Although Zhao Tai now belongs to Song Chen, Shandong is actually an independent country.
Competition between countries ultimately boils down to governance capabilities.
In Zhao Tai's view, territory and population are not the only criteria for determining national strength.
If we only looked at territory and population, Western powers would not colonize the world.
Therefore, if Shandong established a more efficient government, more developed agriculture and commerce, and possessed advanced military organization and firearms, defeating Mongolia and the Southern Song Dynasty would be a piece of cake.
Wang Wentong saluted and accepted the order. Zhao Tai thought for a while and said in a deep voice: "I have one more thing to do!"
Wang Wentong said: "Your Majesty, please give me your instructions."
Zhao Tai kept beard, "This time our army went on an expedition and obtained more than 20,000 war horses. With so many horses, we have to find several more pastures."
Wang Wentong said: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I have sent people to inspect various counties to find suitable horse farms. In addition, I think that in addition to horse farms, we also need to try to purchase a group of stallions to breed our own war horses!"
When a Mongolian cavalry goes on an expedition, he will be equipped with multiple war horses, many of which are mares.
Although these mares are not as strong as male horses, they can carry supplies and provide mare's milk for the Mongolian army during the march.
Horses that have been castrated on the battlefield have a high casualty rate. As long as the horse's legs are slightly injured, the war horse is basically useless. Therefore, most of the horses captured by Zhao Tai are mares.
These mares are not very effective for riding into battle. They are best used for carrying supplies and breeding ponies.
Zhao Tai nodded, "Sir, you have thought carefully. However, Mongolia will definitely seal the border and strictly prohibit traders from transporting horses to us. Where can we buy horses?"
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Since the loss of the Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures and the Hexi Corridor, the Central Plains has been tightly controlled by foreigners in terms of obtaining horses.
Wang Wentong had obviously considered, "Your Majesty, if we can't do it by land, we can go by sea. Now our merchant ships can reach Liaodong and Korea, and we may be able to buy stallions from there."
Zhao Tai stroked his beard and suddenly thought of a question: "Has Goryeo surrendered to Mongolia now?"
Wang Wentong said: "I received news from the Maritime Department that after the Mongolian army defeated the Dongxia Kingdom, last year, with the surrendered Dongxia army as the vanguard, they invaded the territory of Goryeo. The war is not over yet."
Zhao Tai couldn't help but sigh in his heart at the power of the Mongol Empire.
In the past two years, they fought against the Southern Song Dynasty and launched twenty armies to march south. At the same time, they also attacked Europe to the west and Goryeo to the east. Even Zhao Tai had to admit that Mongolia was full of martial virtue.
This made Zhao Tai couldn't help but think that if Mongolia had such strength, if it were all used against him, Shandong would probably not be able to withstand the pressure.
Zhao Tai's eyes were deep and he thought: "It seems that the vision cannot be limited to the Han Dynasty, but at least the whole of East Asia. The war between Mongolia and Goryeo seems to have been going on for a long time. The Goryeo royal family was forced to some island, and in the end it was really hard to bear If we can't hold back, we surrender to Mongolia."
Zhao Tai felt that he should infiltrate Goryeo and learn about Goryeo's situation, but he could not let their royal family kneel down.
Zhao Tai narrowed his eyes and thought in his mind, "If the Goryeo royal family hides on the island and uses the navy alone, can they make a sudden attack and control the Goryeo royal family and force the Goryeo people to continue fighting in Mongolia?"
Thinking of this, Zhao Tai said in a deep voice: "Then please sir, send a caravan to Goryeo to see if we can get a stallion. In addition, since Goryeo is at war with Mongolia, we can try to contact the Goryeo royal family to explore the situation in Goryeo and see if we can Can it cause stumbling blocks to Mongolia through Goryeo?"
Wang Wentong nodded, "I understand!"
Zhao Taidao: "This matter is quite important! Now that the Central Plains is at peace, Mongolia will not attack us for the time being, and we want to recuperate and restore Shandong, and we will not take the initiative to provoke Mongolia. As Mr. considered, Mongolia's territory and population are far greater than In Shandong, everyone is at peace, and Mongolia's recovery strength every year will be several times that of Shandong. Therefore, if we can cultivate and thrive, but Mongolia still needs to fight, it will be beneficial to us!"
Wang Wentong nodded frequently, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will make this matter a priority."
After sending Wang Wentong away, Zhao Tai returned to the back hall. Just after eating a few mouthfuls of food, someone reported that Wang Bin, the right military advisor, was coming.
Zhao Tai could only wipe his mouth, returned to the living room, and said with a smile: "It seems that the two military advisors have made an appointment. I just sent the left military advisor away, and the right military advisor came again. You two have a good connection!"
Wang Binzuo bowed and said with a smile: "I also have something important that I want to report to the king."
Zhao Tai sat down and motioned for Wang Bin to sit down as well, "Commenter, please speak."
Wang Bin said: "In this expedition, your Majesty has achieved many great victories in a row, and the seizures have been quite generous. I think your Majesty should take this opportunity to immediately reward you based on your merits, and use the power of the victory to complete your control of the Qi army."
Zhao Tai saw that the two military advisors were so motivated and seemed to have never rested for a moment. He couldn't help but sit upright and said, "What the military advisor said makes sense! I just talked with Mr. Yidao and he also suggested that I rectify Shandong's military affairs. Let's do this, this In the next two days, I will ask you to draw up a reward strategy. Once the holiday is over, I will conduct a review, reward the entire army based on their merits, and appoint new officials."
When Wang Bin heard this and saw that his goal was achieved, he stood up and saluted, "I will go and do it now, so I won't disturb the king!"
Zhao Tai nodded, and after Wang Bin left, he returned to the backyard to rest.
Zhao Tai originally thought that the official duties arranged for the two military advisors would be nothing to deal with in the past two days, but unexpectedly, the two military advisors were very efficient in their work.
In the evening of the next day, Wang Wentong sent him his plan for rectifying military affairs. Zhao Tai could only read it by candlelight at night.
The core of the plan proposed by Wang Wentong was to remove Shandong East Road and Shandong East Road, leaving only three levels: county, prefecture, and Zhizhishi. All administrative powers in the hands of Wuxian and Li Fen were transferred to the Zhiji Division.
Zhao Tai was quite satisfied with this change. He was in Shandong, so the administrative division of leaving roads was really unnecessary.
His orders go directly through the Department of Construction and Procurement to all prefectures and counties without adding an extra route. This can not only improve efficiency, but also streamline the organization and reduce bloated bureaucracy.
However, in the Song Dynasty, the Zhizhi Department was the official and military affairs. After Wang Wentong made such a change, the military and administration were integrated into one place. It was necessary to add departments and agencies like three provinces and six ministries in the Zhizhi Department to realize the functions of a small court.
Zhao Tai basically accepted Wang Wentong's suggestion and made a request to subdivide it on the basis of the six ministries to improve the status of agriculture, commerce, education, medicine, animal husbandry, weapons, intelligence, and logistics in the official system.
These aspects that are covered by the functions of the six ministries should be set up as a separate bureau under the ministry, or a new bureau should be established together with the ones that did not exist before.
Zhao Tai commented and put forward opinions overnight. After Wang Wentong received the approval, he quickly came up with a more detailed plan.
When the time came to early June, Zhao Tai believed that the time was ripe, so he immediately ordered an inspection of the army and the appointment of officers...
