After noon, it was still cloudy and rainy.

Early winter brings a chill.

In the afternoon, the regular meeting of Chongzheng Hall was held.

When Zhao Zhen learned that Di Qing had recovered the Western Regions, he was very happy. He waved his hand and appointed him as the Jiedushi of Zhanghua Army, and also named Di Qing's wife Wei as Lady Dingguo.

This reward cannot be said to be meaningless, but it can only be considered better than nothing.

After all, this is about expanding territory.

During the reigns of Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Li Shimin, he would at least be granted the title of marquis or duke, but in the Song Dynasty he was only given the empty title of Jiedushi.

But there really is no way.

Now Di Qing is already the Deputy Privy Councilor, and the senior officials of the Song Dynasty are all assigned to their own positions, so it is difficult to find another position.

In terms of function, the Privy Council of the Song Dynasty had certain functions of the Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense in later generations. The current Privy Councilor Zhang Kang had made great contributions in the wars against the Western Xia and Liao Kingdoms.

Simply put, the Privy Council is currently responsible for organizing conscription, organization, mobilization, training, formulating military regulations, cooperating with the Emperor of the Song Dynasty to issue decisions and orders, etc. It is the highest military institution of the Song Dynasty.

The Ministry of War cannot directly issue orders to dispatch troops, but it has the power of supervision, logistics, management, rewards and punishments, and can be understood as the military's supervisory logistics agency.

In this way, the power to train soldiers remains in the hands of the generals, but the power over the soldiers' food, wages, promotions, rewards and punishments lies in the hands of the Ministry of War. The generals cannot decide the direct interests of the lower-level soldiers, so naturally they cannot incite the soldiers to rebel.

Despite such strict control over the army, with no power to mobilize troops and various forms of supervision, the army is guarded to the core, but there is no other way around it.

Not to mention the turmoil caused by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, just talking about the Republic of China period, heroes from all walks of life had guns and cannons, and they tore the Chinese land apart.

This era is a period of rapid change. Although guns and cannons are strictly controlled to prevent them from being lost to the people, the army always has guns. If the army is not managed well and a general rebels, the destructive power will be much greater than a rebellion with cold weapons.

Until there is a better way, this is the only way for now.

Therefore, the current structure of the Song Dynasty is still that of civil officials supervising military commanders, but it is not as exaggerated and obvious as before. The Ministry of War is still the world of civil officials. With civil officials supervising the army, Di Qing naturally cannot go to the Ministry of War.

This means that unless Zhang Kang steps down, a large number of generals, including Di Qing, can only be promoted to deputy positions such as Deputy Privy Councilor, Co-Director of the Privy Council, and Signatory of the Privy Council.

Promotion in the military remains difficult, and it seems that this has not changed the military's embarrassing situation.

"Before, I criticized the Song Dynasty for prioritizing culture over military affairs. I was indeed too rash. I didn't really study Song Dynasty history properly, and I just cursed it based on my own preferences."

When asked about the military, Zhao Jun frankly said, "But as I said before, a country's development should advance both civil and military power. Emphasizing civil power over military power, or emphasizing military power over civil power, is not a good thing. The Song Dynasty's harsh suppression of the military was also an overreaction, a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The centuries of humiliation in the Northern and Southern Song dynasties ultimately stemmed from the over-restraint of military power."

"Well, I agree with this. When I was young, there was a saying that having a sword in your hand but not using it is not the same as having no sword in your hand."

Zhao Zhen nodded and said, "The army is a double-edged sword. Whether it injures others or yourself depends on who wields it. If you are afraid of being wounded by the sword and dare not raise it to meet the enemy, the ultimate result will be nothing but death."

"Brother, you are indeed insightful. Such profound ideas are thought-provoking. I think we should write about them in the Great Song Daily and publish an article so that people all over the country can know about your enlightened and profound views."

Zhao Jun immediately gave a thumbs up in praise.

Zhao Zhen's personality is like that of a golden retriever. As long as you are right, he won't dare to talk back or bark even if you scold him or punch him. He will just swallow his pride and squat aside cautiously, feeling aggrieved.

If you praise him a few times, he will be so proud that he can reach the sky, especially after being praised a few times, his happy smile will stretch to the back of his head.

At this time, even if you want to demolish his house, as long as the reason is justified, he will probably agree happily.

Sure enough, upon hearing Zhao Jun's praise, Zhao Zhen's smile immediately widened and he said, "In fact, it was my eldest grandson who gave me the best advice. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have known these principles."

"Brother, you understand it well."

"The eldest grandson taught well."

Many prime ministers had blank expressions on their faces, having long been accustomed to the two men flattering each other.

Fan Zhongyan raised the issues that he was concerned about. After all, he had led an army and had deep feelings for it, especially since he was the current military god of the Song Dynasty. Zhang Kang, Di Qing and others were all brought up by him.

"When I came to the Song Dynasty, I personally went deep into the grassroots and the army to understand the situation of the Song Dynasty army. Only then did I know where the problems of the Song Dynasty army are now."

Zhao Jun pondered, "Much of the army is made up of captured refugees and criminals. They have low combat effectiveness and are just filling in the numbers. They have no faith in their hearts and only know how to muddle through life and wait for food. They don't know why they fight. Now a lot has changed. What remains is to gradually improve the quality of the army and its status in the hearts of the people. As long as the soldiers become sacred and have a sense of honor, then they will know that they are fighting for the country, and naturally they will dare to fight and not be afraid of war."

"Well, the measures Hanlong took to reform the military a few years ago did solve a lot of problems. Now, they really need ideological construction work."

Fan Zhongyan nodded.

After Zhao Jun came to the Song Dynasty, he found that there was still a big gap between his words and reality.

The low status of the Song Dynasty army was not only due to the emphasis on civil officials over military officials, but also due to many historical issues.

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