Late Tang

(Thanks to Bandao zsz and Talang54 for their support, thank you!)

On the drying ground in Baima Township, Yixian County, the soldiers from Shiliba Village had just finished a day of training and were leaving.Right now, in June, it was originally a busy time for farming.But this year Baima Township has no crops to harvest.Yizhou has fought several big battles back and forth this year. Shatuo soldiers, Chengde soldiers, Yiwu soldiers, and Qin soldiers are like a blind donkey spinning a mill.In the end, the Qin army finally won and Yizhou was brought under the control of the Qin Fan, and the matter calmed down a little.

But for the people of Yizhou, although the chaotic war is over, the pain is far from healed.Many armies fought in a melee, not only was the room completely empty, and the crops were completely destroyed, but even the people in Yizhou were cut off one crop after another like leeks.Shatuo's soldiers killed and arrested them, Chengde's army also arrested them, and finally Li Quanzhong and Li Sizhao were also arrested. Fortunately, the Qin army did not arrest the strong men and forced them to join the army, otherwise Yizhou might not be able to find even a grown man.

Baima Township used to have more than 20 villages, close to Yixian County, guarding the road from Yishui to Laishui County, it was very prosperous.But after the war, the total number of young and strong men in more than 20 villages was less than one hundred. There were really ten households and nine empty ones, and the fields were barren.

Fortunately, when the Qin army came, they neither forcibly conscripted strong men into the army, nor searched for apportionment.On the contrary, Qin Jun also helped them repair houses, dug wells, and sent them life-saving food.Then, many refugees from the Central Plains who fled to the Qin Dynasty due to the war moved in from various places, and there were also many Hu people from northern Xinjiang who belonged to the King of Qin.

The villages became bustling again and regained their former popularity.

However, the missed farming season cannot be made up. There are officials and officials in the county and the village who lead everyone to hunt and fish, cut wood, build houses, build roads, dig canals and build reservoirs, but they are also busy.But everyone has no objection, working for the county and township, in fact, most of what they do is their own family's business.Building houses and roads, digging ditches, building schools and building village walls are all good things.And to go to work, a strong laborer not only takes care of two meals a day, but also pays [-] Wen per catty of rice. Where can such a good thing be found?Even if a woman goes to work, she can get half a catty of rice and fifteen cents a day plus two meals a day.

But the old man chicken didn't follow along to earn the money and food. He went to the county to sign up for the township examination.

As soon as you hear the name Nejinji, you can tell that it is not a Han. His ancestors were originally Hu people from the Western Regions. Later, he returned to the Tang Dynasty with the Shatuo Zhuxie clan and has been following the Shatuo Zhuxie clan. When he arrived at Nejinji, his father had already followed him Li Guochang died in battle for the Tang Dynasty, and his mother died early. He has been on the battlefield with Li Ke since he was 12 years old.Although he is only 25 years old now, he is already a veteran who has carried a gun for 13 years and had his head cut off for 13 years.He and Li Keyong conquered the Pangxun Rebellion in Xuzhou in the south, fought the Dangxiang Rebellion in Hequ with Li Guochang, rebelled against the Tang Dynasty in Yunzhou with Li Keyong, fought the Battle of Daibei, and fought the Tatars when they fled to Mobei. After returning to Daibei, he followed Liu Shi, Li Kexiu, Li Kerou, Li Siyuan, Li Sizhao and others to fight successively.

However, after serving as a soldier for 13 years, he was still just a soldier. Before Zhiguguan followed the Liu family to surrender to Qin, he was the leader of the team, a slightly stronger soldier.After the Liu family came to the Qin Dynasty, because he lost two fingers on his left hand, he was discharged from the army as a disabled person, and was resettled to Baima Township, Yi County. The returned Yongye mulberry field and [-] mu of open field for planting grain.The government also gave him five acres of land and helped him build his own house with a yard.

There are fields and land, and 25 guan severance pay, and young and strong, just [-] years old. This condition is very popular in Yizhou, where men are extremely scarce after the war. Soon, countless matchmakers came to matchmaking, many nearby People are willing to promise their daughters to him as wives.The war that just ended left countless families in the vicinity without husbands and sons. If they could find a young and strong son-in-law, they would still be able to help hold up half the sky.At this time, everyone no longer even cared about the identity of Ni Jiji, who is a down-and-out barbarian by the name.

Among the hundreds of daughters, the Nei Jiji finally chose a woman from Xiling Township next door. The other party was a family who deserted from Yunzhou. Although they were Han Chinese, they had lived in the border areas for generations. some common language.Moreover, he secretly went to Laoshi's house in Xiling Township to meet the woman, she was thick and strong, with big breasts, and I heard that she could ride a horse.The old man is very satisfied with this woman, who can have a common language, and will definitely give him a bunch of fat and big children.

It is a common people's home, and everyone moved together because of the war, so there are not too many complicated etiquettes.Nie Jinji took out [-] yuan from the settling expenses, bought a big strong cow, and then bought six sheep cakes as a gift and sent them to Lao Shi's house, and then hired a four-wheeled carriage to bring Miss Shi back. A few more banquets were invited, and the folks had a meal, and they were considered married.

On the day of the bridal chamber, after working hard, he put his arms around his wife's soft body and said with a smile, "I've already made up my mind. When our son is born, let him have your surname. My surname is Shi. I also asked the head of the village who witnessed the marriage for a name, called Jingtang. Our son will be called Shi Jingtang from now on. It’s a good name, and it’s impressive when you hear it, unlike his old man, who is called Nie Jiji, which is vulgar and rustic.”

Early the next morning, Shi Jingtang's father ran to the village to report to the soldiers because he heard from his wife that if he became a soldier, he would not have to pay land taxes for his family's land, and his son could go to the elementary school for the children of the soldiers. , the teachers there are much better than those in ordinary township primary schools.

He had long made up his mind to make a living for his wife and children, so he immediately signed up to join the township army.

Originally, Xiangshang didn't intend to be an idiot, because he lost two fingers on his left hand, even if he lost two little fingers, it would still be considered disabled.However, after Ni Jinji performed some riding and archery skills on the spot, as well as his scimitar skills, the township chief, the county lieutenant and several officers who were assessed by the county immediately hired him in amazement.

He joined the Baima Township Soldiers as he wished, and was appointed as the instructor of the Baima Township Soldiers because of his 13 years of hard work and practical experience in the dead.Although there are only 100 soldiers and 100 coaches in Baima Township, and they don't even have official grades, at least not only are the family land taxes free, but there is also an additional [-] acres of free land. All money coach allowance.

On the training ground, the old-fashioned chickens announced their disbandment, and then left a few poorly trained soldiers behind as usual.Although there are regulations prohibiting officers from beating and scolding soldiers in the regulations of the township soldiers, but using the chicken as the instructor, what he advocates is to beat if he can't train well.In his opinion, the leather whip is the tool that can best enhance the comprehension of those idiot soldiers.

"Birds! I and my daughter-in-law are better than you. What are you afraid of? That horse is not a tiger. It is a good horse that has been tamed by the army horse farm, but you are still timid. If you are asked to ride the raw horse directly Wild horses, don’t you want to be kicked to death by horses? Cavalrymen were kicked to death by their own horses. If it spreads, you are not afraid of shame. You don’t deserve to ride the mules you ordered, bastards!”

The old man's saliva splashed, spraying the faces of the few soldiers who had just performed poorly.

Since Baima Township has the word horse in its name, their township soldiers are naturally different.The officials in the village wanted to add a cavalry squad because they saw that the old chicken was very good at riding.After all, Baima Township, Yixian County, Hebei Province, was originally a place where the folk customs were strong and cavalry came out.The village spent a lot of effort to get 25 horses and form a ten-man cavalry team in the capital.Who knew that among the 100 people who were selected from the left and the right, only half of the ten strongest rural soldiers who were finally selected performed well, and the rest could not even ride a horse at all.

It was all because of the previous wars that had taken away all the young and strong local men, leading to this embarrassing result.In the end, the task of training this cavalry squad naturally fell on the old man.After scolding a few clumsy cavalry, he gave them an order to train for an extra hour, and then he left in a big way.

The old chicken led his steed away, brushing his partner's mane from time to time along the way.This is not his original horse. After more than ten years of fighting, he does not know how many mounts he has changed.The horse he used when he descended to Qin Dynasty stayed in Yanjing when he was dismissed.This horse is the best of the batch that the village bought from the Zhuozhou horse farm. The Liaodong war horse is not tall, but its strength is strong.Although teaching those cumbersome guys made him a little bored, the monthly increase of the second-best allowance, as well as the fact that he could get two war horses, still allowed him to persevere.

After settling down in Yi County, although officials helped to build the house, the furniture in the house still cost him tens of thousands of dollars, and the remaining ten thousand dollars was spent on marrying a daughter-in-law.He used to eat enough for one person and the whole family was not hungry, so he didn't save any property at all in these years, and even if he had a little, he threw it in Yanmen.What he carried with him was only a few pieces of gold, which was exchanged in Yanjing for only fifty yuan.Now that I have a family, a field and a wife, the whole family depends on him, and the husband’s family also needs to take care of him. After his son Shi Jingtang is born, he has to study and marry a wife, which will cost a lot of money.

He is now working as a coach in the countryside, with a five-percent allowance for January plus the extra two-percent allowance for the riding instructor, the total is seven perks, which is quite a lot of money.Thinking that he was the leader of the Shatuo Army, and he was only paid twice a month. Basically, they didn't live on that salary, but relied on the looting during the war.It's better for Qin Jun to pay well, even the coach of a village soldier has such a high salary.If soldiers go to battle on the battlefield, there will be more rewards for meritorious service, not only rewards of money and food, but also titles.But thinking about his crippled left hand and his newly married wife, the thought of throwing himself at Qin Jun again in his heart disappeared without a trace. (To be continued.)