NOVEL NEXT Chapter 39
Chapter 39: Master
The common people are all human beings, but all human beings have all kinds of thoughts. It is said that the same rice raises a hundred kinds of people. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that a hundred people have a hundred hearts. However, on the issue of joining the “Ming Army”, Most of the young men in Luo Dingcheng collectively agreed that this soldier could not be a soldier.
Why can’t it be?
The answer is simple – be afraid!
Since the first year of Yongli, Luoding City has stationed no less than ten troops and horses, including Li Dingguo’s army, other Nanming generals’ troops, and even the first Ming army and then the Qing army’s soldiers and horses, as before Southern Ming Luoding commander Xu Anguo; of course, there are also Qing troops from the north. For example, Kong Guoliang, who was beheaded by Zhou Shixiang, came from Jiangxi in the north.
With soldiers and horses stationed in the city, it is natural that Raff joins the army. It doesn’t matter which soldiers or horses you go in, it doesn’t mean that you should be a soldier with a knife and a spear as soon as you enter, but you must start with the master first.
The army called the Master nicely, saying that he was an auxiliary soldier, but the common people did not know which of them was. Only after you have been with the army for a long time, the companions who came in with you are almost dead, or you are lucky enough to be lucky and come back with a head cut, or the main soldier is seriously lacking, then your auxiliary soldier can have the opportunity to become the main soldier. At that time, it will be considered a real soldier to be paid, otherwise, it will be a coolie cannon fodder, who will not be buried in the ground when he dies.
There is a folk saying that there are ten masters and one soldier, which is the hardship of being an auxiliary soldier. Generally, only one of the ten auxiliary soldiers can become the main soldier. As for whether he can return to his hometown alive, whether he can be in the army or not. If there is a personal appearance in the mix, then it depends on their own fortunes.
Counting back and forth, there are thousands of young men in Luoding City who were arrested by the army to be their masters. Those soldiers and horses said it nicely when they arrested people. They wanted to expand their strength to protect the country and the people, but in the end , those military men who always talk about protecting the country and the people, but without exception, abandoned Luoding City and ran away when the enemy came over!
When they ran away, they hurt the people in the city. You must know that every young man is the backbone of the family. Whoever is behind is not the old and the young. Your army will pull people away when they say they are. What about the old and young women and children?
Those who are a little more kind can give the pen money to settle down before leaving, and those who are not kind will be whipped directly with whips, and chased with guns and knives. If the whip can’t take it away, it is directly dragged out and beheaded, and there are hundreds of young men with their heads beheaded buried under the gap in the east city wall!
In the past few years, the Ming and Qing dynasties have fought back and forth in Guangdong. There is no news of the men in the family. I don’t know if they are dead or alive. The old and weak women and children who have no pillars of support will either suffer at home, or they will help the old and the young to escape. , but even so, it will not last for many days, and the ultimate end is to sell children and daughters, or sell themselves with a straw mark, otherwise, how to live?
In troubled times, people are not as good as dogs!
………
In any place, once men, especially young men who are the main labor force, are lost in large numbers, the impact on the economy and people’s livelihood of the place is absolutely fatal. Sometimes 10, 20, or even 40 or 50 years will not allow this place to repeat its former prosperity.
Luoding Prefecture was originally Zhili Prefecture, which was newly established during the Wanli period. The territory is mountainous, the economy is lagging behind other areas in Guangdong, and the population is even smaller. How can it withstand the loss of young people.
Not to mention the nearest, the Zhao family, which owns the most land, used to have hundreds of tenant farmers planting their land, but now there are only a dozen or so. This shows that the loss of young and strong population has a great impact on the local people’s livelihood. .
In addition, the Qing army had the practice of massacring and washing the city in the newly occupied Ming Dynasty territory. On the one hand, they hoped to obtain money and food resources in this way, and on the other hand, they also wanted to use this horrific method to shock other places and dare not resist.
After a series of man-made disasters, Luoding’s total population has dropped from more than 170,000 in the first year of Yongli to more than 3,000 today. Even adding those who fled to other places or hid in the mountains and forests, the total Not more than a million people.
In the past, Luoding Prefecture, which had jurisdiction over two counties and directly led one state, is now just a larger town.
There have been **** lessons over the past few years. Now, where can the young men in the city still be willing to be the “cannon fodder” of the Ming army Hu Cannon? His wife and children hugged him tightly.
Although two taels of silver can relieve a momentary urgency, it will not last long in the end. As long as there are men in the family, they can live on, eat bran, and go out to beg for food. But if there are no men, the day will collapse. !
Looking at the white-haired father and mother, looking at the pale-looking wife, and touching the skinny child, how could this young man dare to take those two taels of silver.
There is always hope in life. People are dead, what are they talking about?
This soldier can’t be a soldier, and this money is even more unacceptable!
Those who are really willing to give up these two taels of silver are mostly those who have enough to eat and the whole family is not hungry. The more than 30 young men Zhao Sihai recruited are such people, except for a few who have connections with the Qing army. Blood feud ~www.readwn.com~ The rest are bachelors who have no wife, children, and children to worry about.
They can see through it. If they can’t survive these days, it’s better to fight in the army. Maybe they can become the main soldier from the master. If they fight well, they can’t be mentioned as a personal soldier by the general. What will happen in the future? Being able to be an officer too is much better than the current situation.
All in all, the reason why Zhao Sihai couldn’t recruit anyone was that the young man refused to abandon his relatives to die in the army. Of course, the Ming army has repeatedly lost and retreated in recent years, and the situation in Nanming is not optimistic, which has also affected the enthusiasm of the people to join the army to a certain extent.
To solve the concerns of the young men, the only way is to use the whole nation as a soldier. As long as the young men and their families are all included in the army, and a coercive approach similar to Li Zicheng and even the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of later generations can be adopted, people can be integrated in the shortest time. Within the system, unite the top and the bottom, and then gain greater power.
Zhou Shixiang didn’t think much about it, and immediately called for people to gather all the affected people. He wanted to recruit troops himself.
After the fire the night before, Song Xianggong designated the area of the east city wall for temporary residence of the affected people, and provided some food through the big households in the city. At present, most of the affected people still stay here because they have nowhere to go.
After hearing the sound of the gong, the victims were either willingly or reluctantly called to the city gate.
Zhou Shixiang asked Peng Dazhu to bring a table of the Eight Immortals, and stood on the table to start his recruitment speech to the confused people.
His opening is very simple, with only a short sentence, “Do you want everyone to have food, everyone has clothes, and everyone has meat to eat!”