Chapter 188 Veterans will not die
Sun Zushou became anxious upon seeing this, and shouted fiercely at the old soldiers: "Stand still! If you are old and disabled, you are no longer a soldier!"

The old soldiers looked at each other as if they were at a loss, but their feet remained motionless, with no intention of forming a line.

Sun Zushou became even more furious upon seeing this. He rushed into the crowd and kicked them. However, just as he was about to kick out with his big foot, he suddenly retracted it.

He looked at the person in front of him angrily and said angrily: "Tian Sanlengzi, you are a general, but have you forgotten all the drill manuals when I trained you?"

"You coward, you just lost two hands, what's the big deal? Look at your dead body, you're almost dead!"

Wang An looked up and saw an old soldier standing in front of Sun Zushou with empty sleeves. He was immediately shocked.

Damn, is Sun Zushou even a human being?
I have lost both hands, but I still want him to make money for me.

Regardless of what Wang An thought, the general flagman named Tian Sanlangzi just lowered his head and said without any anger: "You are right, sir. I, Tian Sanlangzi, have lost both hands. I can't hold a knife or a shield. I can't even cultivate the land to grow some food for the penguins. I have even become a burden to my wife and children!"

"My mother is over 60 years old, and I still have to carry a hoe and go to the fields to raise bees. What's the point of living? I might as well die in Liaodong!"

"Asshole, Marshal Man doesn't have cowards like you under his command!" Sun Zushou was furious when he heard the words and raised his hand to hit him. However, when his hand was raised in the air, he could not bring it down. Finally, he swung it fiercely, and there was a hint of sob in his voice.

"Marshal Man and I know your difficulties, and we know the difficulties of our brothers!" Sun Zushou turned around on the spot, looked at all the old soldiers who looked over, and said in a suppressed voice: "If it was in the past, I could understand that the brothers were dejected, but now that the Holy Emperor is in power, our Ming Dynasty has hope!"

"Didn't Your Majesty just pay the brothers their arrears a while ago?" He then looked at the man called Tian Sanlengzi, grabbed his collar and said, "Hasn't the money you deserved for your support already been paid to you? Marshal Man and I have never deducted a single cent from you!"

"I know this money can't support us for a lifetime, but it can at least help us get through the current difficulties. As long as we can still make ends meet, men should hold their heads high and not give up!"

Following Sun Zushou's passionate speech, a hint of life gradually appeared on the faces of the hundreds of veterans in front of him.

However, the more Wang An listened, the more he felt something was wrong. Was it necessary to describe the shameless military leaders exploiting the labor force in such a sensational way?

Tian Sanlengzi's face flushed slightly, and he could not control his emotions and retorted: "Sir, the brothers all know that you and Marshal Man are good people, and we have never regretted following you and Marshal Ma to fight the Tartars!"

"But we are useless now. I don't know why the court has suddenly become so generous. Not only did they pay the arrears, but they even gave pensions to useless people like us..."

"But, if it's useless, it's useless! Instead of wasting food and money while alive, it's better to leave it to my wife and children so that they can live a slightly better life in the future!"

At this point, Tian Sanlengzi was already crying.

Upon hearing this, the other veterans couldn't help but burst into tears.

After hearing this, Wang An finally understood what had happened. It turned out that Sun Zushou did not want to exploit the soldiers, but wanted to find a job for these old soldiers who had no food or clothing.

After understanding the whole story, Wang An couldn't help but sigh.

In this extremely corrupt military system of the late Ming Dynasty, there are still generals who love their soldiers like their own sons. It is truly admirable.

However, Wang An was feeling sad when he suddenly saw Sun Zushou turn around and point at Wang An, and yelled at the old soldiers: "Who said you are useless? Do you know who is this person in front of you!" Upon hearing this, the old soldiers couldn't help but look up curiously, looking at Sun Zushou and then at Wang An.

Seeing that he had successfully aroused the curiosity of the veterans, Sun Zushou said excitedly: "This is the imperial merchant of the court. He will often travel around Datong and the grassland in the future."

"The reason why I called you here is because this shopkeeper Wang needs to hire some people to escort the supplies to the grassland. This is a job that can earn money!"

When they heard that Wang An was the imperial merchant of the court and that he was looking for these disabled people here just to hire manpower, they realized that Wang An was the emperor of the court and that he was looking for them.

No one is willing to hire these veterans because of their old age or physical disabilities. Many of them can only rely on their wives and children for support, and have gone from being a pillar of support to a burden on the family.

Needless to say, this is a very sad thing for men.

They had also thought about finding a way to make a living, but were repeatedly rejected because of their physical defects. Many of them were so devastated that they lost the desire to survive.

But now I heard that someone actually wants to hire them!
The veterans were immediately excited and rushed towards Wang An one after another, pointing at themselves and introducing themselves frantically.

"Boss, please hire me. You can tell me how much I want to pay you!"

"Boss, please treat me. Look, I still have one hand and can still hold a knife!"

"Boss, please hire me. I'm better than them. I have healthy limbs. I can drive a carriage and kill enemies. I can get one tael of silver a month... No, no, no, just give me five cents of silver!"

Someone immediately attacked him, "Old Zhang, you are almost sixty years old, half of your body is buried in the ground, what's the use of having healthy limbs? Can you carry food or hold a knife?"

Old man Zhang was furious when he heard this. He grabbed the old soldier who was missing an ear, stared at him with wide eyes and threatened: "Ding Ba Tiaozi, I'll show you my fist and see if it's strong enough!"

"Come on, who's afraid of who?"

The team was so excited that there was severe pushing and shoving, and coupled with occasional verbal conflicts, there was a tendency towards chaos.

Wang An was shocked. These veterans in front of him had ferocious faces in order to get a job. If you didn't know better, you would think they were facing the murderer of their father instead of potential employers.

Fortunately, Sun Zushou saw that the situation was not good, and immediately mobilized the servants he brought with him to protect Wang An firmly, which prevented the tragedy from happening.

But as the situation became more and more chaotic, Sun Zushou couldn't help but feel a little troubled.

But at this moment, three loud "bang bang bang" noises were heard, followed by a smell of gunpowder.

Wang An turned around and saw that Datong General Man Gui had appeared not far from the warehouse at some point in time, holding a three-barreled gun in his hand, which was still emitting a faint green smoke.

(End of this chapter)