For example, in order to deal with the endless rebellions, all rebels who surrendered were divided into the imperial guards and the wing guards according to the young and strong and the old and weak.
There are also criminals whose crimes are not serious enough to warrant exile or beheading, but are slightly more serious than corporal punishment. According to the law, they should be sentenced to a few years in prison, but imprisonment wastes national food, so they are also stuffed into the army.
People like Di Qing and Zhang Yu became criminals for fighting. If they were to be convicted in later times and no one was killed or seriously injured, the most they would have received would be a sentence of less than three years or a few months of detention.
The fact that they were all sent into the army during the Song Dynasty shows how bad the Song Dynasty's army was.
Relying on such an army even if there are more than 1.2 million people is meaningless, they are all a mob.
But they are all destabilizing factors, so the Song Dynasty must exercise stricter supervision over the army.
Therefore, in order to maintain the stability of the regime, the number of troops has increased. As the number increases, stricter supervision is needed. Stricter supervision requires the use of civil power to control the military. This vicious cycle will lead to a lower status of military officers, won’t it?
Therefore, Zhao Jun's initial military reform was to solve the army's chronic problems. First, he eliminated corruption in the army and dealt with internal cancers. Then he streamlined and eliminated them step by step, removing the dross and retaining the essence. He wanted the army to have a certain combat effectiveness first, and then he could talk about the ideological construction of the army.
Now, after several large-scale military reforms, the number of military personnel has been sharply reduced, and almost all of them are young and strong people aged 1830 and above. Generals are allowed to participate in daily training, and the combat effectiveness can be said to have been greatly improved.
Since the reforms have been effective, it is now time to do something further, strengthen the ideological education of the military, and avoid rebellion.
Then Zhao Jun said, "Next year's new Qingli New Deal will include a military rank system to improve the military hierarchy. This will allow us to properly place those generals with outstanding military achievements and avoid unclear rewards and punishments."
"We should also allow politics to enter the military, launch a literacy campaign, teach soldiers how to read and write, and allow every soldier to think independently, rather than just doing whatever their superiors tell them to do."
He looked around at the crowd and said in a resounding voice, "If we continue to carry out ideological education in this way for the military over a long period of time, we will have the prototype of a modern military system for generations to come. In this way, the military will be able to implement the will of the nation, rather than the nation being harmed by the military."
"Hmm"
Yan Shu nodded thoughtfully and said, "We don't really have a say in this matter. If Hanlong and Xiwen think it's feasible, then we have no objection."
Zhao Zhen thought for a moment and said, "Then let's do everything according to Da Sun's wishes."
He was actually a little nervous.
After all, the authority of the Song Emperor comes from his absolute control over military power.
Zhao Zhen has now lost his right to govern, including domestic affairs, foreign affairs, and the economy, all of which have been handed over to the Council of Political System. If he loses his military power as well, he will be very worried.
However, based on Zhao Jun's many years of pua for him and Zhao Jun's governance achievements over the past fifteen years, the overall improvement of the Song Dynasty also made Zhao Zhen fully trust Zhao Jun.
Because so far, everything Zhao Jun said and did has basically been realized, rather than being castles in the air that people can only look at but cannot eat.
So trust is accumulated in this way. As long as Zhao Jun can continue to keep the Song Dynasty developing at such a high speed, everyone will unite around him and will not waver.
"Thank you for your trust, brother. I promise to get this done properly."
Zhao Jun patted his chest and said, "When the time comes, I will definitely make the entire army look brand new, with a brand new look, and let the former bandits of the Song Dynasty become the people's soldiers!"
"Let's talk about other reforms."
Seeing that the matter had been settled, Fan Zhongyan was afraid that something unexpected would happen, causing Zhao Zhen to have wild thoughts, so he immediately changed the subject and said, "A new round of officialdom reform is a big deal, right?"
"Well, it's a big deal indeed."
Zhao Jun also said.
"oh?"
Zhao Zhen still didn't know the specific details of the reforms, so he asked, "Has Grandson completed the new round of reforms?"
"Yes, it's almost over."
Zhao Jun nodded.
He was touring the country for two years and only returned in March this year. The new round of Qingli New Policies will not be announced until next year or even the year after.
Because many things need to be finalized and many specific details need to be analyzed specifically. You can't just see a problem, think of a solution on the spur of the moment, and then implement it immediately.
Although the Qingmiao Law was not a decision made on a whim, if the deeper problems of official administration were not resolved, the Qingmiao Law would ultimately be nothing more than a mirage.
Therefore, any plan must be studied and discussed from multiple aspects.
Including experienced old politicians such as Fan Zhongyan, Yan Shu, Song Shou, and Cai Qi, as well as young and energetic new generations such as Wang Anshi, Chen Xiliang, and Zhao Pin, all parties need to participate and brainstorm to come up with better plans and results.
This is also a reflection of Zhao Jun becoming an increasingly mature politician.
Zhao Jun said, "I've gained a lot this time. I've traveled the world for two years, visiting all the provinces, states, and counties, and I've discovered a very serious problem."
"What's the problem?"
Everyone was curious.
"The changes in the Song Dynasty are only happening in Bianliang. Changes in other places are minimal. Even if there are changes, they are often in industrial and economic centers like Wu'an and Hangzhou."
Zhao Jun said, "There's been very little development in other areas. Even though the Constitutional Council has issued opinions and notices that each county, state, and prefecture should actively explore its own resources, develop industrial capacity, and carry out new types of construction, it's had almost no effect. It's still the same as before."
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