South gate of Lingshan Acropolis.
At the city gate, two officers from the New Army's Guards Battalion were posting notices. People from military households and military households gathered near the city gate swarmed in. They surrounded the place on three levels inside and three levels outside, discussing something in low voices.
Most of these military households are poor farmers from all over Lingshanwei. Their families have little or no farmland. In today's world, they can no longer survive. Even though Liu Yan has begun to allocate land to various military households, everyone still has to eat. Until the crops are grown and harvested, these poor people can only gather outside Lingshan Acropolis, and maybe find a job as a hard laborer. , to tide over the difficulties for the time being.
After a while, a soldier from the New Army Guards Battalion pointed at the notice and loudly said: "Your Excellency, I have an order: Lingshan Guards have been preparing for decommissioning for a long time, and we are determined to rectify the troops and horses in Lingshan Guards. From today on, we will abolish the old and weak troops in Lingshan Guards." Dunjun, re-recruit young men from military households as soldiers, and receive favorable treatment!"
Everyone was in an uproar.
The four words "favorable treatment" were like a huge boulder, instantly hitting the hearts of the military households and civilians, causing ripples.
A burly man asked loudly: "I wonder what the benefits will be if you join the army? How can you get the advantage?"
Many military households and common people around them also agreed. The officer of the New Army Guards Battalion said: "Any young and strong military household that is selected will be allocated a hundred acres of cultivated land. At the same time, the commanding officer will also give it to his family." Distribute farm tools, seeds, and rations, and distribute one cattle to every three households!"
Another man asked: "What if I don't have any family members? The farmland has been divided and there is no one to cultivate it!"
"What's so difficult about this? Master Cheng has an order: those who have a family will be allocated a hundred acres of land, and Master Cheng will provide farm tools, seeds, and rations; those who have no family, the harvest of a hundred acres of land will be converted into money and distributed every month."
The two men who asked the question were very moved when they heard this. At this time, the officer of the New Army Guards Battalion said: "It is a good thing to be a soldier, but you who are interested in joining the army should know that all the farmland allocated to you is for moral conduct." Your Majesty's property is only given to you for farming. After you get it, you are not allowed to buy, sell or rent the land privately. To put it bluntly, you are tenants who behave well with Your Majesty."
"It's just that your Excellency will not be as harsh as those gentry. Not only will you be given rations and seeds, but the rent will also be small. During the harvest every year, you only need to pay fifty catties of grain and fifty catties of military rations per acre, and the rest will not matter. Whatever is left is yours!"
Although it is no longer the peak season, as long as it is cultivated land that is cultivated all year round, the annual yield per mu is about two to three hundred catties. Even for relatively poor cultivated land, the annual yield per mu is still about two hundred catties. In this way One acre of land can leave one to two hundred kilograms of grain! What about one hundred acres?
Such conditions are extremely tempting to poor military households, enough to make people fight for them.
However, the burly man who asked the question just now asked again: "Do those who join the army get military pay?"
At this time, the various military stations did not provide military pay to the soldiers under their command, but only took care of meals or distributed rations. When encountering war or suppressing bandits, some rewards will be given to soldiers, but the number will not be too large. Therefore, most of the soldiers in various guard posts are in poverty at this time. As a result, most of the soldiers in various places are bandits, robbing homes and homes. , Killing good people and taking credit for their merits are all common things.
The officer of the New Army Guard Battalion said: "Of course there is. Once recruited as a soldier by Master Cheng, each person will receive a military salary of four taels of silver per month. Food and clothing will also be provided by the commanding officer. However, the recruited recruits must be released from work. , you are not allowed to participate in farm work at home, and you are not allowed to go home except during holidays."
“How do you cultivate the farmland your family is allocated?”
"Master Cheng has already thought about it for you. During the busy farming season, the commanding officer's office will organize the countryside to assist the recruits' families with farm work, and will give priority to providing cattle and farm tools to the families of the new army officers and soldiers. You don't have to worry."
The burly man and the man who asked the question later squeezed out of the crowd. The military and civilians who were watching were still scrambling to ask questions.
The two people had noticed each other just now and came to the side together. The burly man cupped his fists and said, "I am Zhang Xun, a military householder at Lingshan Guard Jiaozhou Guards Qianhu Station. I wonder what I call my brother?"
"This is Li Hao, the military household of the Inspection Department of Lingshanwei Ancient Town."
The two exchanged a few pleasantries. Zhang Xun was twenty-seven or eight years old, two years older than Li Hao, so the two began to treat each other as brothers.
"Brother, the new Master of Conduct has caused quite a stir. Do you think we are recruiting new army soldiers? Can you go?"
Zhang Xun pondered for a moment and said: "Now the imperial court is dark and weak, and most of the officers and soldiers from all over the country are unable to fight. Li Chuang is corrupting the world inside, and Dong Nu is blocking the country from time to time outside. This is a scene of great chaos in the world. In my opinion, this new Lord of Integrity is probably the same. If we want to achieve a great cause, we can just join the new army, try our best to achieve military success, and honor our ancestors!"
Li Hao's eyes lit up and he said: "My younger brother thinks so too! What's the use of a man working in the fields? Why don't we brothers join the army together? Maybe we can make a career!"
"The two of us alone are not enough. Let's go and greet some brothers and pull some people to join the army. Now there are many military families fleeing everywhere. Let's find some people and join the army. Maybe we can meet with Master Conduct. Become a little boss."
“So best!”
In the blink of an eye, early in the morning four days later, the long street outside the commander's office was overcrowded. Thousands of young and strong military households gathered here, like a long stranded dragon, wriggling forward.
Miao Shaozheng, the commander-in-chief of the Guards Battalion, led more than a hundred soldiers of the New Army Guards Battalion to maintain order. In addition, Tian Huixu also led dozens of subordinates to assist.
"Stop the crowd at the street entrance first and don't let people in. Let us wait until there are fewer people in front!"
"Pull up the warning rope. If someone jumps in line again, you all will go and see the city gate!"
"Number plates! Hand out the number plates. If anyone misses the number plate, all of you will go home!"
Miao Shao shouted at the top of his lungs, commanding his troops to maintain order. However, there were so many people who came to sign up to join the army. A mere one or two hundred people were not enough to see, so they could only maintain a rough outline.
Liu Yan needed to recruit about 8,000 people to expand his army. However, as soon as the news of the recruitment was released, it immediately caused a sensation in the entire Lingshan Guard. Even the military households and civilians in several surrounding guards were moved by the news, and many people came to sign up to join the army.
On the first day of registration and screening, the Commander's Office received more than 3,000 registrations. As of today, just after noon, more than 2,000 people have registered, and it is estimated that the number of people signing up today will exceed 4,000!
Seeing this, Liu Yan had to change the registration period from ten days to five days. There were too many people signing up. The total number of young people from military households who came to sign up in the past few days has exceeded 15,000. Expanding the army simply does not require so many people.
Five days soon passed. Miao Shao, the commander-in-chief of the Guards Battalion, brought two New Army soldiers to the backyard of the commanding envoy's office. The two New Army soldiers carried a heavy wooden box, which contained the five soldiers. Tianlai signed up for the military roster.
"Sir, there are 16,893 young men and women who have signed up in the past five days. According to your request, no idlers from the countryside, deserters from all over the country, bullies, and merchants' sons will be accepted. All young men from military households in the city will be rejected. And a few children from private households were screened as appropriate, and a total of 12,677 people were selected."
"Two days later, the second round of screening will be held in the open space in the south of the city. Their endurance will be tested by running with weights, their strength will be tested by lifting stones, and they will be checked for any disabilities or pathologies."
"Five days later, the third round of screening will be held at the school grounds in the city, focusing on the recruits' moral character..."
Liu Yan nodded and said: "Okay, let's do it like this. The final number of recruits will be controlled at about 8,000, and the best will be selected. After the reorganization of each department is completed, the number will be increased or decreased according to the situation."
"In addition, I sent someone to tell Wang Yue, the general manager of the rear camp, to stop recruiting people on his own. It is estimated that he can't recruit many people now. After the new recruits are trained, they can allocate soldiers to the rear camp."
"Got the order!"
"In addition, a weapon should be added to the second round of screening, and a war art section should be added to the third round of screening, so as to discover talents. All outstanding talents must be registered separately and let me check."
"Got the order!"
Two days later, Zhang Xun and Li Hao successfully registered with more than 20 of their fellow villagers, and everyone successfully entered the second round. At this time, everyone was divided into a team, and a team of 300 people gathered on one side. , including the two of them, are all waiting to enter the field for testing.
In front of everyone, a huge flat land has been reclaimed. Several teams have been pulled up and are running circles around the huge field.
According to the leader of the New Army soldier, the second round of tests is physical strength. The first test is the long-distance running. Everyone must tie stones of the same size on their legs and wear state-owned stone clothing on their bodies. "Waistcoat", and then each team must run five laps. Those who fall behind, those who cannot complete the race, and those who are opportunistic will all be eliminated.
In the words of the leader of the New Army: You don’t want soft-footed shrimps or frivolous intestines!
"Brother, these five laps are probably about ten miles, aren't they? Look at the New Army soldier leading the team like a wild horse. Everyone is chasing him. If he runs down in one breath, half his life will be lost! "33
Zhang Xun also nodded in agreement, looked back at the fellow villagers beside him, and said to himself: "And everyone has to carry these stones. I'm afraid they weigh twenty or thirty kilograms. If this item is taken down, I'm afraid it will be heavy." How many people are going to get rid of!”
"Team 7, get ready to play!"
The leader of the new army shouted loudly: "Get up and line up, line up! Follow me and run!"
Zhang Xun and Li Hao's hearts trembled. After hurriedly lining up, they started running with the large group of people.
The three hundred men were running fiercely behind the team leader. The first two laps were fine, and all three hundred men gritted their teeth and persevered. But starting from the third lap, there were people who couldn't keep up with the speed of the captain in front.
Li Hao gasped while running: "Brother, that captain is as long as a horse, how come he's so fast?"
Zhang Xun's face was red. Three of his fellow villagers were already lagging behind. They were probably eliminated by the New Army soldiers who were patrolling behind. At this time, he gritted his teeth and ran quickly. He didn't bother to talk to each other, so he just squeezed out the words from his mouth. Two words: "Run!"
Li Hao stopped talking and ran forward desperately with the large army. At this time, he felt that his legs were no longer his own and were running on their own mechanically. His heart was full of despair.
After two sticks of incense, the seventh team of Zhang Xun and Li Hao completed the long-distance race. Only more than 170 people in the team of 300 qualified. When the leader of the new army stood in front of everyone, Zhang Xun and Li Hao were surprised to find that, apart from being sweaty and short of breath, the captain was not slumped to the ground like everyone else, but was still full of energy.
"These new troops are really..."
Li Hao gritted his teeth and didn't know how to describe it for a moment.
Zhang Xun's eyes gleamed and he whispered: "Such a new army is worthy of our following!"
Second round of screening.
More than 170 people from the seventh team formed a group of five and began to perform tests on stone locks, push-ups, sit-ups and other events.
"Before the drums stop, each person must complete the lifting of the stone lock twenty times, one hundred push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, and one hundred squats, and then carry the log and run to the meeting point five hundred steps ahead. Those who have not completed it ,disuse!"
Everyone was stunned when they heard this.
Zhang Xun and Li Hao's eyes were on fire. After the team leader's demonstration just now, the two of them knew what the so-called sit-ups and other events meant. Although the two of them have not practiced, they can also see that these projects are a huge test for everyone's physical strength, and no one knows how long the drumming will last, so they must try their best to complete each project in order to Save time this way...
"Brother, if the commander-in-chief uses this method to select new army soldiers, is he not selecting heavenly soldiers and generals?"
Some people died, but not completely...
