Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The chaos in Ningxia is a bit big.

Bigger than Ju Ming imagined!

The thieves in Xuanzhou were at least defeated in one battle, and they were basically wiped out after half a month of cleaning.

In some places, it is out of control.

Quyechuan (Kuye River), which was included in Linzhou, Shaanxi Province, and its tributaries Tumaochuan and Zhuolunchuan basins were all captured by Wang De last year. Because the strongholds were taken out too quickly, some fortresses simply surrendered. The tribes here suffered less casualties and were even led by Yao Pingzhong to attack Xiangyou Military Division.

Officials in Linzhou's military and political systems did not commit corruption and deprivation to death.

But after that large area was placed under the jurisdiction of Linzhou, Linzhou's middle and low-level officers, ordinary soldiers, and government officials deliberately made things difficult for the original Xixia people, especially the large herders and landowners.

Although relief food has been allocated from above, people below are stuck with it.

Tribal chiefs came to collect food and were teased and teased in various ways. In the end, they had to crawl under their crotches to give them bit by bit like squeezing toothpaste.

The hatred accumulated over generations is too great and cannot be resolved overnight.

The purpose of blocking the food of those tribes was not for embezzlement and deprivation, but simply to take the opportunity to vent their anger and take revenge.

In order to prevent rebellion, the imperial court did not move the civilian and military generals here for the time being, and Yao Pingzhong still stayed in Linzhou to guard one side. He and Linzhou Zhizhou Hu Xiang both heard about the following things, but they only scolded him casually.

If the management is too strict and everyone is not allowed to vent their anger, it will cause resentment among the officers and subordinates.

The top management is not strict, but the bottom level is getting stricter!

Coupled with earthquakes and droughts, all the tribes in the Sanchuan Basin rebelled.

Yao Pingzhong dispatched troops to suppress them, but those tribes fled without a fight, dragging their families across the border and killing them in Xihe Prefecture.

Played off.

The matter is serious.

The thieves have moved across provinces!

The prefect and commander of Xihe Prefecture laughed to death when they learned about the situation. They don't have to bear any culpability and can still take credit for sending troops to quell the chaos.

By the way, they also sent people to Linzhou to question Yao Pingzhong and warned Yao Pingzhong not to lead troops across the border.

Xihe Prefecture belongs to Ningxia, and Linzhou belongs to Shaanxi. Everyone has their own interests. Anyway, this is not a giant bandit. There is no need for cross-provincial joint operations. The soldiers of Xihe Prefecture can wipe out the rebels on their own.

When Yao Pingzhong received the official document from Xihe Mansion, he was so angry that he roared, but he had no choice but to station elite troops to guard the state border.

The garrison in Xihe Prefecture won the battle and captured a large number of rebels, old and weak people and livestock.

However, many of the main forces of the rebel army were still lost, and they rushed westward to the Hangjin Banner grassland in later generations. After a series of fusions, several tribes in the grassland rebelled, and soon more than 10,000 troops were raised.

This place is under the jurisdiction of Shuofang Mansion, but Shuofang garrison is a bit far away.

The garrison in Xihe Prefecture crossed the border to pursue the enemy and once again won a great victory.

The prefect and commander of Shuofang Prefecture were furious. They had already sent out troops, but the war ended halfway and no military merit was gained. These guys were so angry that they wrote letters to complain, saying that friendly troops crossed the border without warning.

In fact, it’s not finished.

A group of more than 2,000 remnant soldiers fled along the northern edge of the Mu Us Desert and plundered near Shengwei City in Dingyi Prefecture. They also coerced the grassland tribes there. The number of rebels once again increased to more than 5,000, and they frantically massacred and robbed farmers on the outskirts of Weicheng in the province.

In the end, the armies of Dingyi Prefecture, Shuofang Prefecture, and Xihe Prefecture joined forces to continuously compress the space for the rebels to move, and finally wiped them out in Dijinze in the desert.

The Linzhou garrison that created this mess was never allowed to send troops across provinces - not only did they not receive military honors, but they were also jointly sued by friendly forces from three prefectures. Yao Pingzhong was so angry that he retreated to the state city and became incompetent and furious.

Although the rebels were wiped out, they swept through three prefectures and one state, causing huge economic and population losses.

…

Imperial military and political meeting.

Only one cabinet minister came, namely Zhang Boring, who was in charge of military affairs.

All senior officials from the Privy Council and the Ministry of War were summoned to attend the meeting.

Shi Yuangong explained the specific situation expressionlessly: "The captured farmers and herdsmen in Linzhou all said that they were forced to rebel. A small general of a hundred people in Linzhou dared to whip at will when he led his troops out of the city to patrol. The tribal chiefs also forced those chiefs to kneel down and imitate the barking of dogs. When they went to receive relief food, they had to get under the crotch of the food escort officer..."

Li Bao laughed after hearing this: "Such humiliation, I would have rebelled against it."

Everyone in the meeting looked relaxed.

Because Yao Pingzhong had no backing in the court and the Yao family was based in Hehuang, the generals and soldiers were divided and reorganized during the process of de-warlordization.

Now, Yao Gu, who served in the Privy Council, has died of illness, and Yao Pingzhong has been transferred to three consecutive posts. He had been working with Zhang Guangdao for several years, and he should have belonged to Zhang Guangdao's group, but his arrogance often offended others, and he even had unpleasant troubles with Zhang Guangdao.

This time, the generals of the three northern Ningxia prefectures jointly sued Yao Pingzhong and put the blame entirely on his head. The fundamental reason is naturally that Yao Pingzhong has no backers and does not handle the relationship well with friendly forces.

Pharmacist Guo glanced at the emperor secretly and suddenly felt that something was wrong today.

He is used to observing people's emotions, which is a life-saving skill he has developed over a long period of time in desperate situations.

Pharmacist Guo bowed his head and remained silent throughout the whole process. Long before the conquest of Xixia, he was transferred back to serve in the Privy Council. He was a little transparent in the military with some real power.

Pharmacist Guo quite enjoys this kind of life.

As you get older, it's best not to bother. And I still have some power in my hands. How comfortable it is to spend my later years in Luoyang!

With an expressionless face, Zhu Ming said to Shi Yuangong: "Tell me about the permanent military supervisors in the former Song Dynasty."

Shi Yuangong picked up another document: "The military supervisors of the former Song Dynasty were often appointed during major wars. The military supervision in peacetime was capricious, with multiple orders and great chaos."

"At first, it was the road division officials and local governors who supervised and governed the troops and generals in various places. That is, civil officials controlled military generals. Due to too many drawbacks, Xifeng changed it to the military law during the reform. And set up military officials throughout the country, no longer allowing civil officials to control on a daily basis. At this time, the chief general was in charge of training and commanding, and the deputy general was in charge of dispatching and military law."

"Sima Guang overturned all the new laws, believing that the civil and military positions overlapped, and wanted to abolish the military law. Although the former Song court did not agree, it did not completely disagree. After that, some prefectures and counties were dominated by military generals, some prefectures and counties were dominated by civil officials, some prefectures and counties were dominated by civil officials, some prefectures and counties were dominated by both civil and military officials, and some prefectures and counties were dominated by neither civil and military officials."

"This is a compromise method made by muddying the waters, not only is it not as good as letting the military generals do it, but it is also not as good as letting the military generals do it. It is better to let the civil officials make the decision. There are too many orders, and the military law is in chaos. Civil officials can manage, and military generals can manage, but in fact, neither civil officials nor military officials can manage! In an army, most of the soldiers deserted, and no one could be found to take responsibility. Because anyone can manage, the civil officials pushed the responsibility to the military generals, and the military generals pushed the responsibility to the civil officials, and finally the court could only let it go. "

"In the late Song Dynasty, capable ministers and generals pointed out this malpractice, and the court of the Song Dynasty also ordered reforms. But the more they changed, the more chaotic it became!"

"First let the military generals make the decision, then let the civil officials make the decision, then let the military generals make the decision, and then let the civil officials make the decision... Over and over again, there is no consensus. It is nothing more than that if the civil officials are not good at managing, then they will be replaced by military generals. If the military generals are not good at managing, they will all be replaced by civil officials. Sometimes it is changed once every five or six years, and sometimes it is changed once every ten years. The military law is completely corrupted after changing it over and over again. "

Everyone regarded this as a joke, because the military law of the Song Dynasty was indeed too ridiculous.

There were also a few people who secretly looked at the emperor and really couldn't laugh.

Zhu Ming knocked on the conference table: "The soldiers stationed in Linzhou arbitrarily humiliated and bullied the people, but no one reported it. What is the military judge doing?"

Everyone put away their smiles, knowing that the emperor was not only very angry, but also wanted to take action against the military law system.

Zhu Ming said: "In the Han Dynasty, the army had military chiefs and military supervisors. Military chiefs were military judges directly under the court, and military supervisors were military judges in various troops. They formed a complete set of military supervision and military law systems. There is a record in the "Book of Han" that military chiefs are not under the jurisdiction of generals. If a general is guilty, he should report it. Those below 2,000 stones can be directly executed!"

As soon as these words came out, even Guo Yaoshi and Yelu Yudu, who had been slacking off the whole time, were so scared that they sat up straight.

In the Han Dynasty, military chiefs could actually directly prosecute military generals below 2,000 stones?

Zhang Guangdao said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, this is not allowed. If it is implemented, the army will be in chaos!"

"What Minister Zhang said makes sense." Everyone agreed hurriedly.

Zhu Ming smiled: "Although this law existed in the Han Dynasty, no military officer dared to do so. At that time, the two thousand stones were at the level of governors and state governors. Each of them had a family to support them. Which military officer dared to execute them at will? They just reported to the court."

The military officers could not laugh.

In the Han Dynasty, there was not much distinction between civil and military officials, and there were families as backers.

If civil officials were allowed to be military officers now, they would really dare to execute military generals directly.

Zhu Ming said: "I want to set up a military officer in the Supervisory Office and transfer some of the powers of the Ministry of War and the Privy Council to the military officer. Of course, it is not to take away the power of promotion, demotion, reward and punishment of soldiers, but only to deal with criminal acts in the army. The Supervisory Office will set up a military officer, and then set up military supervisors in each department."

To put it bluntly, it is to establish a complete set of vertically managed military court systems.

All criminal cases against soldiers should be handed over to military courts for trial. The military chief and military supervisor do not interfere in the daily affairs of the army, but only deal with the criminal acts of generals and soldiers.

The central military officers looked at each other, and no one dared to say a word.

Because the emperor did not raise this matter randomly, but for a reason.

Today's military law system has indeed had problems. Commanders and military judges have been together for a long time and have become colleagues. They see each other every day and turn a blind eye to many things.

A military court system must be established, and it cannot be affiliated with the Ministry of War and the Privy Council.

Before the expedition to Xixia, Zhu Ming was ready to set up a military supervisor.

Now that Ningxia has a lot of things going on, it is just the right time to implement the military supervisor system.

It absorbs the advantages of the military supervisor system of the Han and Tang dynasties, abandons the defects of the military supervisors of previous dynasties, and combines the modern military court system.

It is easy to deal with a few civil and military officials. For an emperor, it is more difficult to establish a long-term and feasible system and norms.