There was a hint of disbelief in Zhao Jun's tone.
"yes."
Yan Shu was confused. Didn’t you say that Fan Zhongyan’s tactics and strategies were good?
"Uncle Lari, you must be kidding."
Zhao Jun suddenly laughed: "Fan Zhongyan is good, but he is not a god. With the system of the Song Dynasty, it is good enough to maintain half of the country. How can you expect to win a war? How is that possible?"
Yan Shu was unhappy and said, "Why not? Didn't you say that Fan Zhongyan could change the situation in the northwest?"
"Yes, but the Song Dynasty is rotten from top to bottom, especially the emperor."
Zhao Jun spread his hands and said, "As the saying goes, a bad soldier brings a bad general. The emperor is useless. He has made the country emphasize civil over military. How can he possibly let the military's martial virtue flourish? To paraphrase General Fan, the pro-war faction has changed so many prime ministers, and yet they haven't changed their ways? It's just a change of name."
"Wei Qing and Huo Qubing also have reasons to say. What kind of army am I leading? We are the elite soldiers of the Han Dynasty, and we have the support of Emperor Wu of Han, who advocates martial arts. Who are you guys? What kind of emperors are you? Zhao Guangyi, Zhao Heng, Zhao Shu, Zhao Xu, Zhao Xu, Zhao Ji, Zhao Huan, Zhao Gou, what kind of people are they? Even if Wei Qing and Huo Qubing were resurrected, they wouldn't be able to lead them."
"Look at Li Shimin, he was a martial emperor who fought in battles himself. In the Northern Song Dynasty, only Zhao Kuangyin had some military ability, and only Zhao Zhen was barely qualified in civil administration. Look at the others. What level was the Song Dynasty at? There were only a few people like Zhao Ji and Zhao Huan, and they were all emperors. Could he be one? He couldn't. He didn't have the ability, you know."
......
Zhao Zhen, Lu Yijian and others remained silent.
The Song Dynasty's national policy was to emphasize culture over military power. This was not something that could be resolved all at once. Even if the emperor wanted to change it, I'm afraid all the civil servants in the court would oppose it.
After a moment's silence, Yan Shu said, "But aren't we talking about the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song? Didn't you say that Emperor Renzong was still okay?"
"Oh, thank goodness. Emperor Renzong is okay, but the army is rotten to the core. Old Fan can't do anything to save it."
Zhao Jun spread his hands and said, "A country like this one has never laid a solid foundation for martial virtue. It castrated itself in the early days of its founding. The number of troops may look large, but their combat effectiveness is low and their fighting spirit is weak. No matter how many people there are, it's useless."
"Perhaps Fan Zhongyan's trip to the northwest could indeed help improve military and civil affairs, but training the army well and turning it into a strong army is not something that can be done in a day or two."
"Even if he could withstand Li Yuanhao's attacks and prevent three major defeats, who can guarantee that he can win the subsequent Song-Xia War and Song-Liao War, and that the Jingkang Shame incident won't happen again?"
"So I think that in the Song Dynasty, where culture was valued over military power, achieving complete victory in foreign wars would be extremely difficult."
"I can only advise the Song emperor that if he wants to build the Song Dynasty into the world's greatest power like the Han and Tang dynasties, he should be more pragmatic. He must first understand his own tactics and the concept of war."
"Di Qing and Yue Fei both led the army quite well. Why did they have to suppress them? Especially Zhao Gou. Twelve golden medals were issued to force a victorious general to return. He has no dignity left in him."
"How can a country like this possibly hope to win a war?"
"Fan Zhongyan is not bad, but he's more suited to strategic deployment. We can first have him handle military and civil affairs in the northwest and train the army before we discuss winning battles."
"As for tactical arrangements, that still depends on the Song army itself. Didn't Di Qing become famous in these three battles? If Song Renzong had been smarter, wouldn't he have restricted his generals so much and let them fight according to the actual situation? Isn't it like Huo Qubing, who wouldn't be happy until he trapped his generals to death?"
Yan Shu said helplessly: "I'm afraid the military generals of the Song Dynasty are not qualified to be chief officers."
"So the Song Dynasty was a dynasty of eunuchs."
Zhao Jun taunted again, "If you ask me, Song Renzong, that idiot and clueless ass, had a top-tier commander like Di Qing, who could have easily recovered Western Xia and the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. Too bad he didn't dare use him. That's the downside of the Song Dynasty: they overemphasized culture over military power, resulting in a lack of martial virtue. Song fans keep raving about their high victory rate in foreign wars, but even with that high rate, they never unified the country. They were even destroyed twice by northern nomadic tribes. It's truly ridiculous."
Are you calling me a fool again? And you even added a stupid donkey?
Zhao Zhen's eyelids twitched wildly and he looked at the bench on the ground next to him. He gritted his teeth and endured it without picking up the bench and throwing it at him.
Before, people said that he was a rare good emperor in the Song Dynasty, but his attitude changed after just one day. Now Zhao Jun calls him a fool. Who can stand this?
Fortunately, Zhao Jun found a reliable commander in chief in the northwest. If Fan Zhongyan was allowed to go, at least the situation in the northwest would not be so bad.
Zhao Zhen emerged from the room, his original anger now overwhelmed by political matters. After hesitating for a moment, he said to Lü Yijian, "Prime Minister Lü, is our strategy of prioritizing culture over military power truly wrong?"
Lü Yijian didn't answer directly, but instead bowed and said, "Liang, Tang, Jin, Han, Zhou, Southern Wu, Wuyue, Former Shu, Later Shu, Fujian, Southern Han, Nanping, Chu, Southern Tang, Northern Han... I hope your Majesty understands the consequences of giving military generals full control of the army."
"I understand."
Zhao Zhen no longer hesitated.
Compared to having abundant martial virtues, how could it be more important than the Zhao family's world?
During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, there were many examples of military generals taking control of the military and then usurping the throne.
Even Zhao Kuangyin himself started out this way. He bullied an orphan and his widowed mother and seized the Later Zhou Dynasty during the Chenqiao Rebellion. Compared to having his own kingdom usurped, what difference does it make if he loses the war?
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