In the Yanhe Palace, Zhao Zhen looked at Xu Ping and Sang Yi, who were sitting precariously, and asked Xu Ping with a smile: "Since you returned to Beijing at the end of your term, you haven't seen General Sang for many years, right?" I heard that the two of you have known each other since Buyi? “

Xu Ping said with a smile: "Back to Your Majesty, when I was in Zhongmu Village, I met Sang Cha. The pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info At that time, there were thieves in my village, and Sang Chan had a good reputation for catching thieves in nearby states, so he was invited to catch thieves in the village. In the fifth year of Tiansheng, the two of us still took the imperial examination together, but unfortunately Sang Chan did not pass the provincial examination, because the thief was made the captain of Jiacheng. ”

"Oh, did you catch the thieves in your village back then?"

"I was caught because someone cheated money with medicinal silver. It's interesting to say, in the end, we found the person who made Yaoyin, and it turned out to be Zhang Yuan and Wu Hao, who voted for the party a few days ago. Yesterday I held a banquet at my home and invited a few officials who had returned from Yongzhou to talk about the matter. Everyone said that it was really a coincidence that the book was not written, and the two thieves at that time made such a disturbance. ”

Since he talked about it, Xu Ping took the initiative to mention that he had invited several Yongzhou officials to a party at home. Except for some special positions and special statuses, it is not forbidden for officials to gather in private, otherwise they would not be recognized by their relatives once they become officials. But it's better not to hide this kind of thing, the more you don't want the emperor to know, the easier it is to arouse suspicion, it's better to be open.

Sure enough, Zhao Zhen nodded, and didn't ask about yesterday's gathering, but said: "It's a pity that Zhang and Wu were not arrested and severely punished at that time, otherwise there would not be today's disaster." The news from Shaanxi Road seems to be extremely important to the party. In recent years, there have been many disobedient actions of the party, and with the help of these people, I am afraid that the party will really betray the court. ”

Xu Ping smiled and said to Zhao Zhen: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that these two people are insignificant and don't need to be taken seriously. Dang Xiang reused these two people at this time, and hyped it up, in the minister's opinion, it was not how capable they were, but the bones of a thousand gold and horses, and they wanted to recruit more Han people to Dang Xiang. It is not because these two people voted for the party that the party item will betray the Song Dynasty, but because the party item is going to rebel against the Song Dynasty, so these two people are particularly reused. Without Zhang Yuan and Wu Hao, the party will also elect another person. ”

Zhao Zhen was silent for a while before he said, "Do you really think that the party will definitely rebel against the imperial court?" ”

Xu Ping nodded: "It will be!" And judging from the hype of Zhang and Wu, it was between the past two years. ”

Zhao Zhen said: "If there is nothing in the world, it is the blessing of the people." But what do I think, you don't care? ”

"Your Majesty, if you really have nothing to do, it is the blessing of the people. But has the Northwest really been fine in the past few years? Party columns enter the country and plunder, every year, but the court has the mind to calm the people, at most it is just a thin responsibility. The people on the border, in the face of the burning, killing, and plundering of the party members, will not feel that it is a blessing. Abscesses always have to be punctured, and the court has enough money and food in the past two years, as long as there is another year or two, fighting a war will not make the court unable to afford it. If the hidden danger of the party is eliminated as soon as possible, the people in the border areas can live with peace of mind. Choosing to fight when the imperial court has enough money and food is also a good thing for the people in other places. ”

In the two dynasties of Taizong and Zhenzong, most of the foreign troops returned with feathers, and gradually rose up to seek peace from the outside world. The civil ministers and military generals in the border areas are blindly seeking stability, and the slightest conflict will be characterized as a provocation on the side, so they have to turn big things into small things, and turn small things into small things, Xu Ping actually faced the same experience in Yongzhou back then. As a consequence, their military strength is deteriorating day by day, and the hidden dangers on the border are getting bigger and bigger day by day, and finally a major outbreak is ushered in. Zhao Zhen is right, Xu Ping really wants to make the party item simpler, and it will be calculated early, many things, without such a stimulus, it is really difficult to continue. In the past two years, the finances of the imperial court have been completely improved, especially since the banks have just been on the right track, and the war still has a positive stimulating effect. At this time, it is really good for the country to fight a war, as long as it does not turn into a bad war.

Zhao Zhen was not so optimistic, and seemed a little worried. There is indeed a main battle faction in the imperial court, but the power is weak, and Xu Ping is the only one in a high position. Zhao Zhen's opinion is still biased towards the majority.

No longer discussing this topic, Zhao Zhen talked about the business and said to Xu Ping: "The soldiers and horses of Yong Langlu have entered Beijing, but when Sang Yi is doing things, the personnel are not neat. This is the soldier you brought back then, and I summoned you to hear what you think. ”

Xu Ping said: "Back to Your Majesty, the biggest difference between the soldiers and horses of Yong Langlu and the Sanya Forbidden Army is that there are many officials. Because it was only a box army at that time, most of them were still township soldiers, and the personnel were all self-established locally, and when they entered Beijing, these local self-established officials did not come together. If you want to recreate the scale of Yongzhou, you need to have all these bureaucrats. ”

Zhao Zhen couldn't help frowning: "But there are six commanders, but there are more than a hundred wings, is it really necessary?" In addition, there are more than 200 military commanders at all levels, which is too much more than the people of the three yas. ”

Xu Ping thought for a while before he said, "Your Majesty, in the final analysis, this matter is the difference between managing people and managing affairs. ”

"How?"

"When the country was founded, Taizu collected the troops of the feudal town and entered the forbidden army, but Mu Cao stayed in the place, and then the military and political affairs of the forbidden army entered the Privy Council, which also caused the Sanya forbidden army to lose its wings. If there is a wingman, there is an exclusive matter, and the person has a special responsibility, and the commander does not need to be distracted. And now all the affairs of the Sanya Forbidden Army are entrusted to the commander, people's energy is always limited, dozens of people can still manage it, how can thousands of people do without help? In the end, no one cares about things, the imperial court's requirements for the forbidden army are nothing, and the requirements of the commander for his subordinates are also nothing. The army is going to fight, and being able to fight is the first thing, so how can it be done if it only asks for nothing? Therefore, it is necessary to have wingmen, and with them, the commander-in-chief can have a right-hand man and manage the army well. If there were no assistants, there would be no way to examine the affairs of the army, and all governance would be in the selection of commanders. It is important to choose people and use them, but it is even more important to manage things without letting things wait for people. ”

Zhao Zhen thought about it, shook his head, and decided not to use these brains anymore. He had no idea what the army was doing and what people were needed to do it. The rule handed down from the time of Taizong is to simplify the affairs of the army as much as possible, but choose trustworthy people to manage it, and use this method to control the army. One hundred and eighty people can manage it like this, how can an army of hundreds of thousands be able to manage it? All sorts of administrative matters had to be ignored and each battalion was left to its own devices.

Originally, the advantage of recruiting soldiers was to make the army professional, and then professionalize, but the forbidden army was only professionalized, and the specialization was not as good as that of the armies of previous dynasties. When there is no war, there is no special person to take care of logistics, and when there is a war, it is equally impossible to organize, so you can only prepare as many supplies as possible in a daze, and you can't send them if you are a little nervous. Without specialized people to do the administration, everything had to be simplified, and complex campaigns could not be organized. Not to mention intelligence reconnaissance and so on, it all depends on the understanding of the generals during the war, and sometimes they just resign themselves to fate. As for the complicated staff work such as combat organization and marching, it was a blank for the forbidden army. The greatest advantage of the Song Dynasty over the northern nomads was their organizational ability, but they abandoned their martial arts, threw away this strength, and degraded to a primitive state to fight with others, and they really had to fight for luck if they wanted to win the battle.

If he didn't understand, Zhao Zhen didn't think much about it, there were more than 3,000 people around him, so he did what Xu Ping said. After all, the Yongzhou army won the battle under his leadership, and what he said should be reasonable. There are only more than 100 people, no matter how difficult it is, these people's fortunes are not bad, what if what Xu Ping said is useful? Although the war has not yet started, and Zhao Zhen does not understand the affairs of the army, he can also see that the current forbidden army really can't fight.