Chapter 36 6. Control its money and collect its elite soldiers

As a generation of emperors, Zhao Kuangyin's life style has always been frugal.Although he was born in an official family, his family was not very wealthy when he was young. Later, he was appreciated by Zhou Shizong and made great progress, and he did not indulge in pleasure.When he became emperor, although he called on old subordinates such as Shi Shouxin and Wang Shenqi to give up military power and enjoy themselves in time, he still lived a simple life. There are many records about Zhao Kuangyin's frugal life in historical materials: except for going to court, he usually wears common clothes, and the curtains in the palace are also the simplest blue cloth.Zhao Guangyi once advised him to decorate the court well, otherwise it would damage the majesty of the emperor, but he said sternly: "Our family in Jiamaying also lived this kind of life when we were young. Why should we waste extravagantly to satisfy our own desires now?" How about it?" Zhao Kuangyin's favorite Princess Yongkang once wore a dress with embroidered emerald greens, which looked very beautiful, and everyone praised her.The princess showed it to Zhao Kuangyin proudly, but he scolded him: "How many kingfisher feathers are wasted for such a dress, if everyone imitates you to make this kind of dress, wouldn't it be a waste of more? Clothes are only for keeping warm from the cold, and you are not allowed to wear such clothes in the future!"

From these little things, it can be seen that Zhao Kuangyin is not a extravagant and wasteful person.But for the officials of the Song Dynasty at that time, the Zhao Kuangyin they felt might be the opposite of this. By modifying the institutional settings and gradually reducing the powers of local officials, Zhao Kuangyin strengthened the centralized power of the Song Dynasty and allowed the court to directly control more places.On this basis, he implemented a new legal system to further strengthen the power of the central government and achieve the goal of a strong monarch and a weak minister.

In the second year of Qiande, that is, AD 964, the army of the Song Dynasty had conquered many territories in the south. The land in the south, which had not suffered war for a long time, was very rich. Both Chengdu and Jinling were developed in handicrafts, textiles and agriculture. area.Seeing this situation, Zhao Kuangyin said to Prime Minister Zhao Pu: "The south is rich in products, and the officials in these places are also richer than other places, and the government's tax and other income are also higher than other places. If things go on like this, will they have more energy to do things? Something else?"

Zhao Pu said: "The north has been fighting for years, and the people have suffered from military disasters. They cannot engage in stable production, so the economy is also backward. The south is relatively stable and naturally richer than the north. The income of officials will definitely be imported to the court in the future. It seems that this is also the case. Good thing!" Zhao Kuangyin said: "What if they take the wealth for themselves? Since ancient times, only those who have financial resources have the strength to do other things. Recruiting troops and buying horses, which one does not require money?"

Zhao Pu said: "The minister once suggested to His Majesty that controlling local finances is also a way to make them bow their heads." Zhao Kuangyin said: "That's exactly what I mean. It's just that the taxes in various places are sent to the imperial court according to the rules, and there is no place that exceeds the law. How should the financial resources of these places be controlled so that they will not be ambitious?" Zhao Pu said: "Could it be the king's land on the shore of the land. As long as His Majesty has the will, can you take all the property back to the imperial court with an order?"

Zhao Kuangyin asked: "What good plan do you have?" Zhao Pu said with a smile: "Your Majesty has always been frugal, and birthday celebrations are not extravagant every year. Now that you have such an idea, why not expand the palace in the name of birthday celebrations. I believe that officials from all over the world will not dare to send property to the capital. No." Zhao Kuangyin nodded and said: "Although I never advocate waste, it is also a good way to use this opportunity to control the local money valley. You can order accordingly!" According to Zhao Kuangyin's instructions, a new decree was issued to various states and counties: the emperor's birthday is about to be celebrated, and in order to promote the majesty of the Song Dynasty, the palace needs to be expanded.In addition to the necessary funds left by the states and counties in various places, the rest of the wealth, whether it is currency or jewelry, must be sent to the capital.

Officials from all states and counties knew well that the emperor lived a frugal life, but this time he suddenly wanted to celebrate his birthday and repair the palace. Although he was puzzled, he did not dare to disobey his orders. Sent to Kaifeng. Seeing the continuous tribute of property from all over the country, Zhao Guangyi and others thought that Zhao Kuangyin had finally got the hang of it and wanted to live a luxurious life like an emperor, so they said to Zhao Kuangyin: "Now the national power of the Song Dynasty is increasing year by year, and there are many financial surpluses, and all places are making money. You have offered a lot of treasures, and it is time for you to enjoy them. The number of servants in the palace is only a few hundred due to the reduction, and the clothes worn by His Majesty have been washed many times. Let you go on living like this."

Zhao Kuangyin said: "Do you think that I let all the localities enter the Valley of Donations for my enjoyment? Take a look at the treasures that have been included in the national treasury this time. It should be ambitious. I put them away now for the long-term stability of the country!" Princess Yongkang, who was reprimanded because of her clothes before, heard that treasures were offered from all over the country, and hurried into the palace, hoping that Zhao Kuangyin could reward herself, but she was sternly rejected.Zhao Kuangyin said to her: "These properties are owned by the state, how can I just give them to you?"

Although Princess Yongkang was aggrieved, she did not dare to make such a request again, but she saw that the imperial chariots Zhao Kuangyin was riding on were old things from the Later Zhou Dynasty, so she said: "These imperial chariots are all from the Later Zhou Dynasty. I would like to replace it, but now that the paint is peeling off, it looks a bit dilapidated, so why not redecorate it with gold and emeralds, it will definitely be much more majestic!" Zhao Kuangyin said: "Don't talk about using gold to decorate chariots, even if it is used to decorate palaces, I can do it. It's just that gold is owned by the state. I should keep money for the world, not satisfy myself."

Although a lot of property and treasures were donated from various places, Zhao Kuangyin still maintained his hard work style and placed all these properties in the treasury.He and Zhao Pu discussed how to continue this move. Zhao Pu suggested: "All localities donate money and grain to the imperial court, so there is no room for other things. But only in the name of celebrating birthdays and repairing the palace, after all, it will not last long. To fix this requirement, you must promulgated by decree." Zhao Kuangyin nodded in agreement, and said to Zhao Pu: "This time, I asked people from all over the country to donate, so I realized that they each have so much gold and silver in their collections. If they accumulate every year, how much will they have? The money valley and the army are the same. The truth is, after long-term accumulation, it will definitely grow gradually, so we have to guard against it.”

Zhao Pu also said: "As early as the Zhou Dynasty, Sejong proposed to strengthen the management of the armies in various places, but the emphasis was on strengthening the strength of the border defense. Now we want to manage the army, should we start from this aspect?" Zhao Kuangyin shook his head and said: "Chai Rong asked all regions to strengthen the army to facilitate the battles in various places. But now that the country is gradually peaceful, strengthening the army will definitely make the generals feel self-reliant. What I want to strengthen now is not their army, but The military strength of the imperial court makes all the Jiedu envoys fear the central government instead of making them stronger than the central government." Zhao Pu said: "Now that the local financial resources are insufficient, it is impossible to garrison troops. Bringing their money to the central government can also control the expansion of their army. The military strength of the Jiedushi is not enough to fight against the imperial court." Zhao Kuangyin said: "This is not enough. We should also draw out all the strong and good soldiers from the army from all over the country to form a forbidden army team that I can directly control. Such a team is the most effective in the country. , not only can put down rebellions in any place, but most importantly, it can warn all places so that they don't dare to do anything wrong or have any delusions." In accordance with Zhao Kuangyin's instructions, another decree was issued in the second year, 965 A.D., to carry out the donation of money from all over the country as a regular order to ensure that all states and counties will not save money except for the necessary funds. If there is a lot of money and goods, if you have any special needs, you must ask the imperial court for funding.At the same time, Zhao Kuangyin also strengthened his control over the army, drawing good fighters from the army in various places to form the forbidden army.The imperial army formed was directly led by the emperor, and some were stationed in Gyeonggi to protect the safety of Kaifeng; the other part was stationed outside Kaifeng, echoing the capital. For the newly formed Forbidden Army, the management system is also different from before.As a tradition of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin's system of dividing troops into forbidden and compartments was followed by his successors and became a major feature of the Song Dynasty's military system.Among them, the forbidden soldiers are the main part of the army, and the number of soldiers is more than one million. The main task is to garrison the capital and be ready for conquest at any time; rotation.For the commanding generals, young and unrooted people are mostly selected, and they are frequently changed at the same time, in order to ensure that the soldiers do not know the generals, and there will be no special soldiers.Xiangbing is different. They are mainly responsible for city building, road repairing, transportation and other miscellaneous tasks. They are a kind of standing soldiers and are commanded by the guards. After achieving the goal of "sugar, silk and salty gathering Wangji", the local feudal towns have long lost the economic backing to fight against the central dynasty.Coupled with the inability to station troops, Zhao Kuangyin truly achieved the goal of "controlling his money and collecting his elite soldiers".The effect of this measure has a long-term impact. After hundreds of years of troubled times, the relationship between the central and local governments was finally reached. The government in the early Song Dynasty achieved stability for a certain period of time. Obey the capital and realize the powerful rule of the central government.His successors in later generations also realized the benefits of these measures, so they followed suit in the name of "law of the ancestors", which was strictly abided by the monarchs and ministers of all dynasties during the more than 300 years of rule in the Song and Song Dynasties.