Chapter 7: So According to This, It's a Dead Knot?

But regardless, he had already secured the benefit; in this private room with no third party present, there was no reason to continue speaking ambiguously.

After all, the other party was not only the county magistrate but also oversaw the county school; from every angle, gaining Li Pan's appreciation and support was beneficial and without drawback for him.

Since he had already displayed his talent, he might as well display it to the end!

"This student has heard from northwest traveling merchants that in the frontier forts of the Qinfeng Circuit, the troops responsible for garrison duty are mostly Xiang soldiers and Fan soldiers; in fact, this has already violated military regulations."

Lu Beigu's words were spoken subtly, but there was a specific meaning behind them.

When Song Taizu established the state, the Xiang soldiers who were theoretically responsible for local defense were actually auxiliary troops used only for labor and did not undergo military training.

However, by the time of the first Song-Xia war, due to a severe shortage of troops in the northwest, the Xiang soldiers in places like the Qinfeng Circuit began to be trained and drilled, and after some training, they were barely usable as fillers.

But the essence of the Xiang soldiers remained that they were line-filling babies lacking combat power; squatting in forts to hold the line was passable, but if pulled out for open-field warfare, they would collapse at the first touch.

As for the Imperial Guards, whose combat power was relatively stronger and who were dispatched to the northwest (the predecessors of the later Western Army), their numbers were also limited; if all were stationed in the forts, there would be no troops left for mobile open-field warfare.

Therefore, during the first Song-Xia war, Emperor Renzong issued an edict to integrate the various Fan tribes that had submitted, and organized the Fan soldiers.

The so-called Fan soldiers were armies commanded by Fan tribal leaders; the court supported them with money and grain to assist the northwest Xiang soldiers in holding the line, stationed in the forts within the buffer zone of the Song-Xia border.

Precisely because the Xiang soldiers and Fan soldiers were not originally supposed to be stationed long-term on the northwest front line.

Therefore, Lu Beigu said that this measure had in fact seriously damaged the Great Song's military system.

"So, if we truly organize local archers, the problem is actually not about violating military regulations."

Some things can be done in practice but cannot be spoken of openly; saying this in this private room where "heaven knows, earth knows, you know, and I know" was a word of heartfelt trust.

If Li Pan did not take the bait, then naturally Lu Beigu would have nothing more to say.

"Isn't it just fear of forming warlord regions?"

Seeing Lu Beigu's concern, Li Pan smiled freely.

"Yes."

Lu Beigu said earnestly, "The reason the court did not allow the various forts to emulate Zhong Shiheng's measure of recruiting local archers in Qingjian City was not that the court was unaware that local archers were cheaper than the Imperial Guards or Xiang soldiers, but rather feared that if the west defended the west, without needing court funding, they would inevitably become too powerful to control."

"Archers" was a common name; the formal name in the Great Song was "Local Soldiers." These soldiers brought their own provisions and weapons when fighting and were named for the characters "Archers" tattooed on the back of their hands; they did not count as regular troops.

"That is indeed correct; where there is benefit, there is also harm. If the northwest army truly grows large, it may not be possible to pacify and destroy the Xia Kingdom later, but cultivating enemies to bolster one's own position would be inevitable."

Lu Beigu sighed inwardly; speaking with a smart person was simply worry-free.

If Chongzhen could have understood that "Liaodong people defending Liaodong land" would not only inevitably fail to "recover Liaodong in five years" but would also turn the Liaodong military families into traitor guides, he would not have ended up hanging himself on that old crooked-necked tree.

"Therefore, this student believes that the reason the northwest war has been deadlocked is that, on the surface, the root lies in the military system, but its essence lies in the contradiction between our dynasty's finances and geography; the Former Tang is an example."

"Oh?" Li Pan put down his teacup. "This train of thought is very interesting; explain in detail."

"The enemies of the Former Tang were on two fronts: the northwest and the northeast. Yet the Former Tang established its state based on the Guanlong aristocratic families, so it naturally prioritized the northwest, directing all finances toward territorial expansion; thus, the Anxi Protectorate expanded territory by ten thousand li, unmatched for a time."

"A large number of Guanlong Guard soldiers were dispatched to the Western Regions for this purpose; fighting abroad year after year had severely exceeded the service time stipulated by the Guard system. However, once territorial expansion in the Western Regions reached a certain point, even if the Guanlong Guard soldiers poured out all their strength, they could only barely maintain it. After the Battle of Talas, prosperity turned to decline."

"At the same time, the Former Tang had neither sufficient financial resources nor ample manpower in the northeast, so it was forced to delegate power to local Hu generals, resulting in the outbreak of the An-Shi Rebellion."

Hearing this, Li Pan's expression also became Solemn.

"The Former Tang's warning is not far off. Our dynasty's system prioritizes the Two Rivers to defend against Northern Han and the Liao Kingdom. Although the Chanyuan Covenant was established, who can be certain that war will not break out in the north again? After all, having lost the Yan and Yun regions, cavalry riding south would find a flat plain; in just a few days and nights, they could water their horses at the Yellow River and threaten Kaifeng."

"The Two Rivers must be defended, and the northwest must also be defended; moreover, the northwest must not become a warlord region. Therefore, the right to self-finance will absolutely not be granted to the northwest. Even bearing the heavy burden of the 'Three Redundancies,' the central government will grit its teeth and support it."

Li Pan frowned tightly and asked.

"So, according to this, it is a dead knot?"

"It is not a dead knot; actually, stripped bare, it boils down to an economic account."

The words Lu Beigu spoke next were so detailed that even Li Pan was somewhat surprised.

"This student has heard that the monthly cost of maintaining one Imperial Guard soldier is roughly enough to maintain two Xiang soldiers, or four to five Local Soldiers."

This statement had a source; in Lu Beigu's memory, the "Song Dynasty Military Records" contained statistics. Theoretically, the monthly income of a Northern Song Imperial Guard soldier ranged from 500 wen to 1000 wen depending on rank. If the two dan and five dou of grain rations issued plus the cloth for tailoring were included, the average annual income was about 36 guan, the monthly income about 3 guan, and the daily income about 100 wen.

As for the Xiang soldiers, their treatment was basically cut in half, with a daily income of 50 wen. Local soldiers were even cheaper.

And these were not secrets; in the Great Song, the common people knew very well what treatment soldiers received. Precisely because their lot was worse than ordinary citizens doing any random work, the saying "Good men do not become soldiers" arose.

The Song army was completely different from the Former Tang. The Former Tang Guard soldiers were all beneficiaries of the imperial system, proper sons of good families; they had status if they wanted status and honor if they wanted honor.

As for the Great Song, aside from the bandits exiled to serve as soldiers, there were also those idle, good-for-nothing ruffians and refugees who could not survive. Which family's proper son would go to study instead of becoming a soldier?

Precisely because the quality of the troops themselves was poor, the Great Song army could only rely on piling up numbers. To expect any combat power from an army whose stability-maintenance attribute was greater than its combat attribute was a luxury.

You ask why such a low-quality stacked army was created?

Have you not heard, "The Son of Heaven of Chang'an, the Ya Army of the Wei Prefecture"?

That was naturally because the arrogant soldiers of the late Tang and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms had done things so numerous and heinous that they terrified everyone in the world!

Therefore, when formulating the Great Song's military system, the policy starting point was that rather than creating such a bloody and absurd world again, it was better to sacrifice some army combat power so that everyone could live peacefully.

"This student does not know the detailed numbers of the troops in the four northwest circuits, but I imagine there are at least 100,000 Imperial Guards and 100,000 Fan soldiers, plus tens of thousands of Xiang soldiers. Roughly calculating, even if nothing is done, the cost of maintaining the troops alone would start at 7 million guan per year; including other expenses, it would require at least 10 million guan."

"One-sixth of the state's finances is consumed thus."

"May I ask if Your Excellency has considered whether there exists a solution that achieves both goals?"

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① Two Rivers: An ancient term for Hebei and Hedong (i. e., present-day Shanxi).

② Northern Han: One of the Ten Kingdoms during the Five Dynasties period, the Han state established by the Shatuo person Liu Chong based on the twelve prefectures of Hedong. After the Great Song established the state, it long relied on the Liao Kingdom and was conquered by Song Taizu Zhao Guangyi leading a personal expedition in the fourth year of Taiping Xingguo.

③ In the Song Dynasty, one guan of money had two calculation methods: one was "Full Mo," where one guan equaled 1000 copper wen; the other was "Sheng Mo," where one guan equaled 770 copper wen. For the convenience of readers, this book defaults to expressing and calculating related content using the "Full Mo" method.

(End of Chapter)