Chapter 14: The Ten Inkstones of Dyeing

  "Is everyone here?" Wang, the old village chief, asked Li Shugen, the other village chief, while leaning on his rattan cane.

  Li Shugen stretched his neck and looked around for a while, then shouted in his loud voice: "Has every family arrived? Is anyone missing?"

  "They've all arrived, they've all arrived." Below was a murmur of noise, basically everyone already knew the reason for this gathering of villagers. It's said that it's to draft and assemble for training, many families are worried, as most have had poor harvests this year. Each family is planning to go nearby to do some short-term labor or go out to sea to catch fish and earn some food. With this drafting, a strong laborer will be gone.

  "General Wang, everyone is here." The old village chief turned his head towards the officer who was pretending to be asleep.

  The officer opened his eyes, swept a glance at the villagers under the pagoda tree, nodded and said to the long-shirted official: "Officer Zhang Kongmu, you proclaim the emperor's edict."

  The official with the surname Zhang nodded and walked to the front of the crowd, took out a volume of silk books from his bosom, slowly opened it, and loudly recited.

  "Carefully guard the borders, be prepared for unexpected events, train and discipline the soldiers, so as to maintain peace and suppress violence. The laws of previous dynasties are still in effect, and the country's long-term plans will not change... In recent years, there have been natural disasters and famine, the people are suffering from hunger, and the remnants of the rebels have forgotten our great kindness, invaded and plundered cities and villages... Now, I am mobilizing all the troops to unite and cooperate, to make sure that they support each other, with a unified will and strength. We will set up a network of defenses, open up new battlefields, so that the enemy cannot advance or retreat, and we will be able to defeat them. The soldiers should cultivate the land and store grain, wait for the right moment to attack, and then launch a campaign against the enemy... I hereby order the various regions of Henan Province to recruit one soldier from every 15 households, gather them in each county, and have them follow their original commanders, so as to prepare for unexpected events. The soldiers will be trained and deployed at the same time, and they will both farm and fight. Each of you should train and discipline your troops, to fulfill my wishes."

  After a long section of the emperor's edict was read, the clerk took out another notice, which was an order from Song Wei, the military governor of Ziqing Pinglu in charge of the five states in the eastern part of Henan Road.

  "The regions of Qi, Qing, Ping, and Lu are adjacent to the border, and although the troops have been trained, they must always be on guard. If it is heard that the remnants of Pang Xun's rebellion have risen again, the governors of the five states of Qi, Qing, Zhi, Lai, and Deng should carefully examine the situation and double their defenses. They should secretly prepare for battle and wait for an opportunity to strike. In areas where the enemy's route is crucial, they should increase the number of soldiers and horses, and make flexible arrangements as needed. They should also select capable people to serve as scouts and informants.

  The main generals and below, if they work diligently and handle matters reasonably, will be heavily rewarded; but if they are lazy and neglect their duties, they will be severely punished. This is to encourage everyone to do their job well.

  As for the construction of city walls and fortifications that have not been completed, they should be finished as soon as possible, so as not to delay preparations for defense. As for the recruitment of soldiers from mountainous areas, known as 'brave warriors', they will be given clothing and rations for their families; those who are recruited from among the people will be called 'militia', and will return home in spring and autumn, but gather again in winter and summer. They will receive a daily ration of food and vegetables."

  The clerk read the two announcements in a sing-song tone, with ups and downs, for quite a while before finishing. However, after he had read for half a day, most of the villagers below were dozing off, and hardly anyone understood even half a sentence.

  "What's that old man with a white beard reading?" asked Wang Xiaoshi, who was standing beside Li Jing, with a confused expression.

  "The imperial court wants to recruit soldiers to prevent bandits, one soldier will be recruited from every 15 households." Li Jiong replied, but in his heart he was uncontrollably excited. The two notices only mentioned one thing, recruiting strong men into the army and forming a militia. And it also explained the reason for the recruitment, which is that the remnants of Pang Xun's rebellion four years ago from Guilin to Xuzhou have started to be active again, and the imperial court recruits soldiers to form a militia as a reserve force.

  Li Jing inferred a result from these two imperial decrees, that is, the remnants of Pang Xun had caused quite a stir, otherwise it would not have been possible for the central court to issue such an edict. If it were just some remnants, issuing orders to dispatch troops and soldiers from various places to suppress bandits would be enough, why would they still need to recruit one in fifteen people on a large scale to form a militia?

  It's not simple, if something goes against the norm, it's a disaster. If his prediction is correct, it must be because of this year's great calamity that led to the beginning of a great famine. The people who can't survive will definitely wander around, and some ambitious people or even mountain bandits will take advantage of the situation to cause chaos. The imperial court's 15% conscription is not only for building a reserve army but also for draining the pond before the fish die, taking out many young and strong men in advance to prevent them from joining the bandits.

  It should be correct, according to Li Jing's knowledge of later generations' history. The Great Tang Dynasty suffered from locust plagues and droughts, resulting in a complete crop failure in Henan and the Guandong region. Then, grain prices skyrocketed, followed by widespread famine and banditry. The following year, Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao, the two most powerful rebels, would rise up. The uprising of Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao was the massive outbreak of the late Tang Dynasty's peasant rebellion, and the initial spark should have started around this time.

  The peasant uprising at the end of Tang Dynasty is about to begin, and the Great Tang will soon enter its last few decades of turmoil. The peasant army will wander and fight in all directions, and the last bit of balance of the Great Tang will be broken. The balance that was barely maintained by the mutual restraint among various vassals will be completely destroyed, and the era of separatist wars is about to begin.

  A chaotic world, a truly chaotic world is about to arrive.

  In a chaotic world, people are worse than dogs, but heroes also emerge in a chaotic world!

  To be a dog or to be a hero?

  Li Jing had once thought of using his knowledge to make some small fortune, doing some small business, and living a free life by the sea. But after going through that recent disaster of being wrongly imprisoned, he finally came to a thorough awakening. This is Late Tang, this is not a prosperous age.

  In the late Tang Dynasty, human life was not as valuable as a dog's. The Huang Chao army and the bandits in Cai Prefecture were all dark ages that treated people as military rations. It was impossible to be alone and unharmed. Wang Liang, that dog, had only colluded with a small sesame official, and he could easily put himself to death. If it weren't for that great amnesty decree, by now he might have become one of the skeletons outside Ruxuan Town.

  It's absolutely wrong to put one's life and death in someone else's hands. One's own destiny should be grasped by oneself.

  In this chaotic world, how can one grasp their own destiny?

  The chaotic world is ruled by the strong, whoever has the biggest fist is the boss, military power and force are the strongest and most central powers in this world.

  When one becomes a soldier and a military man, he has the opportunity to grasp his own destiny.

  Li Jiong turned his head, just in time to see Gui Niang and Wan Er standing on either side of Mrs. Han, with several other members of the Li family behind them. As he gazed at this family scene, for a moment he felt a pang of reluctance in his heart. But the next instant, he steeled himself again. Staying would only allow him to grasp a brief moment of peace; when the turbulent waves of the late Tang Dynasty rose up, no one could remain unscathed.

  In a chaotic world, the only way to protect those around you is to first secure and strengthen yourself.

  The villagers had not yet understood the content of the notice, and the clerk had already brought over a clay pot, shouting loudly to the crowd: "Wang Li Village has 158 households, according to the law of one soldier per 15 households. There are 158 stones in this pot, only 10 of which have been dyed with ink. Each household sends one person to draw a stone, and the 10 households that draw the ink-dyed stones must each send one soldier to join the army!"

  Everyone in the village understood what was going on, and for a while no one dared to go up and touch it.

  "Here I come!" Li Jiong shouted, squeezing out of the crowd and walking forward first. Amidst the onlookers' gasps, he reached his hand into the ceramic jar.

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