Lu Wenhuan stared at the first draft of the Art of Recruitment in his hand with wide eyes, feeling extremely shocked in his heart.

Xiao Cheng summoned him to discuss the reform of the military system with him. He originally had many ideas and was ready to have a lively discussion with the chief minister, but now, he couldn't say anything.

Although the chief assistant has never directly led troops, his military attainments are absolutely unparalleled.

Perhaps regarding the tactics and on-the-spot changes in a certain battle, the chief assistant had a superior vision and a low hand, but when it came to the planning and operation of the grand strategy, Lu Wenhuan admired Xiao Cheng greatly.

Whether it was the initial conquest of Dali or the just-concluded battles in Xuzhou, Nanyang and other places, it all demonstrated Xiao Cheng's control over the overall direction of the war.

How to fight is a matter for the generals!

Where to fight is a matter for the imperial court and the temple.

To be honest, Lu Wenhuan particularly likes this kind of structure and distribution of rights and responsibilities.

The Song Dynasty was weak militarily in the past, and this was basically the problem.

A group of people in the court had read several military books, and each of them thought that Sun Wu was the reincarnation. When talking about battle formations and tactics, they were eloquent and eloquent. However, they did not know that it would be better to believe in all the books than to have no books at all. These plans were planned without flaws in their minds.

The so-called tactics are really full of loopholes on the battlefield.

Of course, such things were not only done by scholars and civil servants. A certain official in the Song Dynasty once sent formation plans to the frontline soldiers thousands of miles away, asking the generals to fight according to them.

What do you think the generals who led the army should do?

It's a dead end to resort to rigid tactics.

Ignoring the official formation plan is also a recipe for death.

Both the left and the right are dead, so why not follow the official’s orders and do it, what if God bless us and win?

Even if they lose, the officials will be too embarrassed to confiscate their own homes and destroy their own clans!

More than ten years ago, Hebei's frontier army was strong because of the emergence of the King of Jing, Zhao Zhe.

Zhao Zhe himself was well versed in military affairs. He had been immersed in military camps for many years and was familiar with the dangers of war. This gave the frontline generals great self-confidence. This led to the creation of the Guangrui Army, Guangxin Army, Xin'an Army, and Ansu Army.

The army was a powerful force that made the Liao people fearful.

But later, Zhao Zhe and Cui Ang came to power and gave random orders with overwhelming confidence. They immediately lost tens of thousands of Hebei elites including the Guangxin Army. In the end, in order to shirk responsibility, they also framed Qin Kuan, Zheng Yu and others for treason.

After the imperial decree was issued, the heads of these controlling generals were chopped off with a single blow.

It can be said that the Song Dynasty started here a few years ago when its good situation came to an end.

To this day, none of the instigators have met a good end.

The two Taishang officials were herding sheep in the Five Kingdoms City of Liao. Cui Ang died miserably and was beheaded by Yelu Min.

But the Song Dynasty, which once faced off against the Liao Kingdom from the north to the south without losing, now only has half of the country left.

The Northern Expedition to regain the homeland was naturally the long-cherished wish of people like Lu Wenhuan.

Zhao An ascended the throne and Xiao Cheng took charge of the government, which gave him hope of the Northern Expedition.

Lu Wenhuan, who was born as a warrior, suddenly became the Minister of War in the new imperial court and was in charge of the world's military. This was something he had never expected.

The last military commander who could do this was General Di.

Even Xiao Cheng's grandfather was only the deputy of the Privy Council back then!

Although the current Jiangning court still has problems of one kind or another, in Lu Wenhuan's opinion, things are generally improving.

Although Xiao Cheng is strong and domineering, he is really capable and can mediate the conflicts between the major factions well.

Like this time when dealing with the corruption involved in the chief minister and his team, Lu Wenhuan believed that the chief minister and his ministers really tolerated each other for the sake of the country.

They captured, exiled, and killed a large number of people, but they did not completely break up with the Jiangnan faction. They still maintained a superficial unity, which, in Lu Wenhuan's view, was necessary.

The Song Dynasty could no longer withstand a large-scale internal struggle.

Don't really think that people like Si Junchao really have no power to resist.

Just because now is

They don't want to break their own bottles and cans at other people's homes, which will hurt both sides and benefit no one.

Therefore, they are still willing to give in before the chief assistant touches their core interests.

But this concession has a bottom line after all.

Lu Wenhuan knew the power of a large family, because his Lu family's power in Xiangyang and other places was considerable.

This kind of interest relationship that is deeply rooted in the local area cannot be seen or touched, but it can really make even a powerful person like Xiao Cheng fearful.

What matters is getting things done, what matters is the results.

As for the process and the bumps in the middle, they can be ignored.

When the water is extremely clear, there are no fish; when people observe it, there are no disciples.

Even Xiao Cheng, the chief assistant, didn't do anything illegal or disciplinary? Lu Wenhuan didn't believe it.

How could it be possible if Tianxiang Pavilion's control of the spice market in the Song Dynasty was entirely based on commercial means?

Of course, the current chief minister is very upright and has handed over the spice business to the imperial court, making it a forbidden area for the imperial court and earning a lot of profits for the imperial court.

But that's probably because Shouxuo's family has found a new business.

Large-scale chicken and duck breeding farms, meat sales, preserved meat production, down jackets, a large number of cotton planting fields in Yunnan, and cotton-padded clothes and other products, and most of these things were purchased directly by the imperial court.

Arrived in the army.

This is where the first assistant is so powerful.

He made money and made those who bought his things grateful, thinking that he was a good official who was considerate and caring.

Lu Wenhuan asked himself that he couldn't do this.

It seems that the first assistant gave up a hugely profitable spice business and won a great reputation for himself. In fact, his other businesses were no less profitable than the spice business.

Killing several birds with one stone!

Lu Wenhuan expected that the First Assistant would take advantage of the victory and carry out a series of government reforms before the end of the year, because the First Assistant had already experienced the wind earlier.

However, it has been shelved due to opposition from Jisuke and others.

But with the great victory on the front line and the exposure of a series of corruption and smuggling incidents among Jiangnan factions, these reforms were finally pushed forward.

The Green Crops Law and the Immunity Law caused a huge quarrel in the imperial court. Everyone was tit for tat and the arguments were red-faced. But in the end, the opposition was defeated in the voting process.

The court voting process promoted by Xiao Cheng was initially viewed by Si Junchao and others as an excellent opportunity to suppress Xiao Cheng, but now it has become the biggest constraint on them.

As long as a simple majority is reached, it can be passed. Once the vote is passed, it is a court decision. You can reserve your opinion, but you must support it unconditionally, otherwise, you will be held accountable.

But when the majority of people supported Xiao Cheng, Si Junchao and others painfully discovered how stupid they had been.

The Green Crops Law and the Immunization Law were passed.

These two laws were jokingly said to be both a slap in the face and a gain to the gentry class.

For the opponents, they are more worried about whether the court will promote the gentry to pay grain as one body in the future. Once this policy is implemented, what will follow will inevitably be Qingtian and Chading, and this is

The most important thing for the gentry class.

But Xiao Cheng did not promote this, and the Recruitment Art was released first.

The Song Dynasty has always implemented the art of raising troops, the most typical of which is the Xiang Army.

Every time there was a major famine, the imperial court would admit the refugees, organize them into armies, give them rations, and then use them to maintain local security or do some servant work. In fact, to put it bluntly, the imperial court paid for them to support them.

As long as they don't cause trouble, that's fine.

This is of course a great thing for local security.

But it was a huge burden on the imperial government's finances.

All kinds of violations of laws and regulations and corruption surrounding the Xiang army are endless.

Xiao Cheng chopped this system clean with one blow.

There will be no more Xiang troops.

The new recruitment method will include all recruits over the age of sixteen,

All people under the age of forty are included in the scope of military service.

Don't smoke alone.

Sanding draws one.

Draw two out of five.

The selected Dingkou will go to a centralized place for unified military training within a few specified dates every month, and then based on the actual situation, selected personnel will be selected to serve on the front line.

Just looking at the literal meaning, there doesn’t seem to be much clue.

But as long as you take a closer look, it contains too many meanings.

Everyone!

Naturally, it does not include special groups such as scholars and officials' children.

In the past, these people would never have served as soldiers.
To be continued...