The Song Dynasty raised millions of soldiers, and an average of 30 to 40 people had to raise one soldier. Among these 30 to 40 people, the proportion of elderly and weak people who were unable to work was even more amazing. Redundant soldiers had become the most serious problem of the Song Dynasty. The annual military expenditure accounts for more than two-thirds of the annual income.

Last year, due to the war, it reached an astonishing 80 million yuan, which is already the sum of tax revenues in the past twenty years of the Ming Dynasty...

Regarding the bad policy of redundant soldiers, since the Renzong Dynasty, a group of ministers have successively written letters to request the dynasty to disarmament. It can be said that calls for disarmament have never stopped.

There are three redundant things in the Song Dynasty: redundant officials, redundant expenses, and redundant soldiers.

Compared with redundant soldiers, the burden of redundant officials and redundant fees is much smaller. Moreover, after the Yuanfeng restructuring, the problem of redundant officials and redundant fees has been greatly improved.

What troubles the Song Dynasty now is mainly the problem of redundant soldiers.

Luo Cheng proposed to disarmament again, and immediately sparked heated discussions in the court;

Empress Shaosheng asked everyone to express their opinions, and Li Keshi, the commander of the front office of the Palace, came out to report: "Your Majesty, Empress Shaosheng, our dynasty has raised millions of soldiers, which is a last resort. There are no dangerous passes around Tokyo to defend. Once the Khitan conquered the three passes, he could march straight into Tokyo;

Xixia is a confidant and has repeatedly invaded Guanzhong. All these things are not enough to shock the enemy's courage without squeezing heavy troops. The decision to disarmament has been a long time, but it has not been decided for decades, all because of many concerns, for the safety of the country and the continuation of the country's destiny. I believe that disarmament should be cautious and cautious."

Li Keshi's words meant that he directly opposed disarmament. The reasons he listed were indeed the places where the Song Dynasty needed to worry about it.

Fan Chunren, the Minister of Rites, then went out to report: "Now, many fields in the Song Dynasty are deserted, few farming people, and heavy taxes. Those who are not well-used in the country are because they have too many soldiers to raise;

The court discussed this matter mostly to prevent the Khitan. However, the Khitan country's power is no longer as strong as before, so our court does not have to raise a million troops to prepare for it;

If a soldier is taken from the people, the people will be scarce, and if the people are scarce, the fields will be deserted. If the fields are deserted, the taxes and service will be heavy. If the taxes and service are heavy, the people will be dissatisfied;

In the past, Emperor Wu of Han raised troops to make the world poor in order to conquer the Huns and the desert north. Now, our Song Dynasty does not use troops but raises millions of troops, which also makes the people in the world suffer. Why do you do it?”

Fan Chunren is an upright person. His support for disarmament is not to agree with reformists like Cai Jing, but to think that the disadvantage of redundant soldiers is no longer to be dealt with. Otherwise, no matter how much money the Song Dynasty earns, it is not enough to fill this bottomless pit.

Pan Rui, deputy envoy of the Privy Council, gave a speech: "Your Majesty, Empress Shaosheng, I think there are too many eliminations. People will inevitably be confused, and soldiers will inevitably have to resent. Although the country is peaceful and the discipline is at peace, they have to be careful;

If the imperial edict is issued and eliminated immediately, if anyone with ulterior motives spread rumors and incites the people, and there may be rebellion, the world will be shocked;

At that time, the court will have to collect and return the eliminations in order to appease the morale of the army, and the court will lose its prestige, and it will be difficult for these arrogant soldiers to be ordered in the future. If it is implemented with a strong force, it will be difficult for all resentment to be violated. The Liang Dynasty divided the troops of Wei Bo and the rebellion of Zhang Yan, which is a lesson for the past."

Lin Xi, a clerk of the Secretariat, then went out and said: "For decades, except for the soldiers in the northwest, most of the soldiers have never heard of the golden drums and knew the battle formations, and have nothing to do and are full of food and clothing, and it is inevitable that they will grow arrogance and laziness;

Now the soldiers who entered Beijing Guards do not take armor and let others take them on their behalf. The banished soldiers distribute rations, and hire people to help them with their backs. They are arrogant and lazy, so how can they expect them to sweat and blood to defend their country? It is just a waste of national benefits."

He Shikuan, Minister of Justice, continued: "When the Song Dynasty encounters a bad year, the officials of prefectures and counties will measure the growth of the people by their standards. Those who are strong will recruit them as ban soldiers. Secondly, those who are less than the standards and are slightly cowardly will recruit them as wing soldiers. Those who are recruited by many officials will be rewarded, and the people will compete for corresponding recruitment due to the difficulty of famine;

Therefore, when a bad year occurs, only some old and weak will be left for farming. The court said that he did not collect young and strong soldiers and was afraid of stealing them. However, recruiting soldiers will not make them into bandits for a while, but they will make them arrogant and useless money for their entire lives;

Since ancient times, strong people have been responsible for farming, while the elderly and weak have fun. However, the opposite of our Song Dynasty. Now, strong people recruited as soldiers and let them do nothing, while the elderly and weak have to take on farming. This is simply outrageous!”

The debate in the court is getting more and more intense. After you finished singing, I will appear again. The problem of redundant soldiers has plagued the Song Dynasty for nearly a hundred years and has not been effectively resolved. Many people hate this.

He Shikuan mentioned one thing, that is, recruiting young and strong soldiers in the years of famine is to prevent their rebellion. This should be said to be applicable in the early days of the founding of the country. Now the reign of the Song Dynasty has stabilized, so there is no need to do this anymore;

Just imagine that if you don’t recruit so many soldiers and only retain 400,000 to 500,000 troops, the court can save at least 30 million chunks of expenses every year. Even if you only use one-tenth of the saved savings to prepare for disasters every year, even if you encounter a major disaster year, the court will still have the ability to provide relief and allow the victims to spend the disaster year safely.

During Wang Anshi's reform, there were many new laws that were formulated for the military, and they also used the problem of redundant soldiers, and the results were quite significant;

During the Pingzhi period, there were 1.16 million troops in the Song Dynasty. During the Xining period, Wang Anshi laid off the army to 568,688. By the Yuanfeng period, there was a slight increase, and only 612,244 people.

Unfortunately, in the early years of Yuanyou, the new law was completely eliminated by Sima Guang, and Wang Anshi's military reforms died before they were finally formed. In addition, the Yellow River often flooded during the Yuanyou period and the Western Xia invaded a large number of people every year, which caused the number of troops to increase sharply again, and now it has reached more than one million.

It was Li Qingchen, the Left Chief of the Shangshu, who came out of duty, and he said sternly: "Since ancient times, those who are good at using troops can make them go through fire and water. Now, the soldiers and the banned soldiers dare not fight, so they have to use them temporarily, so they are called borrowing. The soldiers and generals told each other that it was the officials begging us, and the official documents of the dispatch of troops were also called requests;

The reward is for rewards. Now, every time a great gift is given, it is rewarded without merit. It costs one million yuan every three years, and there is no need to delay any of the money;

When a soldier receives rewards, he does not feel ashamed of receiving the rewards for his lack of merit. Instead, he feels that he has given him less. He is more good or bad in rewards. If he is not satisfied, he will hold his sword and call him, gather people to cause trouble, and threaten the officials sent by the emperor;

It is fashionable and so easy to do, which shows how arrogant the soldiers dare to be so arrogant because they cannot control the law and the rule of law is not established!

The Five Dynasties rebelled from this. In the fifty-three years, the twelve kings of the five surnames changed, and eight people were killed in the country. The elders were only over ten years old, and even those died at the age of three or four.

Are these monarchs very stupid? How could they hope for chaos and not want long-term stability? It is a last resort;

At that time, there were Fen Jin in the east, Qi Shu in the west, Qiang Hu in the north, and Jianghuai, Fujian and Guang in the south, Wu Yue and Jingtan in the world. The world was divided into thirteen and fourteen, surrounded by all sides. In addition, there were rebel generals and powerful ministers in China who were stolen and occupied them;

Most of the people in the world have not been able to obtain the country for a long time and their power has not been governed. Therefore, they have to raise soldiers like a son who eats tigers and wolves, and they are still afraid that the soldiers will not be used for their use. How dare they control them?

The Song Dynasty has established a country for more than 100 years. It has suppressed the usurpation and rebellion outside, and no country dared to resist the enemy; it has cut down the square and no ministers who have strong rebelled. The world is one, and the country is peaceful. It is not long before it is established, and the world is vast;

However, the army is not enough to be powerful outside but dare to be arrogant inside. How can the system be applied to the world for generations? It will inevitably become increasingly complicated. If everything is left alone and does not seek improvement, then what is the difference between it and the Five Dynasties? Therefore, I believe that even if the army is shaken, it is necessary to implement forcefully and not seek peace in vain!"

Li Qingchen's words were loud and clear. According to his meaning, even if disarmament will cause some turmoil, it must be implemented at any cost. Otherwise, if you don't wait for others to attack, you will probably be dragged down.

In this Korean debate, anyone who supports the layoff of redundant soldiers and rectifying the army can list a lot of reasons to prove that it is time to have to attack redundant soldiers.

Those who oppose it are most worried that the arrogant soldiers will be uncontrollable, and once a large number of layoffs will cause sudden changes.

But in fact, this kind of worry is a bit too much. This is a typical literati mentality. He always thinks about everything, fearing this and that, and dare not implement it.

When Wang Anshi began to disarmament, Sima Guang, Han Qi and Wen Yanbo jumped out to oppose it, because of his concern that disarmament would cause radical changes and make national defense empty;

But what the result was that Wang Anshi forced half of more than one million troops, and more than half of them were laid off. Who would you dare to rebel?

The national defense air weakness is even more of a joke. Wang Shaoxi River opened the border and fought rumblingly. Zhang Dun swept across Jinghu, making the barbarians obeyed until now. Shenzong failed in the five routes to attack Xia, but it was definitely not because of the small force and poor combat power;

The failure of the five-way attack on Xia can only be said to be because God did not bless the Song Dynasty. Wang Shao died too early, and the Shenzong lost the most ideal commander of Xia. The lack of an ideal commander of Xia was the main reason for this failure.

Looking back, Wang Anshi cut off 500,000 troops. Not only did there be no rebellion in the Song Dynasty, but national defense did not become empty. Instead, it enhanced the military's combat power. After preparing for the battle, it tried its best to expand its living space.

Now Li Keshi and others picked up the old tunes of Han Qi and others who opposed disarmament, which is really speechless. China's history is always repeated, as if it can never get around that vicious circle, and it is trapped in the same quagmire again and again and again and cannot extricate itself. China has never lacked thinkers, but people who can put their thoughts into practice.

Zhang Dun did not speak in this discussion, and Yang Yi was even more like an old monk entering a state of meditation. In fact, this issue was raised at the court meeting, just to try the waters and see the reactions of the ministers.

Now that I have basically figured out, the purpose has been achieved.

If you really want to solve the problem, you must not discuss it so endlessly at the court meeting, as there will be no result in arguing.

Especially for sensitive issues such as disarmament, it is best to implement them vigorously and vigorously after the senior management formulates a detailed plan.

Just like Wang Anshi, with the absolute trust and support of Emperor Shenzong, a seemingly difficult thing like disarmament was completed without causing any trouble in the end.

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Chapter completed!