After the battle, Li Wufeng and Ling Tianfang discussed the gains and losses of the battle and the shortcomings exposed by his troops in the war, and finally, Li Wufeng decided to hold a meeting in Qingyang a week later, that is, on February 2, 694 in the continental calendar, to summarize the experience of the counterinsurgency campaign, and to arrange and deploy the work in 694.

On February 2, the meeting was held as scheduled. The meeting was attended by the main preparatory personnel of the four prefectures of Qingyang, Jinzhou, Guide, and Bonan in the Northwest Prefecture, as well as the chief officers of the four divisions of the Northwest Army Corps.

At the meeting, Xiao Tang announced the appointment of Li Wufeng, appointing Mu Haoran as the deputy director of the Northwest County Administration and the director of the Culture, Education and Health Department, Jin Ning as the director of the Northwest County Intelligence Bureau, and Lu Man as the director of the Northwest County War Readiness Administration.

Immediately afterwards, Ling Tianfang praised the achievements of various units in the counterinsurgency campaign, and announced the promotion order for Liang Chongxin and 19 other military ranks.

Li Wufeng severely criticized the weaknesses and deficiencies exposed by the troops during the war, pointing out that at the present stage, the troops were still undertrained, and the coordination between the various units was not tacit enough, and that at the end of the campaign, the encirclement and annihilation of the remnants of the chaotic army were particularly conspicuous, and the first and second divisions only cared about themselves and ignored other troops, resulting in the convergence of the two chaotic armies, causing our army to be passive. Both Leung Chongxin and Choi Wenxiu made reviews at the meeting.

While discussing the handling of the 60,000 or so rebel soldiers in Guide, a fierce quarrel broke out between the military and the government at the meeting.

The political axe officials, led by Xiao Tang and Su Minshun, strongly demanded that the 60,000 people be released as civilians so that they could return to their hometowns so that they could return to industrial and agricultural production. The military headed by Liang Chongxin resolutely demanded that these troops be incorporated and the Fifth Division of the Northwest Army Corps and the troops directly under the corps would be formed, so that the Northwest Army Corps would become a complete corps, and the remaining men and horses would be used to enrich the local garrison units, and the second garrison division could be formed in important prefectures and counties.

Li Wufeng sat in the middle of the hall and listened to the debate between the two sides, but did not express his position.

"My lord, now that the northwest is in peace, there is a lot of waste waiting to be rebuilt, and a lot of labor is needed. The population of Guide is less than 400,000, and more than two-thirds of them are elderly, weak, women and children. Guide's economy is facing an opportunity for great development, and there are already quite a few powerful businessmen who are interested in investing in the development of the salt mines in the north, and I have reached a preliminary opinion with them on this matter, and if this project is carried out, it will inevitably require a large number of capable laborers, and the existing population of Guide is simply not enough to meet this need. The grape plantations and winemakers in the south have also negotiated with me to further expand the scale, give full play to the brand effect, make these advantageous industries bigger and stronger, and strive to enter the market of the central and western continents in large quantities this year, and also need a large number of labor, and the development of these industries will bring us considerable tax revenue. Su Minshun, who was a little excited, turned a little red, "What's more, if you want us to revive the economy within the period, the construction of infrastructure such as roads, farmland and water conservancy that have been abandoned for a long time must also be carried out immediately, which also requires a considerable amount of manpower." Therefore, I implore my lordship to release these peasants, who were originally peasants, and let them return to their original posts, and I believe that they will work hard and repay the political axe under the present preferential policy. ”

As soon as his words fell, Liang Chongxin's deep voice had already sounded: "I don't dare to agree with Lord Su's opinion for two reasons. First, these 60,000 troops are not all peasants from Guide Province, as Master Su said, but a considerable number of them are bandits from the former Iron Cavalry Society and gang members of the original Immortal Society, these people have adapted to the life of the army, and it may be quite difficult to ask them to go back to agriculture or work, and if they are not done well, they will become a hidden danger to local public security; second, the situation in the northwest is still quite grim, and the Luope and Mote people in the northwest seem to have no change now, but they must not be taken lightly; the Yinchuan Mansion and the Xislo Empire in the north pose a great threat to me, and there is the Taixuan Mansion in the east。 Yinchuan Mansion has three elite divisions, and the Sislo people also stationed 100,000 troops in the southern fortress Nuremberg, and there is a trend of increasing, Taixuanfu also has three divisions of elite troops, the combined strength of these parties is far beyond our existing strength, once they unite, the strength of Yinchuan Mansion and the Sithro people alone is enough to crush us, so, I think the top priority is to strengthen combat readiness, enrich the army, these 60,000 people already have a certain combat effectiveness, as long as they go through the necessary training can become qualified soldiers。 ”

"I'm afraid Lord Liang's words are a bit alarmist, I personally think that after this counterinsurgency war in our northwest, although it is not peaceful in the world, at least the overall situation has been decided, and nothing else is enough to shake Lord Li's position in the northwest. The threat of Yinchuan Mansion and the Siathrow people mentioned by Lord Liang, I personally think that they may not collude with each other, everyone knows that although the two sides still maintain an alliance on the surface, they have long been in the same bed and have different dreams, Sun Yuanliang is not unclear about the ambitions of the Sithroes, he cannot cooperate with the Siathrows without defense, that will not be of much benefit to him, and with Yinchuan Mansion in the middle, the Sithlos will never be able to go south freely. As for the Taixuan Mansion, for now, it is not possible, it is still nominally a subordinate of Lord Li now, and his master has not yet made up his mind. The Ropes have reached an agreement with us that will be beneficial to both sides, and there will be no changes in the near future, and the Motts are negligible, and their biggest enemies at the moment are the Sithlos and not us. Only when the economy develops and the people's living standards improve, will we wholeheartedly support us, and will our position as adults become more stable, and only in this way will our financial revenues gradually increase and we will have more funds to support the development of the army's strength. Therefore, I personally advocate that these 60,000 soldiers be released into the people, so that they can be enriched into the development of industrial and agricultural production. Xiao Tang's remarks were well-reasoned and well-founded, and not only won the strong support of the political axe officials, but even the military officials who strongly opposed it felt a little difficult to refute.

"Lord Xiao, although your words are very reasonable, have you thought about it, the economic foundation of the northwest region is weak, and it is not an overnight achievement to develop the economy. However, now that we are surrounded by enemies, the situation in the empire is unstable, and once the situation changes greatly, we will be unable to deal with it. It is also clear to everyone that the empire is now riddled with diseases, and the slightest disturbance may cause great turmoil, and we must be prepared for danger in times of peace, take precautions, and prepare early, rather than rest on our laurels. Moreover, the training of the army can not form combat effectiveness in a day or two, and these troops already have a certain combat effectiveness, and they can become a qualified army as long as they undergo a certain amount of training, and it would be a pity if they were released as civilians, not to mention whether they could adapt to civilian life. Although Cui Wenxiu's words were more tactful, they also expressed the willingness that this group of soldiers should be included in the army, "And I think that as long as we have a strong army, we can defend our family and the country by retreating, and we can expand our territory and seek greater space for development, which is also consistent with your wishes, Lord Xiao." The last few words full of expansion ambitions, even Li Wufeng and Ling Tianfang, who had never spoken, couldn't help but look at each other and smile, obviously speaking in their hearts.

"Yes, Lord Cui's words are very reasonable, if there is no strong army to protect, even the most prosperous economy may be ruined, with a strong army as the backing, you can not only protect the smooth development of the local economy, but also seize the favorable opportunity to obtain greater benefits, this is a good thing to kill two birds with one stone." Kamapov spoke next.

"I don't agree with the two adults. The strength of the armed forces is certainly a good thing, but it also depends on whether the local finances can support it. At present, the population of the four northwestern provinces under the direct jurisdiction of Lord Li is less than 2.5 million, and the number of the army has reached four divisions of the regular army and four divisions of the garrison force, the number of which is close to 200,000, and the ratio of military to civilian personnel has reached an appalling 1:13, which is unacceptable. Moreover, the economic foundation of our northwest is weak, and the financial situation is even more difficult, that is, the burden of the army before the original increase has already been overstretched, and now three more local garrison divisions have been added to the current counterinsurgency campaign, which has overwhelmed the finances even more. If the military establishment is increased, it will be difficult for the finances to afford it. James, who has long served as the treasurer of the Golden State, is very knowledgeable about the financial situation of the entire Northwest and offers his own views on the financial burden.

The two sides expressed their respective views one after another, and under Li Wufeng's deliberate guidance, both sides refuted each other on their respective opinions, and neither could convince anyone.

While listening to the opinions of both sides, Li Wufeng was also thinking about it, and the opinions of both sides were actually concentrated on one focal point, that is, whether the future policy should focus on recuperation and economic development or on the expansion of armaments and warfare, and the expansion of armed forces, and this is also an issue that Li Wufeng has been considering for several days.

It stands to reason that now that the situation in the northwest has basically calmed down, it is a good time to seize the time and concentrate all efforts on economic development, but the idea of using force to seize greater interests has always lingered in Li Wufeng. Of course, Wu Feng also knows that economic development and the expansion of the army are mutually reinforcing, and only a strong army can protect local vested interests, and only a prosperous economy can maintain the operation of a strong army, and both are indispensable.

The impending chaos in the Central Plains of the empire and the relative weakness of his surrounding forces made Wu Feng always hope that he could find a suitable time to further expand his power, but this must require himself to have a strong enough force to protect it. But the practical difficulties are also in front of him, the financial burden has reached the limit, if the water is dry and fishing, I am afraid that the gains will outweigh the losses, on this issue, he has also discussed with Ling Tianfang a few times, and also exchanged views with Xiao Tang, but has never been able to find a better solution, it seems that everything is not perfect, there are gains and losses, and it cannot be forced.

raised his head and swept around the subordinates who were still talking, everyone knew that it was a sign that their boss was about to speak, and they all calmed down suddenly.

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