After the Huaixi Military Mutiny, Zhao Gou's main focus shifted from the outside to the inside, and he set out to weaken the power of the generals. The specific method is to "follow the bias".
With regard to "following the bias," the straightforward explanation is that the power of the commanders of the five major military regions, namely, Zhang, Han, Liu, Yue, and Wu, is to weaken by co-opting subordinate officers such as "army commanders" and "division commanders."
At this point, you can refer to the dialogue between Zhao Gou and Zhang Jie, the palace servant.
Zhang Jie: "The generals are too powerful. ”It was 1138 A.D., May of the eighth year of Shaoxing. A month later, Zhang Jun, the commander of the most core large military region, had already noticed this change in the direction of the imperial court.Zhao Gou: "If you say anything, there is no trace." Although there are many soldiers, they are strong when they gather, and they are weak when they are divided. ”
Zhang Jie: "Last year, Liu Guangshi was dismissed, so that Huaixi changed." Although there are good deeds today, Your Majesty will not believe them. However, it is necessary to have a technique. ”
Zhao Gou: "I have the skills to do it today, but I can only soothe the ears of the biased." ”
Zhang Jie: "Your Majesty has it, and if you have a biased heart, you will be a general." ”
Zhao Gou: "It's okay in two years." ”
At that time, the imperial court was weighted by the generals, and wanted to follow the bias to divide its momentum, Zhang Junjue.Zhang Jun is actually not bright-minded, and his political acumen is particularly poor. After the Shaoxing Peace Conference, Zhao Gou and Qin Hui joined forces to create the second "cup of wine to release military power" in the Great Song Dynasty. They were worried about Han Shizhong and Yue Fei, but they were not worried about Zhang Jun, and even pulled Zhang Jun over to be a **. The reason is that Zhang Jun is stupid, slow to react, and jealous. This kind of person is used as a gunman, and there is no problem at all.
This time, there are two main reasons why Zhang Jun reacted so quickly:
One is that he is closest to the core. In addition to the royal guards, the three yajun were guarded by Zhang Jun's camp to protect Zhao Gou's safety. At this point, not to mention that Yue Fei can't compare, even Han Shizhong can't compare.
The second is that he has suffered greatly from it. Yang Yizhong, Zhang Jun's right-hand man, had already been forcibly dug into the Sanya Army by Zhao Gou in the way of "following the bias", and by the way, Yang Yizhong also took away the army.
It will be Zhang Jun's strong general, and the soldiers are Zhang Jun's elite soldiers.
As a result, Zhao Gou took all of them away as soon as he talked about politics. Zhang Jun has always been haunted by this matter. But he didn't have Han Shizhong's domineering, and he was even more greedy for Zhao Gou's military expenses and equipment, so he could only endure it.
At this time, we are reviewing: Why did Zhao Gou try to make peace with the public?
Whether or not the peace talks are successful or not has a direct bearing on whether or not his grand strategy of "following the bias" can be implemented. Moreover, Zhao Gou said that it could be completed in two years. Therefore, he especially needs a period of peace between Song and Jin for at least two years. If you fight in the past two years, not only will you not be able to "follow the bias", but you will also have to empower the generals.
But the question is: what about two years from now?
Two years later, Zhang, Han, Yue, Wu and other commanders of the large military regions all left their classes, and the Southern Song Dynasty was left with a bunch of army commanders and division commanders, that is, commanders. At that time, the Jurchen Dajin will attack again and destroy the Song Dynasty, who else can you rely on?
Rely on the three yajun army. That is, the traditional ** forbidden army of the Great Song Dynasty.
In the Northern Song Dynasty, almost all the elites of the Song army were in the three yamen, that is, the three yamen of the palace front division, the horse military division, and the infantry military division. However, in the early Southern Song Dynasty, almost all the elite of the Song army were in the camp, that is, the five camps in the front and back, the left and right.
After Liu Guangshi got out of class, the left guard army of Xingying rebelled collectively, creating a military mutiny in Huaixi. Since then, there are still four remaining Xingying escort troops, that is, the four main corps in the hands of the commanders of the four major military regions of Zhang, Han, Yue, and Wu.
What about the Sanyajun?
The Miaoliu mutiny in the third year of Jianyan was actually a mutiny of the Praetorian Guards. Since then, Zhao Gou has completely lost his army. can only let Zhang Jun take Zhang Jiajun to be his bodyguard.
Zhang Jun served as a bodyguard until Shaoxing for five years. After that, Zhang Jun left the town and became the commander of the large military region, and no longer served as a bodyguard. What about Zhao Go's safety?
Zhang Jun's subordinate Yang Yizhong was in charge.
This is actually "following the bias" and digging into the corners. Because Yang Yizhong's troops were also dug up from the Zhang family army by Zhao Gou. Yang Yi's central division was first organized into the Shenwu Middle Army, and then merged into the Dianqian Division of the Sanya Army.
At that time, only the palace front division of the Shenwu Chinese Army was still considered to have some combat effectiveness. As for the Ma Jun Division and the Infantry Military Division, not only is the scale pitifully small, but the combat effectiveness is a mess, and it is basically full.
Of course, one Yang Yizhong is not enough. Zhao Gou also dug up Zhao Mi, Xie Qian, Liu Xi, Liu Qi, Wang Yan and others half-concealed and half-hidden.
Zhao Mi, like Yang Yizhong, is also Zhang Jun's right-hand man, so capable that even Han Shizhong wants to dig him.
Xie Qian was originally a general of the Western Army, and later served as a pacification envoy, first under the command of Prime Minister Zhao Ding, and later as Zhao Gou's Praetorian Guard.
Liu Xi and Liu Qi brothers are not only generals of the Western Army, but also candidates for the forbidden army behind the generals.
Wang Yan is mainly because he has an eight-character army in his hand that can fight well. But his own resume has too many impurities, and if he calculates it carefully, he must be classified into Zong Ze's Kaifeng system.
Therefore, Zhao Gou only needs his army, not his people. The Bazi Army merged with the Ma Junsi in the Sanya Army, and was led by Liu Qi, who was rooted in Miaohong.
In addition to digging high-quality generals, Zhao Gou also tried every means to recruit elite soldiers.
Bingyin, Zhao Sichuan set up the ambassador Xi Yiqu to recruit Western soldiers. At the beginning, the fate benefited from the group of people to choose two thousand young and strong people from three roads, and the family went to the line to serve as a guard. Yiyan has sent thousands of soldiers out of the gorge to guard Yan Yan's troops, so his fate is interesting.After the Battle of Fuping, many soldiers of the Western Army fled to Sichuan, and then they were mainly absorbed by Wu Jue and Wu Xuan brothers. But these ownerless high-quality soldiers can vote for the Wu brothers or the Great Song Emperor. Therefore, Zhao Goucai arranged for Xi Yi, the ambassador of Sichuan to recruit the Praetorian Guards in Sichuan.
At this point, we have to admit that although Zhao Gou was desperate, he was the emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty who knew the army and the war best. He at least knew that fighting a war depended on elite soldiers, and he also knew where to find elite soldiers.
It is also digging corners, recruiting high-quality generals, and working hard to recruit high-quality troops, of course, it must also supply the most sophisticated ** and the most scarce war horses, Zhao Gou has been quietly operating for many years. By the time of the Song-Jin Peace Conference, had the combat effectiveness of the Sanya Army, as the Royal Forest Army, improved? And to what level?
In 1136 A.D., in the Battle of Lotus Pond, Yang Yizhong's troops defeated the puppet Qi East Route Army, and the Sanya Army became famous in the first battle. There is no special introduction to this battle. Because it's not necessary. A group of pseudo-Qi strong men with foxes and fake tigers, who may not even be able to fight bandits, how can they defeat a well-equipped royal forest army? Yang Yizhong can smash out five thousand elite horses as soon as he makes a move. This card is not even played by the Yuejia Army, the first army of the Southern Song Dynasty. Therefore, the battle of Lotus Pond is completely negligible.
But the Battle of Shunchang in 1140 AD was a veritable pinnacle. In Shunchang City, Liu Qi's headquarters of the Sanya Army faced Wanyan Zongbi, the strongest main force and number one general of the Jin Army. Under the condition that the situation was extremely passive and the strength was extremely asymmetrical, this Great Song Imperial Forest Army not only won more with less and repelled the Jin army firmly, but also fought vigorously and skillfully. City battles, battle battles, toughness, and tricks were all played. More than 100,000 Jin Jun was scrapped, and Wanyan Zongbi himself was also tired of "qi disease" and "vomiting blood".
But the problem is: the main task of the Sanya Army at that time was to defend the emperor and defend Xingzai, at most it was to defend Lin'an, which was Zhao Gou's royal forest army. Why were they sent to the forefront to fight against the main force of the Jin Army? At the same time, how can a Royal Forest Army defeat the main force of the Jin Army even if it can fight?