged after the age of 60, and that after the age of 50 his combat effectiveness has gradually declined, he can try to persuade him to retire, and he should be encouraged to take the initiative to ask for retirement. Those who are less than 50, but are weak, disabled, sick, thin, and mentally abnormal, will be ordered to retire. For those who show cowardice during training or war, it is forbidden for soldiers to retire from the box, and the soldiers from the people. The problem of redundancy in the country will be greatly reduced, and the surplus will be greatly spent, but the army itself will not become weaker, but stronger. Even if the imperial court is financially healthy, it can take out some money to reward soldiers for training and military exploits, and after ten years, the soldiers of the whole country will become a fierce pawn like Jingyuan Road. Why do you need a huge army of 1.3 or 400 thousand, as long as the army of Xiangjing Yuan Road, the minister guarantees that as long as there are 800,000, it is enough to resist the Khitan in the north and destroy the Xia thieves in the west. ”

"800,000? But where do the decommissioning costs come from? Yan Shu was taken aback by the figure of 800,000, and then asked a serious question.

If there were no military generals, as a veteran of the Song Dynasty, he would be very happy in theory. When he was discharged from the army, the imperial court immediately paid a large amount of repatriation expenses, settling-in allowances, and pension expenses. There are also leftovers. The system stipulates that the old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers are allowed to fill the surplus soldiers, or the sergeants reach the age of 60, and the ten generals, generals, generals, bureaus, and detainees are all surplus members, and they can receive half of their salaries and benefits if they are engaged in miscellaneous work in the army, and they will be officially retired after five years. Often, after receiving the settling-in allowance, repatriation allowance and pension allowance, they are still mixed in the army after five years, and they continue to receive half of the salary.

Those who take the initiative to return to their hometowns to farm not only have the same expenses, but also give money and grain to the land, which are eternally tax-free, including a year's invitation, so that they can buy cattle for farming, and they are exempt from rent and labor, so that they can work forever. What to do with the soldiers in the city, first build houses for them, and then pay them for their relocation. Disabled servicemen cannot survive on their own, and they cannot be adopted by their own military camps, and they cannot be allowed to lose their places.

Even Yan Shu is not opposed to the reduction of troops. He also witnessed it with his own eyes just now, those old, weak, sick and disabled, Yan Shu estimated that he could deal with two of them with his own body board, what would he do in the army? And as the prime minister, he is also very struggling with the overstretched finances. If there are 50 million yuan in the treasury at this time, he also wants to roar, don't quarrel with you gentlemen, I support you to fight. Why let Ouyang Xiu scold, let his son-in-law scold, and let Zheng Lang sneer?

It's good to cut it out, where did Guan Jian get such a large amount of settlement expenses?

"Yan Xianggong, there are two in Antun, farmers need cattle, urban soldiers need houses, there are a lot of wasteland, as for houses, now hungry people are everywhere, you can use labor for relief, let them build houses for them. Other fees can be paid in annual instalments. ”

"Installments?" Zhao Zhen was stunned by this advanced term.

"It is the installment payment, first give a year's military salary, so that they and their families can survive, and the next year's harvest can be paid more, divided into three years, then there will be no financial pressure, and when they are still in the army, they must also take out money and food to feed. Elimination is feasible also. In fact, some soldiers do not need to be supported by the state, they are smart, and once they leave the army, they can find a better way to live on their own. ”

The reason is the same as Zheng Lang's borrowing money from the people to raise food and surname, which is a method of withdrawing in advance.

These previous theories made the palace of monarchs and ministers dumbfounded.

Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi burst into tears, almost bursting into tears, we proposed a reduction and elimination of the Shaanxi and Hebei armies, and they were cautious, this kid is good, he actually came to a big reduction with a national surname.

However, the effect of the two is very different.

If there was no armor protection method for Zhao Zhen to quench his thirst, ten Fan Zhongyan would not have thought of persuading Zhao Zhen to reduce troops on a large scale.