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When Guo Ning was serving in the army in Northern Xinjiang, every day he heard his uncles and elders around him scolding the Jin Dynasty for being fatuous and the Jurchen nobles being incompetent. He and his colleagues who were on the trenches in the Northern Xinjiang were also scolded as worthless.
It seems that this hugely expensive defense line is filled with all kinds of trash, female thieves, traitors and cowards.
Twenty years later, Guo Ning recalled the situation at that time and felt sad but also a little ridiculous.
During the Mingchang period, the Jin Kingdom's supply to northern Xinjiang was sufficient. These uncles and elders could eat military rations, receive military pay, and occasionally form large groups to go deep into the grasslands to plunder cattle and sheep from small Mongolian tribes. At that time, there were not that many of them.
Complaining, they seem to have quite a lot of confidence in their own robes.
However, as the food and wages paid by the Jin Dynasty court became increasingly scarce, the soldiers suffered from hunger and cold, and they became less and less motivated to fight. When the court came to talk about it with money that was worse than waste paper, the morale of the military was completely shattered.
The uncles around Guo Ning, no matter how sad and angry they were about this, did not stop them from turning around and running away without any hesitation when they encountered the Mongolian cavalry.
The situation at that time is still vivid in my mind. Including Guo Ning, famous generals such as Luo Monk, Qiu Huiluo and other Zhou marshals all fled in embarrassment. Many people were terrified when they saw the Mongols and did not dare to raise their heads.
, let alone fighting to the death with a knife.
Could it be that these people are all trash? Are they all cowards?
Or are these people all traitors to the imperial court? Are they deliberately uniting to destroy Dajin?
Of course not.
It's just that the Jin Kingdom's defense strategy in northern Xinjiang determines the performance of these people and the final result.
After the Jurchens' own military force collapsed, they could only maintain a huge force in northern Xinjiang to suppress the situation. But maintaining such a huge force itself exceeded the upper limit of the Jin Kingdom's financial capabilities. In the first few years, it could still rely on dozens of
Years of accumulation were barely enough to maintain. When the old foundation was exhausted and supplies gradually became insufficient, the border garrison became increasingly unusable and the people's hearts became more and more distracted.
The main reason for the collapse of the boundary trench defense line is of course the rise of Mongolia. But even if there is no threat from the Mongols, what will these tens of thousands of people who are proficient in battle and martial arts but have no food and clothing do?
Guo Ning has read a lot in the past few years, and he always feels that the Jin Kingdom's northern frontier defense line at that time was like the six towns of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Everyone needs to eat. If you can't eat one or two meals, it's okay; if you don't have enough to eat, then it's okay.
No matter how loyal you are to serving your country, you can only change from scolding traitors to understanding traitors, and finally becoming a traitor.
He would never let the Northern Xinjiang defense line of the Great Zhou Dynasty go down this old path.
Therefore, the connection between the Central Plains and the grasslands must be close, and the trade routes must be smooth.
Therefore, the imperial court must be able to continuously obtain benefits from the grassland and continue to invest these benefits into the army.
Therefore, the soldiers in Northern Xinjiang must be willing to serve in Northern Xinjiang, and they must find a place in Northern Xinjiang where they can draw benefits. Otherwise, they will not be willing to represent the imperial court and maintain control around every fort.
Guo Ning's idea once aroused considerable opposition in the court. Many courtiers felt that since the army received generous salaries from the court, they should be loyal to the king and perform their duties wholeheartedly. If they received other benefits besides their salaries,
, it is easy to be distracted by other things. If the army escapes from the control of the imperial court, it will be a serious disaster.
Guo Ning really couldn't agree with this idea.
He himself started as a struggling soldier at the bottom, and he knew the true situation of the army best, and he also knew that people's hearts are inevitably greedy. The Great Zhou court itself, as well as the nobles and middle-level officers of the Great Zhou Dynasty, all participated in the company.
It is simply a dream to do a big business and expect the army to be as pure as water and the officers and soldiers to be as solid as stone.
Under the dynastic system, when the water is clear, there will be no fish. The court cannot stop this kind of extra business for the soldiers. If it has to ban it, it will only force the soldiers to confront the court in private, and the more they dare to fight, the more money they will earn.
The more.
In Guo Ning's big dream, even the real steel army of later generations was inevitably involved in various interests. It was not until a certain commander-in-chief with superior means came to power that he slowly began to solve the problem. Even so, then
The commander-in-chief also read two poems to motivate himself before taking the stage.
If the army with lofty beliefs is like this, what's more, the feudal dynasty regime established by Guo Ning is not as capable as it is in case of emergency? How virtuous is Guo Ning?
,Build castles in the air?
Guo Ning is self-aware and simply gives up the choice of making a high profile to bluff people.
From the beginning of the gathering of forces, he did not hesitate to provide benefits to his subordinates, nor did he hesitate to seek benefits for his subordinates. In the end, he tried his best to distribute the benefits to all relevant people as fairly as possible.
As for the loyalty issue that some courtiers are worried about, Guo Ning believes that as long as the benefits continue to flow, the soldiers will be like beasts that have tasted blood, and will naturally have the idea of continuously seizing benefits, and will not degenerate into wastes eating the emperor's food; and the emperors of the Great Zhou Dynasty
As long as the nobles have an aggressive attitude, they can always drive the beasts away without having to worry about being eaten back by the beasts.
What's more, the Great Zhou Dynasty has a huge commercial system, and the material exchanges related to the army are dominated by the officialdom and large caravans with Zhongdu background. Scattered caravans are basically managed as a whole. Is there any general who can do this?
If military affairs are neglected or even have other thoughts, the relevant personnel of the Commercial Office and Recording Department will surely find out the clues, and severe purges will follow.
The Great Zhou Dynasty inherited the Liao and Jin systems, and the Confucian ministers did not have as much say as they did in the Southern Song Dynasty. The foundation of the imperial court was indeed inseparable from trade. This system of doing business with a sword has continued.
To this day, the armies of the Zhou Dynasty in various places maintain a certain degree of independence in terms of financial resources, and each has its own way of making money.
Especially in the northern Xinjiang tribes, the sky is high and the emperor is far away. Apart from training, the soldiers cannot just eat, drink and have sex. They are idle every day, and all parts of the country are busy running some scattered industries.
For example, the Jinshan area relies on the production of wool felt. In Xuandezhou, there are several large warehouses that sit on the ground to collect money, and also sell liquor.
Another example is the Badger Mouth Army Fort...
Guo Ning glanced around and discovered their small business.
In the dark corner of the carriage, there were some scattered goods, all tightly packed.
Guo Ning asked casually: "What good thing is this?"
The military officer chuckled and looked at the generals stationed in the fort.
Everyone in the camp took a few steps forward and said, "Your Majesty, these are the furs we collected from our daily hunting. There are deer skins, mink skins and fox skins, which are more precious than ordinary cattle and sheep skins."
As he spoke, he took out the knife from his waist and opened a package. Sure enough, there were tightly bundled furs inside, including all kinds of skins. In addition to what I have mentioned, there were also tiger and bear skins.
Tunpu, which is deeper into the grassland in the northern Xinjiang defense line, does more or less fur business.
Anyway, the grassland is vast and the prey is endless. As long as the soldiers are brave enough, the harvest of a small group of cavalry can almost increase the military pay for the entire military camp. And the stronger camp can even take the initiative to go there.
Attack and rob small-scale wandering tribes on the grassland and seize their savings.
Badger's Mouth Army Fort is one of the best, and has a reputation in the Recruitment Department.
"Good guys! You have gained a lot!" Guo Ning unfolded the tiger and bear skins, took a look at them, and praised them.
In recent decades, the weather has been quite different from what is recorded in history books and agricultural books, and winters are often very cold. Therefore, not only the Central Plains, but also the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties have a huge demand for fur goods. In recent years, even sheepskins and
Cowhide, the most common type of leather, is also valuable.
Although Guo Ning doesn't care about the prices of these sporadic goods, Li Yun, who is in charge of the business system, is a close minister who often interacts with him, and daily reports are very frequent. Therefore, Guo Ning vaguely remembers that in the big city of Zhongdu, the price of goods is very high.
A good deer skin can be sold for around 5 guan. As for bear and tiger fur, it is even more popular. The price starts at 10 guan and is sometimes hyped up to 30 guan. In the Southern Dynasties, the price would double again.
At that moment, Guo Ning asked: "What price do merchants usually charge for these two sheets?"
All the generals smiled and said: "In the past, we sold it to a few trading houses that often come and go, and the prices given are really good. But the grassland has been uneasy recently, and the caravan has been late. In case it can't be transported away in winter.
, our salt-making method is not good, it is a pity that it is broken, so we asked Sun Dianshi to help us to transport some back quickly. The people Sun Dianshi contacted were in short supply, so I will give you three or five guan, everyone can make some extra.
It’s just drink money.”
"Three passes? Five passes?"
Guo Ning glared at the generals: "You guys, are you afraid that you have been cheated? Which trading company is so black-hearted? Is that normal?
Why should I add more to the price, right?"
"Ahem..."
The one who coughed was Qiu Huiluo.
"The person Lao Sun contacted was a trading company I was eyeing."
He explained: "Your Majesty, in the past month, there have been constant disputes between the grasslands and the Central Plains, and merchants have not dared to go north in large numbers. I used the manpower of my own trading company to gather the troops from various military forts and transport them all the way to Juyongguan.
The number of guards sent would be more than double, which would cost a lot...so the purchase price will inevitably be high!"
"You fucking..."
Guo Ning pointed at Qiu Huiluo. He really didn't have much to say to this old brother. He turned to the general and said loudly: "I want these two pieces of leather, and I'll give you a good price!"
The interaction between the emperor and the marshal was a bit funny, which made the generals laugh and stuff the leather into Guo Ning's hand with a smile.
Although the Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty has been on the throne for several years, he has never left the army for a day. In the eyes of ordinary soldiers, he is still regarded as a companion who lived and died together. As time goes by, more and more soldiers feel the influence of joining the army.
As a result, they also respected and loved the commander-in-chief of the army more and more.
"It's for Your Majesty, it's free of charge!" the generals said repeatedly, "It's a gift! Your Majesty, please don't dislike it!"
After a pause, the general said again: "I just have a small question, I don't know whether to ask it or not."
"Ask, why are you so tight?"
They all asked with excitement on their faces: "The grassland has been noisy for a month, when will it be our turn to show off our majesty?"
