The surface of Sheyang Lake is sparkling, and in the spring breeze, a large number of ships sail northward.

The emperor left Jiankang with all civil and military officials. The boat he was riding was vast and powerful. He passed Guangling and entered the Zhongdu River, and went from Sheyang Lake to Huaiyin on the south bank of the Huai River.

In the fleet, on the imperial boat, Emperor Xiao Xun looked at the surrounding scenery with great enthusiasm, remembering the scene when he passed by Sheyang Lake when the emperor personally marched the army the year before.

The scenery is still the same, but the mood is different this time: when you arrive in Huaiyin, you will stay and prepare for the Northern Expedition.

On the side, Li Xin, who was accompanying him, introduced the position of military supervisor to the emperor.

What is the purpose of establishing a military supervisor? Supervise operations, supervise military discipline, control generals in the army, and recommend those who commit crimes and illegal acts.

Military supervisor is a general term. The actual position has been different since the Han Dynasty: for example, the military supervisor, the military supervisor, and the military supervisor, the military commander, etc.

And his responsibilities are now shared by the military commander and the military Sima.

Preventing the rebellion of the army (main general) is only one of the duties of the army supervisor. What is the main purpose of the court setting up a military supervisor? It is to let the army fight hard.

Instead of working but not working hard and avoiding war passively.

Or they are reluctant to save their lives and retreat in the face of confrontation.

So, how should the military supervisor "supervise" the military to ensure that the generals fight seriously?

How to judge whether the general is really passive in avoiding the war, or to judge the situation and wait for the opportunity?

Or should we tell whether the generals are fighting a battle of immortals or absurdity?

Li Xin believes that it is difficult to do it because genius and mediocre people have completely different understandings of war.

"Han Xin is a new recruit, and if there is a military supervisor, the military supervisor may think that Han Xin is crazy because it is against common sense."

Li Xin gave an example, and Xiao Xun thought this example was good.

Han Xin, the Marquis of Huaiyin, fought all the battles of immortals, which ordinary people cannot understand. If they were restrained by the military supervisor, they would probably not have so many wonderful results.

Li Xin also said: "The official army attacked a certain city, and the defenders were stubborn, and reinforcements were about to arrive soon. In order to boost morale, the commander of our side tried to break the city and repel two victories of reinforcements, so he ordered the city to break the city..."

"After ordering the city to be broken, the soldiers can plunder and loot money, grain and women..."

"After the soldiers broke through the city and indulged themselves, their morale was high, and then they defeated and reinforced the enemy. What should we do? Should the supervisor stop it or sit idly by?"

Li Xin’s question surprised Xiao Xun: Is this OK?

Seeing the emperor's stunned look, Li Xin replied: "Your Majesty, winning battles is the most important thing. For the army, winning battles is its main responsibility..."

"Which army with bad military discipline but can fight hard battles and an army with good military discipline but cannot win battles, which one should His Majesty use?"

"This..." Xiao Xun found it difficult to accept. Of course, he hoped that the army would win the battle, but he did not understand why indulging soldiers to burn, kill, loot, could actually make morale soar.

Li Xin continued: "Similarly, what is the ultimate goal of establishing a military supervisor? It is to ensure that the army fights hard and wins the battle."

"In order to win a battle, some things can only be accepted by the war and then held accountable after the war is over."

"For example, a massacre of a city or a plunder in a large number of troops can be settled at that time. After the war, you must distinguish right from wrong, and do your best and wrong, and make clear rewards and punishments."

"I relied on the plunder of soldiers to maintain morale, and finally won a great victory. I should be granted the title of Duke in terms of merit. However, it is wrong to plunder soldiers to be punished. Therefore, I will be demoted and granted the title of Viscount."

"Generals can be allowed to act cheaply during wartime, but the other party is responsible for the consequences of their actions."

This is what Li Li explained to Li Xin before. Li Xin now retweeted to the emperor and gave another example:

When the war broke out, the Qingzhou army struggled to guard the cleansing, and the Xuzhou army was ordered to rescue the siege. As a result, halfway through, the Xuzhou army's mail cavalry probed the enemy's grain storage position.

Therefore, the Xuzhou army decided to attack the grain garrison instead of untiing the encirclement.

The granary was burned, and the cleaned cloth was also captured by the Qi army. However, because the granary was burned, the military rations were unsustainable and could only withdraw the troops. So the cleaned cloth was returned to the court.

So, is the behavior of Xuzhou Army considered to be a death-threatening person? Is it done right?

Xiao Xun thought about it and said tentatively: "Or... settle the accounts afterwards and make a contribution, is it too obvious?"

"It can only be done." Li Xin nodded, "If the Xuzhou army neither rescued the cleaners nor successfully attacked the places where the grain was stored, then both punishments would be punished."

"This is just looking at the results, not the process?" Xiao Xun still felt a little unacceptable.

Li Li, who was listening, replied: "Your Majesty, I think that when you fight, you will see the result. If you win, you will be easy to say anything. If you lose, what's the use of saying more?"

"The front-line generals make decisions on the spot, how to fight the battle, how to execute the orders issued by the head coach, and whether they should be executed. He weighs the pros and cons of the military, and is only responsible for reminding, warning, and declaring risks."

"If the general makes a decision, he will bear the consequences, have made contributions and demerits, and whether it is worth it, he will do it."

"However, if you disobey your order, or decide to withdraw defenses, withdraw troops, etc., you must inform your superiors in an urgent manner. Otherwise, even if you escape at the last battle or have a bad intention, this move will not be forgiven."

"There are other acts that violate military discipline during the war. After the ruling of the Military and Justice Department, kill them if they should be killed, go to jail if they should be imprisoned, and if they should be deprived of titles and dismissed from office, they will be deprived of titles and dismissed from office."

"Even if he is a royal family and a nobleman, he is no exception!"

This is the solution proposed by Li Li. He believes that abuse of military supervision or giving excessive power to military supervision will only affect the military's combat performance.

Factors outside the military (personal grievances, political factors) interfere with military decision-making.

A typical example of military supervisors’ misunderstandings is that some dynasties used eunuchs who did not know the military, but the eunuchs interfered in decision-making and led to the defeat of the army.

Weighing the pros and cons, Li Li believes that it is more appropriate to establish a military court (military court) to deter generals, even if this method is similar to the settlement of accounts after the autumn.

Military departments at all levels directly belonging to the Military and Justice Department must act as assistants in the army to go out with the army and witness the combat process of the marching when they are organized.

During the war, did a general passively avoid the war, refuse to save him or her plan to make a mistake, and would first sue him or her colleagues (such as the Chief Sima) or superior (the governor of the army)?

The Military and Justice Department makes a judgment based on testimony from all parties, including the reports of the Military Department, and draws a conclusion: whether it is guilty or not.

If you are guilty, how should you punish it?

In this way, the generals leading the troops can think clearly about the consequences when making a decision.

The marching governor may be removed from his post in wartime, but unless in special circumstances (such as the other party suspected of rebellion, defection or turning against the enemy at the last minute), the power of "entrustfulness" to kill the marching governor is not allowed.

Even if someone is killed, he will be investigated by the Military and Justice Department afterwards.

Once it is determined that it is a random killing, the marching governor will also be responsible.

Therefore, the military law trial institutions in wartime - the Military Law Department and the Military Law Department's military system must be implemented together with the marching system.

The verdicts made by the Military and Justice Department, such as the death penalty, must be strictly enforced unless the emperor has a pardon, even if the other party is a royal family or a nobleman, is a joke.

Xiao Xun heard the general say something and thought it made sense. Since this system was first tried in Lianghuai, let’s try it first.

Anyway, the Military Justice Department is in charge of the General, so it will definitely be able to effectively deter and restrain the generals' behavior during wartime.

......

Huaiyin was in the palace, and Li Li, the general who was in charge of military affairs in the palace, was busy issuing military orders and mobilizing the imperial guards to carry out various types of defense.

At the same time, orders must be issued to the surrounding garrisons and various arrangements must be made to ensure safety.

Because it involves military affairs between China and foreign countries, there are many orders. Li Li dare not be careless and has carefully read every order formulated by his staff.

The military affairs of China and foreign countries refer to the central army and foreign military affairs. The distinction standard here is the capital city (the central location).

The army stationed inside and outside the capital for many years is the central army, which includes the imperial guards;

Foreign troops generally refer to the troops under the jurisdiction of the governors of various places, and also include the soldiers under the jurisdiction of the prefectures and counties.

The central army guards the capital city and the foreign army guards the place. The two are hindering each other. If someone "supervises the military affairs of China and abroad", it means that the person is already very close to the throne.

Thinking of this, Li Li put down his pen.

Nowadays, there are two "label titles" for powerful officials:

One is "recording the affairs of the Shangshu", which refers to the control of administrative and personnel rights;

One is "governing the military affairs of China and abroad", which refers to the control of military power.

If you want to choose one of two, you must choose the latter, because only by grasping military power is the real power.

But if the military power is in hand, it may not be possible to win a battle, because the army must be able to fight and it will be meaningful to hold it in hand.

When the emperor arrived in Huaiyin, Li Li’s long-planned military reorganization (military power) plan could finally be implemented.

His goal of reorganizing the army was the central army.

Only after the central army was rectified and its combat effectiveness was enhanced can the emperor take charge and ensure the emperor's safety.

So there are all these high-sounding reasons that no one can directly oppose Li Li's plan to reorganize the army.

Once the central army is strengthened, it means that the power between the center and the local area will gradually have an advantage.

This will cause foreign troops to cause chaos and reduce the possibility of attacking the center.

As for whom the Central Army listened to after the rectification, that is another question.

The military system of China and foreign countries is the mainstream of this era, but combined with the political situation, there is a flaw: once the central army is weak, it will lead to a situation where the outside is focused on the inside.

Those foreign troops that should have guarded the place and guarded the capital will themselves become the root cause of chaos because they have lost their restraint.

Ambitionists can relied on powerful foreign troops to seize the imperial power.

The forces that it belonged to would replace the original central army and become a new central army system.

The dynasty changes in Song, Qi and Liang are very telling:

The former royal family was in conflict, and the fight between the two families continued to repeat, resulting in political chaos, and the control of the central army has always been the focus of the competition.

After years of war, the Central Army needed to go out to fight frequently, but its troops could not be replenished in time, resulting in a rapid decline in strength.
To be continued...