My years as a soldier

Hu Jiuzhang is 26 this year, and he was a soldier of Tianbao for eight years.When Hu Jiuzhang came to Beiting to join the army, his family suffered from a drought, and the food in the family could not support the family of four. His father went east to Luoyang to make a living, and he, the eldest brother, went north to join the Beiting garrison.Only A Niang and a second brother were left in the family, barely surviving the drought year.

When Hu Jiuzhang talked about his younger brother, he beamed with joy.He said that his younger brother is a scholar, named Hu Yan, who can write poems, and his handwriting is also beautiful.Their whole family is counting on Hu Yan to go to Chang'an to seek fame and become an official, so that they can take their family to Chang'an.

Hu Jiuzhang likes to dream and talk big. He said that when he joined the army, he walked all the way from Chengzhou to Beiting with a piece of flax cake and a broken kettle.When he said this, no one in their team believed it.Even Zhao Dazhu, who usually likes to pick on him, didn't believe it.He said that Hu Jiuzhang boasted that from Chengzhou to Beiting, he had to cross several snow-capped mountains, not to mention a piece of flax cake, even a bag of flax cake could not support a person from Chengzhou to climb the mountain.

But Hu Jiuzhang didn't care.

"Believe it or not, anyway, I, Hu Jiuzhang, never talk big. Why don't we take a few of your brothers back to Chengzhou together?" Holding a whetstone, he stooped to sharpen his horizontal knife repeatedly.

"Why don't you say, when your younger brother is successful, invite us brothers to go to Chang'an? Right, Captain Cheng!"

Zhao Dazhu on the side finally took over. It was a seven-foot man with a thick face, and he turned his head and shouted at the big brother who was cooking wheat and rice in front of the iron pot.

"If you go to Chang'an, go to Chang'an! Then there's nothing wrong with it—"

Hu Jiuzhang did not show weakness, but the seven or eight brothers sitting around him all laughed along.

"Old Hu knows how to brag!"

"that is--"

"Hey—maybe it's not bragging this time." Captain Cheng who was cooking rice suddenly said.

"Didn't you see it? When I returned to the Inner Mansion last month to change defenses, Jiuzhang was called away by Captain Zhang."

"What did Zhang Duwei tell him to do?" Zhao Dazhu asked.

"What are you talking about?" Captain Cheng chuckled, but Hu Jiuzhang's face became hot, and he opened his mouth in a muffled voice.

"Um... Zhang Duwei and his family have a relative in Chang'an. I... asked Zhang Duwei to help their relatives find an official for my brother in Chang'an."

"Hey, let me tell you—when did you have the money to do such a thing? A piece of silver in Chang'an is not the same as a piece of silver in our place." Luo San, the oldest crossbowman in the team, Yang opened his mouth. He is from Kucha, a local recruit, and has never left northern Xinjiang in his life. But everyone said that Lao Luo knew a lot and was careful. If you ask him to discuss anything, you will be able to negotiate a solution. Good way.

"I know..." Hu Jiuzhang didn't have as much confidence as before this time.

"Hey——I said Lao Luo, so don't poke him in the sore spot. Jiuzhang saved five years of military pay and rewards, all of which were handed over to Captain Zhang." It was Captain Cheng who spoke for Hu Jiuzhang.

"Five years' military salary and reward?" Luo Sanyang was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth from ear to ear, and there were several exclamations from the city.

"But our military salary for five years is really enough to find an official in Chang'an?"

I don't know who it is, so I suddenly asked.

"I don't know..." Hu Jiuzhang opened his mouth to answer.

"I don't know. But my younger brother is good at writing poems and essays, and with Zhang Duwei's connections, maybe he will find a job as soon as he arrives in Chang'an?"

"It's hard to say..." Lao Luo sighed aside.

"Hey! Alright, don't gossiping, the wheat rice is cooked, take the bowl!"

Captain Cheng yelled, and the small stone city wall became lively again.

Hu Jiuzhang, Beiting Duhufu, Han Haijun, Sixth Infantry Regiment - Sgt.

In the 14th year of Tianbao, it was Hu Jiuzhang's fifth year of service in Beiting Garrison Fort.Beiting Dadu Hufu belongs to Longyou Road, while Hu Jiuzhang's hometown is in Chengzhou, which belongs to Shannan West Road.Originally, Hu Jiuzhang was supposed to be a soldier of the Chengzhou government under the Liangzhou government, and according to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, the soldiers of the government had to rotate every year to guard the border.

However, the border wars have been tense in recent years, and each feudal town has recruited troops locally. On the contrary, the government soldiers often do not get the opportunity to be rotated, and without rotation, the government soldiers will not be rewarded.While serving in the military service, the family cannot reduce exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and when there is a severe drought in a famine year, life is simply miserable.

Therefore, when Hu Jiuzhang was 21 years old, he did not go to Chengzhou Prefecture to obtain military registration, but left home and went to the Beiting Duhu Mansion on Longyou Road to join the army.

The Beiting Duhufu and Anxi Duhufu of Longyou Dao are the two most powerful local garrisons in Xichui of the Tang Dynasty.But the Anxi Protectorate's Mansion was too far away from Chengzhou, and Hu Jiuzhang couldn't reach it, so he chose Beiting, which was closer.He thought that as long as he became a soldier in Beiting, he would be successful sooner or later.Even if there is no hope of promotion, the officers and men in Bianzhen have many opportunities to make military exploits, and the money rewards are also very generous. He wants to use the money to pay his brother a visit to Beijing.In this way, even if Hu Jiuzhang died in the battle in Beiting, at least there was still a young man like Hu Yan left in their Hu family.

Hu Jiuzhang is actually not very high-spirited.He just wanted to keep his family alive.There is food to eat and a house to live in.

But in the eighth year of Tianbao, Hu Jiuzhang's family was not only short of food, but also short of money.When his father left home, he was poor and empty-handed.My father said that there are only three catties of wheat and two taels of millet left in the family, and if one person eats only one meal a day, it is only enough for one month.But seeing that winter is coming, no matter how the four of them save money, there is no hope. It is better to go out and find a way to make a living while still having strength.

Hu Jiuzhang's father was named Hu Luan, an old mansion soldier who had retired from the army, and what he held the most in his life was his military horizontal knife.My father said that he was tough. He also fought a few tough battles when he was on the frontier, but now his legs are lame and he can't fight anymore.But he is a big man, where can he not live?Even if he has no money, no food, and leaves home, he can still survive.

Originally, Hu Jiuzhang also wanted to leave empty-handed like his father did, but his father said that Jiuzhang was the eldest son of the family, a military family, and the eldest son must join the army.Although it is hard to live as a government soldier now, but with a military registration, at least he can still be a decent person in this world.If unfortunately you fall into slavery, you can't even be a human being.

Because of this, Hu Jiuzhang could not escape.If he doesn't run away, his mother and younger brother can't run away either.But the food at home was not enough to feed the three of them, Hu Jiuzhang gritted his teeth and thought about it, and he just packed his bags.He is going to join the army, but not as a government soldier, but as a soldier in a feudal town——

He wants to find a way out for himself and for their family.

When Hu Jiuzhang left home, it was still dark.

His younger brother Hu Yan baked him two flax cakes that were bigger than his face overnight and asked him to carry them with him.Hu Jiuzhang looked at the two pieces of cake, his nasal cavity was astringent, but he held back his tears in a daze. The young man in his early twenties was so sad that he wanted to cry, but when he looked at Hu Yan, he wanted to cry. Put on a mature and steady expression.At that time, Hu Jiuzhang hadn't grown a beard on his chin, his face was fair, and he looked not much bigger than his younger brother.

"Xiaoyan, now you are the only one left in the family to take care of your mother. If the day comes when you can't survive, you will take your mother and flee to Chang'an—you can write poems, even if you can't reach Chang'an, go to the town. You can always find a place to stay. And once a high-ranking official appreciates you, our family will be overturned."

"I know, bro..."

Hu Jiuzhang didn't cry, but Hu Yan did.

Hu Yan was a sensitive child since he was a child.Their family affairs are always handled by the elder brother Jiuzhang, and when it is really Hu Yan's turn to do something, it is rare.

"look at you--"

Hu Jiuzhang gritted his molars hard, but he was angry.

"Man, man, don't cry!"

Hu Jiuzhang just said such a vicious sentence, turned around and left the house without looking back.He didn't even touch the two steaming pancakes. On the way to Beiting, he couldn't think of anything else but those two pancakes.

Wheat flour cake, how delicious is that...

Until now, five years later, when Hu Jiuzhang is hungry, he still thinks about the two big pancakes his brother baked for him.

"What are you thinking, old Hu!"

All of a sudden, Hu Jiuzhang felt that someone had poked him on the head, and when he turned around, it was Zhao Dazhu again.

Like him, Zhao Dazhu also recruited soldiers from the foreign government.

Zhao Dazhu's family is in Cangzhou, and the times are not good, and his mother is sick again.The medical treatment cost money, so Zhao Dazhu sold all the land at home.As a result, the old lady recovered from her illness, and the family could no longer survive.Zhao Dazhu had to travel long distances to join the army in northern Xinjiang.Like Hu Jiuzhang, he is a miser. He gets rewards for killing the enemy and doing meritorious deeds. He never pretends to give everyone a good meal, but only wants to save.Hu Jiuzhang kept it for his younger brother, and Zhao Dazhu kept it for his mother.

"I want you to take care of it!"

Hu Jiuzhang didn't deal with him at all.The two brothers are in similar situations and about the same age.It's just that Zhao Dazhu is ugly, with a fleshy face.Hu Jiuzhang, on the other hand, is a handsome young man, with a clean-cut face, no pockmarks or sores, sharp eagle eyes, a little beard on his chin, and wearing the armor of the Tang army. Look, there is still a bit of general demeanor.

"What else can he think about? Mostly he is thinking about his brother's dream of getting promoted and getting rich!"

"Hey! Are you still thinking about it?" Luo Sanyang spoke again.

"Isn't that right? Five years of military pay plus rewards, the boss is a lot of money!"

"Hey—don't make fun of me!" Hu Jiuzhang did not show weakness, he held the wheat rice cooked by Captain Cheng in his hand, but smiled on his face.Although his gang of brothers are rough, but brothers are brothers, they have been with him for five years through wind and rain.Now, they, and this stone fortress, are his home.At home, he can say anything and dare to say anything.

"Hey - stop making trouble, eat quickly!" Captain Cheng, who was dull at the side, spoke, and the city gradually died down.

Hu Jiuzhang held his big earthenware bowl with his head depressed, eating coarse wheat rice with only a little salt added.The rice has no taste, but it is good to eat with rice.Hu Jiuzhang doesn't ask for anything, he only asks that their whole family can sit and eat together in such a peaceful way in the future.If so, even if he died in northern Xinjiang, he would have no regrets in his life.

Hu Jiuzhang was having a good meal, and when he turned his head, he heard scouts running from the corridor towards the wall on their side.Captain Cheng was the first to stand up.

"Who? What's the matter?"

As soon as Captain Cheng spoke, the brothers who were still teasing and chatting were silent.Hu Jiuzhang raised his head, but saw the scout panting, holding a pitch-black general order in his hand.

"Zhang, Commander Zhang told me to tell you guys! Tonight, switch defenses with the Fifth Regiment!"

"Got it!" Captain Cheng answered loudly, but the scout seemed to have something to say, standing at the exit of the corridor, looking straight up the city.

"What else?"

"Hey, here... who is Hu Jiuzhang?"

As soon as Hu Jiuzhang heard the scout calling his name, he put down the wheat rice in his hand and stood up immediately.

"I'm."

"Hey, come here."

"What's the matter? You made it so mysterious!" Another brother started to boo at the side, Hu Jiuzhang just smiled helplessly, and everyone didn't take it seriously.He walked up to the scout, but saw that the scout was still waving at him, telling him to come closer.Hu Jiuzhang had no choice but to listen to him, but he could hear the scouts whispering a series of words in a leisurely manner.

"Lieutenant Zhang asked me to tell you that something happened to your brother in Chang'an. Captain Zhang said that you couldn't do what you begged him to do, so after telling you to change your defense, go back to him and get the things."

"What happened? What happened?" Hearing the news about Hu Yan, Hu Jiuzhang suddenly became nervous.He stared at the thin scout with a pair of eagle eyes, staring him blankly.

"Cough... Zhang Duwei didn't ask me to tell you. When you go back to the inner palace tonight, you can ask him yourself."

"You know, right? Tell me—" Hu Jiuzhang's big hand holding the knife was already on the scout's shoulder. Captain Cheng looked at the two of them, but didn't speak. The brothers who were eating didn't seem to care, but they didn't care. One by one, their ears were pricked up, and they didn't even speak.

"Hey - that's fine! I'm in a hurry, and I have to report to the rest of your regiment, let go!"

"Tell me!" Hu Jiuzhang was anxious.Captain Cheng quickly put his hand on Hu Jiuzhang's shoulder, "Hey, Jiuzhang, he still has work to do, so you can be in a hurry."

"Hey——you are really a man!" The scout was stared at by Hu Jiuzhang's eagle eyes, and when he raised his hand, he patted Hu Jiuzhang's shoulder.

"I'll tell you the truth. Zhang Duwei said that your younger brother provoked someone he shouldn't have provoked in Chang'an. He was beaten up and seriously injured. I'm afraid he might die."

"What did you say?"

Hearing that, Hu Jiuzhang's mind buzzed.He loosened his hand on the scout's shoulder, but his mind had already exploded.

The author says:

This book recommends BGM: Ayunga "Hila Grassland"