……

"Lao Chen thinks that my Dazhao army now has three diseases." Yan Yu bent down and said: "A disease is to sit and eat empty salary, the lower the army, the more the actual number of non-commissioned officers in the army establishment often does not meet the full standard. The nominal army of more than 3 million troops, but the actual number of soldiers and soldiers is 2.5 million. Except for some central governors who are directly subordinate to the pro-army, and all provinces command the pro-army, the vast majority of the army is lax in training and lacks armament. The third disease is a lack of faith, except for a small number of truly elite soldiers, the vast majority of military soldiers are mediocre in fighting spirit and get by. ”

"Yan Aiqing said it well." Zhao Zhe stroked his palms and said: "The officials of the Ministry of Rapid Recruitment, the officials of the Governor's Office of the Five Armies, and the cabinet will hold a meeting in the main hall of the Qianqing Palace in the afternoon. ”

"The old minister obeys." Yan Yu and a cadre of cabinet members retreated one after another.

……

It was early afternoon.

In the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, Yan Yu first retold the morning's battle report and analysis. For a while, the important members of the military department and the civil and military officials of the Governor's Office of the Five Armies were silent for a while. The three problems mentioned by Yan Yu were not counted in the hearts of the vast majority of people present. But freezing three feet is not a cold, the Great Zhao Empire has been founded for hundreds of years, and many things have formed rules, so it's no wonder.

Zhao Zhe sat on the dragon chair, drinking tea while closing his eyes to recuperate, and there was no need to immediately urge them to speak. After a long time, it was Shangshu Weimeng of the Ministry of War who opened his mouth first and said: "Your Majesty, this unexpected battle in Liaodong. Although our army was victorious, the Houjin State would definitely not give up and lose 25,000 elites. If Yang Dingshan's 300,000 elite army does not withdraw, then Jin Guo will not dare to act rashly. If it withdraws, Liaodong is afraid that it will be retaliated by the Houjin State. ”

"Wei Aiqing, I know all this. I also know that these 300,000 troops are all subordinate to the central government, and if they are not withdrawn, it will cause the air defense of the Beijing division army to be useless. If there is some problem in the rest of the border or province, there is no way to help. Zhao Zhe said lazily: "You are the secretary of the military department, and the military and political affairs are your business." I want you to say something practical, and don't talk so much useless nonsense with me. Let's talk about it, about the three diseases mentioned by Yan Shoufu, how is your military department going to solve them? But as soon as he saw this Wei Meng, Zhao Zhe thought of what happened last night. I don't know who the woman was last night. But stealing is stealing, and it doesn't matter to him.

"This ......" Wei Meng obviously can't come up with any good ideas for a while, or is afraid of it.

"Hmph." Zhao Zhe patted the dragon chair and slowly stood up. Carrying his hands behind his back, he said: "Actually, I am a person who likes to work hard. In this world, if the wife is peaceful, I don't bother to care, how good is it to be a free emperor comfortably? Whether the army is corrupt or has empty salaries, if Zhao is peaceful, I will at most turn a blind eye. However, I am the Taizu bloodline, the heir of this great Zhao Jiangshan. I can't just watch Da Zhao Jiangshan fall down, right? Maybe everyone has heard that the queen is already pregnant with a dragon seed in her belly. I sometimes think that I will be a father in the future, and every father wants to leave their children a foundation that can support their families, so that they can live a better and more comfortable life. Most of you, too, are fathers, so you should understand my feelings, right? ”

The ministers of civil and military affairs were also resonated by Zhao Zhe's heartfelt words. They should claim to be.

"That's it, I thought, it should be the same between people." Zhao Zhe smiled and said: "You are all people who have a family and a business, a mansion and a property. also understands that it is not easy for themselves or their ancestors to earn this family business. Whether it's the housekeeper in the house, or the other housekeepers, if you make some tricks and collect some money under the pretense of a name or something. Just don't go too far. When you seek stability, you won't be too careful, at most you will knock on the side. But if someone wants to endanger the foundation from the root, or the foundation is in danger, but some people are still obsessed with it, and they are still ruined. Zhao Zhe's voice began to be a little cold: "Imagine for yourself, if that's the case, what will you do?" ”

For a while, everyone somewhat understood Zhao Zhe's thoughts, as if they had been empowered. The current situation is clear.

"The country is the country, the country and the family are one." Zhao Zhe said slowly: "If there is no country, where are your families?" I don't want to say too much else, but I just want to tell you that if someone wants to destroy my family, destroy the country passed down from my ancestors, and destroy the inheritance I want to pass on to my sons and grandchildren. Who is my enemy? After a pause, he said word by word: "Then don't blame my subordinates for not recognizing people, and don't blame me for being ruthless." You are all family members, so I don't need to say too much. ”

"Your Ministers understand." After Zhao Zhe expounded his position in very simple words, it really aroused the understanding and resonance of the ministers of civil and military affairs. In fact, the reason is very simple, if someone wants to destroy their family business, no one will watch things happen and do nothing. For a while, all the civil and military officials knelt down.

"Actually, I and you Aiqing are in the same boat." After seeing them all kneeling down, Zhao Zhe sat back on the dragon chair and said lazily: "If my family fails, I think that there are hundreds of you, I'm afraid that few of you will be better off than now." Under the nest, how can there be eggs? Okay, okay, I won't say more. Wei Aiqing, you can talk to me again about how to solve those three diseases. ”

"Wechen obeys." After exchanging words from the bottom of his heart, Wei Meng also understood the emperor's thoughts. Unconsciously, my heart became much closer to the emperor. The spirit was also a little excited: "Eating empty salaries, as far as the minister knows, has now become a common practice in the five military governors as the head of each hundred households. If we want to rectify it, we need to organize manpower, and we will start a thorough investigation from the Governor's Office of the Five Armies, and we will never let go of one. In this way, although it cannot be cured, it can also have a temporary effect. ”

"Weimon, what do we have to do with you? Why do you slander us so much? The governors of the five armies began to reprimand Wei Meng angrily: "I haven't impeached you yet, deducting and delaying military salaries and rations?" ”

The officials of the military department, headed by Wei Meng, also began to counterattack the people of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, and attacked them one after another for how they were doing things to eat empty salaries.

Zhao Zhe saw that the quarrel was fierce, so he smiled and stopped: "Okay, okay, don't make any noise." As I said before, if my wife is peaceful, play some tricks and get some benefits to supplement the family. I don't think it's a big deal. After a pause, his face gradually became serious: "But now that the national crisis is at hand and the situation is tight, can't you all see it?" Do you still have the heart to quarrel in this court? Don't make me anxious and make me really angry, okay, from now on, everyone will not live in peace. What a country, what a home? Everyone don't care, just fight, just make trouble. ”

"The ministers don't dare." The people from the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies and Wei Meng knelt down together.

"In this case, the left and right governors of the military governors' mansions, you will spend a month after you go back to check yourself and write a list of chapters for me. Now all the armies are guarded, how many people are empty. It's also good that I have a number in my heart, and I should make up for it later. Don't come to a critical juncture, a guard should have 5,600 people, but when he was pulled out to fight, he couldn't even find 3,000 people. What is this system? Zhao Zhe smiled and said, "Actually, I also know." According to the current standard of Yulu, it is difficult for you to maintain your family's expenses, let alone want to put on a show of the court officials, and you want to leave more for your children and grandchildren. As you may have heard, the Imperial Court is now preparing to reform commercial taxation on a large scale. When the time comes, if you get a benefit, you will be indispensable. Besides, when the army is strong, let's open the army to other countries, and grab some casually, isn't it better than eating empty salaries? Zhao Zhe's last words instilled some bandit theories in them. It made the people in the governor's mansion of the five armies laugh non-stop. It's a little exciting.

"Weimeng, you go on, don't be stunned. Hehe," Zhao Zhe waved to Wei Meng again.

"As for lax armament and insufficient training." Wei Meng also said eloquently: "This is to blame the ministers for being lax in military and political management, and the ministers and other important members of the military department, after returning this time, they will draw up a training plan for each army and each guard, strictly implement it, strictly supervise, and strictly reward and punish them." As for the military armaments, the minister also planned to organize manpower to conduct a thorough investigation and statistics of all armies and guards, and make up for the deficiencies one by one. ”

Well, Zhao Zhe nodded while listening, and encouraged him to continue.

"The last point is about the army's mediocre fighting spirit, and it is nonsense to get by." Wei Meng seemed to have thought about this matter for a long time, and said directly: "In the opinion of the minister, there are three main reasons. First, the payment of military salaries was insufficient, and there was a phenomenon of deductions, so that the soldiers had resentment. There is no other way but to strictly supervise and set up a reward system for whistleblowing, and to impose capital punishment on offenders. Second, there are no effective incentives, and the minister thinks that it is necessary to re-establish the military merit system, including training, and those who make meritorious service or slack off in the middle of the war should be rewarded and punished clearly. Third, the soldiers did not know their mission, did not know why they were training, and did not know why they were fighting. The ministers and the officials of the military department would draw up a list of propaganda slogans, and reinforce the beliefs of the soldiers in training, so that they would know that they were fighting for their families, for their country, for glory, and even more for their own change of destiny. In the end, Wei Meng's own emotions seemed to be a little excited.

"Well said." Zhao Zhezhi stroked his palm and said with relief: "Wei Aiqing, I am deeply relieved to have you in charge of the government affairs of the Ministry of War." When you go back this time, you will have to draw up a detailed recital and put the army in order. If there is a new atmosphere in my Great Zhao army, you should be credited with your first merit. ”

"Obey." Wei Meng knelt down: "

……

(To be continued)