Zhu Nao

In the next few days, whether in Chengdu or Langzhou, the atmosphere became extremely tense.

Every day in the hall, a group of officials lined up neatly, with files and abacus in front of everyone, and they kept counting and writing.Officials of different deployments often quarreled at the slightest disagreement, until they were so red-faced that they could no longer quarrel, and they would drag each other to the chief for comment.

Not only are the civil servants tense every day, but the military soldiers are also training more diligently.

Although Yu Changming brought a group of people to Jianzhou, the remaining soldiers in Langzhou did not stop training because of this.Jingzhe's youth army never stopped practicing every day.In addition to them, there is a third wave of people on the school grounds in Langzhou...

……

"Assembled, assembled! Let's go to training!"

With a burst of yelling, people in the house came out one after another and lined up in the yard.Wei Yue walked to the front of the team, glanced over and found that several people were missing.

"How many people are there? Where did they go?"

After waiting for a while, five or six people hurried over from the direction behind the courtyard, namely Wang Jiu, Lu Ba and others.

Wei Yue sized them up coldly: "What were you guys doing hiding there just now? What secrets were you discussing?"

Wang Jiu and the others were taken aback, shaking their heads repeatedly, the expression on their faces was clearly guilty. "No, no, no! A bird fell from a tree just now, so let's go around and have a look..."

Wei Yue said, "Where are the birds?"

"Fly, fly away..."

Wei Yue stared at them until his head was almost buried in his chest, then he suddenly sneered and said, "All join the team!"

The few people breathed a sigh of relief and hurried into the team.

Wei Yue said, "Let's go!"

A team of dozens of people walked outside.

Wang Jiu mixed in the team and asked the people beside him in a low voice, "Where are we going today?"

The human being asked by him said: "Go to the school for training. I informed you last night, did you forget?"

Only then did Wang Jiu think of it, and nodded again and again: "Oh, yes. It means that today we started to teach us martial arts, I remembered. It's so strange, why are Xiang soldiers learning martial arts?"

The man asked teasingly: "Brothers, how many of you were really watching birds in the back of the yard just now?"

Wang Jiu suddenly became nervous.He said dryly: "Yes, yes. Just... watching the birds."

The man chuckled, wondering if he understood something, but he didn't ask any more questions.

Wang Jiu broke into a cold sweat immediately.Bird watching is of course an excuse.Just like him, those five or six people were all refugees from Jianzhou.Some time ago, due to the turmoil in Jianzhou, they took advantage of the unprepared guards on the border between the two states and sneaked into Langzhou, trying to steal a living in Langzhou, but unfortunately they were caught by officers and soldiers of Langzhou.After being imprisoned for a period of time, they were sent to the army by the Langzhou government and became Wei Yue's subordinates.

At the beginning, Wei Yue completed the task Zhu Nao entrusted to him, and successfully won the Jianzhou Prefecture. Zhu Nao also fulfilled his promise, letting Wei Yue do his best while staying in Langzhou to study and work and to leave after receiving a generous bounty. choose.Wei Yue chose the former.Afterwards, Zhu Nao helped Wei Yue settle down in Langzhou. Wei Yue's subordinates were still under his control, and Zhu Nao added some new staff for him—namely, the captured refugees like Wang Jiu.A total of dozens of people gathered together, all managed by Wei Yue.If Wei Yue can lead these people well, there will be more opportunities for him in the future.

However, this is not a good job.Refugees like Wang Jiu are not easy to take care of.The reason why Wei Yue was able to pull up his own refugee team was because he was able to lead those people to find a living.But now that they are soldiers, the food is provided by the Langzhou government, so there is no such thing as trying to survive in a dead end.These new refugees are not very strong, but they have a lot of bad intentions.People like Wang Jiu and the others got together just now to discuss the matter of escaping.

Although I no longer have to worry about being hungry after serving as a soldier, being a soldier has been extremely discriminated against for many years.Only people with low status and crimes will be sent to join the army.Therefore, for most people, as long as there is another way to go, they are absolutely unwilling to be soldiers.So these refugees got together and discussed to find a chance to escape from the barracks and grab a fortune in Langzhou. From then on, whether they return to Jianzhou or go to other states, they are all at ease.

On the way to the school grounds, everyone passed a village.

Almost every household in that village had bacon hanging on the doorstep, some were a few stuffed sausages, some were a whole big pork leg, and the recruits were staring straight away immediately.

Wang Jiu swallowed his saliva hard, and thought: This Langzhou man is too rich, right? !Can everyone eat meat? !He doesn't even remember the last time he ate meat... After they escape, they will come to this village to grab a wave, and then they must remember to grab a big pork leg!

Amidst the reluctant gazes and the sound of swallowing, the village gradually went away, and the school ground finally arrived.

On the school field, the soldiers from Langzhou were already training.They are holding long guns and are practicing marksmanship.

"Hey! Ha! Hey!" The movements of the box soldiers were uniform, and following the movements, they uttered shouts with momentum like a rainbow.Suddenly, the soldiers jumped up in unison, and hundreds of spears smashed to the ground together, stirring up dust all over the sky, and even the ground trembled.

All the new soldiers were taken aback, and some of the men with evil intentions were even so frightened that they almost turned around and ran away.

"This, this, this is a Xiangbing soldier from Langzhou?! This is actually a Xiangbing soldier?!"

You must know that Xiangbing is just a group of miscellaneous soldiers. In Jianzhou, the work of Xiangbing is hard work such as repairing bridges and paving roads.Not to mention having such good martial arts, I'm afraid few people have even touched weapons.Moreover, the reason why soldiers are generally discriminated against is also related to their appearance.

In Jianzhou, Xiang soldiers are either wretched or crooked, or fierce and brutal.Because many people have committed crimes and were exiled into the army, they may themselves be villains who have killed people.The life of Xiang soldiers was very hard. They didn't have enough food and clothing, and they had to be beaten when they worked, so they were also full of hostility.Wherever Xiang soldiers were dragged to work, the number of theft and murder cases would increase rapidly.In this way, how can ordinary people not discriminate against soldiers?

But these Xiang soldiers in Langzhou broke the inherent cognition of these recruits.

"Prestige, prestige..." Wang Jiu couldn't help sighing when he heard Lu Ba standing behind him.Lu Ba was also one of the refugees who discussed with him about escaping. Just before they set off just now, Lu Ba was clearly still feeling that he would rather die than serve as a soldier!

After all, they did not come to watch other people practice, but to train themselves.So after being pulled to the training ground, each of them was given a long stick without a gun tip, and a special military officer began to teach them to train.

Seeing the side soldiers dancing their guns vigorously, but they got the weapons themselves, but found that it was not the case at all.Weapons are weapons in the hands of others, but they become shit sticks in their hands. They dance crookedly, and accidentally stab other people's buttocks and their own feet at every turn. It's just ugly.

After practicing for a while, another group of people came to the school field.When everyone looked closely, they turned out to be a group of teenagers, the young ones looked to be in their early teens, and the older ones looked to be only sixteen or seventeen.

"Why are a group of children here? They are also here for training?"

"No way, can you carry a gun at such a young age? It's even hard for me to carry it."

However, the teenagers really went to the weapon rack to get their weapons, and put on a posture ready to practice.

Seeing this scene, the recruits subconsciously practiced harder.There is an unanimous thought in everyone's mind: Even if they can't compare with Xiang Bing, at least they can earn face in front of children...

However, the teenagers not far away showed disgusted expressions when they saw the crooked recruits.After Jing Zhe gave an order, the teenagers immediately began to practice saber techniques.The weapons in their hands are uniform, their shouts are loud, and they are as agile as a dragon!

When the recruits took a look there, they collapsed instantly: the soldiers in Langzhou are unusual, and the children in Langzhou are even more unusual!Children at such a young age are a hundred or eighty times stronger than them. What kind of magical place is this Langzhou? !

……

After practicing for a while, the recruits were exhausted, gasping for breath and sweating profusely.Seeing this, the instructor could only ask everyone to stop and rest for a while.

The soldiers and teenagers not far away were still practicing in full swing, and they showed no intention of stopping to rest.The recruits couldn't help but start talking.

"What the hell are those kids doing? Are they all from rich families in Langzhou, gathered together to learn Kung Fu?"

"It's very possible! The kids from rich families don't have to work, so they just learn some kung fu to keep fit. You can see that they are so strong at such a young age, they must have been carefully raised since childhood."

"I'm so envious. Why didn't we die like this?"

Hearing the discussion of several people, Wei Yue smiled and said, "I thought so before. But they really aren't."

Everyone wondered: "Aren't they? What aren't they? They're not rich kids?"

"Impossible, isn't it? Boys from ordinary families don't help with farm work at home, so they come out to learn Kung Fu when they have time?"

Wei Yue didn't answer, just said: "After a while, you will find out by asking yourself."

These recruits were originally embarrassed to talk to those heroic young men.But Wei Yue's words whetted everyone's appetite.After a while, several teenagers left the team and passed by them, intending to get other training equipment, but they stopped them.

"Hey, little brother, wait a minute."

The boy stopped in his tracks: "What?"

The recruit asked, "Little brother, what are your backgrounds?"

The young man wondered, "What background? What do you mean?"

The recruit asked, "Are you rich kids?"

"Children from rich families?" Several teenagers looked at each other with funny expressions.

The recruit asked again: "Then what do your parents do? Why did you send you here?"

When mentioning parents, the smiles on the faces of the teenagers gradually faded, and their expressions became a little sad.Finally a young man replied: "Most of us are orphans. When Langzhou was in the worst chaos a few years ago, there were bandits everywhere. Some of our parents were killed by bandits, some starved to death, and some may I also went to become a bandit, and I have never seen him again. We were all adopted by Zhuzhou Mu, who taught us to read and practice kung fu."

The recruits were stunned for a moment.They all arrived in Langzhou for the first time. Seeing the peaceful life and prosperity of the people in Langzhou, they almost forgot that a few years ago, Langzhou also experienced the disaster of bandits and was extremely poor.It was because Zhu Nao became the shepherd of Langzhou that he gradually managed Langzhou into what it is now.

Just now, the recruits were a little envious, a little jealous, and a little hostile to these young men.But now those emotions are gone.The teenagers were once as hard-working as they were, or even worse than them.It's just that Junao changed their fate.

What kind of person is Zhu Nao, the shepherd of Langzhou?

……

After a day of training on the school grounds, the recruits were almost torn apart, Wei Yue finally took them back to rest.

When returning to the city, Lu Ba, who was standing behind Wang Jiu, came up to him and whispered to Wang Jiu: "Hey, I chatted with a Xiangbing soldier for a while when I was resting. It turns out that the Xiangbing soldiers in Langzhou are similar to us, and there are many of them. They were all bandits in the past, or refugees who lost their land, and after the peace of Langzhou, they were organized into soldiers."

Wang Jiudao: "Seeing how powerful they are, I thought they were recruited by Langzhou Mu from somewhere. So they were also sent to serve as soldiers?"

Lu Badao: "I said the same thing, but the person I was chatting with said that's not the case. He said that Langzhou is different from other places."

Wang Jiuqi asked, "What's the difference?"

Before Lu Ba could answer, the village full of sausages and pork legs that they passed by when they came appeared in front of them.When they came in the morning, all the people in the village had gone out to do farm work, so there was no one in the village.Now on the way back, the farmers are all back, it's bustling, and people are walking around everywhere.

Lu Ba and Wang Jiu had a tacit understanding, and subconsciously lowered their heads, wishing they could bury their heads in their chests so that no one else could see their faces.Not only them, but many people in the army had the same reaction—in their minds, being a soldier is a low life, and it is the end of life with no hope.Because of this, they planned to grab a fortune after escaping, not only because they wanted to resist fate, but also because they gave up on themselves.

"Hey, soldiers are coming!"

When they heard people yelling like that, they became even more nervous.In Jianzhou, when the common people saw the Xiang soldiers, the timid ones hurriedly stayed away, for fear of causing trouble to the upper body.Those with a more violent temper will roll their eyes at them a few times, spit a few times, and even chase after them.

However, the people in front neither showed signs of running away, nor did they show any signs of throwing things at them.Wang Jiu was a bit bolder, quietly raised his head and glanced to the side, only to see a white-haired old woman standing by the side of the road, smiling at him kindly: "Little brother, thank you for your hard work."

Wang Jiu was stunned.

He turned his head slowly, and there were more villagers standing by the side of the road watching them, including men, women, and even children.No one looked at them with disgust or contempt, but all of them were kind and happy.There were also innocent children chasing after the line, trying to feed them half-eaten biscuits.

Wang Jiu was shocked again!What is going on in Langzhou? !What happened to the Langzhou people? !

Not only him, but other people in the team gradually realized that something was wrong. People with their heads down raised their heads one after another.The recruits had blank, even shy expressions on their faces.

=====

After dark at night, the recruits lie down and go to sleep.Wang Jiu lay on the shop but didn't keep his eyes closed.After an unknown amount of time, he heard three clapping sounds outside the door, he tiptoed down the shop, opened the door and went out.

Several people came out of the room one after another and gathered under the big tree at the back of the yard.They made an appointment during the day to come out at night to continue discussing the escape.

When everyone arrived, the conversation began, but I don't know who started it. The topic didn't continue according to the plan that was half discussed in the morning, but it started talking about what I saw and heard during the day.

"By the way, the kung fu of the Langzhou Xiangbing soldiers is really good... How long will it take us to practice to become like them?"

"The people in Langzhou are so strange. They are not afraid of us, nor do they hate us."

"That's right, a kid stuffed me with a piece of pancake today. I don't know how to make it, it's so delicious."

"Hey, what nonsense are you all talking about! Remember what we came out to discuss tonight?!"

"Uh……"

The topic was finally broken, and everyone hadn't chatted a few words when they heard footsteps all around.They were startled and tried to run away, but it was too late - lanterns were lit all around, and they were surrounded by a group of people.The encirclement opened a hole, Wei Yue walked in, looked at them and said with a smile: "It's so late, what are you talking about?"

No one dared to say anything.

After a while, these five or six people were brought into the room, candles were lit in the room, Wei Yue sat on a chair, and a few men with knives stood beside him, Wang Jiuluba and others lined up and knelt beside him. Waiting in front of you.

Wei Yue looked at them for a while, and said: "Hey, forget it, stand up, I'm not used to others kneeling on me."

Wang Jiu and the others looked at each other and slowly got up.

They were still thinking about how to plead their case, but they heard Wei Yue say: "Okay, everyone is rolling their eyes like thieves there, I already know your plan."

Several people were shocked and looked at each other, trying to find out who the traitor was.

Wei Yue sneered and said, "What are you looking at? It's this time, does it matter who tells the secret?"

Several people broke into a cold sweat and lowered their heads.They are considered soldiers now, and they also know that the military law is strict, and those who want to be deserters must be punished with death.I don't know if Wei Yue will kill them immediately or let them live for a few more days.

Just thinking about it, Wei Yue said: "If you don't want to stay here, I will let you go. From now on, your affairs have nothing to do with me. If you are willing to stay, tonight's affairs will be cancelled, but if there is any Next time, I will kill you."

Those few people were shocked and couldn't believe their ears.Wei Yue said to let them go? !Or write it off? !

After a while, Lu Ba timidly asked: "You, won't you punish us?"

Wei Yue said: "I'm dead this time. You didn't choose to be soldiers, and it's human nature to want to escape. As for what you plan to do after you go out, after all, you haven't done it yet. When you do it, someone will punish you. If I Kill you all now, and you will have no future that you might have had. I don't want to do this kind of thing."

Everyone looked confused.What future might they have?What future do people like them have?

Someone thought that Wei Yue was testing them, and asked cautiously: "If we choose to leave, will you wait for us to go out and shoot us from behind with arrows?"

Wei Yue laughed and said, "Did you listen to too many storytellers before? What are you thinking about?"

The man suddenly didn't dare to say anything.

There was silence in the room, no one dared to believe that such a good thing really happened, so no one dared to make a decision.Wei Yue looked at the group of surprised and uncertain faces in front of him, and remembered the first time he saw Zhu Nao in the teahouse, the way Zhu Nao talked to him.He thought to himself: It turns out that when using this trick, it is so refreshing to see other people's stupid looks!In the future, I really have to learn a few more tricks from Junao.

He pretended to be impatient and said: "If you are a man, make up your mind quickly. If you want to leave, go now, so as not to regret it. If you don't want to leave, go back to sleep before others wake up. You have to go to training tomorrow morning!" But since you are undecided, let me remind you, lest you regret it in the future—you should also find out that Langzhou is different from other places."

Wang Jiu and the others looked at each other again.They have indeed discovered that being a soldier here is not discriminated against, and even somewhat welcome.The Langzhou Mansion gave them a lot of expenses, and they could eat enough for every meal, and no one beat or scolded them frequently.

But, after all, he is a soldier...

After a long time, Wang Jiu couldn't help but said: "Wei...Brother Wei, if we continue to serve as soldiers...the current situation...I heard that Chengdu Mansion has already started recruiting soldiers...will we, in the future, fight? Huh?" Serving in the army in Taiping years was just being discriminated against and living too hard.But in the years of war, soldiers will be born and die.

Wei Yue glanced at him: "You really care about the current situation?"

Wang Jiu laughed.

His question made Wei Yue silent for a while.After a while, Wei Yue calmly replied: "I don't know. But to be honest, I think there may be a war. What's the matter, are you afraid of war? But I listen to your plan. After you escape, you still plan to go to war. To rob the common people. So you only dare to attack the unarmed common people, and dare not fight on the battlefield?"

Everyone suddenly changed color.They are indeed afraid of war, but they can't live on, and they can only survive by stealing, robbing or even killing people.It's just that they never compared the two side by side.Now that Wei Yue said so, the side they dare not think about or face has been completely excavated.Who is willing to admit that he is such a wretched person?

Pausing for a moment, Wei Yue said again: "If you really want to fight, there is nothing wrong with it—by the way, who am I, do you know?"

Wang Jiu and others nodded.They were assigned to Wei Yue's subordinates, and they had heard about Wei Yue.Wei Yue was also a refugee who left his hometown in the past, and the mysterious death of more than a dozen officials in Jianzhou Prefecture was Wei Yue's handwriting.

Wei Yue said: "I might as well tell you one more thing. When I worked for Zhuzhou Mu, Zhuzhou Mu gave me two choices. One, give me 300 taels of gold, and I will never be involved again; second, I stay in Langzhou. Guess what I chose?"

There was a sudden sound of air-conditioning in the room! 300 taels of gold? !You must know that many of them live so long that they have never seen gold in Dalian, 300 taels is really scary! !If they had so much money, not to mention that they would have enough food and clothing for the rest of their lives, their sons, their grandsons, and maybe even their grandchildren's grandsons would be enough for them!But Wei Yue is here now, which means that he didn't ask for the gold...

Wei Yue looked at everyone's expressions, smiled slightly, and said: "I chose Qiancheng. You just asked me if I would fight in the future. I don't know, but I think it would be nice if there is such a day. At least until then , People like us may still live in a fair and honest way in this life, instead of dying in a dark and rotten corner."

Once again the room fell into utter silence.

After an unknown amount of time, someone whispered, "Brother Wei, then I'll go back to sleep."

Wei Yue said lightly: "Go."

Someone left the room, and soon someone followed.People in the room went out one after another, and finally only Wang Jiu and Lu Ba were left.The two of them also left the house, walked all the way forward, and stopped in the middle of the yard.Go left to go back to the house to sleep, go right to leave.After a while, they walked to the right together.

When he was about to reach the gate, Lu Ba stopped suddenly.His expression struggled violently, finally he gritted his teeth, turned around and ran back to the sleeping room.

Wang Jiu stared blankly at his back.

After a while, Wang Jiu sighed softly, and still stepped out of the gate, his figure gradually disappeared in the darkness.

=====

In the evening, Jing Zhe came to the state capital after finishing training.Most of the officials in the state capital had already rested, and there were no one there all the way in.But when we walked to the state pastoral office in Zhunao, the lights in the hall were still on.

Jing Zhe walked in, and saw an account book spread out in front of Zhu Nao, holding the abacus in his arms and clattering, he didn't know what he was counting.Jing Zhe didn't make a sound, just stood aside and waited.

After a while, Junao pushed away the abacus.

Jing Zhe said: "It's getting late, young master, let's rest earlier."

Zhu Nao nodded, got up and said, "Let's go."

After leaving the hall, Jing Zhe said: "I saw Wei Yue and the others when I was training in the school field today."

"Oh?" Zhu Nao asked, "Is that group of people in a mess? Looking at their bodies, I think they can't hold guns."

Jing Zhe smiled.

After a while, he asked: "My lord, why didn't these people be included in the Xiangbing, but Wei Yue took them with them?"

If these recruits join the well-trained side soldiers, they should get started faster.And Wei Yue himself was born with mud legs, and he had to be assigned a lot of teachers to assist him, which might lead him astray.He didn't understand Junao's intention in doing so.

Zhu Nao said: "Chengdu Mansion is not Jianzhou. There are not many Jianzhou in the world."

Jing Zhe was stunned.He understood the meaning of these words, if Wei Yue could win Jianzhou, with his current ability, he could at most win one Jianzhou.In the future, there will be Chengdu Mansion and the whole world, so Wei Yue must be trained.But that wasn't what he didn't understand.

"Brother Yu, can't you? Why Wei Yue?"

Zhu Nao said: "What Yu Changming can do, Wei Yue can't do. What Wei Yue can do, Yu Changming can't do either." He tilted his head and thought for a while, then said, "Yu Changming is more like a shield, and Wei Yue is like a hidden weapon , like a sharp arrow."

Jing Zhe blinked.Shield and arrows?

Zhu Nao sighed, "Oh, it's a pity that you can't do great things with a shield and arrows. You have to have a precious sword."

"Precious sword?" Jing Zhe repeated, and then fell silent.After a long time, he asked, "My lord, how can I make a sword?"

Why isn't Yu Changming, and neither is Wei Yue.What exactly does a knife need to have?

Junao stopped and glanced at him.

A gust of evening wind blew by, making people chill all over.

After a long time, Jing Zhe heard Zhu Nao say seven words one by one——

"For swordsmen, compassion does not control soldiers."

The author has something to say: simple popular science.Generally speaking, there are three ways to replenish the source of troops: recruitment, conscription, and the system of soldiers.

In troubled times, when wars are needed, soldiers are recruited.Recruitment is open recruitment, and the best are selected.Once the recruitment system starts, the status of soldiers will become very high, higher than ordinary people.Because they are needed in war, and they are excellent people who have been selected to a certain extent.

Then the battle is over, and a new dynasty begins. There is no need to fight any more, and there is no need to recruit soldiers, but there is still a source of soldiers.At this time, it may be changed to a conscription system, which is a compulsory military service system.At this time, the status of being a soldier is neither high nor low, and is similar to that of ordinary people, because ordinary people are all preparing for military service.

It is also possible that in order to ensure a stable source of soldiers, it is changed to a hereditary soldier system, that is, hereditary, and the father is a soldier and his son is also a soldier.Then the criminal exile also added a part.This approach is the least costly.But once the world soldier system is implemented, soldiers will soon become discriminated against, and their status will be lower than that of ordinary people.Undoubtedly, the soldiers of the Shibing system also have the lowest combat effectiveness, because they are not voluntary soldiers.