Northern Song Dynasty: Starting from the son of Song Renzong

Chapter 211 The Third Round of Reforms

As Zhao Xin's "home visit" continued, more and more people gathered around.

After all, Li Yuanjun all lived together, so if someone died in one of their families, Zhao Xin would go to that family's home.

Every household in this family must be well aware of this.

Zhao Xin also followed the eldest son's words and asked everyone, "Don't you think it's too much to let his eldest son continue to serve in the army after someone in the family has died?"

Everyone was naturally silent at first.

Then Zhao Xin said: "But I have no other choice."

"I am also my father's eldest son, but as long as the country and the people need me, I have to go."

"As I discussed with Fan Zhongyan some time ago, the word 'country' in the country means to defend a territory with weapons."

"Who will be the soldier then?"

"Who will do this thankless task?"

"Some people will definitely think that whoever wants to go can go."

"But if everyone thinks this way, then the country will no longer be a country."

"Everyone will become a mess."

"If there is an invasion from foreign enemies, such as the Liao Kingdom or the Western Xia, the whole world will be devastated."

"By then, it will be hard to say whether not only I but also you can survive."

"Then some people might say this is unfair. Why should we protect others and their territory?"

"Indeed! Others are not your family, and this territory is not your territory."

"Of course you don't have to protect me."

"But if you don't protect it, you'll be giving this opportunity away to others in vain."

"The reason why the founding heroes became the founding heroes is because they served in the military."

"The reason why the descendants of the founding heroes can become nobles is because their fathers, their great fathers, once sacrificed their lives and shed their blood for the country."

"And the reason why you can only be ordinary people is because your father, your great father, did not seize the opportunity during the war and was still farming."

"I have said so much, just hoping that some of you may still not understand why you want to join the army. Now I will give you a reference."

"If you join the army, your life is in your own hands. If you do well, you can also protect your descendants. If you don't join the army, you can only wait for the court to collect taxes, and then a natural disaster or man-made disaster may return to the past."

"Serving in the military is good for you personally and your family, and it's for future generations."

"For the country, protecting the country and maintaining peace is also the supreme honor."

"And you have made such great sacrifices for the country, your motherland cannot be ignored."

"Of course!"

“This is all from the perspective of interests.”

"To be honest, I don't want war, and I don't want anyone to serve in the military, or for someone to leave because of military service."

"But living in this world is so helpless."

"If you don't take the responsibility, there are plenty of people who will. And if they do, they can come and bully you at will."

"You can only be on guard against others if you take responsibility yourself first."

"It is said that you should not have the intention to harm others, but you must be on guard against others. This is the truth."

"Okay! Let's stop here!"

"After all, I am an open-minded person. In fact, if any of you do not want to join the army or feel that the conditions are too harsh, you can just say so."

"From now on...I will have someone set up a mailbox here."

"You can ask me any questions you have."

……

After visiting everyone.

Next…

Zhao Xin felt that it was time to carry out the third round of reforms.

That is the reserve system.

After all, there will be losses in war.

If it cannot be replenished in time, it will have a great impact on the combat effectiveness of the army.

of course!

It won't work if you just ask people to serve as reserves without giving them any benefits.

That's it! From now on, if a son is born, three sheep will be given, and if a daughter is born, three pigs will be given.

When the eldest son gets married, the government will help pay an appropriate portion of the bride price.

and……

In principle, the system is adopted in which the eldest son serves as a reserve.

If there are special circumstances, they will be handled accordingly.

For example, if there is no son in the family.

Then we must make special arrangements.

Or maybe the eldest son was born with a disability, was weak and sickly, and unable to serve in the army.

Then we have to think of other solutions.

After serving in the reserve force, a monthly salary will be paid.

This is equivalent to professional soldiers from generation to generation.

only……

This professional soldier is not fixed.

You can come in and out, and there is no compulsory nature like Zhu Yuanzhang's military household system.

Things like this naturally need to be brought up and discussed with Zhao Xun and others. After the discussion, they will be brought up and presented at a meeting of 3,300 people.

Next we have to see the feedback from the 3,300 people. If adjustments are still needed, we will make them.

can only say……

After this third round of reforms, the Li Yuan Army suddenly had almost twice as many reserve forces.

Zhao Xin also named it Liyuan Boy Scouts.

Routine training is based on later military training.

As for formal training, since many people are not old enough, we will just take it slow.

Some are old enough.

Then a special team was separated out.

If the Li Yuan army is short of people, they can be recruited after training.

of course!

There is also a problem here.

If the missing person is filled, what if the father and son are in the military camp together?
therefore……

There are still many details that need to be adjusted here.

it's over...

Build another military school.

If nothing else, let Zhao Xun teach them.

Or we can invite experienced veterans to teach them our experience on the battlefield.

As for school time, their holidays are arranged according to the time of planting and harvesting crops.

The rest of the time, we go to class, and we also have Saturdays and Sundays off.

Compared with the regular Li Yuan Army, they have more holidays.

And this reserve force is expanded.

Obviously, the pressure also came to Zhao Xin.

Because even if they were only given one guan as salary per month, a soldier would get twelve guan per year.

Assuming a full staff of 3,000 people, the annual salary would be 36,000 strings of cash.

What proportion of national income should be appropriate for defense spending?
Anyway...

The current Song Dynasty accounts for four-fifths.

even……

A lot of the money for annual military expenses and military rewards still comes from the inner treasury.

And once there is a disaster, the inner treasury has to pay.

Because the court had very little money left.

Zhao Xin naturally couldn't follow this old path.

(End of this chapter)