In Tianzhang Pavilion, Du Zhongxiao held the scepter and saluted. Zhao Zhen nodded and ordered him to give him a seat.

After serving tea, Zhao Zhen looked at Du Zhongxiao and said, "It's been a few days since I arrived in Privy Council. What do you think of the deputy envoy?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "Go back to Your Majesty, the affairs are getting familiar these days, and everything is fine."

Zhao Zhen nodded, remained silent for a while, and said, "When the Imperial Army was reorganized, the Deputy Envoy once said that the Privy Council and the Third Office were reorganized. Several years later, the Deputy Envoy also went to the Privy Council for a few days. Do you think it would be better to change it?"

Du Zhongxiao thought for a while and nodded, "I think it's still necessary to change it. If the Privy Council and the Third Yamen do not change it, it will be difficult for the imperial guards to train. And like the imperial guards in the past, it is okay to have a small battle, but it is really difficult to deal with the major battle."

Zhao Zhen looked at Du Zhongxiao and said in a deep voice: "I would like to hear it in detail. The deputy envoy can give a detailed explanation. What is the difficulty?"

Du Zhongxiao held the scepter: "Your Majesty, since ancient times, the army has fought, but in fact the number of war soldiers is not large. It was the peak of the Qin and Han dynasties, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers swelling the country. Since then, there have been only a handful of people who use more than 100,000 soldiers in a battle in previous dynasties. Once more than 100,000 soldiers are used, they are either divided, otherwise there may be accidents. Especially for the Northern Barbarians, the Han Dynasty destroyed the Xiongnu, and the Tang Dynasty defeated the Turks, they mostly accumulated small victories to great victories, and there were few large battles of hundreds of thousands of troops. Manpower is sometimes poor. If there is no strong system and only rely on the commander, how can we command hundreds of thousands of troops?"

Zhao Zhen said in a deep voice: "During the Han and Tang Dynasties, there were many wars between hundreds of thousands of people."

Du Zhongxiao said: "Most of them are extraordinary times, with the number of generals leading together, while one general is less in powering hundreds of thousands of troops. The number of generals leading together, the number of generals needs to be equivalent, without any shortcomings, and will not be dragged down. Only when wars are frequent will this situation occur-"

Zhao Zhen nodded silently. The ancient wars were actually not large in scale. Except for the Warring States Period and the Qin and Han dynasties, hundreds of thousands of troops fought each other, and most of the time tens of thousands of people were already a war. The Warring States Period and the Qin and Han dynasties were periods of frequent wars, and the system was harsh and could not be compared with other periods.

Before the Tang Dynasty, there was mostly military-political integration, and the distinction between military and political was not obvious. As the commander, he had a lot of helpers. After the late Tang and Five Dynasties, it was different. Military and political were separated, with the heart-wrenching troops as the core and other troops fighting. By the Song Dynasty, the total number of imperial guards during the founding of the country was only 100,000 or 200,000, and there was no need for hundreds of thousands to fight.

Du Zhongxiao said: "If the Khitan is forced to take millions of armor, it is not comparable to ordinary opponents. To defeat the Khitan, without hundreds of thousands of troops, it is impossible to fight a rare battle to destroy the country. The former imperial guards, who commanded five hundred people, could still command thousands of commands, but tens of thousands of people could not command them. Hundreds of thousands of people, and before they could get involved, they would be in chaos."

This is the real stubborn disease of the imperial guards since Emperor Taizong. If the military system is not changed at all, the imperial guards cannot be changed. The imperial guards take command as a unit. The commander holds absolute power, and the organization above is unrestricted. The generals who command combat can mobilize commands, and there is a blank above and cannot control the lower ones. The number of people who can directly manage a person is limited. The commander can still manage a five thousand army, but the commander can actually be unable to do so. Fan Zhongyan's military strategy in Shaanxi is to add another level to the command, called a general, and the number of people who can directly command has increased significantly.

Zhao Zhen nodded: "It is really difficult to command the commander directly. It is difficult to send additional commanders to the main generals during wartime, and it is difficult to do everything well."

Du Zhongxiao held the scepter: "But if a general is allowed to manage a large army, everything depends on one person, and the power is too great. Tens of thousands of people can conquer the country, and those who are in charge of others have to guard against it. The Hequlu military system means that the army is organized larger, and the commander has no power, which is a compromise. The army has added generals, and each performs its duties and does not restrain each other. In wartime, the commander only needs to manage the generals and do not meet the common affairs to avoid being distracted. The generals under his subordinates have been leading the army for many years, which is a prudent in the wartime and do not follow the military orders, so they use deputy commanders to supervise the army. In this way, the army cannot endanger the country and have combat power."

These days, Du Zhongxiao and the military academy students taught ministers purposefully. The rest were selected by Zhao Zhen, and only Zhao Zhen has been involved. After learning, Zhao Zhen no longer knows nothing about military affairs, and has a general understanding. Zhao Zhen slowly understands the characteristics and purpose of the Hequ Road military system. Zhao Zhen knows not much about war, but is familiar with politics. The new military system actually replaces the emperor's control over the army with a political issue. After understanding it, Zhao Zhen can control it.

With the end of the Dangxiang war, the army had to be reorganized, which has become a consensus among the government and the opposition. The most important thing to win this battle was that Du Zhongxiao had surrounded Dangxiang on all sides and divided it into several war zones before the war. These war zones could not support each other, and Dangxiang completely lost its strategic depth and room for maneuvering, and could only be captured by the Song army one city.

If there is no Hequ Road and no Western Regions, it will not be so easy for Di Qing's 300,000 army to destroy Dangxiang. If the front line is lengthened, Dangxiang can harass the rear route and launch an active attack on the Song army in other directions, rather than being threatened by the Song army in every direction. If the Song army divides its troops and finally attacks Hengshan is a role model, it is very likely that Di Qing will not be able to control it.

All the officials in the court could see clearly, but Zhao Zhen was also clear? The 300,000 army of Di Qing's troops was originally Zhao Zhen who wanted the original imperial guards in the capital to receive guns and cannons, and finally trained. He originally planned that if this battle was good, the Song army would be like this. The final result proved that this would not solve the problem. Such a Song army was still very dangerous to fight against the Khitan.

After thinking about it, Zhao Zhen said: "How to change the Privy Council and the Third Office? Can you tell me in detail?"

Du Zhongxiao sorted out his thoughts and said, "Military power can be divided into military and political orders. I think that the Privy Council and the commander-in-chief in foreign countries are in charge of military orders, and the three yamen are in charge of military affairs. For example, summoning troops to train, plagiarism assessment, and all the common affairs are all under the Three yamen. The Privy Council is in charge of the organization of the army, the candidates for the commander-in-chief, and where to station. When not fighting, the military power will naturally belong to the three yamen. Once the war is fought, the military power will enter the Privy Council and the commander-in-chief."

Zhao Zhen said: "If this is the case, the three yamen are far behind now."

Du Zhongxiao said: "The current three yamen are only in charge of the papers, of course, far behind. A large number of generals and officials must be added, and the power of money and grain must be given. In fact, not only the three yamen, but also the current Privy Council, are far behind."

Zhao Zhen thought for a while and said, "If all the imperial guards were trained in this way, I don't know how much the generals will increase! How can the money and food support too many generals!"

Du Zhongxiao said: "This matter has been calculated. After the training, the most important thing in the army is the generals and effectiveness. The old soldiers are irrelevant. If the old soldiers in the army are replaced by the good family recruited, part of the military pay is replaced by local governments with free labor service, and some money and grain will be paid less than before. Moreover, after the training of the entire army, there will be no need for so many imperial guards in the world, and 500,000 is enough. In total, the money and grain can still be supported."

Zhao Zhen thought carefully and weighed the pros and cons, but he didn't say anything for a moment. Now the world's imperial guards have more than 800,000, and if 200,000 are laid off, they can indeed spend a lot of money. Now, there are a lot of military merits but no official positions in the front line army, and it is almost the same after training. However, the generals in the army need to increase a lot. Is it worth adding so many generals worth it, and it needs to be carefully weighed.

After thinking about it, Zhao Zhen said, "Dangxiang has been destroyed. I want to take two or three years to train the imperial guards again. Then I will take Yanyun north to fulfill the ambitions of my ancestors. The deputy envoy thinks how confident is he to take Yanyun in two or three years?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "If the entire army is trained into several large military groups and there are 500,000 troops to fight, why worry about a Khitan!"
Chapter completed!