In terms of class, Wang Yi was the youngest general in the Ming Dynasty - Neidian, and Zhang Ergou was just a retired auxiliary soldier. The two were completely different. However, within the village, Zhang Ergou had a greater influence than Wang Yi. Because he was a native native, Wang Yi's family was just an outsider.

After the successive excitement, Zhang Ergou faces the biggest choice in life. How can he find a way out? You can't sit at home and eat nothing.

He first denied going to work in the fields. After following his father to go around the fields, he knew that he was not the one who had a hoe and could not bear the hard work at all. Although he was tired in the army, he did not continue to work at such high intensity. Especially when he worked in the army, he was always full of energy, but he was boring to go to the fields.

Secondly, he denied that he went to the county town to work, build roads, carry bags, and mine all of which were done by prisoners. After all, he was a former Ming soldier. How could he do such a loss of identity?

After wandering around for more than ten days, fewer and fewer matchmakers came to the door. Even when the villagers saw him, their enthusiasm gradually disappeared. No matter which dynasty or era, people always look down on people who don’t work.

"Ergou," I finally couldn't stand it anymore. "It's true that we're back from being a soldier, but we can't be too arrogant."

"Mom, I really don't have a suitable job, let me think about it." Zhang Ergou leaned against the pillar, looked at the white clouds in the sky, pinched it casually, and found that there was fat on his waist. He had no effort at home these days and had eaten a lot, but he actually gained weight.

"Why don't you go to the county town to see Mr. Zheng? The instructors in our village used to be promoted to county lieutenant now." His mother asked tentatively, for fear of hurting Ergou's self-esteem.

Zhang Ergou looked at this issue very indifferently, and hugging his thighs is nothing to him. Moreover, Instructor Zheng did take their physical education classes. Since he had a teacher-student friendship, he is now a county magistrate, so it is always reasonable to visit him. He agreed to my mother and said, "Mom, I will go to the county tomorrow."

"Take some of the newly picked fruits and vegetables at home, and I guess I have nothing to lack now, but I always have to express our feelings." Zhang's mother took care of her.

The military camp is also a small society. Zhang Ergou has long understood these human relationships and of course he knows that he cannot go there empty-handedly.

The next morning, Zhang Ergou was woken up by my mother. Seeing that it was still dark, he had to wash up half-dream and half-awake, carry a heavy basket on his back, and then walk towards the county town. After walking halfway through, the sky became brighter and his spirit was finally able to lift up.

The instructor Zheng in the village was named Zheng Zhi. He was a soldier who joined the army in Shanxi in the 16th year of Chongzhen. He was unlucky and was injured in the same year. As soon as he arrived in Shandong, he transferred to the village school to be an instructor. At that time, the political reform had not yet been advanced, and the township warriors and inspection departments in various places were still on paper, and the county magistrates were also civil servants.

Later, the reform plan was finalized, and the county magistrates of each county were changed to civil servants. The inspection department and the township heroes were all assigned to the General Training Department of the Grand Governor's Office. In this way, all counties needed "military generals" who could recognize literary and literacy. Zheng Zhi started his studies in the army, and later he was still not hindered from studying. He was selected as the Weixian magistrate.

Over the years, he has done his best in office and is honest and has won praise from the villagers.

When Zhang Ergou walked to the county town, he realized that he had committed a second mistake. Today is not a day off, so Zheng Zhi must be on duty in the county. This big basket of local products cannot be sent directly to the county government. Where can Zheng Zheng, whom he doesn't know, live? What should we do?

While thinking about it, Zhang Ergou suddenly saw a team of inspection departments wearing vine armor and holding guns and shields coming towards him. He quickly made aside, put down his back basket, tidied up his big red military uniform, and stood straight on the side of the road.

The inspection department only wore brown clothes, and had long envied the Red Army uniforms of the main force. It couldn't help but look at them secretly. Even the officers leading the team couldn't help but look at them.

"Brother, I'll ask you for some information." Zhang Ergou then stepped forward and said to the team official: "How can the Zheng County Wei family get away?"

Zheng Zhi is directly in charge of the inspection department and the township yen, so Zhang Ergou thinks this team officer should know.

The team officer really didn't know.

With his status, it is not enough to recognize the gate of the county magistrate's family.

"But the county magistrate is not in the county," the team officer knew the inside story. "He went to Goujiazhuang to recruit soldiers yesterday. You can probably find him wherever you go."

Zhang Ergou knew that Goujiazhuang could not carry such a heavy basket on his back, so he picked up a straw, inserted it into the basket, sold all the gifts, and then easily set off to Goujiazhuang.

The most troublesome thing Zheng Zhi has now is recruitment.

In order to win the hearts of the people, the court announced the abolition of the autumn troupe and labor service. Now that the world has been firmly in place, it will be launched for military service, and it will last for five years. How can the people not be scolded? They do not want to believe that this is the order of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and only say that if the dog official fools Taiweixing, he will be punished by God.

"How can military service be the same as corvee service?" Zheng Zhi explained so much that his throat smoked: "Military service is to join the army and fight, and corvee service is to be a coolie for others. One person joins the army and the whole family is glorious; defends the country and brings blessings to descendants. This is a great thing!"

Although such words can be seen everywhere in the village, the idea of ​​"a good man is not a soldier" is still rooted in the old man's heads. Those half-aged men who have finished elementary school are willing to join the army and contribute. Many of them are Young Pioneers, who have received military training, and are not opposed to the camp.

Unfortunately, these kids dare not leave their parents' age. Moreover, the children who have just graduated from school are only thirteen or fourteen years old, which is a little too young for military service. If they reach the age of eighteen or nineteen, they have become the backbone of the family and have to bear a lot of labor. Those who have better families even become children, and they cannot leave just by saying that.

When Zhang Ergou arrived at Goujiazhuang, it was still early. As soon as he entered the village, he saw Instructor Zheng standing on the stone platform under the big locust tree, watching the blind date and explaining to the onlookers how much the settlement fee, how much military salary, and how much treatment he would be after he was discharged from the army.

Instructor Zheng suddenly saw a bright red rush in. In order to prove that what he said was true, he immediately shouted: "Who, are you active service?"

When Zhang Ergou saw Instructor Zheng looking over, he raised his chest and raised his head, and said, "Report! I have just retired and returned to my hometown."

The villagers gave up a way and looked at Zhang Ergou's military uniform curiously. Some of them wanted to reach out to touch the material, but they finally held it back.

"Come up." Zheng Zhi touched his throat, and he couldn't speak anymore. "Tell the villagers about life in the camp, I'll drink a little water first." Zheng Zhi said to Zhang Ergou.

Zhang Ergou got to the position where Zheng Zhi had just stood, looked at dozens of confused faces below, questioning the ground, and stammered for a while, and said, "I joined the army for 17 years. In fact, I didn't have an official in the camp, I just had a choreographer. When I encountered a war, I would run away, carrying baggage or something. The warriors had high requirements, so how could it be so easy to become?

"If you talk about life in the camp, it's really better than family. Except for the different surnames of your comrades, they are no different from brothers. They have fun in the morning, play date pit balls in the afternoon, read books and plays at night. Five years have passed in a flash.

"It's good to eat. Auxiliary soldiers like me also have to be equipped with coarse grains. The soldiers who fight with oil and meat are still eating essential grains. I have been in the army for five years and ran from Shandong to Liaodong. I have never had a meal of hunger.

"I'm wearing my military uniform. Our auxiliary soldiers will change their brown clothes when they work. The soldiers are dressed so well when they are trained. If they become officers, it would be even more amazing. When they wear those battle robes, they will be like heavenly soldiers and generals."

Zhang Ergou opened his talk, and the sense of superiority of being a soldier came up again. The general life in the camp was so rich. He completely forgot that day he was looking forward to the day of retiring in the camp, and now he was just thinking about returning to that simple and life-threatening time.

After all, he was a story that he had experienced in five years. Zhang Ergou did not have the glorious deeds of a combat hero, he only had a mediocre life as a soldier. He talked about the date pit ball, hundreds of men took off all their clothes and took a bath together, and secretly chatted after the lights were turned off at night.

Even Zheng Zhi had the idea of ​​returning to the military camp after hearing this. He subconsciously held his weak left hand, and his heart was filled with desolation.

The villagers were like they were hearing stories, and they laughed at Zhang Ergou's story from time to time.

"Although it is natural to join the army, some people say that they can go to the Martyrs' Temple for the Ming Dynasty, and their names can be engraved on the monument for thousands of years. Some people say that as long as they die bravely, they can follow the crown prince to return to heaven and become soldiers and generals... But we think it is better to be immortal."

As soon as Zhang Ergou said this, Instructor Zheng was so angry that his teeth hurt.

The villagers laughed carelessly.

The most resistant thing to military service is undoubtedly the unavoidable word "death in the formation". This is also the main reason why An Jiayin can support his family's life, but the people still do not want their children to join the army.

"But in fact, not many people died in our army." Zhang Ergou said, "I am really not a lie. In fact, most battles, as long as our muskets are opened, the Donglu and others will escape. Now the Donglu have fled to Haixi, and the Mongolian Tartars dare not go south. They may use troops in the south, but I heard that the natives there use sticks and no swords. I think it is not easy to die in battle..."

The auxiliary soldiers will not stand at the forefront, and the people around them will not fall suddenly like war soldiers. When cleaning the battlefield, they see corpses that are several times more than their own people, and they will not feel that the damage to their own war is high. Therefore, Zhang Ergou did not deliberately mislead others, but expressed his true feelings.

If you want a soldier who has participated in previous bloody battles, it will definitely be a completely different understanding.

However, after saying this, the villagers believed a lot.

The people here are originally very simple and will not listen to Zhang Ergou’s appearance from a questioning standpoint in advance. Moreover, listening to Zhang Ergou’s accent, people also look honest, and there is no need to question it. At this moment, my heart is somewhat relaxed.
Chapter completed!