Do You Know?: I, the Little Cabinet Elder, Regent of the World.

Chapter 253 Temporarily taking charge of the two capitals and fourteen routes!
February is a slightly chilly month.

Wenyuan Pavilion.

On the small wooden table, which was about ten feet long, were dozens of documents. Jiang Zhao picked up one of them and began to ponder.

Beside him, Zhao Shen sat obediently on a small stool, holding a small cup of honey water in his little hands and sipping it.

Besides the honey water, there are also some chewy, thumb-sized dumplings in the cup.

"Ah."

With a soft "hmm," Zhao Shen chewed on the rice balls, swinging his legs, his eyes slightly narrowed, his round little face full of contentment.

Jiang Zhao picked up the document, glanced at it calmly, and couldn't help but smile gently.

How wonderful it is to be at such a carefree age!
Unlike him, who bore the weight of two capitals and fourteen routes on his shoulders, fearing to fail the people of the world, he dared not slacken his efforts even slightly.

Bitter!

To be precise, Jiang Zhao temporarily took on the responsibility for the two capitals and fourteen circuits, and for the well-being of the people!
Even though the Grand Chancellor has gone to the border, the cabinet still needs to function.

This heavy responsibility could only be undertaken by someone of high moral character and prestige, someone trusted by the monarch, so naturally it fell on Jiang Zhao's shoulders without any doubt.

It's not unusual for the capable to do more work!
"call!"

Jiang Zhao let out a long breath, rubbed his shoulder, and shook his head.

To be honest, the burden on the people is indeed "heavy"!
Compared to the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, the Chief Minister certainly has a much tougher job.

This is mainly a result of the "division of labor and red-clad responsibilities" among the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet.

The phrase "division of labor and wearing red" is exactly what it sounds like.

In fact, not every memorial submitted to the cabinet would be openly discussed by the six Grand Secretaries. Only a small fraction of the memorials were qualified to be discussed by the six Grand Secretaries.

The main reason for this was that the sheer volume of memorials submitted to the cabinet was simply too large.

The Three Departments and Six Ministries, the Five Directorates and Nine Courts, the various offices in the capital, the frontier government offices, the censors, and local officials.
Without exception, all memorials concerning "politics" had to be submitted to the cabinet.

The sheer volume of memorials was enormous.

In particular, the Three Departments and Six Ministries, which are involved in all aspects of governance, would submit at least a dozen memorials to the cabinet every day.

This only includes the memorials from the Three Departments and Six Ministries. If we include the memorials from local governments, the capital, and border offices, the number would be anywhere from a dozen or twenty to seventy or eighty per day.

Generally speaking, there were about fifty or sixty portions.

Such a volume of memorials would be impossible to process if all six Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet worked together.

Thus, the concept of "division of labor" among the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet came about.

The six Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet might have been responsible for different things: some for memorials from the Three Departments, some for memorials on official administration, and some for memorials from local authorities...

The division of labor for wearing red robes is mainly arranged by the Grand Secretary. The rotation may be every three to five days or every hundred days or so, depending on the Grand Secretary's habits.

Only in this way, with the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet each fulfilling their respective duties, can the governance of the country be effectively achieved without any blockages in government affairs.

The chief minister was not responsible for submitting a single memorial to the emperor.

The Grand Secretary's duties included arranging the tasks for the other five Grand Secretaries to wear red robes and "reading" the memorials submitted by the other five Grand Secretaries after they had worn red robes.

In theory, a memorial would then pass the scrutiny of two Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, one of whom would be the Chief Grand Secretary.

Ultimately, there are generally three types of memorials that would be "openly discussed in politics" and then "re-emblazoned with red ink":

Firstly, the Grand Secretary believed that the red robes were controversial and rather difficult to handle.

Secondly, there are memorials concerning accountability.

Any memorial that involved disaster relief, the imperial examinations, or sacrificial rites, which might entail significant responsibility, would be included in the category of "openly discussing politics," no matter how small the possibility of responsibility might be.

Third, some government decrees that are about to be promulgated.

Given the size of the two capitals and fourteen circuits, the cabinet would issue about a dozen documents of varying sizes every day, which was the source of most of the work for the Hanlin compilers in drafting imperial edicts.

Compared to the other Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, the Chief Secretary of the Cabinet has to review dozens of memorials a day and consider some decrees to be issued, so it is naturally not an easy job.

Suffering is perfectly normal!
Of course, despite the hardships, the power was immense.

The Grand Secretary has the authority to inspect the red robes, which means that the Grand Secretary has the final say on the draft recommendations.

By having the power to decide on draft proposals, one could likely influence the emperor's decisions.

If a monarch is negligent in governing, the dozens of memorials to be reviewed every day would be too tiring, and he would most likely directly adopt the cabinet's suggestions, thus amplifying the power of the prime minister.

It was tough, but also exhilarating!
More than fifty documents were placed in a corner of a wooden table.

Jiang Zhao shook his head, pondered for a moment, and then picked up three of them.

These are the three most important documents.

The first document, submitted by two high-ranking officials from the Liangzhe River system, records the results of Champa rice cultivation in the Liangzhe River system.

In the third year of the Xifeng era, Jiang Zhao sent two letters.

A letter was sent to Xihe Road, instructing Wu Kui, the pacification commissioner of Xihe Road, to search for cotton and attempt to cultivate it.
A letter was sent to Jiangdu County in Huainan East Circuit, instructing Magistrate He Zhen to transport some Champa rice seeds to the Liangzhe River system and to have the officials of Liangzhe Circuit promote and pilot the program.

Among them, cotton seeds have been found and bred by Wu Kui.

Due to the limited number of seeds, there was no time for large-scale pilot planting.

The Champa rice grown in the Liangzhe River system has also yielded results.

A bumper harvest! A great harvest!

In just about 200 days, the Champa rice has already matured twice.

In the same amount of time, the growth cycle of japonica rice is 180 days, and it can only mature once.

The difference between double-cropping rice and single-cropping rice is evident.

In terms of grain production, planting Champa rice almost doubled the yield.

Furthermore, Champa rice has the advantages of being drought-resistant and flood-resistant, ensuring a stable harvest regardless of drought or flood.

With its high yield, short maturity cycle, and guaranteed harvest regardless of drought or flood, it's easy to foresee that this is a crop that is crucial to people's livelihoods and their ability to feed themselves.

The only downside is that it has a slightly astringent taste.

But that's not important. For ordinary people at the bottom of society, filling their stomachs is the only real issue.

The poor taste of rice is a problem that only officials would worry about.

Champa rice must be promoted!
However, there are many different opinions on how to promote it.

In any case, administrative power must be involved, otherwise nothing can be accomplished.

The second document, submitted to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue, mainly contained statistical data on grain transport.

Since October of last year, the Ministry of Revenue has appropriately raised the price of grain in the border regions to encourage merchants to transport grain into the border areas.

This tactic proved to be very effective.

With grain supplies transported for half a year, the border regions have ample provisions, and the Zhou Dynasty no longer faces any grain shortages.

This document is important mainly because it belongs to the "accountability" type of document.

The six Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet wore red robes together, signifying that if there were any problems with food supplies on the frontier in the future, all six would share the responsibility.

The third document was written by Jiang Zhao.

disarmament!

Jiang Zhao picked up the "disarmament" document, frowned, and temporarily tossed it under the wooden table.

In the second year of the Xifeng reign, a reform of the bureaucracy was implemented.

In the third year of the Xifeng reign, economic reforms were implemented, allowing the economy to recover and thrive.

In the fourth year of the Xifeng reign, it was naturally time for military reform.

However, now is not a good time to reduce the military.

Due to unrest on the frontier, troop reductions cannot be implemented for the time being to avoid undermining morale.

The real opportunity for disarmament will come after a great victory.

Moreover, disarmament is not as simple as it seems; a slight misstep could even lead to the downfall of the nation.

Throughout history, disarmament has been a difficult task, mainly involving two major challenges:
First, how to deal with the laid-off soldiers?
Generally speaking, soldiers are on a "lifetime" contract.

One can be a soldier for a day, and remain a soldier for life, thus receiving military pay for a lifetime.

Reducing the number of soldiers, if done too drastically, could easily provoke a rebellion.

Furthermore, many of the soldiers were homeless refugees.

Once laid off, with nowhere to go, the only option is rebellion.

Second, how to deal with the military elites?
Military families and noble families enjoy continuous wealth and numerous sources of profit.

One of the major sources of profit is exploiting soldiers!

The practice of exploiting soldiers can be divided into two main types: embezzling military pay and misappropriating military pay.

Among these, receiving a salary without working is the main source of income.

According to the "Ten Matters on Military Affairs," the cost of a single soldier in the Imperial Guard, including clothing, provisions, special allowances, and imperial remuneration, was approximately 50,000 coins per year; the cost of a single soldier in the Garrison Army was approximately 30,000 coins per year. In other words, considering clothing, provisions, special allowances, and imperial remuneration, the annual salary of a soldier in the Imperial Guard was about 50 strings of cash, and that of a soldier in the Garrison Army was 30 strings of cash.

This figure includes the consumption of clothing and food, as well as some subsidies.

In reality, the amount of money that actually reached the Imperial Guards and the local militia was only about ten or twenty strings of cash; the rest was converted into clothing and food.

However, since there is no "real person" in a ghost employee position, there is no consumption of clothing, food, or subsidies.

In total, it would amount to thirty or fifty strings of cash, and military and noble families could indeed receive thirty or fifty strings of cash.

This is not a small amount of money.

For an ordinary family of five, the annual expenses would only be twenty or thirty strings of cash.

It's like earning the living expenses of two households (ten people) by collecting the salary of one soldier without actually working, which is quite a huge profit.

As a result, many powerful military and noble families were actually receiving salaries without working.

The situation might be better on the frontier; in an army of five thousand, at least four thousand of them would be real people.

In non-border areas, especially in local militias, at least two thousand of the five thousand soldiers in an army are fictitious dummies.

Some even go so far as to have three thousand fake people!

The severity of the problem of receiving salaries without working is evident.

That is precisely why, once the military is downsized, the military families and nobles will definitely cause trouble.

After all, downsizing will inevitably involve recounting the actual number of soldiers; otherwise, the downsizing will be pointless.

For military and noble families, however, recounting the true number of soldiers was no less important than "land surveying".

This naturally caused a commotion.

This means that the powerful and influential families within the military must be dealt with.

Soldiers and nobles were dealt with.

Of the two major problems, solving the issue of soldiers is actually not difficult.

Soldiers were displaced people with nowhere to go, a problem that might have been a challenge in other eras.

But now, with the expansion of the Xihe frontier into twelve prefectures, there is simply no one to cultivate the land.

For soldiers, having their own land would undoubtedly be an excellent thing.

Therefore, the problem of soldiers is easy to solve.

However, dealing with powerful and noble families is not an easy task.

Profiting from soldiers' blood is incredibly lucrative, even surpassing the profits of salt trading.

This means that the court's approach of offering concessions may not be effective.

Disarmament is destined to be a tough battle!
"Tsk tsk~!"

Jiang Zhao squinted and shook his head.

Perhaps, there's a chance to try and see if the ironclad certificate can grant immunity from death?
Hedong Road, Daizhou.

The Chinese military tent.

On a long table, about ten feet long, was a geomantic map depicting the Zhou, Western Xia, and Liao dynasties.

Han Zhang, Gu Tingye, and Wang Shao gathered together, pointing and whispering from time to time.

(As shown in Figure 1: The locational relationship between the Liao Kingdom and Hedong Road)

(As shown in Figure 2: The relationship between Daizhou in Hedong Road and Yingzhou in the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun)
From three people or less, civil and military ranks were assigned.

On the civil side, the main group consisted of local officials, including the Pacification Commissioner of Hedong Circuit, the Deputy Pacification Commissioner, and the Transport Commissioner.

On the military side, there were both veterans and young talents, including Zhang Ding, Zheng Xiao, Yao Si, Yang Wenguang, Guo Kui, and Zhong Shidao.

People would occasionally glance at Han Zhang, secretly watching him.

The view that Gu Tingye and Wang Shao are equals, with no distinction in status, is almost universally acknowledged.

For the two to be allowed to enter the border together, there must be a highly respected and meritorious person above them who can keep them in check.

Otherwise, there is no need to discuss anything.

Therefore, many people thought that it might be that Grand Secretary Jiang was going to the border, or simply that one of Gu or Wang was to take charge of border affairs.

But who would have thought that it would be the Grand Master himself who went to the frontier?
However, to be fair, this guy really did manage to keep the two of them in check.

After all, this was the "number one" figure who had ruled the country for twelve years.

For a moment, only the faint voices of Han Zhang, Gu Tingye, and Wang Shao could be heard in the tent.

After about an incense stick's time, it seemed that the discussion had reached a conclusion. Gu Tingye and Wang Shao withdrew one after another, while Grand Master Han Zhang held the geomantic map, looking thoughtful.

The situation on Hedong Road is not chaotic.

On the Liao side, Yelü Hongji personally led the expedition, stationing 100,000 cavalry in Yingzhou, a truly grand undertaking.

However, with the fate of the Western Xia ruler looming before them, the vast majority of the army was destined to linger around Yelü Hongji, not daring to stray too far.

The 100,000 cavalry were divided into several routes, but the vast majority of the troops were in the central army where Yelü Hongji was located.

This means that what appears to be a large-scale military operation actually fails to achieve the intended effect of a large-scale military operation.

In reality, it was a large-scale clash between two armies with a larger number of participants, rather than a large-scale strategic engagement.

Han Zhang held the geomantic map firmly in his hand, nodding repeatedly.

He was actually quite familiar with Hedong Road.

In fact, not only was he familiar with it, but his disciple Jiang Zhao was also very likely familiar with it.

In the past, he was demoted to a remote area and moved around several times, eventually serving as a high-ranking official in a region. His disciple Jiang Zhao observed the administration for five years.

One of his posts was on Hedong Road.

"Hmm~!"

"If we include the more than 20,000 elite troops brought from the capital, the Hedong Road has 110,000 soldiers."

After careful consideration, Han Zhang looked down and ordered, "Issue the following order: Gu Tingye and Wang Shao will each lead 30,000 troops to form the left and right armies. Zheng Xiao and Zhang Ding will each lead 10,000 troops, and Yao Si, Zhong Shidao, Guo Kui, Yang Wenguang, Yan Da, and Zhe Kexing will each lead 5,000 troops, making a total of 50,000 troops to form the central army."

"The 20,000-strong Falcon Army can be divided among the left and right wings, each receiving 5,000, and the central army 10,000."

"promise!"

Everyone in the tent responded in unison.

On the surface, Han Zhang only arranged the command of eight or nine men, but in reality, the arrangements had already been made.

Every military general with a name or surname has, to some extent, his own "team".

The distribution has been largely completed, but the specifics of how it will be done will depend on the individual generals' habits.

Han Zhang will not get too involved in this detail.

"Yanmen Pass connects to Datong, a major town in northern Shanxi, to the Mongolian Plateau in the north, and Taiyuan, a major town in central Shanxi, in the south. Its mountains and valleys are wide and suitable for horse-drawn marches, and it has always been the main passage for nomadic cavalry to move south."

"This time, Yelü Hongji has stationed troops in Yingzhou. It is likely that he is just changing the name but not the substance, and he will definitely attack Yanmen Pass."

"If that's the case, then we'll mainly plant bombs along the canyons and mountains of Yanmen Pass, trapping them like turtles in a jar."

"If the bombs explode, either the horses will be injured or frightened, and the army will surely be routed."

"At that time, the more than 20,000 hawk soldiers will be able to play a significant role."

Han Zhang earnestly instructed: "Remember, whenever bombs are involved, the armored infantry should be the main force in formation, with the hawk-breaking troops as a secondary force. Horses must not be involved, lest they startle the formation."

"promise."

Everyone in the main tent bowed again.

The existence of bombs was no secret to military officers.

Ultimately, if even the commanding generals didn't know about the bombs, then the secrecy was truly excessive.

What should truly be kept secret is the bomb's formula, not the bomb itself.

The relevant arrangements were given out one by one, and the civil and military officials in the tent withdrew one after another.

"Finally, we can avenge this humiliation!"

Han Zhang stood with his hands behind his back, gazing into the distance with a deep and thoughtful look.

Those who hold the highest positions in the government have only two major pursuits:

1. A safe and secure landing.

Second, their fame will last forever.

With his disciple Jiang Zhao succeeding him, all that's left is for him to wash away his shame and be remembered for all time!

……

(End of this chapter)