Chapter 197 Reviewing the Army
The next day, accompanied by Song Junming, Zhishi Sili, Liu Lan and others, Li Chengqian began to review the military appearance and posture of the soldiers brought by Song Junming.
They were all soldiers belonging to various states and counties, and were led by the Sixteen Guards and the Ten Commanders of the Eastern Palace. They farmed during the farming season and trained in their respective places during their leisure time.
In wartime, the court temporarily appointed the military governor to exercise command power.
The military government, local state and county governors, the Sixteen Guards and the military governor were mutually restrained, so that no one could control the army alone.
Although the military governors were stationed in scattered places across the country, they were the central army that the emperor could directly control.
It completely solved the situation that the generals who had their own troops and were self-reliant, which was a headache for the emperor.
The name of these fu armies was called Zhechongfu, and the soldiers under them were collectively called guards.
Zhechongfu was the basic organizational unit of the fubing system of the Tang Dynasty.
In the early Sui Dynasty, it was called Piaoqifu, and the chief officers were Piaoqi generals and Chariot generals.
In the third year of Sui Daye, Emperor Yang of Sui changed Piaoqifu to Yingyangfu, and changed the chief officers to Yingyang Langjiang and Yingji Langjiang.
In the early Tang Dynasty, Emperor Gaozu of Tang Li Yuan changed Yingyang Langjiang to Juntou and Yingji Langjiang to Fufu deputy. Later, the old system of the early Sui Dynasty was used again, and Yingyangfu was changed back to Piaoqifu.
Later, in the seventh year of Wude, there was another change, changing the Cavalry Office to the General Office, the Cavalry General to the General Office, and the Chariot General to the General.
This title was used until the tenth year of Zhenguan.
One day in the tenth year of Zhenguan, Emperor Li II suddenly had an idea and felt that the current Military Office was called the General Office, which was not impressive enough.
So Emperor Li II had a flash of inspiration and changed the General Office of the whole world to the Zhechong Office.
Chong, then, is a siege vehicle, which is a kind of siege weapon in ancient times.
Zhechong literally means to return the enemy's chariots, which means to defeat the enemy.
The chief and deputy chief officers of Zhechong Office were Zhechong Duwei and Guoyi Duwei respectively.
Zhechongfu were distributed all over the Tang Dynasty and were abolished at any time. The number of prefectures in the entire Tang Dynasty increased unpredictably. At most, there were 633 prefectures, and some said that there were as many as 800, and as few as less than 600.
Zhechongfu belonged to the Twelve Guards and the Six Rates of the Eastern Palace.
This is the Weifu system of the Tang Dynasty.
The so-called Weifu system is to use "Guard" to govern "Fu". Guard is the imperial guards guarding the capital, and it is also the leadership organization that commands the "Fubing" of the world.
The "Sixteen Guards" of the Tang Dynasty commanded more than 600 Zhechongfu across the world, located in the center and guarding the capital, and was a combination of Fubing and Forbidden Army.
Because the Sixteen Guards' offices were located in the south of the imperial palace, they were also called "Nan Ya Fubing".
The "Southern Courtyard Army" and the "Northern Courtyard Army" composed of recruited soldiers guarding the north gate of the imperial palace intersect and check each other. The Southern Courtyard Army
has sixteen guards, each with a general, a general, a general, etc.
Among the sixteen guards, except for the left and right gate guards who are in charge of the guards of the gates and the left and right Qianniu guards who command the emperor's guards and ceremonial guards, the other twelve guards are the leadership organizations of the army.
The soldiers under the command of the twelve guards are called "outer troops". In addition, the left and right guards of the twelve guards also lead the "inner troops", commanding the five courts and three guards.
Similar to the Sixteen Guards in terms of organization and function are the Ten Rates in charge of the Eastern Palace Guards. Among the Ten Rates, the Left and Right Inner Rates and the Left and Right Gatekeeper Rates do not lead the Palace Soldiers, while the other six rates all lead the Palace Soldiers.
The Zhechong Palace is divided into three levels: upper, middle, and lower. The upper palace has 1,200 people, the middle palace has 1,000 people, and the lower palace has 800 people.
Each palace has one Zhechong Duwei, one left and right Guoyi Duwei, one Biejiang, one Changshi, and one Bingcao Canjun. This is the organization of the palace level. Below
the palace, 300 people form a regiment, with a school lieutenant and a brigade commander; 50 people form a team, with a team leader and a deputy; 10 people form a fire, with a fire chief.
Looking at the neatly lined palace soldiers in front of him, Li Chengqian didn't know whether they were elite, but it didn't matter.
He didn't understand, but Xue Wanche and Cheng Wuting beside him did. They could more or less tell whether they were elite soldiers or not based on the standing posture of the palace soldiers.
Li Chengqian and others went up to the platform, and the guards' eyes were all focused on Li Chengqian.
Yesterday they received a notice that an important figure would come to inspect them today, and this important figure was the current crown prince.
Many of them left their hometowns for the first time, and went to the farthest place outside Chang'an.
Li Chengqian went up to the stage and gave a speech first. He encouraged everyone to fight bravely, make more achievements, win glory for the country, win glory for their families, and so on.
In order to prevent Li Chengqian from making a fool of himself by accidentally saying the wrong thing, Liu Lan and others had already prepared a speech for the crown prince, and asked Li Chengqian to read it word for word.
After listening to the speech of the Crown Prince, the guards cheered and applauded.
Liu Lan and others behind the Crown Prince finally breathed a sigh
of relief. As soon as Li Chengqian opened his mouth, they knew that the Crown Prince did not read the speech according to the script they gave him. They were even ready to put out the fire, but they did not expect that the Crown Prince not only did not make a fool of himself, but also controlled the whole scene.
"Governor Song!" Li Chengqian shouted.
"I am here!" Song Junming stepped forward and saluted.
"Let's start!" Li Chengqian said.
"Yes!" Song Junming said, "Your Highness, please move and watch."
Li Chengqian nodded and took Liu Lan and others to the rest and viewing area on the side.
The next step was to watch the riding and archery performance of these palace soldiers.
To see whether these guards are elite, in addition to looking at their military appearance and posture, we must also see whether their basic skills are solid.
Since there are so many guards, it is naturally impossible for each of them to demonstrate their basic skills such as riding and shooting.
Song Junming asked the
Zhechong Duwei and Guoyi Duwei of each mansion to show the prince their riding and shooting skills. "Begin!" With Song Junming's order, the drummer beat the war drum, and the Zhechong Duwei and Guoyi Duwei of each mansion came on stage to perform their own special skills.
The riding and shooting skills are not bad!
Judging from their movements and accuracy, they have put in a lot of effort.
"How are these Zhechong Duwei and Guoyi Duwei?" Li Chengqian asked Xue Wanche about these people in a low voice.
As the saying goes, if one soldier is incompetent, the general will be incompetent too. Looking at the performance of the Zhechong Duwei and Guoyi Duwei in various prefectures, we can more or less see the condition of the soldiers they lead.
"These people are OK. Even if their soldiers are not elite warriors, they are still good soldiers." Xue Wanche said.
"Your Highness! I found that among these Zhechong Duwei and Guoyi Duwei, only one is good at riding and shooting, and he is the best among them." As soon as Xue Wanche finished speaking, Cheng Wuting said.
"Oh! Which one is it?" Li Chengqian immediately became interested and asked curiously.
When Cheng Wuting was young, he followed Cheng Mingzhen to fight and was famous for his bravery.
Ordinary people can't catch Cheng Wuting's eye at all. Those who can make Cheng Wuting take a fancy to must have some ability. There are so many
talents in the Tang Dynasty. Maybe there are talents that are buried or not discovered.
Li Chengqian believes that the person who can be favored by Cheng Wuting should not be too bad, otherwise Cheng Wuting would not mention it to him.