"After a hundred years, who can hold the armor again?"

When this report appeared in front of the desk of officials above the three grades of the two capitals, almost all the ministers who saw the report quickly noticed some subtext, that is, the issue of the military system was no longer just for the Privy Council to discuss behind closed doors, but to involve more people.

Obviously, behind this matter, it is naturally the emperor who is taking the lead, or the emperor is asking everyone's opinions, can there be a new antidote to the issue of the military system?

When this matter began to get bigger and bigger, the Privy Council, which was the center of the storm, naturally had to discuss it. Among them, in addition to Wu Yuzhang, several other privy deputy envoys of the entire Privy Council have also arrived in Beijing.

"The military system that my Dachu is doing now is essentially created by His Majesty, one is the military merit field system, which collects the hearts of the sergeants, and the other is the martial arts hall system, so that talents can be promoted, although it has been expanded into a military university, but it is still this set of plans."

The first to speak was not the privy envoy Ning Zhongyi, but Cheng Ming, who had been leading troops in the southwest before, and he rushed back to Beijing this time, not only because of the current matter, but also because his term of office was basically over, and Qian Ying would replace him to sit in the southwest, and he would continue to serve in the center.

Of course, for this matter, Cheng Ming obviously agreed with the restructuring of the Fu Han Army, and he continued to gush: "As far as my center is concerned, the Privy Council is in charge of the dispatch of military power in the world and the appointment and dismissal of generals, while the Governor's Office of the Five Armies is responsible for the selection, training and distribution of recruits, which basically has a little shadow of the previous dynasty in it. It has been eight years now, and although there is nothing obvious wrong at the moment, His Majesty is afraid that he has seen the hidden worries. ”

Ning Zhongyi nodded, he picked up the newspaper on the table, and said softly: "The land issue mentioned in this article is indeed a core problem, although I Dachu now has a lot of arable land, but it is not inexhaustible, and sooner or later in the future, one day will also face the situation of land scarcity, and secondly, now that the people live and work in peace and contentment, it is difficult to attract more people to join the army to fight with just a few dozen acres of land——"

There was a thoughtful look on everyone's faces, although the land and joining the army are now tied together, it is because the people need land to support themselves, but with the issuance of a number of immigration policies, the number of landless peasants continues to decline every day, when these people have their own land, although it will be hard after all, but the allure of the army will be invisibly reduced.

In other words, when the military system is bound to the land policy, it can certainly play its positive role, but when the land system of the dynasty itself is disintegrated, it also represents the collapse of the army's combat effectiveness, and from the government military system in the Tang Dynasty to the guard system in the Ming Dynasty, it is a typical example in itself.

So some people may think, why does being a soldier have to be linked to the land? And this is actually related to a cost problem of the army, that is, how to raise more troops with less cost.

The problem of fighting a war is often not so complicated, just look at two aspects, one is quality, the other is quantity, and by the eighteenth century, due to the widespread use of muskets and the proximity of the quality of armies between countries, quantity began to occupy the main upper hand, and by the time of World War II, the mobilized forces of some major powers were moving towards tens of millions.

Although today's Great Chu has hundreds of millions of people, the number of troops that can really be raised is only hundreds of thousands, and the reason is very simple, that is, the current recruitment system of the Fu Han Army is essentially a high-cost way to maintain the combat effectiveness of the army, so it will be greatly limited in number.

So how do you feed more troops at a lower cost? The answer to this question is the compulsory military system, that is, a military service system that all the great powers of later generations will use, and only through it can a larger army be maintained at a lower cost.

In addition, this answer did not appear in later generations, in fact, as early as a longer period, such as the Qin and Han dynasties, or the Roman era in the West, they all adopted the system of all soldiers, which can be called an early compulsory military system.

In the Han Dynasty, the state stipulated that all adult men should start military service from the age of twenty-three, even the son of the prime minister, and there were three types of military service at that time, which were to go to the central court as a guard, or go to the frontier as a soldier, or go to the local army to be a soldier. In addition, when encountering foreign wars, there will be some so-called "good sons in the army", who will practice raising horses and archery at home on weekdays, and will choose to volunteer to join the army in order to make meritorious contributions.

Therefore, under this system of all the soldiers, the Han Dynasty was able to feed a huge army at a lower cost, and its achievements in foreign warfare were also quite outstanding, reflecting the advanced compulsory military system.

However, this system itself also has great drawbacks, the main of which is that although the number of troops is large, the quality is relatively low, and the second is the collapse of the military merit lord name house system, which has led to the military becoming a thing that people have more to gain than lose, so people continue to evade military service, so that this system is basically dismantled.

For this problem, the Tang Dynasty was solved through the government soldier system, that is, for the subjects at that time, it was their obligation to be a soldier, but unlike the Han Dynasty, it mainly followed a principle, that is, from the perspective of the imperial court, it was necessary to pay attention to the identity of the soldier and the economic conditions of the family, while for the soldier, more attention was paid to the political treatment of the soldier than the economic reward.

This change in the system is very different from the Han Dynasty's all-army soldiers, that is, the soldiers have a certain amount of land, the poor peasants are not allowed to serve in the military, the government soldiers have land to be self-sufficient, without the need for the state to pay a penny, in case of war, a certain government soldier died, can be declared to the imperial court, that is, the imperial court sent people to their homes to condole, and to send a pension, give a knighthood.

The government soldier system can be called a relatively perfect military service system, but later there was also a problem, that is, the soldiers could prepare their own dry food to fight, but after the expiration of the border period, they needed to be transferred back to the house, but with the continuous external expansion, the army was stationed in the frontier for a long time and could not return to the house, which led to the complaints of the government soldiers at that time, which made the government soldier system damaged.

In addition, there is a big change, that is, in the early stage of the government military system, the common people paid more attention to political treatment and despised economic remuneration when they served. ”

When they entered the army, they paid more attention to economic remuneration, which made the government soldier system in the later period, and the scope of government soldier selection expanded, which made some people from poor families fundamentally change, laying the groundwork for the later recruitment system, making the army gradually professional and mercenary.

As for the guard system of the Ming Dynasty, in essence, it was born from the basis of the government soldier system, although it started from the military household system in the Jin and Yuan periods, but you can also see the shadow of the government soldiers, the early guards gave each soldier a certain amount of cultivated land, so that they were self-sufficient, like 20 acres of high-grade fields, 30 acres of inferior fields, and 70 to 100 acres of wasteland, which can also be called very generous.

However, the difference with the government and military system is that the guard system is not a simple military management system, but a set of local management systems that run parallel to the civil affairs system represented by the prefecture and county, that is, the private households need to pay taxes to the state and county, while the military households need to pay taxes to the health post system.

In other words, when economic factors become the core of the health center, it is destined that its combat effectiveness will be difficult to maintain at its peak, just as it cannot be expected that the people can participate in training while paying taxes.

As for the core Eight Banners system during the Qing Dynasty, it is not much different from the government soldier system in essence, and it can be regarded as another interpretation of the government soldier system.

Therefore, on the whole, the compulsory military system in the Qin and Han dynasties was based on the material stimulation of the military meritorious lord famous field house system, and when the central court could not continue to reclaim and distribute the land, it also represented the gradual collapse of the compulsory military system. The government soldier system, together with the guard system, can only delay the decay, but it cannot change the final result.

As for the conscription system currently adopted by the Fu Han army, it is simply not possible to maintain a large scale in peacetime, and the military pressure that the imperial court needs to bear will become very great when it already has such a large territory.

When the topic came to this, everyone in the Privy Council suddenly understood a problem, such a problem that could not be completely solved for thousands of years, I am afraid that there is no really good solution.

Ning Zhongyi's expression did not change, and he looked at everyone: "Your Majesty threw out this question, I am afraid that you are also absorbing the strengths of others, you can write all your thoughts on the fold, and then submit them to Your Majesty for processing." ”

"That's fine, maybe there are other different solutions."

Cheng Ming nodded, with a little helplessness on his face, it seems that the timing of this meeting Jingshi is a little not good.

........

In the seventh year of innovation, in late February, Chongning County, Chengdu Prefecture ushered in a precious spring rain, which fell from the sky with a faint fishy smell, sending long-lost nectar to the crops in the fields.

And on Qingcheng Mountain in the northwest of Chongning County, it also ushered in its rain at this time - it was not the rain sent down by God, but the car of the Emperor Taishang drove to the foot of Qingcheng Mountain.

I saw that on the winding narrow mountain road, more than ten people were climbing slowly, the first of which was an old man in his early fifties, he was the current Emperor Ning Zhongyuan, and beside him was a gray-haired old Taoist, Zhang Xuran, who was the Taoist in the Heavenly Master Cave of Qingcheng Mountain.

"Emperor Taishang, the mountain road is slippery, you still need to be careful."

The old Taoist priest Zhang Xuran had a bit of an ordinary smile on his face, but he didn't go too far to greet him, as if he was just facing an ordinary old man.

Ning Zhongyuan smiled and said softly: "Old Daoist, you are now in your eighties, how can you worry that I will not be able to stand on my feet?" You'd have to pay attention. ”

"Hahaha, the Emperor doesn't know, Lao Dao will walk all the way from the top of the mountain to the foot of the mountain every day, and then from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain.

"The old Taoist priest is very skilled, but I have been fighting all year round, and I am naturally not afraid of climbing far away."

As Ning Zhongyuan spoke, he deliberately sped up his speed, and the void man was still walking unhurriedly, and he didn't show the slightest weakness, but he kept following closely behind Ning Zhongyuan.

Ning Zhongyuan has been relieved of political affairs, and there are naturally fewer worries, and this body will slowly be raised to the same extent, and it seems that climbing up the mountain is no worse than others, but after a while, he and the old Taoist priest climbed all the way to the top of the mountain, and you can see a forest of Taoist temples, which is the destination of this trip - Chang Taoist Temple.

The so-called Chang Taoist Temple, also known as the Heavenly Master Cave under the mountain, is the subjective on the Qingcheng Mountain, because Zhang Daoling had practiced here, so it was contaminated with some immortal qi here, and later the Sui Dynasty established the Chang Taoist Temple here, surrounded by mountains on three sides, facing the stream on one side, it can be called the holy land of Taoism.

Ning Zhongyuan came from the western tour, and he was quite curious about the Heavenly Master Cave, and the old Taoist priest on the side pouted, so he went in to put on a stick of incense and read the sacrificial text, which can be regarded as adding a new layer of his old Ning family's mark to this place.

"Emperor Qi, the courtiers pay a visit to Your Majesty."

After Ning Zhongyuan came out of the Taoist temple, a big Chu official wearing a red official robe bowed down in front of him, with a peculiar face and a sharp beak and monkey cheeks, which made people laugh a little when they saw it, but this person is also extraordinary, it is the current Chengdu Prefecture Governor Feng Qing, who was originally an old man during the period of the Fu Han Dynasty Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, and was later released as an official.

Ning Zhongyuan was far from the time when his old eyes were faint, and Feng Qing's face was strange, so he quickly remembered him, and couldn't help laughing: "Feng Monkey, I haven't seen you for many years, I didn't expect you to come to Chengdu Mansion to be an official now, the world is unpredictable!" ”

"After so many years, the emperor can still remember the minister, which really makes the minister feel inexplicable......."

Feng Qing shed a few tears and said softly: "It's just that the minister has not served the Emperor Taishang well for so many years, and he is really a little ashamed, and he also asks the Emperor Taishang to allow the minister to accompany him in Chengdu Mansion." ”

Ning Zhongyuan glanced at Feng Qing fixedly, and sighed softly, "Feng Qing, I have toured the west along the way, and I have specially told the officials along the way not to be extravagant, nor to disturb the people, and the state and county officials who do it must not neglect their own duties, and you should be a good student to be loyal to your duties, you don't let me be embarrassed." ”

"This ........"

Feng Qing's face was stunned, but he continued to bow down and knocked his head a few times.

"Emperor Qi, the minister does not dare to hide anything, this time I came to see the Emperor, I also have a little selfishness, and I also ask the Emperor to punish the crime!"

Ning Zhongyuan's face had already changed from the joy of Shicai to indifferent, he glanced at Feng Qing, and then turned his head and sighed lowly.

"You're really disappointing to me."