The official system of the Northern Song Dynasty was the most complex, chaotic, and unfathomable system in Chinese history.

The reasons for this situation are inseparable from the general environment at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Of course, this is also inseparable from the fact that scholars, having nothing better to do, like to complicate simple things.

This applies to both civil and military officials.

A wide variety of styles, emerging one after another.

After the An Lushan Rebellion, the regional military governors (jiedushi) grew powerful and constantly threatened the central imperial power.

Even after the fall of the Tang Dynasty, the problem of regional military governors could not be resolved.

On the contrary, the Tang Dynasty perished because of the regional military governors. After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, China was plagued by constant wars, and the various military governors were no longer satisfied with the title of military governor and simply began to call themselves kings and emperors.

Emperors take turns ruling, military generals seize power, and regicide and patricide occur in rotation.

After Guo Rong's death, Zhao Kuangyin donned the yellow robe.

In view of this chaotic situation, a series of measures were adopted to weaken the power of the military governor.

The main idea is to first send his trusted generals to take over as local military governors, but that's not enough. While he's alive, he can keep these trusted generals in check. But what if he retires and these trusted generals take control of the military and political affairs of a region? Wouldn't that lead to a repeat of the regional military governorship system?

Therefore, Zhao Kuangyin adopted a policy of strengthening the central government and weakening local power.

What is meant by strong trunk and weak branches?

Many people in later generations have criticized Zhao Kuangyin for "releasing military power over a cup of wine" and thus crippling himself. I don't know which brainless historian first made such a comment on "releasing military power over a cup of wine," but he has poisoned the minds of a large number of keyboard warriors in later generations.

The national policy of strengthening the central government and weakening local powers was not intended to weaken the military strength of the Northern Song Dynasty, but rather to protect the central imperial authority.

This involved selecting the most elite troops from the armies of local military governors and incorporating them into the Imperial Guard.

Furthermore, in terms of military and political affairs, the best military equipment was given to the central imperial guards, thereby weakening the strength of the local garrison troops.

In fact, at the beginning of the founding of the nation, scholars were indeed employed to govern the country.

However, during the reign of Emperor Taizu, there were many famous generals, and it was never said that a military general could not become a prime minister.

For example, Cao Bin became the Privy Councilor and was not ostracized by the civil officials.

However, the Yongxi Northern Expedition during Emperor Taizong's reign wiped out the elite troops of the Song Dynasty, crippling the military force and rendering them unable to stand up to the civil officials.

It can be said that the subsequent situation of the weak Song Dynasty was entirely caused by Zhao Er!

After the Yongxi Northern Expedition, the literati and official class truly began to rise in the Northern Song court.

He then began to devise various ways to persuade Zhao Er to establish a bloated bureaucratic system. In short, he had only one goal: to give full preferential treatment to civil officials and to suppress military generals!

How to restrain military generals?

First, start by brainwashing them mentally!

Of all professions, only studying is noble!

Soldiers are the lowest of the low!

Secondly, the military positions were weakened, creating a large number of mutually restrictive and ambiguous military officer positions and titles.

Civilian generals who command troops share a common trait: Don't be so heartless! Everyone has their struggles. He only violated military regulations; a scolding, demote him, or dismiss him is enough. Beating him is too rude! What? Kill him? No, no, absolutely not…

Military discipline completely collapsed as a result!

The saying "a kind heart cannot command an army" has become a negative joke since the Song Dynasty literati.

From Zhao Huan's perspective, military law must be clearly defined. The Song Dynasty must establish its own military court to enforce military discipline on behalf of the emperor. Military law must be impartial and without any exceptions!

Living even a minute longer is a crime for someone who deserves to die!

According to the military strategy proposed by the emperor last year, the Song Dynasty was divided into five major war zones: the Yan-Yun War Zone, the Northwest War Zone, the Southeast War Zone, the Southwest War Zone, and the Central Capital Region War Zone.

The Three Military Commands were abolished, and the Imperial Military Governor's Office was established above the Five War Zones. It had the power to command the Imperial Army and was of the same rank as the Eastern Government Office and the Western Privy Council, and was called the Central Government Office.

The status of this Imperial Military Governor's Office was clearly higher than that of the previous Three Military Offices, which also demonstrated the emperor's determination to strengthen the army.

Zhong Shidao was separated from the Privy Council and became the first Marshal of the Central Army, in charge of the five major war zones.

In reality, the Marshal of the Central Army was merely the emperor's military advisor. During wartime, the emperor commanded the troops, but in peacetime it was a nominal position. In addition to reporting to the Marshal, the commanders of each war zone were also required to submit memorials to the emperor on important military matters.

The so-called "road" and "army" will be abolished, and they will be assigned to war zones according to their geographical location.

The highest military commander in a war zone is the governor-general, also known as the commander-in-chief, and all commanders-in-chief are appointed by the Imperial Military Governor's Office.

The Reinstatement Law was reinstated, and the Political Propaganda Department was officially transformed into the Control Yuan, which, together with the Inspectorate, was known as the two judicial branches.

The Censorate oversees the military courts of the Song Dynasty, crucial for maintaining military discipline! It is on par with the Military Governor's Office.

This represents a restructuring of the military.

After listening to Li Gang's report, Zhao Huan nodded, clearly satisfied.

This is the military structure that Zhao Huan envisioned.

Although the salaries of the Three Military Commanders were higher than those of the Privy Councilors, their actual status was not high.

Now they are on equal footing, with the Central Prefecture in charge of commanding troops and the Western Prefecture in charge of dispatching troops.

In order to restrain the military power of the war zone commanders, the rotation of troops continued.

In order to enforce military discipline and eliminate the so-called tradition that soldiers only recognize generals as capable soldiers, the Control Yuan was established.

The Censorate was responsible for enforcing military discipline on behalf of the emperor.

After establishing the power structure, Li Gang reported on the military ranks and grades.

The Song Dynasty had twelve ranks of nobility: King, Heir Apparent King, Prince of a Commandery, Duke of a State, Duke of a Commandery, Duke of the Founding State, Duke of the Founding State Commandery, Duke of the Founding State County, Marquis of the Founding State, Earl of the Founding State, Viscount of the Founding State, and Baron of the Founding State.

Zhao Huan, a modern man, thought this system of titles was too cumbersome and was simply a habit left over from the early days of the dynasty, and should be changed.

The titles of nobility thereafter continued to follow the traditional Chinese system: Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron.

The title of king was also added, and the various titles were further divided into upper and lower ranks.

Even though it's the same level twelve, not only civil officials can obtain titles, but military officers or ordinary soldiers can as well.

However, the threshold for obtaining a title is much higher. For example, a military general or an ordinary soldier must be a man of both literary and military talent to obtain a title. He must be able to charge into battle and also understand military strategy and politics.

Finally, the imperial court, after comprehensive evaluation, bestows the title upon the emperor.

Of course, promotion in military rank is much simpler, based on military merit assessment.

The military ranks have also been revised.

Military ranks were the most frustrating thing for Zhao Huan. The scholars of the Song Dynasty were so bored that they created a whole bunch of military ranks, and even he, the emperor, couldn't figure them out after looking at them several times.

Finally, we used the simplest method, which is also the easiest for ordinary soldiers to remember. Only when ordinary soldiers have memorized it will they be motivated to make military achievements!

The new military ranks of the Song Dynasty: General, Magistrate, Lieutenant, Sergeant, and Soldier.

Among them, generals, officers, and lieutenants are divided into senior, middle, junior, and standard ranks; sergeants are only divided into senior, middle, and junior ranks; and soldiers are even simpler, consisting of privates and privates.

As a result, Zhao Huan had a much clearer understanding of the overall structure of the army.

Under the previous military system, the emperor would have been completely bewildered.

He even suspected that some people deliberately made the military system so complicated in order to embezzle military pay and make extra money.

Now things are different; once many things are simplified, the overall picture becomes clear.

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