This time, Lao Zhang did the right thing. When he squeezed out from the crowd under the notice, his face showed obvious confusion. He finally figured out why Lao Li was so anxious.
He went home in a hurry, feeling that he must have seen this notice first and knew the benefits of serving as a soldier for King Ji now.
Thinking that not only those who serve as soldiers can directly obtain fifty acres of fertile land, but also receive five taels of silver per month. These are just ordinary soldiers. If they become elite soldiers, they will have eight taels of silver per month.
Taken.
Darling, eight taels a month is nearly a hundred taels a year, so how many good things can I buy? In the past, Lao Zhang had never thought about it.
Not to mention, once you are selected, your home will be given a plaque saying that it is honorable to serve as a soldier. I heard that with this plaque, you can reduce the land tax by half in the future. Originally, the price set by King Ji was not high.
The choice is one-fifth of the average harvest for that year. It is really reasonable. In this way, if there is a disaster year and everyone's harvest is not good, the corresponding tax paid will be much less.
But if you can pay a little less, that would of course be better. If one of your family members is a soldier, doesn’t that mean you only need to pay one-tenth?
Although one quota can only cover up to 500 acres of land, this has already made people like Lao Zhang very satisfied. But he only has one son in his family. Should he be sent to serve as a soldier?
The tangled expression quickly disappeared from Lao Zhang's face. "Go, why don't you go? There are so many benefits, but you would be a fool not to go. I am only over forty now, is it the worst I can do to give birth? My mother-in-law is dying.
, I’m just looking for a small one. Anyway, as long as you have money in the future, you can’t buy anything. To be honest, Lao Litou is right. The common people are living a good life, but the rich and powerful don’t know what to think. In this way
What if they are really jealous and want to snatch the fruits of their own labor? Then there must be enough troops to protect all of this."
After thinking about this as if to comfort himself, Lao Zhang turned around and hurriedly walked home, envying Lao Li in his heart. That old boy has four sons. If they are all selected,
Then, then, doesn’t that mean that in one year, you can make nearly 400 taels of income? Oh my God! What kind of concept is this!
This scene happened to Lao Li and Lao Zhang, but why didn't it happen to Lao Sun, Lao Wang, Lao Zhou, Lao Wu and others? In short, as soon as the notice came out, Jicheng became excited again, as long as there is a notice
As mentioned above, almost all families with the age group between seventeen and twenty-five years old are eager to join the military.
According to Tang Ao, the selection criteria for the army should be between the ages of 18 and 23. But then they were opposed by Zeng Tong and Han Ce, who insisted on choosing between the ages of 16 and 28.
In the end, both sides gave in and the age range was set between seventeen and twenty-five. But even so, the recruitment gate just set up in front of the military camp was still overcrowded.
Even though the two deputy commanders, Shi Lei and Feng Xun, had opened ten recruitment openings, they still could not satisfy the enthusiasm of the young people to become soldiers. Moreover, the two deputy commanders heard about it. After the news came out, they were not far away from Jicheng.
The nearest young men from Jiaocheng, Yongxian and Shucheng are also rushing towards Jicheng. There will be more soldiers available at that time, which really makes the two of them extremely happy.
...
Mei Family Courtyard.
It covers an area of ten hectares. Although Jizhou is poor and has nothing to do with land and land, being able to occupy such a large area in the center of the city is enough to show how noble the Mei family's status is.
As the largest grain merchant in Jizhou, it has developed here for decades. It has taken root here since Emperor Qian Jing. It is nothing if it can build the current family business.
It is precisely because of the greatness of the family that Zhou He and Hou Difu were quite polite to the Mei family when they worked here. The Mei family even achieved considerable development during their leadership period, but now, with the influence of King Ji With the appearance of Tang Ao, they encountered a challenge.
The first thing is to divide the land. A person with good registration can get twenty acres of land. How much food will be produced in the entire Jizhou area next year? In the past, they farmed land for the rich and worked as tenants, just like many monks. , that is to get by just by hitting the clock every day. Now that they have to farm for themselves, they will definitely work hard to do it, and once there is a bumper harvest, the price of rice will naturally fall. In this way, the Mei family Your income will be reduced accordingly, right?
What's even more terrible is that just yesterday, Ji Governor Shi Hance came to the Mei family to discuss with them about lowering food prices. It was said to be a discussion, but judging from Han Ce's tone, he was clearly informing them.
As the head of the family, Mei Jizhi laughed all the time, but as soon as Han Ce left, he couldn't help but dropped the teacup he had just drank from on the ground. He didn't expect that, as a dignified prince, His Highness Prince Ji would actually Asking the Mei family to lower food prices, is this kind of direct interference clearly intended to cause the Mei family to bleed?
For this matter, Mei Jizhi informed his servants to invite all the core members of the Mei family over, and they wanted to discuss countermeasures together.
The Mei family is a big family, so they naturally have the money to hire their husband to learn calligraphy. With their strong financial resources, they also bought some official positions. Even in Jicheng, there is a man named Meidu. , one general—Mei Jilong. If officials from other counties are added, the number will be even greater.
Today, in the lobby behind the Mei family ancestral hall, Mei Jizhi is sitting at the top of the table. On the left is his younger brother, General Mei Jilong. On the right is Mei Du, the official of the state capital. Sitting below are four core members of the family.
In front of the six people, Mei Jizhi told what happened yesterday when Chang Shi Han Ce came. When it was said that King Ji asked the Mei family to open the granary to stock food and lower the price of food, everyone's faces changed. Everyone looked angry, obviously very angry.
"Okay, this is the situation. Let's talk about how we should deal with it." As if she was tired, Mei Ji picked up the teacup in front of her and drank.
Although everyone is angry, they really don’t come up with ideas just by opening their mouths. Who doesn’t know that Jizhou belongs to Tang Ao, the king of Ji? What will happen if you offend him? Is it the case of the Cui family? Isn’t that enough to explain everything?
If they don't agree, they will have to go against King Ji, but can they do it with their abilities? Once Tang Ao is angered, will they follow in the footsteps of the Cui family?
But if they just agree to it, they are obviously not willing to do it. I am afraid that no one will agree if they watch others snatch money from their pockets.
"Is Prince Ji short of money? How about we give him some money?" A steward of the Mei family sitting below said his opinion carefully.
"I'm afraid it won't work." It was Mei Du who spoke, "You don't know that after King Ji arrived in Jizhou, he was very willing to spend money on whether it was building roads, city walls, or army training. Someone probably calculated
After all, it has only been more than ten days, and more than five million taels have been spent."
As a person in charge of the magistrate's office, Mei Du obviously knew more about the situation. After he opened his mouth, General Mei Jilong, who was second only to the head of the Mei family, also said: "Yes, Prince Ji.
There is really no shortage of money. Have you ever been to a military camp? Do you know what and how many meals soldiers eat a day when they are training? Let me tell you, three of the four meals a day include meat."
"What?" Everyone was very surprised after hearing this, "This...doesn't it mean that those barbarians eat better than us?"
At that time, in order to save food, people usually ate two meals a day. Only when the farming was busy, they would consider three meals in order to maintain physical strength. But now, these soldiers can actually eat four meals a day, and still have three meals.
Meat, no wonder they were so surprised.
"Yes, they eat better than us, especially they add a lot of condiments to their meals. I heard that those things are very expensive even in Daliang City. The meals with these things taste better, and there are
At that time, everyone would rather stay in the military camp to eat than go home to eat." Mei Jilong sighed as he spoke. And from his description, it is not difficult to see that in terms of the army, this King Ji
It's really worth spending money on.
Think about it, five million taels have been spent in just ten days. Although it may be related to the fact that it is a new arrival and more money is needed. But according to this ratio, three to four million taels will be enough in one month.
You need it. Then if you want to give money to such a person, how much money should you give?
Less would not work, and the Mei family could not afford more, which put them into a dilemma again.
As the saying goes, people have to bow their heads under the roof. After understanding the strength of King Ji, the Mei family had a new understanding of them. They finally made a decision to agree to King Ji's request. In short, they would never follow the Cui family's footsteps.
’s footsteps.
After the meeting, the four stewards left, and Mei Jizhi left Mei Jilong and Mei Du behind.
"This time we gave in, but who can guarantee whether the next King Ji will make new demands. For the future, we must make a decision." Mei Ji spoke directly. It is indeed true.
A person who can be the head of a family can see farther than anyone else just by looking at him.
"Yes, we can give in. We are afraid that King Ji will want to live alone. First he will take over our fields, and then let us provide food at a low price. Then who knows what he will ask for?" Mei Jilong also spoke,
He looked worried. After someone in the military camp saw the way the Jizhou Army trained troops, he had a feeling that King Ji was not so easy to shake.
