Chapter 262 Mulberry

Zhao Jiu did what he said. After the three of them had a meal, they went directly to the mulberry forest on the bank of the fish pond to discuss matters related to the two armies.

"I am willing to write a document signed by me to the emperor. After I return, there will be no forced labor in the Right Army of the Imperial Camp, and there will be no more encroachment on the garrison farms. Soldiers must train every ten days and receive full military pay... As for military supplies, weapons, and personnel, please forgive me. I can only promise that I will not cause trouble for you again, but it is difficult for the generals below to really control them one by one." After a brief conversation, Zhang Jun, the commander-in-chief of the Right Army of the Imperial Camp, pointed to the sky and drew a line on the ground, almost swearing an oath by the fish pond. "I really don't know how to control them."

"Forget about the paperwork. I still trust Mr. Zhang's words."

Zhao Jiu waved his hand from a distance, stopping the dozen or so eunuchs who were busy in the mulberry forest from coming to greet him. These people were pulling out some of the mulberry trees that had not survived, and then continued to transplant new mulberry trees. "Everyone in the world says that you are a money-minded person, but I knew in the past on Huai River that you are a person who understands the true gains and losses, and a person who dares to risk everything at the critical moment... I am willing to believe your words! As for the following matters, they are the accumulated problems in the army of this dynasty that have lasted for more than a hundred years. I also understand your difficulties. For this kind of things, I will be thankful if you can do as well as Han Liangchen."

Zhang Jun was completely relieved, and he bowed in the mulberry forest: "Your Majesty, there is nothing surprising about Han Shizhong's military command. I will definitely be able to do it."

Zhao Jiu shook his head and laughed, "I also know that Han Liangchen's command of the army is nothing special, but he himself is really special... Boying, ask yourself, can you fight against his magic weapons? After a few rounds, one is the governor of three towns and a prince, and the other is the governor of two towns. The gap has been completely opened."

Zhang Boying hesitated to speak.

"But don't be anxious." Zhao Jiu stopped under a mulberry tree and turned around to face him. "When Han Shizhong's subordinates rebelled, I went to his camp to see him and made things clear. I will make it clear to you today... You people follow me, the first thing is to revive the Song Dynasty and destroy the Jin Dynasty. If you succeed, you will succeed. If you fail, you will fail. If you really succeed one day, the world is so big that I can always support ten county kings. And for people like you who understand the pros and cons, whether you want to accumulate wealth during your lifetime or to have children after your death, I can always deal with it... The key is that we have been through so much as the monarch and the ministers. Who wants what? Why not speak frankly like today? What you want with me, I can naturally give you."

After hearing this, Zhang Jun was completely calm. He bowed his head again under the mulberry tree and expressed his loyalty again and again.

Zhao Jiu had always been impatient with this, and he became impatient after just two sentences. He just called the other party up, and then looked directly at Wu Jie, who had really gained some experience today:

"Jin Qing... your situation is different from Boying's."

"I saved it." Wu Jinqing, a brave and resourceful general, was involved in the situation when he first came to the capital. He was confused for half a day, but after half a day, he understood everything he should know, so he hurried forward and bowed. "The problem with the rear army of the imperial camp is caused by the shortcomings of the Western Army... The emperor was in Guanxi before, and under his divine power, he cut the army, reorganized, and granted land, and everyone was obedient. But as soon as the emperor left, it can be seen from the fact that the depreciation money expenditure was much higher than that of the other armies that they were directly intending to return to their old ways, and I am incompetent and can't stop it."

Zhao Jiu stood under the mulberry tree with his hands behind his back, nodded at first, but then fell into a strange silence. The spring wind was strong, and in the silence, a gust of wind blew from nowhere, the insects stopped chirping for a while, and then the mulberry tree swayed continuously, and even the green grass under his feet swayed with the waves of the fish pond.

Seeing this, Wu Jie couldn't help but feel a little panicked, so much so that Zhang Jun, who had just passed the test, seemed to be gloating.

In fact, Wu Jie could not be blamed for this; of course he was terrified.

Because no matter how approachable this official behaves, no matter how frank and open-hearted he is, he is still an official, an emperor, a son of heaven, and a son of heaven with such authority... The power of life and death is just a matter of words.

At least Wu Jinqing couldn't think of any room for resistance.

After this gust of wind blew, Emperor Zhao finally spoke, but Wu Jie's heart sank to the bottom of the fish pond as soon as he spoke: "I think that the rear army of the imperial camp is not so much in disrepair and bad condition, but rather that the feudal lords' habits are hard to change, and they want to return to the feudal lord system of the past."

The word "feudal vassal" is not a groundbreaking term. During the reign of Li Gang, it was once regarded as a national policy. At that time, there were governors and pacification envoys everywhere, and the main commanders usually had to serve as local envoys, and then raise their own military pay and recruit their own soldiers.

Moreover, it has to be admitted that such measures were absolutely correct at the time. It gave the Song Dynasty court, which was in exile and had only 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers, a chance to catch its breath and develop multiple field battle groups, providing the most basic military force for the defense and foothold of the later Zhao Song court.

Han Shizhong's Imperial Camp Left Army, Zhang Jun's Imperial Camp Right Army, Yue Fei's Imperial Camp Front Army, Zhang Rong's Imperial Camp Navy, all relied on their own territories and their own revenues to support themselves in the early stage. Li Yanxian's troops maintained the only salient on the north bank of the Yellow River, and have been in charge of both military and political affairs until now... Even the Imperial Camp Central Army directly controlled by Zhao Jiu, more than half of them were diverted from those early "feudal towns".

At that stage, these generals collected taxes, recruited soldiers, and built their own workshops to manufacture military equipment... This is how Han Shizhong's elite troops got their iconic bronze masks, and it was also at that time that Zhang Jun was reluctant to spend money on his soldiers, earning him the mocking nickname of "Iron Face".

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