Northern Song Dynasty: Starting from the son of Song Renzong

Chapter 225 Military System
If you want to win a battle, you must first choose the right generals.

Moreover...if they still used the Song Dynasty's previous way of leading and coordinating troops, Zhao Xin thought that even if they had artillery, there would be no way to guarantee a 100% victory.

therefore……

After arriving in Jingzhou, Zhao Xin was not in a hurry to attack Xixia immediately.

Instead, you should first coordinate the battlefield terrain, generals, and even soldiers.

In this way, the war will be easier to fight in the future.

Liu Fan, the prefect of Jingzhou, was a name that no one had ever heard of before.

I don’t know what his abilities are.

This means that for now, not to mention Jingyuan Road, at least... he can be said to be the highest official in Jingzhou who is in charge of both civil and military affairs.

This is the quality of the current border military commanders of the Song Dynasty.

But think about it!

Although he has no military achievements and no special deeds, at least he can be a prefect.

This actually fully exposes the drawbacks of the Song Dynasty's practice of having civilian officials in charge of military affairs.

You say, what if someone from Xixia wants to attack us?

of course!

The Song Dynasty is definitely not stupid either.

Often, before the other party is about to take action, they will receive the news and may urgently recall Liu Fan.

Then maybe someone else, like Fan Zhongyan, could come.

But the problem is...

It seems that Fan Zhongyan had never fought much in the wars at that time.

How can I say this!

This would make Zhao Xin feel a little awkward.

What should we do if the person we send is a scholar who has no idea how to fight a war?
Xia Song is actually a good example.

The only thing Xia Song did was to provide generous compensation to the soldiers who died in battle and their families.

As for the others, I don’t know anything at all.

It can be said that he knows nothing about anything.

It was also thanks to Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi who were able to hold on.

Of course!
This is a war!

Just like fighting, you don’t actually need to be as skilled as Fan Zhongyan or Han Qi.

Anyway...

At that time, a general who is good at fighting should be sent over.

As for this general's relationship with his soldiers, and his relationship with Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi, it is hard to say.

But it stands to reason!
Usually before a battle, the generals would definitely give a speech to the soldiers so that the privates and some lieutenants would listen to them.

Zhao Xin could only say...

If Zhao Xin hadn't come to Jingzhou in person, he would have had no way of understanding the situation on the front line.

The biggest advantage of the Song Dynasty's system is that it is impossible for any general to rebel.

And the disadvantages are also very obvious.

That is, many things are temporary, and they look plug-and-play, which is indeed very convenient.

But the key is...

These generals were selected from thousands of miles away.

Although some generals may have served as officials here for a period of time, such as transport envoys, judges, etc.

however……

It was just a quick glance after all.

Since it is impossible to stay and guard the border for a long time, it is easy to lead to the situation like many local officials in later generations who are replaced every few years.

In pursuit of rapid promotion, he did things that were quick to achieve success and profit, and ended up causing chaos in the local area, forcing every household to wear mourning clothes.

This is especially true for military officers.

This is the only military system I can describe!

Zhao Xin hasn't even said that eunuchs and domestic servants will be sent to supervise the army.

In this case, how could there be no accidents in the Song Dynasty?

After inspecting the Zhenrong Army, he went to the front line to look at the terrain, then went to Yuanzhou to check out the forts along the way, and finally returned to Jingzhou.

Zhao Xin was also thinking about how to fight the next battle.
If you want to defeat your enemy, you must first make yourself invincible.

Zhao Xin felt that if he still followed the old ways of the Song Dynasty.

I always feel...

Once a fight really breaks out, someone will definitely do something bad to you.

"Your Highness Prince Yu, have some tea!"

When Zhao Xin saw the prefect of Jingzhou taking out the tea, he naturally said, "This tea from the border shouldn't be cheap, right?"

Liu Fan was directly shocked by Zhao Xin's words.

Because Zhao Xin was in charge of investigating corruption, he had heard something about it.

Then he said, "This is not good tea. I brought it from home myself."

Zhao Xin said, "Don't be so nervous. I just want to know the price of tea at the border."

Seeing that he didn't seem to be deceiving him, Liu Fan said, "The price of tea is naturally high when it is transported from the inland to the border. Even if it is the lowest quality tea from the inland, even if it is transported here, for example, to be sold in Zhenrong Army, it would cost at least 700 to 800 coins to buy a pound. And the better teas are all worth tens of thousands of coins. But many people can't afford such tea."

Zhao Xin knew that Liu Fan had probably only been the magistrate of Jingzhou for a few years, so he didn't ask him too many in-depth questions. He just asked about how the people in the area were living and what difficulties they were facing.

Liu Fan could only say that he didn't feel any difficulties faced by the people of Jingzhou. In fact, for the people in the border areas, safety is the most important thing.

So as long as there is no war on the border, they will be very lucky.

Zhao Xin also said: "Then did you know that earlier this year, in February or March, Xixia invaded our Song territory?"

Liu Fan asked, "Is there such a thing?"

Zhao Xin replied, "We didn't raise any troops, but it is true that Xixia invaded our Song Dynasty's farmland. They also forcibly drove away our local people, causing losses to the people. Although we have sent people to condemn them, it is useless. Since the place is far away in Linzhou, we have few people there, and we can only watch them occupy the farmland in vain."

Liu Fan also reacted at this time and asked Zhao Xin: "Your Highness Prince Yu, you brought so many people with you, are you really just here for inspection?"

Zhao Xin discovered, how could this person be so smart!

Then he asked, "What do you think?"

Liu Fan said, "If Your Highness needs me, I will do my best."

Zhao Xin said, "Just do what you are supposed to do as a prefect. Just take care of civil affairs, not military affairs."

At this time, all military and political affairs were taken over by Zhao Xun.

The imperial guards of the Song Dynasty were led by a commander of 400 cavalrymen and a commander of 500 infantrymen.

The four hundred or five hundred men were controlled by commanders appointed from the three yamen.

In Jingzhou, there were probably eighteen commanders of the cavalry and infantry.

Wonju, twenty-two.

The areas controlled by Jingyuan Road include not only Jingzhou and Yuanzhou, but also Weizhou, Yizhou, Deshun Army, Zhenrong Army and other areas.

The so-called Deshun Army and Zhenrong Army are not armies, but more like a provincial government, which also manages civil affairs.

Anyway...

All together, there are almost ninety commanders.

Above the commander-in-chief is the chief commander, who is specifically in charge of these commanders.

Next, when Zhao Xin fights, he will control these more than ten commanders and more than ninety commanders.

The people he wanted to replace were those more than ten commanders.

However, as Zhao Xun said, let’s focus on education first.

(End of this chapter)