Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 490 Don’t cry until you see the coffin

Most soldiers in the army did not join the army intentionally.

Except for a few who were sent into exile for crimes, most were refugees who were forcibly sent into the army.

These soldiers had no land or fields at home and could only rely on military pay to support their families.

Before Zhao Xing ascended the throne, the army not only delayed paying soldiers their salaries but also only paid half of their salaries, making it difficult for soldiers to even support their families, so desertions were common.

Now that Zhao Xing wants to lay off the old and young in the army and give them land, who would be willing to serve in the army?

"Don't worry about this. The lands given to the laid-off soldiers only have the right to cultivate them. They still belong to the court and need to pay taxes like ordinary people. If the soldiers make meritorious services, they will be rewarded with land and exempt from taxes! In this way, there is no need to worry about the soldiers wanting to retire and return to the fields." Zhao Xing said.

He had considered these problems a long time ago. Soldiers were unwilling to serve in the army, and desertion was rampant in the army. This was essentially a problem of the imperial court.

The military pay was enough to support a family, but the court was in arrears with the military pay and only paid half of it, so the soldiers were naturally unhappy.

After he ascended the throne, he never delayed the payment of military pay and paid it in full. He also directly rewarded land to those who made meritorious service. How could the soldiers not do it?

In an agricultural society, people are very eager to own land.

Only with land can you pass it on to your descendants so that they have a place to settle down and make a living.

Many people even died of illness or starvation rather than sell their land.

Although there is land for resettlement after disarmament, there is no ownership of the land after all.

"Your Majesty, doing this will greatly reduce the military strength. War may break out at any time. Why not wait until things calm down before disarming?" Zeng Gongliang said.

"That's why we have to do this. If the number of soldiers decreases, we will draw on local troops to replenish them. This time I plan to mobilize part of the imperial guards and part of the local troops to the north!" said Zhao Xing.

"After all, the local troops are not as strong as the imperial troops. Your Majesty, will you..."

Zhao Xing waved his hand to interrupt Zeng Gongliang and said, "I think the local garrison troops are no worse than the imperial guards. When Jiangzhou was put down last year, the local garrison troops performed very well. Minister Zeng and the three yamen of the Ministry of War should discuss as soon as possible and come up with a set of rules."

The local troops were not as strong as the imperial guards in terms of combat power and equipment, but there was one thing that the imperial guards could not match, and that was their generals.

Most of the generals in the imperial guards were sons of noble families who had been granted titles through patronage.

Although these people come from prominent families, few of them are truly capable.

The generals of the local garrison troops have basically lost hope of promotion. Now that they have the opportunity to make meritorious contributions, they are much better than those generals of the imperial guards who only know how to get by.

"Yes." Seeing that Zhao Xing insisted, Zeng Gongliang did not persuade him anymore.

There are too many old and young people in the army, which not only affects the combat effectiveness, but also requires the court to support them, which is indeed a big problem.

He also agreed with disarmament, but he had various concerns. Since Zhao Xing had thought it through and had a solution, he naturally had no reason to object.

"By the way, the martial arts examination is over. Arrange them into the army and let them go with the army this time." Zhao Xing said lightly.

The martial arts examination ended two days ago. In order to show his importance to the examination, Zhao Xing planned to hold a banquet to entertain them in a few days and then let them enter the Military Academy to study.

Now it seems unnecessary to just throw these people into the army.

Regardless of whether a fight breaks out in the end, it is always an experience.

"Yes." Zeng Gongliang replied.

…………

While the Song Dynasty was preparing for war, Yelu Yixin officially ascended the throne in the Liao Dynasty.

During this period, Yelu Yixin had been cleaning out officials who were loyal to the royal family.

Of course, he only cleaned up those that were in the open. As for those he did not trust, he could only deal with them by promoting them openly and demoting them secretly.

If he really carried out a large-scale cleanup, it would cause panic among the people and would not be conducive to the stability of the Liao Kingdom.

In any case, after some cleaning up, he apparently had complete control of the situation, and no accidents occurred when he ascended the throne.

He rewarded his ministers and held a three-day banquet. When Yelu Yixin was busy cleaning up the mess, envoys from Western Xia arrived.

Upon learning that Western Xia had invited him to join forces to deal with the Song Dynasty, Yelu Yixin sneered in his heart.

Although he didn't know what Xixia was planning, he knew that Xixia was definitely not that kind.

But this was a good thing for him. After warmly entertaining the Western Xia envoys, he ordered people to spread the news.

The Song Dynasty must have spies in the Liao Kingdom. Spreading the news to let the Song Dynasty know is also a way of putting pressure on the Song Dynasty.

Although the Liao Kingdom was relatively peaceful on the surface, the situation on the grassland was not stable.

After he defeated Yelu Chongyuan, he sent people to meet the leaders of various tribes on the grassland and invite them to attend the coronation ceremony.

The leaders of all the Khitan tribes came, but the leaders of those tribes that were not Khitan did not come, and they declined for various reasons.

Yelu Yixin knew that these tribes were worried that he would take revenge on them later.

But these tribes are always a destabilizing factor and will always be a hidden danger until they are resolved.

Moreover, no one knows how many people within the Liao Kingdom still have disloyal intentions.

He did not want to go to war with the Song Dynasty before completely eliminating all hidden dangers.

But the premise of all this is that the Song Dynasty is willing to hand over the person.

…………

Zhao Xing had no idea what was happening in the Liao Kingdom. He had neglected the concubines in the harem during this period as he was busy treating all of them equally.

Zeng Gongliang was very efficient. It took him only a few days to finalize the rules for disarmament and replenishment of troops, and sent them to Zhao Xing for review.

After reading it, Zhao Xing was very satisfied and asked Zeng Gongliang to present it at the morning court.

I originally thought there would be some resistance, but I didn't expect that the resistance was not as great as I imagined.

Naturally, the generals were unwilling to agree to this decision.

They are not like civil servants, and they are respected by local officials.

If military generals wanted to make money, they could only rely on means such as collecting empty salaries, selling military equipment and food, and withholding soldiers' salaries.

The Song Dynasty had not fought a war for many years, so it was inconvenient for military generals to do hand surgery.

Once the army is demobilized, the number of people will need to be rechecked, and the problem of people drawing empty salaries will no longer be concealed.

However, the military generals were relatively weak in the court. When the civil officials saw that Zhao Xing was taking action against the army, they were very supportive, and the opposition of the military generals seemed insignificant.

Although the Song Dynasty valued civil officials over military officials, this only referred to the upper echelons. Civil officials could not directly manage the army, and those who drew the salaries without doing anything would not benefit from it. They were only happy to see the military generals suffer setbacks.

The generals were naturally unwilling to accept the loss, but there was nothing they could do.

The Song Dynasty valued civil officials over military officials in order to guard against military generals. Those generals with military honors did not dare to have close contacts with each other.

At this time, they were being targeted by the civil servants, but they were scattered and did not even dare to unite and fight back.

He was afraid of being falsely accused of treason by the civil officials.

Even if they wanted to cause trouble for the civil servants, they couldn't do so because the two censorial agencies, the Censorate and the Court of Remonstrance, were all civil servants.

Even the heads of the Privy Council and the Ministry of War are civil servants. What can they do?
These military generals were depressed and could only cause trouble for the civil officials in other ways.

Whenever a civil official was impeached in the court, these military generals would tacitly step on him.

They were originally just some small matters, but they became big things after they made such a mess.

Zhao Xing laughed inwardly and took the opportunity to get rid of some officials.

By doing this, he may not have intended to provoke confrontation between the civil and military officials.

Because civil officials were more important than military officials, those military generals did not dare to offend civil officials easily and almost became the civil officials' yes-men in the court.

Zhao Xing wanted to let them know that even if they did this, the civil servants would still look down on them and would still step on them when it was time to suppress them.

"Why is Your Majesty so happy?" Little Shen sat in Zhao Xing's arms, fed him a grape, and asked curiously.

"The sun is shining, and I have a beautiful woman in my arms. How can I not be happy?"

Zhao Xing kissed her on the face, and did not forget Rulan on the other side, so he turned around and kissed her too.

"If Your Majesty thought so, you would not have not come to see me for so long." Rulan pouted, her tone filled with resentment.

Minglan gave birth, and Yu Yanran was also pregnant, but she was still not pregnant.

Some time ago, Zhao Xing had been favoring Empress Dowager Xiao. Finally, Empress Dowager Xiao left the palace, and Zhao Xing had time to visit the harem. He first went to the palaces of concubines who had children or were pregnant.

Today I finally thought of her and summoned her to accompany me in the Imperial Garden. I didn’t expect that there was also a little Shen.

"How could I forget my beloved concubine?"

Zhao Xing pinched Rulan's face amusedly and said with a smile: "Today I will only accompany my two beloved concubines and will not go anywhere else."

Although Rulan was jealous and her tone was a little resentful, she was simple-minded and not sarcastic, so Zhao Xing naturally didn't mind.

"Your Majesty, I heard that there is going to be a war?"

As soon as Xiao Shen said this, she was worried that Zhao Xing would think too much, so she quickly said, "I am just worried about my brother, so I asked."

"It's still uncertain whether we can fight or not. Since your brother is a military general, he will definitely go to the battlefield." Zhao Xing said calmly.

"I understand, but I'm a little worried." Xiao Shen said a little disappointed.

"I heard that people often come to the palace to see you recently?" Zhao Xing asked.

A trace of panic flashed in Little Shen's eyes as she said, "That's my sister-in-law's younger sister. We have a good relationship. She came to Bianjing to play this time and will return to Yuzhou soon. That's why she often comes to the palace to chat with me."

"If you are bored, hang out with other concubines more often. After all, your sister-in-law's younger sister is not married yet, so it is not appropriate for her to enter the palace frequently." Zhao Xing said lightly.

Recently, Xiao Zou came to Bian Jing. She came to the palace to visit Xiao Shen every few days and stayed for half a day each time.

If someone said that it was because they had a good relationship, Zhao Xing simply didn't believe it.

Moreover, when Xiao Zou was in the palace, Xiao Shen once sent someone to invite him.

How could Zhao Xing not guess what the plan was?

But Zhao Xing had absolutely no interest in that kind of woman.

"The concubine knows."

Little Shen nodded quickly and did not dare to look at Zhao Xing.

Xiao Zou really wanted to enter the palace, and she said that not only could she talk to her, but she could also serve Zhao Xing together with her.

She was moved as soon as she heard it. After all, it was too boring in the palace without even anyone to talk to.

Moreover, she had been in the palace for some time and knew that Zhao Xing liked to summon a few concubines to sleep with him.

She always felt embarrassed to serve Zhao Xing together with others.

Unfortunately, Zhao Xing never went to see Xiao Zou despite her several visits to the palace. After he finally made up his mind to invite Zhao Xing to go over, he still hadn't gone.

After knocking for a while, Zhao Xing didn't say anything else. He asked people to prepare fishing gear and took the two women to go fishing.

After playing until the evening, he took the two girls directly to Rulan's yard.

.........

The next morning, Zhao Xing woke up. He didn't want to wake the two women, but they not only hugged him tightly, but also put their legs on his legs, so he had to wake them up.

Although the two women had a friendship last night as they carried muskets together, they still felt a little awkward after waking up.

Zhao Xing put on his clothes with the help of the two women and left, leaving the two women with embarrassed expressions.

"Sister Sheng, I'll go back first." said Xiao Shen.

"Your Majesty will have dinner here after training. Please wait until you have dinner before leaving." Rulan said.

She kept Xiao Shen because, on the one hand, she was worried that Zhao Xing would think too much, and on the other hand, she was looking for her comrades.

Minglan's child is still young and often makes noises at night, while Yu Yanran is pregnant, and Shulan also found out she is pregnant again a few days ago.

Zhao Xing liked her, but she couldn't handle it alone. She had served her together with Xiao Shen, so it was better than serving with other people.

Therefore, she wanted to have a good relationship with Xiao Shen so that she could be favored more often.

"Oh." Xiao Shen nodded awkwardly when she heard that.

When Zhao Xing came back from exercise, he saw Rulan and Xiao Shen talking and laughing, without any trace of the previous awkwardness.

Zhao Xing just lamented that women make friends quickly and didn't think much about it.

The two of them have a good relationship, so I can let go when serving him.

There are concubines in the harem, and different combinations of concubines also have different flavors.

After breakfast, Zhao Xing left with the two women seeing him off.

When they arrived at Longtu Pavilion, the eunuch reported that Yin Hanzhang wanted to see them and had been waiting for a long time.

Zhao Xing came to the desk and sat down, and asked someone to call Yin Hanzhang in.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!" Yin Hanzhang bowed.

"Tell me, what's the matter?" Zhao Xing waved his hand.

"Your Majesty, after the disarmament of the Imperial Guards, the number of people reported by some commanders did not match the actual number of people in the army." Yin Hanzhang said, pulling out a rope from his sleeve.

Sanshui stepped forward to take it and handed it to Zhao Xing.

"Humph, you'll never give up until you see the coffin!" Zhao Xing said coldly after reading it.

According to him, the gap between the actual number in the army and the registered number is about 20% to 30%.

The registered number of imperial guards, not counting those in the Palace Front Department, was 760,000.

But the actual number of people is only over 580,000.

The missing nearly 180,000 people means empty salaries.

Since ancient times, the situation of drawing empty salaries has been very common in the military, but it is not yet serious in the Song Dynasty.

For example, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, an army of 100,000 people might actually have only had 20,000 or 30,000 people, which is truly shocking.

For example, in the Song Dynasty army, a large number of older soldiers were actually just empty salaries.

There had been no war in the Song Dynasty for many years, so few people died in battle, but there were many deserters.

However, the generals did not report it, so the soldiers' salaries and food fell into their hands.

Some soldiers have fled for ten or twenty years, but they are still on the list and the court is still paying them.

Judging from the roster, these people belong to the old ones.

The old and young in the army are laid off according to their ages registered on the roster.

This military reduction will inevitably eliminate many vacant positions.

This alone is not a big deal. It's just a matter of eating less empty salary. Although it hurts, it's not fatal.

But there is a problem here. The court needs to resettle those old soldiers who were laid off.

These people had already deserted, and no one knew where they were. Some of them were even dead.

Without people, what can the court use to accommodate them?

(End of this chapter)