Chapter Twenty: Supporting Li Lang

  Li QIN and Xu Xiaoni rode together on one horse, rushing to Liu Sheng's manor.

  Liu Sheng's bones were broken by the giant and he couldn't move, so he stayed in the manor. The servant saw Li Qin coming again and hurriedly welcomed him in.

  Li QIN had Liu Sheng examine the wound, and the fracture was treated in a timely manner without any deterioration. Li QIN applied a plaster to him and instructed Liu Sheng not to move for these days and to rest for at least half a month. Afterwards, he also examined the injuries of the family servants one by one and handled them properly.

  Back at the main house, Li Qindao said: "Brother Liu, since everything is fine here, I'll be heading into the city now. Today, I plan to enlist in the army and from now on, I'll be eating imperial rations."

  Liu Sheng was watching Li Qin send his plaster, listening to Li Qin say this, and hummed, saying: "You're not even paying for the grain, let alone expecting to eat imperial rations? We are far away from the emperor, who takes the emperor seriously? Only you!"

  Tease Li Qian with one sentence, Liu Sheng let the servant bring a bag of five copper coins and hand it over to Li Qian. He said: "Brother, after joining the army, human feelings and worldly affairs will inevitably increase. Take this money and go through the motions, strive to become a squad leader. If you become a squad leader, you can be responsible for the security of a village, including your hometown of Fu Jiao Village, so that you won't be assigned to enter the city and guard the city gate all day, suffering from wind and sun."

  Li Qin didn't decline, putting the money bag into his bosom and said: "Alright, I'll listen to Brother Liu. Let's see if I can become a Wu Chang or not!" He bid farewell to Liu Sheng and took Xu Xiaoni into the city.

  Today they had nothing to do, and before noon they entered the city and arrived at the location of the county government office. The houses in Fuping County are mostly facing south and sitting north, which is convenient for lighting. However, the gate of the county government office faces southeast, which has a reason, meaning to face southeast towards Luoyang and pay homage to the imperial court.

  The Fuping County government office has been in disrepair for years, and from the outside, it's not even as tidy as Liu Sheng's mansion. The walls are over a person high, with black gates, and most of the black lacquer on the gate has peeled off; if there weren't several yamen runners standing outside, no one would have thought that this was actually the Fuping County government office.

  At the entrance, a large pot was set up beside the steps, with hot air steaming from it as it cooked mutton soup. The aroma filled half the street. Two bailiffs stood beside the pot, simmering the soup, while another bailiff stood in front of a wooden signboard, shouting loudly.

  The yamen runner shouted: "Poor fellow, poor fellow, the commander is having a meal! Elders and fellow villagers, take a look at this! This is mutton soup! As long as you come to be soldiers, you'll have mutton soup to drink right away. I guarantee it will warm your mouth and heart!"

  The people on the street passed by the gate of the government office, but few stayed. Except for taking a few deep breaths of the mutton soup's fragrance, no one signed up to join the army.

  Fuping, named Fuping but actually a poor place. According to the Han system, there should be a regular army of 400 soldiers here, and the rest are farming soldiers. The regular soldiers can get two stones of grain per month to support their families, while the farming soldiers do not have grain rations but can cultivate official land and receive assistance such as oxen, seeds, and fertilizers. In autumn, they hand over one-tenth of the crops, which is less than what ordinary people pay, but in wartime, they serve as auxiliary soldiers and follow the regular soldiers to go on expeditions.

  This was the rule set at the beginning of Fuping County. But rules are meant to be broken, and the county magistrate of Fuping had long been unable to issue military pay, so he changed the rules!

  Fuping County has only over a thousand households registered, with a population of just over 10,000. To maintain a crack troops, the county magistrate thought it was a bit too much, so he stipulated that the name is one battalion, and the actual quota is 60%, which means 400 soldiers. He only maintained 240 people, and the remaining quota was responsible for recruiting by the company commander. It was recruited by the company commander, in other words, let the company commander raise it, but not allowed to be raised by the team leader, garrison chief or military marquis. This is to prevent the emergence of forces that can confront the county magistrate.

  Even if there were 240 people, the county magistrate couldn't afford to pay their military salary, so he asked the soldiers to take turns eating. In other words, when there was a task, the county magistrate would recruit troops and provide them with one meal a day, but if there was no task, they should go home and eat on their own.

  This method of recruiting soldiers is definitely not good for recruitment, so the county magistrate came up with another plan. Those who join the army can occupy and cultivate land on their own. Fuping has vast land but few people, everything else is lacking except for land. Soldiers can occupy as much land as they want, but the government does not provide loans, and they must hand over half of the harvest according to the amount of land occupied. In fact, this is equivalent to downgrading regular soldiers to auxiliary soldiers who are stationed in the fields.

  The northern territories are located on the border, and there is no governor, so this method of raising troops is also a helpless move. The county magistrates in various places are almost all like this. But it's precisely because of this that the local powerful forces have increased exponentially, while the official forces have weakened. If the imperial court has nothing to do with it, then it doesn't matter. However, once the imperial court has something to do, this place will immediately be divided up by the powerful families. In name, it's still the Han dynasty's territory, but in reality, no one would think that they really belong to the Liu family. The city walls of the Han family are shared by everyone!

  Fu Ping County Magistrate Tang Jie, in terms of character, is still not bad. However, reality is such that he can only muddle along. Originally, he could have continued to hold this official position, but in recent years, for some reason, heaven has not been kind, and Fu Ping has been plagued by severe droughts. The lives of the common people in the county have become difficult, and the nomadic tribes on the grasslands are also struggling to survive. As a result, the local situation is no longer peaceful.

  Tang Jie estimated that the Hu people might launch a large-scale invasion of the south, which would not be a trivial matter to resolve. Therefore, he had no choice but to recruit soldiers, aiming to gather 400 regular troops. He wanted poor men to risk their lives for him in exchange for food, but these poor men were not foolish either. This was a matter of exchanging one's life for meals, and who would be willing to join the army unless they were desperate? The poor men who were starving to the point of being skeletal were rejected by Tang Jie, but those who were not yet starving to death proved that they could still survive, and therefore refused to risk their lives in exchange for food.

  The yamen runner under the plaque stopped shouting, looked at the two who were cooking the soup, and said: "You two stop eating, from yesterday to now, only a few soldiers have been recruited, this little soup is all given to you two to drink!" As he spoke, he walked to the edge of the pot, scooped out a bowl, and started eating and drinking in big mouthfuls.

  The two bailiffs beside him said: "You're one to talk, you didn't drink less yourself!"

  Li Qin arrived at the gate, reined in his horse and asked: "May I ask, is this place recruiting new soldiers?"

  The three yamen looked at him, then at the black horse he was riding, and the yamen in charge of recruiting put down his bowl and walked forward, saying: "Yes, we are recruiting new soldiers. Are you here to find someone?" He didn't expect Li Qin and Xu Xiaoni to be joining the army. Who would want to join the army if they had money?

  Li Qindao said: "We're not looking for anyone, we've come to enlist in the army!" He and Xu Xiaoni dismounted from their horses.

  Xu Xiaoni looked at the big pot and whispered: "They are simmering a mutton soup, it seems to be the fat sheep you brought back, Qin Ge!"

  Li Qinxiao smiled and made a fist to the bailiffs, saying: "Three brothers, I am Li Qinxiao, responding to Lord Tang's call, specially came to sign up for the army, defend my hometown! May I ask where to register?"

  Three yamen runners exclaimed in unison, all with surprised expressions. The runner in charge of recruiting said: "Fu Jiao Li Qin? Is that the famous hero Li Lang?"

  Li Qin laughed and said: "Wrongly loved, I am just a commoner in ordinary clothes, how dare I be called a hero!"

  "The yamen runner shouted: 'Are you really Li Lang? Ah, you've finally come! My master said you would definitely come!' He turned around and ran towards the gate, shouting: 'Master, Li Lang has arrived, he's here to join the army!'"

  As soon as he shouted, a large group of people rushed out from the door and surrounded Li QIN, gazing at him with their eyes wide open, just like they were admiring a rare national treasure, exclaiming in admiration without stopping.

  Li QIN touched his hair at the back of his head and thought: "The sheep wasn't given away for nothing!"

  Xu Xiaoni was overjoyed and grabbed Li Qin's sleeve, saying repeatedly: "Brother Qin, you've become a hero!"

  In a moment, a middle-aged fat man wearing a long gown and with a sword at his waist came out of the courtyard. As soon as he appeared, the onlookers parted to either side, it was none other than County Magistrate Tang Jie.

  Tang Ji was over fifty years old, a filial and incorruptible official. He had always been smooth and worldly in his dealings with others. As the county magistrate for many years, he made small mistakes but never big ones, and managed to keep everything stable and secure. It's likely that as long as the barbarians didn't bother him, Tang would be able to remain in office until his death.

  The day before yesterday, Meng Mu returned with fifteen fat sheep, saying that they were sent by Li Qin from Fu Jiao Village. Tang Jie thought for a moment and understood that the young master of the Li family was trying to curry favor, so he ordered his subordinates to pay attention and notify him immediately if Li Qin came to join the army.

  Tang Jie looked towards the two people standing at the door, and saw that in front was a majestic young man eight feet tall, while behind the young man was a small follower, and the small follower's hand was holding a black horse, no need to ask this young man must be Li Qian without a doubt.

  Having been an official for many years, Tang Jie was very good at talking. He knew that if he wanted to make a person he had just met his own, the first sentence was crucial. So he neither asked for his name nor introduced himself, but instead raised his thumb and said loudly: "Li Lang, most righteous!"

  The county magistrate spoke up, and the crowd of onlookers all shouted in agreement: "Li Lang is the most righteous!"

  Xu Xiaoni, who was behind, heard the crowd praising Li Qian and became excited as if he himself was being praised. His face turned bright red, one hand holding the reins of the horse and the other grasping the hem of Li Qian's garment, he shouted loudly: "The most righteous! My brother Li Qian is the most righteous!"

  Li Qin thought to himself: "This man is quite eloquent, he's an official sycophant. If I'm not mistaken, if I were to kneel, he would definitely help me up!" He pulled up his sleeves and pretended to kneel, saying: "Humble subject Li Qin, paying respects to Lord Tang!"

  As expected, Tang Jie twisted his fat body, took two steps forward, supported Li Qin and said: "The name of Fu Jiao Li Lang is like thunder in the ears of this official. Today, I see that Li Lang is indeed a hero, can be a what long-term job!"

  Although Shi Chang is the second-to-last basic unit, he is the head of a rich and independent combat unit. If it weren't for Tang Jie's relatives or background, or if he wasn't an old soldier, it would be difficult to become one. Tang Jie has given Li Qian enough face... those fifteen sheep!

  Li Qin thought to himself: "When I arrived, Liu Sheng still asked me to spend money and become a Wu Chang, but unexpectedly, without spending a single penny, I directly became a Shi Chang!" He hastily expressed his gratitude, saying that the adult had mistakenly favored him.

  Tang Jie pulled his hand and walked into the government office together, saying: "Li Lang, this official considers you as one of our own, so I'll let you choose your soldiers yourself. Come on, bring the name list here for Li Lang to select!"

  Li QIN is finally genuinely happy this time around, can choose his own troops, the sheep wasn't sent in vain, it wasn't sent in vain!

  ——

  This morning, I opened my computer and saw that the new book ranking had risen to 20th place! It's steadily rising! Thank you for your continued recommendations, collections, and support. Brothers and sisters, you are too powerful, you are too awesome, thank you so much!