Chapter 79 Deserter
Early the next morning, everyone in Tianjiazhuang was shocked. Tian San, who had followed the conscription team a few days ago, was back!

That’s fine, at most Tian San became a deserter.

But what surprised them was that Tian San became wealthy after returning from his trip to the provincial capital.

Xiao Ba from the old Tian family took out two taels of silver and proposed to Cuihua's father in the morning!

Most people can grit their teeth and come up with two taels of silver, which is nothing.

But the problem is that Cuihua's father is a cruel man. He threatened that anyone who wants to marry his daughter must prepare a dowry of eight taels of silver.

That's eight taels of silver. An ordinary farmer in the countryside may not be able to earn eight taels of silver even if he doesn't eat or drink for a year.

The Tian family can only afford two taels, but where can they find the remaining six taels?
If he can't come up with the remaining six taels, Cuihua's father will definitely not give up the two taels of silver for the betrothal gift, given his evil heart.

What does this indicate? It indicates that Xiao Ba from the old Tian family is confident that he can definitely earn the remaining six taels before the engagement.

Oh my god, could it be that he got to know some bandits and agreed to become bandits together?
So people became curious, and when the old Tian family went to propose marriage to Cuihua with music and dance, they all followed behind.

Especially those young men who, like Xiao Ba, coveted Cuihua's beauty but could not afford the bride price, surrounded Xiao Ba and asked him how he became rich.

Xiao Ba was also a simple-minded person, so he said something nice to everyone.

Now everyone in the village knew that Tian San was not a deserter but had made a fortune by serving in the army.

Even Xiao Ba himself, after paying the betrothal gift to Cuihua's family, was going to the city to join the army and make a fortune.

When the conscription team came, everyone heard it clearly: anyone who was willing to serve in the army would be given three taels of silver to settle down.

No one would have believed this at first, but Tian San came forward to tell his story. Seeing that Xiao Ba's family had taken the lead and were the first to get the silver to pay the betrothal gift to Cuihua, the young people in the village regretted it so much that their eyes turned red.

Everyone was wondering why they had just let the recruitment team persuade them so hard that they refused to believe it.

If I had been able to follow the conscription team like Tian San, I might be the one offering Cuihua the two taels of silver now.

When Xiao Ba told them that they would follow Tian San into the city to join the army in a few days, the young people in the village became excited.

There is no reason why others can earn these three taels of silver but I can't. Moreover, soldiers not only get food, but also a monthly salary of one tael and two cents of silver.

Isn't this a hundred times better than digging for food in the soil?
In an instant, most of the young people in the village gathered around Tian San, calling out in groups of three, begging Tian San to take them into the city to serve in the army.

Tian San didn't care. After all, they were all from the same village, and it would be better to have more people in the city to take care of them.

So anyone who wanted to go was invited.

………………

The same situation is constantly happening in the towns and villages around Baicheng.

Some of them, who were originally extremely poor, suddenly changed into a mighty set of armor, brought wine, meat and food back to the village, and visited the villagers who had a good relationship with him one by one.

Some of them originally owed a lot of debts to the villagers, but suddenly they went to the city for two days, and after coming back they paid off all their debts one by one.

These bachelors, who originally could feed their entire family, suddenly became wealthy, which immediately aroused the curiosity of the villagers.

These bachelors immediately began to show off, talking about how prosperous the city was, how generous their superiors were, and how generous the military pay was.

This caused the young people in each village to become restless, and they all clamored to join the army in the city. So five days later, such a strange scene appeared outside the gate of Baicheng.

A new soldier from the Jizhou Guard, wearing armor, and accompanied by seven, eight, or even ten country men, happily headed straight for the government office.

Such strange combinations appear one after another.

The bailiffs in the government office were so frightened that they hurriedly went to inform Wang An.

Wang An seemed to have expected this. He looked at Xu Huang beside him and chuckled, "You think your list doesn't live up to its name? Now that the new recruits are here, go and recruit them!"

Xu Huang was already in awe, and walked out of the government office happily. After only a few steps, he turned back and asked, "Your Majesty, you are truly amazing. How did you do this?"

"Brothers have been to various towns and villages, and they have worn out their lips and can only trick some bachelors into joining the army. You did nothing, but you got so many people?"

Wang An couldn't help laughing and said, "Xu Huang, you are wronging me by saying that I did nothing."

Xu Huang scratched his head and asked in confusion: "You haven't even seen those new soldiers, but you just let us give them money and give them vacation..."

At this point, Xu Huang suddenly realized and said, "I see. The prince deliberately gave them money to settle down and gave them leave to go home and sort out the problems. These bachelors show off as soon as they have money."

"So everyone in the world knew that it was profitable to serve as a soldier for our Jizhou Guard, so everyone came!"

Wang An nodded and said with a smile: "Everyone says you are a fool, but I don't think that's entirely true!"

Hearing this, Xu Huang chuckled and scratched his head.

However, Wang An's face turned serious and he said, "Although what you said is right, our goal is to build a strong army that is good at fighting, not a group of people who gather together for money."

"How should these soldiers be trained? I will take the time to write you a training booklet in the next few days. You must strictly follow it! I don't want a group of soldiers who join the army just for money."

"I obey your command!" Xu Huang hurriedly put his feet together, raised his hand and saluted in a military manner.

This is what Wang An took time out to give to Xu Huang these days. It is about the military salutes, military postures and formations of future generations, although the specific training manual has not yet been written.

But this little bit of stuff is enough for Xu Huang to train the obedience and discipline of the new recruits.

When Xu Huang arrived at the gate of the government office, he was still shocked even though he was mentally prepared.

Because of the huge number of people who came to register, the line stretched from the street in front of the government office all the way to the city gate.

The original one hundred or so recruits came from dozens of villages and towns around Baicheng.

When they went back, almost everyone brought seven or eight young people from the same village.

A rough count revealed that there were more than a thousand people.

According to the original conscription standards given by Wang An in advance, in addition to height, physique and health, the character of the recruits must also be observed. Those who obviously give the impression of being sly will be rejected.

However, if it is impossible to recruit soldiers, those conditions will be appropriately relaxed.

Now that there are so many applicants, Xu Huang feels it is time to raise the standards.

(End of this chapter)