Chapter 268 Eyes are red
In the eyes of the Liao emperor, Yelu Chongyuan's refusal to return to the capital was a pretense for the nobles who had lost their troops.
I don't think there is any problem.
Everyone has different interests, looks at issues from different angles, and reaches different results.
In Zhao Xing's opinion, the Liao emperor's behavior was a bit stupid, but from the Liao emperor's point of view, the more Yelu Chongyuan was unwilling to return to Shangjing, the more it showed that the nobles who lost their troops were very dissatisfied with Yelu Chongyuan.
Otherwise, Yelu Chongyuan would not have been so determined to send troops to the Song Dynasty and take revenge on it in order to give them an explanation.
"My Lord, do you think there will be chaos in the Liao Kingdom?" Zhao Xing asked.
Han Zhang shook his head and said, "Man proposes, God disposes. If Yelu Chongyuan succeeds, Liao will be in chaos. But if he fails, Liao will only be in chaos for a while, but it won't last long."
The emperor did not care whether the chaos in Liao was big or small, and said: "The great minister had previously proposed to build a Great Wall on the northern border to connect the border cities as a barrier. After careful consideration, this method is very good. However, Liao will not sit idly by and watch the Song Dynasty build the Great Wall. If there is a civil strife in Liao, it will be a good opportunity.
Yelu Chongyuan has already obtained the secret formula for the perfume. If he wants to make a move, it should be in the near future. We must plan this matter early!"
"Your Majesty is right, but it is very cold in the north now. Even if we want to prepare, we have to wait until the beginning of next spring," said Han Zhang.
The south is mountainous, but collecting stones from the south and transporting them to the north requires too much manpower and resources.
There are still many mountains in the north, and stone can only be mined from the north.
It's just that it's freezing cold in the north, so it's not convenient to mine at this time.
After the beginning of spring, it is time for spring plowing. We certainly cannot conscript a large number of laborers, so we can only wait until the spring plowing is over.
"I am worried that Yelu Chongyuan will not be able to wait until that time. If the Great Wall is not completed and the civil strife in Liao is quelled, Liao will definitely send troops." The emperor frowned.
"Father, I don't think you need to worry."
Zhao Xing smiled and said, "If Yelu Chongyuan is really successful, the civil strife in Liao will not be quelled so quickly. The King of Western Xia is ambitious and is now reorganizing his internal affairs and preparing to mobilize troops against the Tibetan tribes on the plateau. The Liao Kingdom will not sit idly by when the time comes.
With the Western Xia as a distraction, even if the civil unrest in Liao was quelled, it might not necessarily send troops to attack the Song Dynasty.
This is a rare opportunity, so we can only take a gamble. If it doesn't work, it won't matter. At most, we can use the stored stones to raise the height of the border city, so it won't be wasted."
"Your Highness, what you said is exactly what I wanted to say. If we miss this opportunity, it will be difficult to find another one in the future," said Han Zhang.
The official pondered and said, "In that case, let's make a bet. Grand Lord, please make detailed rules first, and start preparations after the spring plowing next year."
"Yes!" Han Zhang replied.
…………
Since it was certain that the Liao Kingdom would not launch an invasion, the emperor directly issued an edict to summon Duke Ying to return to the court.
In mid-December, less than half a month before the Chinese New Year, Duke Ying led his army back to Bianliang.
Zhao Xing personally led the officials of the Ministry of Rites and went out ten miles to welcome them.
Although we could not announce to the outside world that it was the Liao cavalry that were wiped out, the upper echelons all knew what was going on.
This time, nearly 10,000 Liao cavalry were wiped out, and the losses themselves were not great, which was already a rare victory.
The prince personally welcomed him, which was a great honor for the soldiers.
Zhao Xing personally read out the imperial edict and rewarded the meritorious generals.
The reward was not much. As the main general, the Duke of England was only rewarded with a royal farm and some gold, silver and cloth.
The other generals were promoted to a higher level and received some gold and silver rewards according to their merits, while some were only given gold and silver rewards.
After the imperial edict was read, the army returned to the camp in the western suburbs, while Duke Ying and other generals followed Zhao Xing into the palace.
Today the government is hosting a banquet to entertain meritorious soldiers.
For ordinary soldiers, this was a victory of moderate size and they could get some rewards.
Moreover, this expedition lasted for more than two months, during which they received full pay, and their family could barely have a good New Year. They were happy, but not extremely happy.
The ordinary soldiers of the Song Dynasty's imperial guards were divided into three levels: upper, middle and lower, and the salaries varied according to the level.
For example, the monthly salary of the top imperial guards was about 1,000 wen, or one tael of silver. In addition, there was food, which, converted into money, was about two taels of silver per month.
The average amount of money and grain added up to about 1,500 wen.
The lower quality ones are only worth about one thousand coins.
It seems like a lot, but due to the economic prosperity in the Song Dynasty, there was some inflation.
Moreover, the soldiers' salary is enough to support a large family.
A good man does not join the army. This saying was fully demonstrated in the Song Dynasty.
Although the Song Dynasty adopted a conscription system, the sources of soldiers were very complex.
It can be roughly divided into three sources. The first is tattooing and exile. If someone breaks the law and the crime is not punishable by death, he will have a tattoo on his face and be exiled.
The second is exile, which may sound similar to exile at first glance, but is actually different.
Tattooing and exiling were for crimes that had been tried and sentenced, while those sent to exile were ruffians and scoundrels.
These people who are idle and disturb public order will be sent to join the army.
The last source, and the main source of soldiers, is refugees.
There were more than 400 uprisings during the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties, and these are recorded in history books. There are definitely omissions.
The two Song dynasties lasted only a little over 300 years in total, and on average there were more than one uprising every year.
After these uprisings were put down, we couldn't just kill everyone, so resettling them became a problem.
So they recruited young and strong men from the rebels and refugees who were made homeless by the rebellion into the army.
As a result, only the elderly, the weak, women and children were left, and they were unable to rebel.
This part occupies the bulk.
However, these soldiers had almost no land at home and could only rely on their salaries to survive. At the beginning, they could barely make ends meet.
However, as more and more people joined the team, the pressure from the court increased.
So the court came up with a solution: soldiers usually received half pay, and could only receive full pay when they were guarding the border or fighting in wars.
The combat effectiveness of the Song Dynasty army was getting weaker and weaker. Although this was due to the corruption of the upper echelons, it was also related to this point.
If the soldiers can’t even support their families, who will fight to the death on the battlefield?
What's the point of serving the country? How can soldiers who can't even read have such awareness?
The idea of ordinary soldiers is very simple, they join the army just to eat the emperor's food.
If the imperial grain is not enough to fill your stomach, who cares who the emperor is or who owns the world?
The number of deserters in the army has been increasing in recent years.
Fortunately, they won the battle this time and received some rewards.
However, when the soldiers returned to the barracks and learned about the reward, there was an uproar.
The soldiers who made contributions this time were actually rewarded with land.
Depending on the number of enemies killed and the amount of merit, one can get three to five acres of land.
Of course, only those who have made enough contributions can get it.
Of the 50,000 soldiers and horses brought by the Duke of England this time, only less than 5,000 were rewarded with land.
The rest of the people only received a small reward of silver.
Even so, the other soldiers were jealous.
No matter how good the price is, an acre of land is worth several taels. A better one can be worth more than ten or even dozens of taels.
Han people have always had a special feeling towards their land. Unless they have no other choice, people who own land will hardly sell it.
Those landlords and gentry sold their land in large tracts, not just one or two acres or a few acres.
Even if they have money, it is difficult for them to buy land.
When the news came out, the soldiers who did not receive land rewards were very upset.
He hated himself for not killing two more enemies at that time, maybe they would have been rewarded with land.
Not to mention them, the other soldiers in the Western Suburbs Camp all had red eyes when they heard the news.
If troops were dispatched to the battlefield at this time, these soldiers would probably rush to go, and would be fearless and courageous when on the battlefield.
Don’t think it’s outrageous. For the poor, what they fear is not death, but poverty.
Every year there were some deserters, many of whom were caught and executed in public for the purpose of deterrence.
Even so, there are still many deserters every year.
Why would some people risk their lives to escape?
It's because being a soldier can't even support one's family, so some people would rather risk their lives to escape and find another way out.
Although most soldiers did not have the courage to escape, they were just trying to get by in the army. Who would fight to the death on the battlefield?
After all, if they died on the battlefield, the court would not give much compensation, and it would be difficult for their families to survive.
But now that people are rewarded with land for their meritorious service, who would care about their own worthless life?
After the compensation for the soldiers who died in battle was announced, many soldiers even clamored to go back to fight.
For all soldiers who died in battle, their families will be compensated with ten acres of good farmland as a pension!
And these ten acres of land are tax-free for ten years!
Is ten acres of land a lot?
It’s really not much, the annual harvest is only more than a thousand kilograms of grain.
Due to the shortage of meat, it was normal for an adult man to eat several kilograms of grain a day.
All in all, it's only enough to feed an adult man.
But these days, how can ordinary people have enough to eat every day?
Ten acres of land is enough for a family of three or five to live on if they live frugally.
Ten years later, when the children have grown up, they will be able to find other ways to make money to supplement the family income.
Ten acres of land is not a lot, but it allows them to have no worries.
…………
The official was in a good mood and drank a few more glasses during the banquet.
After the banquet, I was a little drunk and went back to my bedroom to take a nap.
At this time, Eunuch Liu reported the situation of the western suburbs camp to the emperor.
After hearing this, the official was also amazed.
It was Zhao Xing who proposed to reward the meritorious soldiers with land.
Although the progress of the farmland survey was not particularly ideal, a number of hidden fields were discovered.
These fields naturally belonged to the imperial court.
There was no reward in the past because there was no land.
Otherwise, they would not have recruited young and strong men into the army because they were unable to resettle the refugees.
The Song Dynasty has been at peace for so many years, but it still has an army of more than one million, which has almost suffocated the court. Doesn't the government want to cut down the army?
It's not that I don't want to, but I can't.
Behind every soldier there is a family. After being laid off, these soldiers have no land at home. How do their families survive?
If the army is cut by 200,000, including their families, there will be at least one million people.
If so many people lost their source of livelihood, how much chaos would it cause?
(End of this chapter)