What Sun Lizheng meant was that the number of conscripts in the household registration was already registered, and occasionally someone could be exempted from military service if they reported a disability or illness, but the number could not exceed the prescribed scope.
Jiang Sanlang: "I understand. I will inform everyone. They can do whatever they want."
If it really doesn't work, just spend money to hire someone to go on the expedition instead.
After seeing off the head of the village, Jiang Sanlang gathered all the villagers and read out the list of names to be sent to the battlefield.
After hearing the list, everyone fell silent.
Everyone was living a good life, with no worries about food and drink, but suddenly there was a conscription. How could people survive
Jiang Sanlang said: "I don't care what method you use, but our village must send out ten people." Whether it's spending money to buy night watchmen, or finding someone to smooth over connections and report an illness or disability, it's up to them to do it based on their own abilities.
"Well, since my uncle Yuan has difficulty walking, does that mean he doesn't have to serve in the army?" asked Chen Jiaxing, the eldest son of the Chen clan.
Jiang Sanlang flipped through the list and said, "Your eldest son has difficulty walking, but your second son is on the conscription list, so he can't be reported as disabled."
This obvious disability cannot be reported, but if his family has connections, maybe they can find someone to report a fake disability.
"Why can't you report it? You are the village chief, all you have to do is go and say it." Chen Jiaxing said dissatisfiedly.
Jiang Sanlang glanced at him and said, "I am just a small village chief. I am only responsible for delivering news. I can't make this decision. Why don't you go ask the village chief."
The conscription matter was finally confirmed by officials from the county government, and it was not just the village chief's words that counted.
Several families have already started crying.
Everyone knows that once you go into battle, you risk your life.
A few years ago, only a few people from the village returned from the conscription. The rest have not been heard from since. They have not sent any letters home.
Now we have to recruit soldiers again, how can we not be worried
Jiang Sanlang didn't care about all this. After reading out the list, he asked everyone to go back and prepare. They had to report to the post station at the latest the day after tomorrow.
Of course, he would take everyone with him.
Three days later, Jiang Sanlang took the soldiers from his village to report to the post station.
The official in charge of conscription in the county government checked the list one by one and finally ticked the box to indicate his approval.
Jiang Sanlang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
When I got home, several villagers came up to me and asked, "Is it done?"
"It's settled." He stuffed two hundred taels of silver into the official's pocket and the matter was finally settled.
That’s right, out of the ten people in their village, five bought night watchmen, including Jiang Quan, who just turned seventeen.
This matter requires bribing the officials who check the household registration, so everyone is asking this question.
Several villagers felt relieved and thanked Jiang Sanlang again.
Jiang Sanlang was also helpless, waving his hands and saying, "You can't go out and talk nonsense. If something goes wrong, no one will be able to bear the consequences."
"I know. Don't worry, Sanlang. We won't let anyone else know a word about this." The villagers patted their chests.
Yingbao stuck her head out of the window and listened for a while, then sighed.
They all paid money to hire people to go to the war in place of their children, and the people they hired were men from poor families in other villages.
The oldest child in these families was not even ten years old, but the men would become night watchmen and go to war for others just for fifty taels of silver.
This is the case with the family hired by Uncle Jiang.
However, Uncle Jiang settled this family on the wasteland he bought and built three thatched huts for them to live in.
"Yingbao! Yingbao!" Chen Zhao came to find Yingbao again, holding a bamboo basket in his hand: "Shall we go collect firewood?"
Her father went to study in the county town, and her eldest sister went to tend the vegetable garden. Only her grandparents and that annoying Chu Man were left at home. Chen Zhao didn't want to see that woman, so he often brought his younger brother to play with Yingbao.
Yingbao was about to refuse, but after thinking for a while, she nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go get Sister Erni to come along."
Of course Chen Zhao had no objection and stood happily in the yard waiting.
After a while, Erni came over with a bamboo basket on her back and said, "Let's go to the pine forest to pick up pine cones. It's a long way to go. Will it be inconvenient for you to bring Xubao with you?"
The pine forest is far away from here, and two-year-old Xu Bao definitely can't walk there.
"Then I will send Xubao back to be taken care of by grandma." Chen Zhao was also impatient to carry a burden with her, but her younger brother always liked to follow her.
In this way, Chen Zhao sent his younger brother back home and handed him over to his grandmother, Chen Fengshi.
The three of them carried bamboo baskets and small hoes and went towards the pine forest. Xiao Hei, who had recovered from his injuries, also followed Yingbao.
The pine forests here are all dwarf pines with many pine cones growing on them.
But Yingbao didn't come here to pick up pine cones, she wanted to see if there was any Poria cocos.
Sister Wen said that Poria cocos grows at the roots of pine trees, and looks like a cold rice ball covered with dust, making it very easy to recognize.
There happened to be a large pine forest on the other side of the wasteland on the south slope, so she wanted to go and take a look.
The snow in the fields has melted, but it is still very cold.
The three of them entered the pine forest and did their own things. Erni and Chen Zhao picked up pine cones and peeled them apart to look for pine nuts that had not been eaten by squirrels.
Yingbao took Xiaohei to find Fuling.
Under the pine trees, pine needles were scattered all over the ground, and there were also quite a few pine cones.
After searching for a long time, I suddenly saw a dark brown lump the size of a goose egg under a pine tree.
Yingbao ran over quickly, took out a knife and cut it open a little, revealing the snow-white color inside.
It’s Poria cocos indeed!
Yingbao was overjoyed and quickly dug it out with a small hoe.
The roots were broken inside, so she dug some soil to cover them.
Xiao Hei came over to smell it, and when he saw that his little master happily put it away, he tilted his head and ran away.
Digging up a Poria cocos proved that there would be more here, so Yingbao began to look for it carefully again.
Suddenly, Xiao Hei started barking not far away.
Yingbao ran over and saw Xiaohei barking at her twice and then digging twice with his front paws.
"Wow! It's so big!" Yingbao exclaimed as she touched something as big as a washbasin.
I took out the medicine hoe and dug around. The inside was snow-white. It was indeed Poria cocos, but some parts had been gnawed by something.
But it doesn’t matter, this Poria cocos plant is big enough, and as long as a little bit is cut off, there will still be a lot of usable parts.
"Xiao Hei, you are so awesome," Yingbao rubbed Xiao Hei's big head and gave it a pill.
After picking the Poria cocos, Erni called her from the other side: "Yingbao! Let's go back!"
During the time that Yingbao was looking for Poria cocos, Erni and Chen Zhao had already picked up a full basket of pine cones, many of which were filled with plump pine nuts.
"Coming! Coming!" Yingbao put Poria cocos into the backpack and took Xiaohei to meet Erni.
The three of them returned with a full load and walked back happily.
As soon as I got close to the village, I heard someone shouting, "Oh no! A child fell into the water!"
The three of them were startled and ran over together.
I saw two people on the other side of the pond, stamping their feet and shouting.
Yingbao saw two children splashing in the pond at a glance, one of whom seemed to be her younger brother Jiang Wu.
If you fall into the river in such cold weather, you won’t be able to swim out even if you can swim.
Erni and Chen Zhao also screamed: "Xiao Wu!" "Xu Bao!"
Yingbao quickly took off her cotton coat and trousers, jumped into the water, and swam towards Jiang Wu with all her might.
At this moment, a few more people came to the pond, and two people who could swim took off their cotton coats and jumped into the pond.
But the water in the pond was too cold, and the two men could not swim far before they could get any further and had to return.
Yingbao's hands and feet were numb from the cold, but she still swam to Jiang Wu and grabbed him.