In fact, in terms of the system, the military system of the Northern Song Dynasty can only be described as outrageous. The fact that it has not collapsed until now is truly a miracle.
The conscription system plus the millions of imperial guards would not be enough to satisfy Wang Anshi, let alone the God of Wealth!
Even in modern society, this cannot be done.
Wang Anshi said that it was about opening up new sources of income, but if you look closely at his new laws, you will find that disarmament is actually inevitable.
He didn't mention this matter at first in order to reduce obstacles.
It can be seen that disarmament is actually a consensus among conservatives and reformists.
But why couldn’t it be done before?
It is because of these redundant officials who are still standing in the way. Not only do they add burden to the finances, but they also make execution a mess.
Such a major operation, if not performed accurately, could very likely lead to major problems.
Everyone is afraid of this responsibility.
...
...
For example, Sima Guang pointed out the harm of having too many soldiers in a straightforward manner to Zhao Xu, but then he immediately made it clear that this was not something that could be solved overnight.
What I mean is that I know the harm it will cause, but based on the current situation of our country, it is definitely impossible to do it now.
The reason why it went so smoothly this time was not because it met Sima Guang’s requirements, but because the imperial court appeared and used the whip to force the court to make changes.
Of course, this was secretly supported by the emperor and Wang Anshi.
Then the next step will depend on the execution of Hezhong Prefecture.
From this it is clear that the Northern Song Dynasty's top civil service group is not just a reputation. They are all very intelligent geniuses, but many problems are deep-rooted and difficult to solve. If they do not first clean up the bureaucracy, it will be difficult to achieve anything.
Hezhong Prefecture.
After receiving the imperial edict, Yuan Jiang was as excited as a child. He immediately ran to the imperial court under the pretext of discussing compensation with Zhang Fei.
"Good boy, you have the wisdom to plan for the country at such a young age."
When seeing Zhang Fei, Yuan Jiang praised him highly.
When he first learned about this plan, he was actually very nervous. It was too complicated. He had never played this way before because it involved many interests and there were also party struggles in the court. If it failed, he would not be able to bear the responsibility!
Zhang Fei was not surprised by the honor or disgrace. He bowed and said, "Master Yuan, you are really too kind. In my opinion, the real test has just begun. As the saying goes, serving the emperor is like serving a tiger. The emperor has given us such great support. If we fail, the consequences will be disastrous!"
"That's true."
Yuan Jiang nodded, still unable to hide his excitement. At least he could make a difference. As a civil servant at his age, if he didn't fight now, when would he? He sat down and said, "In the past month, I have carefully studied the accounts of the Transportation Department. If the compensation starts from next year, and is calculated based on the amount of money per person per month, as long as the army is reduced by 30%, there will be no financial pressure.
Even if the disarmament cannot be done so quickly, it does not matter. As long as the plan is made for the second half of the year, it can reach 30%, and the existing finances are sufficient to support it. Even if it is not achieved in the second half of the year, it only needs to issue 300,000 salt debts to make up for it.
It can be seen that as long as disarmament is carried out, there will be no harm but only benefits!"
As he spoke, his tone became excited again.
Disarmament means going into battle with light equipment, how could he not be excited?
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "It seems that Master Yuan is ready."
Yuan Jiang said: "If the autumn tax does not decrease, our transportation department will still have an easy time."
All the money of the Transportation Bureau is tax money.
Zhang Fei said: "There is no problem with the autumn tax in Hezhong Prefecture. At least it will not decrease. As for how much it will increase, I dare not guarantee it."
"That's all." Yuan Jiang nodded slightly, "Then the most important thing next is how to place those laid-off soldiers."
Zhang Fei was slightly stunned, and said: "Regarding this point, I have also suggested it to Yuan Xueshi before. The current Changping Division is to use money to make money, so other aspects can use business. The Transportation Division only needs to pay money, and with the arrival of the police station and the corvée law, it can absorb a large number of laborers."
Yuan Jiang frowned and said, "But merchants may not necessarily cooperate with us to absorb those laid-off soldiers in time to prevent them from causing chaos due to resentment. And we, the head of the Changping Division, also need to buy low and sell high, and there is no shortage of large quantities of goods. Can we also hire some craftsmen? There are many skilled craftsmen in the military camp.
In addition, if we want to strengthen the military, armaments are also a major issue, and some people can be left here to produce armaments."
Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "I don't agree with self-production and self-sales, because facts have proven that this approach is very likely to lead to corruption, oppression, and exploitation. Scholar Yuan should know the fate of those salt households better than I do."
He doesn't understand much else, but he understands one thing very well, which is that with a strong legal system, business will inevitably prosper.
Nowadays, merchants are oppressed. Many vendors will be exploited by the government if they have no background. If there are public security, procuratorate and courts, merchants will be liberated to a certain extent.
If we use disarmament to add fuel to the fire, it will surely develop rapidly.
The organization he designed for the Ministry of Revenue was a pure financial institution that lent money, made loans, and collected interest, all in the name of making money. If it was to be accompanied by self-production, it would be difficult to prevent corruption with current technology.
Yuan Jiang asked again: "Then the production of military equipment should also be handed over to merchants?"
Zhang Fei was also a little entangled. It seemed a bit bad to hand over the production of arms to merchants, but if it was not handed over to merchants, corruption and inferior products would be expected if it was not handed over to the government. He said: "We don't have to hand over the production of arms to merchants, but we can't let the Transportation Bureau do it ourselves.
Otherwise, we can let the local government take charge of it, or suggest that the imperial court set up a special government office in the local area, and then the military camp will report the required military equipment to the Transportation Department, and the Transportation Department will be responsible for purchasing it from that government office. In this way, they can check and balance each other and eliminate some corruption."
He said it with some hesitation. It was not so easy to check and balance each other, because after all, there were three government offices in charge, and they could only rely on the public security, procuratorate, courts and the tax commissioner to supervise.
Yuan Jiang nodded and said, "That's fine. It's better to count it as local finance. The northwest region has been in war for many years, and the land is not as fertile as the areas in the south of the Yangtze River. The local finance is stretched to the limit. If the military equipment production is placed in the northwest, it can make it prosperous and bring benefits to the local people. I will think about it again."
After a short pause, he continued, "In addition, we are also responsible for the Qingmiao Law. Lending money and collecting interest is not an easy job."
Zhang Fei said: "My suggestion is to lend if you can, and don't force yourself if you can't. Don't limit yourself to farmers, you can also lend to businesses. Treat it as a pure business. Our public security, procuratorate and courts will assist you in determining whether to postpone the repayment period of the people to avoid conflicts between the government and the people."
Yuan Jiang nodded and said, "But I have another idea."
Zhang Fei said: "What idea?"
Yuan Jiang said: "It is to link the Qingmiao money with the reduction of the army. For example, if ordinary farmers apply for military service, they will receive certain training in peacetime and have the obligation to rush to the battlefield in wartime. They can apply for the Qingmiao money first in times of difficulty. In this way, more soldiers can be reduced."
Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "I don't agree with this. If we do this, we will encounter many problems during the debt collection period because there is the obligation of military service, which will also affect the judgment of our imperial court. Moreover, there will be brave men under a big reward. As long as the military pay is sufficient, we will be able to recruit soldiers at any time."
With the Royal Police already in place, this is unnecessary, because if the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems are to be established, a large number of Royal Police will be needed. If we increase the number of Royal Police by a small amount, they can play a role in wartime, which is actually very profitable.
Yuan Jiang nodded slightly but did not give an answer.
Because this was not his idea, but Wang Anshi's idea. Since the baojia system was gone, Wang Anshi wanted to use the Qingmiao system to secretly develop the baojia system.
He still trusts his own methods more. What the hell is the police station?
Zhang Fei suddenly seemed to remember something, "Oh, right! The Transportation Bureau can try to use small-denomination salt notes to compensate the soldiers."
Yuan Jiang asked: "Why is this?"
Zhang Fei said: "Those soldiers who got the salt notes must have used them to buy food and other goods, which greatly promoted the role of the salt note trade."
Yuan Jiang said: "But this may also lead to the excessive issuance of salt notes, especially when the court is in urgent need of money."
Zhang Fei said: "We in the Imperial Court can put a stop to this."
In fact, this is the real role and value of the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments. If they try a few cases fairly, the impact will be very small.
The real value lies in the intangible.
For example, in commerce, including salt notes and salt debts, with the support of the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, the power of these is endless.
While Yuan Jiang and Zhang Fei were discussing, Su Che was secretly communicating with Wang Shao and Guo Kui. Those black sheep in the military camp still had the nerve to ask for compensation. What's the point of keeping them?
When you downsize your troops, you have to be careful not to leave only some bad apples behind after the downsizing.
This is really icing on the cake for Guo Kui and Wang Shao.
They immediately held a meeting at the Yongxing Army headquarters.
Basically all the generals of Hezhong Prefecture were present, including border commanders such as Zhong Yan, Zhong Gu, and Zhe Jizu.
Guo Kui sat in the seat of honor with a serious expression on his face. With a glance, the atmosphere suddenly became solemn.
"Do you know why I want to ask you to come here today?"
"I don't know."
Qin Zhongshou said with a little trepidation.
Guo Kui said in a dignified manner: "The procuratorate found some people who were eating and drinking for free in the military camp, and they even had the audacity to go to the procuratorate to apply for compensation."
As soon as these words were spoken, some generals began to sweat.
As the saying goes, if one person succeeds, the whole family will benefit!
More or less, their relatives have a job in the military camp and receive military pay.
Guo Kui added: "Originally, the procuratorate was planning to prosecute those people."
Go to the Royal Court to sue?
Some generals even began to tremble.
Judging from the interrogation process of the Imperial Court, it is impossible for them to be left with any underwear. Although the Imperial Court will not settle old scores, their official career will definitely end here.
It’s so annoying!
Guo Kui glanced at those people and said, "But I dissuaded them. After all, the disarmament is imminent, and there is no need for the procuratorate to go to great lengths. I also promised the procuratorate that all these people would be eliminated."
At this point, he glanced around again and said, "I don't want to embarrass everyone. I will announce that the soldiers can apply for discharge on their own initiative. I will give you a month to clear all those bad apples who eat and drink for free from the barracks and let them pack up and leave.
In addition, you must understand that disarmament not only involves soldiers, but also generals and officers. Don't think you can sit back and relax.
If the procuratorate finds a bad apple hiding in the barracks one month later, don't blame me for being ruthless. Do you understand?"
"I understand."
Several generals answered subconsciously.
Qin Zhongshou asked cautiously, "Does it include the elderly and infirm?"
Guo Kui said: "I will have other plans for these people. Your task now is to eliminate those bad apples."
Those old and weak ones can be seen at a glance and are easy to eliminate. The key is that these hooligans are all very young and it is impossible to tell.
This is a really good reason for Guo Kui and Wang Shao.
Just imagine, if these generals cleared all their relatives out of the barracks, would they allow others to get in?
If I don't take advantage of you, you can't either.
"yes."
These generals were trying to rush out of the base camp. If they lost their positions because of this, it would be a loss!
On the same day, many ruffians rushed to the procuratorate, hugged their thighs, and demanded that their lawsuits be withdrawn.
No more sue!
We won’t sue!
These people are all people with connections. In fact, they all have ways to make money. They just put their names here, which is equivalent to picking up money for free. Anyone who doesn't pick up money is a fool.
If the defendant is brought to court, the whole family will be implicated.
Everyone was scared to death.
The procuratorate hasn't made things difficult for them yet. They just said they would look for it and asked them to come back later, but they refused to do so. They were crying and snotting. If you don't return the complaint to us today, we will be beaten to death when we go back.
If you don't give it to us, we won't leave.
At this time, Su Che had no time to deal with them, because Yuan Jiang and Zhang Fei had secretly discussed and formally demanded compensation from the 500 soldiers and proposed their own compensation plan.
First of all, there is no interest, and the monthly payment is one string of money, mainly in the form of coins and salt notes, supplemented by grain. It will be distributed from the next month and can be collected from the Ministry of Grain and Oil based on military registration.
And, ensure that the salt notes can be exchanged for an equal amount of salt.
Of course the soldiers agreed, because they had never thought about the money before, they just envied Chen Guang and thought it would be great if he could give it to them, and they could pay it in installments.
Finally, under the auspices of the Royal Court, the Transport Department reached a settlement with the Procuratorate and the Legal Aid Department and signed a compensation agreement.
This contract will provide a precedent for future claims.
It's not that the Transportation Bureau cannot come up with so much money. After all, there are only 500 people and about 10,000 strings of cash. But the Transportation Bureau's reason is that it will affect the normal operation of the government, so it chooses to compensate in installments without interest.
The government can do this, and so can the people who owe the government money. If the people owe the government money, they can repay it in installments. But what about the money they owe to the landlords?
Of course, the most important thing is that the soldiers will be tied to the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs.
Since the compensation is paid in installments, the soldiers must rely on the public security, procuratorate and courts. They cannot defeat the government on their own.
Then they will definitely support the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs.
This will pave the way for the comprehensive promotion of public security, procuratorial and judicial systems in the Northwest.
(End of this chapter)
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