Regarding Mo Lan's matter, Sheng Changbai still kept talking to serve as a reminder.

Sheng Hong should do the specific operations. It is impossible for Sheng Changbai to be Mo Lan's nanny.

Not to mention just Mo Lan, even if it was the biological sister Ru Lan who was born from the same mother, Sheng Changbai would not be able to be the nanny.

Sheng Changbai had to do a lot of big things, and if he didn't have time, he would work on a few orchids at home.

Even the eldest sisters Hualan and Sheng Changbai, who had the best impression on me, only helped me at critical moments.

No matter which Lan keeps failing on her own, Sheng Changbai cannot always support her.

After assigning Mo Lan to Sheng Hong, Sheng Changbai got busy with his own affairs.

After being able to check the information, I found that the army of the Zhou Dynasty really had many problems.

There are many shortcomings in the management of military registration in the Forbidden Army. Soldiers are not deregistered when they die, they are not reorganized when they escape, and there are no recruitments to fill the gaps in the number of soldiers.

This is all the result of the late emperor's kindness and connivance to the noble military officers in the court during his decades of reign.

Although the overall national policy of the Zhou Dynasty has always been to emphasize culture and suppress military force.

But after all, when the late emperor left, the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty unanimously agreed to give the emperor a temple title of "Ren".

It is enough to prove that the old emperor is kind enough when doing most things.

During the reign of the late emperor, he not only valued literature, but also treated noble military officers favorably.

It's just that compared to noble generals, civil servants get more benefits, which seems to be a bit restrained.

Even the Yuan family that Hualan married into, a noble who participated in the rebellion, was restored to the title during the reign of the late emperor.

The late emperor was able to treat even rebellious ministers like the Yuan family kindly.

You can only imagine how generous and indulgent a normal noble person would be.

It was also during the reign of the late emperor that the economic prosperity of the Great Zhou Dynasty reached its peak.

The trend of luxury gradually emerged in the Great Zhou Dynasty. First of all, luxury became popular among the royal family and nobles.

The problem caused by this result is that the expenses of each noble family will become larger and larger.

Many nobles actually have no ability to run industries, so they can only think of ways to deal with their own rights.

Use your own rights to seek benefits, it is simple, easy, easy to operate and easy to use.

It is much easier to make money than the hard work of farming, operating industries and doing business.

There are shortcuts available, so few people are willing to take the right path.

The noble generals began to take advantage of their pay, resell military rations, divert military expenditures, buy and sell ordnance, and perform various underhand operations.

The generals who led the troops started to receive empty pay, and the problem quickly spread to the lower-level officers at all levels.

Within a few years, empty pay developed into a common phenomenon among the armies of the Zhou Dynasty.

The army grows smaller from the top, and the free pay is eaten up layer by layer. You get 10%, and I get 10%.

At the end of the meal, there were originally 400 cavalry troops and 500 infantry troops under one command.

The actual situation is that many command structures have been severely reduced. The horse army has only dozens of people under its command, and the infantry army has less than one or two hundred people.

This situation is normal. After all, the horses of the Zhou Dynasty were valuable, and the normal food consumption of war horses was also high.

Eating one cavalry army's free pay can be equivalent to the benefits of a dozen infantry armies.

After finding out these circumstances, Sheng Changbai couldn't help it anymore.

It’s been a while since I’ve trolled anyone, so it’s time to play the role of censor and big troll.

Given the top-down corruption of the military, let's not even think about the Northern Expedition.

Let’s not talk about decommissioning. We must first remove the redundant soldiers, squeeze out the water in the army, and fill the original gap.

After all, we are arranging for soldiers to retire when they reach the age of forty, and we are clearing out redundant soldiers.

If the two of them do it together, the action is a bit too big.

Serious illness requires heavy medication, which can easily send the person away.

Suddenly, the Zhou Dynasty's army was reduced to only half.

Even the superficial million-strong army cannot be maintained. After the Zhou Forbidden Army does not even have the numbers to bluff people, the risk is still too great.

They were carefully manipulated by enemy states like Xixia and Liao and sent the news back.

It is difficult for these two alien races not to be tempted by the Central Plains.

Originally, because of the death of the late emperor, the transition of imperial power, the turmoil in the court, Xixia, Liao and other countries were ready to attack the Great Zhou Dynasty.

There are constant frictions at the border, and both countries want to see if there is any opportunity to take a bite of it.

If the weakness of the Zhou army is exposed again, war is likely to come soon.

Sheng Changbai also shelved the matter of retiring soldiers and wrote a memorial, intending to clear out the redundant soldiers in the army first.

After replenishing the number of people first, we can then talk about the retirement of soldiers.

Even these soldiers are now older and less effective in combat.

But after all, after decades of continuous military training, the Zhou army really needs these people temporarily.

On the first day of the lunar calendar in June, Sheng Changbai wrote the memorial and prepared to hand it over to the emperor.

I want to take advantage of the time when Zhao Zongquan and these nobles from the old era are not very familiar with each other and have little affection.

Let Zhao Zongquan deal with these people. If the title should be replaced by another one, it should be replaced by another one as soon as possible.

After all, Zhao Zongquan just wanted to win over old nobles, and winning over anyone is not a win-over.

If you replace it with some collateral branches, as long as you inherit the original title, you can still be regarded as an old noble.

These people were promoted from humble beginnings by Zhao Zongquan and may become more loyal to Zhao Zongquan.

Originally, these hereditary nobles had hereditary titles and sufficient status, and could receive annual salaries and support from the state.

These people should be regarded as the country’s small shareholders, and they should be the group of people who best protect the country’s interests.

But these people are still heartless. For the sake of immediate interests and to maintain their own decent and luxurious life, they first poach the corners of the country. These are the people who are the foundation.

It's just that the various morning court procedures have started, and the courtiers below have just been given some time to express their opinions.

Sheng Changbai was about to stand up and speak, but Qi Heng jumped out first.

"Your Majesty, the Queen Mother, and the imperial censor Qi Heng, please thoroughly investigate the claims of the rebel king and his party officials, review them in detail, and examine the account books seized from the rebel king, and interrogate the people who have had business dealings with them one by one, and interrogate the rebel king one by one.

The party must catch everyone in one sweep and leave nothing behind.”

This kid Qi Heng has a really good destiny. He seems to have a better destiny than Gu Tingye as the protagonist.

Qi Heng's ranking in the imperial examination was far inferior to that of Sheng Changbai. He failed in the palace examination and only got a dozen or so. This was supposed to be the allocation of ninth-grade officials in a remote area.

But just because of his background, Qi Heng didn't have to go out to Beijing to study.

He had been appointed an official by the late emperor long ago, and he started to accumulate qualifications before entering the court.

Although Qi Heng's ranking was not as good as Sheng Changbai's, and he was a Jinshi in both subjects after Sheng Changbai, his official position was still above Sheng Changbai's.

He started directly from the sixth rank and went to serve at Yushitai, which was one level higher than Sheng Changbai.

The difference between having a family background and not having one is not that big.

Sheng Changbai's family background is almost nothing compared to Qi Heng's.

The starting point of Qi Heng is the success of Qi Heng in this subject. Ninety percent of people will never reach the end of their life.

"I think this is inappropriate. Although there are no omissions in this move, it is suspected of being overcorrected..." Prime Minister Han Daxiangong immediately stood up and objected.

When Sheng Changbai saw Qi Heng jumping out to cause trouble, he had no idea of ​​jumping out.

Having seen the opportunity to engage with old nobles, Sheng Changbai would just have to talk to Zhao Zongquan later.

More than half a year has passed since King Yan forced the palace soldiers to remonstrate with him. In fact, those who really followed King Yan and conspired against him have been cleared out long ago.

Qi Heng jumped out today and wanted to investigate the remaining members of King Yan.

It's just that Qi Heng was instructed by the Queen Mother to engage in a party dispute with the emperor.

Qi Heng and the Queen Mother were quite close, and they were part of the Queen Mother's party.

Qi Heng's mother, Princess Pingning, was raised in the palace by the late Emperor and the Queen Mother.

It was also because he was raised by the late emperor. When the old emperor was there, the Duke of Qi was regarded as a top noble.

The late emperor and the empress dowager were considered the adoptive parents of Qi Heng's mother. According to this logic, Qi Heng should be considered the empress dowager's cheap grandson.

It was also with the strong support of the Queen Mother, who held the jade seal and listened to politics from behind the curtain, that Qi Heng's official career took off and he directly surpassed Sheng Changbai.

In this wave of back-and-forth in the court, in the end the Queen Mother won by relying on her old age and relying on her status as an elder.

The Queen Mother appointed Qi Heng to take charge of the investigation to thoroughly investigate the rebellious party.

That is to say, Qi Heng took the initiative in this matter. During this period, old nobles like Zhao Zongquan were close to him.

These people who originally supported the Queen Mother but now betrayed her will inevitably be investigated by Qi Heng.
To be continued...