At the border of Chu State, the crowds of people had almost filled up the camp that had existed for more than a hundred years. The woman holding the child and the old man leading the cow made the whole barracks look more like a lively market.
The soldiers in charge of registration were a little overwhelmed, so there was a temporary congestion in the place. The soldiers were busy trying to restore order, and they were noisy and undisciplined.
There is really no way. These civilians crowded in the barracks are all gold coins with legs. They can only scold them and they are not easy to discipline.
"Stand still! Did you all hear me clearly?" A soldier carrying a musket shouted loudly to the chaotic crowd in front of him.
"Stop crying! Stop crying! I'll feed you later! I'll feed you later!" Right in front of the shouting soldier, a ragged woman patted the baby in her arms to comfort her.
Next to the woman was a man carrying a hoe. He looked at the crowd around him indifferently, his eyes full of sadness at leaving home.
"Moo..." An old scalper shook his head and was led by an old farmer. He just walked past the soldier carrying the gun in a swaggering manner without any intention of taking care of the soldier.
"Gun! Gun!" Several children pointed at the Cyric musket in the soldier's hand from a distance, shouting loudly, extremely excited.
Some people were carrying poles with various daily necessities hung on both ends. They were naked from the waist up and wearing bamboo hats as they walked through the crowd. They apologized politely when they bumped into someone.
Those who were hit complained and cursed twice, and then continued to make noises, complaining that the checkpoint over there was too slow to release people.
"Stand still! Did you all hear me clearly?" The soldier, who really couldn't keep it on his face and had long lost his former majesty, shouted awkwardly. He also knew that no one listened to him, so he could only change places. Keep calling.
On the other side of the crowd, an officer wiped the sweat from his forehead and complained: "This morning, I didn't even have time to drink a sip of water. It's really, really unlucky."
His men tugged at their collars, looked up at the sun, and gasped with the same discomfort: "Yes, I have been standing here all morning, and there are not many people here."
Although he said so, he was still unwilling to leave here to take a rest, because he had to supervise this pass and not allow the slightest error in the number.
Everyone who passes by here must be registered, because the number must be checked before it can be counted!
Each number here represents two or even three gold coins. If you are a craftsman or scholar, the price can be negotiated separately.
They traffic in the people of their own country as if they are selling cattle, and then divide the money into several parts, blinding the eyes of everyone who knows about it.
So they were unwilling to leave. Looking at the people in front of them, they seemed to be looking at a lot of golden coins.
In fact, they did see countless gold coins. After receiving huge gold coins that they could not even imagine in the past, they even felt that their first half of their lives had been in vain.
Now they can go to high-end brothels that even the officials could not afford in the past, they can now go to gambling restaurants that even the city lord's son could not afford in the past, and they are so wealthy that they dare to quarrel with their wives...
All this they never dared to dream about before, but now it has really become a reality! They distributed hundreds of gold coins last month!
Such a huge amount of money is almost five years of their military pay. If deductions are included, it may take them ten years to earn enough. But now, in just one month, they have it in their hands!
Real gold coins! A lot of weight! What’s even scarier is that this is just the beginning! As long as they keep doing this, they can keep fishing like this!
No joke! As long as they stay here for a year and do whatever they want when they return home, they can become rich and become local tycoons.
This may be a beautiful thing.
Just when the two of them complained about the evil sun, two Tang Army soldiers wearing steel helmets and gray-green military uniforms openly crossed the border and walked to the two of them carrying a box.
Judging from this posture, these two soldiers have been here more than once, because along the way, there were several Chu soldiers who greeted them very familiarly.
"Rebirth of the Great Era of Fighting Waves"
The two Tang Army soldiers put down the box next to them, then tore open the outer packaging of the cardboard box to reveal the contents.
This box contained a box of glass bottles. Each glass bottle contained a strange orange-yellow liquid.
"Come! Treat you to something good to drink!" A Tang Army soldier took out a bottle opener from his pocket and a bottle of soda from the box. He opened it with a Kacha sound and handed it to the Chu Army officer opposite.
The Chu Army officer took it and carefully looked at the liquid, which he could tell at a glance had an unusual color, and some did not dare to pour it into his mouth.
The soldiers of the Tang Army laughed loudly, took out a bottle, opened the lid and drank, and then burped with satisfaction.
This time, the Chu army officer finally plucked up the courage to give it a try. As soon as he took the cold sweet soda and put it into his throat, the spicy carbon dioxide stimulated his tongue, and then penetrated into his mouth with incomparable pleasure. In the stomach.
In an instant, his stomach bulged, and then the rolling carbon dioxide spurted out with hot air from his stomach, making him belch uncontrollably.
"Hiccup..." With his mouth open in great satisfaction, the Chu army officer was shocked by the magical liquid in his hand. He looked at the exquisite glass bottle curiously, thinking that such a delicious thing must be worth a lot of money.
"What is this? It tastes so good." On the other side, his follower has fallen in love with this orange drink.
It's so refreshing to be able to drink something so refreshing under the scorching sun, isn't it? As a result, several close friends were called over to share this new thing.
Several people were talking and laughing, and some soldiers curiously asked two Tang soldiers about the affairs of the Tang Dynasty. The two Tang soldiers seemed to have no secrets and answered everything they knew. As for whether their answers have any value, only God knows.
But when chatting, there are always people who introduce things around them. Unknowingly, some things about Chu Jun reached Tang Jun's ears.
"Forget it, they said that new guns will be distributed in a few days, and special training will be required. The superiors will send people to teach... Maybe this will happen, and we will have to share the profits." The official shook his head, feeling that he Maybe there will be a smaller portion again.
The sky is high and the emperor is far away here on the border, but the officials above are unable to control it. However, it is precisely because the sky is high and the emperor is far away that the officials who come must take care of it and give some money no matter what.
"Oh? A new rifle?" The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was interested. A Tang Army soldier took out a cigarette and handed it to the squad leader who spoke.
The captain took the cigarette with ease, borrowed a light, and took a sip, which was extremely satisfying. He is a long-time smoker, but he used to smoke with a pipe. Where can I get cigarettes conveniently?
Moreover, the quality of Datang Group's cigarettes is obviously better, and the thin ones are more prestigious when smoked. So after puffing on the smoke, the man continued: "I'm telling you, don't tell anyone outside! This is terrible. It’s all secret…”
"Damn it, brother, you still know this is a secret?" The Tang soldiers stared at the Chu army captain who had begun to leak the secret with wide eyes, expressions of disbelief on their faces.
Is this confidentiality regulation just a decoration? He didn't dare to talk so arrogantly in his sleep, let alone secrets such as changing to new weapons, he didn't even dare to whisper his unit number in his sleep.
"Cyric Type 1, have you seen it? Forget it, you must have heard of it." The captain gestured, obviously having seen the real thing: "It's very good, much easier to use than a flintlock gun."
"Brother, here's another one." Seeing how generous the other party was, the Tang Army soldier was not stingy at all. He handed over the cigarette case and let the other party smoke one.
The other person held the cigarette to his ear very professionally. Apparently, he had done this often in the past day.
"Counting these, there are at least 3,000 people today, right?" The Chu army officer drank all the orange soda, groaned with satisfaction, and then asked.
He didn't care about the messy bolt-action rifle reloading. What he really cared about was how many gold coins came in today. Before his battalion captain left here, he carefully explained that not a penny should be lost.
Favors are favors, and business is business. They soldiers don't care that the Tang army wants the land of Chu, nor do they care that the Tang army robs the population of Chu. What they care about is the gold coins in their pockets!
"We are here to deliver soda. I don't know the exact number." A Tang Army soldier held a cigarette in his mouth and said with a vague smile while lighting a fire.
Before he could finish speaking, two more soldiers from the Tang Army crossed the border with difficulty carrying a large box and crossed into the territory of Chu State.
They walked with heavy steps until they reached the door of a barracks. The captain of the Chu army who stayed behind immediately rushed over with a few people, not even caring about the orange soda.
Arriving at the barracks, the Tang Army soldiers opened the box, revealing neatly stacked gold coins. The number could be easily calculated without counting them in detail.
"The total is 10,500 gold coins. I gave you 100 more. It's not in the account. Brothers shared the drinks!" The squad leader of the Tang Army who came to give the gold coins was very arrogant. He gave a full 100 more gold coins with a wave of his hand.
The captains of the Chu army immediately came forward to check with smiles on their faces. After checking the head count and calculating the price difference between men, women, children and the elderly, they found that the other party had indeed given 100 more. They all rubbed their hands together and looked like they were trying to please.
"Sign and deliver." The squad leader Tang Jun handed the other party a receipt. After seeing several people on the other side sign their names, some even put their fingerprints on it, he took back the receipt and walked away.
As he walked out, he said, "We'll count the remaining people in the afternoon!"
…
"You are playing with fire! Do you know how many people we will lose if we open this hole?" Looking at the crowded crowd of civilians in front of him, the inspecting official pointed at the battalion captain's nose and cursed.
In the afternoon, the officer who was newly transferred from Chu King's City finally saw the border refugees who couldn't hide and had no intention of hiding.
Although on the way here, the battalion captain who went to greet him had already bought the official with gold coins and had received some vaccinations, the official was still shocked when he saw the size of the cross-border population here.
The battalion captain was also very aggrieved. He gave this gentleman a bribe of 100 gold coins on the way, which can be said to be a huge sum of money: "Sir! Didn't you agree..."
"I agreed! But on the way here, I didn't know that you would actually create such a big battle! Look! Look how many people are here? Huh?" The official looked at the battalion captain and felt that the other party was there. Harming him and dragging him down.
The battalion captain lowered his head and made a gesture of invitation: "Sir, please calm down. Please listen to my explanation..."
The official looked at the dense crowd of civilians gathered in the distance and said angrily: "Okay! Just explain to me! Explain how you dare to be so bold!"
"My lord, please follow me." The battalion captain led the way and took the new official to the door of a barracks that had been prepared for a long time.
"Humph..." After looking at the door of the barracks, the official glanced at the battalion captain, but stopped in his tracks.
The battalion captain made another invitation gesture, and his tone became more respectful. He opened the door and said, "Sir, what's inside is my...explanation."
"Making a fuss..." The official walked into the room and found that there was only one box in the barracks.
The battalion captain walked behind, closed the door, walked around to the front of the box, opened the lid, and revealed the gold coins inside.
When he saw these gold coins, the new official who came from afar immediately took a breath of cold air: "Hiss..."
This was the first time he saw real 2,000 gold coins piled in front of him. He may have so much money, but he has never spent so much money in one go.
"Sir! Two thousand gold coins, and every month from now on, 500 gold coins will be sent to your house as a tribute...as long as you...continue to make money from Xiaguan..." Gritting his teeth, the battalion captain Still offered his own price.
"This..." Upon hearing this number, the new official felt a little dizzy.
"Sir...Xiaguan and so many brothers are owed several years of military pay...hundreds of people here are counting on this way of making money to make a living and support their families in Hukou..." the battalion captain said A pleading look.
In fact, after being shocked and dizzy, the new official began to make serious calculations. He was a capital official before, so he naturally knew how terrible a business that could earn him 2,000 gold coins was.
This path may involve a large number of high-ranking officials that he can't even touch, and it will also affect the interests of countless soldiers and generals.
He might just let it go if he joins the gang and gets the benefits. If he refuses, he will probably die here.
Maybe if you die, you may not be able to make a splash - no one will care about a small official who died of illness in the border area. What everyone values more is the boxes of golden coins!
Therefore, after a little thought, he made a choice that seemed to him the most reasonable. Even his attitude softened a lot: "I understand your difficulties... but... this is wavering. Kunimoto.”
As soon as he heard his voice, the battalion captain knew that the matter was settled. So he breathed a sigh of relief: he really had no intention of killing a court official here.
Just kidding, it's one thing to buy bribes, but it's another thing to actually kill people. He doesn't want to do it until he has to...
"Please be patient." So the battalion captain was also very decent and gave the other party a step up.
After getting the steps, the new official who had just returned his righteous words finally relented: "Forget it, I can't bear to see the soldiers suffer... I don't even think I saw what happened today..."
"Thank you, sir!" The battalion captain knew that he had taken care of the person who came to supervise him this time.
So he gave an order and everything was arranged: "Come here! Help me to deliver this box of local specialties to the carriage."
The soldiers who came in were loaded with ammunition and helped carry the gold coins onto the official's carriage. The official got the benefit and naturally did not want to sit here any longer, so he immediately stood up and left.
When he walked out of the barracks again, his eyes unconsciously strayed to the crowd in the distance.
He could not see the woman holding her child complaining at the edge of the crowd, nor could he see the man carrying a pole walking through the queue.
However, when he looked to the other side, a cow came into view. The farm cow that was close to Chi Chi mooed, making him jump.
After taking some time to calm down and displaying official authority with his hands behind his back, the new official coughed, raised his chin defiantly, spoke without conscience, and pretended to sigh: "The general's station is neat..."
At this point, he saw a group of people wearing military uniforms who were all in disarray, and they didn't know where their guns were thrown away. They were sharing a box of strange orange items. He stuttered subconsciously before continuing. He praised: "The soldiers are brave and well-trained..."
At this point, he simply closed his eyes and said nonsense: "I am very pleased. I will definitely report it to the Ministry of War and ask for a reward for you, General!"
His words shocked the battalion commander for a moment. He was able to completely ignore interference and talk nonsense in a place like a vegetable market. This new official seemed to have something special.
"Then thank you, sir." The battalion captain pretended to be very excited and thanked the official who had climbed onto the carriage: "I wish you a good journey, sir!"
Having said this, he lowered his voice again, stepped forward and said, "As for asking for a reward, I don't need to bother you..."
Now he doesn't look down upon the little reward from the court...
The officials on the carriage also reacted. The current battalion captain might not be able to change his position even if he was given the position of the corps commander.
So he laughed loudly and said, "I understand! I understand!"
As expected, the battalion captain smiled more naturally: "Thank you, thank you so much!"
