Fighting a war is not a fight, and it is not about the more soldiers, the better.

In particular, in this kind of expeditionary operation that goes out of the national border and goes deep into the enemy's territory, the more troops there are, the greater the logistical pressure. In the era of cold weapons, in such expeditionary operations, logistics supply was the first major problem, and the more people there were, the more grain and grass were needed, and the more organizational capabilities were considered.

In history, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty conquered Liao, sent millions of troops, and the queue of troops was hundreds of miles long. It seems scary, but in fact, it has to transfer grain and grass with the help of the country.

Liu Jun knows this very well, and the Privy Council Staff also knows this, and no one wants to make such a mistake.

Especially in the Burma war, the southwest has just been pacified, but the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the mountains are high and the roads are steep, especially the river valley is turbulent. In the past, businessmen here relied on ponies from western Yunnan to transport goods, and even had to carry them on their shoulders in many places. To enter Burma to fight, the logistical pressure is extremely great, the lack of smooth roads, not only is it difficult to transport soldiers quickly, the most troublesome is the supply of grain and grass, especially the Han army, as a new army, has a large number of artillery, needs a very large amount of ammunition support.

Firearms are the trump card of the Han army, but when Yunnan-Guizhou quelled the chaos, in fact, they mostly relied on the local militia to lead the way to fight, and the artillery was not invested much. If you want to enter Burma, those heavy cannons will definitely be difficult to keep up.

Even if there are mountain grenades and cavalry artillery, it is not easy to transfer shells.

It just so happens that the north of Myanmar is now empty, and the capital is still surrounded by the Tusi rout in the southwest, which is a golden opportunity for the Han Dynasty.

After a sophisticated plan, the General Staff proposed to send troops from only two towns into Burma, and another army to be stationed on the Yunnan border to support it at any time.

However, the number of the three integrated towns is still somewhat large.

There are 30,000 horses in one integrated town, and 90,000 in three integrated towns. Supplies for an army of 90,000. If it is in the Central Plains, or even in Liaodong, it is not a problem, but in the Burma expedition, I am afraid it will be a big supply problem.

After thinking about it for a long time, Liu Jun finally asked to reduce the scale again.

"The imperial court also intends to split Yunnan and Sanxuan and Liuwei into three provinces, I think. Just set up a province now. In addition to Yunnan, there are two provinces, Dali and Laos. The three provinces of Yunnan, Dali, and Laos each stationed a short-formed army with two divisions and four associations, and each set up a frame army with one association, and in addition, the people of Hanyi and other market towns and villages in the three provinces were selected as militias as reserves. ”

Originally, the scale of the three towns was 90,000.

Now Liu Jun has changed to two town armies in each of the three provinces, one is a town lacking in four associations, and the other is a shelf town with only one association, and each province actually has 25,000 people from five associations, if you add the militia. The forces are not weakening.

The garrison of Yunnan Province is used as a reserve, and the garrisons of Guizhou Province and Guangxi, Xikang, and Sichuan provinces are ready to support at any time.

According to Liu Jun's meaning, this time to enter Burma for war, in fact, only the garrisons of Dali and Laos provinces will fight. And the shelf army in the two provinces is still left, and only one army is missing.

The Burma Expeditionary Force ended up with only 40,000 men. And Liu Jun also divided them into two echelons, one attack. A batch is in the aftermath.

"Your Majesty, so it goes. Will there be too few troops? Fu Shan asked with some concern.

Ninety thousand became seventy-five thousand, seventy-five became forty-thousand, and now forty thousand will be divided into two batches, and the first batch is only twenty thousand. The 20,000 were also divided into two routes, so there were actually only 10,000 troops on each route.

"10,000 elites on each road, that's enough. Our plan for this troop trip. It is to recover the six comforts first. As for Ava, Bagan and other big cities in Donghu, don't worry for the time being. When we take this opportunity to recover the six comforts, we will first stabilize the place and subdue the toast. At the same time, the city was built and fortified. Roads were built, bridges were erected, and grain and artillery ammunition were brought through. ”

Liu Jun didn't plan to destroy the Donghu Dynasty in one go, he was ready to take his time.

After all, the road into Burma was difficult, and the imperial court had no basis for ruling there. If you can't become a fat person by eating in one bite, you may be supported.

Regarding the emperor's plan, the commanders and chiefs of staff of the Privy Council and the Ministry of War felt that they were very safe. Now the imperial court is not afraid of fighting in places such as Guanwai, but it is afraid of marching and fighting among the mountains and mountains like Yungui and Guizhou, because this kind of terrain is too restrictive for the Han army.

"In addition, we can send someone to contact the Ayutthaya dynasty and show that we are willing to support them in their fight against Donghu. We can even send them some arms so that they can continue to fight against the Donghu Dynasty, and we can even make a verbal agreement with them first to support them in destroying Donghu. ”

The enemy of the enemy is a friend, if Donghu is destroyed, the Han wants to open up the southwest estuary, and then there may be a conflict of interest with the Ayutthaya Dynasty of Thailand, but now, you might as well cooperate first, and destroy Donghu together. Even Liu Jun didn't mind that the time would actually give part of the southeast of Myanmar to Thailand.

"But we have to be on guard against Vietnam, and if they take the opportunity to take a bite from Myanmar, it will definitely not work."

At the border with Vietnam is the area of the Lao Xuanwei Division, which is the Golden Triangle of later generations, although Vietnam is also divided now, but they have to prevent them from wanting to pick up the bargain.

"But if the Vietnamese are honest, don't pay attention to them first, and wait until we clean up Donghu."

Liu Yunsheng, the privy envoy, suggested that Jin Yiwei could pick up something in Vietnam, such as inciting the Mo Dynasty to make some small moves, or secretly supporting the Nguyen clan in the south or the Wu clan in the center, the two secession feudal towns, and the Zheng clan, who were actually in power in the later Lê dynasty.

"You can do it, but be careful, we can do it in the dark, don't expose it." For the time being, Liu Jun still doesn't want to fight on multiple fronts at the same time.

Next, we discussed the specific arrangements, such as the equipment of the military headquarters and the supply of several logistics divisions. The Southwestern Army was adjusted again.

Some of the armies that went south to quell the rebellion were stationed in Yunnan, Dali, and Laos provinces, some were stationed in Guizhou, Xikang, and other provinces, and some were stationed in Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, and so on.

The original elite of several towns was divided into more than a dozen towns.

In the southwestern provinces, each province has two or three towns and horses. However, most of them are a reorganized town with a shelf town, and basically the number of garrisons in each province is between 20,000 and 30,000.

The southwestern provinces have just been pacified, and they are changing their land and returning to the river, and now they have to enter Burma to fight, and they also have to prepare for the invasion of the Moxi Mongols in the northwest, so the border provinces in the southwest and northwest are also heavily garrisoned.

Liu Jun stationed three strategic reserve armies in Xi'an, Luoyang, and Nanjing. It can be regarded as a mobile soldier and horse in the entire southern half of the country.

Before you know it, it's noon.

Liu Jun asked the imperial dining room to prepare lunch, and Liu Jun left a group of courtiers to give a banquet to eat.

The meal is relatively simple, it is a standard working meal, divided into meals, four dishes and one soup. Two lingering elements. The dishes are still good, and I am sure that I can eat enough.

If you want a big meal like the Manchu and Han banquets, there is definitely no more, and it is not a celebration banquet in the palace, this is just a working meal.

Four dishes and one soup, with refreshments after the meal, but no wine.

Liu Jun had just issued an order not long ago, and officials would take two days off a week and work five days a week. During working hours from Monday to Friday, each government office will include a lunch meal. But dinner and breakfast are not included. All officials, from Monday to Friday, and even on weekends, are not allowed to drink alcohol in the morning and afternoon, no matter how good the amount of alcohol is.

You can't go to the green building or wine shop.

In the evening, after work or on weekends, the imperial court does not prohibit drinking and going to the Qinglou tea shop.

This is also to avoid drinking and making mistakes, and bringing official business to the wine table at every turn to talk. All kinds of persuasion and toasting are not only wrong. It also brings a bad atmosphere, and even wastes public money.

The imperial court had a special department to inspect it, and there were even factory guards who secretly inspected it, and if officials violated this system, they would be punished with fines or demoted or dismissed.

Therefore, even if it is today's palace food. But there was no wine either.

There is no wine or food in the lunch lunch, and the emperor is there, so this meal is naturally very simple and restrained, and everyone does not delay. Quickly pulled the meal, and quickly finished eating.

Liu Jun also ate quickly, and after eating, he deliberately took a look at the officials' small meals and found that everyone had a lot of food left.

Immediately, he directly beckoned to the head of the Internal Affairs Office.

"Remember, cut the amount of meals in half for the next work meal."

Four dishes and one soup plus fruit refreshments, the amount is very large. Liu Jun is not short of this meal money, but it is shameful to waste it.

The head of the Internal Affairs Office hurriedly wrote it down, and the officials were a little crying and laughing. There are so many industries under the emperor's name, whether it is banks, lottery tickets, clocks, glass, etc., which is not the same as a cash cow.

"You can't spend a penny less, but you shouldn't waste anything that shouldn't be wasted." Of course Liu Jun doesn't pick it, the Beijing officials are now holding four times the amount of the previous dynasty, and the local officials are also double money, not to mention the generous subsidies and bonuses. Especially for those high-ranking officials and some officials of the important yamen, they also have a more generous amount of silver.

After the meal, I didn't rush to discuss it again.

Liu Jun asked the eunuchs in the palace to take a group of officials to the side hall for a lunch break.

"Recently, there have been a lot of guilds in Jingshi, how much do you know about this?"

Liu Jun sat in the warm hall, picked up a cup of hot tea, sipped it gently, and then slowly asked the Admiral of Dongchang.

Guild halls are generally opened in the name of local fellow villagers or peers, and they will be the focus of a fellow villager or peers, especially among the Beijing Division, where there are already many fellow villagers or fellow guilds. However, during this period, many guilds were opened in Jingshi, but these guilds were not hometown guilds and peer guilds, but the offices of the local government in Beijing.

As far as Liu Jun knows, as early as the Tang Dynasty, because of the division of local feudal towns and the special relationship between the central court, out of need, the feudal towns set up a concert academy in Beijing to contact the imperial court and collect news about the imperial court. Later, the Jinsoin also had an additional responsibility, responsible for the exchange of copper coins between the feudal town and the Jingshi, which was also the beginning of flying money.

Every thing has its needs for the rise of things.

Nowadays, many local offices in Beijing have suddenly appeared in Beijing, and it is also because of this need. Since the establishment of the Han Dynasty, the imperial court has set a tax system that is completely different from that of the Ming Dynasty.

The tax system of the Ming Dynasty was to collect all the tax rights to the Central Plains, and all local revenues were first put into the central finance, and then the funds were withdrawn to the local governments.

In the past, in the Ming Dynasty, taxes were only the regular taxes of the central court. When local officials levy taxes for the imperial court, they will add fire consumption, surplus, and even local levies after the regular taxes, which are actually local fiscal revenues.

Therefore, the central and local governments have two sets of financial systems, each with its own management. In normal times, the main expenses of the local government are collected by the local government itself, and only some large projects are allocated by the state.

But now it is different, when the Han court levied taxes, all the payments already included regular taxes and additional taxes, the positive tax is the national tax, and the additional tax is the local tax. But this tax is collected together, and after it is collected, it must first go into the treasury.

Local money, must first make a budget, and then report to the imperial court for approval, and then pull it out, after the money goes down, there will be a special department to keep an eye on, at the end of the year, you have to make another report, where the money is spent, report clearly, whether the budget is overspent or surplus, all kinds of things have to be clear.

Under this financial system, the localities do not have their own financial powers, and all the money is drawn by the central government. And if you want to get the money, you have to have the budget approved by the central yamen, and after it is passed, if you want to get the money, you have to draw money from the central government.

In short, the work process of the local government has also changed, and everything has to rely on the central government.

In order to approve the budget as soon as possible, or to get the money as soon as possible, the provinces simply sent officials to be stationed in Beijing to deal with the various ministries and offices in Beijing.

These provincial officials who run the ministry in Beijing must also have a place to stay, and they cannot stay in inns and hotels for a long time, which is not only expensive and inconvenient.

Therefore, in the end, they simply rented or bought a house or built a building in Beijing at their own expense, and built an office in Beijing in the name of the guild hall.

Today's Jiangxi Guild Hall, Shanxi Guild Hall, etc., are all Beijing offices. The guild hall is not only used as an office in Beijing, but also as a reception for local officials entering Beijing, and also for receiving merchants and scholars from the province to eat and stay in Beijing. Not only can you earn some money, but you can also connect with feelings.

At present, the provinces have guild halls in Kyoto, and even some wealthy local governments have begun to set up guild halls in Beijing, such as Yangzhou guild halls.

Liu Jun has a very familiar feeling with these offices in Beijing that have appeared in the imperial court, and he has also figured out the reasons for the appearance of these guild halls at once.

He knew that this was because the localities had no financial power, and the financial power was held by the central government. However, he refused to give this financial power directly to the locality, and if the local tax collected by the local government was directly intercepted in the locality, although a bunch of intermediate links were eliminated in the middle, it became more and more difficult for the imperial court to supervise it.

Although this process is a bit troublesome, with the budget and review system, if the local government wants to spend money, it must be able to make a good budget, and clearly report how every money is to be spent to the central government for approval. Even if you get the money, how the money is spent and where it is spent in the end must also be reviewed by the imperial court, and even in the process of use, you have to be supervised.

Liu Jun would rather be more troublesome and more strictly supervised.

"Dongchang and Jinyiwei worked together to do a careful investigation of these halls, and then report it. Whether it is a provincial hall, a government hall, or a county hall, it must be clean, and there must be no problem of corruption, let alone these local guilds and local officials, who are allowed to trade power for money and engage in bribery and bribery. ”

"Check it all carefully and dig a little deeper."

Liu Jun remembers very well that many of the later Beijing offices were eventually exposed to many serious violations of law and discipline, especially the sentence of 'running forward', which impressed him even more.

Now that the offices in Beijing have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, Liu Jun must take precautions and pinch out the very likely bad signs as soon as possible. (To be continued.) )