At this time, Saluhi, after learning about the Tingxiao people's bold invasion and intention to assassinate the princess, everyone from the nobles to the common people began to be immersed in the enthusiasm for war. Of course, most of this fanaticism comes from the pursuit of wealth and fame, not because the princess suffered a political assassination. After all, in the eyes of most people, war is the fastest way to get rich, which is the so-called golden belt of murder and arson.
The military conscription order is a way for the Yafei Empire to borrow troops from the private sector, and the military expenses of the mercenary group are borne by the group leader and do not need to be paid by the country. However, the spoils obtained in the war do not need to be turned over, and the regiment leader can distribute them by himself. However, each mercenary group needs to follow the military arrangements of the Ministry of Military Affairs and cannot act without authorization.
The mercenary regiments that fought bravely in the war may be integrated into the empire's royal legion, in which case the main members of the mercenary regiment will also be assigned military positions.
Young nobles like Laiwu and Alvin who are accustomed to laziness still tend to form their own mercenary groups. The reason is mainly freedom. These second-generation ancestors are used to being idle. Although they have ambitions to make contributions, what they fear most is that someone will dominate them. If these people are really allowed to serve in the regular army of the empire, it will be really more uncomfortable than killing them. The fathers of several of them had backgrounds in the military, so it was not a problem to find a position, but they were all rejected by the "Four Young Masters". Based on the principle of "freedom first", these four people started their own mercenary group.
Normally, you only need to send someone to report to the Military Affairs Office, and you are not subject to the control of others. This is what Laiwu and the others value most. These people are all opportunistic and opportunistic. They really believe that following the large army will hinder the use of their talents.
As soon as the military conscription order came out, after some discussion, several people took out all the money they could use and discussed the formation of a mercenary group in a private room of "Yangle".
"Kaiba has 10,000, I have 8,000, Laiwu has 5,000, and Alvin has 5,000. That's a total of 28,000 in military expenses." Chen Zhu calculated, "This is everyone's wealth and life."
Alvin got the money from the old earl, but what surprised him was that his father didn't scold him this time, but actually supported him strongly. You must know that five thousand rupees is not a small amount of money.
"Based on one runi per person per day, one hundred people would cost three thousand runis per month. So how many people do you think we should recruit?" Laiwu asked.
"You mean if you recruit a thousand people, the money won't even be enough for a month's military expenses?" Alvin said helplessly, "I should have known that I would have gone to the mansion less often."
"Yeah, think about saving all that money," Kaiba joked, "then the force of a thousand people can last at least half a year."
"Why are you talking about those useless things," Chen Zhu said angrily, "Now I still have to think about how many people are suitable to recruit. If this battle starts, it won't be completed in a month."
"How about recruiting a thousand people and robbing the rest?" Kaiba said with a wry smile.
"How can you imagine how much gold Tingxiao people can carry in their pockets to fight? Or are you planning to go to Maine to rob civilians, and you are not afraid that the Ministry of Military Affairs will punish you and me." Lai Wu laughed and scolded.
"Then we can't recruit too few people, right? Then if we go to the Military Affairs Department for a meeting, there won't even be a place to stand?" Chen Zhu is still the most friendly.
"Then recruit five hundred people first and support them for a month first?" Kaiba asked.
"You must know that in addition to military expenses, you also have to provide food and supplies," Alvin reminded. "Once this army sets off, it will cost money for food, clothing, housing and transportation."
"Clothes?" Laiwu asked curiously, "To be honest, we don't need to prepare the equipment for these people. That's a lot of money."
"That makes sense. If you don't even have the equipment, how dare you drag him into a fight?" Chen Zhu said with a smile.
"If you say that, then these hundreds of people will have to be assessed one by one." Kaiba looked embarrassed.
"Then there must be an assessment, otherwise what do you think?" Laiwu asked.
"By the way, what's the price of one runi per person per day?" Alvin suddenly asked, "The empire's regular regiments don't have such a high salary. I remember that the most common soldiers only have ten per month. Looney. This is three times more expensive."
"I see that the prices posted by the big mercenary groups are all at this price." Chen Zhu replied, "Don't be too expensive. Mercenary groups are incomparable to the empire's regular armies. When regular soldiers are killed in battle, the empire is How can we say that we should give compensation to the family members? If you die, you will die. You are sacrificing your life to accompany a gentleman, why don't you give more?"
"Besides, if you think about it, you can climb up the ranks by working hard in the regular army of the empire. If you have the ability, you will be awarded a military rank after a few battles. Or do you think there are really many mercenary groups that can really do this? Those who were recruited by the empire? Those of our size who follow us will only get some money in the end." Lai Wu added, "Besides, the equipment of the regular regiments of the empire is uniformly distributed. We These mercenary groups require the mercenaries to prepare their own, and this alone is incomparable."
Alvin nodded and sighed.
"Then how do we assess?" Kaiba asked with a wry smile, "Can I beat Lai Wu in the martial arts competition, and can I beat Alvin in the magic competition?"
"Then according to what you say, the magicians we can only find are the princess and the royal lady." Laiwu joked.
Except for Alvin, everyone burst into laughter. Alvin also raised his eyebrows, feeling sad in his heart. Naturally, he also learned the news about Lan's return to Maine. The princess had been recuperating in the palace with no news, and now her hurtful friends mentioned sad things. I can't help but feel lonely and lonely.
"Then what should I say? Post the notice first?" Chen Zhu then asked, "Wait until there are enough people before starting the review?"
"Then five hundred people? Is it settled?" Lai Wu then asked.
"I have no objection, let's do it." Alvin nodded.
Kaiba also said he had no objection.
"Okay, then I will ask the servants at home to post the notice today." Chen Zhu said.
"Wait a minute, our mercenary group hasn't been named yet, what are you posting?" Alvin reminded.
The four of them fell into silence and began to debate the name of the mercenary group.
A series of names such as "Tiger Roar", "Long Yin" and "Sirius" were proposed, but they were either used or deemed too vulgar. Several people argued over and over again, in order to avoid disbanding before they were even formed. The situation happened, and finally a few people decided to call the "Sifang" mercenary group.
Whether it is to pacify the four parties, or each of the four to occupy one side, at least the implication is good.
After several people discussed the name of the mercenary group, Alvin went to Shepherd College to catch Xia Ye who was still studying during the vacation. Xia Ye was quite happy to hear that he could go to the front line with Alvin.
The recruitment notice for the "Sifang" mercenary group had just been posted, and many people came to sign up in the afternoon. Chen Zhu set the gathering place at his horse farm outside the city. Just after dinner, hundreds of people gathered at the door of the horse farm.
The notice that Chen Zhu posted was very clever. The leader of the mercenary group was written as Lai Wu, and the deputy leader was written as Alvin. He wrote these two companions who had made a name for themselves in the Pillow Sword Club at the front. However, he and Kaiba contributed the most money, but held two idle positions. His purpose is to use the popularity of these two people (especially Alvin's popularity, which can be said to be at its peak) to attract some capable personnel to join the mercenary group.
As for why Laiwu, who is far less popular than Alvin, was written as the leader of the mercenary group, it is because in Chen Zhu's heart, Laiwu is much more cunning than Alvin and is more suitable to lead this army.
In the afternoon, Alvin and Xia Ye received a notice from Chen Zhu and when they rushed to the racecourse, they were quite surprised to see hundreds of people.
As Chen Zhu expected, many people came here just for Alvin. Alvin himself didn't know that fame could be used in this way, but he still admired Chen Zhu's mind and mind. In fact, compared to his three bad friends, Alvin sometimes behaves like a blank sheet of paper.
Alvin actually didn't know the reason why these people came here to admire his name - he, Alvin, was a coveted dark horse in the Pillow Sword Club. To the white bodies present, Alvin seemed much more approachable than unattainable people like the princess and the sons and daughters of Prince Reza's family. In the eyes of these people, Alvin is simply a "civilian" hero.
Alvin saw a familiar face in the bustling crowd, one of his opponents from the Zhenjian Club──Nang Yun.
"Hey, aren't you that middle-aged man? Why are you here?" Alvin pulled out the wave from the crowd.
Langyun didn't expect Alvin to still remember him, and couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. He probably didn't expect that his middle-aged image was so deeply rooted in people's hearts.
Hearing Alvin blurt out the title "middle-aged man", people in the circle around Langyun burst into laughter. It seemed that they also felt that Alvin's description was appropriate.
Alvin was still impressed by Langyun's strength, and the battle at the Pillow Sword Club was still vivid in his mind. Of course, he was more impressed by this name, because according to his logic, usually a person with such a name should be a flirtatious/romantic man. He did not expect that it would be such a simple and even somewhat honest middle-aged man. man.
Langyun is actually very innocent. In fact, he is not very old, in his mid-twenties, not middle-aged at all. He just looks a little more anxious. Now that Alvin calls him this, he has completely confirmed his title of "middle-aged man".
"Your Highness Alvin, we all came here specially to follow you." Lang Yunlang smiled, obviously not taking Alvin's joke to heart. The people behind Langyun also suppressed their smiles and saluted Alvin.
Alvin and Langyun chatted for a while, and after learning each other's true age, they couldn't help but sigh that time is really cruel, urging Langyun to grow old alone.
During the conversation, Alvin learned that Langyun and his party were all from Zhulu College in Fuzi Province. He felt a little stunned at that time. He had obviously never heard of this college. He couldn't help but secretly thought that such a little-known college could also recommend students to go to Zhulu College. Can you use the sword?
Langyun explained to him that Zhulu College was a college specially established by Governor Yuanyasu for the descendants of miners who died. The food, accommodation and tuition fees were all paid for by the Ministry of Finance of Fuzi Province. Only then did Alvin learn that hundreds of miners died every year when developing ore in Fuz. Think about it, if these miner families lose their fathers, they will have no income and cannot send their children to school. Alvin felt very sad after hearing this, and thought to himself that it was no wonder that Governor Yuan Yasu had been sitting firmly in his position over the years. It seemed that Governor Yuan Yasu was quite popular among the people in Fuzi Province.
Langyun also told Alvin that although the students in their academy were from poor backgrounds, they were all able to endure hardships and studied much harder than ordinary noble students. Whether it was martial arts or magic, they were not inferior to Salyuhi. These aristocratic schools.
Alvin nodded in agreement, but still said that he wanted to join the mercenary group and had to pass the review.
Langyun didn't want to ask Alvin to cover up anything, and smiled and said that all the people he brought would pass the test.
After some conversation, Alvin discovered that Langyun was indeed calm and capable beyond his years. Perhaps it was tempered by a difficult background. To have so many people following him, there must be something special about him, Alvin speculated.
"Xia Ye is a master of martial arts. When he goes to the battlefield in the future, he will definitely be in the front row. In this case, the magicians in the back row will have to arrange some people who will obey my arrangements. Since this person treats me too I am very convinced, so I might as well take him as my deputy." Alvin, the mage captain of the Quartet Mercenary Group, thought this way.
Then Alvin saw a familiar person, the killer who faced Princess Onian in the first round.
Of course, Alvin couldn't remember this man's name, but he still remembered his appearance. Especially the two ink-colored crescent moon daggers he used in that game left a deep impression on Alvin.
At this time, Lai Wu also came closer and looked at the killer jokingly.
Looking at the childish look on this killer's face, he must be younger than Alvin. It was obvious that he had never been stared directly at by two men, and he was a little timid and shy, so he couldn't help but lower his head.
"Your name is Qiao Zhi?" Lai Wu looked at him with the registration list in his hand and asked.
"Yeah." The young killer's voice was very clear.
Laiwu winked at Alvin, and Alvin walked over to look at the list in confusion. The two looked at each other and immediately couldn't hold back their laughter.
"Qiao Zhi?" Alvin laughed and asked curiously, "You have such a strong body, your name is Qiao Zhi?"
Lai Wu took the list in his hand and patted Qiao Zhi's chest twice, "Hey, dear, you have such big breasts, your name is Qiao Zhi? Haha..."
Qiao Zhi's face turned red as she was laughed at by these two people.
At this time, the mount beside Qiao Zhi, a rare unicorn, seemed to sense its owner's predicament. It raised its hoof and neighed twice. This posture really startled Alvin and Lai Wu.
"It's okay, Mengma, it's okay." Upon seeing this, Qiao Zhi immediately stepped forward and stroked the unicorn's mane.
The unicorn finally calmed down, and turned its head to Alvin and Levi snorting "te, te" as a warning.
Alvin and Levi's smiles froze on their faces, they didn't expect this unicorn to have such a bad temper.
"Wow, you dream horse is quite scary." Lai Wu sighed.
"Sorry, I scared you." Qiao Zhi apologized repeatedly.
Lai Wu and Alvin were not stingy people either. They exchanged hints and prepared to recruit Qiao Zhi so that they could give him little shoes to wear in the future. Of course this is a joke.
"Which college are you from?" Laiwu asked.
"Putzli." Qiao Zhi replied.
Putzli and Tiede are the two colleges in Saluhi that value family background the most.
The two of them thought that it was no wonder that there was such a rare mount as a unicorn. They thought that Qiao Zhi's family was quite well off. But what puzzled them was that if this person didn't obey his family's arrangements well, why would he come to their mercenary group?
Qiao Zhi also saw the confusion of Laiwu and Alvin and explained.
It turns out that Qiao Zhi's family is in decline. Although his father had the title of Viscount, he was addicted to gambling, and the family fortune had been ruined long ago. Later, he contracted a cold in his lungs and had no money to treat him, so he passed away, leaving Qiao Zhi behind. He and his mother struggled to survive.
It is basically impossible for such a declining noble to arrange people into the Royal Legion through connections that are no longer in business.
Alvin and Laiwu thought that Qiao Zhi's life experience was quite miserable, and it seemed that they would not give him any shoes to wear in the future. However, the two of them had heard a lot about the various declines of nobles since they were young. Perhaps in the eyes of many ordinary people, Qiao Zhi's family is living a pretty good life, which is in line with Alvin's words, what seems glamorous is other people's lives.
However, looking at Qiao Zhi's eloquent talk, her expression was very calm and indifferent, and she didn't care about the hardships of life at all.
Lai Wu patted Qiao Zhi on the shoulder and said, "Get ready. After passing the review, let's go scrape gold from Tingxiao people together."
Qiao Zhi nodded.
Alvin thought that Lai Wu had never seen Qiao Zhi's competition. From his point of view, Qiao Zhi's martial arts skills were not inferior to Lai Wu's, which was a euphemism.
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Chen Zhu counted carefully. There were more than 800 people present, and about 600 martial arts practitioners. Lai Wu and others were responsible for the review. Xia Ye was also roped in as the reviewer. The remaining two hundred or so magicians were all selected by Alvin alone.
Alvin and Laiwu discussed it and decided that the number of magicians should be around 150. Then Alvin's job is much easier, he only needs to eliminate more than fifty people.
He divided the two hundred or so people into several groups, and they fought against each other in pairs. He only needed to determine the worst ones in each group and eliminate them. By the evening, Alvin's side was basically finished. Although Laiwu's side was also divided into groups, because there were so many people, it looked like it might take half a day's work to finish it.
Throughout the afternoon, Alvin has been observing the top magicians in each group, and he knows a few good ones. The few people Langyun brought did have some strength, and they were basically at the same level as the top players in the group, but the equipment looked a bit shabby.
After Alvin told the remaining 150 people about tomorrow's gathering time, he announced the disbandment, leaving only Langyun behind.
"You will have dinner with us later. Let your companions return to the city first." Alvin said looking at Langyun.
Langyun nodded, and he understood the hidden meaning of Alvin's move, so he let his companions go back first.
The slow progress on Laiwu's side is not only due to the large number of people, but also because several key personnel responsible for assessment are not diligent people. In the afternoon, first Kaiba couldn't hold on and asked to lie down for a while, and then Chen Zhu also said he wanted to have a rest, leaving Lai Wu and Xia Ye until the evening.
After Alvin was finished, while waiting for Lai Wu in boredom, he found the two people who had wandered off the ship were lying comfortably on the haystack of the stable, chatting.
"Okay, stop torturing Lai Wu and Xia Ye, let's go back to the city for dinner first." Alvin pulled the two of them up angrily.
Chen Zhu got up and saw that there were still one or two hundred people who were not on the wheel, and sighed.
After several people discussed it, they would not really have to burn the midnight oil to fight. Lai Wu, the leader of the mercenary group, reluctantly announced that those who had not yet had their turn would continue tomorrow.
That night, Chen Zhu squeezed out the last bit of money on hand and treated everyone to a good meal. In addition to the four young men at the wine table, there were also Xia Ye, Lang Yun, and Qiao Zhi. A group of people were wildly envisioning the future through drunkenness. Anyway, they were too young to delve into it.
