From a system point of view, the northern Song Dynasty was responsible for dispatching troops and dispatching generals, and the chief officers in it were usually military generals.
At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, who was the highest official of the Three Yas?
We are not strangers to this person, the "big villain" Gao Li who started at the beginning of "Water Margin".
There is no doubt that Gao Li is a traitor who has not been written into the Biography of a Traitor. Although many bad things written by The author of "Water Margin", Shi Nai'an, may not be done by Gao Li, he has not formed a party to private fish and meat people. However, even Gao Li and Gao Taiwei still fell behind in the selection of the "Six Thieves", which shows how dense the bad guys in the bureaucratic class during the Song Huizong period were.
How did Gao Li get its origins?
The answer is clear to everyone, kickball.
However, the real history is somewhat different from the claims in "Water Margin". In his early years, Emperor Huizong of Song was only a prince who could not fight with the crown prince's eight rods, and if it were not for the fact that the former emperor was childless, it would not be his turn to come to his brother and brother. There were a number of dog parties around Duan Wang, and Jinqing, the horse king, was among them. This Wang Jinqing was also a prodigal son, similar to Duan Wang's preferences, so the two smelled the same.
Many of the bad deeds of Emperor Huizong of Song when he was the prince were accomplished at the instigation of Wang Jinqing. As Emperor Shenzong's horse master, Wang Jinqing's princess guarding the golden branches and jade leaves was still not satisfied, and he still had three wives and four concubines outside, but Emperor Shenzong turned a blind eye to this. If Wang Jinqing is placed in other dynasties, most of them will be unable to save their lives.
Once, the two got together, and Duan Wang wanted to comb his hair without a comb (another said to be a shaving grate), so he borrowed one from Wang Jinqing. Duan Wang found that even if it was a common gadge in life, Wang Jinqing was also very particular. Wang Jinqing's grate knife is carved with beautiful jade and is quite exquisitely made.
Duan Wang was very fond of this gadget and said to Wang Jinqing: "This thing is so beautiful, can you help me make one?" Wang Jinqing immediately replied, "It just so happens that my family still has a lot of materials, and I will let people carve a set for you in a moment." "When the grate is carved, who should be sent to give it to King Duan?" Naturally, it was Wang Jinqing's broken urge, Gao Li.
Gao Li came to the Duanwang Mansion with the box, and the housekeeper asked him to go to the courtyard to wait for a while until the Duanwang finished playing the ball. Of course, at that time, it was not called kicking, the official name of football was Keju, and the gameplay was also quite different from modern football, but it was similar to fancy kicking. Keju is a skill-oriented thing that can play a lot of flower jobs similar to street football, which is very ornamental.
Duan Wang was playing football with a group of small squatters, and Gao Libi stood respectfully, not daring to come forward and disturb. However, every time Duan Wang performed some tricks, such as the "Powermove" of street dance, Gao Li would clap his hands and applaud from the side. When Wang Ye saw that Gao Li could applaud just right every time, he felt that this person was definitely an expert, so he asked: "Can your boy play football?" ”
Gao Li said humbly, "Slightly understand." "Duan Wang was originally a person with a very heavy heart, and when he played football, he did not pay attention to what was long and young, and when he was about to hand the bow to Gao Li, let him play with both hands to see." Gao Li knew that his opportunity had come, but he still held the shelf and said to Duan Wang, "The little man does not dare." Duan Wang was relieved: "Don't worry, you can kick." ”
As a result, Gao Li showed Wang Ye the "highest level" of the Imperial Bow, which made Duan Wang look at it. This boy not only "slightly understands", but is also very proficient. At least among the stars that Duan Wang knew, no one could be as proficient in various skills as Gao Li. Duan Wang was a very cheerful person, and immediately ordered someone to bring a message to Wang Jinqing, and this boy who started to fight Gao Li returned to me.
In Wang Jinqing's place, the value of Gao Li may not be as good as the grate knife, and it will be sent when it is sent. This gift gave Gao Li a great future.
In ancient times, when the bureaucracy was not perfect, there was always a custom of "one person ascending to heaven with a chicken and a dog". Emperor Xian died, and Duan Wang became emperor for no reason, and he had less contact with the civil and military officials in the dynasty on weekdays, and the only people he could trust were the many broken urges around him. As the most popular of the Duan King in the Broken Urge, Gao Li's political career can be described as a through train.
He first became an envoy of jiedushi, and later a lieutenant, becoming the highest ranking among military generals. In the early years, the little shards who accompanied Duan Wang to fight and make trouble saw the situation and shouted to the emperor one after another: "How can Gao Qi, How can he be such a big responsibility?" Song Huizong glanced at him and said, "You also want to be a lieutenant?" But who made you play badly? ”
Gao Li's colleagues all felt that Gao Li could only play football, and it was by relying on his footwork to get the emperor's honor and favor, which could traverse the Three Courts within twenty years and become a leader in the military circles of the Great Song Dynasty. However, they are too one-sided, Gao Li's skills are not false, but "playing well" and "being remembered" are two different concepts, and Gao Li's brain is by no means inferior to his skills.
Gao Li was quite knowledgeable and good at using people, and when he was in charge of recruiting, the army recruited all soldiers with a skill. Those who are strong and energetic go to transport flowers and stones; those who can do crafts, engage in handicraft production in the army; those who have money at home, receive a fat difference for the elderly; those who have no money, no power and no ability, go to the front line to fight for their lives and make meritorious achievements. In general, everyone has a "bright" future.
So, how does Gao Li's money earn?
Although he was corrupt as Cai Jing's Six Thieves, Gao Li's corruption law was even more advanced than the latter. Gao Li sold all the handmade products produced in the army, and the profits fell into his own pocket. Therefore, the entire 800,000 forbidden troops in the Great Song Military Camp have become "factory brothers" dispatched by Gao Li and have become migrant workers serving Gao Li's group.
The key is that these migrant workers are free for Gao Li, and the imperial court will be responsible for paying them wages, and the grain and grass for raising soldiers do not have to pay half of themselves. The servants and bodyguards in Gao Li's house were all forbidden soldiers, with thousands of them. Whether it is a toilet sweeper, a cook, or an errand boy, all of them are big soldiers.
The Song Dynasty emphasized literature over military force, and the status of military generals created a new record low. Therefore, with the Song Dynasty, being a "military man" is not something worthy of glory. There is a man named Lin Chong in the Tiangang Star of "Water Margin", who was the "Leader of the 800,000 Forbidden Army" before defecting to Liangshan. This name sounds quite frightening, how can a martial arts teacher with 800,000 soldiers still let a figure like Gao Li take care of it?
In fact, Lin Chong was a martial arts teacher, but there were more than five thousand instructors like him at that time. In the "Water Margin" TV series, there is a scene of a group of religious leaders gathering at the gate and standing tall, and in reality, this will most likely not happen. More than five thousand people, even if they were concentrated in a stadium, Gao Li couldn't even count the number, let alone remember which one was not long-eyed Lin Chong. If you throw a brick at the military camp at that time, the probability of hitting the head of the church is quite large.
And look at the exception of Lin Chong, in the world of "Water Margin", there are not still Hong Jiaotou and Wang Jiaotou, and even Chai Jin's lawless manor has several religious leaders who hide from disasters. Among the military generals of the Song Dynasty, the higher status was the commander of the capital, and from the perspective of rank, there were zhengwupin. Underneath them are Yu Hou, Yu Hou, all teach the head, and finally the god head. In the current military, it is equivalent to a platoon-level cadre at best.
In the Gao clique formed by Gao Li, the possibility of wanting to be promoted by virtue of his ability is very low. Everyone sharpened their heads and squeezed upwards, and if they wanted to be promoted faster, they had to "go through the back door". Gao Li provided a one-stop service to those subordinates who were willing to spend some money on the career, and all the officials were clearly marked with prices. If you want to buy a commander, how much silver two; if you want to buy a Yu Hou addiction, how much silver two. As long as you can pay for it, I'll give it to you. If an official wants to earn back this investment, he has to squeeze it from the soldier.
During the reign of Emperor Huizong, there were roughly three ways for military attaches to make money:
The first was to conceal the number of people, and the big soldiers under his command were obviously only 4,000 people, but they wrote 3,000 more names that did not exist, and demanded food from the imperial court for 7,000 people. As for the three thousand empty salaries, some of them were given to the "tip of the pyramid" such as Gao Li, some of them blocked the mouths of their colleagues, and the rest belonged to themselves. The army of the Song Dynasty was often tens of thousands of hundreds of thousands, and every time the troops were sent, people would feel huge. In fact, the "hundreds of thousands" of forbidden troops were only on paper, and the imperial court did spend so much money to raise soldiers, but the number of soldiers who were finally sent to the battlefield was far from so many.
In addition to eating empty pay, drinking the blood of soldiers is also a way for officers to earn money. Every month, soldiers receive a sum of money, but this money will never be paid to soldiers in a real way. According to the level of the position, each floor must be deducted a little, and the money issued to the soldiers is very limited.
The last way to make money is to treat soldiers as group workers like Gao Li, let them engage in manual labor and make profits.
How much combat effectiveness can such a general, such an army, exert?
In the Battle of Song and Jin, the cavalry of the Song Dynasty could not ride horses at all, and when they came to the battlefield, they could only hold the neck of the horse, and once the horse was trampled, the cavalry had to wrestle. You can't even ride a horse, let alone charge and kill the enemy. As for the skill of archery, it was almost lost in the military camps at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, and the soldiers were engaged in handicraft labor for many years, and they did not even have the strength to pull the bow, and the range of the bow and arrow was pitifully short. Such soldiers, when encountering powerful Liao and Jin soldiers, had no combat effectiveness at all.
So, what happened to the traitor Gao Li of this evil country in the real history?
"Jing Kang yuan year, for the Doctor of Taixue." Kaifu Yi died with the three si Gao Li, the story, the son of heaven should hang up the clothes to mourn. "I have to say that Gao Li's luck is really good. If the Jing Kang Disaster was a reckoning with a large number of courtiers in the last years of the Northern Song Dynasty, Gao Li was one of the few lucky ones who could escape this present world report. Even after Gao Li's death, his sons Gao Yaokang and Gao Yaofu were highly valued by the Southern Song Emperor. According to the History of the Song Dynasty, another of Gao Li's sons, Gao Shan, also became the Duke of Chang during the Shaoxing period.
Resources:
【History of Song" and "Dang Kouzhi"】