There is a famous historical allusion of "drinking poison to quench thirst" in history. The general contents are as follows:
One night two years after the mutiny in Chen Qiao, Zhao Kuangyin, Song Taizu, the dynasty ended, and Zhao Kuangyin left Shi Shouxin, Wang Shenqi and other court officials to drink together. After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, Zhao Kuangyin sighed, "Although I am the son of heaven, I enjoy myself with you. Now I can't sleep well all day. " Shi Shouxin and others were startled and asked, "Since the destiny has been decided, who is unfaithful? Why did Big Brother say that? "
Zhao Kuangyin followed your words and continued, "Who doesn't want wealth? What should I do if someone dresses you in a yellow robe? " They quickly bowed down to show their loyalty, hoping that Mao would show them the way. Song Taizu was overjoyed and said, "Life is short. Why not save more money, buy fields and houses for future generations, and enjoy life with showgirls, and there is no suspicion between the monarch and the minister, wouldn't it be wonderful? " They said yes again and again. Resigned the next day. Song Taizu approved it, granted it a sinecure, and rewarded it.
The above is from The History of Song Dynasty-Biography of Shi Shouxin. Let me say a few more words here: the history of "a glass of wine to disarm and return to the field" is recorded. Perhaps Zhao Kuangyin hosted a banquet for the generals to discuss the distribution of military power.
However, it shouldn't be that simple to solve the problem of military power by drinking once. History often likes to simplify things with a few familiar idioms and famous sayings. First of all, it was not Zhao Kuangyin's original intention to cancel the general's military power, but Prime Minister Zhao Pu proposed it many times. At first, Zhao Kuangyin disagreed. He thought that Shi Shouxin, Wang Shenqi and others were brothers with themselves and would not rebel. Zhao Pu thinks that although they won't rebel, their ability to control their subordinates is limited, which can't guarantee that their subordinates have no infidelity. Zhao Kuangyin's right to release soldiers after thinking about it.
In addition, Shi Shouxin, Wang Shenqi and others were dismissed from the central imperial posts, such as the former commander-in-chief, the former commander-in-chief and the guard commander-in-chief. Throughout the Song Dynasty, in addition to the central imperial army, local buffer regions also had troops of our time and corresponding positions. The threat of local forces uniting should not be underestimated. Therefore, there is a second "one glass of wine to release the soldiers" in history.
This second time, it is said that everyone was invited to have a barbecue and drink foreign wine, because most people were not old subordinates, and Mao cut the gordian knot and seized the buffer region and its military power. In this way, all the military power of the Song Dynasty was handed over to the central government and merged into the imperial power. Then the problem came, and the central and local generals were relieved of their military power. Who will command the cavalry in this world? In case of foreign war or rebel uprising, will the emperor lead the troops to fight? Aren't you going to arrange a new general?
In order to manage the army, it is natural to have a general in command when there is a war. In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, the abolition of the buffer region and the lifting of military power adopted by the central government were only one of the auxiliary measures. For the whole military system of the Song Dynasty, this is a brand-new system:
Military reform in the Great Song Dynasty
The official system of the whole Northern Song Dynasty has changed greatly, and its main characteristics are to learn from the lessons of the previous dynasties, strengthen centralization, emphasize civil administration and suppress military officers. Military affairs have changed greatly, and the imperial army is no longer in charge, but the Privy Council and the Three Strict Administrations are in charge of the imperial army.
Privy Council: in charge of military symbols. In ancient times, military symbols were more effective than emperors and could mobilize the whole country's troops. The leading officials are the envoys and deputy envoys of the Tang Dynasty.
Sanya: The Division before the Temple, the Division of the Guards, the Division of the Guards and the Division of the Guards are all called Sanya. The officers in Sanya are called Dian Shuai, Ma Shuai and Bu Shuai respectively, and they are collectively called San Shuai. Sanya can be in charge of the army, and it can be responsible for recruiting the imperial army, training the army and equipping the quartermaster at ordinary times. But we can't transfer troops.
In this way, the two departments cooperate and contain each other, and those who lead troops cannot lead troops. In case of war, the emperor appointed a minister to lead troops to fight. In this way, the separation of the right to leave the army and the right to hold the army is perfectly realized. The general can command the soldiers, but "he will not specialize in his soldiers, and the soldiers will not be arrogant and lazy." This is the core of the military system in Song Dynasty.
Establishment and deployment of central and local forces
The military system in Song Dynasty was mainly composed of imperial soldiers, Xiang soldiers, Xiang soldiers and Fan soldiers.
The imperial army is the regular army of the central government. Its task is to guard the imperial palace and the imperial capital, and prepare frontier fortresses and important places, mainly infantry and horses. In order to prevent local rebellion, the imperial army was roughly half stationed in the capital and half stationed at the border. In this way, the strength of the capital and the border guards is roughly balanced, thus containing both inside and outside. If there is a rebellion in the capital, the Privy Council can mobilize the imperial troops stationed in the capital, and the imperial troops stationed in the rebellion can also be mobilized. The central place regularly changes stations, and then in wartime, "the soldiers don't know what to do, and the soldiers don't know what to do." The number of forbidden military posts in Taizu period was 6.5438+0.92 million, and in Renzong period it was 826,000. It is also well-founded to describe Lin Chong as the commander-in-chief of the 800,000 imperial army in Water Margin.
Xiang army belongs to the local army, is a standing army, and is a handyman in the middle of each state. Generally, they do not participate in combat training and have no combat tasks. The usual tasks are to make weapons, build cities, reclaim land through transportation and escort officials. There are also some soldiers from exiled criminals. Forbidden soldiers who fail in martial arts or violate the law can also be reduced to serve as soldiers. Xiang Bing is under the command of Sanyan.
Rural soldiers are not divorced from production at ordinary times, but gather for training in slack seasons. Responsible for repairing cities, transporting grain, catching thieves or cooperating with the imperial guards to guard the border.
Fan Bing was a border guard in the northwest of the Northern Song Dynasty. It is composed of well-known Qiang tribal forces in the border areas of Shaanxi, Hedong and Xixia. It is a small number of arms joined by the frontier fortress, and cooperates with the imperial army to ensure the frontier fortress. Divided by tribe.
The overall quantity and quality of rural soldiers and model soldiers are not high. Under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War. The soldiers were under the specific command of the tribal leader. In addition, some organizations belong to local security forces. The current police force is also managed by local counties and poses no threat to the central government.
Recruitment system in Song Dynasty
Most of the recruits are famine victims, and sometimes social prodigals join the army. In addition, the battalion is encouraged to serve as a soldier for its father and brothers, or to use criminals as soldiers. When there is a shortage of soldiers, the common people should also be arrested as troops. In this way, social instability has been eliminated and it has become combat labor. However, once soldiers are recruited, they will be friends for life. Soldiers can bring their families into the camp. According to the standard of "soldiers" or "wooden frames", able-bodied men are selected as imperial guards and short and weak people as boxers. This has further created a situation of "strong cadres and weak branches".
Summary and extension: It is undoubtedly a pioneering work that the power of generals in Song Dynasty was transferred to the military management system of "Privy Council+Three Officials+Commander-in-Chief". This system has indeed played an important role in eliminating the situation of a hundred years of separatist regime in the buffer region.
The army in the Northern Song Dynasty always gives people a feeling of being poor and weak, with weak fighting capacity. However, after the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, the number of troops has been increasing, and the combat effectiveness has indeed increased. Moreover, the diversified training of arms is strictly outside the special training of single martial arts such as knife, gun, bow and fist. There are also overall battle queues and formation drills. Simulate actual combat and practice together on a large scale. Those who fail to meet the requirements will be airdropped to the Xiang army or other miscellaneous troops, and those who violate the military regulations will be punished. In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, Song Taizu regained the separatist regime in the south with a powerful imperial army.
However, with the development of the military system in the Northern Song Dynasty, its disadvantages became more and more obvious.
1, severe financial crisis
The imperial army is well paid and recruited for life. The number of imperial soldiers almost exceeded one million in one hundred years. Soldiers can bring their families, which is even more expensive. It is indeed a humanitarian concern that the wages of the wounded and retired soldiers are halved and the families of the fallen soldiers receive pensions. However, these huge military expenditures are almost financial difficulties that Da Song could not overcome.
The fighting capacity is not high
Soldier training is one thing. In the Song Dynasty, the general and the foot soldiers had too little running-in before going out to war, and they lacked understanding of each other, had no cohesion and had a low degree of cooperation in combat. Before the expedition in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, the emperor especially liked to go into battle in person and command behind closed doors. Pay attention to war, and your life will not be affected. The generals can only ask for instructions, delaying the fighters. During this period, Song Taizu and Emperor Taizong won more. Because both Emperor Taizong and Emperor Taizong were warriors who had been through many battles, they still had a little chance of winning in planning.
How can an emperor who has lived in the palace for a long time have this skill? In the Northern Song Dynasty, there were many vagrants and idlers, especially the elderly who served for life, which greatly reduced the combat effectiveness of the army. As the old saying goes, "The old, the weak and the timid die first when they meet the enemy, which is a burden to the weak and the strong."
During the Northern Song Dynasty, civil servants were in charge of martial arts, and military commanders were subject to civil servants, which made the ruling and opposition parties pay more attention to literature than martial arts. It is difficult for people with martial arts backgrounds to stand out. The soil for training generals in the Northern Song Dynasty is gone, the soul of leading the army is missing, and finally there is no iron hoof to resist nomadism.