In the Song Dynasty, there was no law. Chapter 278 of the main text of the book "Let Li Yuanhao Test the Waters" stated that from the middle of June in the fourth year of the Qingli period, the imperial court launched an army inventory in full swing, causing considerable turmoil.
All over the country, middle and lower-level officers at the battalion and city levels were being detained, transferred, and arrested. Regardless of whether they had committed any crime, they were first separated from the army and then subjected to in-depth investigation.
If the harm is not serious and the officer is loved by the soldiers, he will often be fine.
You may even get promoted due to officer shortages.
However, if there is a violation of the law, not only historical issues such as eating empty quotas, drinking soldiers' blood, and taking military supplies, but also those who sell contraband, abuse, beat, corporally punish or even kill soldiers will be severely punished.
The result was that a large number of middle and lower-level military officers such as commanders, deputy commanders, and guards were dismissed.
None of the cases were reported directly to the court. The imperial envoys worked together with the local Imperial City Office and the Censorate to enforce the law. They first detained and dealt with the offenders, then handed over the evidence to the court for trial.
Evidence and other things were easy to find. After isolating the middle and lower-level officers and the grassroots soldiers, it didn't take long for a large number of soldiers to report it.
Moreover, various accounts, documents, military records, etc. can be used as evidence, leaving no room for denial.
Not only in ancient times, but also in later generations, when the central government sent supervision teams to local areas for inspections, they often relied on reports from the masses to crack down on gangs and corruption.
This trick is so effective that even the most cunning corrupt officials will find it difficult to escape.
After all, whether a local official is corrupt and whether he has done anything. Whether an army officer is good and whether he has taken a salary without paying the soldiers. The local people and the soldiers at the bottom know and understand it best.
Therefore, under such circumstances, many battalion-level officers were arrested and suspended, and a large number of low-level soldiers were also implicated.
For a time, troops everywhere were in panic.
In order to avoid being captured, some officers who broke the law on the border even defected to the Western Xia and Liao dynasties.
During this period, the entire army also reached its lowest point in combat effectiveness.
Because the military system of the Song Dynasty was divided into capitals, camps, armies, and wings. Among them, one hundred people made a capital, five capitals made a camp, five battalions made a corps, and three to five corps made a corps.
However, the generals and officers of the above armies and wing are not permanent and are only dispatched when war breaks out.
Therefore, when there is no war, the highest military commander directly leading the troops of the Song Dynasty is the battalion-level unit.
The purge of so many battalion-level officers, both large and small, will obviously only greatly reduce the army's basic combat effectiveness.
certainly.
The basic combat capability of the Song Dynasty is just so-so, and even with some discounts, it’s not that bad.
Just as the Song Dynasty began to investigate its army in May, a case of treason broke out in June, and the imperial court launched a purge of the national army in July and August.
The Liao Kingdom and Western Xia in the north also learned of this situation through their spies in the Song Dynasty.
In mid-July, Dadingfu, Zhongjing Road, Liao Kingdom.
Since the Liao army marched south in the first year of the Kangding reign and was severely defeated by Fan Zhongyan in Hebei, the Liao emperor Yelu Zongzhen often lived in Zhongjing.
In recent years, Yelu Zongzhen has worked hard to govern the country with the assistance of Zhang Jian and has made many major reforms.
For example, the Pi Shi Army, which had become somewhat corrupt and disorganized by then, was vigorously rectified, with a rule of three days of minor training and five days of major training, with drills and training in riding and archery every day.
He also suppressed a group of powerful nobles in the country, appeased the Jurchens in Liaodong, sent troops to attack the rebellious northern tribes, and suppressed uprisings in various places.
At the same time, he vigorously developed domestic industry and commerce, actively engaged in trade with the State of Song, and promoted the prosperity of domestic trade.
The Liao Kingdom carried out reform measures to varying degrees in various aspects such as economy and military, which made the Liao Dynasty, which was originally declining, seem to be reviving and returning to its peak.
In fact, to a certain extent, the Liao Kingdom also took advantage of the rapid economic growth of the Song Dynasty.
If both sides remove trade barriers, under normal circumstances, the country with the stronger economy will definitely gain the upper hand, and a trade surplus will easily occur.
But in fact, the Liao Dynasty's business was not particularly weak, and the country itself had a certain economic foundation and manual manufacturing capabilities.
In addition, both countries are agricultural countries, not industrial countries, so it is difficult to achieve the purpose of dumping.
Therefore, books, handicrafts, porcelain, tea, rhinoceros horns and spices from the Song Dynasty were selling well in the Liao Dynasty.
Ginseng, animal skins, gold and silver wares, Liao porcelain, cattle, sheep, silk, woolen clothes and other goods from the Liao Kingdom were also very popular in the Song Dynasty.
Even many commodities such as horses and furs were sold officially by the Liao Dynasty.
This brought a large amount of income to the Liao Kingdom.
With money in his hands, Yelu Zongzhen could carry out drastic reforms in the country. He also bought grenades and cannons from the Song Dynasty army, and sulfur from Song Dynasty merchants to imitate firearms.
In addition to the above, the last and most important point is that Yelu Zongzhen abolished the four-season Nabo.
The Four Seasons Nabo was of great political significance. The Liao Kingdom had a large territory, and most of it was plains, such as the Mongolian grasslands, the Northeast Plains, etc.
For this reason, the Liao emperor traveled around, in order to intimidate many tribes, and also to maintain the nomadic people's habit of "avoiding the cold in autumn and winter, and avoiding the heat in spring and summer", and to introduce the living customs of water, grass and animal husbandry into political management.
In this way, the Liao emperor could set an example himself and educate his people to not forget the iron cavalry that was the foundation of the country, and to maintain a strong cavalry that could gallop across the country and compete with the Central Plains dynasty.
However, although this custom ensured the combat effectiveness of the army, it was extremely draining of national strength.
Because the emperor traveled everywhere, he would bring all his ministers and 300,000 troops with him. These troops would eat wherever they went, and the food supply did not rely on logistics, but on tributes from local tribes.
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