Chapter 80 Three Steps to the Reform of the Xiang Army
After Ye An sent away Ouyang Qing, the last commander of the Luzhou Baoxin Army, Fan Zhongyan wandered from his comfort envoy's Yamen to the temporarily borrowed Shuaisi Yamen next door.
Seeing Ye An through the open window who was busy writing at his desk, Fan Zhongyan asked curiously: "How did you make the commanders of the Jiezhen Army in these states leave happily?"
Hearing the sound, he raised his head and saw that it was Lao Fan who had arrived. Ye An helplessly pointed to the room where he was and said: "After all, he is also handsome Si Jie Tang, but Mr. Fan is too casual."
It's not Ye An's pretense. The right side of the Commander's Mansion is where the Festival Hall is located. It is said to be the place where the emperor's gift of the festival is stored, but in fact it is where Commander's military equipment is located. Although Ye An's position as the Jianghuai Economic Envoy is only temporary, it is after all.
As an envoy or commander, you must have the respect you deserve, not for Ye An, but for the officials of the Song Dynasty.
Ye An could turn a blind eye to Fan Zhongyan's behavior, but if someone saw it and spread it to the ears of the censor in Tokyo, impeachment would naturally be inevitable.
"On the Sixth Banner Festival, the two incisor flags were given to me to hide in the public house and private room. I didn't go in. It's not considered rude. What's more, you didn't sacrifice it on the day after the first lunar month, so how dare you say this to me?!
"
Ye An rolled his eyes helplessly. He realized that once you get to know Lao Fan, bickering becomes a daily routine.
Fan Zhongyan called Ye An out of the festival hall and asked curiously: "What are your plans? It is impossible to annihilate the Bailian Society in a state by relying solely on the Xiang army in this state. Just like this, you still want to disarm? Dismantle it.
What about the Xiang army? This is a major event related to the country! If it is done well, it will be famous all over the world. If it is not done well, the world will slander it!"
Ye An smiled, struggled out of Old Fan's ruthless iron grip, straightened his sleeves and said, "Mr. Fan, do you still remember the statistics that the boy mentioned before?"
"Well, I'm quite impressed. It's an exquisite knowledge. Do you plan to use this method to solve the problem of the Xiang army?"
Ye An shook his head slightly: "Reorganizing the Xiang Army is a long-term solution, but this is just a demonstration. But the kid has calculated that as long as the redundant Xiang Army is eliminated and only the elite are left, the burden on the court will be greatly reduced.
It is not that there are no warriors who are good at fighting, they just need to be carefully screened and trained. The original military pay is still correct, but the number of Xiang troops has been reduced. The premise is that these Xiang troops must complete the military orders of the imperial court, so that the remaining Xiang troops can be used.
Life?"
Fan Zhongyan took a breath, pointed in the direction of Suzhou and said: "According to you, the Suzhou Baojing Army only has 200 capable warriors. What will happen to the remaining thousands of people? Even if the 200 people have higher combat power,
What effect can it have?"
Ye An laughed loudly and said: "Fan Gong thinks, what if these Xiang troops are full and full? Two hundred soldiers are enough! The remaining Xiang troops will all return to their civilian status, and the imperial court only needs to abolish the Xiang troops from Jianghuai Prefecture.
Reorganized into a farming and reclamation army, they were given farm tools, improved seeds, and a resettlement fee was paid. They were exempted from taxes for two years. The total cost was only one year's military expenses. They were also given the opportunity to reclaim wasteland as private land and establish a land deed document. No need to
In three years, you can get a large area of fertile land that can be taxed. In this way, the previous expenditure can be recovered quickly, and not only is it easy to recover, but if these land reclamation troops continue to cultivate all year round, the court will have a steady stream of income.
The method is clever, and over time, as long as the barren land in the Song Dynasty can be cultivated, the agricultural reclamation army can be dispatched to cultivate it and then sell it to the people. The agricultural reclamation army only charges the reclamation fee..."
Fan Zhongyan was suddenly shocked. He didn't expect that Ye An actually wanted to establish an army that was entirely engaged in reclaiming wasteland, and from his description, Lao Fan also saw a broad prospect.
He repeatedly praised: "Your method is really appropriate. It can not only dismantle the Imperial Army, but also relieve the burden on the court, and increase revenue. Kill three birds with one stone! Kill three birds with one stone! But... where should the Xiang Army go after it is dismantled? ?”
"Reorganize, train, and change clothes! You must follow the three steps I have planned, otherwise all this kid said is just a castle in the air. You must ensure that the Xiang army after the dismantling has combat effectiveness, otherwise I will give you the impeachment of Zha Zi by the censor. Buried!"
As a traditional scholar, Fan Zhongyan also had some knowledge of military affairs. He asked doubtfully: "What are reorganization, training, and re-equipment?"
Ye An looked at the sun and smiled bitterly: "Even if Mr. Fan wants to listen to me, can we choose a cooler place? The sun in October is no less bright than in July and August!" "
At this moment, Fan Zhongyan felt that the back of his neck was covered with sweat. He smiled and said, "I have really forgotten about the sun. Let's go, let's go, let's go sit in your garden. Others are planting some grass and trees in the yard. You'd better do it." , I just want to plant fruits and vegetables!”
Ye An smiled slightly: "Otherwise, how could it be called Ruyuan? Ru, a vegetable!"
It's not that Ye An is being pretentious, but that he is really not used to the local food of the Song Dynasty. It is better to grow some vegetables, fruits, etc. than to grow those so-called ornamental plants. Before leaving, Qin Mumu specially Instruct Zhao Hu and others to bring more seeds to the south to avoid getting used to them...
Fan Zhongyan was very jealous of Ye An's vegetable garden. Whenever the aroma of cooking pots came out of Ye An's small kitchen, he couldn't help but come over to eat. He had already completely forgotten the "wise words" of the gentleman's distant chef. net.
Ye An has said countless times that this is not a gentleman's journey to the kitchen, but the art of living. Lao Fan had an expression of "I don't understand, but I am shocked" and ate it more happily than anyone else.
However, Ye An was already used to his behavior of grabbing a piece of food to discuss things with him. The ancients had extremely strong appetites.
Fan Zhongyan didn't care about his image in front of Ye An, not because he was used to Ye An's existence, but because Ye An had a unique temperament that always made people put down their reserve in front of him.
While Fan Zhongyan was enjoying his meal, he asked: "Please tell me your three strategies in detail."
Ye An no longer pretended to be a passerby, and now he and Lao Fan were left alone. After a while, they sorted out their thoughts and said: "As the word suggests, it is to reorganize the armies of the prefectures with the Jiezhen Army in Jianghuai, Suzhou and Haozhou We are approaching, but there are two armies, the Baojing Army and the Jiqing Army. They cannot be used at ordinary times, and when they are used, they cannot be reused. It is not an exaggeration to say that Suzhou and Haozhou are full of bandits, right?"
Fan Zhongyan understood instantly: "You mean to reorganize the Baojing Army and the Jiqing Army into one army?"
Ye An nodded and said: "That's right. Not only will the two armies be integrated into one army without the burden of a large number of idle troops, but elites can also be selected for drills. The two neighboring states can share this new army if necessary. In this way, the food and salary of the new army can be equally shared by the two states, wouldn't it reduce the pressure on the two states?"
Fan Zhongyan nodded slightly: "That's true, but how can you guarantee that this new army will be stronger than the original two armies?"
Ye An smiled: "Of course it depends on training. It is ridiculous for the Xiang army not to train or school. If you want to improve your combat effectiveness, training is essential. After they are well trained, they will be supplemented with firearms.
Going up the mountain to suppress bandits, entering the forest to eliminate thieves, how dare the White Lotus Demon take advantage of them? They use military merits to judge rewards, beheadings as merit, promotions and changes in price are all based on this. Are you afraid that you will not be able to train a strong army?! Given time,
When the new army gradually becomes successful, we can recruit young men from good families to join the army and avoid the punishment of Guizhou Province. Then we can build a strong army!"
Fan Zhongyan on the opposite side was stunned, looking at Ye An stiffly, and even forgot to chew the food in his mouth...