Chapter 358 Military Issues
The issue of military treatment is an issue that is not easy to deal with.
It’s not that it’s not easy for Purficott to increase such an amount of expenditure to improve the treatment of soldiers, but that it is difficult to handle the matter of improving the treatment of soldiers.
There are regulations on the treatment of soldiers in the imperial military. Even if the troops in the north are all Perficott's private soldiers, she can adjust the treatment of the northern troops at will, which is not suitable for generals. Pulled very high.
Of course, if it’s just this, it’s not something that Perfectcott can’t handle.
After all, she is the central minister of the Imperial Council. If she improves the treatment of her private soldiers in her own territory, although it will be a little troublesome, it is still within the scope of her control.
It was too late for the military to protect her, and it was also a good thing for the military to improve the treatment of soldiers, so they would not have any conflicts with her on this matter.
As for the nobles, this matter involves a lot of interest entanglements. If Purficott wants to gain their consent, he needs to pay a certain price for the exchange of interests.
However, this aspect is not particularly difficult for Purficott to deal with. She can use the exchange of interests to advance this matter and obtain the consent of the nobles.
So in the center of the empire, promoting the improvement of military treatment is not an unsolvable problem. As long as there are enough benefits, the military and nobles will support her.
The real problem lies with the imperial soldiers themselves. The improvement of their treatment will bring some bad effects.
In the original world, there has always been a very strange problem that has been plaguing and affecting countries all over the world, and that is the social status of soldiers in various countries and the image of the military in the hearts of the people.
In some countries, soldiers are a respected profession, and the military is also loved and supported, so much so that the people will try their best to reward the military.
The stories circulated about the recruits sitting at the end of the military vehicle who had their faces swollen with half a fan of pork, and the girls who carried their best friends to the military vehicle. This is the social relationship after soldiers are regarded as a sacred duty. manifestation.
In this environment, no matter how high the treatment of soldiers is, no one will have any objection, because they have fulfilled their duties and protected the people's lives and property at all costs.
Corresponding to this relationship is that in some countries, serving as a soldier is a very unacceptable thing. Some people will even find various reasons to avoid military service, even if they are forced to serve. Do everything possible to avoid becoming cannon fodder in the military and the target of bullying.
For example, in a certain country in the original world, you have to draw lots to serve as a soldier. If you win the lottery, you will be exempted from military service. Therefore, every draw is a choice between heaven and hell for the person who draws the lot. If you win, you will be exempted from military service. It's heaven, if you don't win, it's hell.
Of course, there are also armies where recruits are bullied by veterans in all kinds of ways, to the point where they eventually commit suicide. This bad trend has spread in many countries.
As for more countries in the world, for them, entering the military service is no different than finding a risky job. They have no sense of honor as a soldier and no protection for their family. The mission and responsibility of defending the country.
Soldiers from such countries join the army for only one purpose, and that is to make money.
As long as they can make money, they will not hesitate to kill innocent, defenseless women and children.
Compared with them, although the empire's army also has special existences such as knights who have the creed to protect the weak, the main purpose of more ordinary grassroots soldiers is to make money. Of course, what's even worse is that they were forcibly recruited into the army.
This was very common in this era, because this was how monarchs and lords of various countries raised their armies in the past.
At that time, the main components of the army were knights and their retinues. Knights were the core and framework of the entire army, and knights' retinues were elite soldiers trained by knights.
Although it is not that there are no knights who cannot afford to train their followers, and they only make up the numbers with the conscripted militia, but overall they are the main core component of an army in the feudal era.
To this day, although the empire has implemented military reforms, the core of the army is still knights and a small number of elites who have received professional education and training. They constitute the core officer corps of an army.
Under normal circumstances, in non-wartime situations, an army will only maintain the model of officer corps + a small number of veterans, thereby saving expenses and expenses.
When needed again, you only need to fill it with recruited recruits, and you can quickly raise a usable army.
It is through this method that various countries maintain a large military establishment and retain as many troops as possible with relatively limited military expenditures.
But this also caused a very serious problem. For the empire, most of the grassroots soldiers were disposable, so at most they could only receive military pay, allowances and pensions, as well as a retirement payment when they retired.
In addition, it is almost impossible to expect the empire to give these disposable soldiers any additional special treatment and attention.
After all, a considerable number of them are compulsorily recruited. As for their sources, most of them are street gangsters and idle people arrested on the streets, or even criminals in prisons. Although they are brave and ruthless, the soldiers There is almost no need to expect quality.
The reason why I say almost is because there are still some standing armies in the empire, that is, armies with the title of Guards. They will be maintained at half or full strength, with more veterans and more Keep the army in combat readiness to deal with any possible emergencies.
For example, when the Three Kingdoms declared war last time, whether it was the Three Kingdoms Alliance or the Empire, these standing armies were the first to be mobilized.
Because once large-scale conscription is carried out and the establishment of those with only officer corps is expanded, large-scale military mobilization will inevitably be required. Not only will it be impossible to hide one's movements, the enemy will detect war intentions, but it will also cause social unrest.
This is the same as the so-called system of a certain big country in the East when it went to war in the original world. It is a national policy that affects the entire country. The entire country must adjust to this purpose, even if there is really nothing. If we do this, it will have a great impact on neighboring countries and even the entire world.
Just like the general mobilization of various countries during World War I, Tsarist Russia at that time did not want to join the war. They just wanted to carry out a deterrent war preparation mobilization, but this This move made other countries mistakenly believe that Russia was about to enter the country, so each country began their own mobilization, pulling the entire world into the quagmire of war.
So for Purficott, if he wants to improve the treatment of military personnel, he must first consider solving this problem.
(End of this chapter)