Chapter 86

Chapter 87: This is the Imperial Army of the Song Dynasty

"Everyone says the Song Dynasty was a wonderful era, but I can't feel it. They should come and see for themselves!" In his previous life, Zhao Cheng had seen an online survey asking, 'If you could really time travel, which era would you want to return to?' The Song Dynasty topped the list, with people praising its GDP as the world's highest, where anyone could become a government official through the imperial examination system, secure a stable job, receive state subsidies, marry multiple wives, engage in both politics and business, and live a happy, leisurely life without fear of disciplinary committees.

"Perhaps this is a paradise for scholars and nobles, but it is not a paradise for soldiers, a true soldier. It is a hell!" When Zhao Cheng truly arrived in this 'wonderful era,' he felt only helplessness and even sorrow for this army.

He had once thought that, in an era of foreign invasion and national peril, he might lead thousands of troops, ride into battle, and become a renowned hero in history. If his identity did not allow it, he was even willing to renounce his princely title and become a common soldier. However, reality shattered his beautiful dreams. This was not something that could be changed by renouncing his status; the current army was beyond saving.

The Song army is well-known in Chinese history. It pioneered the practice of having civilian officials lead the military and established the precedent of prioritizing civil officials over military ones. While the policy of civil officials leading the military can be considered a good strategy, as it is widely adopted in modern countries in both the East and West, it can also lead to extremes.

Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin, implemented a series of measures to curb the power of military generals at the beginning of his reign. He adopted the policy of "reducing their power, controlling their finances, and taking away their elite troops" to eliminate the power of generals with significant military forces. The famous "disarming of generals over a cup of wine" was a euphemism for a more coercive action. This set a precedent for buying off military power with money, which laid the groundwork for the decline of the once-strong army.

He then divided the Imperial Army into three parts: the Cavalry Guard, the Infantry Guard, and the Palace Guard, collectively known as the "Three Yards." The heads of these three parts, the Commander of the Cavalry Guard, the Commander of the Infantry Guard, and the Commander of the Palace Guard, were known as the "Three Marshals." This system of mutual checks and balances changed the previous system where a single general commanded all the troops. The establishment of the Military Council further divided the management of the army from the prime minister's hands, gradually forming a new system where the Military Council and the Three Yards jointly commanded the troops. This divided the military power into three parts, each with its own responsibilities and mutual constraints, becoming a basic national policy of the Song Dynasty.

This system, as the Song people described it, was: "The ancestors' method of commanding the army: the Military Council has the power to mobilize troops but not to command them; the troops in the capital are commanded by the Three Marshals, who have the power to command but not to mobilize them." When there was a campaign, the emperor would appoint a general, who was often not one of the Three Marshals. However, the benefits and drawbacks often coexist. While this strict control eliminated the threat of powerful generals to the central imperial authority, it also led to problems such as each department acting independently, frequent constraints, lack of coordination, and difficulty in unified command, significantly weakening the combat effectiveness of the Song army.

Another reform was in the military system. The Song Dynasty adopted the policy of strengthening the center and weakening the branches, and maintaining a balance between internal and external forces. The Song army was divided into four types: the Imperial Army, the Local Army, the Militia, and the Frontier Army. The Imperial Army was the central and regular army, the main combat force, mainly stationed in the capital and key military regions. The Local Army, in the Northern Song, was a local force of the national regular army, composed of the elderly and weak, maintaining local security and performing various labor services. The Militia and Frontier Army were local defense forces, part of the reserve.

The Imperial Army was the regular army of the Song Dynasty, the elite of the Song army. To improve the combat effectiveness of the Imperial Army and ensure that the strongest army was under his control, Emperor Taizu ordered the selection of the bravest and most skilled soldiers from across the country, who were registered and sent to the capital to fill the vacancies in the Imperial Army. He also selected strong soldiers as models and sent them to various regions to recruit soldiers based on these models. Later, wooden sticks of different lengths were used to select soldiers, ensuring that the Imperial Army was composed of strong and capable soldiers. The Imperial Army was rotated every two to three years, sometimes even every six months, but the generals did not move with them, similar to the modern practice of rotating military commanders.

The purpose of the rotation system was to ensure that soldiers experienced both hard and easy tasks, understood the difficulties, knew how to fight, and became familiar with the terrain, preventing them from becoming complacent. In reality, it was to separate soldiers from their generals, preventing the formation of deep-rooted personal relationships and eliminating the internal and external conditions for rebellious and arrogant generals. However, the separation of soldiers and generals and the frequent rotations hindered the formation of cohesive and effective combat units, clearly weakening the combat effectiveness of the army.

In summary, Emperor Taizu's measures to reduce military power and reform the military system effectively ensured the long-term stability of the Song army and ended the turmoil caused by military uprisings. The effectiveness of these measures is evident. However, the negative effects cannot be ignored. The constraints in the system and personnel affected the quality and combat effectiveness of the army. Another significant issue was the formation of the Song Dynasty's policy of suspicion and suppression of military officials, known as the "ancestral rules." As a result, during the Northern Song, military officials were fortunate if they could preserve their lives and reputations, and there were almost no famous generals after Emperor Taizong. The only notable exception, Di Qing, was also suspected and died.

In the early Song Dynasty, due to frequent wars, the army still had practical combat experience and combat effectiveness. However, with the signing of the "Chanyuan Treaty" with the Liao Dynasty, the main enemy disappeared. Although there were occasional battles with the Western Xia, they were mostly handled by the border troops, and the Imperial Army was largely idle. Without war, there was no risk, and in peacetime, there was no danger of losing one's life. The Imperial Army had good benefits, making military service a preferred career choice.

Some scholars who repeatedly failed the imperial examinations and were not physically fit for military service were advised to take the military examination to become officers. They realized that the military examination did not require physical prowess but only a written essay on military strategy, which they believed they could handle better than those from military backgrounds. Thus, a batch of scholars who were neither good at literature nor military affairs but only capable of theoretical discussions entered the military, making the military examination a shortcut for these lower-class scholars to obtain official positions. Since these scholars were accommodated, the army also played a role in maintaining social "harmony" by providing a way out for disaster victims during famines.

In ancient times, famines would inevitably produce large numbers of displaced people. Without food, they would wander from place to place. While a few dozen people were manageable, tens or hundreds of thousands could cause social unrest if not properly handled. In the Song Dynasty, this was not a problem. When a famine occurred, the emperor's first action was not to open granaries to distribute food but to raise the recruitment flag, sending the able-bodied to the army to receive state rations. This not only supplemented the military but also calmed the disaster victims, benefiting everyone.

Most soldiers joined the army to support their families. The benefits were good, and as long as they were tall and strong, there were no strict retirement age limits. If they did well and did not get sent to the northwest for "training," they could even raise their grandchildren. As a result, the Imperial Army was filled with old soldiers, and it was not uncommon for three generations of a family to serve in the same unit.

A century of peace brought economic prosperity. By this era, the Song Dynasty was a time when everyone, including officials, was involved in economic activities. The Imperial Army, often stationed in large cities, could not sit still. They joined the business world, using their status to gain advantages. No one dared to cause trouble for them, as it was unheard of for anyone to win a lawsuit against a soldier.

Officers opened large restaurants, and soldiers ran small shops. Officers seized farmland to start farms, and soldiers planted small vegetable gardens by the roadside. Soldiers operated with their families, while officers directly assigned troops to work. Soon, "military enterprises" spread across the country, and soldiers were involved in various industries. Seeing soldiers in military uniforms building houses, one might think they were engaged in "military-civilian cooperation," but they were actually military construction teams. The presence of officers in brothels was not necessarily for pleasure but often because they were the owners.

Over time, officers became lazy about managing their businesses. Since the soldiers were already doing business, they did not envy their profits and allowed them to skip drills and roll calls. Soldiers who were not paid their salaries became dissatisfied and left without notice. At first, officers sent people to chase and catch them, but later, they realized that it was better if they left, as they could still keep their names on the roster and collect their salaries.

This trend grew stronger, and the officers became bolder. Tong Guan took the army's salaries and supplies directly to his home, and the Defense Minister, Gao Qiu, sold the military camps for real estate development. For the less capable soldiers who did not dare to run away, they were assigned various tasks, from minor chores like guarding doors and cleaning to major projects like building gardens and mansions, with no pay and barely enough food.

"Alas, this is the army of our great Song Dynasty!" Zhao Cheng sighed deeply after reading the top-secret intelligence on the army collected by Huang Jingchen, shaking his head and smiling bitterly. He had thought that the historical accounts had already criticized the army harshly, but the reality was even more brutal, completely dispelling his idea of reforming the old army.

Zhao Cheng had initially planned to circumvent the rule that "royal family members cannot lead the army" by buying agents to control and reform an army. Now, he knew this path was no longer viable. He was concerned that even if he spent all his wealth, it would not be enough to satisfy these people, and he would end up wasting his efforts.

"Can a new type of armed force be established, using modern training methods and modern firearms? With such an elite force, the balance of war could be changed. After all, there is a precedent. The Eight-Nation Alliance, with just a few thousand men armed with guns and cannons, was able to march to Beijing and occupy the capital of a country." When Zhao Cheng found the door blocked, he had to find a way to jump out the window.