After breakfast, everyone set off on the horse, Li Er came lightly this time, only dozens of cavalry, running all the way, and rushed to Jiyin before dark the next day to join the army, but Wang Mai suffered, and he had never suffered this kind of crime in his two lives combined, and he felt that his ass was not his own. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Fortunately, after joining up with the army, the speed finally slowed down, and Qin Qiong found him an ox cart to transport the baggage, which was finally more comfortable.

Li Er next to him glanced at Wang Mai with disdain, and the disdain on his face was undoubtedly revealed. Face or ass? Wang Mai chose the latter.

This time, I finally saw what the legendary Xuanjia Army was like, all of them were tall and big, and it was an exaggeration to say that they could run horses on their arms and stand on their fists. Rao is like this, Fugui is also standing out in it, if there is thunder, it is estimated that he will be split first.

"Boom ......"

Wang Mai just thought of thunder, but he didn't expect a thunder to come from the sky, and when he looked up, a raindrop fell on the tip of his nose, which had been cloudy for the past two days, but he didn't expect it to rain at this time.

The rain became heavier and heavier, and Li Er had to frown and announce that he had set up camp on the spot. The efficiency of the Tang army was very fast, and in less than half an hour, the camp tent was set up.

Listening to the "crackling" sound of raindrops falling on the tent, Wang Mai fell asleep in a daze, the march was too tired, even if Li Er treated him preferentially, he was still exhausted now.

The fine and dense spring rain continued until the next morning, and the army had to stay here for one more day.

Wang Mai stretched his waist and walked to Wei Zheng's tent, and at this time Lao Wei was pulling the abacus and calculating something. Curiously, he walked over and took a look, only to find that it was the trophy of the battle to verify the defeat of Meng Haigong.

Wei Zheng was very happy to see Wang Mai's arrival, and pulled Wang Mai to ask him to help, but he was not polite at all.

Wang Mai had no choice but to help him calculate together, part of these booty should be handed over to the imperial court, and the rest would be distributed to the soldiers as rewards.

"Brother Xuancheng, there is something unclear below, please ask Brother Xuancheng to give advice." Wang Mai wrote and calculated on the paper and said.

"But it doesn't hurt to say it."

"Is it a bit inappropriate to say that soldiers are born and die, but why they only get such a small reward?" Wang Mai tilted his head and said.

Wei Zheng shook his head: "How can it be inappropriate, the whole family of the soldiers can be exempted from service, this is already the biggest reward." ”

"But have you thought about a question? Now that the world is not peaceful, there are many opportunities for the government soldiers to go out to fight, if the world is peaceful in the future, and there will rarely be wars again, will the combat effectiveness of the government soldiers drop sharply? ”

"This ......," Wei Zheng frowned and thought for a while, "Thinking about this matter now, it is a little unfounded. ”

Wang Mai shook his head: "I'm not worrying about the sky, but I think that since a system has been created, it must take into account the future, and the veterans of this generation are all good at fighting, so their next generation may rarely have the opportunity to go to the battlefield again, and when it comes to the next generation, even the training may be wasted." In this way, the imperial court not only lost the original tax revenue, but also harvested only some peasants who were not strong in combat, which can be said to be more than worth the loss. And there's a very big hidden danger......"

"What's the hidden danger?" Li Er opened the tent and came in, a foot of mud, he was inspecting the camp tent, and came in when he heard the movement.

The two of them got up and saluted Li Er: "Your Highness." "Li Er, a guy from a noble family, can finally become a generation of emperors through the ages, and it is inseparable from his own efforts in everything. When it is time to perform his duties, he never pretends to others, like patrolling the camp, and he is not really fighting, and he does not need to go out in person, but he is still happy to do it, no wonder the army he leads will have such a high combat effectiveness.

Li Er stomped his feet, waved his hand at the two, Wang Mai poured a bowl of hot water and handed it to him, he had to behave when he should behave in front of the leader, he couldn't stand stupidly, this is not a matter of sycophancy, why not?

Li Er sat down with the bowl in his hand: "Go on, I want to listen to your Wang Wheat's high opinions." ”

Wang Mai smiled: "I can't talk about high theories, let's talk about a little foolishness." The benefits of the government and military system are obvious, especially in today's situation, but this system of combining agriculture and soldiers is not a long-term solution. "The government military system is particularly effective in times of great chaos in the world, and the government allocates land to these government soldiers and exempts them from conscription, which is a great job for the proletarians, and it is natural to go to the battlefield to kill the enemy. However, the flaw of this system is that its combat effectiveness will plummet over time, and eventually it will become a chicken rib.

Li Er nodded and blew the hot air on the bowl: "As soon as there are many wars, the soldiers have been fighting for a long time, and it is indeed a big problem to think about it. ”

In particular, this expedition to Luoyang has been going on for almost a year since it began in June last year. At the beginning of the year, when they were holding each other under Luoyang City, the soldiers complained a lot, and Li Er almost couldn't hold on, and almost agreed to the request of the soldiers.

The death of Emperor Yang of Sui is also related to the fact that the soldiers in Guanzhong miss their homeland and return to their hearts. Yu Wenhua and others took advantage of this and launched a mutiny.

"It is foreseeable that the combat effectiveness of the government soldiers will inevitably decline with the arrival of the peaceful season, which is inevitable." Wang Mai said.

Both of them nodded when they heard this, since the establishment of the government soldier system in the Western Wei Dynasty, this situation has been a rule. The establishment of a regime is often inseparable from its initial military strength, but how to maintain the combat effectiveness of the army has also become a difficult problem. The combat effectiveness of the army often declines over time, and there are probably two reasons for this: one is that the soldiers rarely go to the battlefield with each passing day, and the soldiers lack experience in the battle; Second, this system of combining agriculture and soldiers will collapse as land annexation becomes more serious.

"However, the soldiers obtained by the conscription system are not strong in combat effectiveness, and it is difficult for them to take on big responsibilities." Li Er said with a frown.

Of course it's not strong, you want people to sell your life for you as soon as you write a decree, how can there be such a good thing? To put it mildly, the conscription system is to catch strong men, and the rewards that soldiers get are too different compared to what they pay. Moreover, the conscription system has led to a mixed army, and many cheating and idle people choose to join the army in order to make a living, and how much combat effectiveness can they exert on the battlefield?

The most obvious example is the Song Dynasty, which claimed to have millions of troops, but when you break it down, many of them are displaced people, and the government is afraid that these displaced people will make trouble, so they all get into the army, resulting in a large number of troops, but fewer and fewer available soldiers.

Wei Zheng smiled: "Since Ji Kai has raised this matter, he must have something in his heart. ”

Li Er also looked at Wang Mai: "Then tell me what can be done to solve it?" ”

"Mercenaries." Wang Mai said.

"Mercenaries?" The two frowned.

"Recruited by the imperial court, eligible young people voluntarily sign up for the army, and form a professional and strong army."

"How is this different from conscription?"

"Of course it's different, the conditions for recruiting soldiers are low, the treatment of soldiers is also low, and it is difficult to be promoted. And mercenaries are elite soldiers, and the conditions are harsh, but they can prescribe eye-catching conditions, and establish a complete promotion system in them, and such an army is a strong army in a hundred battles. The Xuanjia Army is such a force, if His Highness has 30,000 such a strong army, how powerful should it be? ”

Li Er shook his head: "The military resources consumed by the Xuanjia Army are very large, and these 30,000 people ......."

"Take your time step by step, first select outstanding soldiers in the army to form elite soldiers, form an army alone, implement a reward and punishment system, and do an experiment."

"Experiments?"

"It's a temptation," Wang Mai explained, "Your Highness also knows that there are not many soldiers, but the truth that is fine, which one does Your Highness choose?" ”

Li Er smiled slightly: "Are you saying that instead of spending money and food on a million army, it is better to build a strong army?" ”

"With the government military system and the recruitment system to defend the place, the imperial court controls a strong army, once there is a war, you can go to the territory at any time, no longer need to spend time assembling, in terms of reaction speed, the mercenary system is far better than others."

"That makes sense!" Speaking of this, Li Er's mind was moved. The greatest enemy of the Tang Dynasty was still the nomads in the north, and if there was such a fast-reacting army, it would greatly reduce the distress caused by the Turkic raids.

"The benefits of professionalizing the military are obvious, but the biggest problem is not money and food, but a set of promotion system with military merit as the core." Wang Mai said.

"In detail."

"Establish a military rank system in the army, each rank has a corresponding treatment, and promotion can only be obtained by virtue of military merit, such a unit is a machine born for war." Wang Mai said the military rank system again, "The advantage of the military rank system is to motivate soldiers to fight bravely to kill the enemy, stimulate the sense of honor in their hearts, and once there is a chaotic war, they can determine the leader by virtue of their military rank to avoid defeat under chaos." ”

Li Er swallowed a mouthful of saliva, all relying on military merit to be promoted, that soldier still fought desperately? Moreover, the new recruits who enlisted in the same period will quickly widen the gap, and it is indeed a wonderful plan for those who have made great achievements to quickly stand out and send more generals to the army! Thinking of this, he couldn't help but clap his hands: "Wonderful! ”

"The independence of military ranks and the fact that official titles are no longer awarded can also achieve the purpose of separating the military from the government, and there are some restrictions on the self-respect of generals." Wang Mai continued. Professional soldiers are paid all by the government, and it is difficult for generals to form warlords without financial revenue, and this is an army that only obeys the government.

Wei Zheng was also quite moved when he heard this, since ancient times, it has been difficult to solve the problem of generals supporting their own troops, which is a good way.

Li Eryi patted his thigh and said to his own soldiers: "Quickly summon the military counselor to discuss matters in the tent of this king!" ”