Northern Song Dynasty: Starting from the son of Song Renzong

Chapter 159 Use Your Name, Not Mine
The Censorate and the civil officials hoped to reduce the military, while the military leaders in the northwest believed that everyone was now skilled in using swords and bows.

If they were released, they might cause chaos in the local area.

To put it bluntly, if they really cut their military forces, they would not be able to continue to exploit the soldiers' blood.

However, the military leaders of the Song Dynasty were still no match for the civil officials in terms of discourse power.

This is not!

With the agreement of all the censors and civil officials in the court, the military leaders had no choice but to accept the disarmament.

The first to be laid off were 40,000 people from the Northwest who were directly sent to fight in the war without much selection.

Some people may be fifty years old, and it is obviously unreasonable to ask them to guard the border.

As soon as the news of disarmament came out, the soldiers in the northwest army cheered.

After all, there are only a very small number of people who really like fighting.

Immediately afterwards...

In addition to the northwest, a reduction of 40,000 troops is also planned in Hebei.

The process of disarmament is naturally full of controversy.

Some people may worry that if they lay off people like this, what if the enemy country attacks again?
Also, if these people lose their military pay to survive, will they take risks if they lose their livelihoods in the future?
Wen Yanbo was indeed a responsible man. He said that if that were the case, he would personally lead the troops to quell the rebellion.

He takes all the responsibility!
This is much better than those empty talk.

Even Fan Zhongyan wouldn't dare to say that he takes all the responsibility, right?
of course!

Whether Wen Yanbo is qualified to bear this responsibility is another matter.

At least from the current situation, Zhao Xin still has a good impression of Wen Yanbo.

It would be better if he could consider the overall situation and be smarter when doing things.

Feel……

The other party is a bit decisive.

In order to cooperate with the disarmament, Zhao Xin had to transfer his Li Yuan Army back first.

After Ouyang Xiu and others came back, they naturally brought the news to Zhao Xin.

It is said that in a certain state or county, some officials oppressed the people and colluded with businessmen...

Zhao Xin then said to the other party: "Just submit an impeachment petition."

Ouyang Xiu: "Yes!"

His Royal Highness Prince of Yu's words made Ouyang Xiu feel that, sometimes, His Royal Highness Prince of Yu was not so unkind as to not let them speak.

Then Zhao Xin said, "Use your name, not mine."

Ouyang Xiu: “…”

But it was clearly you who asked us to do this.

Ouyang Xiu could only say that he was puzzled.

Du Yan later told him, "With his current status, why does His Royal Highness Prince Yu need any merit? It's just a chance for you and me to accumulate merit. Moreover...if His Royal Highness Prince Yu personally steps forward, he will be easily attacked by those impeached officials. You and I work under His Royal Highness Prince Yu, so shouldn't we share some of the burden for His Royal Highness Prince Yu?"

Ouyang Xiu: "Then how should I write this memorial?"

Du Yan: "Just write what you heard, don't mention His Royal Highness Prince Yu at all. This is the only way you can better protect His Royal Highness Prince Yu."

Ouyang Xiu immediately understood!
As subjects, even if they aroused the resentment of others, at most they would be demoted. When His Royal Highness Prince Yu needed them, they would find a reason and come back.

But if His Royal Highness Prince Yu caused resentment from others, it would shake the foundation of the country.

After they came back, they must have heard what the official said at the first moment.

Everyone, look at me, and I'll look at you.

Has it come to this?
But let me be frank!

In the future, the position of the emperor will belong to His Royal Highness the Prince of Yu. Isn't that an obvious thing? It can't be that His Royal Highness the Prince of Yu's biological sister, Princess Fukang, will inherit the position of the emperor, right?

Many people congratulated Ouyang Xiu and others.

This made Ouyang Xiu and the others somewhat uncomfortable to adapt to.

Why do you make it sound like they have climbed onto a high branch?

But they clearly got to the top based on their own strength!

of course!

When we learned that His Royal Highness Prince Yu was going to send another 5,000 troops, it seemed a bit excessive.

However, the mental state of this Li Yuan army is indeed quite good. It feels that it is not inferior to most of the imperial guards of the Song Dynasty in terms of spirit and energy. In fact, during training, it feels that it is much stronger than most imperial guards.

If you are called, you must fight. If you fight, you must win. If you win, you must be humble.

Catchy slogans like these can be said to permeate the entire army.

If they were not asked, they probably wouldn't know that all of this was instilled in them by His Royal Highness the Prince of Yu.

Although this army has not really fought a war yet...

Therefore, it is impossible to show how strong they are. Are they just for show or have real strength?

It is possible to train the soldiers to move in such a unified manner.

This is already quite good.

Even Ouyang Xiu felt it was a bit of a pity.

Why do they want to negotiate peace with Western Xia and Liao? If they haven't negotiated peace yet, maybe we can see how this army will perform on the battlefield.

Of course he didn't say he liked fighting.

He was just full of expectations for this army.

Ouyang Xiu and others were not qualified to see the Li Yuan army before, and Zhao Xin would not take them with him.

Now that I see it, I can’t help but be a little surprised.

The key is……

This was not something that was completely handed over to Zhao Xun and the others for training. It can be seen that His Royal Highness the Prince of Yu also spent a lot of effort in this.

This was something that was quite surprising to them.

after all……

Originally, in their opinion, His Royal Highness Prince Yu knew nothing about training troops, he just had people help him train.

However, in reality, all the members of the Li Yuan Army had seen His Royal Highness Prince Yu, or even had close contact with him. They were "very familiar" with him and sometimes even sat together when they had meals in the military camp.

It's not that the army only knows Zhao Xun and not Zhao Xin.

natural!

Ouyang Xiu also heard the news that Wen Yanbo, Pang Ji and others had returned to the court.

The imperial court wanted to further reduce the military.

No wonder Li Yuan’s army had to be called back.

October.

After the efforts of Pang Ji and Wen Yanbo, the list of people to be laid off has basically been finalized.

Although the generals in the Northwest and Hebei both strongly advocated that disarmament was not a good idea.

however……

In the Song Dynasty, the military generals had very little say.

As long as the civil officials agree, it will be useless even if the military officials disagree.

and……

Are these military officers really acting out of public interest?

Zhao Xin might not think so.

You say that people like Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi were not greedy, and they even tried every means to get money for the soldiers in the army. That is possible.

But how many Fan Zhongyans and Han Qis can there be?

Many military officers make a living by drinking the blood of their soldiers.

So their so-called dependence on officials for food and clothing and unwillingness to work as farmers are just to make money for themselves.

Judging from the feedback from the soldiers later in the army, there are really few people who are willing to serve in the army forever.

Pang Ji then said that those who were laid off were cheering and returning home, while those who were not laid off were crying and wished they could leave.

of course!

Zhao Xin had reason to suspect that Pang Ji used exaggerated rhetoric.

However, with the return of 40,000 people from the Northwest, the people's strength in Shaanxi has recovered a little.

(End of this chapter)