Sudi reminded him, "The horse farm issue is certainly important, but don't you think it's moving too fast? Even though we have 20,000 troops and someone to lead them, who do you think they'll listen to when the chips are down?"
Zhao Lin was slightly stunned and said with a smile: "What critical moment?"
Sudi snorted, "How would I know what a critical moment is? Anyway, the focus now is not on the horse farm, but on sorting out the people and things around me."
Zhao Lin nodded and said, "You're right. Things have been going too smoothly lately, which has led to me becoming overly angry. This is not good, very bad."
Zhao Lin looked at Sudi with satisfaction: "It turns out that having a good companion is better than anything else."
Su Di raised his chin, snorted proudly, and said, "That's it."
Zhao Lin and Sudi sorted out the current situation.
After many bandit suppression campaigns, the total amount of gold, silver and valuables was about one million taels of silver.
This does not include the business they did in Zhenbeiguan before.
If you count those, it would be at least 1.5 million taels.
This is more than enough for a defense.
There were 20,000 soldiers, including 19,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry.
Although their weapons and armor are not as good as those of the Zhenbei Army, they are still not comparable to those of ordinary local armies.
"We have enough money and soldiers at this stage, but we lack people."
Sudi said solemnly, "A qualified army, besides the commander-in-chief, also has staff, logistics officers, generals at all levels, etc., and they don't have any of these."
"Even though Song Huaian and the others are leading the troops, who knows what they are thinking? What if Zhao Chenhan instigates a rebellion?"
Zhao Lin nodded and said, "You make sense. Continue."
Sudi continued, "For now, we should maintain a force of 20,000. A thousand cavalrymen will be sufficient. Let's build a management system first."
Zhao Lin asked, "What are you going to do?"
Sudi said, "You will naturally be the commander-in-chief, and I will be your logistics officer. The staff will not be used for the time being, mainly the generals at all levels."
Sudi counted on his fingers and said:
"You see, a complete military system must first have scouts."
"Then there are the vanguard, the main force, the logistics and supplies, and the rearguard."
"The main force is divided into the central army, the left army, and the right army. The logistics are divided into food and fodder troops, military doctors, etc., and all of these require manpower."
"The current army is good at suppressing bandits, but once they go to the front line of the battlefield, even if every one of them is as elite as the Zhenbei Army, a small force of a thousand or even a few hundred Zhenbei Army soldiers is enough to kill all of your 20,000 troops."
"Don't look at me like that. I'm telling the truth, even though it may not sound good."
Zhao Lin smiled and said, "It's not that I don't believe it, I just think you're amazing. You know all this."
Sudi said proudly: "That's right, you are not the only one who reads military books, I have read them too, okay?"
Zhao Lin nodded and said, "I understand everything you said, but the time is too short, so I can only make adjustments bit by bit."
Sudi asked doubtfully, "I feel like you have a sense of urgency. What are you worried about? Zhao Jingzhou?"
Zhao Lin said frankly: "Dealing with Zhao Jingzhou is one thing, and the other is that the world is going to be in chaos."
Sudi was shocked. "Is it true? How did you know?"
Zhao Lin said: "From the moment I learned that the emperor was going to collect the flower and stone tax."
An emperor in the previous life also did this kind of thing, which resulted in the Liangshan Marsh uprising and a huge fight with the imperial court.
Of course, this is fiction.
But in fact, there were indeed fishermen in Liangshan Marsh who could not stand the various harsh taxes caused by the Flower and Stone Gang and rebelled, making the imperial army suffer a lot.
Moreover, Cheng** was originally stupid and incompetent. When he first became emperor in his early years, he still had some ambition and wanted to march north to destroy the Northern Di. As a result, he lost two-thirds of the Daqi army in one battle, and all the counties and prefectures north of Zhenbei Pass were lost. He himself almost became a prisoner. It was Zhao Jingzhou who turned the tide at the critical moment, rescued Cheng** from the chaotic army, and defended Zhenbei Pass to the death, which allowed Cheng** to survive.
From then on, Cheng ** seemed to have lost all his energy and spirit. He stayed in the palace all day long, watching operas and listening to music, or collecting some fun things, and ignored the affairs of state. This allowed Zhu Zhongyan to become so powerful and earn the title of "Thousand Years Old". It also led to constant factional struggles in the court, and the common people suffered terribly.
If there had been no Hua Shi Gang, the people would have been able to survive and would not have rebelled.
However, they were already burdened with heavy responsibilities, and now they had to bear the additional burden of flowers and stones, which was like the last straw that broke the camel's back. Even if they did not rebel now, they would rebel after a long time.
For example, Qingzhou.
Thanks to the previous purge by Zhao Lin, there were no officials imposing arbitrary taxes and taking the opportunity to plunder people's wealth, so the situation was a little better than other places. However, there have been many cases of people gathering to rebel and occupying the mountains to become kings recently.
Not to mention other states and provinces.
Except for the wealthy provinces, people in the poorer provinces are gritting their teeth to survive, living from today to tomorrow.
Several incidents of killing officials and rebellion would break out in a single day.
After hearing Zhao Lin's analysis, Sudi expressed sincere admiration: "Your vision has surpassed those so-called important ministers. No wonder the emperor values you so much."
Zhao Lin smiled and said, "He doesn't think highly of me, but because I can do things for him."
Although Zhao Chenhan caused many incidents of killing officials and rebellion in Jiujiang Province, which seriously hindered the collection and transportation of flowers and stones.
But it is still faster and more than other states and provinces.
Otherwise, why would Cheng** listen to the advice and increase the number of troops for him?
It’s all for the emperor himself.
"So, we must have the ability to protect ourselves as soon as possible." Sudi said.
"It's more than just the power of self-preservation."
Zhao Lin said, "I suspect it won't be long before we'll be needed to quell the rebellion. Therefore, we must first clarify the military situation."
"What are you going to do?" Sudi asked.
Zhao Lin said, "Simple. Let's have a military competition. The capable will be promoted, and the incompetent will be demoted. Since we don't know everyone's specific situation right now, let's use the competition to decide."
When the soldiers heard that Zhao Lin was going to use a large-scale military competition to determine the officers at all levels, they were all very excited and ready to go.
Who doesn’t want to be an official?
Zhao Lin secretly pulled 20,000 people out and brought them to the mountains.
Although it is very likely that it cannot be concealed, it is better to hide it for one day.
Zhao Lin stood on a temporary platform made of rammed earth, looking at the 20,000 people standing quietly below, and couldn't help showing a look of relief.
These 20,000 people are the foundation of his foothold in this strange world.
There were over ten thousand men and horses, and the number was endless.
What’s more, there are 20,000 people.
Zhao Lin cleared his throat and gave a lecture:
"You all know why I brought you here today."
"Originally, officers at all levels were appointed on a temporary basis. Today, we will use a competition to select officers at all levels."
"There are now 20,000 men. Excluding the original four, we need to select 16 thousand households, as well as squad leaders, platoon leaders, and captains."
"In a word, the capable are promoted and the mediocre are demoted."
"As long as you have the ability, I, Zhao Lin, will never bury you."
"Okay, the competition officially begins."
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