Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 60 0057 [Applicant Archers]

Although they have just experienced the bandit disaster, the farm work still has to be done, and the wheat must not rot in the ground.

If a family member dies, they can only be buried as soon as possible.

There is only one good news, the head of the reminder will no longer urge taxes all day long.

What is the villager's tax?
The Bai family is the one that gets allocated the most!
The old Bai Yuanwai wanted to take this opportunity to get rid of the unreasonable taxes, and he was sure that the county magistrate would cooperate.

"Sir, do you want to change the date of the wedding?" Shen Yourong asked.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I'm afraid we have to postpone it. The government is recruiting soldiers to suppress bandits, and we may go to war someday."

"Ugh……"

Shen Yourong sighed.

Her family only planted one acre of wheat, and now they have all harvested, and the newly harvested ones will be sun-dried for several days before threshing.

When I am free, there is not much farm work, and I only dry wheat every day.

It was a good time to get married, but it was delayed by bandits. Shen Yourong really hated those thieves.

Suddenly a villager came from outside the yard, it was Wu Er who wanted to vote as a client, he stammered: "Mr. Zhu, I...my land is not for sale anymore."

"Come in and sit down." Shen Yourong invited.

Wu Er was quite embarrassed: "I won't sit down anymore, and the farm work is still unfinished. I haven't pressed for taxes in the past two days. I want to wait and see, maybe I can fool it."

Zhu Guoxiang comforted: "It's best not to sell the land, keep it for your own planting, they are neighbors in the village, don't say those outlandish words."

"Then...then I'm leaving." Wu Er ran away after speaking, fearing that Zhu Guoxiang would be entangled.

Even if there is only half hope left, who is willing to sell the land?

Shen Yourong picked up the bamboo rake and turned the threshed wheat back and forth, while Zhu Guoxiang went back to the house to compile the teaching materials.

When the bandits are wiped out, it's time for the village school to start classes.

Not long after, Ju Ming came home and walked straight into the house.

Zhu Guoxiang put down his brush and asked, "Have you finished the registration?"

Zhu Ming said: "It's just a registration at Bai's house. To actually sign up, you have to go to the county government."

Zhu Guoxiang asked curiously: "What kind of armed force is this? Regiment training? Township courage?"

Zhu Ming said, "Temporarily make up archers."

"You don't know how to shoot arrows." Zhu Guoxiang said.

Zhu Ming explained: "Archers are not archers. You can understand them as police forces. Every county has them, and they are managed by the county captain. They are usually responsible for maintaining local law and order. When foreign enemies invade, they have to join the army to fight."

"Will you be paid?" Zhu Guoxiang asked.

Zhu Minghao said: "In the past, the young and strong who belonged to the third-class households had to go when their turn came. It was changed to recruiting. The salary was not much, and they lived on gray income. Apart from catching thieves and thieves, they basically did it. In the case of urban management, extortion is also very smooth."

Zhu Guoxiang was speechless for a moment, relying on a group of urban management to suppress the bandits was simply nonsense.

Zhu Guoxiang asked: "If, I mean, if you want to rebel one day, the government will also recruit archers to quell the chaos?"

Zhu Ming nodded and said, "Yes, no matter what Baojia soldiers or Xiangyongs, they will be temporarily organized into archers. The county magistrate and archers can't figure it out, so they will mobilize the inspectors from the state city. As for the inspectors, what else? They are called soldiers, but they are no better than archers."

Zhu Guoxiang said with emotion: "No wonder there are so many rebels, and the local officials have no ability to quell the chaos."

Zhu Ming said: "There are still Xiangjun and Xiangbing soldiers in the state. Except for the areas close to the border, they are all of the same type. The Xiangjun has almost become a handyman, and the Xiangbing itself makes a living from farming."

After that, Zhu Ming went up the mountain every day to learn from Zhang Guangdao about spears and sticks. Fighting with a sword is not as good as a long-handled weapon.

It's a pity that there are no bows and arrows.

According to the official laws of the Song Dynasty, bows and arrows were not contraband.However, successive emperors have various supplementary clauses.

Take archers as an example, in the mid-Northern Song Dynasty, it was allowed to bring their own swords, guns, bows and arrows, except...except for all roads in Sichuan and Shaanxi (Sichuan plus Hanzhong)!

Archers in Hanzhong are not allowed to own bows and arrows, and the common people are naturally not allowed.

After a few more days, the villagers were no longer so busy, and the archers finally began to gather.

Including the tea households on the mountain, the whole village recruited 50 strong men, and all those who had weapons brought their own weapons.

Many villagers sent their children to the river, crying and saying goodbye.

Zhu Ming didn't like this kind of atmosphere, so he said with a playful smile, "Dean Zhu, why don't you cry?"

"You are such a thief, you must be fine, the bandit should be crying." Zhu Guoxiang said angrily.

Zhu Ming laughed loudly: "That's a good point."

Gu San stood there without saying a word, and Lao Gu didn't say anything, he just patted his son on the shoulder, and then thrust the brow sharp knife over.

"Get on board!"

The passenger ship of the Bai family couldn't fit, so they arranged for two more small boats, both of which were the main battleships left by the bandits.

Bai Sheng is a chatterbox, after boarding the boat, he chatted with other people on twitter.

"How excited are you?" Zhu Ming asked.

Bai Sheng said happily: "I heard that if you go to the county to practice, you can learn the skills of fighting."

Zhu Ming immediately poured cold water on him: "Do you think there are people in the county who know how to fight?"

"No one understands?" Bai Sheng asked in surprise.

Zhu Ming stopped talking.

Bai Sheng turned his head and asked Zhang Guangdao: "Is there really no one who knows how to fight?"

Zhang Guangdao said, "Probably not."

Bai Sheng was immediately dejected.

The three boats left the shore and went upstream.

The flow of the river here is not fast, so Ju Ming carefully observes the mountains on both sides, and enjoys the beautiful scenery along the way.

He was also a little excited that he could finally see the ancient county town.

After a short distance, we sailed into a tributary of the Han River and arrived at the county seat in the afternoon.

Xixiang County is small enough, and the city wall is less than four meters high. Zhu Ming felt that when he rebelled, he should be able to capture it smoothly.

There is a column head at the city gate, which is the place where taxes are collected.

You don't have to pay taxes when you enter the city, but you have to pay money when you leave the city.

As long as you bring the goods, and the tax is less than a hundred cash, you have to pay the city tax obediently.As for more than a hundred words, there are other places where taxes are collected.

Following the crowd into the city, Ju Ming observed all the way, but was soon disappointed.

Before watching low-cost costume dramas, the county town was small and dilapidated, and Ju Ming thought it was nonsense, but now he finds it to be very real.

There are not many buildings with two floors. Not only are there a large number of thatched houses outside the city, but there are also thatched houses in the city...

I don't know what Kaifeng looks like, but after a trip, Zhu Ming really wants to visit the Qingming River Scene.

The archer school is located in Beicheng District, and many people have already gathered.

Most of the archers were forcibly recruited from the countryside, each with a sad face, as if waiting to cross the bridge of Naihe.

of course there are exceptions.

There was a young man in his 20s who was riding a horse. He was galloping in the school field at the moment, making strange noises from time to time to show off his riding skills.

There were several young men who whistled at the man on horseback, all of them bare their upper bodies and showed their tattoos.

A bunch of libertines!

"Who is this?" Ju Ming was rather curious.

Zhang Guangdao said, "Chen Ziyi."

"What's the background?" Zhu Ming asked.

Zhang Guangdao said: "I don't have any background, the son of a country gentry, has learned some guns and sticks, and likes to make friends with good men."

While speaking, Chen Ziyi came galloping on horseback, pointed at Zhang Guangdao and said, "You thief, you have been wanted by the government for several years, yet you dare to be an archer."

"I'm good." Zhang Guangdao didn't show a good face, probably the two of them didn't deal with it very well.

Chen Ziyi dismounted quickly: "Come, come, let's do a few tricks. There was no winner last time. Let's see whose spear is the best this time."

Zhang Guangdao said, "You are even better."

But Chen Ziyi didn't let it go: "You will only know after comparing."

Zhang Guangdao repeated: "You are even better."

Seeing that he couldn't fight, Chen Ziyi's interest was greatly reduced. He rode on his horse again and shouted at the frowning archers: "Don't be discouraged anymore, watch me hide in the stirrups!"

I saw this fellow speeding up his charge, suddenly fell to the right, his whole body bent on the side of the saddle.Then straighten your arms down, keeping your fingertips one or two centimeters from the ground to show your balance ability.

"Brother is very capable!"

Several libertines cheered and applauded, they all signed up voluntarily.

If it were placed in modern times, it would probably be a group of ghost fire teenagers, full of food all day long and messing around.

However, Zhu Ming watched with eager eyes. After Chen Ziyi stopped, he quickly walked over to make friends, um... find a free equestrian teacher by the way.

"Zhu Ming, the word is successful, please tell me the name of the good man." Zhu Ming cupped his hands and said.

Chen Ziyi cupped his hands in return: "Chen Ziyi, styled Yu Fei, nicknamed Fei Tiandiao. Do you have a nickname?"

Zhu Ming said, "No."

Chen Ziyi looked at the sword in Zhu Ming's hand: "But you are proficient in swordsmanship?"

Zhu Ming said: "The sword passed down by the ancestors has never been able to learn from a teacher. Brother Tai is superb in riding skills. I am afraid that I will not be able to find a second one in Yangzhou. I also have a horse at home. Can I learn a few tricks from Brother Tai? riding?"

"Hahahaha!"

Chen Ziyi laughed loudly, flattering him so much, he immediately patted his chest and said: "I don't boast about anything else, I just talk about this riding skill. I really can't find a second one in Yangzhou. Come, come, I will." teach you!"

This guy has a bold temperament, so he immediately handed over the reins to Zhu Ming.

Zhu Ming got on his horse and sat down. Before he could ride forward, he heard Chen Ziyi shout: "You only use your forefoot when stepping on the stirrups. You are looking for death!"

Uh... Zhu Ming was a little embarrassed. He killed many bandits on horseback, and he even had problems with basic movements.

One taught carefully, and the other studied seriously, so they practiced in the school field like this.

Bai Sheng was quite envious, and ran after them, wishing he could also ride.

They practiced until evening, and finally someone came to set up the meal, and handed out the weapons by the way.

You don't need to queue up to pick it up, just like a vegetable market, you can pick it up by yourself.

There are actually bows and crossbows.

Zhu Ming picked up a handful in surprise, looked at it twice, and threw it back. Damn it, the crossbow is already rusted.

Looking at the other weapons, they are all rusty and probably have never been maintained.

No wonder many archers chose to bring their own weapons and fight with gadgets issued by the government, purely because they thought their lives were too long.

(End of this chapter)