Ordinary happy life

Chapter 121 Recruitment

"Uncle Li, the war started on the border three days ago. Our side won but sacrificed nearly 20,000 soldiers. It seems that this conscription cannot be avoided." As soon as Zhang Dayong returned to the village, he went to find Li The village chief told him the news he heard in the town.

Village Chief Li's hair has turned a lot gray during this time because he was worried about conscription. He is at least ten years older than before. Mr. Li didn't know what happened. He couldn't find out what happened to Village Chief Li, so he could only stand anxiously on the sidelines.

"Uncle Li, do you want to tell the villagers about this???" Zhang Dayong asked.

Village Chief Li took a long puff of cigarette, then shook his head and said, "I still don't want it. Let's not mention that the imperial order has not been issued yet, so there may not be conscription. Even if the order is really issued, what is the use of telling everyone? If they run away, the whole village will suffer if they are caught."

Zhang Dayong thought about it, but it was really embarrassing not to mention that he had some uneasy conscience.

"Let's do this. You tell everyone about the war on the border, and don't say anything else and wait and see." This was the only solution that Village Chief Li could think of.

"Okay." Zhang Dayong responded.

How to let the villagers know that there is a war on the border, naturally it depends on Lin Qin. Zhang Dayong is not a man who can lead others to gossip, so he has to let Lin Qin come forward.

Naturally, Lin Qin would not refuse Zhang Dayong's request. He took Xiaodouzi as his first stop and went to Lin's house. Lin Qin told the truth to the Lin family because he believed that the Lin family would not run away.

The news of a war on the border and heavy losses made the Lin family change their expressions. Lin Han was also a man who had been drafted more than thirty years ago. At that time, some members of the Lin family were drafted and never came back. While Lin Dazhu and Lin Erzhu were just listening to the war on the border as gossip, Lin Han had already thought about the possibility of conscription by the imperial court.

When Lin Qin saw Lin Han's sudden change in expression, he guessed that Lin Han had guessed the possibility of conscription, so he whispered to Lin Han, "Father, Brother Dayong said that if there are not many people in need, you can buy places with money. "

Lin Qin's words made Lin Han's eyes shine with alarming light, and then he nodded deeply. Lin Dazhu and Lin Erzhu on the side were still a little confused, but the smart Bai Xiuniang vaguely guessed something. She tightly grasped Lin Dazhu's sleeves with her hands, causing Lin Dazhu to look at her several times and think she was uncomfortable.

After leaving Lin's house, Lin Qin went to Aunt Wang's and Aunt Zhou's houses respectively, sharing the news of the war on the border in a gossipy tone. I didn't say that Zhang Dayong specifically inquired about it, I just said that Zhang Dayong overheard it when he went to town to sell prey.

As Aunt Wang and Aunt Zhou spread the news, within a day the entire village knew that there was a war on the border. The older people all recalled the conscription more than thirty years ago, and everyone fell into panic.

Just as the old people were panicking and the young people were curious, Village Chief Li's family welcomed two serious-looking servants.

"My lord, it's not time to pay taxes yet, what do you two have to do???" Village Chief Li looked at the guards, praying in his heart that this would not be a conscription.

One of the slightly older officers said to Village Chief Li in a business-like manner, "The imperial court has just issued a conscription order. Anyone with two or more men in the family who are over eighteen and under fifty-five must have one." People serve as soldiers."

Even though he was mentally prepared, Village Chief Li staggered and almost fell to the ground when he heard the news he least wanted to hear. Village Chief Li is not only worried about the villagers, but also because he himself has four older boys. In the past, I felt that there were many children in the family, but now Village Chief Li feels that it would have been fine if he had only had one child. After all, he was already fifty-five years old, but unfortunately there is no if in the world.

"Little old man, I'm going to inform all the villagers. When will they leave???" Village Chief Li asked with a hunched back and a slight weakness.

The official was not hard-hearted and felt bad when he saw Village Chief Li like this. It was even more uncomfortable when he thought of the screams from several villages when they heard the news. It's just that they also obey orders. If they fail to take the person back, they will be punished and even lose their skin.

"Someone will come to pick you up tomorrow morning."

After only one day, Village Chief Li felt even more sad, and then asked without giving up, "Master, can I buy a place with money this time???"

I don't know if it is Li. The village chief has received too much bad news recently, and God finally couldn't bear to give him good luck. The official replied, "Okay, just thirty taels of silver." Village

Chief Li heard that he actually wanted thirty taels of silver. The two taels of silver suddenly took a breath of air. This was too much, but Village Chief Li thought about it. If everyone only had a few taels of silver to buy quotas, where would the imperial court recruit troops from?

"Little old man understands, little old man will tell everyone to go." Village Chief Li walked to the big tree with the gong and started knocking. After a while, many people heard the noise and rushed over. Village Chief Li He stopped beating the gong and told the villagers present, "Go and call all the men in the village. I have something to say."

The villagers didn't know what happened, but they saw Village Chief Li's serious expression and two people standing beside him. The official always felt that it was not a good thing, so he went back to call for help with full of doubts.

Zhang Dayong and the Lin family arrived very quickly, and saw that there was something they didn't understand about the two official officers standing next to Village Chief Li. Zhang Dayong took advantage of the fact that there was no one around, lowered his head and said to Lin Han, "Father, if I can use money to buy a place, I still have money here, just tell me."

Lin Han didn't say anything and just nodded. He was saving face, but compared with the two boys Face is nothing, not to mention that he just borrowed it and didn't ask for it directly.

Soon all the men in the village arrived. In fact, the husband and wife also came. They just stood not far away and looked around, wondering why Village Chief Li had summoned the men this time and why there were still official officials there. Lin Qin and Bai Xiuniang, who had guessed the inside story, felt very heavy and could only secretly pray that everything would go smoothly.

After everyone arrived, Village Chief Li didn't waste any time and said directly, "Since everyone is here, I won't stop talking. This time, if you are anxious, I sent you to bring the order from the court." After saying this, he stepped aside and handed it over. Got two officials.

"Everyone, there was a big war on the border with countless casualties. Now the border is short of troops, so the imperial court issued an order. Every family with two or more men between eighteen and fifty-five must send one person to serve as a soldier. There will be an official mission tomorrow morning. The villagers who agreed to the conditions gathered at the entrance of the town. Don't think about escaping. If you are caught, your whole family will be exiled." When the official said the last words, his expression was very serious, and his eyes were like steel knives. Attracting everyone.

I don't blame the official for speaking more seriously. In fact, this kind of thing has happened before. In the end, the official responsible was punished, and the escaped villagers were caught and their whole families were implicated and exiled.

The villagers have completely exploded. The conscription is actually a conscription. If more than two men in the family agree with the conditions, one of them will be taken away. In rural areas, it has always been accepted that having more children means more blessings. Except for those who are unable to have children, they usually have more than two children. It can be said that almost every family will have one child taken away.

The older people shed tears one after another and shouted loudly, "This is exactly the same as it was more than thirty years ago. Why can't God give us a way to survive? More than a hundred men from our village were taken away more than thirty years ago." , now we have to take away so many people, how can we live?"

Because the old people's howling was too loud, the husbands not far away also heard it, and they exploded as soon as they heard that they were recruiting soldiers. They all wanted to go forward to find their men, but were finally stopped by Mr. Li, who scolded him, "What nonsense? Men are having a meeting. Why did you go up there? If you have anything to say, go home and talk about it."

Mr. Li . Although they were worried about the situation of their own men, as Mr. Li was the village chief's husband, no one dared not listen to his words.

When the official saw the villagers looking like a bolt from the blue, he sighed and continued, "The court is not unkind. If you don't want to be drafted, you can buy a quota for thirty taels of silver. If you don't have money, there is nothing you can do." "

Originally, the court did not want to spend money to buy quotas at first, but someone mentioned the conscription more than thirty years ago, saying that the conscription was so high that many families cut off their descendants. If it happened again, it would probably arouse public outrage. After discussing with several ministers, the emperor felt that it was reasonable, so he decided that if he had money, he could buy the quota with thirty taels of silver.

When they heard that they could buy a spot with silver, the wailing suddenly became less whimpering, but when they heard that thirty taels of silver were required, everyone's face turned pale. Thirty taels of silver, they only had a few taels of silver after working so hard all year round, how could they possibly come up with so much money.

They don't care about the officials. The amount of money set by the imperial court to redeem the quota is so much. It's a good conscience for them not to increase it without authorization, and they can help pay for it out of their own pockets.

Village Chief Li sent the officials to the entrance of the village and when he came back, he was surrounded by villagers.

"Village Chief, can this matter really not be changed? If not, it would be better to have less money. Where can we get thirty taels of silver???" A villager stopped in front of Village Chief Li and said anxiously.

"You are the village chief, can you discuss with the officials about a little less money?"

"Yes, village chief, I just want to sell the land in one day and it's too late to raise money."

Village Chief Li listened to everyone's words. The words of begging made him feel very uncomfortable, but what could he do about it? He stretched out his hand and pressed it to signal everyone to calm down first. After his voice became quieter, he said, "The quota for redemption with thirty taels of silver was set by the great men of the imperial court. How can you change it, let alone me? Although I am a village chief, I can only I am in charge of the affairs of the village. I am just an ordinary citizen in front of the officials. How can they still listen to me?" Village

Chief Li's words made the villagers unable to hold on any longer, and they all broke down and cried. Couples and women not far away also ran over one after another, and found the head of the house (his boy) and his family there hugging each other and crying.