Zhao Jun looked around at everyone and said, "I've thought about it and feel that there are only two situations that could lead to this happening."

"Which two situations?"

Yan Shu asked.

Everyone present was not stupid, and they could actually guess it vaguely, but naturally they had to let Zhao Jun say it out loud.

"First, they made more money from the redundant troops than we imagined, completely exceeding the profits the court gave them, so they refused to agree."

Zhao Jun raised two fingers. "Secondly, these guys have probably done a lot of illegal things. If there's a large-scale military reduction, there will definitely be a thorough investigation. If the truth is revealed, they'll probably be confiscated and their entire families will be exterminated. That's why they want to keep it secret."

"The most frightening thing is having both."

Yan Shu frowned and said, "I've also heard that there are many dirty things happening among military families, but since the reign of the previous emperor, they have gradually decreased a lot. But no one knows the specific situation. They only manage their own small piece of land, and no one can interfere."

Lü Yijian also explained, "Every year, military expenditures are fixed. In the past, the imperial court recruited rebels and incorporated them into the Imperial Guard and the garrison troops. These were registered, leading to a dramatic increase in the number of Imperial Guards over the past few decades. From 370,000 during the reign of Emperor Taizu, the current number of registered troops has reached 1.259 million."

"I remember that historically, it was even higher, with a peak of 1.41 million."

Zhao Jun mentioned it.

"Firstly, these people won't be investigated, and secondly, there are many deserters. A few years ago, the Nan'an Army reported that out of a battalion of 500 people, 374 deserted."

Lu Yijian continued, "This phenomenon is very common throughout the country. However, the number of troops has not decreased, but has increased day by day. From the Tianxi Year to now, the number of imperial guards has increased by more than 400,000."

"All those who have neglected their duties and are reckless and unruly will be rounded up."

Song Shou said.

Although there were many deserters, there were also many criminals and landless farmers, so during the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song, all of these people were thrown into the army. For example, Di Qing was a criminal who was recruited into the army because of fighting.

"So, while they were fleeing, they were also registering them. Add to that the fact that previous soldiers were dying of old age or in battle, and there was also poor supervision, which resulted in serious vacancies."

Zhao Jun frowned and said, "No wonder Li Gang, the famous general during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, said that one-third of the vacancies were due to unfilled recruitment. If you calculate that, there's no need for any real military reductions. The total number of troops nationwide is estimated to be around 800,000 to 900,000. That's 300,000 to 400,000 people being robbed of their salaries."

I originally thought that collecting hundreds of thousands of empty salaries would be enough, but I didn't expect that the nobles and generals were just using the imperial court as a treasure. They deceived their superiors and subordinates, collected a large amount of empty salaries, and sucked the blood of so many soldiers. I guess they just wanted to continue to fleece the imperial court.

After all, doing business abroad was inherently risky, and the court also required them to invest in the company. If the state-contracted projects weren't completed successfully, they would be fined. And in maritime trade, if there were storms at sea, wouldn't the investment be wasted?

I guess they also hope to get the most money every year, or even just take as much as possible. Who would want to give away the livelihood they have earned?

Zhao Jun obviously did not know the seriousness of the problem and simply thought that the generals and nobles were too greedy.

But he didn't know what to say.

As I said, Zhao Kuangyin will bear the consequences of his sins.

"Grandson, any ideas?"

Zhao Zhen asked.

"What ideas do you have? Let's first check the vacancies."

Zhao Jun smiled bitterly and said, "The Grandfather laid the mines, and we, the grandson, are stepping on them. What can we do?"

"What are you going to do?"

Fan Zhongyan asked.

"First, transfer back all the military sons currently serving in the army. Then transfer the relevant personnel and key generals involved with them. Send imperial censors and officials to each camp to slowly conduct a population check."

Zhao Jun looked at him and said, "I'll have to trouble you again, Old Fan. You have prestige in the army, so you can carry this out."

"Um."

Fan Zhongyan nodded.

"Apart from these."

Zhao Jun suddenly looked at Lü Yijian, Wang Zeng and the others, and thought, "The military system needs to change as well."

Zhao Zhen opened his eyes wide and asked, "Grandson, do we need to change the military system?"

"Um."

Zhao Jun smiled and said, "It will be good for you, brother, and the civil servants will also help."

"oh?"

Zhao Zhen quickly said, "Tell me quickly."

When Lü Yijian, Wang Zeng and others heard that the civil officials would also support it, they were puzzled and wanted to see what Zhao Jun would come up with.

Zhao Jun said, "The reason why warlords are so common in the military is because the decisions regarding management, training, garrisoning, promotions, rewards and punishments all come from the generals. To change this, the Song Dynasty established the Three Yamen (three yamen) to keep generals away from the army and prevent the emergence of warlords."

"But this is clearly an overreaction. If generals don't participate in daily training and discipline management, it will only lead to further deterioration of military discipline and poor training. When the enemy comes, leading such a group of soldiers into battle, they will undoubtedly be defeated."

He continued, "So we can change it so that generals participate in daily management and training. Salaries, promotions, rewards and punishments will be handled by other departments, such as the Ministry of War."

"The Ministry of War still hasn't fulfilled its mandate. Military deployments are handled by the Privy Council, while the rest of the military activities are managed by the Three Yamen. Besides overseeing warehouses and managing military rolls, the Ministry of War has no other role. We might as well cut off the source of the problem!"

Remove the firewood from under the cauldron?

Everyone looked at each other. They were all old foxes, so they naturally knew what he meant.

"Are you planning to hand over the power to the Ministry of War?"

Someone asked in surprise.

"Um."

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