Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

Countless people had no choice but to flee to other counties or take their families into the mountains.

That very night, Pu Quan, the commander of Xuanzhou, led five hundred soldiers on horseback to attack.

They launched a direct night raid on the main camp, annihilating more than 10,000 rebels. They pursued the fleeing enemy for dozens of miles, killing countless others.

Yang Yuan, who came to be the prefect through his connection with Qin Hui, was appointed to the position.

Also present were the prefectural judge Yan Shunqing and the magistrate of Mingsha County, who, together with Commander Pu Quan, reported their achievements.

They only suffered single-digit casualties, yet they wiped out more than 10,000 rebels—a truly remarkable achievement.

However, there were also flaws; the rebels burned down several warehouses!

……

The chaos in Ningxia has gotten quite big.

It's bigger than Zhao Yuan imagined!

The bandits in Xuanzhou were routed in at least one battle, and were basically wiped out after half a month of cleanup.

In some places, however, things went too far.

The Quye River (Kuye River), which was incorporated into Linzhou, Shaanxi, and its tributaries Tu Mao River and Zhuo Lun River basins were all acquired by Wang De last year.

Because the capture of the strongholds was so rapid, some strongholds simply surrendered. The tribes here suffered relatively few casualties and were even led by Yao Pingzhong to attack Xiangyou Military Command.

Officials in both the military and political systems of Linzhou did not engage in rampant corruption and embezzlement.

However, after that large area was placed under the jurisdiction of Linzhou, the junior and middle-ranking officers, ordinary soldiers, and government officials of Linzhou...

They deliberately made things difficult for the original Western Xia people, especially humiliating the great herdsmen and landowners.

Although the higher authorities allocated relief grain, the lower levels of government blocked the distribution.

The tribal chiefs came to collect food, only to be met with various forms of ridicule and mockery.

Finally, he had to crawl under her crotch to give her the product little by little, like squeezing toothpaste.

The grudges accumulated over generations are too great to be resolved overnight.

Chapter 3882 Defeated Soldiers

The purpose of withholding food from those tribes was not to embezzle or deduct, but purely to vent anger and seek revenge.

To prevent a rebellion, the imperial court did not move any civil or military officials in the area for the time being, and Yao Pingzhong remained in Linzhou to guard the region.

He and Hu Xiang, the prefect of Linzhou, had both heard about what was happening below, but they only gave each other a few casual reprimands.

If the management is too strict and people are not allowed to vent their anger, it will cause resentment among the soldiers and subordinates.

If the higher-ups don't keep a tight rein on things, those below will only become more unruly!

Coupled with earthquakes and droughts, all the tribes in the Sanchuan River basin rebelled.

Yao Pingzhong dispatched troops to suppress the rebellion, and the tribes fled without a fight, dragging their families across the border to Xihe Prefecture.

They went too far.

This is a big deal.

The rebels have crossed provincial borders!

The prefect and commander of Xihe Prefecture laughed themselves silly when they learned of the situation.

They don't have to bear any responsibility, and they can even send troops to quell the rebellion and gain merit.

Incidentally, they also sent people to Linzhou to question Yao Pingzhong and warn him not to lead troops across the border.

Xihe Prefecture belongs to Ningxia, while Linzhou belongs to Shaanxi; everyone does their own thing.

Anyway, this isn't some major bandit group, so there's no need for a cross-provincial joint operation. The soldiers of Xihe Prefecture can wipe out the rebels on their own.

Upon receiving the official document from Xihe Prefecture, Yao Pingzhong was furious and roared incessantly, yet he was helpless and could only station his elite troops to guard the prefecture's borders.

The garrison in Xihe Prefecture won a decisive victory, capturing a large number of rebel soldiers, the elderly, the weak, and livestock.

However, many of the main forces of the rebel army still fled westward to the Hangjin Banner grassland in later generations.

After a series of connections and integrations, several tribes on the grasslands rebelled and quickly raised an army of more than 10,000.

This area is under the jurisdiction of Shuofang Prefecture, but the Shuofang garrison is quite far away.

The garrison of Xihe Prefecture crossed the border to pursue the enemy and achieved another great victory.

The prefect and commander of Shuofang Prefecture were furious. They had already set out with their troops, but the battle ended halfway there, and they hadn't earned a single military merit.

These guys were so angry that they wrote a letter complaining that friendly forces had crossed the border without permission.

Actually, it wasn't finished.

A remnant force of over two thousand men fled along the northern edge of the Mu Us Desert to the vicinity of Shengwei City in Dingyi Prefecture, where they looted.

They also rallied and coerced the local grassland tribes, and the number of rebels rose again to more than 5,000, and they went on a rampage, massacring and looting farmers in the suburbs of Shengwei City.

Ultimately, the armies of Dingyi Prefecture, Shuofang Prefecture, and Xihe Prefecture joined forces.

By continuously shrinking the space for the rebels to roam, they were finally wiped out in the Dijinze Desert.

The Linzhou garrison, which created this mess, was never allowed to send troops across provincial borders.

Not only did he fail to gain any military merit, but he was also jointly accused by the allied forces of the three prefectures, which angered Yao Pingzhong so much that he retreated to the prefecture city in a state of powerless rage.

Although the rebels were suppressed, their influence swept through three prefectures and one state, causing enormous economic and population losses.

……

Imperial Military and Political Conference.

Only one cabinet minister came, namely Zhang Tang, who was in charge of military affairs.

All the senior officials of the Privy Council and the Ministry of War were summoned to attend the meeting.

Shi Yuangong stated the details with a blank expression: "The captured agricultural and pastoral lords of Linzhou all said that they were forced into rebellion."

“A mere centurion in Linzhou dared to whip tribal chiefs at will when he led his troops out of the city on patrol, and even forced those chiefs to kneel down and bark like dogs.”

"Landlords and herders had to crawl between the legs of the grain transport officer to collect relief grain..."

Li Bao chuckled after hearing this: "Such humiliation, even I would have rebelled if I were in his shoes."

Chapter 3883 The Emperor Who Tried to Smooth Things Over

Everyone present looked relaxed.

Because Yao Pingzhong had no powerful backing in the imperial court, and the Yao family's roots were in the Hehuang region...

During the process of demilitarization, generals and soldiers were reorganized and reassigned.

Now, Yao Gu, who served in the Privy Council, has passed away, and Yao Pingzhong has been transferred to three different posts.

He had worked for Zhang Guangdao for several years and should have belonged to Zhang Guangdao's faction, but his arrogance often offended people, and he even had a rather unpleasant falling out with Zhang Guangdao.

This time, the generals of the three northern prefectures of Ningxia jointly filed a lawsuit against Yao Pingzhong, trying to pin the blame on him.

The root cause, of course, is that Yao Pingzhong had no powerful backing and did not handle his relationship with allied forces well.

Guo the Pharmacist glanced at the Emperor and suddenly sensed that something was amiss.

He was adept at reading people and situations, a survival skill honed through long-term experience in dire circumstances.

Guo the Pharmacist remained silent with his head down throughout the entire process; this was long before the campaign against the Western Xia.

He was transferred back to the Privy Council, where he became a relatively unknown figure in the military with some real power.

Guo, a pharmacist, quite enjoys this kind of life.

As I get older, it's best to avoid unnecessary trouble. Besides, I still have some power; how comfortable it would be to spend my later years peacefully in Luoyang!

Zhao Yuan remained expressionless and said to Shi Qian, "Tell me about the permanent military supervisors of the former Song Dynasty."

Shi Qian picked up another document: "The military supervisors of the former Song Dynasty were often appointed only during major battles."

"The routine supervision in the military is capricious, inconsistent, and chaotic."

"Initially, they were regional officials and local chiefs, supervising and governing the troops and generals in various places."

"That is, the civil officials controlled the military generals. Due to too many drawbacks, it was changed to the Military Generals Law during the Xifeng Reform."

"And set up officers to command troops throughout the country, no longer allowing civil officials to exercise daily control."

"At this time, the commander-in-chief is in charge of training and commanding troops, while the deputy commander-in-chief is in charge of deployment and military law."

Sima Guang overturned all the new laws, believing that the civil and military positions overlapped and wanted to abolish the Generals and Soldiers Law.

"Although the former Song Dynasty did not agree, it did not completely refuse either."

"After that, in some prefectures and counties, military officers were in charge, in some prefectures and counties, civil officials were in charge, in some prefectures and counties, both civil and military officials could make decisions, and in some prefectures and counties, neither civil nor military officials could make decisions."

"This is a compromise made by trying to smooth things over. It is not only worse than letting the military generals make the decisions, but it is even worse than letting the civil officials make the decisions."

"Orders are issued from multiple sources, leading to chaos in military law. Civil officials can manage it, military generals can manage it, but in reality, neither can manage it!"

"An army, with most of its soldiers deserting, has no one to take responsibility."

"Because anyone can take charge, civil officials push responsibility onto military officers, and military officers push responsibility onto civil officials, so in the end the court can only let it go."

"At the end of the Song Dynasty, capable ministers and generals pointed out this problem, and the Song court also ordered reforms. But the more they were reformed, the more chaotic things became!"

"First let the military officers make the decision, then let the civil officials make the decision, then let the military officers make the decision again, then let the civil officials make the decision again... This went on and on, and no consensus was reached."

"It's simply a matter of replacing civil officials with military officers if they can't manage things well."

“The military officers were not well managed, so they were all replaced by civil officials. Sometimes it was changed every five or six years, sometimes every ten years or so. With all these changes, military law was completely corrupted.”

Everyone took it as a joke, because the military law of the former Song Dynasty was indeed too absurd.

A few people secretly glanced at the emperor, unable to bring themselves to laugh.

Zhao Yuan pounded on the conference table: "The soldiers stationed in Linzhou are arbitrarily humiliating and bullying the people, yet not a single one has reported it. What are the military judges doing?"

Chapter 3884 Military Law of the Han Dynasty

Everyone stopped smiling, realizing that the emperor was not only very angry, but also wanted to crack down on the military law system.

Zhao Yuan said, "The Han Dynasty army had military officers and military supervisors."

“Military judges are military judges directly under the imperial court, and military supervisors are military judges in various units. Together they form a complete system of military supervision and military law.”

“There is a record in the Book of Han that the military judge was not under the jurisdiction of the general. If the general was guilty, he would report it, and officials below the rank of two thousand shi could be executed directly!”

Upon hearing this, even Guo Yaoshi and Yelü Yudu, who had been slacking off the whole time, were startled and immediately sat up straight.

In the Han Dynasty, military judges could actually prosecute military officers below the rank of 2,000 shi directly.

Zhang Guangdao hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, this is absolutely unacceptable! If this is implemented, the army will surely fall into chaos!"

"Minister Zhang is right," the crowd quickly echoed.

Zhao Yuan smiled and said, "Although this method existed in the Han Dynasty, no military officer has ever dared to do it."

"Back then, a rank of two thousand shi (a unit of grain measure) was equivalent to that of a prefect or governor, each with a powerful family backing them up. Which military officer would dare to execute someone arbitrarily? They would all report it to the imperial court."

The military officers, however, could not laugh.

During the Han Dynasty, there was little distinction between civil and military officials, and families could provide support.

If a civil official were to become a military judge these days, he would truly dare to execute military officers on the spot.

Zhao Yuan said, "I want to establish a Military Supervisor in the Censorate and transfer some of the powers of the Ministry of War and the Privy Council to the Military Supervisor."

"Of course, it doesn't mean taking away the power to promote, demote, reward, and punish soldiers; it only means managing criminal behavior within the army."

"The Inspectorate will establish a Military Supervisor, and then establish Military Supervisors in each department."

To put it bluntly, it means establishing a complete vertically managed military court system.

All criminal cases involving military personnel should be tried by military courts.

The military inspectors and supervisors do not interfere in the daily affairs of the army; they only oversee the criminal behavior of generals and soldiers.

The military attachés from the central government exchanged glances, none of them daring to utter a word of dissent.