Fu Song

Chapter 640 Recruits
The sound of armor leaves colliding can be heard endlessly, and the long team trudged on the muddy road with difficulty.

Zhang Ren kept cursing the battalion general in his heart, this bastard actually asked everyone to wear a full set of armor during the ordinary march.

The iron armor weighing dozens of catties is draped on the body, together with knives, guns, bows and arrows, bedding, dry food, etc., it weighs at least [-] catties.

What was even more unfortunate was that the rain last night had made the road extremely muddy. When one stepped down, the mud covered the back of the instep. Every step took more effort than usual.

But it was just cursing in my heart, because the battalion general himself was also sitting in the middle of the team with all his clothes on. He used to have a horse, but now there was a wounded hunchback on the horse. The guy twisted his foot. The ankle was swollen and red and shiny.

This is a team that was transferred from Xiayicheng from the rear to the front defense.

Zhang Ren, on the other hand, is a recruit who has just been conscripted into the army since the beginning of spring this year.

Among the recruits like him, among the [-]-strong battalion, there are [-] recruits from the Jiangnan area, but they are not from the same county.

Zhang Ren originally had a very good family background. Although his father was a small official, he was just a county manager who joined the army, a small official of the eighth rank, but he was still an official.As for his grandfather, he was a state judge, and the Zhang family was considered a family of officials and eunuchs in the local area.

Originally, the small life was quite nourishing, but after the new king ascended the throne and Xiao Cheng assumed power, everything began to change.

Originally, their family did not need to be a soldier, nor did they need to pay food to serve.

But now, everything is inevitable.

Fortunately, the matter of fat corvee can be redeemed with money. People like them are naturally registered households, so each household gets [-] yuan.For their family, this is just a small amount of money. Although it is a bit uncomfortable, it doesn't matter if they lose money and avoid disaster.

Next, the family will have to pay a lot of money to pay for food together.

There are [-] mu of paddy fields in the family, about [-] tenants, and a small hill where mulberry trees are planted. There is also a small weaving workshop in the family, with seven or eight weavers.Every year, the above income is about a thousand dollars in income.

Not too much, but in the local area, it is also very nourishing.

As a result, now that a decree has been issued, the tax collectors will come to the door to do the accounting, and their family will have to pay hundreds of taxes a year.

What is even more annoying is that the family has to pay poll tax for those tenants and weavers.One person earns ten pennies a year.

It's not that no one resisted, but those who provoked trouble did not end well.

Xiao Erlang's people are very shady, they didn't use these people to calculate the accounts of resisting rent and taxes, but they found a lot of old accounts, and they found out all the messy things about these people in the past. .

I don't know where they got those things from.

They knew that they were deliberately trying to trick people, and as long as they paid the taxes honestly, nothing would happen if they kept them, but now that they have been found out, they have nothing to say, because those things are all based on solid evidence.

In the past, it was fine if no one was chasing him. Once someone came to investigate seriously, he would naturally be unable to escape.

Zhang Ren's father was terrified.

Joining the army as a manager, he was in charge of a county prison lawsuit, and he had done a lot of things like plaintiffs and defendants. Otherwise, where did he get such a huge fortune?

So as soon as the tax collector came to the door, his father immediately paid it happily.

Just pay as much as the other party says, no matter what.

Thought it would be fine.

But the ensuing recruiting method immediately put Zhang Ren in a trap.

They have three sons.

He is inappropriate, the second child.

His family wants to smoke one person.

Of course the eldest son can't go, the third child is still a baby, if he doesn't go, who will go?

I am a scholar, so I want to be a soldier?

He also wanted to play and roll, but when the old man stood in front of him with a stick, he became wilted.

Don't go, who made Dad's ass dirty?
If he resists military service, it is estimated that the father will also be arrested and sent to jail. The crime, of course, is corruption and perverting the law.Isn't it easy to find out about his father?

Wronged to go to the army.

Because their family cooperated extremely with the new laws and regulations of the imperial court and received rewards from above, his father was promoted.The manager of the eighth rank joined the army and became the county magistrate of the seventh rank in a blink of an eye.

However, this county is in Yunnan.

His father didn't even groan, and took the eldest son to take office, leaving the mother-in-law to take care of the family business at home.

It is said that because his father left quickly, he was praised by the leader and set up as a benchmark. Before leaving, the official Cao who came down from the province whispered to his father that no matter what his father did this year No matter what, the province will give him a high performance appraisal.

In the three-year performance appraisal, as long as they are all top-notch, they can be promoted to the first rank.

Zhang Ren didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

No matter what happens next to his father, only the elder brother will benefit. As for himself, the second child, he doesn't know if he can survive.

Go to the army, or you will die.

Who doesn't know that the current Shoufu is only thinking about the Northern Expedition!

Who doesn't know that the generals on the front line are all Shoufu's confidantes!
Shoufu wanted to make the Northern Expedition, so they devoted all their attention to provoking quarrels on the front line, and they were happy when they heard about the war.

It will be a complete success!
Isn't it the lives of these little soldiers who are so dry?
He thought that since he was the son of an official and his father had been commended, he would be a little special, but unexpectedly, when he entered the barracks, there was no such excuse at all.

For Zhang Ren, the two-month recruit training was simply a life-and-death journey to hell.

The recruit training camp in Xiaoxian County is unforgettable to Zhang Ren.

There, thick calluses developed on his hands and feet. Originally, he only had calluses on his fingers, which was a symbol of his hard work in studying, but now, his palms are also full of calluses, which are the signs of holding a knife. To hold it out.

He used to have fair skin, but now he looks like the long-term workers and tenants at home, dark.

It's been tough in training camp.

It is said that the embryo killers who specially trained them were all from the army, and they were all extremely arrogant. There was only one training method for them, and that was whips and bent feet.

For those who are not convinced, you can, come on, and single out.

This is the only opportunity these officers give them to comment.

Of course, the end is basically not good.

Apart from being severely beaten in front of everyone, there will be no second result.

Occasionally a brave person wins once, but next time, a stronger guy will definitely appear and beat the winner even worse.

Not that no one fled.

The first time you catch it back, you will be whipped thirty times.

The second time he fled again, he was whipped thirty times and flailed for one day.

I escaped for the third time, oh well, my head is gone.

The guy who lost his head, a total of three people emerged in two months.

The three families are all officials and eunuchs with five ranks going up.

Ever since, the trend of fleeing is no longer there.

Zhang Ren didn't dare to escape, because before leaving, his mother told him in tears that if something happened to him, it would definitely affect the family.

No matter how hard it is, he has to get over it.

The poems and books that Zhang Ren's mind was originally full of had retreated into a corner, and what occupied more space was the cold military discipline.

Because of his good performance, he also became a superintendent in the new barracks.

Among the ten people under his command, except for three families who belong to self-cultivators, the remaining six families are either officials or wealthy businessmen.

In the past, the occupation of being a soldier was originally irrelevant to them, but now, they have gathered together because of a decree.

Two months later, they finally left the Abyss of Evil Mills and were assigned to the army.

The familiar figure was no longer seen.

Fifty recruits came from the training camp in Xiao County. There were only five of them, and all five of them were from different camps. One.

In the new barracks, Zhang Ren was very good, but in the army, he was nothing, just an ordinary soldier.

Zhang Ren didn't know whether to cry or laugh now, because he performed well in the training camp, so he was assigned to the first-line unit, and it was the most elite unit.On the first day in office, the battalion general was talking about the excellent record of the battalion, such as invincible and invincible.

The big-headed soldier at the bottom heard his blood rushing and yelling, but those like Zhang Ren's face turned pale when they heard it.

Because he knew very well that such a record represented a very high death rate.

The so-called most elite troops naturally gnaw the hardest bones and fight the fiercest battles.

Although their treatment is said to be better than other troops.

The food is good Zhang Ren has already realized it!
In boot camp, there was one meal of meat for ten days.

But here, meat is eaten once every three days.

Zhang Ren regrets it now. If he had known this before, he didn’t have to work so hard in the training camp. He was a middle-of-the-road man. When he was assigned, no one would see him, so he threw it to the logistics team. The chances of surviving would be higher. .

But after a while, his concept was changed again.

Because of his current strength, I told him a battle example.

It was an example of encircling and suppressing Zhao Jun. Song Jun first sent out a bait to go fishing, and then surrounded Zhao Jun who was hooked and swallowed it in one gulp.

The ones who swallowed the Zhao army were naturally elites like them, and the ones who were used as bait were naturally those unprofessional troops of miscellaneous brands.

Hearing this, Zhang Ren felt that his hard work was worth it, because it was not a good job to be used as a bait, and the death rate was probably higher than that of the elite troops.

His feet were getting heavier and heavier, and the things he was carrying on his body were like a mountain, making Zhang Ren unable to straighten his back.

It was the first time he had walked this road, and he didn't know how far it was.

He was wheezing, like an old cow, moving forward with difficulty.

There was a sudden light on his back, he looked back and saw that it was very long.

He reached out and took off the bedding and dry food on Zhang Ren's back and carried them to himself.

Shi Chang is a head shorter than Zhang Ren, but one-third wider than Zhang Ren. The whole person is like a short door panel.

"Hurry up, we'll be there in half an hour!" Shi Chang smiled, revealing a mess of big black and yellow teeth that were not neat at all, and a mouth full of indescribable breath.

In the barracks, when everyone is blackened when they put on military uniforms, you can't tell what kind of family background this person is from the outside, but you can generally tell it by opening your mouth.

People like Zhang Ren usually have neat and white teeth.

Of course, after the past few months, Zhang Ren's teeth are also turning yellow and black, but they are still neat, like his elder brother and eight other comrades-in-arms, basically not too bad.

Seeing Shi Chang carrying his own things and walking like flying, Zhang Ren knew that he had a long way to go.

This elder is from Guangxi, he used to be a hunter, and he doesn't know a single character.So I have special respect for scholars.After Zhang Ren arrived here, compared with what he was in the new barracks before, it was like heaven and earth.

Everyone takes good care of him.

Because of this, he is the only one who can read.

In addition to military missions, the head of Shili would never arrange for him to do other jobs in Shili.

For a month, the only thing he did was to write a letter home for one of the other nine people in Shili.

This battalion belongs to the Baiyu Army, and all members are from Guangxi.

Of course not anymore.

Already a third has been replaced.

There are various reasons for the replacement.

The most common reason is that they died in battle.

The second reason is the injury.

The smallest factor is that he has to retire at the age of forty.

"Thank you Shichang!"

"Thank you! It's amazing that you, a scholar, can do this!" Shi Changnian said the words countless times in his mouth: "Why do you let you literary stars come to serve as soldiers? This is what us vulgar people should do. I have to live!"

In this way, Zhang Ren wants to cry every time he hears it.

Yes, why should scholars like us also go to the battlefield!
It's not that no one has raised such a question, but the two sentences of Shoufu have now been made into banners, flying in the Imperial College, state schools, county schools and other places!
The mountains and rivers are lost, and the crown is worn with the left lapel. How can there be a place for the desk?

The rise and fall of a country is everyone's responsibility, and scholars also need gold and iron horses!

Alas, anyone can say something bright, but it doesn't have to be done!Wasn't it always like this before?Those who work hard govern others, those who work hard govern others, and the chief assistant is also a scholar, who came from a Jinshi background, so why do you have to make things difficult for scholars!
By the way, Shoufu's family was born as a general.

Sure enough, it is still not my race!

Zhang Ren sighed.

If Si Cifu had become Si Shoufu, such a thing would probably not have happened.

But now Si Cifu seems to be a different person suddenly, almost obeying Shoufu's orders, and I don't know what the hell it is.

Rows of neat houses and waving flags appeared in front of them.

The battalion general stood still, and shouted loudly: "We're here, boys, cheer up, raise your head, chest up and buttocks, and sing the song louder than those bastards in front of you!" .”

Opposite is the army they want to change defense.

"Fishing with anger, leaning on the railing, resting in the rain. Looking up, looking up to the sky and screaming, full of enthusiasm. Thirty years of fame and dust, eight thousand miles of roads, clouds and moons. Don't wait for nothing. The boy's head is white, empty and sad!"

Five hundred people sang in unison, with incomplete pentatonics, like ghosts crying and wolves howling.

But the big win is the sound.

(End of this chapter)