Promotion Letter for the Chief Executive

In fact, throughout history, there are not many people who realized the power and importance of force.

Even the custom of "emphasizing literature over martial arts" has been formed for more than half of the entire Chinese history, which is related to this.

It is precisely because force is powerful that it is difficult to control them, so in order to restrain them, the rulers of the past dynasties will allow civil servants to suppress generals.Many of these things will be heard by later generations simply gnashing their teeth and destroying the Great Wall.However, for those who were in that position at that time, it was already the best choice.

After all, the emperor is also a human being, he can be selfish, and he only wants to choose what is good for him.

Therefore, after feeling the threat from the generals, it is natural to adopt "checks and balances" to let the civil servants try to weaken their importance.Over time, this kind of suppression eventually formed a stable and deformed system, that is, military commanders are born lower than civilian officials.

When the situation was at its worst, a third-rank general would even take the initiative to bow his head to a fifth-rank official in salute.If a civil official wants to humiliate, he can even order him to kneel, which is unimaginable in Ping An's view.

The status of Da Chu's generals was not that low, but he was indeed under pressure.

But Ping An knew that this situation was actually not good for Da Chu.In history, the dynasties that emphasized civility over military affairs and suppressed generals happened to be dynasties with weak national power and frequent invasions by surrounding ethnic minorities.In this case, it is impossible to attribute it all to a coincidence.

This situation will improve sooner or later, and Ping An chooses at this time, and at the same time allows them to become his helpers and stand on his side.

Of course, the reason for acting at this time is also because Ping An feels that the time is ripe.

In the past few years, he has been using martial arts to infiltrate the army.After these seven or eight years of development, the original middle-level generals have completely established themselves in their ranks.Some of them have been promoted for their merits, while others are still in their original positions.But no matter what, as an officer who came out of martial arts, there is a natural connection between them, and it is easy to form a group.

The ranks in the army are strict, and orders are issued step by step.For the soldiers below, the senior generals are too far away, and the immediate superiors are the ones they want to obey.So controlling these middle-level generals is equivalent to controlling this army.

The senior generals above, except for those who were promoted later, are actually emptied in disguise.Even if they have other ideas in their hearts, it is useless.

But in fact, Ping An is not too worried that these senior generals will oppose their policies.

Because he himself wants to greatly improve their treatment, these people who have enjoyed the benefits have no reason to object.On the contrary, Wen Chen may have some problems. ——I am used to being superior, and I am always unwilling to see the situation change. People who were originally inferior to me are suddenly equal to me, or even faintly superior.

Ping An regards this as a drill.Because in fact, the ruling class headed by the civil service group has the same thinking towards the lower class people?

So what kind of thoughts and methods they will use when they face resistance, we can also get a glimpse of some clues from the restructuring of the army and prepare for the future.

For Ping An, the first thing to change is the issue of the military designation.

At this time, the army did not have a number. Except for the four guards of the Forbidden Army, the others only had a general name: frontier army, local garrison.Specific to each army, it is distinguished by their generals.When marching or going out to battle, the banner of the general will also be played.

It is precisely because of the existence of this system that the name X Family Army appears.When the generals are brave and capable, it is easy for the army to follow suit and be remembered.

But this is exactly what Ping An does not want to see.

The reason why ancient military generals were always prone to "high achievements" is because this kind of title brought everyone's attention to the generals themselves.The honor and disgrace of an army is tied to one person, and all the glory and prestige are naturally imposed on the generals.Under such circumstances, the general's personal prestige is too high, so it is easy to cover up other people. Even the emperor in the Golden Temple has to be scruples.

So what Ping An has to do is to obscure this glory and prestige, and let them know that no matter which general leads the army, it belongs to Da Chu.

Adding a number to each unit, and giving special titles to units with special merits is the solution Ping An thought of.

In addition, the rotation system can also be put on the agenda.

Wherever Da Chu's army is stationed now, it will usually stay here for the rest of its life.This is mainly due to the inconvenient transportation in ancient times. It often costs a lot of money to move a large number of troops from one place to another, and it is easy to have accidents on the road.After all, this is an era when typhoid fever can kill people.

But now that the cement road has been repaired, there may be trains that can be used in the future. This situation will be greatly improved, and it will also provide a solid foundation for garrison rotation.

Rotation is divided into rotation of soldiers and rotation of generals. In this way, it is not easy to form a situation where someone always holds military power in a certain place, and it greatly reduces the possibility of them supporting themselves.

Of course, it is inevitable for soldiers to return to their leaders. After all, there are strict ranks in the army and absolute obedience is required.And this is also the reason why the army can exist independently of the civil servants group and compete with it. Naturally, Ping An will not insist on getting rid of this kind of emotion.

In fact, he himself admires this kind of friendship in battle.The feelings experienced between life and death should have been deeper than any other feelings.

As long as they don't only have generals in their eyes but no court, Ping An is also happy to see such a situation.

In addition, there is a reform of the promotion mechanism.

The promotion of generals depends entirely on military merit.So it is not impossible to even jump six or seven levels when there is a war, but in peacetime, promotion will become very difficult.In addition, the promotion system for military generals is also very complicated, and the specific promotion standards are vague, that's all. The most important thing is that the promotion of military generals is in the hands of civil servants.

Especially the higher the level, the military generals themselves can't say anything, and when it comes to credit evaluation, it's all civil officials who have the final say.This is also one of the reasons why generals must bow their heads in front of civil servants.

What Ping An has to do, besides modifying the promotion mechanism to be more concise and clear, the most important thing is to take back this right from civil servants.

"Wen has a political affairs hall, and Wu naturally should have a military hall. Senior generals enter the military hall to serve, and all matters related to the army are decided by themselves. They are directly responsible to the emperor and are no longer under the control of anyone. After hearing Ping An's words, Zhao Can couldn't help laughing, "This is actually just another way of checks and balances."

Pingan thought for a while, and said, "You can also say that. In the past, the generals were powerful, so they had to be suppressed. Now they are weak, but the power of civil servants is expanding infinitely. The situation will naturally be reversed."

"But if this is the case, it won't work if you want to use civil servants to control generals in the future." Zhao Can said.

"I'm not worried about that." Ping An clicked on his plan, "The military hall is composed of generals. The generals are drawn from all over the place. Region itself is a natural position."

When Qi Tao was transferred from Hebei to Northwest by the emperor, why was he excluded?It is precisely because the Hebei Army and the Northwest Army have been fighting secretly, the relationship between them is not so harmonious.Naturally, they couldn't tolerate Qi Tao, who came from the Hebei army, becoming king in the northwest territory.

There is no second in literature, and no first in martial arts.In this regard, they only competed more fiercely.So it's the same if you change it to another place.

So, in fact, as long as you don't regard the army as a whole, after careful study, you will find that although everyone is a soldier, in fact, they also have their own positions, and it is impossible to really unite.

They couldn't unite when they were suppressed by civil servants before, let alone now that they have gained autonomy?

Just like Wenchen Group seems to be a collective, but there are many factions in it, it is impossible to be of one mind.The different theories used by the emperors to stir up checks and balances are equally useful to generals.

On a large scale, civil and military are separated, and on a small scale, there are various contradictions among themselves—even if there is no contradiction, it is actually not difficult to create one.

In fact, with interests, there will naturally be contradictions over the distribution of interests, which is an eternal truth.

Zhao Can nodded, agreeing with Ping An's statement.

He bowed his head and thought for a while, then asked, "There is another question. If the army is independent of the civil servants and only under the control of its own superiors, then the local garrisons don't have to obey orders?"

The current system is that each route has a governor who oversees military and political power.But in fact, he only plays a restrictive role. In fact, the commander in charge of the army and the chief envoy in charge of political affairs are in charge of the specific affairs of both military and political affairs. When necessary, they accept the restraint of the governor's office. .

Speaking of which, this kind of system is vaguely similar to the separation of the military and the government that Ping An wants to create. It can be regarded as a condensed small court.

But if Ping An succeeds here, this balance will be broken instead.After all, if the army is directly under the jurisdiction of the military hall, does the governor still have the ability to control the army?If not, then the function of the governor itself is flawed. Without his restraint, it is very likely that the political and military affairs will be hindered.After all, the communication between civil and military has not always been so smooth.

The most important thing is that in this way, the scope of the governor's authority completely overlaps with that of the chief envoy below, so there is no need for this position to exist at all.

The governor is a member of the second grade. Except for Jingji Road, there is one in each of the other five roads. For civil servants, this is a huge force. It is absolutely impossible for them to agree to be revoked like this.

The original practice of establishing a military hall alone is likely to cause dissatisfaction and opposition from civil officials.After all, for them, it was originally up to them to decide all important military affairs in the court, but now, there is no doubt that half of them must be distributed to the generals.

There are countless cakes of power, and the more you share, the less you can keep.

What's more, before he saw that the power was divided, his side was cut off such an important wing?If this situation is not handled properly, it may cause turmoil in the court.

Zhao Can articulated his worries one by one. After Pingan heard it, he couldn't help but be silent for a moment, and then said, "Reforms always satisfy the interests of some people and lose the interests of others. I can't help it."

To be honest, the civil service group may suffer the most from this reform.Because they are the vested interests of the current system. ——This has been the case throughout the ages. Those with vested interests want to maintain the current rule, while the rebels want to establish another order.

So, no matter how they avoid it, it is impossible to resolve this matter peacefully after reaching this point.

So they have no other tricky way to go, they can only implement it forcefully.If you encounter opposition and resistance during the process, you can only force it down.Fortunately, Zhao Can has a high reputation in the court and can suppress a large number of people.

"As for the others," Ping An said with a smile, "if the military hall is to be established, the generals will not be able to benefit in vain, so let them handle this matter."

In the face of this kind of struggle, it is the most stupid way to end by yourself. Let the people below fight, while you maintain the reserve of the superior, and just give some help at the right time.In this way, the political affairs hall and the military hall are full of gunpowder from the very beginning, and there will be no day when they will be united in the future.

So after the two discussed it, they didn't rush to announce the new policy. Instead, Zhao Can summoned several veterans with high prestige in the army and told them about it.If there are no accidents, they should also be the first members of the military hall, so from now on, we must make preparations.

These veterans have all retired from the battlefield.Originally, he just stayed at home to take care of his life, and probably only mentioned his bravery when he was teasing his children and grandchildren.But I didn't expect that the sudden joy would come from the sky, and I would have the opportunity to contribute to the country again.And it's such a good thing that can greatly improve the status of generals and soldiers!

Anyway, they were old and had no hope at all, so there was nothing they couldn't afford to fight now. After learning about this, they immediately threw themselves into it and began to prepare for it.

At the same time, the Martial Arts side also made a series connection with the previous students. After all, this matter needs to be unified internally, and then unanimously external.

After everything was ready, Zhao Can invited several prime ministers and told them about it.

This time, he didn't announce this policy directly in the early court without warning, because Zhao Can knew very well that if he couldn't get the support of the Political Affairs Hall, in fact, such an approach would be totally untenable.At that time, it is not impossible for the civil officials to unite and remonstrate in a fit of anger.And that was something he absolutely didn't want to see.

So he can only talk to a few adults first.If you can get their support, it will naturally be much easier later.

In order to prevent them from backlashing too much, Zhao Can did not tell the whole plan, but only talked about the establishment of the military hall.As for the fact that the governor is likely to be taken down, if they can't find out, let's wait until then.

Things did not go beyond Zhao Can's expectations, and several ministers were very opposed to it.

"Your Majesty, it is the ancestor's rule to use literature to control martial arts! Why do you have to make such a regulation? Your Majesty must know it well, how can you change it without authorization?!" Zheng Wenyuan was the first to stand up and say.

He is a conservative from the beginning to the end, and he does not support any New Deal.But what Zhao Can did before was more or less reasonable, even if he objected, he couldn't screw other people.But now this matter, in Zheng Wenyuan's view, is a bit too ridiculous.

Let those muddy legs who can't read a single word climb up to be equal to him?What a joke!

Literati have always regarded themselves highly, and the reverence for scholars for thousands of years has made this kind of loftiness in their bones have reached the point of no cure, and they regard face and reputation as more important than life.For them, they are the mainstay of the imperial court, and those generals are just barbarians who only know how to fight and kill, and don't understand anything else.

So what qualifications do you have to be equal to yourself?

"Zheng Qing, apart from the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, other rules are nothing more than fabricated by people of later generations. If so, what can't be changed? During the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, you never heard of suppressing generals, right?" Zhao said. Can said slowly, "During the previous dynasties, we never saw the trend of suppressing generals."

"So they lost their country!" Zheng Wenyuan refused to budge.

Zhao Can's face darkened, "Zheng Qing, the previous dynasty has also died."

Moreover, he died at the hands of the ancestors of his Zhao family, and at the hands of the current Da Chu.The major events in the world, no one family in the world can last forever, and changes in hundreds of years are already a foregone conclusion.It is really unreasonable to blame it on the generals.

And in fact, people with long eyes know that the country's downfall in the previous dynasties was not necessarily because of the power of the generals, but the demise of the previous dynasty was really because of the incompetence of the generals and the weakness of the army!

Zheng Wenyuan blushed. Although he was not convinced, he didn't dare to continue for this sake.Otherwise, you will be suspected of committing a crime.

Without him as a fresh force standing in front, Liu Jing, the prime minister who is always fighting with each other, can only stand up and smooth things over, "Master Zheng's temper is too impatient, isn't it just for the purpose of discussing this matter that His Majesty summoned us today? ? This is also His Majesty’s trust, and he wants to hear our opinions. If that’s the case, let’s discuss slowly.”

He has said so, Jin Shiwen has always been led by Zhao Can, so it is naturally impossible to stand up and object, so he can only follow Liu Jing's words and say, "Exactly, Your Majesty, this is a big matter, I am afraid that Rong Chen will wait to go back to make a living." Think about it, and then discuss."

Let's procrastinate first, let's talk if we can't procrastinate.

Zhao Can understood what they meant, snorted, flung his sleeves and left.

Then Zheng Wenyuan said angrily, "It's unreasonable. If those people are really allowed to come in, I, Zheng Wenyuan, will immediately resign and return to my hometown, and I will never stand with them!" Then he also walked away angrily.

Liu Jing and Jin Shiwen looked at each other and couldn't help but smile wryly.

Jin Shiwen stepped forward and said, "What should Mr. Liu do about this matter?"

"It doesn't matter how we look at it." Jin Shiwen glanced in the direction where Zhao Can left, "Who can screw that one?"

They have also gone through some things, and they have a little understanding of Zhao Can's power.Has there ever been room for others to object to the things he decides?However, what happened this time was indeed a bit strange. Zhao Can would take the initiative to discuss this matter with them instead of announcing it directly in the hall, which was a bit strange.

Jin Shiwen was startled, and he also glanced in that direction, then left in silence.

He knows exactly how he got to where he is today.It stands to reason that he should support Zhao Can's policies.But once a person reaches a certain position, he naturally has his own position.Jin Shiwen knew this very well. When Zhao Can was still the prince and he was not the prime minister, the two had the same goal, so they could naturally cooperate sincerely.But now, the imperial power and prime minister's power are naturally in conflict, so it is impossible for him to obey Zhao Can's order.

Originally, if Zhao Can hadn't been so strong, the two of them would have found a new balance after a few incidents.It's a pity that Zhao Can didn't give him such a chance at all, and he was disheartened after several confrontations. Now if he wants to confront Zhao Can again, he will have to weigh it carefully.

But this kind of thing is not what he said he would do.After all, Jin Shiwen saw very clearly that the promotion of military generals' status violated the power of their civilian officials.If he couldn't protect his own interests, then the prime minister would be too useless.And if the civil servants below are disappointed in him, then his official career may have almost come to an end.

Originally, Zheng Wenyuan could be pushed out, and he played the side drums behind him.But today Zheng Wenyuan was provoked by Zhao Can, and he can't be counted on for saying such things.As for Liu Jing, there is no need to talk about it.So, is he going to stand up on his own?

Jin Shiwen is ambitious and capable, but he really doesn't have much confidence in this matter.Because on the way to confront Zhao Can, he never succeeded once.

You can't compromise, you can't move forward, it's really worrying.

After thinking about it, Jin Shiwen finally thought of a solution that was not a solution.If it really doesn't work, he can only bite the bullet. In this case, he feels that he has to find a helper for himself.