Shi Dakai frowned and said, "President, what happened to the army?"
Zeng Guofan and Shi Dakai asked questions one after another. Both of them were full of doubts and uneasy. Before that, Li Zhen led troops to conquer the east and west, and Zeng Guofan and Shi Dakai were always in charge of political affairs. If there was a problem with the army, they would have nothing to do with it. They were shirking their responsibilities, so they were very nervous.
Hu Linyi had just arrived and was not familiar with the situation. Moreover, the relationship between him and Li Zhen was not as irreconcilable as Zeng Guofan and Li Zhen, and he had not yet figured out Li Zhen's habits. Therefore, he was cautious in his words and deeds, and sat silently aside, willing to listen.
Li Zhen chuckled twice, shook his head and said: "There is no problem with the army. It is I who plan to adjust the army. Through adjustment, I will rationalize the distribution of the army and bring the military power of each province into the hands of the government."
"How to adjust."
Zeng Guofan asked subconsciously.
Shi Dakai was quite interested, wondering how Li Zhen would adjust.
Hu Linyi looked serious and said: "President, the military has always been a very important link. Whoever controls the military has a certain say. If there is chaos in the military, the situation will be uncontrollable. The president plans to adjust the military. , there will be a certain amount of turmoil, and I suggest minimizing the magnitude of the adjustment, or adjusting it step by step."
Originally Hu Linyi didn't intend to speak, but unfortunately the matter was so important that he had to take the initiative to remind Li Zhen.
Military matters are by no means trivial matters.
Li Zhen laughed and said loudly: "President Hu, don't worry, I am confident in the adjustment of the army, especially the army commanders stationed in various places are absolutely reliable and there will be no mistakes."
Hu Linyi insisted: "The matter is very important and we should proceed with caution."
Li Zhen said: "A few years after the establishment of the country, if the armies of each province are left alone, they will definitely lose control in the long run. Therefore, the adjustment of the army has reached the point where it is imperative. At this stage, in addition to those stationed in Heilongjiang, Beijing, and Guangdong , except for the armies of Guangxi and Sichuan, the rest of the armies are garrisons from various provinces, and these armies are not controlled by the national government. Most of them are in the hands of the governors of each province. The country's prestige is high, and the country's army is strong, so the armies of each province will naturally They dare not move, but if there is a situation in the country, these are the scourges that will cause war and must be eliminated. The army must make a major adjustment to centralize the army of each province in the hands of the state and realize the unified management of the army."
Hu Linyi's face was solemn, and his eyes looking at Li Zhen were even more worried.
What Li Zhen said does make sense.
The rulers of all dynasties were worried about the issue of military power. Therefore, they often weakened military generals to achieve the purpose of controlling the country. However, the result of weakening military generals is likely to be the promotion of civil servants, and a situation where civil servants are emphasized over military power.
Hu Linyi insisted on his opinion and continued: "President, I am still worried about the issue of consolidating military power. Historically, there is no doubt that no military generals rebelled in the Song Dynasty. However, looking back, the Song Dynasty emphasized civility and neglected military power, which resulted in a civil war. If the military is strong and the military is weak, the country will not be able to face foreign enemies. If you insist on consolidating military power and weakening generals, I am afraid that..."
Li Zhen waved his hand to stop, directly interrupted Hu Linyi's words, and said loudly: "President Hu, the problem you are considering cannot happen. I didn't say that we would weaken military generals, nor would we emphasize civil service over military power. It must be a combination of civil and military forces."
"Then taking back the military power in various places, wouldn't it emphasize civil servants over military officers?" Hu Linyi frowned.
Li Zhen shook his head slightly and said: "I understand what Chairman Hu means, but Chairman Hu made a mistake. The Song Dynasty took back the military power, which was to return the country's military power to the emperor. If the emperor favored civilian officials, then the civilian officials would be stronger. , so that the generals in the Song Dynasty had no status, forming a situation where the civil servants were strong but the military was weak."
"The decision-making power of the Song Dynasty's army rested with the emperor, but it was different in China."
"There is no emperor in China, and each president only has a term of ten years. When my term is up, I believe that the person who takes over as president will definitely not be weak in ability. And every president who takes over in the future will be able to reach the position of president step by step. He cannot be a weak person, otherwise he would not be able to stay in the officialdom."
"Of course, the person in power is only one aspect, not the main factor."
"The most important thing is that the recovery of military power is not to hand the military power into the hands of the president, but to hand the military power into the hands of the country and to give it centralized control to a group of people who preside over the military. The president is a representative of the country, but the president is not the whole of the country. , In addition to the president, there is also the Congress presided over by Speaker Hu and the Supreme Court presided over by President Zhao, which are all places that restrict the president, so it is impossible for the president to make decisions indiscriminately."
"In general, the resumption of military power in each province is to centralize local military power to the government and form a military system headed by the president to command the national army. This is a collective, not an individual."
Li Zhen paused for a moment and asked, "Do you understand this explanation?"
Zeng Guofan nodded, and then said: "I generally understand what the president means. The government should set up a department to command the country's military. For example, Qiao Zhiyong's Ministry of Finance manages finance, and the collective proposed by the president is equivalent to the Ministry of Finance. Such an institution, of course, has a different status than the Ministry of Finance, right?"
Li Zhen replied: "Brother Bohan is right. My intention is to form a department to lead the national army."
Hu Linyi is also a smart person and quickly understood.
Shi Dakai asked: "President, how to organize this department and how to adjust the national army."
Li Zhen thought about it carefully and then replied: "As for the group that commands the national army, it is named after the 'Ministry of Defense'. National defense means the defense of the country and the protection of the country. The name of the Ministry of National Defense is more appropriate. Wait for the Ministry of National Defense." After its establishment, a minister of defense, several deputy ministers, and a number of national defense committees were established. Under the Ministry of National Defense, a number of subordinates were established. For example, the commanders of major military regions were managed by the Ministry of National Defense, as well as the logistics and equipment of the national army, etc. Together they form the Ministry of National Defense to achieve unified management of the national military. Among them, the Ministry of National Defense is directly subordinate to the president, who serves as the commander-in-chief of the military and commands the entire military."
Li Zhen thought carefully and explained the general structure of the army.
In general, Li Zhen established a department that controlled the national army.
After a pause, Li Zhen continued: "The Ministry of National Defense is the authority to command the country's military, but it is the garrisons in various places that really control the country. In order to facilitate the management of the Ministry of National Defense, I decided to divide the provinces in the country into several major military regions. Each military region is responsible for several provinces. The Ministry of National Defense manages the major military regions, and then the major military regions manage the troops stationed in various places. This is much easier."
"Currently, there are garrisons in Sichuan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Beijing, and Heilongjiang, but it is unreasonable. China has a vast territory. It is difficult for just a few areas such as Sichuan and Guangxi to control the army of all provinces in the country, especially with dense garrisons like Guangdong and Guangxi.
It was inappropriate. After consideration, I divided the provinces in the country into seven military regions."
Having said this, Li Zhen threw out the divisions he had already prepared.
"What are the seven military regions?" Hu Linyi asked curiously. As Li Zhen explained, he also became curious.
