Chapter 515 Grand Title

On the Xuandemen podium, Zhao Zhen looked at the roaring cheers below and had mixed feelings for a moment.

This is what Zhao Jun said on the first day he traveled through time.

He said that a strong country must first ensure the health of the army, and secondly the development of all aspects of the country.

If even one's own country's military is discriminated against and not valued, who can we hope to defeat powerful external enemies?

These words made Zhao Zhen start to reflect.

Because Zhao Jun is right.

Dignity is always only on the edge of the sword, and truth is only within the range of the cannon.

As a violent organ of the state, the existence of the military is full of violence and danger, and it is bound to hurt others and ourselves.

Like a double-edged sword.

But if you dare not pick up this double-edged sword because you are afraid that it will hurt you, then what will you use to block the enemy's sword when it swings at you?

This is a question worth pondering.

What's more, when the people of a country lose confidence in the army, then why should the army itself protect the country?

Therefore, the army of the Song Dynasty was weak in combat, with only numbers but no combat power, and suffered consecutive defeats.

Therefore, in the Song Dynasty, the economy was obviously developed, business was prosperous, agricultural culture was unprecedentedly prosperous, and military power was strong on paper, but in the end, even a small Xixia was able to bully them.

Based on the consideration of these issues, Zhao Zhen understood that it was time to put an end to the idea of ​​a weak army since the three generations of Taizu, Taizong, and Zhenzong.

Even though the civil service group headed by Lu Yijian tried to persuade him with the example of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, Zhao Zhen was still persuaded by Zhao Jun in the end.

It's just that Taizu Zhao Kuangyin changed the two divisions into three yamen, and transferred the military chiefs and generals away, so as to create a situation where the soldiers did not know the generals and the soldiers did not know the soldiers. This is because the lessons of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms were indeed too profound.

Moreover, the problem of redundant troops was difficult to overcome, and Zhao Zhen did not dare to attack the army easily, so he could only place his hope on Zhao Jun.

After Zhao Jun himself found out that he had actually come to the Song Dynasty and learned about the situation personally, he realized how naive he was in his talk back then, and he knew that the army's problems could not be rushed.

Therefore, even if the grandfather and grandson wanted to change this situation, after assessing the situation, they decided not to take action immediately, but to wait for a suitable opportunity.

They relied on the advantage of foresight and the miraculous effect of grenades against cavalry to win the Song-Xia War first.

Then they vigorously developed firearms and had the ability to compete with Xixia and Liao. After Qingli, they first solved the redundant officials and expenses, and finally began to attack the army.

Even so, there were many difficulties, and there were even rebellions. It can be said that it was not easy along the way.

But today, Zhao Zhen feels that all this difficulty is worth it.

He did it with his eldest grandson.

Not only did it completely solve the problem of redundant troops, it also vigorously reorganized the army, giving it a completely new look, gaining strong combat effectiveness, and becoming the world's most powerful army!

Thousands of people below Xuande Gate were still cheering. Zhao Zhen on the tower sighed with emotion and said loudly: "I announce that the military parade has begun!"

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Fireworks soared into the sky, followed by the sound of military music filling the square.

In this era without computer central control, it is really not easy to achieve such a seamless connection.

Those in the rear setting off the salutes and fireworks must be prepared at all times, and the band must always stand in front of the microphone. A slight mistake may cause an accident.

Fortunately, the court attached great importance to the performance this time and rehearsed it many times since September. The performance was not officially started until everything was guaranteed.

Otherwise, they would not be able to achieve such a perfect connection.

As the music played, the Zuoyemen palace door opened wide, and Zhang Kang was the first to walk out with his infantry phalanx.

They held their heads high and marched in uniform steps, marching majestically into the square outside Xuandemen, and then arrived outside Xuandemen with the crisp sound of military boots on the hard marble floor.

A young Jinshi from the Ministry of Rites walked up to the stage and said loudly: "What is coming to us now is our Song Dynasty infantry phalanx led by Zhang Kang, the privy envoy, and Zhang Xianggong. They are brave and fearless, and have repeatedly fought and killed the enemy. , repeatedly defeated Li Yuanhao of Xixia, and Yelv Zongzhen of Liao State attacked, and protected the country of our Song Dynasty. They are the guardians of our Song Dynasty and the heroic warriors of our Song Dynasty. Your Majesty will award medals to Xianggong Zhang and them. "

Zhang Kang rode on horseback and led the infantry phalanx outside the gate. He immediately dismounted, walked to a microphone arranged in the square outside Xuande Gate, and saluted a standard new military salute to the tower.

Zhao Zhen walked to the rostrum and said: "Xiang Gong Zhang was originally a Jinshi, but he was willing to join the army. First, as the prefect of Linyan Road, he led eight thousand cavalry deep into Xingqing Mansion, destroyed the nest of the Western thieves, and then led an army to raid Yuan Dynasty. Hao, defeated the Western thieves. I award you the title of General, the Dragon Banner Medal of the Chinese Song Dynasty!"

He talked about Zhang Kang's achievements. Zhang Kang's achievements in the early and middle stages were extraordinary. He led Di Qing and others deep into the northwest many times and defeated Li Yuanhao. He also intercepted Yelu Zongzhen during the Song-Liao campaign and captured a large number of Liao people.

Later, he followed Fan Zhongyan and made many meritorious services in the Song-Xia and Song-Liao campaigns. Together with Fan Zhongyan, he recovered the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun, which can be said to be a very great contribution.

It was precisely because of his unparalleled achievements in the early and middle stages and his status as a Jinshi that he was promoted too quickly and was directly promoted to Privy Councilor. As a result, he was unable to be sealed later and could no longer fight in the battle to destroy Xixia.

So the rest of the war could only be done by Di Qing, making Di Qing become the God of War in the second half of the war. He first destroyed Xixia and then recovered the Western Regions, losing a lot of credit.

But even so, as the general who brought Di Qing out, Zhang Kang is worthy of being the second war god of the Song Dynasty besides Fan Zhongyan. Even if Di Qing's military exploits were higher than him in the later period, he would not dare to compete for credit in front of his old boss.

Wang Shouzhong was already standing below at this time. A chamberlain next to him was holding a tray in his hand. On the tray was placed a medal made of gold and silver with a dragon pattern in the middle.

This is the highest honorary medal of the Song Dynasty today - the Dragon Banner Medal of the Chinese Song Dynasty. It represents the national flag and national emblem and can be said to be the highest honor.

After Zhao Zhen made the announcement, Wang Shouzhong put on the Dragon Flag Medal for Zhang Kang.

After all, Zhang Kang needed to lead the soldiers in a square formation, and it was impossible to temporarily run to Xuande Gate, so the matter of wearing the medal could only be left to Wang Shouzhong.

Zhang Kang waited for the medal to be put on and said loudly: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Snap, snap, snap, snap."

The audience thundered with applause again.

Zhang Kang finished his salute and returned to his horse.

Zhao Zhen continued: "Many of the soldiers selected here are meritorious soldiers who have killed the enemy on the battlefield and made meritorious service. I award you first-class merit, first-class enemy-defeating medal, and first-class national defense medal."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The soldiers below shouted together.

"Pap-pap-pap-pap."

The audience burst into applause again.

The Song Dynasty has currently designed multiple sets of military honors.

In addition to the first, second, and third-level merit medals, there are four other categories: the first-, second- and third-level merit medals for defeating the enemy, the first-, second- and third-level medals for defending the country, the combat hero medal, and the special merit medal.

Among them, the Patriotic Medal has the lowest gold content and is basically available to all soldiers who have participated in the war.

The Enemy Defeat Medal requires killing more than one enemy.

The Special Merit Medal and the Combat Hero Medal are different. They must at least change the situation of a small-scale battle, such as a special situation where one person kills dozens of people.

There are only a few fierce generals in the entire army who have won these two medals. They were the ones who fought the Xixia army to the death with cold weapons in their hands and killed many enemies in the era when there were no muskets and cannons.

For example, Wang Xin once led 2,000 people to the Security Army's Guoluo Village. Faced with the siege of tens of thousands of Xixia people, he refused to retreat. After fighting all night, he retreated to the mountains south of the village to rest for a while, and then led the soldiers in the early morning. Launched another raid and repulsed the Xixia invaders.

Also, when Zhang Kang led a surprise attack with 8,000 men, Li Yuanhao led the main force to besiege Yanzhou. Wang Zhongbao's troops were defeated in the battle, and deputy general Zhu Guan was besieged. He single-handedly entered the formation and killed Dozens of people rescued Zhu Guan.

In addition, Guo Zun also shined in this battle. He wielded the iron pestle in his hand like an unstoppable god of death. He entered the enemy camp three times and killed hundreds of enemies. He shocked Yanzhou and made the frontal battlefield tenacious to resist. Withstood Li Yuanhao's attack.

Of course, most generals of the Song Army do not have such exaggerated personal combat effectiveness, and it is difficult to influence the situation of a small-scale battle. Therefore, whether it is a combat hero medal or a special merit medal, the gold content is very high, and it is already considered the highest honor level in the army.

As for the Order of the Dragon Banner, it is not a military honor, but an imperial honor.

Not only generals who have made outstanding contributions, but also scientists who have made major discoveries, politicians who have made political contributions, etc., such as Zhao Jun and Fan Zhongyan, have actually been awarded the Dragon Banner Medal.

After awarding meritorious services to Zhang Kang and the infantry phalanx, Zhao Zhen stepped aside and the host came on stage again and said: "Next came the horse army formation led by Deputy Privy Envoy Di Qing Di Xianggong. They fought bravely and had followed Xianggong Zhang and Di Xianggong fought bloody battles, defeated Yuan Hao in the city of Gaoluo, and defeated Zongzhen in the city of Baosai. They were majestic and invincible, making the enemies of the Song Dynasty fearful and allowing the people of the Song Dynasty to enjoy peace! "

Di Qing led the cavalry team slowly to Xuande Gate, then got off his horse and walked to the microphone to salute.

Zhao Zhen said: "Di Xianggong was born in a young age, but he was determined to serve the country. When the country was in crisis, he went into battle alone many times to kill thieves and defeat the enemy. He first followed Fan Xianggong and Zhang Xianggong to defeat Xixia, and also repeatedly defeated Li Yue. When he invaded the border areas, he defeated Li Yue greatly. When he recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, he intercepted a large number of reinforcements from the Liao Kingdom with very few troops. He was extremely brave and lived up to the ambition of a general. I grant you the rank of general. The Song Empire of China Dragon Banner Medal!”

In his early days, Di Qing was actually no different from other low-level military officers such as Zhe Jimin, Zhou Mei, Guo Zun, Zhang Xi, Wang Xin, Fan Ke, Yang Wenguang, etc. He slowly climbed to the position of a mid-level and high-level officer purely by relying on his personal military exploits. .

It was not until the War to Destroy Vietnam that the first highlight appeared. Because Li Yue was quickly destroyed, he stood out for the first time with his military exploits and entered the category of senior officers, on an equal footing with veteran generals such as Ge Huaimin, Ren Fu, and Gao Jixuan.

So later, as the chief of the navy, he led three naval fleets, crossed into Shanhaiguan, intercepted more than 100,000 Liao troops who were aiding Yelu Zongzhen in the west, and won a great victory for the Western Front battlefield.

Therefore, the destruction of the Yue Li Dynasty can be said to be a turning point for Di Qing, allowing him to take charge of his own affairs. It is logical to destroy Xixia, recover the Western Regions, and destroy the kingdoms of Gaochang and Black Khan.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Di Qing kept the gesture of saluting with his right hand and stood upright, motionless.

Wang Shouzhong put a medal on him.

Zhao Zhen then awarded the cavalry first-class merit, first-class enemy-defeating medal and first-class national defense medal.

The next one is the Musket Army, led by Wang Deyong.

Old Wang only fought in the early Song-Xia War and Song-Liao War, and as Fan Zhongyan's deputy, he stabilized the army's morale.

His greatest achievement was that he held on to Baosai City in the face of Yelu Zongzhen's siege and waited for Fan Zhongyan's reinforcements.

In terms of military exploits, he certainly can't compare with Zhang Kang and Di Qing, but this guy has exaggerated qualifications and fought in the Battle of Chanzhou when he was young.

So he also has the rank of general and the Dragon Flag Medal of the Chinese Song Empire.

After the musket army, it was the generals' square formation.

That's it.

Because the generals' square formation was actually Cao Cong, Li Yonghe, and Li Zhaoliang with more than 100 major generals sitting on more than 30 chariots from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods.

Zhu Shaojiang is okay, and even Cao Cong is reasonable. After all, like Wang Deyong, he also participated in the early Song-Xia War and Song-Liao War. Although he didn't have any achievements, he at least participated in these two wars.

But Li Yonghe and Li Zhaoliang were embarrassed. They were all relatives of the emperor. In name, they were the highest generals of the three yamen, but in fact, they had no military merits. Therefore, even Zhao Zhen was embarrassed to read too much. He just said that their ancestors had made merits, and passed it over in one stroke, and said nothing more.

Later, Zhao Zhen awarded them the rank of general. Except for Cao Cong, who was awarded the first-class medal for defeating the enemy and the first-class medal for defending the country because he killed several people in the battle, the other two only had the rank of general without any other honors.

On the contrary, among the major generals, Yang Wenguang, Zhou Mei, Guo Zun, Wang Zhongbao and others fought bravely and were awarded special merits or combat heroes.

After the generals' phalanx passed, it was the rest of the phalanxes led by Lieutenant Generals such as Ge Huaimin, Ren Fu, and Gao Jixuan, such as the artillery phalanx, the vanguard phalanx, the assaulter phalanx, the navy phalanx, etc.

It is worth mentioning that.

There were also two people in the navy who were awarded major generals, one was Hu Yanshouyong, the former commander of the Dengzhou Pinghai Navy, and the other was Wang Kui, the former commander of the Binzhou Dinghai Navy.

In the Song Dynasty, the navy was not a separate branch of the military, but a vassal of the army, without the power to fight alone.

They had few personnel and few troops, so the rank of the chief officers was not high. After the establishment of the seven navies, the commanders could only be regarded as middle and lower-level officers, with only 5,000 soldiers, far from being comparable to the army.

However, Zhao Jun is now slowly developing the navy's power and plans to build more ironclad ships so that the navy can make dumplings.

After all, the Eastern Army is now invincible and should dominate the ocean.

So it is inevitable to increase the weight of the navy.

Hu Yanshouyong and Wang Kui followed Di Qing in the Battle of Shanhaiguan and made great contributions. Now they are promoted to deputy general managers of the navy and major generals. When the navy's weight rises and the number increases, it will be a matter of time before the navy is listed separately.

By then, I am afraid that it will not be the current situation where the six generals, more than ten lieutenant generals, and more than one hundred major generals of the Song Dynasty army are all army generals except Hu Yanshouyong and Wang Kui.

It should be natural for the admirals and lieutenant generals of the navy to appear.