Chapter 88 Recruitment System

[Speaking of this, we have to talk about the military situation of the Song Dynasty.

Unlike the Tang Dynasty's military system, the Song Dynasty implemented a recruitment system, which was the "law of our ancestors" established during the reign of Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin.

The conscription system was different from the previous system of "serving as a soldier in wartime and farming in peacetime". Instead, it allowed the people to voluntarily join the army to form the army of the Song Dynasty. The court then distributed military pay and borne military expenses. These soldiers relied on the military pay distributed by the court for their daily lives and did not engage in other production work.

The recruitment system has two advantages. On the one hand, the combat effectiveness of the people who voluntarily join the army is higher than those who are forced to join the army. Zhao Kuangyin hopes to ensure the high combat effectiveness of the elite army. On the other hand, all military expenses depend on the central court, which also allows Zhao Kuangyin to firmly grasp the military power in the hands of the central government.

This makes the conscription system look very wonderful, and it was indeed so at first. Part of the high combat effectiveness of the Song Dynasty's imperial guards came from this. At the same time, this system also maintained social stability in the Song Dynasty.

But later on, the conscription system became a serious burden.

On the one hand, since the soldiers of the Song Dynasty were all professional soldiers, many of them became lifelong soldiers, that is, even if they were gray-haired and unable to fight, they might still receive military pay from the court. The large number of such people not only dragged down the combat effectiveness of the army, but also increased the financial burden of the court.

On the other hand, the imperial court, which implemented the recruitment system, later abused the system and regarded the army, mainly the local garrison, as the best choice for accommodating refugees and criminals, that is, "recruiting instead of relief." During the Song Dynasty, due to the failure to suppress land annexation, the number of landless refugees was extremely large, which brought great pressure to the imperial court's finances.

By the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, the cost of maintaining the army had reached 70 million strings of cash, accounting for 80% to % of the country's fiscal revenue.

The army of the Song Dynasty expanded rapidly from 200,000 to 300,000 elite soldiers at the founding of the country to more than 1.4 million during the reign of the fourth emperor, Song Renzong.

Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

"..." Zhao Kuangyin was speechless. He had no idea what to say, and felt as if he had drawn his sword and looked around in confusion. His adoption of the recruitment system was a good intention, wasn't it? What I have always wanted is to recover Yanyun!

He looked at his two sons and said in a low voice: "You two, do you know the purpose of my recruitment system? Do you know the requirements for recruitment?"

The two brothers put away their surprise at the number of troops and answered seriously, "Son knows."

Zhao Dezhao was glad that he had learned about this before, and quickly talked about the requirements for recruiting soldiers: "We need to check height, eyesight, walking and riding... Height should be above 5 feet 8 inches for excellent, and above 5 feet 5 inches for qualified..."

Zhao Kuangyin nodded, knowing that he didn't remember it so clearly and didn't make things difficult for him.

In fact, he was not surprised that the army, which implemented the conscription system, became a place to settle refugees. After all, he had already thought about it when he established the system, and he also tacitly agreed that this system would become a means to stabilize social order. However, the expansion of the army was beyond his expectations.

How to deal with so many people financially? It's not just the military that needs money.

Moreover, with so many people becoming soldiers, how corrupt was the civilian situation? Would it be so serious if he did not suppress annexation in order to appease the military commanders?
Tang Dynasty, the third year of Zhenguan.

The young crown prince Li Chengqian looked at the numbers listed in the miracle in amazement: "Aye, more than 1.4 million troops!"

Not only was he surprised, but all the people in the early Zhenguan period were a little shocked. Now was the early Tang Dynasty, and the military system was implemented, which did not require full support from the court. The entire army was about 600,000, and this time Li Jing attacked the Turks with only more than 100,000 people.

A 1.4 million-man army, not to mention whether it can be supported, the sheer number of people is a burden. In addition, among these professional soldiers who do not work, how many are able-bodied men who should be working the land? Wouldn't there be a problem of land being left uncultivated?

"What methods did the Song Dynasty use to make money? How did their financial system work?" Li Shimin was a little curious and a little envious. The Song Dynasty could support more than a million troops with 70% to 80% of its fiscal revenue. How rich must it be! I wonder if my Tang Dynasty can learn from this method.

Song Dynasty, the third year of Dazhong Xiangfu.

Looking at the astonishing number of soldiers, Emperor Zhenzong Zhao Heng also sighed, lamenting that it was not easy to be a king: "In order to feed these people, I collected taxes on tea, salt, and wine to meet the annual expenses. These things are all managed by the government, so there is no additional taxation to burden the people."

On the side, Ding Wei and others heard the music and understood the meaning, and hurriedly said: "The government is considerate of the people, benevolent to the people, and diligently guard the world. It is a blessing for the officials and people of our Song Dynasty, and it is the way to eternal peace!"

As for land annexation, that doesn't matter.

[So, what was the specific situation of civil officials in charge of the army under the system of "using civil officials to control military forces" that was established by Emperor Taizong of Song and established by Emperor Zhenzong?
I have said before that scholars do not know military affairs. But there is another phenomenon: when scholars discuss military affairs, their reputations are high but their actual knowledge is low.

As the literati gained control of the military and needed to train military talents, the imperial court lifted the policy of banning military books, opened military schools, established military examinations, and incorporated military studies into official schools. In the third year of Yuanfeng, Emperor Shenzong of Song ordered "to revise books such as Sun Tzu, Wu Zi, Liu Tao, Sima Fa, Sanlue, Wei Liao Zi, and Li Jing Wen Dui, and to engrave and circulate them", forming the "Seven Military Classics".

Under such circumstances, scholars actively participated in the discussion of military affairs and wrote a large number of military books. During the Song Dynasty, there were as many as 347 military books in 1956 volumes, far exceeding the number of previous dynasties. In addition, new types of military books were born, such as the first large-scale comprehensive military book "Wu Jing Zong Yao", the first collection of military figures and historical events "He Bo Shi Bei Lun", the first part of the discussion of strategies and tactics "Bai Zhan Qi Fa", the first history of military system "Li Dai Bing Zhi", and so on.

These are all good aspects.

Seeing this, all the civil officials of the Song Dynasty were overwhelmed with emotion and pride: See, this is all our credit. Without the active promotion of the literati, how could the military science become a part of the formal official learning and gain orthodox status? Without the active discussion of military affairs by the literati, how could those crude warriors write so many military books?

It is not necessarily the case that the voice is strong but the reality is weak! If we maintain a grand voice, how can we not push those soldiers to become stronger?
However, as a country of saints, how can we, the Song Dynasty, start wars at will and engage in unjust wars? How can we abuse violence instead of treating war with caution?

Especially in the third year of Dazhong Xiangfu, Zhao Heng and his trusted officials not only received praise, but also felt that their previous inferences were confirmed - how could a scholar who reads a lot of books not know about military affairs? Han Dynasty, the fourth year of Yuanshou.

The ministers with outstanding military achievements sitting in the court, as well as some generals who were well versed in military tactics, all vaguely sensed a subtle and unpleasant atmosphere - the literati were in charge of the military, and they created many military tactics and books, as well as the martial arts and military examinations... Could all of these be under the guidance of Confucianism?
So are military strategists still military strategists? Or can they only be Confucianized “military strategists”?
Tang Dynasty, the third year of Zhenguan.

Yuchi Jingde, relying on his sharp eyesight, said with a smile: "Your Majesty, look, there is a "Li Jing Questions and Answers" in the Seven Military Classics!"

When everyone saw it and saw that it was true, they all started laughing.

"As expected of a pharmacist, he can be ranked alongside Sun Wu!"

[However, these acclaimed works did not bring positive benefits proportional to their number.

First, it is the problem of the literati themselves. When they discuss military affairs, they only discuss theories and are far away from military practice. They can neither guide military practice with military theory nor refine the development of weapons and equipment, strategies and tactics into new military theory.

Similarly, the martial arts and military examinations established under the guidance of literati theory are not rational systems, and are more of a false path for literati, making it difficult to cultivate true military talents.

The ideas of literati in their discussions on military affairs were undoubtedly dominated by Confucianism, which "took Confucianism as the foundation and military affairs as the end". They also severely criticized the utilitarian ideas of "deception" and "profit" of traditional military strategists and emphasized the Confucian moral tradition, which did not meet actual needs.

So what would the Song Dynasty look like under the guidance of this ideology?

Passive defense and talk about peace.

Throughout the Song Dynasty, moral principles took precedence over interest considerations in strategic decision-making, and "being cautious in war" often became an excuse for "avoiding war" or "fearing war." In terms of social atmosphere, violence was rejected blindly, leading to the decline of the martial spirit and a lack of lasting motivation for military development.

When it comes to national defense, the defense is increasingly defensive, and there is no talk of taking the initiative. The utilitarianism of national defense strategy is gradually fading, emphasizing the destructive power of war on domestic affairs and advocating "winning over distant countries with virtue."

In addition, Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng began to establish the political rule that "the laws of ancestors cannot be changed", making refraining from mobilizing troops easily and focusing on internal affairs a part of the ancestral laws - the political rules, making it even more difficult to shake.

But what you can’t get on the battlefield, you can’t get at the negotiating table.

At the end of a dynasty when its power is declining, a defensive strategy is more likely to degenerate into a passive defense.

Looking at the changes in the atmosphere during the Song Dynasty, although some officials and emperors tried to actively develop externally, they were always unsuccessful.

Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

"How come you don't know that I am against war? The reason why I have been recuperating in the past two years is to prepare for the annihilation of Northern Han!" Zhao Kuangyin was dumbfounded by this "law of our ancestors" and could not understand it at all - descendants, have the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun been recovered? Have the Han and Tang territories been recovered? Why did they start to focus on internal affairs and passively defend themselves?

Zhao Guangmei thought for a long time, and said with a little gloating towards Zhao Guangyi: "Brother, this is not the second brother who started to focus on it, right?"

Zhao Kuangyin felt that this statement made sense. Seeing that Zhao Guangyi had never defeated the Liao Kingdom before, could it be that after not defeating it for a long time, he became afraid and stopped thinking about recovering the homeland, and instead put on a nice coat and said he wanted to concentrate on domestic affairs?

He put aside this question and turned to another key point: "Even if Zhao Guangyi, that bastard, is not ambitious enough to recover his homeland and focuses on domestic affairs, why doesn't he mention me? I have been thinking about launching military operations and recovering my homeland all my life!"

He began to speak sarcastically, "You are worthy of the temple name Zhenzong. You truly respect filial piety and love your father and ancestors!" He is a good son of Zhao Guangyi, so how can I, his uncle, count him as one?

(This is just a weird saying, not the real meaning of Zhenzong’s temple name. Zhenzong actually means “a person who likes to be mysterious”, which is not a good temple name)
Several people in the hall felt a little embarrassed and didn't know how to respond to this sentence.

Zhao Kuangyin did not let them be embarrassed for too long and quickly changed the subject: "From my observation, the emperors of the Song Dynasty after that all respected Confucianism and did not even care about interests in national defense. They also promoted this ridiculous idea of ​​'winning over distant countries with virtue'. Why is that?" It would be fine if the emperor established checks and balances between the civil and military officials, but why was he willing to do such a thing?
After thinking for a long time, Zhao Dezhao spoke first: "I remember that my great Song Dynasty has been advocating civil officials and suppressing military power since my second uncle, and civil officials have also controlled personnel, financial, and military power. Could it be that the civil officials have influenced the emperor?"

"Is the influence of civil servants so great?" Zhao Defang was a little puzzled. "It seems that our Song Dynasty was not in a very stable environment later. Didn't the emperors realize that without a strong army, peace could not be expected at all?" Not to mention anything else, before the founding of the Song Dynasty, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, which country dared to engage in passive defense or win over distant countries with virtue?
Can't the emperors see history?
"No, the power of civil officials may not be that great," Zhao Kuangyin came to a preliminary conclusion, "but in order to suppress military generals, the emperor gave too much power to civil officials, and it even became a tradition, thus forming a complete and powerful community of interests.

It is not impossible for future emperors to purge civil officials, but if most of the civil officials take a stand on this issue, how can an emperor without absolute determination do it? Moreover, they seem to have always insisted on using civil officials to control the military, which requires a large number of civil officials. "

When facing military generals, civil officials formed a community of interests and tended to suppress them. This was consistent with the interests of the successor monarchs. The emperor might not want to be on the defensive, but he did not want to shake the pattern of civil officials controlling the military. Then, the status of military generals would inevitably not be improved, and the combat effectiveness of the army would most likely be poor.

In this case, it is of course more convenient to engage in defense and promote moral governance.

What's more, he didn't believe that this bad bamboo, Zhao Guangyi, could produce many good bamboo shoots with absolute determination and the courage to carry out radical reforms that are difficult for the world. It would be great if there could be one or two!
As for what Tianmu said at the end, there were also emperors and ministers who tried to recover their homeland but failed. That was still a military problem. This problem still had to be solved by him, the Taizu, and a qualified Taizong to stabilize the correct direction of the policy. As I said before, the best time to change the policy was the founding stage.

He wanted to curb the arrogance and rebelliousness of military generals since the Five Dynasties, but he also wanted to create a situation in which both civil and military affairs were given equal importance, so as to ensure the combat effectiveness of the army, prevent the power of civil officials from expanding too much, and prevent the Song Dynasty from falling into the so-called "focusing on the interior" and "winning over distant countries with virtue" situation.

　Here we use one foot = 31cm, one inch = 3.1cm
　　Zhao Kuangyin is the second oldest, the oldest died early, so here we call Zhao Kuangyin the eldest brother.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)