Chapter 258 Military System
After receiving the imperial edict, Xiao Wei immediately presented generous gifts to the messenger who delivered the order, and then summoned his retainers and staff to discuss the matter.
Liu Jin, the chief secretary of Xiao Wei's Prince's Palace, was the son of Liu Qingyuan, who once served as the governor of Nanyongzhou (not the Yongzhou in Chang'an today, but the Xiangyang area) of the Southern Liang Dynasty.
Nanyongzhou was where Xiao Yan started his career. Liu Qingyuan was an old minister of Conglong and also from the Hedong Liu family. He was the chief strategist for Xiao Yan's hegemony.
The Liu family has been very prominent since then, and Liu Jin was succeeded as Marquis Yundu.
Liu Jin had a good relationship with Xiao Wei. When Xiao Wei came to Yizhou, he served as the chief historian of his Prince's Mansion and was actually responsible for the civil affairs of the entire Shu area.
In addition, Xiao Wei also had a general named Cao Yizon. The Cao family was also a powerful local family in Xiangyang. They followed Xiao Yan in the uprising and were also regarded as a noble family by Xiao Yan.
Many members of the Cao family served in officialdom. Cao Yizong's elder brother, Cao Jingzong, once followed Wei Rui in defeating the Wei army in the Battle of Zhongli and was promoted to the title of Duke of Jingling.
Cao Yizong took his brother as an example, so he took the initiative to follow Xiao Wei to Shu, wanting to achieve success and make a difference.
Judging from this configuration, those guarding the local area are the emperor's disciples, and the generals are all descendants of Long's meritorious officials. They also know the attitude of Southern Liang towards Shu, which is distrust of the powerful families in Shu itself.
The fact that Xiao Yan sent two meritorious officials to "assist" his younger brother also shows the methods of Emperor Wu of Liang.
Although he did not kill members of the royal family, at this time, his control over them was still very strict.
The first person to speak was Cao Yizong, the Sima of the Prince's Mansion. He said:
"We have 100,000 elite soldiers in Shu! Liangzhou just went through a civil war last year, and I heard that Su Ze was cruel and harmed the people, competing with local tyrants for profit, and eliminating the long-standing tyrants like the Yang family in Hanzhong, causing dissatisfaction among the tyrants in Liangzhou."
"As long as my army enters Liangzhou, the local nobles will surely welcome my army with joy!"
The noble families in Guanxi had unclear ties with the Southern Liang.
When they were in Luoyang, the Guanxi gentry took refuge under the name of Xiao Baoyin and sold southern goods in Luoyang.
A large part of these southern goods were transported from Shuzhong to Hanzhong, and then sent to Luoyang.
Therefore, Yizhou was able to quickly learn about the developments in Liangzhou of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
After Cao Yizong finished speaking, all the generals present were ready to go. Xiao Wei was also very proud and wanted to swear to lead the troops immediately.
However, seeing that Liu Jin, the chief secretary of the Prince's Mansion, kept giving him a hard time, Xiao Wei ordered the Prince's Mansion to prepare supplies and asked Cao Yizong to go down and prepare for war, and then he invited Liu Jin to the secret room.
Liu Jin came up and said:
"Prince, I don't have 100,000 elite soldiers in Shu, so we should not rush to attack Liangzhou."
Xiao Wei said doubtfully:
"I checked the military register when I first entered Shu, and there were a total of 100,000 soldiers and horses in the prefectures and counties. Could it be that these are all fake?"
Liu Jin was in charge of the civil affairs of Yizhou, so he knew some of the facts. He sighed and said:
"It is true that there are 100,000 registered soldiers, but it is hard to say whether these 100,000 soldiers are actually soldiers."
"Why?"
Yanagijin said:
"After Your Majesty ascended the throne, the tax system of this dynasty abolished the previous Qi Dynasty's human wealth tax (property tax levied according to the proportion of property) and replaced it with a tax based on the number of people and fields (a head tax levied on the number of people)."
Xiao Wei nodded and said:
"This is your majesty's benevolent rule, praised by the people. What does this have to do with 100,000 elite soldiers?"
Yanagijin said:
"Taxing people by head is indeed a benevolent policy of Your Majesty to help the people, but it will also reduce the taxation of the court. For example, during the Battle of Zhongli, in order to raise military funds, Your Majesty ordered 'the kings and dukes and below to pay rent and grain to help with military funds', and only then was enough money and food raised."
Xiao Wei still didn't understand and asked:
"Why is this happening?"
Liu Jin said helplessly:
"Taking taxes from people is disadvantageous to the noble families. The court expenses are still the same if the taxes are calculated based on the number of people and fields. The noble families paid less, so who does the prince think paid more?"
Now Xiao Wei seemed to understand something.
Yanaizu continued:
"But the common people also have their own ways. One way is to become a retainer of a noble minister and evade taxes."
Liu Jin glanced at Xiao Wei, and Xiao Wei immediately understood that there were a large number of such people in his Prince's Mansion.
"One is to take refuge under the name of a temple or Taoist temple. Your Majesty respects Buddhism and Taoism, and allows the property of monks and Taoists to be tax-exempt."
"The last option is to seek shelter in the military."
Now Xiao Wei completely understood that, in fact, he did not have a hundred thousand troops under his command, but only a hundred thousand ordinary people who evaded taxes.
Xiao Wei said with great sorrow:
"How many soldiers can we have?"
Liu Jin thought for a while, and finally said:
"I'm afraid it would be good to have at least 10% of the troops ready to fight."
Xiao Wei sat down on the soft couch.
Even if Xiao Wei didn't understand military affairs, he knew that it was impossible to launch a northern expedition with only 10,000 people.
He looked at Liu Jin and asked:
"How can we march north like this?"
Yanagijin said:
"We still need to recruit soldiers."
When it comes to recruiting soldiers, Xiao Wei looks embarrassed.
Recruiting soldiers was not new to the Southern Dynasties. This system almost originated in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
The recruitment of soldiers was also very developed in Southern Liang. Xiao Yan asked Xiao Wei to send troops to Liangzhou. Since Xiao Wei was given the task, it was not a taboo for Xiao Wei to recruit soldiers in Yizhou.
But there was another problem facing Xiao Wei - no money.
Just as Liu Jin said, the people of Yizhou, like the people in other states and counties, either took refuge with the wealthy, or with temples, or with the army, and evaded taxes in various ways.
After Yizhou's money and grain were turned over, they were enough to maintain Yizhou's expenses. If he wanted to recruit soldiers, he would need money and grain, and Xiao Wei simply couldn't afford it.
Yanagijin said:
"Prince, when you came to Yizhou, didn't His Majesty give you money? You can issue female money to recruit soldiers."
The "Wu Zhu" minted by Emperor Wu of Liang in the Southern Dynasties refers specifically to the Xiaoliang Wu Zhu coins after the outer wheel and inner rim are cut off. Because of its thinness and weakness, it is called female money.
Simply put, it is a kind of inferior currency issued by Xiao Yan that is not of sufficient quality and weight.
However, Xiao Yan at this time was only using copper coins of insufficient purity to make up the numbers, or adding tin to the copper coins to reduce costs. He was not yet "genius" enough to issue iron coins.
In short, this kind of women's money, just like the Buddhist money issued by the Northern Wei Dynasty before, is an act of the government collecting seigniorage by over-issuing currency into the market through coinage.
The issuance of female coins, including the subsequent issuance of iron coins, were all attempts by Xiao Yan to use coinage as a financial means to solve the economic problem of insufficient court spending.
Xiao Wei thought about it and knew that even a good cook cannot make a meal without rice, so he could only nod and say:
"Just do it!"
-
Similar to the problem Xiao Wei encountered, Su Ze also encountered a similar problem: his military government had no money.
When Wei Xiaokuan helped Su Cho to handle the account books, he realized how amazing Su Cho's financial management ability was. It was actually a miracle that he had been able to survive until today with such exaggerated expenses of the military government and not be on the verge of bankruptcy!
If it had been handed over to any financial minister, Su Ze’s military government would have gone bankrupt long ago.
March and April are the weakest times for agricultural society.
The crops for spring ploughing had just been planted, and the crops for winter storage had almost been consumed. At this time, the court would call on the people to dig wild grass and eat wild vegetables, and the emperor, empress, and queen mother in the palace would take the lead in eating wild vegetables.
Su Chao spread out the account book and said:
"General, the military's finances are no longer sustainable!"
Su Ze held his daughter in his arms, looking away. In fact, Madam An also told him about the financial problems of the military government, but Su Ze still decided to deploy troops on three fronts.
Su Cho came to cause trouble only after the military meeting, and he was already a qualified butler.
"Ling Chuo, think of another way, can you squeeze out some money?"
Su Chao shook his head and said:
"Not a cent left! General, how about we stop the water conservancy project in Dunhuang?"
Su Ze quickly shook his head and said:
"Su Miao (the water conservancy master from the Western Regions who wasted people's money and resources) just reported to me that the newly dug karez this summer can store water, and by then we can open up 10,000 acres of fertile land. Let's hold on a little longer."
"Then stop the plank road on Chencang Road."
Su Ze shook his head again and said:
"If the situation in Guanzhong changes, and if the Chencang Road is still not repaired and Chang'an cannot be supported, then I will be a sinner of the Wei Dynasty."
Su Chao said again:
"The money and food for the resettlement of the soldiers cannot be touched. The rent for Shandan Ranch is still owed. If Madam An hadn't stepped in, Liu Mujian would have rushed to the military mansion to demand the money!"
Su Chao said to Su Ze seriously:
"The military government is short of money. Please do not increase the expenditure any further."
After listening to Su Chao's nagging, Su Ze asked in surprise:
"Ling Chuo, do you mean we can still maintain this now?"
Su Chao nodded and said:
"Mrs. An's caravan raised some money and grain by selling cotton cloth. In addition, I levied market taxes in Dunhuang, which also increased our income."
"There are also donations from some wealthy families in Hezhou and Liangzhou. This is the list of donations."
Su Ze was overjoyed and said:
"With Ling Chuo here, our army can have no worries on the battlefield. You are truly my Xiao He!"
Su Chuo still had no temper when facing this senior brother. He warned Su Ze:
"General, please don't say these taboo words. We can't fight any more big wars before the summer grain is stored in the warehouse!"
Su Ze agreed with a smile. The situation on the battlefield was ever-changing. Whether to fight or not depended on the timing. If a war really broke out, they could only find ways to make Su Chao suffer again.
Solved the urgent problem.
Hou Jing, who had been listening, suddenly asked:
"General, Hezhou, Liangzhou, Liangzhou, and Longxi are three states and one county, which are not small. Why can they only support so few soldiers? How did the Qin and Han dynasties support their troops?"
Su Ze glanced at Hou Jing. The fact that Hou Jing was able to think about this problem showed that he was indeed using his brain to train his troops and fight wars.
He looked around and pointed to Wei Xiaokuan beside him and said:
"Xiao Kuan, explain to Admiral Hou the similarities and differences between the Qin and Han military systems and the current military system."
Hou Jing was somewhat disdainful of the little clerk beside Su Ze.
Wei Xiaokuan was not at all nervous. He stepped out with his arms folded and said:
"Most soldiers in the pre-Qin period were conscripts, that is, soldiers conscripted by the state. When not at war, they were farmers. Therefore, there were many troops at that time, and there were often battles involving hundreds of thousands of troops."
"But there are also disadvantages to using troops this way, because keeping soldiers away from home will affect farming, so no matter which side wins or loses, the war will cause huge losses to both sides, and it will take a long time to recuperate after the war. Moreover, the quality of the recruits is uneven, which is actually a waste of manpower and material resources."
"Starting from the Wei Wuzu in the Warring States Period, some powerful countries changed from conscription to recruitment, recruiting elite soldiers as professional soldiers."
"The imperial guards and prefecture troops of the Han Dynasty were a mixture of conscription and recruitment."
"So the Han used elite troops, and the generals of Emperor Wu of Han led tens of thousands of people to conquer the Xiongnu."
"At the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, the north and south were divided again."
"The Cao Wei in the north used a hereditary military system, where fathers, sons and brothers were enlisted as soldiers and served in the army for generations."
When Hou Jing heard this, he smiled and said:
"This is a good method, General. Why don't you follow Cao Wei's example?"
Wei Xiaokuan shook his head and said:
"When Cao Cao first started farming in the north, the hereditary soldier system was really good. These hereditary soldiers farmed in the places where they were stationed, and fighting did not consume the country's wealth. For example, Deng Ai farmed in the north, and Zhuge Jin farmed in the south, both solving the problem of soldiers and food at the same time."
"But being a soldier for generations is equivalent to being a slave for generations. Officers treat soldiers as slaves and seize military farms as private property. Soldiers have to serve as soldiers for generations, so naturally no decent woman will marry the son of a military household."
"When Cao Cao was alive, he often gave looted women as gifts to his soldiers for marriage, but when Emperor Wen of Wei came to power, he abolished these practices."
"Such worldly soldiers will quickly lose their combat effectiveness."
Su Ze nodded. The Cao Wei regime was considered to be righteous in the eyes of the clan members, selfish in the eyes of the gentry, hypocritical in the eyes of the Han officials, and miserable in the eyes of the military households.
In the hands of Cao Cao, a military and political genius, this deformed system could still be managed.
When it comes to his sons and grandsons, if they are even slightly lacking in talent, the country will be in chaos.
Wei Xiaokuan added:
"When it came to the Jin Dynasty, the original Jin Dynasty also used a system of hereditary soldiers and conscription, but after the Eastern Jin Dynasty moved south, it began to recruit soldiers again."
"For example, the famous Beifu soldiers were refugee soldiers recruited from the northern refugees during the Eastern Jin Dynasty."
Hou Jing muttered at this time:
"If you ask me, recruiting soldiers is not a good idea. What good are soldiers recruited with money and food?"
Wei Xiaokuan said:
"The Northern Army is very strong in combat. Huan Wen used the soldiers he recruited in Jiangling during his Northern Expedition. Not all recruited soldiers are bad."
"The Southern Dynasty has been recruiting soldiers until now. They recruit soldiers every time they go into battle, and the prefectures and counties also maintain a large number of recruited soldiers."
Su Ze interrupted and said:
"In fact, the problem with recruiting soldiers is not the quality of the soldiers. You can also recruit brave warriors by rewarding them with money."
"The biggest drawback is that if you recruit soldiers with money, the soldiers will only care about money. The recruited soldiers will only know the officers, but not the court."
"In order to prevent local princes from becoming powerful through recruiting soldiers, Liu Song sent small officials such as Dianqian to control the local armies."
"But the Dianqian often instigated the relationship between the princes and the court for his own military merits. The princes of Liu Song and Xiao Qi always rebelled and attacked each other, and the royal family fought and blood flowed like a river. This was also the reason."
Recruiting soldiers can easily lead to the formation of feudal lords, which is why the princes of Liu Song and Xiao Qi always behaved like unhuman beings.
In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, after the recruitment system replaced the military service system, it gradually began to become "Southernized". One of the complications was the separatist rule of military governors.
Wei Xiaokuan said:
"Emperor Xiaowen established the Imperial Guards, which were similar to the hereditary soldiers plus the recruited soldiers. As a result, there were no more cases of separatist rebellions by the vassal kings in our dynasty."
"But the Imperial Guards have also experienced the decline of worldly soldiers."
"The lord's Fubing system is the best military system in my opinion, except..."
(End of this chapter)