(Four thousand words, two chapters in one)
Since Shang Yang's reform in the Qin State, the people only had the word "farming and fighting" in their eyes. Men who were plowing the fields at home received recruitment notices from the three elders in each township. Regardless of whether they wanted to or not, they had to go to the nearest military camp within the specified time limit.
There were also many men who had been eager to join the army, so they took advantage of this recruitment to join the army.
There were also many Qin people who had returned home on leave, or who were exempted from serving as pawns after their titles reached the fourth level or even higher titles, picked up the weapons they purchased, put on their armor, and walked out of their homes.
However, no matter what reason they want to go to the military camp, they must gather at Li Zheng's request and wait until everyone has arrived before setting off together. They are never allowed to go privately.
After all, no one knows whether they will encounter wild animals or thieves on the road, and it is easier to register at the military camp if they go together.
In the open space in front of the village, one man walked out of his house, carrying a bag with dry food, and registered his name in front of Li Zheng.
"If you don't change your rank for a cent, you will get four measures of dry food."
"Lin, go up to the throne and give me three measures of dry food."
"Ji, hairpin, hairpin, four measures of dry food."
…
Li Zheng had people roughly weigh the dry food in the bags of each man who was about to go to the military camp, and recorded the weight on paper.
These dry foods are prepared by each household for consumption on the road, and the government will return this part of the food to each household afterwards.
At this time, the men who are about to join the army in every household will have extra dry food in their bags. It’s not that their families want to take advantage of it, but they all know that if they don’t have enough to eat, their men will They might die on the battlefield, they just want the men at home to eat more.
Of course, three or four buckets of dry food is not much, because their village is called Wucun, a small village in Lantian County. It is only one day's journey from Lantian Camp, so there is no need to prepare too much dry food.
And when Li Zheng was registering, scenes of mothers bidding farewell to their husbands and sons, and wives bidding farewell to their husbands appeared in almost every household in the village. Although the women wiped away tears and felt reluctant to leave, they all understood that their husbands or All sons must go to the military camp to join the army.
This is the obligation of Qin people stipulated in Qin law.
However, they did not complain about the harsh Qin laws. They just hated the princes of other countries who attacked Qin.
Although Qin's laws are strict and restrict their various recreational activities. They have nothing but plowing and weaving every day, but in this world, how can they, ordinary people like them, have so many demands?
In this war-torn era, being able to eat... no, being alive is already a great gift, not to mention that each of them can be reasonably allocated fields, and at least have enough to eat, which is already better than other countries. The people are many times better off, and they don’t expect more.
However, no one knows how many of their husbands, children, and brothers will return after this battle. After all, it is a six-nation alliance.
The last time the five kingdoms united, they all pushed Qin back to Hangu Pass. This time there is one more country. What is the possibility of victory?
Therefore, for these people, this parting may be a life-and-death parting, and naturally they are reluctant to part with them in every possible way.
As an old woman shed tears as she bid farewell to her husband and two sons, the elderly, women and children who were not crying at the side could no longer suppress their emotions, and their cries spread throughout the village.
And such a scene happened in front of Zhang Ji.
Zhang Ji, who was riding a horse, arrived here accompanied by Shejian and Su Jiao. He came here to recruit soldiers to form his own bodyguard army.
Although the current 25,000 guard troops of the Qin Palace are temporarily provided by 5,000 Pingyang heavy armor troops and 20,000 Xianyang garrison troops, these troops are only temporarily lent to Zhang Ji to guard the palace, so Zhang Ji still has to recruit himself of men and horses.
Carrying Ying Zheng's edict, Zhang Ji came to Lantian County. After presenting Ying Zheng's edict to Meng Ao of Lantian Camp and the county magistrate, county lieutenant and county magistrate of Lantian County respectively, Zhang Ji was able to successfully The land received permission to recruit soldiers in Lantian County.
As soldiers guarding important areas in the palace, the quality of the soldiers should naturally be high.
Moreover, the Guard Army does not always stay in the palace. Just like the Northern and Southern Army in the Western Han Dynasty, the two elite Central Forbidden Army, the Northern and Southern Army, will sometimes be sent out to fight.
Just yesterday, Ying Zheng had decided that if all the countries joined forces to attack Qin, he would personally go out to boost morale. Therefore, as Ying Zheng's escort, the Guard Army must be absolutely elite to ensure Ying Zheng's safety.
As for the eliteness of an army, apart from the generals, the most important thing is the soldiers themselves.
Although many things can be made up for through acquired training, if the person who joins the army is a person with sallow complexion, dizziness, and weak hands, then no amount of training and training will help.
What's more, Zhang Ji didn't have much time to train this army, so Zhang Ji could only choose to use tricks.
That is to recruit veterans who already have titles.
Zhang Ji sent Li Xin, Qiang Yu, Yang Wengzi, Wang Ben, Feng Wuze, Tu Sui, Ren Xiao and others under his command to recruit troops in Guanzhong.
She Jian and Su Jiao were originally from Lantian County. Although the She family and the Su family were attached to the Meng family, they were somewhat influential in Lantian and had a certain reputation in Lantian, so they hired a lot of people for the two families to help Zhang Ji everywhere. Conscription was publicized.
And in Lantian Camp
The tall and majestic Shejian and the slightly slender Su Jiao set up platforms on the north and south sides of the Lantian Camp and shouted loudly.
"Those with an annual salary of 100 dan can sign up for the Guard Army!"
The two of them added a little internal force when they shouted, so even Meng Ao in the handsome tent in the center could hear them clearly.
When he first heard the sound, Meng Ao was still a little confused, and then he became furious. He slapped his hand on the table and shouted angrily: "You bastards, didn't you tell them to go to various villages and towns to recruit soldiers? How did you get to my Lantian camp? Are you here to recruit troops?"
"With a salary of a hundred stones per year, these two bastards really dare to speak."
Zhang Ji's recruitment requirements are not for all veterans, but for veterans with an annual salary of more than 100 dan.
Among the ordinary Qin army, the only ones who can receive an annual salary of a hundred shi are those who are above the rank of knight, which means that Zhang Ji only recruits veterans who are above the rank of rank.
First of all, those who can rise to the second level and become knights are more or less capable.
Those who can get the first level of Duke have killed a soldier.
In this era when the armor wearing rate was not high, most of the armored soldiers were the children of nobles or soldiers who were qualified to wear armor.
Needless to say, the children of nobles are surrounded by generals and soldiers to protect them, and they themselves have also honed their martial arts. The military soldiers are elite soldiers who have undergone strict selection and rigorous training. When ordinary soldiers meet soldiers, it is not an exaggeration to say that an egg hits a stone.
But sometimes it is inevitable that a soldier will kill a soldier due to luck or presumption of merit, and the soldier who made the title has killed at least two soldiers.
Once is luck, twice or even multiple times, the probability of taking credit is extremely low. Even if it is good luck, it is enough to prove that this soldier has certain abilities and can generally meet the requirements.
These veterans with at least the highest title have certain combat experience and skills, and have seen blood. They will not be stunned by fear on the battlefield, nor will they be as disobedient as some unruly recruits who have just joined the army. Order.
Of course, another point is that each of the soldiers who made the title had two hectares of land and house, three cows, and two servants. As long as the family did not have too many people, it was more than enough to feed a family of five or six people. Life issues.
Such soldiers have no worries about food and clothing on weekdays, and their physical fitness is naturally much stronger than ordinary soldiers. In addition, they are veterans who have made meritorious deeds, so they are definitely the best source of soldiers. This is why later generations recruit good families.
"My mother..."
Therefore, when he heard Shejian and Su Jiao shouting that they would only recruit soldiers with an annual salary of more than 100 shi, Meng Ao couldn't help but cursed and talked about the quintessence of the country. But before he finished speaking, the assistant generals Shehu and Su Jiao on the side Su Quan coughed lightly at the same time.
Only then did Meng Ao realize that the fathers of the two bastards, Shejian and Su Jiao, were both in the handsome tent, and the mothers of these two bastards were his two biological daughters. Didn't he also get scolded?
Therefore, the national quintessence sentence was swallowed back by Meng Ao before he finished speaking.
But Meng Ao was even more angry. His grandson turned his elbows outward and helped others pick up ready-made goods in his Lantian camp?
"Shehu, Su Quan, go and ask your good sons how dare you poach people in my Lantian camp!"
She Hu and Su Quan looked at each other and immediately walked out of the handsome tent and went straight to the stage set up by their sons. After all, the people these two bastards poached might include their subordinates.
After a long time, the two of them returned to the handsome tent with great energy.
"General, my little bastard said that the recruitment of troops in Lantian County has been approved by the king. He has informed the Lantian County Magistrate, County Lieutenant and County Prime Minister... and you, and the Lantian Camp..." Although Su Quan himself He was also angry, but the look in his father-in-law's eyes was obviously more frightening. He couldn't help but swallow, "Lantian Camp also belongs to Lantian County, so you have no right to interfere in this matter..."
Looking at Meng Ao's cannibalistic gaze, Shehu took a deep breath and added: "My bastard also said that the general is famous all over the world and will never go back on his words. Otherwise, we can only go to the king to discuss the matter."
Meng Ao grabbed the desk in front of him and took deep breaths continuously.
He was really afraid that he would die before leaving the army and die of anger in the commander's tent.
Not to mention Meng Ao, Shehu and Su Quan were also filled with anger at this moment.
Shejian and Su Jiao not only poached people from the Lantian Camp, but also because they were most familiar with the soldiers under their father's command, the soldiers under Shehu and Su Quan were poached the most.
Originally, some of the elite soldiers they had carefully trained felt that they could not leave Lantian Camp like this, thinking that this would be a disgrace to the daily training of their generals.
The two boys, Shejian and Su Jiao, started to fool around, saying that it was precisely because their father had trained them so carefully that they should come to help them.
These soldiers are also honest people, and after all, they are the sons of their own generals. No one has come out to stop them for such a long time, and they think they have the permission of Meng Ao and their own generals.
So under the deception of the two men, they signed the transfer order, but by the time She Hu and Su Jiao tried to stop it, it was already too late.
They were so angry that Shehu and Su Jiao even violated the military discipline of not fighting. They drew their swords and chased the two filial sons in public, vowing to make these two bastards understand what it meant to be truly "a loving father and a filial son."
However, after listening to the narrations of She Hu and Su Jiao... Meng Ao felt less angry. Anyway, he was not the worst.
After calming down, Meng Ao couldn't help but smile bitterly. No wonder that boy Zhang Ji gave him so much meat a few days ago, as well as a chef who knew how to make preserved meats, and then told him that he wanted to recruit soldiers in Lantian County to join the Guards Army. things.
At that time, he was feeling homesick, and he was moved by Zhang Ji's affectionate and generous gift, so he didn't think much about it.
After all, Zhang Ji didn't need to ask for his consent. As long as there was an edict from Ying Zheng, he could just inform the Lantian County Magistrate, County Lieutenant and County Magistrate. According to the procedure, there was no need to inform him at all.
But after all, there may be veterans from Lantian Camp among these soldiers, so Zhang Ji informed him to express his respect for him.
Who would have thought that this kid was going to poach people in the Lantian camp, but he, the great Qin general, really wanted to go back on his word with a junior?
"That's all!"
After thinking for a long time, Meng Ao could only admit this.
After all, the Meng family also has a share in this guard army. Although Shejian and Su Jiao poached people from him, they didn't end up poaching people under their own command. Even if he supports his two grandsons, he can still be considered as a leader in Zhangji. investment.
Moreover, after all, it is the bodyguard army that protects Ying Zheng, and weak soldiers must not be allowed to serve as the bodyguard army.
In the Lantian camp, the recruitment method used by Shejian and Su Jiao was a first for the soldiers.
However, since there was a royal edict from Ying Zheng, and these veterans who were above the imperial rank heard that they would serve as guards for Ying Zheng, they were naturally even more excited and signed up enthusiastically.
In any case, if you serve as a soldier beside the king of a country, your chances of survival will definitely be greater, your treatment will be far better than that of ordinary Qin soldiers, and your future will be brighter.
After all, Ying Zheng had already announced that he would personally sit on the front line when foreign countries invaded. Naturally, these veterans were not worried about not having the chance to make meritorious deeds.
And they also believe that if such a team is placed on the battlefield, let alone combat effectiveness, just with the command and cooperation of the veterans, Yinglun will no longer need to worry too much about casualties, but only need to worry about the number of beheadings.
However, this method of recruiting soldiers is somewhat offending.
Zhang Ji deceived Duke He and others in the same way. Dozens of military camps in the Guanzhong area of the Qin State suffered from this poaching incident. Even if it was divided equally among the various military camps, each military camp lost at least nearly a thousand elites.
And this method of recruiting soldiers, that is, Zhang Ji, is not only inextricably linked with the military, but also has the favor of Ying Zheng and Zhao Ji.
In addition, he recruited troops to serve as Ying Zheng's bodyguard army, which was justifiable. Otherwise, another person would have been eaten alive by those generals.
Of course, there is a price to pay for this.
As for Zhang Ji, it will be fine if he goes to each government and apologizes with a smile and generous gifts. Each family will not have any conflicts with Zhang Ji because of this matter. After all, those poached soldiers are all there. Under the command of a group of generals and disciples.
But those generals and disciples who personally went to each camp to poach people were not forgiven as easily as Zhang Ji.
At least according to Luo Wang's report, the fathers of those general disciples basically took two days off from the camp and returned home.
That night, the night in Xianyang was not peaceful under curfew.
However, the noise was not the moans of the generals' darling wives and concubines, but the cries that were comparable to the screams of slaughtering pigs.
Anyway, Zhang Ji hadn't seen these general disciples for several days. It was said to the outside world that their fathers were personally practicing their martial arts and worried that they would be embarrassed in front of Ying Zheng, but the wailing sound in the middle of the night... what happened? Whether it is the distortion of human nature or the loss of morality, no one knows.
(4378 words)
(End of chapter)
