Therefore, if the army is kept but not used, the more troops it is raised, the more it will be used. In "Water Margin", Lin Chong is the instructor of the 830,000-strong imperial army. In reality, there were only 200,000 troops when Taizu founded the country, 660,000 during the reign of Taizong, and 1.25 million by the reign of Renzong.
Therefore, when Wang Jinggong implemented his reforms, he began to reduce the military. This reduction was intended to restore the ancient militia system to replace the mercenaries of the time. However, the militia system was difficult to implement nationwide, so the so-called baojia system was introduced, which was first piloted in the Yellow River basin.
The baojia system is to train farmers on the spot, hoping that they can be organized into an army when needed, while avoiding the cost of maintaining the army.
As for the conscription system, it is not entirely undesirable. In certain places and under certain circumstances, conscription can be very useful.
But there must be a definite enemy as the target, and it is imperative to fight. The enemy must be eliminated within a few years. In this case, recruits can be deliberately trained and tested, which may be better than a system where the entire country is a military force.
The Northern Army of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was a conscripted force, and it achieved remarkable success. However, the Song Dynasty's national defense was defensive, refusing to attack proactively and always focusing on defense. Coordinating the conscription system with a long-term defensive policy was a mistake.
Once a soldier is recruited, he rarely leaves the army and remains in it until he is sixty. During this period, he is only available for ten years, from the ages of twenty to thirty. During these thirty years, he is already old. Moreover, after ten years in the army, his spirit is also exhausted.
Such an army was in name only, so the only option was to recruit new troops. Consequently, the army grew larger and larger, and discipline became poor. While the large number of troops made it difficult to defend against foreign aggression, it was highly likely to cause internal unrest. The Song people feared the arrogant and aggressive soldiers of the late Tang and Five Dynasties, yet the Song dynasty still suffered from arrogant and aggressive soldiers.
The state had no choice but to reward them, and constantly improve their treatment, otherwise they would rebel. The government had no choice but to actively reward scholars, elevating the status of civil officials and lowering the status of military officials. The Jiedushi, with nothing to do, were trapped in the capital, and every winter they were sent hundreds of pounds of firewood and charcoal, and so on, just to keep them fed.
To support both the military and the civil service, the number of civil servants gradually increased, and their salaries also gradually improved. This resulted in redundant soldiers and redundant officials. The burden on the state grew heavier year by year, and the country became weaker and poorer, and the poverty further weakened it. The Song Dynasty government could never reverse this situation.
During the reign of Emperor Taizu of Song, in order to prevent the soldiers from becoming complacent and lazy, the imperial guards were divided into garrison positions. The local garrisons were useless, and all defense work had to be done by the central imperial guards.
However, they were not allowed to garrison for long periods of time. For example, those stationed in Hebei this year would be transferred to the central government after a year, and then transferred to Shanxi after a while. This was different from the retirement system of garrison troops in the Han and Tang dynasties. In the Song Dynasty, there was no retirement system. Whether they were stationed at the border or in the central government, they remained in the ranks.
In this way, the soldiers would feel that each deployment was just a labor, so they had to pay more money. Therefore, although the Song Dynasty did not fight a war for many years, the financial cost was equivalent to annual mobilization and war.
The army is always on the move, and the officers are separated from the army. The army is transferred in batches, but the officers remain stationary. In this way, the soldiers do not get used to their officers, and the officers do not get used to their soldiers.
This was also because they feared that the soldiers would become too powerful and become too independent. However, in times of emergency, soldiers and commanders would not be familiar with each other and would be difficult to use. Therefore, throughout the Song Dynasty, soldiers had to be used, but they were looked down upon. How could they achieve success?
The most famous military general in the Song Dynasty was Di Qing. Because he came from the military, he won the hearts of the soldiers and was admired by the common soldiers. However, the court was wary of him becoming the second Song Taizu and wearing the yellow robe. Therefore, even though he had made great contributions, he was not reused. As a result, the Song Dynasty became a dynasty that perished because of maintaining an army.
It's funny, what qualifications does Chai Rong have?
The battle depended entirely on Zhao Da. Without Zhao Da, Chai Rong would have died in the Battle of Gaoping. Without Zhao Da, Chai Rong could not have taken Guanzhong or Huainan.
The army that conquered the world was led by Zhao Daliang.
There was no Zhao to guarantee Guanzhong, and tens of thousands of Zhou troops could not take it down even though only a few thousand Hou Shu troops were able to do so.
The four key battles in Huainan were all fought by Zhao Da. Zhao Da defeated the main force of Southern Tang in three battles, and the children of Southern Tang dared not cry at night, forcing Li Jing to use a strategy of sowing discord to kill Zhao Da.
The attack on the Later Zhou in Guannan relied entirely on surprise attacks, and the only field battle was won by Zhao Da.
The Later Zhou Dynasty also suffered a crushing defeat under the city of Taiyuan when fighting against the Northern Han Dynasty. Ten thousand elite troops were defeated by three thousand Khitan soldiers.
Although the Northern Song Dynasty failed to capture Taiyuan, the Song army took over two states and plundered a large number of households and brought them into the Song Dynasty. He Jiyun and Han Chongyun led two groups to defeat tens of thousands of Khitan soldiers and cut off their heads and placed them under the city of Taiyuan.
The Later Zhou Dynasty did not even dare to draw its sword when faced with Khitan raids within its territory.
The Song army not only slaughtered the Khitan soldiers who entered the country, but also dared to invade Khitan territory and plunder cattle, sheep and people. They showed off their power in Youzhou.
Later Zhou fought against the Later Shu for several months but failed to defeat several thousand Shu soldiers.
The Song army broke through the Qinling Mountains in 66 days, captured Chengdu and destroyed the Later Shu.
It took the Later Zhou Dynasty two years to conquer Huainan after fighting against the Southern Tang Dynasty.
The Song army captured Jinling within a year.
Chai Rong was timid and was bullied by the local military governors.
Zhao Da forced the vassal states to hand over their military power and return home to retire.
In May of the 12th year of Tianfu (the first year of Datong in Liao Dynasty, 947 AD), when Emperor Gaozu of Later Han, Liu Zhiyuan, was advancing triumphantly from Taiyuan and aiming at Bianliang, Emperor Shizong of Liao, Yelu Wuyu, was anxiously leading the main force of the Liao army back to Shangjing Linhuangfu to fight for the throne, and had no intention of caring about the affairs of the Central Plains.
Yelu Bali, the cousin of Emperor Shizong of Liao, was a ruthless, cunning, and extremely cruel person. To suppress the recurring anti-Liao sentiment among the Han people, he frequently captured innocent civilians, falsely accused them of plotting rebellion, and publicly tortured them with torture such as amputating their hands, disfiguring their faces, gouging out their eyes, and then burning them to death.
He carried various torture instruments with him, and hung human organs and limbs in his residence. He took pleasure in killing people, whether sitting, lying down, or eating.
He usually wore ochre-yellow robes and rode in the emperor's carriage, proudly declaring: "The Han people would never dare to do this, but we Khitans have no taboos!" He and his subordinates almost plundered all the treasures, property and beauties in the capital.
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