"In order to compete for the phase, Cai You's family even had to turn against his father Cai Jing... For more than 50 years since the old and new parties struggled, the new policy of the direct religion was abandoned from time to time, and the subjects were at a loss, and now the traitorous parties in the DPRK are also attacking each other for their own selfishness, and it is really not a blessing for the country to destroy the rules and discipline of the imperial court......

When Xiao Tang left the inner palace of the imperial city and returned to his own mansion in Bianjing, Xiao Jiasui, Xu Guanzhong, Yan Qing and other henchmen and brothers heard Xiao Tang say what they saw and heard in Yanfu Palace today, Xiao Jiasui sighed at first, then paused, and said: "However, although my brother is a martial artist, he is also a figure who can speak in front of the official family, like Cai Jing, Tong Guan, Cai Yu and others will never despise my brother in order to win over the courtiers." And we can also see the opportunity to act among the forces of all sides, in order to seek a strong strategy for the Song army. ”

Xu Guanzhong frowned, and also said: "The reason why my brother seeks official position and fame in the officialdom is to correct the long-standing shortcomings of my Great Song Dynasty army as much as possible, and a strong army can prevent foreign countries from leaving the country...... It's just that to get to the bottom of the matter, it is also necessary for the court to have a positive atmosphere, to have a good government decree, and to have enough food and clothing for the people, so that we can talk about a rich country and a strong army. But now there are traitors in the court, and among the yamen of the state capitals, there are also many ghosts and ghosts who rely on the power of officials to knock on the bones and suck the marrow.

If the country is not capable of being a monarch and a virtuous minister, such as Gao Yu and others who control the power of the Bianjing Forbidden Army, the discipline of many parts of the Beijing Forbidden Army is lax, and the military and government are not repaired, and it can even be said that people do not know soldiers and have no usability to use the dilemma. In addition, the area south of the Yangtze River is now boiling with public resentment because of Huashigang, raising troops for a thousand days, using troops for a while, and there must be the support and guarantee of national politics behind the military affairs. ”

After listening to Xiao Jiasui and Xu Guanzhong respectively, Xiao Tang nodded and thought so. After Song Huizong ascended the throne, his favorite minister Cai Jing used "indiscriminately cast ten coins", Yang Jian used "rice field affairs", and Zhu Mian used "Huashi Gang" and other policies to set up clever projects to increase taxes and levy people's wealth, resulting in small-scale uprisings that broke out in various parts of the Great Song Dynasty, and also seriously led to the further corruption of the forbidden army guarding the state capitals, and the phenomenon of redundant soldiers and redundant officials has long become a stubborn disease in this country.

If most of the people in the military are greedy for money and afraid of death, how can they have the ability to resist the enemy outside the country, especially the Jin National Iron Cavalry, which seems to be in the middle of the day?

But did the Great Song Dynasty really deserve to be scolded as a weak Song by many people in later generations, and he was powerless to resist in the face of external humiliation? Xiao Tang pondered for a moment, and then said: "Although the official family is ignorant and has the right to be treacherous, the imperial court cannot govern the people with virtue and benevolence, and the Liao people, Jurchen and other departments are mostly born in the land of Saibei, and they are usually nomadic and good at riding and shooting, and they are not the agricultural directors of the Song Kingdom, but my Great Song Dynasty has a vast territory, and the wealth of the people is also extremely rich. Moreover, my Great Song Dynasty makes good use of all kinds of firearms, as well as sophisticated equipment such as divine arm bows and foot armor, and is better at defending the city than the Saibei tribes.

Since I am a military officer, I am a soldier, in fact, I still have a strong army like the Western Army in the border court that can defeat the Xia people several times, because although there are many shortcomings in the country's military affairs and military politics, it may not be unavailable. The military system of the forbidden army under the rule of the rest of the departments and commanders of the rest of the country collapsed, and the food and salary of the state for the army every year were very heavy, but a large number of stupid insects who drank the blood of the soldiers were raised...... If you can spend the honeysuckle on the blade, recruit a wide range of sharp soldiers and set up a new army, but you don't know if this method will work. ”

The new army? Xiao Jiasui and Xu Guanzhong were refreshed when they heard this, although the phenomenon of redundant troops in the Song Dynasty was serious, but according to the different situations of the times, the imperial court in the border court or in the strategically important area according to the administrative establishment of the army level, or in the upgrading of the local county to Jiedu Prefecture at the same time to select and organize a new army is also normal, in recent years, the Song court issued an order to promote Zhaozhou to the Qingyuan Army, Yongan County to the Yongan Army, and Zhaocheng County to the Qingzuo Army. It's just that because there has been no war in the Song and Liao dynasties for a hundred years, most of the armies in the Rongwei Heshuo region have low combat effectiveness, and they are far less good at fighting than the various military states in the northwest that often have to conflict with the Western Xia.

According to Xiao Tang's plan, of course, he wanted to build another strong army in the name of the government, but the biggest problem was that the Song Dynasty wanted to firmly control the central forbidden army and strictly prevent the military generals from holding military power and plotting against the national policy. Even if Xiao Tang can persuade Zhao Ji to choose another new army, if Xiao Tang can't command this army, I'm afraid that the new army will only be a weak brigade that costs people and money, but has low combat effectiveness.

When Xiao Jiasui and Xu Guanzhong told themselves what they thought in their hearts, Xiao Tang nodded again and said, "My Great Song Dynasty first released the military power by Taizu's cup of wine, and then Emperor Taizong Chongwen suppressed martial arts. As a general, it is almost impossible to lead an army alone, but there is an exception to everything.

After the rise of the Western Xia, my Great Song Dynasty and the Xia Kingdom went through four major wars intermittently, and the Western Army Zhongping Gong (Chong Shiheng), Zi Zheng Gong (Chong Ge) and even the old and small races were respected in the Western Army for three generations, and the subordinates belonging to the Western Army were willing to serve the generals of the Seed Clan, why? Even because of the situation of strong enemies outside, the imperial court also acquiesced to the three generations of generals of the seed family to guard the border court, which also caused the Xiang Tong Guan to covet the power in the army of the breeder, intending to get involved in the military and politics of the Western Army. Most of the military divisions of the Western Army are fortified on Qinfeng Road, Yanyan Road, and Jingzhaofu Road. ”

Xiao Jiasui is also a quick-witted person, he listened to Xiao Tang's words, and immediately guessed where the strategic position Xiao Tang pointed to, so he asked: "Brother wants to persuade the official family to select and train a new army in the border of Hedong or Hebei, and take advantage of the confrontation with the Western Xia and Liao States to manage this road?" ”

Xiao Tang said categorically: "Not bad! In my opinion, the northwest side of Hedong Road is not bordered by Western Xia, and the north is the border of Liao. If a new army can be set up on Hedong Road, not only when the Great Song Dynasty and the Western Xia are killed again, they can join forces with the Western Army to encircle the Xia Army, and train them for several years. ”

Although all military attachés in the Song Dynasty were subject to the control of the Privy Council and the Imperial Palace, the imperial court had to entrust the military command to the generals during the war. For example, after the Jingkang disaster, the Southern Song Dynasty set up the Marshal's Office to control the armies, but judging from the Yuejia Army led by Yue Fei, the Bazi Army led by Wang Yan, and the troops and horses commanded by Han Shizhong and Wu Jue, the military power that the generals could control far exceeded that of peacetime, and the Privy Council, in addition to the basic reservation of the military leadership system, also weakened its control over the army a lot. For the time being, the Song court soon planned to use troops against the Western Xia again, and in the next few years, it would have to recruit the rebel forces in various places dominated by Fang La, until the Song court united with Jin to invade Liao, and Tong Guan also took advantage of the successive wars to expand his power in the Western army step by step.

Although the Western Army was able to maintain strong combat effectiveness due to the long-term war against Xia, it was such a strong force that fought frequently in the next few years, and had to experience the Battle of Hengshan in the Song and Xia dynasties, the suppression of the Jiangnan La uprising, and the joint Jin State to recapture the sixteen states of Yanyun, but before the Jin army invaded south, it was already defeated by the remnants of the Liao State. If another new army that is good at fighting can be tempered by taking advantage of the war in the past few years, according to Xiao Tang's imagination, he will not let the Jin State be invincible all the way when he invaded the south, and if he takes 10,000 steps back, he should not let Bianliang, the capital of the Great Song Dynasty, fall to the same level as the official history.

In the official history, Tong Guan gradually grasped the military and political power inside and outside the court by urging the imperial court to use troops against the Western Xia, and then dispatched the Western army to crusade against the Manichaean Fang La, and strongly advocated the alliance with Jin to attack Liao. Although Xiao Tang's plan is like this, he wants to ask the court for merit through war like Tong Guan, and acquiesce in the military power he can control in the side court.

It's just that Tong Guan's ultimate goal is nothing more than to be canonized as a prince during his lifetime, and to satisfy his ambition to pursue power, Xiao Tang sincerely hopes that through his planning, the Great Song Dynasty can have one more warlike army, and form another living force that can resist the Jin army from the official plane.

After Xiao Tang framed his heart and talked to Xiao Jiasui, Xu Guanzhong and other brothers, Xu Guanzhong pondered for a moment, and then said: "After all, my Great Song Dynasty has always admired literature and suppressed martial arts, and my brother has such an idea, and he must also win over many courtiers to respond in the court, but I am afraid that I will have to look at the eyes of Cai Jing, Tong Guan and other powerful traitors......

And even if the elder brother can rely on the favor of the official family and set up a new army on Hedong Road, the selection, training, and supply of the military must not be neglected at all. The generals of the Bianjing Forbidden Army, most of them bow down to the old thief, the elder brother is a Beijing official in the Beijing court, and the person who leads the soldiers and horses on the Hedong Road must also be good at commanding the soldiers and horses, and have a good character and serve the country wholeheartedly to share the worries of the elder brother. ”

"How to form a new army, I will discuss it with the officials. If it can be done, the generals of the new army on Hedong Road, I can think of two suitable candidates right now......"

Xiao Tang thought for a while, and then said: "Back then, Guan Sheng, the big sword, followed me to pacify Jingnan Road, and now he is serving as the commander of the soldiers and horses in the Xizhou Command Division of Hedong Road, Guan Sheng is not only proficient in martial arts, proficient in the art of war, but also willing to follow his ancestors with the heart of serving the country, and under his command to assist Hao Siwen, Xuanzan and other generals, I also know that they have a loyal heart. As for the other candidate...... It was also born on Hedong Road, after generations of generals.

That person is the descendant of the famous general Huyan Zanyan faction in Hedong at the beginning of the founding of the Great Song Dynasty. Now it is under the control of Runing County, and there are many elite soldiers and brave generals under his command. I heard that he imitated the iron harrier heavy cavalry of the Xia army, and built a chain of horse officers and military horses with horse armor, and people wearing iron armor. The horse is armored and only four hooves are exposed to the ground, and it is also a heavy cavalry that is good at breaking the enemy's formation and severely demoralizing the enemy. The pair of whips is upright, and he also has the ability to command the army and the general, and he will be able to use the new army to select and train the new army. ”