Nine hundred thousand taels of silver a year. To be honest, this is already worth the combined tax money of two or three poor prefectures like Wuling under the Chu State.
This expense is indeed huge.
If it can be saved, it will indeed make the finances much easier.
And what Sun Siwen raised is indeed a question.
The prefecture and county soldiers responsible for local security are paid the same as the soldiers facing the battlefield, which is indeed very unfair.
Because the responsibilities and risks faced by both parties are different.
The former only need to hunt down bandits and fight local public security wars. The latter need to face the front line and compete with other countries on the battlefield. Can the responsibilities and risks be the same?
Even the prefecture and county soldiers and the war soldiers have different strengths from each other.
The former were selected and eliminated from the combat soldiers. They were already weak and received little training on weekdays. The latter is to select the best among the best, practice a small amount a day, and practice a large amount every three days. The quality is different.
So to sum up, the problem pointed out by Sun Siwen is indeed very big, and it is time to change it.
In fact, the prefecture and county soldiers have the same sound as the war soldiers. This is a problem left over from history.
The matter can be traced back to when Lu Yuan took people to Wugang County to take office.
At that time, he himself was weak, and Wugang County was also in chaos. In order to help his friends take office smoothly, he had to give up the heavy rewards, recruit a group of new soldiers with the treatment of soldiers, and join them together.
Later, he established a firm foothold in Wugang County, and even established a firm foothold in Shaoyang Mansion, and the situation finally became much better.
But at this moment, the Five Poison Sect rebelled.
A rebellion spread to the entire Dongting County, and the Shaoyang Mansion was immediately in danger.
At that time, the Shaoyang Prefecture County Army established by Lu Yuan could be said to have to fight against the Miao people and even local rebels at all times.
The responsibilities, pressures and risks they bear are no different from those of soldiers.
Later, until he established the Changsha Kingdom, and even before the end of the Northern Expedition, the responsibilities of local prefecture and county soldiers were similar to those of war soldiers.
At that time, it was of course no problem, and even reasonable, to give prefecture and county soldiers the same wages as war soldiers.
But now that they have undergone restructuring, the responsibilities of local soldiers and combat soldiers have been separated, and the obligations they bear are also different.
Moreover, there is a high probability that Chu State will no longer let soldiers from prefectures and counties be used as soldiers in the future.
In this case, it would be unreasonable to offer them high wages.
What about the taxes of two or three poor governments?
So much money was used to raise a group of weak soldiers, which makes people feel distressed just thinking about it.
So after thinking about it, Lu Yuan finally nodded and said: "Okay, you can prepare a plan for this problem, and then I will ask the Ministry of War to make gradual rectifications."
When Sun Siwen heard this, he immediately said: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will have a memorial in half a month at most."
Lu Yuan waved his hand: "That's it."
Separating the wages of local soldiers and combat soldiers is another major innovation no less than military reform.
It is foreseeable that those prefecture and county soldiers who have had their wages reduced will definitely create a lot of commotion and may even rebel.
But no matter how difficult it is, no matter how great the impact, he will continue to implement it.
Otherwise, you, a local security force, will be treated the same as soldiers.
The nine forbidden armies and 180,000 soldiers and horses under Gu Gu's command, seeing you guys hiding in the rear, are treated the same as myself, how can you not feel sorry for them?
Oh, it turns out that you can earn that much salary just by hiding in the background and enjoying peace.
Then I am still risking death on the front line and fighting with others?
This trend of thought will definitely appear.
At this time, with the separation of prefecture and county soldiers and war soldiers, it has only been more than a year, so the two sides who originally had the same responsibilities may not have such differences for the time being.
But as time goes by, when the differences between the two sides appear, this idea will definitely appear in the soldiers' minds.
Over time, it will inevitably lead to military morale fluctuating and soldiers unwilling to fight.
Faced with this kind of problem that shakes the foundation of the country, now that someone has raised it and Lu Yuan has discovered it, of course, we must resolutely nip it before it starts.
…
After discussing with the two prime ministers and assistants, not only did they not solve the wartime military expenditure problem, but they also discovered a big problem in Da Chu's current military system, and had to carry out another military reform.
Under this circumstance, before this reform is completed and before the internal stability is stabilized, the troops of Da Chu cannot move lightly.
In addition, military expenditure has indeed become a problem, so Lu Yuan has completely given up on whether to send troops to Daochanghe Kingdom.
As for whether we should take advantage of this opportunity to get some benefits first, take advantage of it, and acquire two vassal countries?
After thinking about it, he finally rejected the plan.
All right.
In Lu Yuan's heart, after all, he still missed the Great Changhe Kingdom.
At this time, the imperial court and the rebels were facing each other in the other country, and both sides were close in strength. The situation is even more serious than when Dai Viet suppressed the internal rebellion.
At least at the beginning, the Dai Viet court still had five masters and 600,000 to 700,000 troops.
The local rebels only have two masters and four to five million soldiers and horses, and at most they include the Jinghai Kingdom.
The strength gap between the two sides is still very large, and Dai Viet has an absolute advantage.
But this advantage is not seen by the court of Dachowa Kingdom today.
Then the problem arises.
The Dai Viet court, which had an absolute advantage at the beginning, spent nine years in order to quell the domestic rebellion and fight off foreign covetousness, and paid the price of losing nearly half of its territory.
So if you, Da Chang Hoa, want to deal with a traitor that is stronger than what Da Viet faced, how much price are you prepared to pay and how long will it take?
Even though, I mean even though.
Even if there is no external force involved in the civil strife in the Great Chowa Kingdom, it will take at least four to five years, or even ten years, for this country to put down the rebellion.
Even if the two sides have been in confrontation for a long time, it is not impossible for the country to completely split into two countries.
And if external forces intervene, such as Lu Yuan, who is currently interested in the country, it will be even more difficult to quell the civil strife in the country.
Therefore, judging from various signs at this time, this rebellion does not seem to be quelled in a short time.
In this case, even though Chu State was unable to intervene in the civil strife of Da Changhe State at this time.
But after two or three years, wouldn’t there be a chance?
Two or three years later, the military expenditure reform that has just begun is also completed. The new immigrants from Chu State have also settled down, taxes can be collected, and the fiscal revenue and expenditure will be balanced.
The five million taels of silver donated by Su and Nanhai can also be used as military expenses.
By then, the military's morale had been determined and expenditures had been sufficient. Even the turmoil over the change of the Chu State's name to Jianyuan had almost subsided.
Under such circumstances, it is natural to send troops to other countries and start another war.
So when the New Year has passed, the Lantern Festival has passed, and even the Qingming Festival has passed.
The envoys of Shizong and Milu stayed in Baling City. Although they had food and drink in the post house, Chu State would not short-change them in terms of expenses.
But this group of people waited and waited, but they still couldn't wait for King Chu's second interview, nor could they wait for any sign of Chu's use of troops.
On the contrary, the various places are becoming more and more stable, business and travel are flowing freely, and the people are happy and happy, and they seem to be enjoying a peaceful and prosperous age.
Seeing this situation, the envoys of the two countries did not understand that the King of Chu had no intention of sending troops to conquer the country.
They were not even willing to accept the two countries as vassals.
This is really no trouble at all.
Therefore, as each day passed, the envoys of the two countries became increasingly depressed as they waited.
This lasted until May, when news came from their country that the Wuman Kingdom was pressing too hard, and there was no news coming back here. The country could not withstand the pressure, and once again attacked the Wuman Kingdom. Soldiers, money and food.
It's just that after this time of pressing, the people in the country really couldn't stand this kind of extortion, and there has been a large-scale flight.
There were even some tribes in the country who occupied the cities and rebelled.
Now that a rebellion has arisen in the country, the DPRK is no longer able to take care of this side, so the two envoys are told not to waste money and food here, and to return home quickly to help.
Upon receiving such bad news, the envoys of the two countries were naturally shocked, and then felt a sense of sadness.
However, before leaving, they asked to see the King of Chu again, and as expected, they left him waiting for news.
Faced with this unsurprising result, the two deceased people had no choice but to pack their luggage and return to China lonely.
When Lu Yuan received the news, he just said "oh" and didn't say much else.
In front of his grand plan, the two small countries of Shizong and Milu were just insignificant wisps of dust and insignificant at all.
Their only value is to report to themselves the news of civil strife in the country.
But then again.
The Kingdom of Dachanghe was adjacent to the Kingdom of Chu. There was a civil strife there, but the Kingdom of Chu had not received any news for a long time. Although this is also because the Yi people have always been self-contained and do not communicate much with the outside world. At the same time, they do not pay much attention to these Yi countries.
But this still has to be said to be a dereliction of duty in foreign intelligence.
Regarding this point, Lu Yuan has asked the relevant person in charge of Honglu Temple to make a review. In the future, it is necessary to strengthen the intelligence of Southwest Yi.
This is related to his future strategy for the entire southwestern barbarians, so he has to be cautious.
However, this incident also made Lu Yuan realize that it was still a bit reluctant to rely solely on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Honglu Temple for intelligence work and to let these diplomats take responsibility.
If he wants to obtain enough information channels and not be hidden by the officials below, he must have his own intelligence department.
Therefore, in February of the first year of Shenwu, Lu Yuan issued an edict to prepare for the establishment of the Imperial City Division in the imperial court, which included the Northern and Southern Divisions of the Imperial City.
Among them, the Imperial City Southern Division is responsible for domestic intelligence affairs. There is a commanding officer with a fourth rank title. The deputy commander envoys two people, ranking from the fourth rank.
Under the command of the commander, a school lieutenant with the rank of fifth grade will be established in each county. The two deputy lieutenants were ranked from the fifth rank.
There is a commander in each government with the rank of seventh rank. The two deputy commanders are ranked from the seventh grade.
Each county has one ambassador, with a rank of nine. The two deputy envoys were ranked from the ninth rank.
Within the Southern Division, there are other officials with different grades.
All of the above are officials.
Under the Southern Division of the Imperial City, depending on the size of each county, there are about ten to thirty non-ranked envoys and junior officers who are responsible for spying on intelligence.
Each government also has fifty to one hundred envoys and subordinates, depending on the situation.
Each county has between 300 and 1,000 people.
There are another 500 people in the entire Imperial City Nan Division and the Capital Headquarters, and they will be increased or decreased as appropriate in the future.
Calculated in this way, the newly established Imperial City Southern Division, which is responsible for domestic intelligence, currently has about 3,000 employees and has instantly become one of the largest organizations in the court.
The other is the Imperial City North Division, which is responsible for foreign affairs.
The Imperial City North Division also has one commander and two deputy commanders. Under him there are also captains, deputy captains, commanders, deputy commanders, ambassadors, and deputy envoys. The grades are the same as those of Nansi.
However, in terms of responsibilities, the commander and deputy commander are in charge of all external intelligence affairs.
The lieutenants and deputy lieutenants were specifically responsible for large countries such as Zhou, Liang, and Ning. Or it may be a specific region, such as Lingnan, Southwest Yi, overseas, etc.
The commander and deputy commander are responsible for a large county in a large country, or a country in a region.
As for ambassadors and deputy envoys, they are just like envoys and envoys. They have no specific affairs and mainly depend on the superior's arrangements.
The number of personnel under the external officials of the Northern Division at all levels is compared with that of the Southern Division, and all can be increased or decreased as appropriate.
However, the Northern Division of the Imperial City is now mainly responsible for the countries bordering Chu, such as the three kingdoms of Zhou, Liang, and Ning, two countries and one county in Lingnan, the two countries of Xichuan and Hanzhong, and the southwestern Yi countries.
In total, six captains are needed to be responsible for six aspects of affairs. Therefore, the number of personnel is small, and the total number of parties is only a thousand.
There are also 300 people at the Bei Division headquarters.
In terms of size, it is temporarily below Nansi.
However, in the future, when Da Chu has more external activities and communicates more with other countries, it will also establish captains in various fields. At that time, it may be able to surpass the Nansi troops.
Of course, all of the above are just figures on the books.
The entire Imperial City Department, whether north or south, is still a newly built government office, which only exists on paper, and everything must be built from scratch.
If you want to achieve the grand achievements mentioned above, it will take only three to five years, or even ten years, to even think about it.
Just like the navy, it is a long-term project.
As for such an important department, which controls the eyes and ears of a country, and such great power, Lu Yuan is naturally uneasy when it is handed over to outsiders.
Therefore, in order to be the managers of these two departments, he selected Qu Su and Yue Quan among his group of registered disciples.
The abilities of these two people were not bad, but their strength was almost reaching the first-class level, so Lu Yuan gave them the divine blood elixir to help them break through to the first-class level, and then promoted them to true disciples.
Then he ordered Yue Quan to be in charge of the Northern Division and Qu Su to be in charge of the Southern Division, respectively in charge of domestic and foreign affairs.
As for the specific personnel of the two divisions in the Imperial City, some of them are filled by Lu Yuan's registered disciples, serving as the eyes and ears to monitor these two people.
The other part is recruited from experienced government officials in local government offices. Or allocate a group of people from the scouts and spies in the army.
Finally, there is still a vacancy. Since then, we have absorbed those warriors with martial arts skills from the rivers and lakes and developed them into people from the Imperial City Division.
With such a three-pronged approach, this shelf can basically be put up.
After Lu Yuan made these arrangements, he didn't pay much attention to this aspect.
The seeds of the Imperial City Division have been planted, now we just need to wait for them to take root and grow vigorously. You don’t need to intervene too much.
But in the end I have to say one thing, that is, from the Imperial City Department to the commanders and subordinates, regardless of officials, all the salaries they receive are paid out of Lu Yuan's internal treasury and do not go into the court accounts.
Fundamentally, it was separated from the imperial court.
In order to prevent them from being influenced by external courtiers, Lu Yuan paid for such a spy. This was a private soldier belonging to the royal family.
Although this approach will increase the burden of royal family expenses. But he, who has always been accustomed to making extra preparations, still chose to make such an extra expenditure.
Anyway, the total number of people to support the Northern and Southern Imperial City Division is about 5,000. Even including all kinds of expenses, it only costs 500,000 taels of silver a year at most.
Lu Yuan could afford this amount of money.
…
After completing the two major events of military expenditure reform and the establishment of the Imperial City Division, Lu Yuan did not do much during the entire second year of Shenwu.
On the contrary, the aftermath of these two major events caused a lot of shock in the country.
First of all, the local soldiers from Xichuan County and Linjiang Prefecture, who were adapted from the original Xichuan County civilians and Zhou people's surrender troops, suddenly went into an uproar after receiving the news that their wages had been greatly reduced.
Among them, some rebels began to lead the rebellion and killed officials in rebellion.
However, as soon as the signs of rebellion appeared, General Zuo and Lieutenant Han Shun of Xichuan County personally led the troops to suppress it. He directly killed hundreds of rebels and severely shocked the place.
Now this time, the prefecture and county soldiers in Xichuan County did not dare to cause trouble and accepted the reality obediently.
There were also riots in other places in Xiangyang County and Dongting County, but they were all quickly put down.
By the end of the year, all the people who came out to cause trouble in various places were cleared away. The soldiers in those prefectures and counties finally accepted the reality, and peace completely returned to the place.
Then there is the court.
Regarding Lu Yuan's establishment of the intelligence agency of the Imperial City's Northern and Southern Divisions, many ministers in the DPRK were quite uneasy and wary.
These literati, who claim to have read the books of sages, have always sincerely rejected imperial hawks like Huangcheng Si.
Therefore, they felt a deep sense of crisis and began to write letters one after another, requesting the imperial court to dismiss the Imperial City Division. If you want to spy on intelligence, it is enough to have Honglu Temple, which is responsible for diplomacy.
When Lu Yuan saw this memorial, he naturally ignored it. Facing the minister who actually said too much, he directly reprimanded him severely.
When encountering some who were too stubborn, they were directly dismissed from office or even punished.
Do you really think he doesn't know what these civil servants are thinking?
Don't you just want to make the king blind and deaf, and then the people below them can do whatever they want and reap the benefits at will.
Lu Yuan would not be polite when facing someone who treated him like a fool.
As for the nonsense they said about what a saintly king and a wise king should be, they even sneered at them.
To be a king alone and to be the master of this country depends on absolute force, the strength of the innate master, and the hundreds of thousands of troops under his command.
You civil servants are just servants I hired to help me manage my house.
Now the servants want to rebel, become the master of the family, and in turn bully me, the original master.
This can only be said.
You really underestimate me, the founder of the country, and your innate master. You really think I can’t kill anyone.
After deposing dozens of officials and even punishing more than ten people, the construction of the Imperial City was finally carried out.
And the crowd in the court went from being angry at the beginning to becoming a chorus of voices in the end, and there was no voice of opposition at all.
But there is one thing that needs to be mentioned.
That is, from the beginning to the end, regarding the issue of whether the Imperial City Department should be established, the highest representatives of the civil servants in the DPRK, Cui Changqing and Sun Siwen, the two prime ministers, did not express any opinions.
There is neither support nor opposition.
Instead, the default was selected.
But without any action, this was already the greatest support for Lu Yuan.
Otherwise, the two of them would stand up and object, and Lu Yuan would really not know what to do.
You can't really let your good friend and Cui Changqing, who has a close relationship with you, also be dismissed from office, right?
If the two of them are gone, where will I find someone to replace them?
It's really not that easy to find a prime minister who you can rest assured and trust absolutely.
And this attitude of the two people also attracted a lot of criticism among the scholars.
It is said that the second prime minister of the country is to submit to the king, which is really a shame for scholars.
Cui and Sun's reputations have suffered a big blow after this incident.
