nucmednet Chapter 419 Recruitment
Chapter 419 Recruitment
Normally, the army is followed by a convoy transporting food and fodder, one purpose of which is to provide food to the troops, and the other is to transport food and fodder to the battlefield.
The Taoist priest was also very curious. This was not in line with common sense. Could it be that the imperial court was so poor that it had no food or grass? Then why recruit new soldiers? They couldn't just go to the front line and die.
The Taoist priest felt something was not right the more he thought about it. No, he had to go and investigate carefully to make sure nothing went wrong.
"Xiaochuan, go to the nearby village first, I'll follow and see what's going on."
When Lu Chuan heard this, he immediately became unhappy and said, "No, Taoist priest, I'd better go with you."
"No, you don't have Qinggong skills. It's better for me to go by myself. It will be more convenient for me to move by myself."
Lu Chuan looked at the Taoist priest with resentment, thinking: Forget it, I am being disliked.
However, Lu Chuan was not angry. He still knew what was important.
I immediately agreed and said, "Then I'll wait for you at the entrance after I find out."
Unexpectedly, the Taoist priest refused again. "After you inquire about the situation, if you have enough time, go to the county town again. If it is late, go back first. I may not be back for a while. I didn't see anyone transporting food and grass. This is very abnormal. We must find out more."
After saying that, she snatched the bag from Lu Chuan's hand, and without waiting for Lu Chuan's reaction, she took out the silver that Xu Han gave her before leaving the house from Lu Chuan's pocket. It is not good to go out without money.
"I'll take these first. It's okay if you go hungry for a day."
The Taoist priest left without looking back, leaving Lu Chuan at a loss. What should he do? He couldn't beat him, and he couldn't scold him. Besides, he was his master! He could only let the Taoist priest take away all his things and money.
After being stunned for a while, seeing that the Taoist priest had walked away, Lu Chuan also walked towards the village nearby.
As soon as I walked into the village, I found that the village, which should have been quiet, was now very lively.
From time to time, there were cries coming from afar, and Lu Chuan became even more puzzled when he heard this.
What on earth is going on? Why are they crying so sadly? What happened? Is there a funeral in this village?
When I got closer, I found that there were also many soldiers in the village, but these soldiers were different from the ones I had just seen. The ones here should be yamen runners in the county town.
Lu Chuan stood in the distance and listened for a while before realizing that he came down today by chance, as he happened to catch up with the village's conscription.
After listening for a while, I roughly understood the specific situation of the conscription. It turned out that this time the conscription required one person from each household, and it was compulsory to serve in the army, and it could not be deducted with money.
However, no more detailed information could be found out. Seeing that some villagers were carrying things nearby, Lu Chuan hurried forward to lend a hand.
By the way, he got some information from the villager, and during the conversation, Lu Chuan finally got the information he wanted.
It turned out that this conscription was different from previous years. The time was very tight, and the conscription was carried out immediately after the government issued the notice, leaving the people no chance to react.
The village chief of each village was responsible for recruiting soldiers. He would count the names of every family that wanted to join the army. In order to improve the efficiency of conscription, the government also arranged two officers in each village.
With officials stationed there, conscription was faster and the masses did not dare to cause trouble.
For unknown reasons, the conscription subsidies of previous years were also cancelled this time. The government said that "due to the tight situation on the front lines, there is no extra money for subsidies at the moment. We will compensate you when the war situation stabilizes in the future."
As soon as this notice was issued, the people were not happy. Wasn't this sending their own people to die in vain? Not only was there no money, but they were also conscripting a person.
Although the government said that there would be compensation in the future, the people knew that it was just talk and there was no way there would really be compensation.
Moreover, even if there is compensation in the end, it will be a long time in the future, and what you can't get now can be ignored. Even if there is compensation, it won't be much.
The people are not stupid. As soon as the notice came out, some people immediately opposed it.
I heard that there was quite a stir in the county because of this incident, but later the person who got out of it was thrown into jail with his entire family, and the people finally calmed down.
As the saying goes, the people do not fight against the officials. Ordinary people are very afraid of these officials and soldiers.
After the resistance failed, the other people also obediently followed the conscription process.
Even if she was not willing to do so in her heart, she had to abandon a male member of the family for the safety of the whole family.
He comforted himself in his heart that if he made meritorious service on the battlefield in the future, then things would be different. Not only would he have money, but he could also become an official.
By then, I will strive to get an official position like general, and then the whole family will have changed their status.
And even if you don't make any achievements, being able to survive is good enough. There are military salaries in the army, but it is a little more dangerous than daily work.
It’s not bad to let it go like this, it’s better than having the whole family thrown into jail after resisting.
Everyone held this mentality and watched the soldiers take away the men in their families unwillingly.
During the conversation, Lu Chuan also learned that these new recruits needed to be taken to the county town for a meetup. After all the people from the towns had been sent over, they would be taken over by the officers and soldiers from the provincial capital and sent to the border together.
Some people were reluctant to leave their male children behind, so they followed behind and sent them to the county town.
Because of the conscription, no one in the family has the mood to take care of the fields. These days, all the family members, young and old, have been busy with this matter.
This was why when Lu Chuan and the Taoist priest first arrived, there was no one in the fields.
Lu Chuan stayed in the village for a long time until the officers and soldiers took the new recruits away. Seeing a group of people following behind them, he immediately followed them.
Because everyone was immersed in the pain of losing their loved ones, although many people saw this unfamiliar face, no one paid too much attention to Lu Chuan. They just took a look and immediately looked away without asking any more questions, and were only concerned about their own family.
Lu Chuan was also happy about this, and he openly mingled with the crowd to inquire for news.
Lu Chuan followed the officers and soldiers all the way to an open space outside the county town. On the way, he also saw other officers and soldiers leading new recruits on the road.
When we arrived at the place, there were already a lot of people gathered on the open space, including new recruits and family members who came to see them off.
For fear of causing a riot, the family members who came to see him off could only watch from afar. There were soldiers guarding the area, and each of them was holding a weapon, with their shiny swords already unsheathed, so no one could get close.
Lu Chuan was observing the surrounding situation from a distance. When he saw nothing unusual, he turned around and went into the county town.