The weather is getting warmer and the rainfall is increasing, and the green seedlings in the fields are taking the opportunity to grow rapidly.
Outside Xujiazhuang.
"One two one, one two one, one two three four!"
"Run, run for me, no one is left behind!"
"The one who ends up in last place can only eat leftovers, and has to clean the toilet and wash everyone's stinky shoes and socks."
"Get up quickly!"
In the roar of the instructor on the side.
Thousands of new village guards had to speed up, especially the companies that were lagging behind. In order to avoid eating leftovers and to stay away from the fear of being dominated by the stench, they all tried their best to
Avoid being the unlucky last one.
The new recruit Zhang Damao was in the middle of the team, running at a speed that was neither too fast nor too slow. As a very tall man, he also took care of the slower team members from time to time.
Zhang Damao, a native of Xizhang Village, Dashi Township, Baoying County, is 18 years old. He is a strong, dark-skinned young man. He has been used to wild outdoors since he was a child, so he goes up trees to dig out bird eggs, goes down rivers to catch fish, and goes into the mountains to hunt game.
Despite his lack of proficiency, he developed a pair of flying legs and became one of the top three recruits in middle and long distance running.
Because of this specialty, when I became a senior officer, my monthly salary increased by 2 silver dollars.
Therefore, five kilometers of long-distance running training every day is really not a challenge for him.
Just in accordance with the teamwork concept of "don't give up, don't give up", it's useless for him to run fast alone. As long as one laggard appears, the others will be ranked first in the group, based on the running results of the stragglers, and they will have to finish the whole race.
Workers eat leftovers, clean toilets, and wash smelly shoes and socks.
It's really just a blink of an eye.
I still remember that two months ago, he was an unpopular village boy in Xizhang Village. He didn't like to work in the fields and was unwilling to do serious work. He was already seventeen or eighteen years old, and there was no matchmaker to help arrange marriage, which made his adoptive parents anxious.
No, what should I do if I'm worried that he can't get a wife?
But Zhang Damao felt that he was not capable of hard work. His body really couldn't stand working in the fields for several days or dozens of days.
Instead, he took his slingshot and went to the mountains to look around, took his fishing nets down to the river to have a look, or took advantage of the darkness to go to the landowner's house for a walk, plus he ran so fast that no one could catch up.
, I can often eat well and even bring some food home for my four younger sisters.
However, the adoptive parents worked hard in the fields and were busy all year round. They often went out to work as part-time workers. They only had a few hundred kilograms of grain input and could only eat half full. The four younger sisters were often hungry and cried loudly.
Skinny as a stick.
If he hadn't brought some fish, shrimp and game home from time to time for his four sisters to eat, he would have gained a little color and his hair wouldn't be so dry and yellow.
Because of this, the four sisters all like his adopted brother and are willing to get close to him.
That's right, Zhang Damao's biological parents had three sons and one daughter. They really couldn't support so many children, so they gave away their daughter and adopted Zhang Damao to an uncle's home (that is, his adoptive parents), and the adoptive parents continued to
After giving birth to four daughters, she did not dare to have any more children, so she was happy to adopt Zhang Damao as her adopted son and treat him as her biological son. Whatever was delicious and useful, Zhang Damao would be given priority.
This made Zhang Damao feel a lot of family affection, and he secretly decided to repay them well in the future.
But in recent years, as he grew older, droughts occurred frequently, and taxes continued to increase, the family's life became increasingly difficult.
Even the fish in the river and the game in the mountains have significantly decreased, and the landowners have also stepped up their defenses. Several times they went to steal things late at night and were almost caught.
Zhang Damao also began to experience the feeling of hunger from time to time.
He realized he couldn't go on like this.
Two months ago in April, the news that Xujiazhuang was recruiting village guards and that they would be well-paid not only spread quickly throughout Xinghua County, but also spread like wings to Baoying County next door. Through discussions among friends in the village,
spread to Zhang Damao's ears.
Chance.
Zhang Damao was keenly aware of this opportunity, because Xujiazhuang is so famous. Not to mention the high-yielding new crops that have spread to Baoying County, there are also many novelties from Xujiazhuang used by the landlords, and they have been recognized as "
With its reputation as "the richest in the world", we know that Xujiazhuang is rich in money.
Even if you join Xujiazhuang and become an ordinary farm worker, it is said that you will have a high income of three to five taels of silver per month, at least three times that of an ordinary farmer, and you will not have to bear any taxes. It is unimaginable to live a good life.
If you can become a servant of Xujiazhuang, your treatment will only be better.
In fact, the traditional concept of people in this era is that "a good man should not be a soldier, and a good man should not hammer nails." Not only are military households generally recognized as "low-class households", but those who volunteer to serve as soldiers and eat food are also because they really can't survive.
I have no choice but to choose this career that licks blood at the edge of a knife, just to survive for a while with a few meals to eat.
But the nature of Xujiazhuang's servants is completely different. This is a career that countless young people envy and yearn for. As long as they are successfully selected, they will have 30 silver dollars to settle down, and at least 10 silver dollars per month, including food and accommodation.
Dundun has a large amount of meat and food, and he can get a pension of 500 silver dollars if he is killed in the battle. If he is disabled, he will not only arrange a leisurely job, but also receive a monthly subsidy of 3 silver dollars. He will receive it until he grows old. If he can be stable
After serving for twenty years, you can apply for retirement and receive a pension of no less than 500 silver dollars, and you will also be able to arrange leisure work...
Wait wait wait.
The benefits and benefits are amazing.
And with Xujiazhuang's wealth and reputation, there is no need to worry about not being able to cash in.
So the young people in Xinghua County went crazy and rushed to the recruitment points to take the test and become the servants of Xujiazhuang.
Zhang Damao from Baoying County also prepared a little trouble, and together with several friends from the village, he ran hundreds of miles overnight for fear of missing out on the selection of servants... However, his friends all fell behind, and Zhang Damao arrived successfully alone.
At the Xujiazhuang recruitment point, according to regulations, people from outside Xinghua County were not allowed to be recruited, but Zhang Damao showed off his two unique skills. One is that he can run fast, and no one can match him; the other is that he can shoot accurately with a slingshot.
It is admirable to shoot hundreds of hits within thirty steps.
These two specialties of his were appreciated by Zhao Yang, the captain of the village protection team, and he was admitted as one of the new recruits.
Now, it has been almost two months since I joined the Xujiazhuang Protector Team.
Zhang Damao has basically adapted to the training and life here, and is about to complete his transformation from a new recruit to a qualified recruit.
Actually!
For Zhang Damao, the physical fitness and basic training every morning, such as five-kilometer long-distance running, military stance, queue training, stabbing training, fighting training, etc., are very relaxed and his performance is excellent. Only the reading in the afternoon
Literacy, facing the simplified characters and Arabic numerals one by one, is simply a nightmare experience. If you can't learn, you will be punished, and your future promotion will be restricted.
Only story-telling stories such as "Yue Fei's Biography", "Qi Jia Jun", and "Yang Jia Jiang" told by storytellers are very popular and are the most anticipated.
In addition, there are also songs to learn and sing, such as "We Are Soldiers", "Serve the Country with Loyalty", "Three Major Disciplines and Eight Attentions", "Military Song", "Camel Bell" and other songs, which are all very popular.
The lively atmosphere makes people forget the hard work of training and the difficulty of reading and literacy.
It’s just that the next day, the cycle of ‘training and sweating—eating to be happy—learning calligraphy is painful—singing and listening to stories to be happy’ will be repeated again.
But in general, every recruit can adapt to this kind of life, and there is no one who can't stand it.
Finally, as time goes by, I will inevitably think of my relatives and parents in my hometown.
In the evening, after finishing today's training and study, Zhang Damao couldn't help but murmur to himself as he lay on the Datong bunk in the recruits' dormitory:
"I wonder how my parents are doing. Can they take care of themselves if I leave them like this?"
"Are the four sisters okay? Can they have enough to eat now? I asked someone to send 30 silver dollars of Anjia money back home. I also told my parents not to save money and give more food to the sisters.
Eat well, take good care of your body, and find a good partner in the future."
"I also asked someone to send the 12 taels of salary I got last month back to my home. I asked someone to tell me that life was very good here and that my parents didn't have to worry. But I didn't expect that my parents also had people send me a message, saying
All the money has been saved for me, and I want to keep it for me to find a wife. I also said that there are five or six groups of matchmakers coming to my family who want to introduce me to someone, but I don’t know which girl to choose."
Zhang Damao smiled helplessly: "Father, mother, I sent the money back for you to spend. It is for the sisters to improve their lives. You don't have to worry about finding a wife. As a member of Xujiazhuang's village protection team, you are not afraid of not finding a partner at all.
I’m afraid I won’t be able to pick one.”
However, it's useless for him to complain like this. If someone tries to persuade him again with excuses, it probably won't have any effect.
"I heard that after three months of recruit training, everyone will have ten days of family leave. I will go home and have a good talk with them."