But even these two people are also corrupt. It can be seen how serious the corruption in the Song Dynasty is now. Other armies are even more afraid to think about it. What can they do if they don't change?
"Get up, forget about the past. Even if you have the opportunity to be greedy in the future, you are not allowed to reach out. You must know that you should correct yourself first."
"Yes, Your Majesty, thank you for your forgiveness."
The two agreed sincerely and stood up, their eyes already red at the moment.
Faced with this phenomenon, Zhao Yun looked at everyone and said, "What methods do you have to prevent corruption in the military?"
Han Hong thought for a while, glanced at Meng Gong, Cao Youwen, Peng Yibin and others, then raised his hand and said: "Your Majesty, I think that in the future, a special yamen can be established for the issue of military pay and rations, and the yamen will start from the household department.
Withdraw it, and then order it to be distributed directly to the soldiers, and no one is allowed to interfere during this period."
Han Hong's thinking in this way actually has another purpose, which is to prevent generals from being paid, which can weaken the loyalty of soldiers to generals and increase the loyalty of soldiers to the court and the emperor, because it is the court that directly pays them, not the generals.
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Zhao Yun nodded, feeling that it made sense, and naturally he understood Han Hong's intentions.
Xia Gui asked at this time: "What if this special yamen is also greedy for ink?"
Han Hong said with a smile: "No, they don't dare, because there are standards for military pay and rations. If they pay less, the general will naturally not give up. He will report it to the court."
Because the general can no longer intervene in the distribution of military pay and rations, he is naturally excluded. He has no profit to gain, so he naturally has to focus on thinking about the soldiers and winning military morale. In this way, if he encounters the phenomenon of underpayment, he will instinctively expose it.
Meng Gong thought for a while and then added: "Your Majesty, I think there may be collusion between the generals and the generals. In order to put an end to this phenomenon, I think we can set up a whistleblowing system within the special departments and the army to prevent them from reaching out."
Zhao Yun nodded and thought it was feasible. Seeing that no one had any objections, he made this decision.
When talking about the low honor and low combat effectiveness of the army, Zhao Yun said: "Nowadays, most of the people joining the army in the Song Dynasty are prisoners and gangsters. In such a situation, it is difficult to produce elite soldiers, and secular perspectives will also make the soldiers themselves
We look down on ourselves, so we must build up the honor of soldiers so that more children from good families can actively join the army. With more soldiers, the honor will be higher. In this way, the combat effectiveness will also be greatly improved."
Everyone nodded in agreement, showing their expectation.
Zhao Yun continued: "I think about it this way. The future army will have a professional military system and a government military system coexisting. The professional army is an army supported by the court and dedicated to training and combat. It is mainly responsible for external operations and suppressing large-scale rebellions internally.
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If they are disabled, the court will provide them with living arrangements and regular monthly subsidies. If they die, the court will provide funeral arrangements and provide for their families. There will be corresponding protection in all aspects, so that they have no worries.
The government military system is a local army that is half soldiers and half peasants. They are usually only responsible for local bandit suppression, city guarding, etc. The court gives them a 30% tax exemption and a small amount of military pay. They can go home to farm during busy periods and conduct regular training during slack periods.
, and stationed in nearby cities in rotation. If it is the founding war of the imperial court, the government troops can be mobilized to fight. Those who fail to do so will be considered guilty of desertion."
Han Hong, Meng Gong, Cao Youwen, Jiang Wanzai, Xia Gui and Peng Yibin all listened with rapt attention.
Zhao Yun continued: "For the professional army, the military rations and salaries are already sufficient. As long as the full payment is ensured, it will be equivalent to doubling the current income, so the benefits will remain unchanged for the time being.
In addition, a meritorious service system is established to encourage them to fight bravely. Furthermore, a service period ranging from five to fifteen years is established, and those who expire are retired. In this way, the replacement of old and young can be achieved, keeping the army young and maintaining its combat effectiveness.
reduce.
When a professional soldier retires, the court will give him a certain amount of retirement pay or a certain amount of land to help him survive and develop in the future.
In the future, they can be transferred to the local government army to become instructors, or they can enter the countryside to participate in village and town management, or they can be allowed to develop freely. However, even though they retire, if the court recruits them, they must still obey orders unconditionally. If they fail to do so, they will still be regarded as deserters.
Discuss.
In this way, whether they are professional soldiers or government soldiers, they can join the army decently and survive decently after retirement. Their secular status will naturally be improved, their glory and self-esteem can be satisfied, their combat effectiveness is guaranteed, and those who voluntarily join the army will
It will also increase.”
Meng Gong nodded and said: "If your Majesty's idea is realized, it can greatly increase the combat effectiveness of the army and hide the troops among the people. This will not only reduce the burden on the court, but also make the people more alert for danger. This will kill two birds with one stone. Even if a place falls to the enemy in the future, the government army will
It can also become the main force of resistance and increase the burden on the enemy, which is really beneficial."
Han Hong also nodded in approval and said: "Yes, your Majesty's idea is indeed brilliant. The professional army alternates between old and young, which can ensure that every soldier is an elite and tough guy. The local government army hides its troops among the people. It does not cost much food to raise millions of troops.
The court benefits, the people benefit, it’s wonderful, it’s wonderful.”
Xia Gui, Cao Youwen, Jiang Wanzai, and Peng Yibin also praised it one after another. It seems that they are also very supportive of Zhao Yun's idea.
Seeing that they all agreed, Zhao Yun felt confident knowing that his idea had a basis and theoretical basis that could be implemented.
Zhao Yun said: "If you all think it is feasible, then this article will be settled and the details will be worked out later."
Everyone nodded one after another without even adding any additional comments. It was obvious that Zhao Yun had put great effort into reforming the army, so that they could not think of any loopholes for a moment.
Afterwards, Zhao Yun stood up, looked around at everyone, and said: "The future professional army will start from the new army I want to establish. What this new army looks like will be what the future professional army will look like.
Meng Gong, Xia Gui, Cao Youwen, Jiang Wanzai, and Peng Yibin, each of you is in charge of 10,000 new troops and serves as the general manager of the capital. You are not subject to the control of the imperial court or the control of the Privy Council. You are led by me personally. I hope you will take charge of it.
Manage the army well and don’t let down my expectations or your own ambitions.”
The five of them were all excited. They did not expect that Zhao Yun would hand over such an important position to them, especially Cao Youwen and Peng Yibin. Zhao Yun still trusted them. This made them all so moved that they just wanted to die for Zhao Yun.
Zhao Yun then gave them a few words of advice and then asked them to prepare to form a new army and select soldiers.
There are 50,000 soldiers returning to the court with their division this time. The number is enough. As long as they choose a suitable station, they can start training.