When Guo Ning was serving in the army in Northern Xinjiang, he heard his uncles and elders around him scolding the Jin Dynasty for being fatuous and the Jurchen nobles being incompetent every day. Even his colleagues who were on the trenches in the Northern Xinjiang were scolded as worthless. It seems that this expensive defense line is filled with all kinds of trash, female thieves, traitors and cowards.
Twenty years later, Guo Ning recalled the situation at that time and felt sad but also a little ridiculous.
During the Mingchang period, the Jin court's supply to northern Xinjiang was sufficient. These uncles and elders could eat military rations and receive military pay. They could also occasionally form large groups to go deep into the grasslands to plunder the cattle and sheep of small Mongolian tribes. They didn't complain so much at that time, and they seemed to have quite a lot of confidence in their own robes.
However, as the food and wages paid by the Jin Dynasty court became increasingly scarce, the soldiers suffered from hunger and cold, and they became less and less motivated to fight. When the imperial court came to talk about the issue with handover notes that were worse than waste paper, the morale of the military was completely shattered. As for the uncles around Guo Ning, no matter how sad and angry they were about this, they still turned around and ran away when they encountered the Mongolian cavalry without any hesitation.
The situation at that time is still vivid in my mind. Including Guo Ning, famous generals such as Luo Monk, Qiu Huiluo and other Zhou marshals all fled in embarrassment. Many people were frightened when they saw the Mongols and did not dare to raise their heads, let alone fight to the death with their swords.
Could it be that these people are all trash? Are they all cowards?
Or are these people traitors to the imperial court? Are they deliberately joining forces to destroy Daikin?
of course not.
It's just that the Jin Kingdom's defense strategy in northern Xinjiang determines the performance of these people and the final result.
After the Jurchens' own force collapsed, they could only maintain a huge force in northern Xinjiang to suppress the situation. But maintaining such a large force itself exceeded the upper limit of the Jin Kingdom's financial capabilities. In the first few years, they could barely maintain themselves by relying on decades of accumulation. When the old foundation was exhausted and supply gradually became insufficient, the border garrison became increasingly unusable and the people's hearts became more and more distracted.
The main reason for the collapse of the boundary trench defense line was of course the rise of Mongolia. But even if there is no threat from the Mongols, what will these tens of thousands of people do who are proficient in battle and martial arts but have no food and clothing?
Guo Ning has read a lot in the past few years, and always felt that the Jin Kingdom's northern defense line at that time was like the six towns of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Everyone needs to eat. If you can't eat one or two meals, it's okay; if you don't have enough to eat, no matter how loyal you are to serve the country, you can only change from scolding the traitor to understanding the traitor, and finally becoming a traitor.
He would never let the Northern Xinjiang defense line of the Great Zhou Dynasty go down this old path.
Therefore, the connection between the Central Plains and the grasslands must be close, and the trade routes must be smooth.
Therefore, the imperial court must be able to continuously obtain benefits from the grassland and continue to invest these benefits in the army.
Therefore, the soldiers in Northern Xinjiang must be willing to serve in Northern Xinjiang, and they must find a place in Northern Xinjiang where they can draw benefits. Otherwise, they cannot be willing to represent the imperial court and maintain control around every fort.
Guo Ning's idea once aroused considerable opposition in the DPRK. Many courtiers felt that since the army received generous salaries from the court, they should be loyal to the king and perform their duties wholeheartedly. If they get other benefits besides salary, it would be easy to distract themselves from other things. If the army escapes the control of the imperial court, it will be a serious problem.
Guo Ning really couldn't agree with this idea.
He himself started as a struggling pawn at the bottom, and he knows the true situation of the army best, and he also knows that people's hearts are inevitably greedy. The imperial court of the Great Zhou Dynasty, as well as the nobles, middle-level and above-level officers of the Great Zhou Dynasty, all participated in companies and engaged in large-scale business. It was simply a dream to expect that the army itself would be as pure as water and the officers and soldiers would have hearts as solid as stone.
Under the dynastic system, when the water is clear, there will be no fish. There is nothing the court can do to stop the extra business of the soldiers. If you insist on banning it, it will only force the soldiers to confront the court privately, and the more you dare to resist, the more you will earn.
In Guo Ning's big dream, even the real steel army of later generations was inevitably involved in various interests. It was not until a certain commander-in-chief with superior means came to power that he slowly began to solve the problem. Even so, the commander-in-chief also read two poems to motivate himself before taking the stage.
If the army with lofty beliefs is like this, what's more, the feudal dynasty regime established by Guo Ning is not as capable as it should be? How virtuous is Guo Ning?
, build castles in the air?
Guo Ning is self-aware and simply gives up the choice of making a high profile to bluff people.
From the beginning of the gathering of forces, he did not hesitate to provide benefits to his subordinates, nor did he hesitate to seek benefits for his subordinates. In the end, he tried his best to distribute the benefits as fairly as possible to all relevant people.
As for the loyalty issue that some courtiers are worried about, Guo Ning believes that as long as the benefits continue to flow, the soldiers will be like beasts that have tasted blood, and will naturally have the idea of continuously seizing benefits, and will not degenerate into wastes eating the emperor's food; and the emperors of the Great Zhou Dynasty As long as the nobles have an aggressive attitude, they can always drive the beasts away without having to worry about being backlashed by the beasts.
What's more, the Great Zhou Dynasty has a huge commercial system, and the material exchanges related to the army are dominated by the government and large caravans with a background in Zhongdu. Scattered caravans are basically managed as a whole. If any general neglects his military duties or even has other thoughts because of this, the relevant personnel of the Commercial Office and the Record Department will surely find out the clues, and severe purges will follow.
The Great Zhou Dynasty inherited the Liao and Jin systems, and the Confucian ministers did not have as much say as they did in the Southern Song Dynasty. The foundation of the imperial court was indeed inseparable from trade. This system of doing business with a sword has continued.
To this day, the armies of the Zhou Dynasty in various places maintain a certain degree of independence in terms of financial resources, and each has its own way of making money.
Especially in the northern Xinjiang tribes, the sky is high and the emperor is far away, so the soldiers can't just eat, drink and defecate except for training. Everyday leisure is also idle, and some scattered industries are being carefully managed in various places.
For example, the one in Jinshan relies on hair growth from wool felt. Xuandezhou has several large warehouses that sit on the ground to collect money, and also sell liquor.
Another example is the Badger Mouth Army Fort...
Guo Ning glanced around and discovered their small business.
In the dark corner of the carriage, there were some scattered goods, all tightly packed.
Guo Ning asked casually: "What good thing is this?"
The military officer chuckled and looked at the generals stationed in the fort.
Everyone in the camp took a few steps forward and said, "Your Majesty, these are the furs we collect from hunting. There are deer skins, mink skins and fox skins, which are more precious than ordinary cattle and sheep skins."
As he spoke, he took out the knife from his waist and opened a package. Sure enough, there were tightly bundled furs inside, and there were all kinds of skins. In addition to what Du will say, there are also tiger skins and bear skins.
Among the northern Xinjiang defense lines, Tunpu, which is deeper into the grassland, does more or less fur business.
Anyway, the grassland is vast and the prey is endless. As long as the soldiers are brave enough, the harvest from a small cavalry dispatch can almost provide additional military pay to the entire fort. The stronger Tunpu could even take the initiative to attack and rob small-scale wandering tribes on the grasslands and seize the savings of these tribes.
Badger's Mouth Army Fort is one of the best, and has a reputation in the Recruitment Department.
"Good guys! You have gained a lot!" Guo Ning unfolded the tiger and bear skins, took a look at them, and praised them.
In recent decades, weather conditions have been quite different from those recorded in history books and agricultural books, and winters are often very cold. Therefore, not only the Central Plains, but also the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties had a huge demand for leather goods. In recent years, even the most common leathers, such as sheepskin and cowhide, are worth a lot of money.
Although Guo Ning doesn't care about the prices of these sporadic goods, Li Yun, who is in charge of the business system, is a close minister who often interacts with him, and daily reports are very frequent. Therefore, Guo Ning vaguely remembers that in the big city of Zhongdu, the price of goods is very high. A good deerskin can be sold for about five guan. As for bear and tiger furs, they are even more sought after, with prices starting at ten guan and sometimes being hyped to around 30 guan. In the Southern Dynasties, the price would double again.
At that moment, Guo Ning asked: "What price do merchants usually charge for these two sheets?"
All the generals smiled and said: "In the past, we sold it to a few trading houses that often come and go, and the prices given are really good. But the grassland has been uneasy recently, and the caravan has been late. In case it can't be transported away in winter. , our salt-making method is not good, it is a pity that it is broken, so we asked Sun Dianshi to help us to transport some back quickly. The people Sun Dianshi contacted were in short supply, so I will give you three or five guan, so everyone can make some extra It’s just drink money.”
"Three passes? Five passes?"
Guo Ning glared at the generals: "You guys, are you afraid that you have been cheated? Which trading company is so black-hearted? Is that normal?
Why should we add more to the price, right? "
"Ahem..."
The one who coughed was Qiu Huiluo.
"The person Lao Sun contacted was a trading company I was eyeing."
He explained: "Your Majesty, in the past month, there have been constant disputes between the grasslands and the Central Plains, and merchants have not dared to go north in large numbers. I used the manpower of my own trading company to gather the troops from various military forts and transport them all the way to Juyongguan. The number of guards would be more than double, which would cost a lot...so the purchase price will inevitably be high!"
"You fucking..."
Guo Ning pointed at Qiu Huiluo. It was hard to say much to this old brother. He turned to the general and said loudly: "I want these two pieces of leather, and I'll give you a good price!"
The interaction between the emperor and the marshal was a bit funny, causing the generals to laugh and stuff the leather into Guo Ning's hand with a smile.
Although the Emperor of Zhou had been on the throne for several years, he had never left the army for a day. In the eyes of ordinary soldiers, he was still regarded as a companion who lived and died together. As time goes by, more and more soldiers feel the benefits of joining the army, and they respect and respect the commander-in-chief of the army more and more.
"Giving it to Your Majesty for free!" Dujiang said repeatedly, "It's a gift! Your Majesty, please don't dislike it!"
After a pause, the general added, "I just have a small question, I don't know whether to ask it or not."
"Ask, why are you so tight?"
They all asked with excitement on their faces: "The grassland has been noisy for a month, when will it be our turn to show off our majesty?"
