***
After dealing with Zuo Liangyu's matter, Qin Mu looked calm and continued: "Yang Shen, let's get started."
Yang Shen stood up, bowed to Qin Mu, and then said loudly: "Wars are happening frequently in the world now. In order to cope with the coming higher-intensity wars, your Excellency plans to set up several departments in the military, namely the General Staff Department, the General Inspection Department, The General Armament Department and the General Logistics Department will be in charge of our military's operations, politics, equipment, and logistics, and will be directly responsible to you.
The General Staff Headquarters will serve as the highest military command organization responsible for organizing the construction and combat command of our army under the leadership of Mr. Qin. According to your initial conception, the General Staff General will set up the following departments, namely: Operations Department, Military Intelligence Department, Military Training Department, Equipment Department, Mobilization Department, Confidentiality Department, Surveying and Mapping Department, etc., each of which will perform its own duties. "
Everyone in the Third Department Hall listened intently and with bated breath, and no one said anything for the time being.
Yang Shen continued: "The next thing I want to talk about is the functions of the departments under the General Staff. The first is the Operations Department. The Operations Department will serve as the core department of the General Staff Department. All military orders of the entire army will be issued through the Operations Department. It is the general headquarters of the military during wartime; the Military Intelligence Department is mainly responsible for collecting and analyzing military and political intelligence. The functions of other departments are as their names imply. I believe it is not difficult for everyone to understand. "
"The next thing I want to talk about is the General Inspection Department. The function of the General Inspection Department is to win the war, ensure the loyalty of the army, the implementation of your policies in the army, and ensure that the entire army is highly consistent with your thoughts. , to ensure the improvement of the military's political qualifications and combat effectiveness, etc. The departments under its jurisdiction, such as the Organization Department, Propaganda Department, Security Department, Liaison Department, Military Procuratorate, and Military Court, will dispatch officers to more than 1,000 garrison units to take charge of the military. political work.”
"The third is the General Logistics Department, which is mainly responsible for the logistics organization, command and service support of the entire army. It consists of the Finance Department, the Munitions Department, the Military Medical Department, the Ordnance Department, the Vehicle and Ship Department, the Material Department and other departments. The others are probably easy to understand. Here The most important function of the military medical department is to organize and direct medical personnel during wartime. It is responsible for treating patients and rescuing the wounded. "
"Finally, there is the General Armament Department, which is responsible for the development, testing and finalization of weapons and equipment for the entire army."
After Yang Shen introduced the situation of several departments, Qin Mu said seriously: "Okay, everyone here please speak freely. If you have any suggestions or questions, you can ask them directly."
Sima An kept frowning, and as soon as Qin Mu finished speaking, he immediately said: "Sir, all dynasties have made clear divisions in the power to command and mobilize troops. It is crucial to divide power among different departments;
For example, in the Song Dynasty, the power to command the army was in the hands of the Sanyamen, who were responsible for the daily garrison, training and other matters of the army. The power to mobilize troops lies in the hands of the Privy Council, and all military deployment and combat matters must be carried out through the Privy Council;
Looking at the Ming Dynasty, the power to command troops is in the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, and the power to deploy troops is in the Ministry of War. The Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth Army is in charge of troops on weekdays. It has no power to mobilize troops; the Ministry of War is responsible for deploying troops and directing operations in wartime, but it has no power to control troops in peacetime;
From the examples of past dynasties, it is not difficult to see the importance of dividing the power to mobilize troops and the power to command troops, however. In this military system set up by your Excellency, my subordinates cannot see that there is a clear division between the power to command troops and the power to deploy troops. This is extremely inappropriate. "
Sima An's words can be said to go straight to the core, in order to ensure that there will be no problems with the army. To prevent generals from having too much power, in terms of military system, the system in ancient China was even more complete than the system in later generations. Also harsher. This clear division of the power to deploy troops and the power to command troops is the best explanation.
Take the military system of the Song Dynasty as an example. If the generals who command the troops on weekdays, including the chief officials of the three yamen, mobilize the army without authorization from the Privy Council, they will be dismissed from their posts or beheaded.
The Ming Dynasty also basically followed this division of troop dispatching power and military commanding power, and it was more rigorous. The Song Dynasty divided the country's military into three yamen, while Zhu Yuanzhang divided the entire army into five governor's offices. In this way The power of the top military commander was divided even smaller.
This division effectively prevented the generals from becoming monopolistic and threatening the emperor's dominance.
Qin Mu certainly knew the importance of dividing the power to command troops and the power to mobilize troops.
However, he also knew that it was precisely because of this division that the generals were greatly constrained and constrained. The direct result was a slow military response. When a war broke out, they were often very passive and easily missed the best fighter opportunities.
For now, Qin Mu only has 150,000 troops under his command, and will soon face a series of high-intensity wars. If too many restrictions are placed on the generals now and the military system is too hardened, it will be extremely detrimental to the next war.
It was precisely with this in mind that when Qin Mu set up this military system, he blurred the division between the power to command troops and the power to mobilize troops.
To limit the power of generals and prevent them from becoming monopolistic, it is better to wait until the overall war situation is at an advantage and you have the initiative in the war when facing the Manchu army.
He has now established four military departments: the General Staff Department, the General Inspection Department, the General Logistics Department, and the General Armament Department. His intention is not to limit the power of generals, but to improve the combat efficiency of the army and ensure combat command and control during major battles. Logistics supply is more efficient and orderly.
After Qin Mu briefly explained his intention to Sima An, Sima An repeatedly weighed the pros and cons and felt that if the officers sent to the military by the General Supervision Department could play their due role, it would be helpful to prevent the generals from harming the generals. Deterioration can be regarded as an insurance policy.
On the other hand, it cannot be said that there is no division between the power of commanding troops and the power of deploying troops. In fact, the power of commanding troops is now scattered among various generals. When encountering major battles, the army is uniformly dispatched and commanded by the General Staff, and then the General Staff takes control of it. With the power to mobilize troops.
It's just that in some small-scale local wars, the commander-in-chief is less restricted by the General Staff and can exercise freely.
In addition, the number of troops is not too large now, and the number of troops under the command of each general is also small, and they all followed Qin Mu all the way. Sima An did not strongly demand to divide the power of commanding troops and the power of dispatching troops.
Next, everyone in the Third Department Hall discussed the responsibilities within the four military departments one by one. Almost everyone spoke, and the discussion was extremely intense;
When it comes to the division of responsibilities of the General Logistics Department, it is the most difficult, because logistics work now not only involves the army, but also requires the cooperation of local officials and Liu Boquan, the "Household Secretary". Its functions are the most complex and involve It also has the widest coverage.
Just the question of whether it is necessary to completely separate the procurement, management, and transportation of military materials from local governments and set up a separate logistics system has made everyone furious.
Many civilian officials believe that this will cause a huge waste of human and financial resources, while most military generals support the establishment of an independent military material supply system to improve the efficiency of the supply of war materials.
This matter actually involves the distribution of power between civilian officials and military generals.
After even the logistics supply was controlled by the military, civilian officials had no say in the military. This was inconsistent with the practice of using civil servants to dominate military affairs in previous dynasties.
There has never been a precedent in the past dynasties where the military supply system was completely controlled by the military. Therefore, on this matter, the opposition of the civilian officials present was very fierce, and the military generals rebutted even more fiercely.
In the end, it was Qin Mu Gan Gang who made the final decision and passed the decision.
Again, everything is centered on war, and everything must be subordinated to war to ensure victory.
When it was their turn to discuss the issue of the General Inspection Department, almost all the generals sitting there silenced their voices.
It's very simple. The core function of the General Inspection Department is to ensure the loyalty of the army and implement Qin Mu's will. These things are very sensitive. If any general objects, others will inevitably have doubts about your loyalty.
In fact, it was not that the army of the Ming Dynasty did not have such functions in the past. For example, each guard post and Qianhu Station in the Ming Dynasty also had the post of Qianshi and the commanding officer. However, Qin Mu's Qianshi functions were more complete, which was actually equivalent to The political commissar in the army has great powers and can shoulder the command of the army.
The setting of this military system is too complicated. Although Qin Mu has set it up completely based on the knowledge of later generations, not everything is suitable for the current situation. The functions of each department basically need to be re-discussed, and it cannot be done in one day. can be implemented.
At this time, in the north, Li Zicheng's army had crossed Juyong Pass and rushed towards Beijing...
*(To be continued...)
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