Borrow the day to change the day

There are more than 500 catties of Hongyi cannons ([-] pounds) in the artillery battalion, which are extremely heavy and slow down the marching speed of the army.I can't walk much in a day, and in the evening, I need to set up camp.

Zhong Jinwei followed Sun Chengzong to learn how to march and fight.Sun Chengzong also kept no secrets, devoted himself to cultivating Zhong Jinwei, and taught him as his own student.

In the evening, after Sun Chengzong finished handling the military affairs of the day, he talked about military affairs with Zhong Jinwei.I also ask Zhong Jinwei questions from time to time to see how he understands it.

After talking unconsciously for half an hour, they were ready to take a break.After all, you are still on the march, not going to visit mountains and rivers, you have to keep your spirits up.

But when Zhong Jinwei was about to get up from his seat, he remembered something again, and he asked: "Master Sun, I have another question." [

Sun Chengzong had already stood up, and after hearing what Zhong Jinwei said, he sat down again, and asked: "What's the problem, just say it."

"Master Sun, your military book says that chariots, infantry, and cavalry should be used together. We are fighting this time, and it seems that there is no chariot battalion mentioned in the book. If there is such a chariot battalion, how will this march change? ?” Zhong Jinwei asked.

He has always felt that what Sun Chengzong said in his book of war is suitable for the current military situation, and he may have to learn from him in the future.Therefore, he took this opportunity to learn more about it.

Sun Chengzong nodded and said: "The car battalion is composed of vans, quasi-front cars and baggage cars, which are not in the current army."

These armies were pieced together by generals from all over the country, and they did not bring chariot camps when they served as kings.

"If it is based on the army formation mentioned in the old man's book of war, then marching and camping will be different. By the way, this old man also has a volume of specific army formation and equipment, which has not been given to you yet."

When Sun Chengzong said this, he got up and transferred to the back account. After a while, he took a volume and handed it to Zhong Jinwei.

After Zhong Jinwei took it, he unfolded it and saw that it was the specific configuration description of the three battalions of chariots, infantry, and cavalry mentioned in Sun Chengzong's military book.

After a cursory glance, Zhong Jinwei was taken aback, how much would it cost to form such an army!

Usually, I always think that an army does not need many things, and it can be formed with a few words.Even reading time-travel novels in later generations, the protagonists in it can easily pull up the enemy army.

Now Zhong Jinwei understands that it is easy to say, but if it is really done, it is definitely not so easy to build an enemy army.

At the same time, it also allowed Zhong Jinwei to discover another reason for the death of the Ming Dynasty. Although he had thought about it before, it was not as profound as the impact on Zhong Jinwei at this time.

If it was simply the era of cold weapons, or had already transitioned to the era of hot weapons in later generations, the cost of equipping an army would be lower than it was at this time in the late Ming Dynasty.

Because at this time in the late Ming Dynasty, it happened to be a transitional period for cold and hot weapons. Firearms could not bear the burden of the battlefield alone, and there was a great opportunity to continue to use cold weapons.

Therefore, any army must be equipped with hot and cold weapons.In this way, not only will military expenditures increase sharply, but the quality of soldiers will also inevitably increase.Because it is impossible for an army to have a large number of different sergeants who use firearms and cold weapons at the same time, it is necessary to require a sergeant to be able to use firearms while not neglecting the training of cold weapons.

At this time, the Ming army lacked precisely these two things, namely military expenditure and the quality of soldiers.It is a pity that this transitional period happened just when Ming Dynasty was suffering from internal and external troubles. It did not survive this stage, complete the rebirth, and become a real oriental dragon.

Otherwise, with the richness of the Ming Dynasty and the abundance of manpower, there will be a modern firearms army, who else can fight against it!

The more Zhong Jinwei thought about it, the more he regretted it, it was so regrettable.

Seeing Zhong Jinwei staring at the thin pages, Sun Chengzong remained motionless for a long time, and his face was still changing, he couldn't help but feel a little strange, wondering what kind of tricks this Zhongxing Hou saw on the paper. [

He waited for a while, seeing that Zhong Jinwei was still in a daze, so he had to wake up Zhong Jinwei: "Marquis Zhongxing, do you have any questions?"

Sun Chengzong's voice has always been relatively loud, which has the advantage that Zhong Jinwei can be woken up only once, and there is no need to come again.

Zhong Jinwei was a little embarrassed, and was engrossed in his thoughts.He thought for a while and asked Sun Chengzong: "Master Sun, when you were in Liaodong, didn't you train this army?"

When Sun Chengzong heard this, he shook his head and sighed: "The military salary is not enough, where is the spare money for training! The army equipped with firearms is the most expensive. Every shot of a musket, every shot is money!"

When Sun Chengzong talked about this, he couldn't help sighing again and again.Zhong Jinwei also agrees that the cost of an army equipped with firearms is more than twice that of an army equipped with cold weapons.

Suddenly, Zhong Jinwei asked: "Master Sun, this war is all about money, that is to say, every time a war is fought, the imperial court spends money and food, and is it a loss-making business?"

Sun Chengzong nodded and said: "Since ancient times, every major war in China has been a battle that consumes national power. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty launched a war to expel the Huns, which exhausted the savings of previous dynasties and led to the decline of the Western Han Dynasty. This is an obvious example. But It’s okay not to fight, otherwise the northern line of the empire will be peaceful.”

Zhong Jinwei smiled, and asked another question that surprised Sun Chengzong: "Then if we fight wars in the future, what if we fight wars that don't lose money?"

"What, don't bully me, war is a business, and you can pay attention to not losing money?" Sun Chengzong retorted in disbelief when he heard Zhong Jinwei's strange theory.

"Really not?" Zhong Jinwei confirmed.

Sun Chengzong saw that Zhong Jinwei was serious, so he thought for a while, and then said: "If wars are counted as business, it really can't be said that they are all at a loss. For example, in this battle of Gyeonggi, Jianlu was repelled, and Gyeonggi Restoring peace in the land is worthwhile to the people and to the imperial court."

"Master Sun, you may not understand what I mean. Let's put it this way, if every time a war is fought, the money provided by the imperial court to the army can allow the imperial court to obtain more money than the money provided in advance after winning the war, Would it be better?" After Zhong Jinwei finished speaking, he looked at Sun Chengzong with great interest to see what he thought of this issue.

After hearing this, Sun Chengzong frowned and asked, "Are you talking about looting the enemy's country to get money? This is a barbarian act!"

When Zhong Jinwei heard this, even a leader like Sun Chengzong, who suffered from the military's money, was against it, let alone a civil servant who stood above the court.

He immediately changed the phrase and continued: "Master Sun said what he said, looting the enemy's country, and obtaining money nakedly, that is what Jianlu is doing. The more they fight, the richer they become, and the more they fight, the stronger they become. We should not learn from it. Yes. We should defeat them, convince them, and then return to the imperial court after writing a letter of surrender, and wait for them to pay a symbolic tribute in the future, and call the boss, it’s better, isn’t it?”

Sun Chengzong obviously heard that what Zhong Jinwei said was ironic, but what he said made sense. Over the years, Jianlu has really followed what Zhong Jinwei said, and the more he fought, the stronger he became.

Rationally speaking, he had to admit that this style of play was obviously beneficial, but emotionally speaking, years of Confucian influence made him think this was a barbarian move.

In fact, Sun Chengzong also knew that the army of the Central Plains Dynasty would often plunder in order to gain morale and win the war.However, such people are often excluded or impeached by the mainstream in the officialdom, and they will not end well in the end.

Seeing Sun Chengzong's silence, Zhong Jinwei knew that it was difficult for him to accept this formulation for a while, so he changed the way of saying: "Master Sun, the two of us don't say that kind of nonsense, we just discuss the facts, don't we?"

Sun Chengzong looked at Zhong Jinwei's sincere eyes and nodded. After getting along with Zhong Jinwei for so long, he already knew Zhong Jinwei's personality.

"If I fight a war, it will benefit everyone, at least those in power. For example, after winning the war, I will get a lot of money and distribute it to civil and military officials at all levels and the emperor. Will they be happy? If I give If they listen to the name of justice, will they support this kind of war?" Zhong Jinwei asked using the method of benefit analysis.

Sun Chengzong didn't shake his head, but just looked at Zhong Jinwei. [

"In this way, fighting a war is like doing business. The money you get after winning is much more than the cost of fighting a war. Fighting this kind of war is a virtuous circle. It will not lead to the decline of national strength because of fighting this kind of war. Or not to fight?" Zhong Jinwei stated his conclusion, and then looked forward to Sun Chengzong's reaction.