Crown Tang emperor

This kind of accident cannot be avoided by manpower, so Li Tong can only tell Zhang Renyuan, who is staying on the Liao border, to be flexible, and if he fails to appease him, he can use the intricate entanglement of forces in the region to kill Qi Sibiyu.

This is the case for the time being with the regulation of major events in the Northeast.In addition to these, there was another trivial matter that made Li Tong a little annoyed.

That is Wang Xiaojie, who was crying and begging to go to war before, so he even opened a small vest for this. The envoys didn't come to see me every time they went to call, and I don't know what kind of mess they are making.

Li Tong originally had something to arrange for Wang Xiaojie, so he was naturally very dissatisfied with his attitude towards him. He lost his patience when he failed to see him several times, so he simply sent Yang Sixu into the mansion with a knife to announce the edict. see you!

Under such coercion, Wang Xiaojie finally entered the court.But after seeing Wang Xiaojie's current appearance, Li Tong realized that he seemed to have misunderstood Wang Xiaojie.

Chapter 0825 benevolence is willing to humiliate me, I will always humiliate it

The man in front of him has a shiny head and a smooth chin. Except for two thick eyebrows, there is almost no hair on the whole head. He looks energetic and somewhat funny, if he hadn't announced his name when he entered the ceremony , Li Tong could hardly recognize that it was Wang Xiaojie.

"General Wang, this is..."

Li Tong was naturally surprised when he saw Wang Xiaojie come back from a trip, and he suppressed a smile and was waiting for questioning. After thinking about it, he sighed: "Soldiers are treacherous and unpredictable. A victorious general cannot guarantee that he will have great achievements in every battle. Moreover, the general who joined the army this time was not in charge of commanding the army with integrity, but was only playing a lowly role. Injury, actually gave birth to the idea of ​​cutting off the roots of vulgarity."

When the imperial court sent troops to Hebei before, Wang Xiaojie was unhappy because he could not be dispatched. He forced himself to go to war, and even changed his appearance to join the imperial court's conquest army, and promised again and again that he would make great achievements. A little vest named Wang Pinglu.

But now that the army has returned to the court, the merit list has already been presented, but among the great achievements, there is no title of Wang Pinglu.

Li Tong could understand this. Generals risked their lives to win their future. In order to achieve great success, besides fighting bravely against the enemy, luck was also a huge factor.Of course Wang Xiaojie was not bad luck, he was so reckless all the way to becoming a general and becoming a prime minister, even when he was defeated in the early years, others died miserably in a foreign land, but he was able to be a father for a few years and return safely.

It's just that things like luck are also unpredictable and difficult to grasp. When Wang Xiaojie entered Hebei, he was not the first batch of forwards. Hebei Yingzhou did not participate in the first battle. Zhang Renyuan and others recovered. After the army entered the Northeast, it was mainly deterrence, and large-scale battles did not happen a few times.

Under such circumstances, no matter how brave and passionate one is, it is useless if there is no chance to perform.

Li Tong didn't expect Wang Xiaojie to perform well when he sent him to the north. The main reason was that he was annoyed by his people and worried that he would advance rashly. That's why he made such an arrangement.It is a good result to return safely without any merit or fault.

But he didn't expect that Wang Xiaojie's self-esteem was so strong, he was so ashamed that he wanted to shave off his beard and hair and join the monks without any great achievements.

Hearing what the sage said, the corners of Wang Xiaojie's lips twitched, and his originally shy expression suddenly became agitated, and he fell to his knees with a plop, his head, which was as smooth as a marinated egg, knocked loudly, and his forehead was even more visible to the naked eye. Floating red and swollen.

Just when Li Tong thought that this guy was about to say some sentimental words of gratitude, Wang Xiaojie grinned and howled dryly: "I have a grievance, my minister... I beg the sage to uphold justice for my minister! Zhang Renyuan, benevolence is not human! He wields power willfully Revenge with resentment... He, this bastard, cut off my beard and damaged my majesty... This enmity is deeper than the East China Sea, and I hardly want to live on earth after being humiliated by this!"

"What the hell is going on here?"

Hearing Wang Xiaojie's dry howling, Li Tong couldn't help but stare, his heart of gossip suddenly became hot, he got up and went down to the palace and walked to Wang Xiaojie who was already too sad and excited to speak, patted his shoulder to comfort him, and said seriously : "What is hidden in the matter, General Wang told you in detail, how can you allow my general to be wronged and humiliated!"

"The minister and the minister's department arrived in Yingzhou for a short rest, benevolent, wrong! Zhang thief, just in time for Zhang thief to patrol the camp, happened to see the minister hiding in the army, and ordered the officer to arrest the minister, trying to falsely accuse me of being a traitor... the minister Strongly defending myself, fortunately, the ink given by the saint is still close to me, so I was saved from disaster... But, but Zhang thief still refused to give up, recruiting ministers in the scouts, and disgusting ministers with a strong attitude... This The dog steals him, please ask the sage to learn from him, the minister has been in the military for a long time, and he needs to be dignified. Although he has a thick beard, how can he be humble and ugly?"

When Li Tong heard this, he basically understood the cause and effect of the situation, but after hearing what Wang Xiaojie said, he still felt that this guy was unreasonable. If you don't look like a barbarian, Tubo Zanpu will hug you and call you Dad?

Wang Xiaojie continued to narrate sadly, because he was chosen as a scout, and Zhang Ren was willing to have his hair and beard shaved clean on the grounds that he was worried that he might be shot and killed by friendly troops.The implication is, if you don't do this, be careful that I will shoot you coldly while you are on a mission!

After understanding what happened, and seeing Wang Xiaojie's smooth and smooth cheeks wrinkled in shame, Li Tong finally couldn't help turning around and laughing silently.

Zhang Renyuan has a lot of personal grievances with Wang Xiaojie, and they got married as early as in Anxi.Moreover, Zhang Renyuan is indeed not very generous. When he first met Li Tong in the early years, he sued Wang Xiaojie against Li Tong.This time we will meet again in Northeast China. Coincidentally, Wang Xiaojie has a small vest and his rank is far lower than him. It is no wonder that Zhang Ren is willing to let this guy go.

It can be seen that Wang Xiaojie's life is destined for such a catastrophe. This time he really cut his beard and died instead. Although his life was saved, his beard and hair were gone.You said that it would be good for you to stay in Luoyang honestly and accompany you back to Chang'an. You insisted on going to Hebei to fight for performance.

Although there were mixed thoughts in his heart, but considering Wang Xiaojie's feelings, Li Tong still frowned and said in a deep voice: "Zhang is indeed too much, he did this wrong, and when he returns to the court, I will definitely reprimand him severely! It is pitiful for the general to suffer such calamity, and he will be given gold and silk to return to his residence to recuperate, and he will not lose his prestige when he enters the court to see people after his beard and hair are back to normal."

However, Wang Xiaojie became even more excited when he heard this. When he blinked, tears rolled down his cheeks and his chin in an instant. Selling gold and silk with this gift from my parents? Ren would like to insult me ​​like this, if it is not a fake name, I will be a joke in the world! If this revenge is not avenged, I will be at odds with Zhang Thief!"

Hearing Wang Xiaojie's tragic and resolute tone, Li Tong couldn't be happy for a while. Although this matter seemed more like a joke to him, it was quite a serious matter for people of this era.

Moreover, Wang Xiaojie is not an ordinary person. As he himself said, as a general in charge of the army, it is essential to have a majestic and majestic posture.Just the funny look at the moment makes people want to laugh when they see it, how can they command thousands of troops?

He's not as close as Xue Huaiyi is to the emperor... Bah, bah!Li Tong shook his head, subconsciously refusing to continue thinking along this line of thought.

If you consider Wang Xiaojie's strange experience in Tubo, the thick beard and hair on his head and face have an extraordinary significance to him.

In short, Zhang Renyuan, this cheapskate, really offended Wang Xiaojie this time.Looking at Wang Xiaojie's posture, if he doesn't deal with it properly, maybe Wang Xiaojie will dare to ambush and kill Zhang Ren when he is willing to return to the court to wash away his humiliation.

Thinking of this, Li Tong couldn't laugh even more, and he couldn't help complaining about Zhang Renyuan in his heart, you might as well beat Wang Xiaojie to death in the grass nest, now it's like this, how will it end?

After pondering for a while, Li Tong asked, "So, General Wang, how do you plan to pursue Ren Yuan? Right now Ren Yuan stays in Yingzhou and takes charge of Anton's reconstruction affairs. Punishment, and it's all up to you."

Although this incident originated from the old grievances between the two, in the end it was Zhang Ren who was willing to be wrong first.Now that Zhang Renyuan is going to be in the northeast, Li Tong also intends to take advantage of this incident to punish him slightly, to beat this guy up and not to be too willful.

Seeing that the sage was not showing favoritism, Wang Xiaojie's complexion improved slightly, and then he said bitterly: "Although I am not of high moral character, I am definitely not a thief like Zhang who takes advantage of his kindness and acts evil! Since the sage is willing to uphold justice for my minister, I invite Zhang If a thief humiliates me, he will be punished in any way, and his beard and hair will be cut off!"

"This this……"

Hearing this request, Li Tong suddenly had a flash of inspiration in his mind. After a while, he summoned Lego and ordered: "Quickly search the inner warehouse. There is a vermilion lacquer cage among the various square objects offered by the Northeast. Go and get it quickly."

After Le Gao heard the words, he responded quickly, and then hurried out of the hall. Not long after, he walked into the hall with a small red lacquer box one foot square, and presented it to the saint.

Li Tong opened the lid of the box, and saw a few bundles of hairs on the brocade. The box was placed in a conspicuous position earlier as a gift from the Northeast to the palace. I also feel a little puzzled, but I was only impressed by the order to temporarily store it in the inner treasury.Hearing Wang Xiaojie's accusation at this moment, that's why I remembered it again. After opening the box, I tentatively handed it to Wang Xiaojie.

Wang Xiaojie saw the contents of the box, looked at it carefully for a moment, his face was overjoyed, he slapped his knees and laughed loudly: "This is exactly the beard and hair of a thief, this dog thief insulted me so much, I can recognize the hair all over his body even when it turns to ashes!"

After Li Tong heard this, the corners of his mouth couldn't help twitching slightly.At first I thought that the two of you had a personal enmity, but the relationship is so tacit with me, forcing me to drink CP!If it's a general concern, can you even remember the shape of human hair in your heart?

"I implore the sage to bestow the thief's mustache!"

After being pleasantly surprised, Wang Xiaojie begged again before the tears on his face dried up.

Seeing Wang Xiaojie's earnest eyes, Li Tong couldn't help shivering. He really couldn't get enough of this feeling. He waved his hand as a promise, but he was still a little curious and said, "How does General Wang plan to deal with these beards and hairs? Remember not to win over evil things for disgust." !"

"Gods and ghosts are different, and I always listen to them and don't care. When I get this, I have to visit famous craftsmen in Beijing, and use them to make brushes and whips. When I sit in the office, I hold the brush of benevolence, and when I get on the horse, I hold the whip of benevolence. ! Haha, whoever insults me, I will always humiliate him!"

After hearing this, Wang Xiaojie quickly shook his head to deny it, and then said triumphantly. After a moment of foolishness, he raised his head and said: "The minister's private anger is not worth talking about. May I ask the sage, what's the point of calling the minister into the court urgently?" Order?"

Chapter 0826 escape people do not chase, open arms

To this day, Li Tong has come into contact with a lot of Shiliu, and the three teachings and nine streams are all-encompassing, but only when communicating with Wang Xiaojie, he often feels speechless. All come with talent.

Your private grievances are not worth mentioning, so you just stayed at home after you returned to Beijing?After finally entering the palace to see you, there was a lot of crying and making noise. Could it be that Lao Tzu forced you to say it?

Although Wang Xiaojie often makes people speechless, Li Tong's impression of him is not bad.He was able to survive the political turmoil of the Wu Zhou Dynasty and made a lot of contributions. Of course, Wang Xiaojie is not stupid, but the shrewdness and clumsiness that he occasionally shows without losing his personal wisdom is not disgusting.

At least compared to most of the old ministers who survived the Wu Zhou Dynasty, Li Tong was quite happy to get along with Wang Xiaojie.Unlike some other veterans who are deep in the city and show no emotions, at least they don't have to think too much when communicating with Wang Xiaojie.Occasionally seeing this guy happy like a child weighing more than 200 pounds, Li Tong's mood will become much more cheerful.

Seeing that the sage did not answer, Wang Xiaojie hurriedly said again: "The sage summoned, could it be related to Tubo? At the beginning of the year, the case of the envoy from Tibet was also heard. If the sage wanted to use this opportunity to discuss martial arts with the country, I would not dare to resign! Hebei A line of work has been to no avail, if Qinghai is ordered to use martial arts, he must..."

"A special envoy has been sent for the affairs of the Fan Kingdom. I have called the General Wang here to ask about other matters."

Before Wang Xiaojie could finish speaking, Li Tong raised his hand to interrupt, and then said: "Earlier, General Wang was in charge of the two yamen and guards in Zhidongdu Political Affairs Hall. I would also like to hear the general's opinion on this matter."

When Wang Xiaojie heard this, his face showed disappointment at first, and then he became a little nervous after a while and said: "The sage asks this question, is it possible that there are still lingering troubles in the two yamen?"

Wang Xiaojie still has the basic political consciousness. He was the prime minister earlier and was responsible for the military affairs of the two Yamen. That happened when the prime minister was in charge of the country.Although he was grateful to King Xiang for promoting one of his generals to prime minister, he also paid a price for this gratitude, so he naturally didn't want to talk more about this period of experience.

Moreover, after the current sage came to power, he carried out drastic reforms to the central guard system, and almost all the old systems of the two yamen were abandoned, but now he suddenly asked such a question, which naturally made Wang Xiaojie vigilant.

Seeing Wang Xiaojie's nervous expression, Li Tong couldn't help being happy again. Although this guy was not good at hiding his emotions earlier, at least he had a bearded face to cover it up a little bit, but now his face is like writing in black and white. Show it.

"It's not a problem. It's just that I have recently read the old books and found that the old affairs of General Wang are quite rigorous. Although the current court is resting, the foundation of governing the country is to worry about forgetting the war, so I also want to discuss it with the general. How should the matter of the guards be ended."

Li Tong no longer tried to show off, although he was quite happy to see the change in Wang Xiaojie's expression, but this face was really impatient to look at, so he directly said what he meant.

Although the Liangya Suwei system has been abandoned, there are still many things to follow.After all, this is also a military system that has been maintained for nearly a hundred years, and the Beiya was still in a state of rapid development before the turmoil in Shendu. The personnel issues involved in it are extremely extensive and need to be handled carefully.

Among other things, how to arrange the officers and men in the original two-yamen system is a headache.After all, these people are very professional military personnel. Once they cannot be used by the court and live in the wild, it is an unstable factor in itself. If they are recruited and gathered by some ambitious people, it will be an unavoidable disaster.

Therefore, during this period of time, Li Tong has been sorting out the personnel remnants of the original two yamen with the scholars of the Jiyingguan. It is no surprise that the documents and materials in the hands of the imperial court are only those of the period when Wang Xiaojie was the prime minister. The most informative and informative information.

Before the formation of a stable recruitment system, although the foundation of the Fubing system no longer exists, it is still the most well-documented method for the imperial court to manage military registration.

During the period when Li Tong's fourth uncle was in charge of the country, although the military and political affairs were messed up, as the military threat posed by the stage became more and more serious, a certain amount of sorting out was carried out in the military aspect, and Wang Xiaojie was like this The main person in charge of a series of affairs.

Since the operation of the Fubing system, at the most prosperous moment, there were more than 300 Zhechongfu in the world.However, in the counting points reviewed by Wang Xiaojie before, there are only more than [-] soldiers who have joined the guard in recent years.

The number of military mansions has been directly reduced by more than half, and Zhechong Mansion, which still has ten deeds, is also extremely short.Originally, the full number of soldiers in Shangfu should be between 500 and [-], but now it is not bad to have [-].

However, from the time of Emperor Gaozong, the Long March athletes began to be recruited. Although Gaozong exempted a group of them when he was in heaven, they were recruited again and again in the following years.This part of the soldiers, in addition to being divided into various frontiers, most of the remaining military registrations were also assigned to the two yamen and became registered military households, but they were different from the previous government soldiers.

Today, the imperial court's Suwei forces are still dominated by the original Xingtai army, and the acceptance of the original Liangya military personnel is not high enough.

In addition, when Li Tong entered Luoyang, the eastern capital last year, the original military command system of the two government offices had basically collapsed. Although the imperial court issued an edict in succession during the Yasukuni period and called on the members of the various prefectures to return their military registrations, the effect was somewhat different. good.

After all, the original government soldiers were at least supported by Zhechong Prefecture and the disabled land equalization system, but those athletes who had been recruited year after year hardly enjoyed any privileges brought about by military service.Coupled with the new chaos in the court at that time, and the severe situation in the north, how could the scattered soldiers return on their own initiative?

According to the military registration information compiled by Wang Xiaojie, on the eve of the war with the Turks the year before last, there were still nearly 5 military registrations in Nanya's hands.Some of this part of the soldiers were sent to Youzhou, and some were incorporated into the Hedong Road march north to fight against the Turks, but apart from these, there are still more than [-] Jia Ji missing.

In the past period of time, the Ministry of War has also carefully reviewed these old materials. After combing through layers, only more than 2 military registries have been sorted out, which can match the actual personnel.But there are still more than 3 soldiers left, but no one is heard, no dead bodies are seen, and they are completely lost. The court has lost control of this group of soldiers.

Li Tong is not worried that this group of soldiers may gather together to cause trouble. After all, according to the records, although the number of this group of soldiers is large, their composition is also extremely complicated. There are also athletes who have been recruited year after year. Their enlistment period spans 30 to [-] years, and their hometowns are also distributed in various states in the world.

Even the imperial court, which has recovered its administrative organization and scheduling capabilities, cannot effectively bring these soldiers back under control. If there are any people in the field who can do this, instead of forcefully suppressing them, Li Tong will take such talents Please enter the DPRK and give it a reuse.

This is how much organizational and coordination skills are needed to accomplish something that even the central court cannot do!

But having said that, the more than 3 people who have disappeared are all veterans who have received formal military training and have had combat experience. They are scattered in the wild. Ordinary villagers and even ordinary security personnel in prefectures and counties may not be their opponents.

However, the imperial court couldn't dispatch a large army to constantly inspect the prefectures and counties for the sake of local disturbance, and dared not easily strengthen the military organizational capabilities of the local government.

Therefore, how to effectively bring these people back into the control of the court is also a headache.So Li Tong wanted to know how the original Luoyang court planned to rectify the military, hoping to be inspired and borrowed.

But unfortunately, most of the officials responsible for related matters in the Luoyang court have been killed or put to death. After all, those who can take on such an important task must be the dignitaries and confidantes of the previous court.As the main person in charge, Wang Xiaojie became one of the few survivors.

Hearing that the sage asked this question, Wang Xiaojie also breathed a sigh of relief, then he pondered and said: "The Nanya military aircraft has been abandoned for a long time, and the expansion of the military status by Chen Jiu is mainly from the envoys who joined the guards after being granted by heaven. Congregation. Within five years, there will be the names of Sansuku guards, the heads of the various prefectures, the promotion and promotion of military ranks in the Ministry of War, and the details of the inspection by the Ministry of Defense. More than six hundred members..."

Li Tong already knew about the relevant matters, but he nodded after hearing Wang Xiaojie's narration. This statistical method is quite scientific and comprehensive.Although both the Ministry of War and the Zhuwei Mansions have existing registrations, it is because the old registrations are already full of water that they have to expand the new registrations.The expansion of nationality organized by Wang Xiaojie is relatively more authoritative because of the collection of materials from different parties.

Of course, the so-called Nanya Army only had 7000 people, which does not mean that there were only such a small number of regular troops in the Tang Dynasty at that time. Knowing the military management process of the imperial court at that time, it was naturally difficult for the imperial court to obtain the military secrets of Shaanxi Province.

Speaking of this, Wang Xiaojie paused for a moment, and then said: "After the new registration was determined, there were more than [-] ex-registered members at that time. How to call the dead back to the Weifu is also a matter of discussion in the imperial court. The king wanted to send the governors of all the roads, and expanded the search in the prefectures, but because of the power of the governors, he did not dare to do so lightly. Di Renjie, the minister of the time, suggested that the various states should be divided into Fujun envoys, with long-term recruitment, but some old military officers can gather three hundred Those who died and returned to the mansion will be rewarded, but they can't do it because they are too slow to see their merits..."

Li Tong couldn't help sighing when he heard this.His fourth uncle is too superstitious about the rule and appeal of the imperial court, so he hopes to solve the problem quickly through the upper-level structure.Di Renjie, on the other hand, is more realistic, hoping to mobilize the organizational power of the middle and lower levels, but obviously this opinion is a bit out of date.At that time, the Xingtai military had grown stronger, and the imperial court urgently needed to build up its strength, and it was difficult to have the patience to accumulate merits slowly.

"The minister also has a deep plan. The minister was born in the army, and he knows the hardships of the soldiers. He lives against the enemy and has nothing to rely on. Therefore, the soldiers are tired of fighting. It is not that they are not loyal to the country, but they are worried that their families will not be protected. But it can announce the rewards and divide the state and land to support the orphans and widows. For example, the old clothes club founded by the sage earlier, why did the government soldiers flock to it? Just because the warmth of this life-and-death relief is rare!"

Speaking of this, Wang Xiaojie couldn't help but let out a long sigh: "But if you have meritorious service in killing the enemy, your family will still be rewarded. Who would like to hide in the countryside, resist conscripts, and live in misery? A poor soldier may not know the general idea, but neither As long as the reward is clear, it is better to work on ten acres of land and work hard all year round, so it is better to march bravely and win a turn, so why is the imperial court unable to use it!"

Hearing Wang Xiaojie's emotion, Li Tong was speechless for a while, the reason is such a truth, but it is so difficult to do it.The most fundamental underlying logic of the fateful rise and fall of feudal dynasties is land annexation.Therefore, the government military system was abolished, and the high cost of the military recruitment system was a heavy burden.

However, Wang Xiaojie's speech also made Li Tong realize once again that the fundamental reason for a strong military and a strong country is the economic foundation.If you want the horse to run, you have to feed the horse well. If this premise cannot be met, no matter how delicate the system construction can be fooled for a while, it will eventually encounter backlash.

The reason why the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty in the later generations collapsed suddenly, and then there were many feudal vassals and towns. It is not so much that the Jiedu envoys were domineering and stubborn, but it was the will of the bottom to fight back.The brilliant martial arts have become out of touch with the interests and survival needs of the general public.

The long-term and stable existence of a regime lies in its ability to represent the common interests of the vast majority of people in the region.Failure to do this will inevitably lead to collapse.

The reason why Li Tong summoned Wang Xiaojie in such a hurry was that apart from worrying that the more than 3 lost Nanya guards might cause chaos, he also wanted to increase his strength as soon as possible.Although with Tubo, the current opinion is to focus on diplomatic negotiations for the time being, but if the conflicts really intensify, the stronger the troops controlled by the imperial court, the more strategic choices they will naturally have.

Taking into account the special geographical situation of Tubo, it is natural that recruiting old soldiers can form combat effectiveness faster than recruiting new soldiers.Therefore, regrouping the [-] scattered soldiers can not only avoid local riots, but also allow the court to significantly increase its military strength in a short period of time.

But what Wang Xiaojie said made Li Tong's thoughts shake again.It's not that he was reluctant to reward heavily for visiting and recruiting scattered soldiers, but this would undoubtedly set a high-cost precedent for the expansion of the imperial court's recruitment system, and the local states and counties may not be ready to provide supporting facilities for raising troops.

After pondering for a while, Li Tongcai said again: "Since the military affairs of the two yamen have been abolished and reformed, there is no point in retaining registration books to torture and force people to leave. The sergeants were naturalized in their early years, and they sincerely wanted to serve the country. The reason why the group of disciples fled is because of the court's political failure. Righteousness comes first. From this day on, all military registrations before Kaiyuan will no longer be pursued, and all dead and lost soldiers can go to the prefectures and counties, register as civilians, and the prefectures and counties will dictate the land!"

"The sage has great benevolence and virtue. I don't know how many warriors can be saved by this order to live innocently and make a living with peace of mind!"

When Wang Xiaojie heard the sage say this, he was quite moved for a while, bowed to the ground and shouted loudly, but after flattering him, he raised his head and asked: "But if many exiled soldiers are released, the imperial court will inevitably lack military strength. The rebirth of the provocation, is it possible that the minister will be used as a jumper again?"

Li Tong gave Wang Xiaojie another look when he heard this, and then continued: "Those who were registered in the military before the Kaiyuan period, served in the army and civilians. This summer, the imperial court plans to hold a martial arts exam. Those who have been in the military for more than ten years with high honors will be selected as the best candidates." The state soldiers, law officials, prison officials, town generals, garrison masters, customs orders, and envoys are all selected for military positions. Wu Cao."

Chapter 0827 is a big country, and it is especially difficult to run an army

Selection is the basic system for a country to exist stably for a long time. It is not just because the selection system can continuously select and absorb talents to invest in the management of the country. The selection system itself is to attract and integrate talents from all walks of life in society. The only way.

For example, Huang Chao, who directly led the Tang Dynasty to its final decline and demise, is a character that the classics failed to integrate.Although the root cause of the demise of the Tang Dynasty was the endless cycle of highly concentrated resources and complete class solidification in feudal society, whoever jumped up and kicked the last kick could also bring enough vigilance to the subsequent rulers, so that they could carry out reforms in the system. repair.

Li Tong has always had the idea of ​​setting up martial arts exams. Although the martial arts exams bring much lower system returns than the imperial exams, they still play a very positive role in promoting the country's continuous absorption of military talents.

In any regime, the army is the most sensitive topic, and it has also received the greatest attention from the rulers of all generations.However, compared with other ordinary social groups, the military has its own system and is more closed, so the process of class solidification in the military is much faster than other social groups.

The Fubing system since the Western Wei Dynasty and the Northern Zhou Dynasty finally came to fruition in the early Tang Dynasty.But the heyday of Fubing didn't last long, and it basically collapsed in Gaozong's period.

This is also unavoidable. The military is a high-risk occupation, and the living environment of the government soldiers is a state with a very clear hierarchy.If people live in an unstable state for a long time, in order to make up for the lack of security, they will be keen on searching and hoarding material resources.

Therefore, in the original Fubing system, the exploitation of the low-level military households by the middle and upper-level generals was very serious.Many government soldiers are called armored men of the imperial court, but they are no different from noble family slaves. When the basic economic interests cannot be guaranteed, a large number of escapes naturally occurred.

Li Tong had read a memorial from the Zhenguan period, which talked about the problem of government soldiers fleeing households that had appeared at that time and had become more and more serious.But what surprised him was that the purpose of this memorial was not to suggest how to stop this situation, but to suggest that the court should not pay too much attention to this and let the military households flee.

The Zhenguan period was the heyday of the Fubing system, and it was also a critical period when the national power of the Tang Dynasty climbed to new heights.In such an era, facing the loss of the country's fundamental power, instead of suggesting to rectify and prevent it, Li Tong suggested letting it go.

But the author of this memorial is not an ordinary person, but Ma Zhou, a famous minister from a poor family in the Zhenguan period.Out of the importance attached to the character of Ma Zhou, Li Tong patiently read this memorial.

Ma Zhou put forward such a point of view, of course, has its arguments.The most important point is to explain why the soldiers fled?That's because they have already felt the crisis, so they have to hide in a place they think is safe.

Fleeing a military household is a felony in itself. What kind of crisis makes these military households feel that even committing a crime is safer than staying in the military residence?

This is a problem that the imperial court needs to consider deeply and urgently needs to be resolved. If this problem is not resolved, but the military households are simply ordered to continue to stay in an environment that makes them feel terrified by harsh punishments, there may be even more serious problems. Scale, more serious turmoil.

What this crisis is, Ma Zhou also explained very clearly, the first is that the military service is too heavy, the second is that there is no hope of promotion, and the third is that production resources are plundered and occupied.The current life of the army in the east and west wars is already difficult, the future is not bright, and there is no way to support their wives, children, and elders. There is still a chance of escape. If they don't escape, even if they don't die, they will be slaves forever.

The reason why Ma Zhou suggested that the imperial court should not strictly control the fugitive soldiers was that these three problems were really difficult to solve.First of all, the first point is that the military service is too heavy. Every emperor has the dream of expanding the territory, and there are still many powerful enemies around the newly established Tang Dynasty at that time, and they have to fight. Even in the late Zhenguan period, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty had to conquer Goguryeo himself.

The second point of hopelessness is also easy to understand. Although war is a matter of danger and opportunity, the danger far outweighs the opportunity.Tang Taizong personally conquered Goguryeo and mobilized a lot, but few of them really made their mark. The most famous one was Xue Rengui, and most of the others were labor-intensive.