The most debated topic in the past, just like the most frequently discussed provinces in modern times, some people even made a ranking list. But in the end, they often ended with arguments, because there were brave and warlike troops in various places in different periods of history, and no one could convince anyone!

"Wuwu thought why did the She soldiers and Huai soldiers be good at fighting?" Zhao Bing thought for a while and asked.

"The She people are good at barbaric lands, with strong people and bravery; most of the Huai soldiers are in the Huai River, and since they crossed south, they have successively confronted Jin and Meng here across the river, and conquered for more than a hundred years. Naturally, the people are still martial!" Chen Changshi said.

"What I said is some truth, but it is not fundamental. I think the Qin soldiers, Wei soldiers, Qi martial soldiers, and Zhao border cavalry were all powerful troops in the Warring States Period. In addition, the Cao Wei tiger and leopard cavalry in the three kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty, the Cao Wei tiger and leopard cavalry in the three kingdoms dominated by Qingzhou soldiers, the Shu Han army dominated by Yizhou soldiers, and the big serpent soldiers in the Hebei soldiers were also invincible. Later, there were the Northern Mansion soldiers in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Jiangdong people were mainly the people of the Sui Dynasty, and the Xuanjia army of Emperor Taizong of Tang. Our dynasty was not without strong troops. The Yulong Banzhi, the selected soldiers from all over the country, Yue Wumu was mainly the Hebei soldiers, and the Beiwei army and the Western army were all the strongest!" Zhao Bing slaps his wine and said.

"Your Majesty's words mean the strength of a army, not determined by the region, so what does it have to do with it?" Chen Changshi felt that the emperor's words seemed reasonable, but he still puzzled and asked for advice.

"The strength of the army is related to many factors, but the main ones are nothing more than military system, training level, weapons and equipment, and are also affected by the general trend of the world and the political situation of the country at that time." Zhao Bing thought for a moment, "This is like the clams on this table. They are just ordinary seafood in the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but they are worth thousands of dollars to the north. But the difference is only because clams are prone to rot and difficult to traffic for a long distance!"

"Although your majesty's metaphor is vivid, I still cannot agree with it. People often say that the people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are not old, they are good at calculating, but they are cowardly and cannot serve as soldiers. Therefore, the fall of the Jianghuai River led to the loss of Jiangnan!" Chen Renweng's eldest son Chen Lishi said

The theory of clams in the north and south also originated from an anecdote between Emperor Renzong and clams: "Every time Renzong had a private banquet, he offered cooked food in all directions. At the beginning of the autumn of that year, when clams arrived at the capital, he thought it was offered. Renzong asked, "How much is this evil? Each coin was a thousand coins, and each coin was offered twenty-eight coin. The emperor was unhappy and said, "I often warn you not to be extravagant. Now I will spend 28,000 yuan on chopsticks. I can't bear it, so I won't eat it."

Because of refusing to eat steamed clams, Renzong became a frugal reputation, but Renzong might have been in a while. Of course, this cannot be blamed on the fact that people in the north do not know the goods. At that time, people who could eat clams should be qualified to say that they were rich, so the Emperor of Kaifeng couldn't help but complain that this thing was too expensive.

"Well, good question! The reason why strong soldiers from a certain era came from a region was closely related to the military system at that time." Zhao Bing nodded and said, "As we all know, in the past dynasties before our dynasties, they mainly recruited conscripts. Ding Zhuang man worked in daily life, picked up weapons during wartime, and rushed to the battlefield. This also led to the young and strong not being able to go to their own fields for too long, otherwise the country would be in danger of famine. However, the inability to leave production means that a fixed amount of training could not be guaranteed, but at that time, only a very small number of elite soldiers could do it."

"This puts forward requirements for the quality of the soldiers themselves. If the people in a certain place are martial, they are skilled in bows and horses, and the countryside is closed, and it is easy for the fellow villagers to form a small community. They have a tacit understanding, which can reduce the running-in time. In the Han Dynasty, a huge armament warehouse was established in various counties. As soon as the recruits arrived, they picked up their weapons and put on armor and could immediately perform combat missions. This was also the fundamental reason why the former Qin Dynasty could not do it before, and the Han army could seal the wolf's servants."

"In addition, the Han Dynasty adopted a policy of one-way economic circulation, which led to a large concentration of wealth in the northwest and near capital, to be precise, the Guanzhong region. This allowed the small community in the Guanzhong region to have a richer resource allocation than other regions, and further made the Guanzhong troops in the Han Dynasty more good at fighting than other regions. With them, after the Han Dynasty established its capital in Chang'an, the capital was never lost to foreign tribes. Even the Huns only killed a county magistrate with the help of the rebel party, but they could not even touch the border of Chang'an."

"Don't think that after reading two books, you will show off in front of others. Compared with Your Majesty, you will listen to those nonsense only by listening to those nonsense!" Chen Renweng snorted coldly.

"What my father taught me is that I must reflect on myself in the future!" Chen Lishi quickly stood up and said.

"Linzhou, don't be rude. Your Majesty is not only knowledgeable, but also has a unique view of the world. I just heard your Majesty's arguments and it is a blessing for the children to listen to Your Majesty's teachings." Chen Zeweng glared at him when his brothers were in charge of the lecture.

"Yes!" Chen Renweng bowed and turned to the emperor again, "In fact, I am confused about this and am deeply disturbed by it. Please explain it in detail."

"Please give me advice!" Chen Changshi and Chen Lishi looked at each other, and also stood up to salute.

"Why should the family be so polite? My views are inevitable. We can discuss with each other!" Zhao Bing raised his hand and asked them to avoid politeness. He also felt that if Chen Renweng, as the Minister of War, was confused about this issue, it would cause trouble to the subsequent matters and felt that he could use this to discuss it.

So Zhao Bing invited everyone to drink a drink and expressed his own point of view. The situation of the military system in the Tang Dynasty further developed. Due to the migration of a large number of Inner Asian tribes in the Guanzhong region during the late Han Dynasty, Wei and Jin Dynasties, the entire northwest region was changed from blood to system to culture. Take the traditional farming and warfare troops as an example. The military equipment in the Guanzhong region was spear and bow and arrow, which was a very typical combination of the equipment of the military recruitment of Inner Asian soldiers and the old agricultural soldiers system in the Central Plains. Not to mention that the Guanlong group in the early Tang Dynasty had a strong Xianbei bloodline, which made the rule of the Tang Dynasty a layer of Inner Asian colors.

With its political advantages approaching the capital and its natural advantages of geographically close to the hinterland of Inner Asia, the Northwest region absorbed a large amount of technology and wealth from Inner Asia and had military forces above the Northeast. The border troubles of the Tang Dynasty were mainly concentrated in the northwest and southwest regions, among which the northwest was the most tense. The so-called "catfish effect" caused by the military pressure in the northwest direction made the Tang Dynasty beware of danger in times of peace and continuously strengthen its military facilities.

For this reason, among the ten Jiedus of the Tang Dynasty, six Jiedus were used to defend the northwest border defense, and set up Anxi and Beiting as the first national defense line of the border defense in the Tang Dynasty to consolidate the Western Regions and set up Hexi and Longyou to deal with Tuyuhun, Tufan, and Shuofang and Hedong as mutual support to defend against threats from the Turks in the north and the Uighur tribes that later emerged. Like the Northeast region, the Northwest army also had a large number of foreign soldiers. Before the Anshi Rebellion, almost all the generals in charge of the army were Hu.

But unlike the Northeast, most foreign generals in the northwest region remained loyal to the Tang Dynasty, which led to a fateful showdown with the Northeast army that resolutely rebelled. When An Lushan led the 150,000 rebels composed of Khitan, Xi, and the Han people in the northeast to command Chang'an, the northwest army of Gao Xianzhi and Ge Shuhan were blocked in front of them. Unfortunately, the political situation of the central government was corrupt at that time, and Ge Shuhan was forced to go to war and was captured and killed; Gao Xianzhi died in vain due to false charges of corruption, and Chang'an was thus lost.

Later, in order to quell the rebellion, the Tang Dynasty appointed Guo Ziyi, who was born in the Northwest Army, as Weiqing, and the prefect of Lingwu County, as the governor of Shuofang, and ordered him to lead Shuofang army to fight eastward. From then on, the war between the main force of the Tang army headed by Shuofang army and An Lushan and Shi Siming was officially launched. In this eight-year war of counter-rebellion, Shuofang army ranked first in the first place.

In addition to representing the Shuofang Army in the northwest, the inner Asian tribes from the northwest were also remarkable as foreign aid. During the Anshi Rebellion, the Uighur cavalry defeated the Northeast rebels with cavalry phobia. You should know that there were many Khitans in the Northeast army, but the Uighur cavalry was able to defeat them in cavalry battles, which indirectly confirmed that their cavalry level was higher.

As a result, the myth of strong soldiers from the northwest and northeast was broken. However, the glory of the Uighur cavalry did not last long. In the late Tang Dynasty, the vassal states relied on their troops to bully the central government. In order to balance the Han vassal states in China, the Tang Dynasty decided to introduce the Inner Asian tribes in the northwest again, and this time the Shatu people were selected. As a branch of the Turks, the Shatu people had the innate ability to ride and shoot, and were born in a place like the Western Regions that was conflicted by the three major civilization circles, and learned to use cavalry.

Since the Pang Xun Rebellion, the heroic posture of Shatu cavalry wearing heavy armor and hammers and Ma Shuo to attack the enemy formation left an extremely deep impression on the people of the Central Plains. In the chaotic times of the Five Dynasties, the advantages of the Shatu people's military power were truly reflected. Although Zhu Wen had more abundant resources in theory, he could not help but use the military force of the Fan tribe in Central Asia to maintain the Later Tang Dynasty.

After that, facing the rising Liao Kingdom, five thousand cavalrymen with Shatu people as the core confronted the Liao Taizu Yelu Abaoji on the grassland, defeating him from the front, but also sang the elegy of the Western Army of the Tang Dynasty. Unfortunately, as a Shatu person, Li Cunmao really thought his surname was Li, and did not adopt a similar approach to the Qing Dynasty to maintain the combat effectiveness of his tribal army. In addition to the loss of the war, he could no longer see the Shatu cavalry in Song Dynasty.

"This is precisely because the more we go west, the more harsh the environment, it is difficult for each person and one household to survive, and one family must rely on the power of the tribe to survive. Therefore, there are strong regional bonds between each clan, and tribal members often live in the local area for generations. The army composed of such tribal members is often very loyal to the leaders and is very willing to obey the command of their respective chiefs. In addition, the tribal system ensures that after the tribal soldiers die in battle, their fathers, wives and children have basic survival guarantees, and they will naturally be fearless when fighting!" Zhao Bing took a sip of wine, ate a clam before continuing.

"The She people also lived in Guangdong and Guangxi for many years, and the living environment there was also extremely harsh. They had to compete with other tribes for limited survival resources and live in semi-militarized villages. This made it particularly easy for them to form organization and combat effectiveness once they started a war against a certain group." Zhao Bing said, "The same is true for the Huai Army to become the pillar of our dynasty. After the fall of the north, they moved south to the Lianghuai area and became Hakka people. Faced with the oppression of local indigenous peoples and the invasion of nomadic peoples, they had to form a community with clans as the link, and their combat effectiveness was naturally unparalleled!"

"I am puzzled. Why did the Tang army, after introducing the tribes in the northwest accordingly, built a powerful army that was once more prosperous and declined after using the weapons and equipment of the Tang Dynasty and equipped with cavalry techniques from the west than the Western Regions?" Chen Renweng asked after hearing this, frowned and asked.

"Let's talk about the Jurchens who invaded the Central Plains and forced me to travel south!" Zhao Bing said. He knew that military laymen often liked to say how many people a military force had, but those with common sense knew that organization was the foundation of an army.

A group of temporary troops were brought over, and the company commander was a single man who didn't know what the unit was called, and it was likely to have a counter-effect on the battlefield. Therefore, a word in military terms is called "annihilation in an integral manner". No matter how much damage the unit was in combat, as long as the unit's system was still there, it would be a matter of time to recover its vitality.

As long as a tribe of the nomadic people sends troops, each soldier will immediately know who his commander is and where his queue is. Each unit is a natural military unit, and there is no need to be running-in and training. Therefore, as long as this tribe is not broken and reorganized, its combat power will not be weakened.

"The Jurchens conquered Khitan, Bohai and other countries in just a few years, and were invincible. However, they were destroyed by the Mongolians after only a hundred years. The reasons are that they had to absorb the Han people to supplement their troops in order to replenish their troops during the war, so they could not maintain the previous military system, and their combat effectiveness was inevitably weakened; secondly, the migration of the Jurchens into the Central Plains meant that they had lost the training of the harsh environment in the Northeast, and it was difficult to maintain the support of Wood, which was tempered by the harsh environment. It was inevitable that the military power of the soldiers was inferior to that of the previous generation." Zhao Bing analyzed.
Chapter completed!