Chapter Ten: The Recruitment Fair

  A large pot was emitting white steam, and the two cooks who had been invited were working hard to keep the fire burning. The aroma of porridge and steamed buns wafted out in waves, filling the entire hut area. Before long, it was as if a pot had exploded inside, and hungry people rushed out one after another. The area around the large pot was immediately packed to the point where water couldn't flow through, and groups of adults and children with tattered clothes stood staring at the pot, drooling. Lu Erzi, Dai Zhenggang, and Hai Gouzai drew their Japanese swords and stood guard on the side, but no one dared to rush up and grab anything.

  Chen Xin nodded to Zhang Dahuai, who turned around and loudly shouted to the people around him: "Fellow porters, my young master is here at the nursing home. Our young master has a good heart, every month he gives us one or two silver coins, no arrears, and five dou of rice, guaranteeing that your whole family will eat their fill." The crowd immediately stirred up, with one or two silver coins per month plus five dou of rice, if not deducted, it was indeed enough to feed a whole family.

  Chen Xin did not dare to openly recruit soldiers near the capital, for if the officials found out, he would be in trouble and have to flee with his tail between his legs. So he had to do it under the guise of recruiting guards.

  The meeting continued: "When you arrive at the place, there is still land to be divided. At home, wives and children can farm the land. You only need to practice every day. If bandits come, fight against them. Is this a good thing that has happened in the world? It's all been encountered by you."

  The crowd was originally quiet, but at this time they immediately started buzzing with discussion. A thin woman hesitated and asked: "Brother, we're not afraid of the bandit, but what if we get killed or injured, what about our wives and children?"

  "If you get injured or die, there will be thirty taels of silver for consolation. If you have children, the adults will take responsibility to feed them and raise them until they are sixteen years old."

  "Thirty taels!" The man exclaimed in surprise, seemingly a bit astonished that his life could be worth so much.

  Zhang Dahuai burst out laughing and said, "That's right, thirty taels of silver. Not only that, but also land in the future. That land will be rented to you on a long-term basis, and the rent will definitely be lower than what your landlord at home collects."

  The thin husbands were discussing in a flurry, Chen Xin watched these people from the side, all of whom had slender figures and stood in groups, apparently they were divided into groups by their hometowns. In each group, there was one or two leaders, and everyone surrounded him to discuss. Chen Xin paid special attention to those scattered individuals standing alone and remembered their appearance.

  One of the group of people who were discussing something, came out a sturdy-looking leader and asked: "And you, brother, how far is your place?"

  "It's even farther away, in Shandong Province, and it's not even by the Grand Canal."

  The leader of the thin husband then asked: "If we all go, can you give us some travel expenses first? We also need to prepare and follow you."

  Zhang Dahuai's eyes rolled around, this person was clearly trying to take advantage of the situation. He handed over the luggage and ran off to find someone. The other shook his head and said: "If you want to follow us, we will arrange the route ourselves. Besides, my young master gave such good conditions, it is also necessary to select people, not just let anyone come."

  The dense crowd of onlookers hesitated, after all, they had never seen these people before, and they were holding sharp blades, coming to recruit people for no reason, nobody knew what was going on.

  "Everyone can think carefully, if you are willing to stay here and starve to death, it's up to you. If you are willing to follow my young master, maybe you can get a good future. This is my young master, a talented person with both literary and military skills. Following him, you are lucky from your past life." Zhang Da pointed to Chen Xin beside him, who was dressed in luxurious clothes, indeed a talented person, but his literary and military skills were not visible.

  The leader of the group came up and asked Chen Xin: "Young master, how many people do you want?"

  Chen Xin was not enthusiastic about this leader, he originally had few people, and of course would not recruit people in a group, otherwise these people would unite and manage themselves, he had already decided that he would not want this leader.

  Chen Xin loudly said to the people around him: "I am the master, if you want your wives and children to eat their fill, follow me. As long as I choose you, you can have porridge immediately, and tonight there will be a meat dish too. In the future, taking care of the house and guarding the yard won't lack food for you either. I'm only recruiting fifty people, once it's full, no more."

  These people heard that only fifty people were being recruited, and there are several thousand porters here. Some from farther away haven't even arrived yet. If there are too many people, then there won't be any opportunities. Some people got anxious, and the crowd began to stir restlessly.

  "I'll give it a try, young master, see if I can eat meat or not." A slender husband with an ordinary appearance, about twenty years old, walked out and said loudly.

  Finally, there was the first one. Chen Xinsong let out a breath and nodded slightly at Zhu Guobin. Zhu Guobin walked over, turned over the rickshaw boy's palm, and saw thick calluses on his hand. He then pulled open the boy's tattered clothes, revealing scars on his right shoulder, evidence of long-term hard labor. Zhu Guobin looked at the boy's face again, and saw that he had a simple and honest appearance, but was now somewhat tense.

  Zhu Guobin nodded, letting him stand in front of Chen Xin. Chen Xin looked him up and down, with a lean and dark complexion similar to Lu Chai's. Chen Xin asked him: "What's your name?"

  "My name is Wang Changfu, I'm from Shandong Province. I've been pulling a rickshaw here for two years now. Luckily, I haven't starved to death."

  "Is there anyone else at home?"

  "It's all gone, just me left, my family is poor, no woman wants to marry me."

  "Alright, you passed, now go eat your congee. But next time, remember to only answer what I ask, no need to say extra."

  Wang Changfu knelt down and kowtowed to Chen Xin, who calmly accepted it. He didn't like this kind of etiquette, but now was not the time to change it. After Wang Changfu finished kowtowing, he went straight to the pot and Zhang Dahui had already prepared a bowl of porridge for him. Wang Changfu couldn't wait any longer and started drinking it immediately, without even caring if it was hot or not. After taking two sips, he let out a satisfied sigh: "This porridge is really thick." Zhang Dahui smiled and handed over a steamed bun, and Wang Changfu didn't say another word, opening his mouth wide to take big bites.

  The surrounding villagers took a look at his eating appearance and couldn't help but run out several more to surround Zhu Guobin to sign up.

  Zhang Da Hui saw the situation was good, and hastily said: "Alright, everyone who wants to come, line up in order, one by one. This Wang brother can eat now, only recruiting 50 people, if you're late there won't be any left. You guys don't think about it, my young master can still cheat you into doing what? What good things do you have to be cheated?"

  Those several porters hastily lined up, Zhu Guobin looked at them one by one, and they all passed the test. Then he asked them to go over to Chen Xin's side.

  Chen Xin's purpose here is mainly to let these people know that he is the one who makes decisions, establishing authority from the start. Another goal is to control and screen, especially not to recruit people from the same place, so as not to form a large clique within the team. Although Qi Dashi specially recruited soldiers from Dongyang and Yiwu, he was a regular imperial soldier, whereas Chen Xin planned to establish his own private army. At present, with limited manpower, he couldn't afford to be lax in this regard.

  One after another, all the bachelors passed the two rounds of interviews and rushed to the pot to eat. Seeing others eating, people's mouths watered, and they swarmed up in disorder. Lu Zi held a knife and shouted repeatedly to scare them, barely managing to line them up roughly. These people were fed gruel by the government during the winter months, but that gruel was almost just water, and it was good if it could sustain their lives. Seeing the fine steamed buns and thick porridge, who could bear it? Moreover, as Zhang Da said, what's the point of deceiving oneself, and can't be more miserable than now? At this time, the crowd was in an uproar, and some latecomers desperately squeezed forward, shouting and cursing voices filled the air.

  Another concubine who had passed through Zhu Guobin's screening came before Chen Xin, "Where are you from? How old are you?"

  "Xiao Xiao Ren is from Zhending Prefecture and is twenty-three this year."

  "May bring family."

  "Yes, I have a wife and two children."

  The young wife bowed her head and said respectfully, Chen Xin carefully examined him for a moment. At twenty-three, he looked as old as thirty-two, his hair was slightly grayed, but his physique was strong and healthy, having children quite early, in his own era, twenty-three was still considered a big boy.

  That thin husband saw Chen Xin not speaking, looked at Chen Xin with some fear in his eyes, and then lowered his head again. Fearing power is in line with Qi Dashi's standards, after all, Chen Xin is a future person, and he has some reservations about this point. The armies of the past have many ways to cultivate obedience, not necessarily because they were originally afraid of power. However, he didn't have much experience, so he still followed Grandpa Qi's standards for now.

  "How old are your children?"

  The thin man stood in front of Chen Xin for a long time, becoming more and more tense, his voice shaking slightly: "One is three years old, one is five years old."

  Chen Xin thought for a moment, the two children were a bit of a burden. He not only had to consider the quality of the soldiers themselves, but also had to do some calculations and consider the economic account. These family members would be somewhat useful after arriving in Weihai, as women and children were all used as men in this era. However, from here to Weihai, the expenses on the road would not be small, and one person would become four. In case the porter was injured or killed, he would have to support three people, and the two children were still young. If they were at least ten years old, it would be better.

  "Just as Chen Xing was about to refuse him, two little kids had already stumbled over and were about to go to the big pot to drink porridge. The thin man hastily stopped them, saying repeatedly: 'The young master hasn't agreed yet, wait.'"

  Two little children were dressed in tattered clothes, their hair was dirty and matted like muddy hemp ropes, tangled together in a messy shape, their hands stretched out like dry firewood. Behind them followed a similarly gaunt woman, pulling the two children along, saying to Chen Xin: "Young master, please forgive us, these children don't understand things."

  Two little kids looked up at Chen Xin, their dark faces smeared with two trails of snot. Chen Xin couldn't even tell who was the boy and who was the girl. The three-year-old children's eyes had lost their innocence, only filled with pleading, and it was unknown how long they had been hungry.

  Chen Xin said the word "you" for half a day, but didn't say what came after it. Lu Zizi, Zhang Dahui and others all looked at him quietly, waiting for him to make up his mind.

  "You..." Chen Xin said another word and stopped again. He had thought of a plan, which was to let them walk to Weihai on their own, but then he reacted and realized that in this weather, they would only freeze to death outside.

  Song Wenxian watched the commotion from one side, seeing Chen Xin hesitate, and whispered in his ear: "Brother Chen, it's better to admit defeat, if you die, you won't even get compensation silver, and now there are people around, saving thirty taels is still thirty taels." Chen Xin looked up at the surroundings, the people behind had already formed a long line, indeed not lacking in numbers.

  Song Wenxian said, "You're just bringing some outsiders to restrain the local people, no need to bring a whole family. These single men are the best, they're not afraid of anything. If you really can't bear it, let them have a meal here and that's it, consider it a good deed. From here to Weihai, how much more silver will be wasted bringing these useless women and children?"

  Chen Xin listened without speaking, he indeed had this thought. These beggars came from all over, in Weihai they had no relatives or friends, and could only follow their own hearts. With them as the backbone, they could be divided and controlled by local military households. Song Wenxian spoke reasonably, it's best to have nothing to fear, but he looked down at the two children, their eyes full of pleading, and he couldn't bring himself to say the words of refusal. This wasn't like when he was interviewing job applicants in a company, those applicants could continue looking for another opportunity, but if he refused this person, these two children would likely starve to death in this winter. Although his face was thick-skinned, his completely different life experiences made him unable to be as indifferent as Song Wenxian, even if what Song Wenxian said might be right.

  "Damn it, just this once." Chen Xin cursed in his heart and said to the thin man, "Alright, you've been chosen, your whole family can go eat porridge." Song Wenxian shook her head behind him.

  That thin husband anxiously waited for half a day and finally received good news. He and his wife knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly. Chen Xin also didn't care about being dirty, helped the thin husband and child up, letting them hurry to eat as a family. Some of those who were dragging their families along saw this and gained hope, becoming excited.

  Chen Xin looked around, grabbed the sea dog and whispered to him: "Dogzi, you come over here, Zhu Guobin has chosen, you choose again, ask how many kids there are, don't want more than two. Best if it's just one, remember?" The sea dog nodded with a silly smile, Chen Xin felt a little envious of this silly kid for the first time, who had no pressure on anything and never had so much trouble in his mind.

  Song Wenxian and others left, then he said to Chen Xin: "The Thousand Households' own heart is not ruthless, it's a good idea to send a silly kid to be the bad guy."

  "This is helpless, if it weren't for Brother Song reminding me, I wouldn't have thought of it, I can only pretend not to see it, who made my heart so good..."

  Song Wenxian despised him in his heart, he clearly knew everything, but now he found a reason to say that he reminded himself. He could beat Yang Weiguan, who had never seen him before, into paralysis on the bed, and yet blamed himself for being too kind-hearted, with a really thick skin.

  Then the selection afterwards had three procedures, Zhu Guobin followed Qi Ye's method of selecting soldiers, only looking at physical conditions and appearance, Hai Gouzzi examined family background, Chen Xin just pretended to be in charge, establishing authority. The several thin families who were not selected in the middle, old and young, all hugged Hai Gouzzi's legs and begged, crying loudly, but Hai Gouzzi still had a silly smile on his face, unmoved. Chen Xin also reduced pressure psychologically, after all, it wasn't himself who refused them, if anyone was to blame, it was that Hai Gouzzi's heart was too cruel.

  Chen Xin received the selected concubines one by one, encouraging them a few words, and those concubines ran to the pot edge to eat, Chen Xin looked at Hai Gouzishu effortlessly driving away one by one disappointed concubine family, secretly saying: "I'm not a qualified politician yet."