On the twelfth day of the fifth lunar month in the ninth year of Jingkang of the Song Dynasty, Chongzheng Hall, Jinling Imperial City.
A court discussion concerning the survival of the Southern Song Dynasty is underway.
Today is already the fourth day after the death of Zhao Mingcheng. After learning that the pillar of his country was gone, Zhao Huan, who was so sad that he almost fainted from crying in the palace, personally went to the place where Zhao Mingcheng was buried outside Nanjing to mourn and mourn. Announced a three-day absence from court as a sign of mourning.
Three days have passed today, and Zhao Huan did not hold a formal morning court. He only called a group of important ministers and elder princes, plus his wife Zhu Lian and son Zhao Chen to go to the Chongzheng Hall to discuss military and state affairs.
"Have all the ministers read Zhao Wenzheng's suicide note? He said that our population is at least 50% larger than that of the Northern Dynasty, our financial resources are at least twice that of the Northern Dynasty, our copper is at least three times that of the Northern Dynasty, and our gunpowder output is no less than that of the Northern Dynasty. , if we can mobilize the whole country to prepare for war, we can at least block the Northern Dynasty's southern expedition, and even wipe out the Central Plains after victory... What do you think?"
The "Zhao Wenzheng" he mentioned was Zhao Mingcheng. After Zhao Mingcheng's death, he was given the posthumous title of Grand Master and Duke of Yue, and the posthumous title Wenzheng. Later generations will have to call him "Zhao Wenzhenggong".
The "Posthumous List of Duke Zhao Wenzheng" is also a famous piece that will last forever. It is said that it was dictated by Zhao Mingcheng and written by He Su. But in fact, the main content of "Zhao Wenzhenggong's Legacy List" was discussed in Zhao Mingcheng's Zhongshan Villa by the courtiers who went to visit Zhao Mingcheng that day.
The content is roughly divided into three aspects.
The first is family affairs, which is to boast about how upright an official is, how meager his family property is, etc., and then recommend a few nephews to be officials - this was the practice when important officials in the Song Dynasty submitted their posthumous certificates.
The second is academic matters. Zhao Mingcheng and his wife Li Qingzhao have studied "hot pot", gunpowder, and gold and stone for many years, and they have quite a lot of experience. Zhao Mingcheng did not want these knowledge to be lost after his death, so he asked Zhao Huan in his will to sponsor Li Qingzhao to open a Zhongshan Skills School to specialize in practical studies such as "hot pot", gunpowder, casting, and iron smelting.
The third is military matters. Zhao Mingcheng analyzed the comprehensive national power of the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties in his posthumous table, and came to the conclusion that the South was strong and the North was weak. Compared with family affairs and academic content, military and state affairs are the main content of "Zhao Wenzhenggong's Posthumous List".
According to the "Posthumous Table", the national power of the Southern Song Dynasty actually far exceeds that of the Northern Song Dynasty! Therefore, as long as the court is determined and the monarchs and ministers work together to transform the powerful national power of the Southern Song Dynasty into military strength, defeating the Northern Song Dynasty will not be a problem.
"Brother Emperor, I think what Zhao Wenzheng said in his suicide note makes some sense, but in fact it is impossible." The first person to stand up and pour cold water on the matter was King Jing Zhao Qi.
He said: "The reason why the southeastern scholar-officials opposed General Tiance was because General Tiance took away tens of millions of acres of land from the northern scholar-officials in order to support a household of 600,000 soldiers.
But why did General Tiance seize the land of the scholar-bureaucrats to support his soldiers? It is because the land is not distributed directly to the soldiers, and the land tax cannot support an army of 600,000... The land in the north is barren, and the average land tax can nominally be one dou, but because the scholar-bureaucrats The family often lost less or less in official rents by virtue of its power, so the actual land tax available to the court had to be at least 30% or 30% off. The income tax for tens of millions of acres of land is only over ten million, and it is extremely difficult to raise an actual army of two hundred thousand.
At the same time, the industrial and commercial capitals in the Central Plains were reduced to deserted places due to the invasion of gold thieves and the flight of scholars and people. Only Jingzhao and Luoyang were left slightly popular, but they could not pay much business tax. Under this situation, General Tiance could only get 600,000 brave men who dared to fight by dividing the fields in the north, using the fields to support soldiers, and establishing a military headquarters. With 600,000 brave warriors, General Tiance can drive out the golden thieves and restore Yanyun's homeland. "
As he spoke, Zhao Qi put on a pained expression again and sighed: "Although our dynasty's wealth is far better than that of the Northern Dynasty, we only have more than 200,000 soldiers in both land and water armies. If we want to expand our army, To reach 600,000 to 700,000, we need to add 300,000 to 400,000 troops. However, the cost of raising and using troops in our dynasty is more expensive than that in the Northern Dynasty. How much does it cost to have 400,000 elite soldiers? I am afraid it will cost 20 to 30 million just to recruit assassins and materials. Right? If you include the expenses of armor, weapons, gunpowder, mules and horses, barracks, etc., tens of millions can be spent. In the future, the annual expenses for military pay, food, rewards, clothing, etc. will have to increase by at least 30 million yuan. .
This is still the daily expense when the North and the South are not at war. If a war really breaks out, the expenses will be like running water! Officials, does the court have that much money? "
Of course there is a little money! There are no less than ten million in the pile sealing warehouse in charge of Zhu Lian. However, the financial surplus of the Southern Song Dynasty court was far from enough to support the increase in military spending of 30 million a year!
King Qi Zhao Mo didn't wait for Zhao Huan to answer, and immediately answered the question: "How can we have so much money? If we can really afford six to seven hundred thousand elite soldiers, why don't we go north to the Central Plains and regain the lost lands in Jingdong and Hebei?"
How dare you? The ministers and princes present could not help but think of Zhao Huan's terminal illness... Not to mention six or seven hundred thousand soldiers, even one million would not dare!
Xu Wang Zhao Di said: "The current annual income of the imperial court is only 60 to 70 million, which seems to be a lot, but it has to support a lot of officials, maintain soldiers in various places, and there are so many large and small workers. , there will be disasters from time to time... Half of the income is spent. There is only more than 30 million left that can be used to raise troops. For now, there is still enough money for the land and navy, but it takes To expand the army by 400,000, we will inevitably have to recruit them violently!"
There were a lot of taxes in the Southern Song Dynasty, but the cost of taxation was actually not low. In order to collect so much tax, the Southern Song Dynasty court had to maintain many officials and soldiers. The 150,000 new army divisions of the Southern Song Dynasty court generally have no regard for local security, so the Southern Song Dynasty court also maintains more than 100,000 soldiers to help suppress and collect taxes... This is necessary! Otherwise, the profiteers and poor and lower-middle peasants in the Southern Song Dynasty would not be willing to pay taxes honestly.
Although the scholar-bureaucrats and landlords in the Southern Song Dynasty could help "enlighten" the people, they did not have much force. If a civil uprising broke out, they would not be able to deal with it, and would have to ask for troops from the prefectures and counties.
In contrast, the Yingtian roads under Zhao Kai's rule did not need so many officials and Xiang troops. The strong peasants on all roads in the camp have become government soldiers, while the peasants who are not strong enough are controlled by the government soldiers. Even if there is a thief, it is not enough to fill the gap between the village soldiers, let alone those who have no force. Businessman.
Therefore, once the restructuring of Zhao Kai's camps and fields was completed, he would no longer need to maintain a large number of troops, and would only need a small number of officials to maintain his rule.
Of course, the transportation envoys in the Northern Song Dynasty still required a large number of officials and soldiers, and the management costs were the same as those in the Southern Song Dynasty, which were relatively high.
King Yi Zhao? shook his head at this time and said: "Even if you levy excessive taxes, you may not be able to collect so much money. When the court receives a penny, the people below have to pay at least two or three penny. Moreover, the rich and gentry often have ways to evade taxes. The poor people in the lower households often have to double their taxes. If the income is really to be increased by tens of millions, I am afraid that the poor people will revolt... In my opinion, if we really want to raise 600,000 to 700,000 soldiers, we will have to fight with The same military system as the Northern Dynasties was implemented, and the troops were raised on fields!"
The Southern Song Dynasty now relies on scholar-officials for everything. Although the scholar-officials have become more responsible after taking full power, it does not mean that they are willing to bear more taxes... Whether they are responsible or not, they are unwilling to pay taxes. This matter is everywhere. Same!
Scholar-bureaucrats did not pay taxes, so where did the taxes of tens of millions a year in the Southern Song Dynasty come from? Of course it’s the poor and lower-middle peasants! Therefore, the life of the poor and lower-middle peasants in the Southern Song Dynasty was very difficult... If the Southern Song Dynasty court wanted to collect double the tax, it is hard to say whether the people below would rebel.
Because most of the scholar-bureaucrats in the Southern Song Dynasty actually had no force!
Therefore, if the Southern Song Dynasty wanted to build a large army, the simplest way was to use the government army system.
He Wang Zhaozhi came out of the class and said: "Brother Emperor, we can't do the same as the third brother to implement the government military system... Even the third brother has no intention of bringing the government military system to the southeast! We are going to do this, Then all the gentry and wealthy families in the southeast will have to take refuge in Third Brother!"
Yes, the scholar-bureaucrats in the Southern Song Dynasty opposed Zhao Kai because they opposed the government army system... If Zhao Huan also wanted to establish the government army system, then why didn't they join Zhao Kai? After all, Zhao Kai has no intention of extending the government military system to the south!
Zhao Huan's brows furrowed more and more tightly. Although his younger brothers were not good brothers, what they said made sense!
The Southern Song Dynasty had few soldiers and could not defeat Zhao Kai. If they wanted to expand the army, they would have to levy and recruit violently. Once the levy and recruitment began, the local scholar-bureaucrats in the Southern Song Dynasty would not be able to handle it. When Zhao Kai did not come, the common people rebelled first... By then the people in the southeast Forget about Master Wang who came to welcome Zhao Kai together!
If you don't want to levy excessive amounts of money and want to expand your army...then the only option is the government army system!
But with the government military system in place, it would be better for the southeastern scholar-bureaucrats to surrender to Zhao Kai...
In other words, they resorted to excessive taxation and expropriation, and the poor and lower-middle peasants voted for Zhao Kai! The government military system was established, and the landlords and gentry voted for Zhao Kai! Don't do anything, as soon as Zhao Kai's soldiers arrive, they will be finished!
"Guan family," Zhu Lian, who was sitting next to Zhao Kai, finally spoke at this time, "take a step back and the world is brighter... What the third uncle wants is money and status. You can still close your door and be the head of a country." , the ministers in the court can continue to serve as officials, and the kings can also divide their towns, wouldn't everyone be happy?"
How come everyone is happy? Zhao Huan thought to himself: I am not happy at all!
He looked at the ministers and princes below. The princes were all very happy, and it seemed that they were not good kings. The ministers were all dumbfounded, and they didn't look like good ministers.
Zhao Huan thought to himself: Could it be that once Zhao Mingcheng, a domineering civil servant suspected of being Zhao Kuangyin, dies, will there be no one left to help protect my country?
"Retreat from the imperial court..." Thinking of this, Zhao Huan looked sad, "Let's all leave... I will think about it carefully and discuss it tomorrow."
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