Joy of Life: I, a man, became the Queen of Northern Qi?

Chapter 213 Military Merit System.

"Martial Arts Conference?"

Just hearing the name is quite interesting.

The young emperor shifted his gaze and motioned for Cao Zhengchun to explain, but the latter could not explain clearly what the martial arts conference was, and only reported the general idea to the emperor.

"What a martial arts conference! Queen, do you want to take advantage of the Spring Examination to have Northern Qi hold this unprecedented civil and military event at the same time?"

Zhan Doudou seemed very excited and interested in this martial arts event. "The two ways of civil and martial arts are in line with the destiny of the Great Qi, and are also a concrete manifestation of national strength! If it can be held in the north and south at the same time, then not only can we suppress Nanqing, but we can also promote the prestige of our dynasty outside the region."

Seeing Doudou's expression, Li An couldn't bear to deny and expose it.

Only a few people who have walked the road of martial arts, drank the water of Jianghu, and understood the lowest level know that the Qing Kingdom values ​​martial arts, and the place where this trend has the deepest influence is the martial arts world. Today's Northern Qi is still far behind as a whole.

Nan Qing could not be suppressed, and the two factory supervisors were even worried that foreigners might come to challenge and make a name for themselves!

"Your Majesty, you don't know that this is just one of the purposes."

"Oh? The queen is very clever. Please tell me what secrets are hidden in it."

Li An said calmly: "Since the war with Nanqing, the military has suffered heavy losses. Both countries need to recuperate and try to restore their strength as soon as possible. However, these are all the consumption of the court, but have little impact on the world outside the court!"

"Perhaps, there are some people who join the army and go to the front line to protect their country, but most people just turn a blind eye and live their own lives."

The little emperor was not stupid either. He immediately guessed, "Is the queen planning to use this group of people?"

"good."

Li An waved his hand and said, "There is a lack of good soldiers in the army now. This can be seen from the fact that after occupying Xinzhou, the court was short of soldiers and generals, and there was no one available. I originally wanted to take advantage of the weakness of Emperor Qing and the instability of the court to start a war again, but Da Qi missed the opportunity because it was unable to go south. Every time I think about this, I feel it is a pity!"

"After all, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry is not yet fully developed, and the new soldiers will take time to train before they can be put to use."

"But I don't want to wait too long!"

After a pause, Li An stated his purpose:
"It's fine if the opportunity is this good this time, but what about the next time the opportunity comes?"

"Now, there is such a force in front of us that can be used to attack Qing, why not do it?"

Perhaps the Queen had some regrets about this trip to Kingdom Qing, or maybe she was really angry with Emperor Qing Li Yunqian, every word Li An said was filled with an inexplicable anger!

The little emperor pursed his lips, thought for a moment, and then said, "I have no objection to holding this martial arts conference. I also think it is good to be able to make use of this power that I have ignored before."

"These powerful men in the martial arts world just want a resounding name. Since they want it, I will give it to them! The court only needs to prepare the stage at a very small cost to make them fall into the trap. It can be said to be great."

"But it would be extremely inappropriate to start a war against Nanqing in such a short period of time!"

As the little emperor's firm words fell, Yu Huatian and Cao Zhengchun both looked over and listened attentively.

Both of them relied on the royal family to get to where they are today, so naturally they would not spread the news in Yong'an Palace. Therefore, the young emperor no longer worried about keeping it secret, and combined with the current actual situation of the two countries, he predicted the future development direction as much as possible:

"Let's not talk about the current strength of Da Qi. As Shen Zhong said before, the people of the country have been living in comfort for too long! The Qing army invaded our territory, and we had to fight back. This can inspire the people's patriotism and boost the morale of the entire army."

"But if our dynasty takes the initiative to attack Qing and launches a full-scale war, the situation will be completely reversed!"

"I can foresee what the scene will be like then. The people will gradually become anti-war, and many in the army will be afraid of the enemy. After all, a full-scale war will result in a large number of casualties, and those scholars in the court who claim to be benevolent will not miss such an opportunity. They will definitely write something about this matter, talk about the way of saints, and call on the people in the country not to do the same beastly behavior as the barbarians, and think that by widely educating people, they can make the Great Qi Saint King rule the world."

Speaking of this, Zhan Doudou also sighed and seemed helpless.

In his mind, Li An matched the current situation of Qi State with the ancient dynasties of China one by one, and couldn't help but sigh at how similar they were.

As the emperor said, those speculative scenes are very likely to happen:

The people of Daqi have strong national self-esteem and self-confidence, but those have always been based on the cultural heritage inherited from Wei. They think they are superior to foreign people and regard others as barbarians. Little do they know that everything is based on strong strength, and dignity only exists on the edge of the sword!
On the contrary, they are nothing but castles in the air and illusions.

With just a little external force, those false and pale appearances will be broken and shattered to pieces!
I don't know why they were so proud before.
"If I want to reverse this, I need time, and Da Qi also needs time!"

The little emperor had a serious look on his face and spoke in a solemn voice. She didn't want to be known as a warmongerer.

After listening to Zhan Doudou's steady words, although they made sense, Li An did not show any agreement, but just shook his head slowly.

"Your Majesty's concerns are not without reason, and it is very likely to happen."

After responding to her words, Li An continued, "But it's not difficult to completely resolve this matter!"

As he spoke, Li An turned his attention to Yu Huatian and Cao Zhengchun.

The little emperor also turned his gaze and looked at the two of them, as if he had thought of something and wanted to re-understand the East and West Factories represented by the two.
"Does the Queen want to increase the authority of the Second Factory?"

Zhan Doudou was also knowledgeable and soon thought about what more he could do with the Second Factory to change the domestic mentality of avoiding war.

"That's right. In fact, the Southern Dynasty was not much different from us before. The only thing Emperor Qing had was an extra thing that could control public opinion - newspapers!"

Ang Lee deliberately emphasized the word "public opinion".

"Public opinion. Newspapers," the little emperor murmured in a low voice, and after a moment, his eyes gradually brightened.

It's not her fault that she, as an emperor, didn't realize these things. The truth was that she had only been in full control of the government for a short time, and various crises came one after another. She was already exhausted physically and mentally just dealing with them, so how could she deal with anything else?

However, even though she had not experienced much herself, the court affairs and documents from past dynasties that she dealt with every day were enough to broaden her horizons.

She soon realized the benefits of newspapers
In comparison, Ang Lee is just standing on the shoulders of giants and knows how to quickly change a country's trends.

"Before this, Qing invaded our dynasty first. The reasons given by Emperor Qing for mobilizing troops were untenable. The heavy losses after the war were purely self-inflicted. After that, even if our dynasty sent troops for revenge, it was justified and for the greater good."

"Although it is said that the people are like water and the king is like a boat, if used properly it will be beneficial, otherwise it will be harmful, but the strategic direction of the country's external expansion is also a rolling trend, how can it be stopped by human power?"

In this age of great contention, if you don’t fight, you will die!
This is the inevitable outcome of two ambitious emperors coexisting in the world!

Li An never shifted his gaze from the two, and his tone was very firm: "Establish a newspaper, follow the example of Nanqing, and let the East and West factories take the lead in management. It must be spread throughout the country to change the thinking of all the people! As for the content, whether it is exaggerated or not, I will not ask." "What I want is that when the war breaks out, there will be no other voices in the country!"

"Can you two do it?"

Cao Zhengchun and the other two looked solemn, and did not dare to ask for more details. They remained calm and said, "I will definitely live up to your trust!"

"But what if there are scholars who are not afraid of death who jump out to oppose? It only takes one person to speak out, and countless noble families who are content with the status quo and only want to maintain their inherent power will follow suit to oppose." Another question was thrown out, and the little emperor asked curiously, "You must know that this time the delegation will return to the capital, and if nothing unexpected happens, the master will... By then, no one will be able to suppress these voices! If that happens, the turmoil in the court will be a small matter, but I am afraid that other states and counties in the country will be in chaos."

"Those who disobey the emperor's orders and affect the morale of the army will naturally be killed! Otherwise, why would the court have the East and West Factories? Is it just for show?"

Li An sneered disdainfully: "Some people have too little experience but still talk nonsense about the world. They hold on to the old things and think they can govern the country and rule the world. Although they have not done anything illegal, the things that should be eliminated should be thrown into the garbage dump of history as soon as possible."

"If one person jumps out, Xiao Tianzi will kill that person. If one noble family jumps out, Xichang will destroy that family!"

"I want to see who is so arrogant as to dare to try to stop a chariot!"

Li An slowly poured a cup of tea, as if these liquids were those old stubborn things. Although they still had residual warmth, they would soon lose their temperature and turn cold.

Raise the glass and drink it all.

He added: "You can use newspapers to change public opinion; you can use knives to kill stubborn opponents. But if you want to completely solve the fear and avoidance of war in the military, you can strengthen training and increase actual combat to cultivate bloody courage. Secondly, you need to change the military system!"

Today in the Yong'an Palace, the Queen's new and interesting ideas popped up one after another, almost making it difficult for everyone to keep up.

But this military system has a long history and has been the same since ancient times. How can it be easily changed?

It would be fine if the results were positive, but if the changes are not good, the combat effectiveness will plummet and it will not be able to recover in a short period of time.

The little emperor asked softly, "I wonder what aspect of improvement the queen is talking about? Although the purpose of the army is simple and it was created only for war, it covers a wide range of areas."

Hearing this, Li An raised his lips slightly and said two words without any hesitation:
"Military merit!"

"I plan to reform the military merit system and implement a twenty-level military merit title system! Improve the combat effectiveness of the army, encourage the morale of the entire army, and reward soldiers who kill the enemy and win, completely opening up their path to advancement!"

"The specific ranks are: first-class Gongshi, second-class Shangzao, third-class Zan Niao, fourth-class Bu Geng, fifth-class Daifu, sixth-class Guan Daifu, nineteen-class Guannei Hou, and twenty-class Che Hou."

"In short, unlike before, promotion is no longer based on seniority or family background. It is now based solely on military achievements on the battlefield!"

This was the system during the Qin Dynasty, and it played a significant role in adjusting social relations at that time.

In order to reward military merit, regardless of family background, all would be rewarded according to the size of their military merits. This was true even for the sons of noble families or royal family members. Those who had not made military merits could not have a title. The more heads they cut off, the higher the title they would get!

The hall gradually quieted down as Li Ang spoke.

The more Zhan Doudou listened, the more frightened she became. Although she could see the benefits of this system, she could see the hidden worries behind it even more.

After Li An finished speaking, she couldn't help but exclaimed: "If this continues, won't all the soldiers in the army become warmongers? For the sake of military merit, I'm afraid they will all go crazy!?"

"Your Majesty, these are all inevitable stages. Only in this way can we sweep away their previous weakness and inspire their bravery!"

Li An explained helplessly: "Although this move is too radical, it is also based on the needs of the people's livelihood, economy, politics, military, social system and other aspects of the country! When the grain seeds and farming tools I brought back are popularized throughout the country, food will no longer be a problem. By then, everyone can have enough food to eat without worrying about starving to death."

"These are good things, but when everyone can eat their fill, there will inevitably be more demands!"

"By then, there will be a large number of people who study, and they will want to change their class and social status by passing the imperial examinations. But the court doesn't need so many civil officials. Even if we conquer twice as much land as Qi, it will not be enough."

"I have given them another way."

"After eating a full meal, you will have the energy to practice martial arts and strengthen your body. Then, why should the court worry about having no soldiers to deploy and no one to defend the land?"

Zhan Doudou was a little hesitant for a moment and couldn't make up his mind.

This is a serious matter, maybe we should let the court officials discuss it first.
Li An was not in a hurry, but just waited silently for the little emperor to think. After a while, Zhan Doudou raised his head and said a possibility: "Since military merit has become more and more important, how can the queen know that they will not kill innocent people to take credit for it?"

"Of course, it requires extremely strong supervision!"

The twenty-level military merit title system was both the Qin Dynasty's compliance with the historical trend and a product of social development under the institutional transformation at that time. The brand-new system ensured that the Qin State ultimately defeated other opponents.

It's just a little more extreme.

Killing innocent people to claim credit was indeed not uncommon, not to mention such a huge temptation. The method adopted by the Qin Dynasty at that time was collective punishment!
However, Li An did not want to do this by following suit. Anyway, he had three supervisory agencies under his command, so he could let them supervise.
After explaining all these one by one, Zhan Doudou unconsciously rubbed his fingers gently, and it was obvious that he thought of more in an instant.

She let out a long sigh and said, "Let's talk about it later~"

"No matter what, this system was also the result of the Queen's hard work, so it must have its own unique features."

"But if the Great Qi can one day truly unify the world and create a great event, this method of promoting titles and selecting officials based on military merit will be useless."

"Of course." Li An also nodded in response, "If we want the country to be stable and the society to be stable, we need talents who are good at governing the country and developing the economy, so we can't relax for a day in the scientific examination."

There are good sides to having more officials of military origin in the court. In some aspects, it can speed up work efficiency and establish a new atmosphere.

But at the same time, it will also trigger some social contradictions. History will teach us which ones are more serious.

“That’s not what I want to ask.”

The young emperor looked directly into Li An's eyes and asked slowly, "At present, we can still make use of the manpower in a martial arts conference. Why should the queen be in a hurry to reform the military merit system?"

"It's not that I'm anxious, but these martial artists can only be used temporarily, not forever!"

Li An's tone was calm, but he said something that made people shudder: "Your Majesty, do you know that behind these so-called martial arts masters..."

"Who are standing there?"

(End of this chapter)