A few banquets were held in the Houya of Xiangyang. Most of the important generals in the army were present. Taking advantage of the Chinese New Year, Wang Xiaolie planned to entertain them and arrange tasks for next year. After Yang Jin was wiped out, there were no large groups of thieves around, so there was no need to worry now.
When the wine and meat were served, Wang Xiaolie stood up. Said: "Before drinking, let me say a few words. It has been more than eight months since April when we defended Gong County and now we have destroyed Yang Jin. In these eight months, we have seen many things and experienced many things." A lot. Many of your generals worked for the king with my father. At that time, they thought, if we defend Tokyo and repel the Jin army, we can live a peaceful life. Now it seems that what we thought at that time was too simple. The city of Tokyo was not defended. , the Jin army has not been repulsed, and the imperial court still has no place to stay. The world is in ruins, and the people are crying in tears, so we have to make no plans."
Everyone looked at Wang Xiaolie quietly. Know that what you say today is very important for the future.
Wang Xiaolie said: "What should we do next? This is a question that must be answered. The Holy Emperor is in the southeast, too far away from us. Unless something extraordinary happens, there is nothing we can do for the time being. We can only occupy the Wanluo room first, and practice a Send an elite army to guard Jinghu. Jinghu and Jiangnan are the best in the world. As long as there is time, the imperial court will always be able to breathe."
This is the venue for this year’s activities. Everyone nodded after hearing this. In fact, since the official battle with Yang Jin, things have developed so fast that many people have not thought about what will happen next. Moreover, people's habit at this time was to listen to the leader's orders on everything, and most people didn't even think about it.
Wang Xiaolie made the decision to establish himself in Dengzhou and Xiangyang Prefecture carefully.
Normally speaking, if China wants to compete for world hegemony, it should occupy a marginal position. For example, Guanzhong, Hebei, and Hedong are easy to defend but difficult to attack. You can use fewer troops to defend and develop yourself. With strength, you can quickly enter the Central Plains to compete for supremacy. Even if you fail for a while, you can come back to your hometown and make a comeback. For example, the areas around Kaifeng and Luoyang were the places of the Four Wars and were not suitable for base areas.
But there was a special situation at the turn of the Song Dynasty. After the Jin soldiers conquered Kaifeng, they did not think they could rule the Central Plains. At this time, the Jin people's basic idea was to occupy the vast Central Plains area north of the Yellow River and establish a puppet regime. This is true in the Central Plains, not to mention the South. The Jin people had the idea of completely destroying the Song Dynasty, and it was time for Wan Yanliang to do so. This reason is also the basis for Zhao Gouneng to negotiate peace with the Jin Dynasty.
For at least the next ten years, Wang Xiaolie does not need to consider the Jin army's massive attack on him. Even if the puppet regime's troops come to attack, it will be relatively easy to defend. If you still can't train an army to deal with the Jin army after ten years, there is no need to think about anything else.
In fact, China's strategic landscape has changed a lot since the Song Dynasty. Guanzhong and Hedong are actually no longer easy-to-defend but difficult-to-attack key areas. Because the land was barren, the weather became cold and unfavorable for development. The important land in the north has become the Northeast Plains, and the south has become the wealthy Jiangnan. The entire strategic center of gravity has moved eastward.
But in this era, almost everyone’s ideas come from history. In the eyes of the courtiers, if they want to restore the Central Plains, the most important thing is to guard the Shaanxi Road. Defending Jiangnan and attacking Shaanxi is what most people think. Under this situation, Wanluo became a place where no one paid attention.
Wang Xiaolie remembered that Yue Fei's Northern Expedition in history started from the Xiangdeng area and headed north to the Central Plains. Now that I think about it, this is no accident. But the current situation determines that this area can develop rapidly and is the weak spot of the Jin Dynasty.
Seeing that everyone was listening attentively, Wang Xiaolie added: "In the new year, the most important thing for us is to do a few things. The first one is to collect the bones of the soldiers who died fighting against the Jin army when it came south. The world is suffering, but these people are brave Stand up, even many from rough backgrounds, and fight the enemy. Many people died in the wilderness, and their bodies were not collected. The first thing to do is to collect his bones and bury them properly. There are still some people, although they did not die on the battlefield. , but they were injured by the enemy, and some people even had a difficult life, so we must take good care of them."
After hearing this, all the soldiers applauded together. Since the area west of Beijing was not taken back by the Song Dynasty from the Jin people, but the Jin people voluntarily withdrew, there was no follow-up work. There are many martyrs and disabled people in every state and county. Proper burial of the dead and care for the living are what a political power must do. Treating them badly will affect the morale of the army. And as those in power now, we should do the same.
"The second thing is to collect the exiles. Since the Jin soldiers went south, how many families have been destroyed and how many people have been displaced. We cannot sit idly by and ignore it. After the New Year, every state and every county will have special personnel to deal with this matter. Officials of the deceased Money was given for burial, and the surviving people were organized by the authorities to build villages on vacant land. The land was reclaimed, farm tools were provided, and food was grown."
"The third thing is to improve the army and streamline administration. This includes two aspects. The first is to improve the army. How to improve the army? Refining the army is not disarmament, not reducing the army, but making the army elite. These days, the army will make soldier samples and distribute them to All armies and states and counties. Anyone who does not join the army will be laid off from the army, or be converted into a non-combatant army. In all states and counties, anyone who joins the army will join the army. If there are few people in the family, the local government can find a way . Such as helping farming, such as subsidizing money and grain. How to do this needs careful consideration. In a word, the general trend is like this. The Jin army is extremely rampant and has to recruit more troops to protect the family and the country! All the men of the Song Dynasty need to Do your part for the country!”
"On the other hand, we need to streamline administration. In the previous government, political affairs were very complicated. When I was in Ruzhou, the officials there listed in detail the daily tasks to be done. In the following days, we must select people to handle political affairs. Carry out cuts. For example, the taxes collected in the past were very messy and used too many people. If the government collected ten coins and spread it to the people, it would become a hundred coins. The burden on the people was too heavy! One principle, rural people, According to the number of acres of land cultivated, how much should be paid per year and how much grain should be paid. If the figures are accurate, there should be no excessive levies or miscellaneous taxes! No other items beyond the taxes are allowed! How much money is collected and how much grain is paid must be made clear! According to the population, the servants are assigned. The number of labor per man per year is a definite number, and the local government is not allowed to collect more in any name! If the number of servants exceeds the number of servants, they must be given money or food. How much a worker costs or how much food is given to us? Make unified regulations and no changes are allowed in the place! Only by not disturbing the people can they be able to farm with peace of mind."
"Only when we have better troops and simpler administration, and the people feel at ease, can we develop. Don't just think about collecting money and food from the people, but let them farm and weave with peace of mind. Not only must we not harass them, but we must also help them as much as possible. Try to help them! There must be detailed systems for these, and they must be finalized after the New Year to ensure that next spring plowing is done well!"
Hearing this, Chen Yuyi's heart moved. When every official arrives at a place, he will say that he wants to benefit the people. But how to benefit the people, few can explain clearly. Wang Xiaolie was different. He explained things clearly, which he had never seen before. At this time, the most important thing for the court is to raise soldiers. The most important thing for raising soldiers is to have money and food. At the local level, in order to complete the tasks of the court, most of them tried every means to rob the people. Wang Xiaolie's method is to eliminate the middle class, which is different from others.
Wang Xiaolie added: "All those in the military must be given subsidies by the local government. We must try our best to help with spring planting and autumn harvesting, as well as daily affairs. There are also some people who do not have land, and the military will organize them to build new villages. Harvest grain We must give preferential treatment when collecting money and serving people. In short, in the past, the army distributed money and food to support the family. In the future, the army will take care of food and housing, and give some change, and the family will no longer be supported by the army. There is no way. How can the government have so much money? If you give the officers too much money, the government will collapse. If you give too little money, the families of the officers will inevitably be hungry and discouraged. These regulations must be formed to make it clear to the officers and the people. Only in this way can we grow stronger. The army allows soldiers to have no worries.”
Wang Xiaolie has talked about this matter several times and established a new village. It was just that the time was too short, and everyone didn’t know what the effect would be, so they didn’t say anything. In this era, the military not only has to support the soldier himself, but also pays him to support a large family. The Song Dynasty had financial difficulties, and with less money being issued, the life of the lower-level officers and soldiers was very difficult. For the government, military expenditures are huge and unsustainable. For sergeants, each man had too little money to support his family. Now that there is vacant land everywhere, it is better to save this money and let the military families support themselves.
This practice of the Song Dynasty continued from the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties period, and had special historical reasons. The huge army and their families have actually become a big political burden. It is not easy for the court to solve the problem. One of the contents of Wang Anshi's reform was to seal the piles and foreheads, so that the regular army could only go out but not enter, resulting in natural attrition. In addition, use the armor protection method to rebuild the army to replace the forbidden army. It was just that after the old party came to power, it abolished the Baojia Law. As a result, by the late Northern Song Dynasty, the combat effectiveness of the Forbidden Army was abolished, and the armor protection method was also abolished.
Wang Xiaolie's method was actually to replace the employment system with the conscription system, which was what a normal dynasty should do. The key to success is whether the family members of the military can be properly accommodated.
Seeing that no one had any objections, Wang Xiaolie said: "In the end, the key to our success is whether the government can make money. As mentioned above, it is nothing more than to reduce the burden on the people and increase the number and combat effectiveness of the army. . I have calculated that reducing the burden on the people is mainly to reduce the exploitation of powerful households. This matter cannot be said without resorting to ruthless measures. In extraordinary times, of course, there are extraordinary measures. In the final analysis, increasing the army still costs money. At the same time, public officials should not be allowed to When officers exploit the people, the government also has to spend money. In a word, it costs money! Whether the government can make money is a major issue. I have some ideas about this matter for the time being, and I hope everyone will work together to do this in the future. good."
The military costs money. Even if Wang Xiaolie changes the nature of the army, it will still cost money. Whether you can make money is the next major task. The method is nothing more than the memory of the previous life, combined with the specific situation of society at that time.
At this time, due to the limited military expenditure of the imperial court, all the large armies had to return. To put it bluntly, it means allowing the military to run its own business. In history, for example, Zhang Jun only had 40,000 to 50,000 people, but there were 8,000 traders. For example, Yue Jiajun also has a lot of business. If Wang Xiaolie wants to strengthen his army, he must first make a lot of money. Only when you have money in your hands can you use it well and build a truly strong army.
