Chapter 2 Military Household
The ancient road to Changting is covered with weeds.
In the south wind, there is a faint smell of food.
The corn rice in the steamer has been steamed, and the soldiers hold wooden bowls and receive the meals one by one.
The food looks very poor and may be mixed with chaff and sand.
There are no vegetables, just some tempeh and pickles would be nice to go with it.
Everyone’s bowls were also dark, with suspicious dirt on the bottom, but no one cared and ate hungrily.
Zuo Sima Liu Qia was a little worried. The number of soldiers he brought over was nearly five hundred, but what kind of soldiers were they?
Before setting off, Mi Huang mentioned to him: "There are 490 ordinary soldiers, more than 150 people aged over seven or eight and under sixteen or seventeen years old; those who are old enough to be in the ear and those who are over the age. More than two hundred people..."
In short, one-third are children under the age of sixteen or seventeen, and more than 40% are elderly people in their sixties or seventies. Those who are truly in their prime are only a hundred. Come on.
The quality of these soldiers is extremely poor!
"Liu Sima." Governor Mi Huang came over, and after exchanging greetings with Liu Qia, he said, "I am going to Beijing tomorrow, how should I tell Sikong?"
Liu Qia was stunned and asked after a long while: "Mi Governor, do you think these soldiers are worthy of use?" They can eat rice, and some are even blind, deaf, and unable to see, so they can only guard against thieves. As for the children, they can probably protect the birds."
Liu Qia sighed. tone.
Donghai Kingdom has troops, with a size of about two thousand.
The kingdom’s troops are divided into three levels.
The great power established a central army of 2,000 men and an upper and lower army of 1,500 men each, for a total of 5,000 men.
The sub-state established an army of 2,000 people and a lower army of 1,000 people, for a total of 3,000 people.
The small country only has 2,000 soldiers in the army.
These soldiers are all ordinary soldiers, that is, military households. Sons inherit their father's business and have served as soldiers for generations. They farm in peacetime, train in leisure time, and go on expeditions in wartime. They are equivalent to the Tutuan countrymen in the late Tang Dynasty - or even worse, because They have fought few battles. They have not been on an expedition for many years since they defeated Wu, and their combat effectiveness has dropped sharply.
Sikong of the Jin Dynasty and Sima King of the East China Sea were more inconvenient to dispatch the soldiers of the East China Sea to Luoyang, so they broke up with each other and asked Sima Zhu (mào), the governor of Xuzhou (also called the governor of Qingxu), to help him. They gave him face and recruited him. A group of soldiers came over to support him.
As a result, he overestimated his influence, and he had no face at all with Sima Mao. In the end, they sent such a batch of goods, leaving Liu Qia and Mi Huang quite speechless—— Sima Mao has gone too far. He just fooled Sikong like this and will teach him to look good in the future!
After eating, Mi Huang assigned people to set up the camp.
With the quality of the people in this group, it was impossible to set up camp in strict accordance with military laws. Mi Huang thought about it and could only have people surround the carriages and oxcarts, and the nobles lived in the middle, and he personally led them One person protects them, and the rest are scattered everywhere in teams.
After arranging all this, he came to a gorgeous carriage.
"Have the arrangements been made?" the carriage curtain opened, and a woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties asked.
The maids gathered around the car and put down a few tables.
There are more than ten pieces of food utensils placed on the table.
Seven servants line up in a row, each holding bottles, bowls, bottles, spoons, tiqui and other items for the master to take at any time.
There was another person sitting on his knees in front of him, holding the first dish horizontally, and passing on the food.
When camping in the wild, you can only keep it "simple". You can't be extravagant and make do.
"Don't worry, Princess, everything has been arranged." Mi Huang lowered his head and responded.
The woman nodded and lightly opened her lips: "Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Mi."
The woman has a beautiful appearance. She may have been pampered since she was a child, and her skin is white and delicate. At this time, the body was leaning forward slightly, and the chest seemed to be unable to hold it, and it seemed that it was about to pour down.
When it reaches the waist, the body curve is tightened with an exaggerated arc, which can be called a graceful grip.
This woman has something.
Perhaps she was bored, so the woman asked again: "Mi Jun has been traveling all the way, and his generals are quite strategic, but he doesn't know how this army is?"
Mi Huang hesitated, and finally decided To tell the truth: "As the princess sees, there are too many people to use."
The princess was silent for a while, then asked: "Last year, the king recruited warriors from the country to come to the capital. Is there anyone who can be used?"
"There are quite a few of them." Mi Huang replied: "There is a brave young man named Shao Xun. He is from Qu. He is fifteen years old. His archery skills are astounding, and his skills with swords and spears are also remarkable. He may be of great use."
"Which family is this child from?" the princess asked with interest.
"This..." Mi Huang paused and said, "Shao Xun's ancestors were soldiers for generations."
"It turns out to be Shixi." The princess's face returned to calmness and she lost interest.
Shixi means soldier’s breath.
Shao Xun’s status is too low.
If he was a son of aristocratic family, he could be carefully cultivated, but it’s a pity.
Seeing that the princess stopped talking, Mi Huang bowed and left, and went to inspect the camp.
The night is getting darker.
The evening breeze blew through the camp and towards the villages in the distance.
In the dilapidated houses, there are ghosts and phosphorus, and foxes and mice are in and out.
The only few households did not dare to get angry and closed their doors tightly early to avoid getting into trouble. The best place in Luoyang is already like this, which is pitiful.
******
The next day, this "eye-catching" team entered Luoyang City.
The people in the city were amused when they saw the sergeants, old and young, even though they were overwhelmed by life.
But if you think about it carefully, there seem to be a lot of old people and children among the troops stationed inside and outside the city, but they are not as concentrated as the one in front of you.
In the military system of the Jin Dynasty, it was expressly stipulated that military households under the age of seventeen and over fifty were not allowed to be recruited.
But the law is one thing, and the reality is another.
During the reign of Emperor Wu, veterans over sixty years old were ordered to return home. It can be seen that in actual implementation, the military generals did not act in full compliance with the court orders. They just tried to collect enough people.
Under the military system, father dies and son succeeds. If your family is drawn, you will get a man. Even if you pay someone to serve on your behalf, you have to get me a man.
In fact, not only the Jin Dynasty, but also during the Wei Dynasty, Cao Zhi once went to court and bluntly said that among the sergeants recruited, there were actually many children of seven or eight years old, which was shocking.
But then again, Da Jin has been resting and recuperating for many years, so this kind of thing should not happen again.
This group of people recruited by Sikong should be the result of being scorned. It is rare to see so many elderly people gathered in one building.
The descendants of the Sima family are fighting against each other, and the people are suffering. Alas.
The sergeants soon moved into an empty military camp.
The Luoyang Chinese Army originally had more than 100,000 soldiers. It was relatively the most elite and most effective force in the Jin Dynasty. Among them were not only ordinary soldiers, but also recruited soldiers, that is, professional warriors, well-equipped and well-trained. For many years, it has been the pinnacle of stability that suppresses all the barbarians and even the aristocratic families.
One thing to say is that in this era, the external performance of the Jin army was acceptable. It was not that the Jin army was strong, but that the combat effectiveness of the Hu cavalry was too poor.
More than 20 years ago, Ma Long led 3,500 infantrymen. Under siege, without supplies and news, they marched more than a thousand miles to Liangzhou and killed tens of thousands of Hu cavalry. , making the bald tree function want to cry without tears.
In front of the overwhelming prairie cavalry, the skilled and determined elite infantrymen are so arrogant.
But in recent years, the world has been in chaos, and the clan members of the Jin Dynasty have led their troops to fight repeatedly near Luoyang. The elite Luoyang Imperial Guard was also divided into several factions, and a lot of them were consumed in the civil war, so many military camps were vacated.
Shao Xun was living in the military camp at this time.
Shibing has a "divided rest" system, that is, they are not on duty or deployed at all times, but take turns to rest.
The rest period can be long or short, ranging from several months to several years. During this period, you can go home, but you must return within a specified time. Anyone who violates this will be punished as a fugitive. Not only is he guilty, but his whole family is also guilty. Death is very harsh.
I am in Luoyang at this time. It is impossible to go home after a break, and there will not be much time for a break. I have to take turns with several other people to guard the Sikong Mansion. Last year, the King of East China Sea was in the country. Forty soldiers were recruited and rotated in two batches.
After the newcomers entered the camp, it was noisy and messy.
Shao Xun looked at the dozen teenagers surrounding him and said sternly: "It has nothing to do with you, just keep reading."
"Yes." There were scattered voices around him. The voice was answered by the dozen or so young men who were holding branches and practicing calligraphy repeatedly on the ground.
Shao Xun stood up and looked at the new arrivals, old and young, with some astonishment.
Several corps commanders and chiefs also came over, equally dumbfounded, and looked at Shao Xun one after another.
"What a sin." Shao Xun sighed.
The corps commander and the chief said one after another: "He has indeed committed an evil act."
Although Shao Xun is only a chief and only fifteen years old, he is indeed superb in skills and strong in body. It's no problem to kill a few of them with weapons.
My family knows my own affairs.
We have been soldiers for generations, and we have been soldiers for generations. It sounds nice, but in fact, we spend most of our lives farming.
Someone can’t shoot arrows.
Some people can only use spears but not swords.
Some people don’t even know the golden drum flag.
To put it bluntly, they are just a bunch of farmers who have received military training.
Shao Xun's skill is simply outstanding among them.
Some people were puzzled, so they inquired in many ways, but in the end they couldn't find any clues.
The old Shao family in Quxian County seemed to have suddenly appeared such a brave and incomparable person. His fighting ability was a gift from heaven, and it was extremely enviable.
The military camp at the bottom is a very realistic place, and the competition is about who has the strongest fist.
Shao Xun is so brave that the other three chiefs Zheng Gouer, Yang Bao and Qin San do not dare to provoke him. As for what they are thinking secretly, only God knows.
When Shao Xun proposed to take a break, he took the young soldiers to learn how to read. No one stopped him. On the contrary, they were even more shocked - this guy can actually read?
At this time, some people have already wondered whether the ancestor of the Shao family in Qu County came from a poor family, and his family was backward and became a military household?
Don’t tell me, there is still a market for this argument, and many people believe it.
Shao Xun didn't bother to care what they thought, and just stared at the new group of people at this time.
More than a hundred children, most of them Donghai Township Party members...
"Be friends with time." This was a sentence that suddenly popped up in his mind, which was a bit interesting.
(End of chapter)