Chapter 72 Reforming the Military System
Yang Hao did not expect Meng Bochang to suddenly leave Fengzhou. The cause of the incident was that Yin Hong, the governor of Xiasui Town, was killed by his general Tan Chong, and Yin Qinglin, the son of Yin Hong, defected to Shuofang.★W√w W.
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In order to protect himself, Tan Chong elected the governor of Youzhou, Zhang Qingliang, as the governor of Jiedu. Zhang Qingliang was a third-rank master of Baoli Society. He was a mature and capable person, with high talent and great reputation. He had an old age with the Tang clan of Shuofang. He could stop a war with him.
However, Zhang Qingliang was a civil servant and did not understand military affairs, so Xia Sui's military power was still controlled by Tan Chong. Baoli Society carefully planned and assassinated Tan Chong. After the chief executive requested Emperor Wenzong, he transferred Meng Bochang to serve as deputy envoy of Xia Sui Jiedu, assisted Zhang Qingliang in charge of Xia Sui prefectures and counties. Meng Bochang had already received news before attacking Fengzhou, but he had not announced it in order to stabilize the morale of the army.
Before going to Xiasui to take office, Meng Bochang did two things. One was to personally lead a large army to break through the Bingyan Valley defended by Xiao Qijin, and the other was to force Liu Mian to make an appointment to leave Hetao before fulfilling his duties. Liu Mian, Bi Siguo and Tiande Left Army 1,500 people were almost escorted by Meng Bochang, and they marched eastward along the Hetao.
Dugu Chang gave up the position of Jiedushi as promised, and returned to Luoyang with his wife and concubines from the 16th house and his gold, silver and jade and silk plundered for years. He returned to Luoyang with the title of Shengzhou Defense Envoy.
Since the end of last year when he was desperate, Yang Hao and Meng Bochang have shared life and death with each other in the past eight months, and their friendship has increased day by day. Yang Hao is really reluctant to part with him. Meng Bochang encouraged Yang Hao to be assured and bold as he can create his own world.
Meng Bochang left, and the imperial edict to merge the three cities of Hetao was then issued to Fengzhou.
Fengzhou was placed under the jurisdiction of Shuofang, and Yongfeng and Feng'an were demoted to Fengzhou counties, but now these did not have much impact on Yang Hao, and the three cities of Fengzhou were firmly controlled by him. Whether it was the governor Wang Rui sent by Shuofang or the governor Xiao Mingyue sent by Qiu Shiliang, they were all bombarded by Yang Hao.
Finally, with the mediation of the General Manager of Baoli Society, Zhang Huchen, the former governor of Tongzhou, was transferred to the governor of Fengzhou, and Yang Hao was appointed as the governor of Fengzhou. This was the first formal appointment that Yang Hao received. At first, whether it was the chief of Yongfeng, the judge of Tiande Army or the governor of Feng'an, they all appointed themselves. Although they were in their hands, no one dared to say anything, but they always felt that the reputation was not right.
In early October, Zhang Huchen went to Fengzhou alone to take office. Zhang Huchen was nearly fifty years old and was also a member of the Spurs of Horse Camp, but he was just a seventh-rank halberd who had just joined the club. After conquering Fengzhou, Yang Hao was promoted to the fifth-rank rank of the Spurs of Horse Camp. The Spurs of Horse Camp was very strict. Although Zhang Huchen was older and experienced than Yang Hao, he bowed deeply to Yang Hao in the first time when he saw Yang Hao according to the rules in the camp.
Yang Hao was very kind to the old man with a grey head. Before Zhang Huchen took office, he personally supervised the repair of the Fengzhou governor's mansion. It turned out that all the officials in Fengzhou were retained, and Zhang Huchen decided to advance and retreat.
However, Zhang Huchen had been struggling in the officialdom for half his life, and he knew who was in charge of Fengzhou. Therefore, he discussed with Yang Hao about the appointment and removal of all the officials in Fengzhou. He refused to use those Yang Hao didn't like. Yang Hao was also very tolerant in this matter. In addition to a few core positions, he also tried his best to respect Zhang Huchen's meaning.
After all, the three cities of Fengzhou have a population of more than 100,000, and they also need a cadre to take charge. Yang Hao believes that he does not have this ability at the moment, and he is not willing to spend his energy on cumbersome daily government affairs.
After settling down the main team of Zhang Huchen and Sancheng, Yang Hao decided to concentrate on solving two things: one is military affairs and the other is finance. Fengzhou has been assigned to Shuofang, and the garrison can no longer be under the banner of Tiande Army. Yang Hao renamed the garrison of Sancheng to the Xining Army, which means peace in the West. He nominally admitted that he was affiliated with Shuofang. After approval by the Baoli Society General Manager, after some operation, the name of the Xining Army was recognized by the Ministry of War and issued a military flag. Yang Hao naturally became the first general of the Xining Army.
In order to effectively control nearly 10,000 troops in the three cities of Fengzhou, Yang Hao reorganized the original Tiande Right Army, the three cities patrol camp, the three cities governor's guards and local regiments to prevent chaos. According to the different tasks they undertake, each army was divided into three categories: main army, security, and reserve.
The main army was mainly adapted from the original Tiande Right Army and some ghost army. It has the largest number of people, the highest training level, the most well-equipped equipment, and the strongest combat effectiveness. Because the Xining Army is lower than the Tiande Army, the organization sequence has also been adjusted to a certain level, changing from the original battalion, regiment, brigade, team, and team to a four-level sequence.
Each battalion was reduced from the original 1,000 people to 500 people, and the chief officer was changed from the deputy general (partial general) to the chief military lieutenant, and two military lieutenants were appointed as auxiliary; the battalion had sent posts, each with one hundred people, each with one sentry leader, and each with one sentry leader; the troop was set up under the posts, with thirty people in each team, and each with one team was set up. There were troops under the team, with ten people in each team, one team leader, and one old fire, and senior veterans were selected as the role.
The garrison army was adapted from the former patrol camp, town camp guards and old and weak people who were eliminated from the main army. They were responsible for the defense of the town gates, warehouses, guarding the city gates, patrolling the streets and arresting thieves. The organization sequence was basically the same as that of the main army. The garrisons of Fengzhou, Yongfeng and Feng'an were also subject to local county magistrates' transfers.
The reserve army, also known as the civilian army, is the focus of the reform of the military system this time. The decree issued by Yang Hao stipulated that all people over 15 years old and under 50 years old in Fengzhou who are well-armed and have no illness must be included in the civilian army. The list is organized by the governor's office and various counties, and is inspected every three years. Their education and training, military orphanage management, patrol police updates, and pensions and orphans and disabled people are uniformly dispatched by the Defense Inspectorate.
The civilian army patrols guarded the night on weekdays, cleared spies, suppressed the local area, and helped the army during wartime.
The civilian army set up four levels of regiments, sentries, gangs, and corps according to the region, with five people in each gang, ten people in each gang, fifty people in each gang, and two hundred people in each gang. The civilian army stays at home on weekdays, and the commanders of each sentry will be summoned by the commanders of each sentry to train. The commanders of the corps are elected by the civilian army themselves, and the commanders of the sentry and the regiment captain are appointed by special personnel, most of whom are disabled and retired officers and senior military soldiers.
The weapons and clothing of the houses are provided by the government and are provided with food during duty. Except for the regiment commander and the whistle commander, no salary is paid.
After the reorganization, the Xining Army always had twelve battalions of the main army, namely Tiger Camp, Leopard Camp, Jinfeng Camp, Tiedang Camp, Feihu Camp, Polang Camp, Polu Camp, Fengya Camp, Xiaofeng Camp, Liehu Camp, Jingqi Camp, and Xiaoqi Camp, with a total of 6,000 people. Two of the battalions were stationed in Fengzhou, Yongfeng, Feng'an, and Jiuniang Pass each stationed in one camp, and after the establishment of the pass, a battalion was also stationed in one camp.
The guard army has a total of six battalions, namely the first battalion of police, the second battalion of police, the third battalion of police, the Fengzhou camp, the Yongfeng camp, and the Feng'an camp, the two battalions stationed in Fengzhou, the Yongfeng camp, and the Feng'an camp.
The civilian army had 223 regiments, Fengzhou had the most, 123 regiments, and Feng'an had the least, with only 38 regiments.
Before the reorganization, Yang Hao first announced that the army and the soldiers of the military will be responsible for food, clothing, housing, use, transportation, medical care, care, and funerals in the future. However, the military pay will be reduced to one tael per person per month, and it will be changed from quarterly release to annual release. Because the military pay has been greatly reduced, more than 900 people who have left the army, and Yang Hao has all dismissed the salary.
But then three thousand young and strong men came to the election, and Yang Hao recruited 500 people according to the best. The purpose of this was to save military expenses, and the second was to facilitate control. Yang Hao wanted a loyal, capable, and faithful new army, rather than a bloated, scattered old army, gathered just for the sake of eating.
The Staff Office and Military Order Office, which were originally located in the governor's office, was renamed the Defense Envoy Office, the Staff Office was renamed the Staff Office, the Military Order Office was renamed the Military and Political Department, and the Ordnance Office, the Military Law Office and the Inspectorate Office were added. The Staff General, the Staff General, and the General and the Chief Office of each department were collectively referred to as generals, participating in the highest military decision-making in Fengzhou.
In terms of personnel, Ling Tong served as the General of Staff, Zhang Yannian served as the General of Staff; Li Tong served as the General of Military Affairs and Political Department; Yu Chong served as the General of the Ordnance Department; Zhuang Yunqing served as the General of the Military Law Department; Yang Hao served as the General of the Inspectorate Department, and was temporarily appointed by the Secretary-General of the Ordnance Department, and Lu Guang was in charge of the daily life. Yu Chong, the General of the Ordnance Department, was an old friend of Meng Bochang, and was the former Shaofu Supervisor Zhuye Supervisor and the General of the World Military Armor. He was familiar with the manufacturing technology of all the weapons and equipment of the Tang army. Because he was close to Meng Bochang, he was dismissed from office and exiled to Qianzhou after the Ganlu Incident, and was rescued by the Macha Camp and was always idle at home.
During the Battle of Feng'an, Yang Hao saw that the swords, guns and arrows used by the Tiande Army were far from that of the Hedong Army, so he had the idea of hiring a master craftsman to Feng'an to preside over the construction of weapons. He asked Meng Bochang to recommend several master craftsmen, and Meng Bochang recommended Yu Chong to him. After Yu Chong arrived in Feng'an, he was highly treated by Yang Hao. In the case of extremely tense finances in Feng'an, Yang Hao still supported him to preside over the construction of two weapon workshops. The swords, guns and armor produced were of high quality and low price, and 6 were continued to be equipped with the troops of Fengzhou.
The second thing Yang Hao has to concentrate on doing is to solve the financial problems that have been plaguing him.
Fengzhou has nearly 10,000 soldiers, and the monthly expenditure of food and salary alone reaches 20,000 taels. With the expenses of soldiers, armor and horses, the monthly expenditure of military expenditure reaches 30,000 taels, plus the salary of officials at all levels and the expenditure of government offices. At the end of each month, 50,000 taels of white silver will be taken out from the bank warehouse, which will be 600,000 taels a year.
The total tax revenue of the three cities in Fengzhou last year was less than 500,000 taels. This year, due to the repeated wars, the fiscal revenue in the first ten months was only 180,000 taels, and it is estimated that the annual tax revenue will be less than 300,000 taels, with a gap of 200,000 taels!
On the first day after Zhang Huchen took over, he looked through the old accounts of the three cities, but he could no longer sit still. He rode a donkey to Feng'an and rushed to Feng'an to complain to Yang Hao.
Yang Hao smiled bitterly and said, "Three cities are a mess, and everyone in charge is worried about the food, rice, oil and salt. Brother Zhiqing has any tips to increase revenue and reduce expenditure."
Zhang Huchen shook his head and said, "Fengzhou is vast and sparsely populated, and it is on the border, and there is war. Unless money can be raised in this place, it can only be... go out to beg for food."
Yang Hao smiled and asked Zhang Huchen: "I heard that Brother Zhiqing recruited refugees to reclaim wasteland when he was in Tongzhou, and he did a great job."
Zhang Huchen's eyes lit up and asked, "Brother means... to reclaim land? But Fengzhou is different from Tongzhou. It is a border and there are endless wars. Who is willing to come here to reclaim land? I'm afraid that Hu Ma will step on it before crops grow in the fields."
"The people refuse, so let the army reclaim the land."
"Military Reclamation?" Zhang Huchen stood up and said excitedly, "I said, brother, how did you think of such a good idea? It's a real genius."
Yang Hao felt a little ashamed. The military reclamation and guarding the border was not his original creation. It has been in ancient times, and it is even more so today.
"If the soldiers can support themselves, as long as the annual military expenditure will be reduced by half, the situation in Fengzhou will be completely opened." Zhang Huchen swept away the regret of his first arrival and turned red.
"How many people are you planning to send to reclaim the land?" This is what Zhang Huchen is most concerned about now.
"Except for the urban garrisons, all other troops participated in military reclamation, and were responsible for combat readiness tasks to make a living. In addition, four battalions were specially selected to open seven or eight farms along the river. Not only did they have to be self-sufficient, but they also had to produce surplus grain to stabilize the grain prices in the three cities. The current grain prices are too high."
Although Zhang Huchen didn't quite understand some of the words in Yang Hao's words, he understood the general meaning and couldn't help but admire the young man in front of him. At first, he thought that Yang Hao's achievements today were just based on the protection of his ancestors, or because he had a great backer in the camp as the guard of the Forbidden Palace. But after hearing his comment just now, Zhang Huchen suddenly felt that the person in front of him should not be underestimated.
The policy of reclaiming and guarding the border was decided. As for the details, Zhang Huchen's governor's office and the staff were jointly drafted by the military and political departments. Yang Hao's plan was to finalize all the details before the winter wheat was sown, and the first seeds would be sown this winter in the reclaimed wasteland.
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Chapter completed!