Guyu Street in Jiangcheng is a market place where the lowest class of people in this capital often gather.
The place was noisy and crowded with civilians wearing brown short jackets, trousers and straw sandals.
And the lowly slaves who were ragged and covered in stains.
A team of judges dressed in bright clothes and armor, wearing tiger-head belts, sashes, and holding long swords, separated the crowd.
A young man with handsome features, wearing a crimson robe and a Xie crown, was surrounded and climbed onto the platform in the center of the market.
"king."
"It's the king."
"My lord, this is my lord."
The crowd was in an uproar. Although they lived in the royal city, most of the lower-class civilians had never seen this young monarch.
The soldiers used their spears to separate the crowd and maintain order.
Cheng Qianye sat down on a chair and waited for the crowd to quiet down.
An official stood on the stage, pointed at a bronze tripod in front of the stage, and announced loudly: "By order of the Lord, anyone who can lift this tripod will be rewarded with ten gold coins."
At that time, one dan of rice cost about 80 coins, one liang of gold cost nearly 600 coins, and ten liang of gold was equivalent to about 75 dan of millet. This was basically the annual food ration for an ordinary family of three.
This bronze tripod has been placed here for a long time. It is used for burning incense during worship and is not too heavy.
Is there really such a cheap thing in the world
People couldn't believe it, and the crowd was buzzing with discussion. Many people secretly looked up at Cheng Qianye on the platform, and for a while no one stepped forward to try.
Cheng Qianye said: "Those who can do this will be rewarded with fifty gold coins."
The temptation of fifty gold coins was too great. A burly man suppressed his fear of the king opposite him, parted the crowd, came to the stage, and kowtowed: "I am willing to give it a try."
He came to the cauldron, stood with his feet apart, grabbed the belly of the cauldron with both hands, and shouted.
Sure enough, he lifted the tripod shakily, circled it in front of the stage three times, and then put the tripod back in its place with a bang.
There was silence in the crowd, and everyone, like the strong man, looked up at the monarch on the podium.
Cheng Qianye raised his hand slightly, spread his sleeves, and said, "Reward."
Then an attendant brought out a lacquer tray with fifty taels of gold on it and handed it to the strong man.
The man's face flushed red, he could not believe his good fortune, he fell to the ground and kowtowed repeatedly, he was so excited that he could hardly speak.
The crowd was like water in a frying pan, and there was a sudden noise. Some were excited, some were annoyed, some were jealous, and so on.
The official who was reading the announcement cleared his throat, motioning for everyone to be quiet, and pointed to several sturdy flagpoles in the square and said, "Whoever climbs to the top of the pole first will be rewarded ten gold coins."
As soon as the words fell, more than a dozen agile people emerged from the crowd, eager to give it a try.
Finally, a man who was good at this received the reward happily.
Returning to the crowd, several of his brothers quickly surrounded him, huddled together with his arms around his shoulders, touched the bounty in his hand, and congratulated him in unison.
Then, under people's expectant eyes, the official took out a scroll of Huang Juan, unfolded it to the wind, posted it on the bulletin board, and read it aloud.
"Military merit is rewarded with a knighthood!"
As the official read and explained, various voices gradually rang out among the crowd.
"A knighthood for military merit?"
"If you chop off the enemy's head, you will be rewarded with land?"
"A first-class public official can get a hectare of land."
"Level 2 and above can reduce a lot of taxes."
"A 20th-level peerage."
"If slaves have made contributions, they are also eligible to become regular soldiers."
"is this real?"
"Is it possible that the decree issued by the Lord himself is false?"
suburbs,
In a simple house, a young woman was busy around the stove while patting the child on her back.
Coughing sounds came from the hole-filled earthen wall.
"Erniu, take the medicine on the stove to your grandma." the woman shouted.
"Mom, I'm here." Erniu was a girl of six or seven years old. She came over holding a toddler boy, carefully picked up the bowl with a missing corner on the stove, and walked into the house.
The door curtain was lifted, and a dark-skinned, sturdy man walked into the house, carrying a bundle of firewood on his back.
He looked at the brown rice porridge with wild vegetables floating in the pot and frowned.
"A Yuan, you're back." The woman wiped her hands on her apron, took the firewood from the man's back, and said a little embarrassedly, "My mother is still sick and needs to take medicine every day, so I have to save some money on food."
His man, A Yuan, was silent for a moment, then said, "A Juan, the lord is recruiting soldiers to go to Bianzhou recently, and I... want to join the army."
The woman named Ajuan was startled and looked up at her husband in surprise.
A Yuan said: "I went to the city today and heard that the new policy has begun to be implemented."
"New policies? The system of receiving a title? The head of the village read it out to every household today."
A Yuan nodded: "Although it is dangerous to go to the battlefield, I have plenty of strength. If I fight hard and chop off ten heads, my family can get a hectare of land, a hectare of land that belongs to us!"
He clenched his fist and said, "With so many people in our family, we can only get a hundred steps of land to cultivate the well fields. Every year we have to cultivate the public fields and perform corvée labor. No matter how hard we work, it is only enough to make a living."
Ajuan hesitated: "But, going to the battlefield..."
Her husband stretched out his hand, which was rough and strong from years of hard work, and touched his wife's face: "The new policy says that as long as you earn military merit, even if you die, your son can inherit the reward. As long as I work hard, I can get a first-class public officer."
He glanced at the boy on his wife's back and said, "Our family will finally have land."
at night.
In the slave camps,
After working like oxen and horses all day, people returned to the dirty rest area.
Most of them were skinny and had numb expressions as they lined up to receive their share of low-quality food.
Some old and weak people hurriedly stuffed the food into their mouths as soon as they received it, to avoid it being snatched away by others along the way.
A strong and muscular man sat on the haystack leisurely with his eyes narrowed, waiting for his "little brother" to bring him food.
"Brother Sheng, Brother Sheng."
Several young men sat around him, with a bit of respect and flattery.
This slave, called Brother Sheng, had a hideous scar across half of his face, from the bridge of his nose to his ear, with a hole cut in one ear. His originally handsome face looked distorted and terrifying.
"Brother Sheng." A thin man came running over with food in his hand, panting and saying excitedly, "Have you heard? New policy! New policy!"
"What new policy? Look how excited you are, a monkey." A man on the haystack sneered, "What does the game of the nobles have to do with slaves like us?"
"No." The slave nicknamed Liu Hou'er swallowed and took a breath, "Everyone is talking about it. The king is promoting a system of rewarding military merit with titles - behead a head, get rid of slavery, and become a regular soldier!"
"What?" Several men sat up straight, even Brother Sheng opened his cold eyes.
"Really? As long as we go to the battlefield and chop off an enemy's head, we will no longer be slaves. We can be treated the same as regular soldiers!"
"How is it possible? We are the king's property. There is no one in this world who would give up their property so easily. Could it be that the masters want us to go to Bianzhou to die, but are afraid that we won't try our best, so they just make up a pie in the sky to fool people?" Brother Sheng said coldly.
"The notice is written very clearly and posted everywhere in the city. There are also special non-commissioned officers explaining it in detail." Liu Houer swallowed his saliva. "I listened to it for a long time. It's not just about abolishing slavery, but also about titles. There are a total of twenty levels of titles."
"Please tell me in detail." Brother Sheng sat up.
"After becoming a soldier, chop off ten heads and you will become a first-class soldier." Liu Hou'er counted on his fingers and said, "You can have one hectare of land."
"The second level is called Shangzao, and it gives more rewards. The third level... the third level, oh, I can't remember. Anyway, the more enemies you kill, the more rewards you get. You have land, a house, you can marry a wife, and you can also reduce taxes."
Several slaves present exchanged glances and felt their hearts pounding.
"Once you reach level 4 or above, it will be even more different. You will have the chance to become a nobleman or an official! You may even be able to become a village head or a miser." Liu Houer felt that his heart was filled with unbelievable dreams. "Then, I will wear brand new cotton clothes, hold a sword, and walk around the streets with a bulging belly. I will catch some petty thieves and receive a lot of white millet every month."
The crowd laughed, "You monkey, you want to be an official?"
Liu Hou'er blushed, "Of course I can't be one. I just hope to fight to the death and chop off an enemy's head. I will be satisfied if I can escape from this slavery."
"Of course, if I follow Brother Sheng, I can get a first-class duke, have some land, and marry a wife. It will be worth it even if I die." He touched his head, "The titles above the fourth level can only be obtained after great achievements. I am not good at martial arts, and I don't have much experience, so don't even think about it."
"But our Brother Sheng is different," Liu Houer said in a flattering manner, "Brother Sheng has this opportunity, and he will definitely have the hope of getting the fourth or fifth level of nobility. When the time comes, he will become a village head or a county yamen runner, and he can bring us along to benefit from it."
The crowd burst into laughter. The news brought by Liu Houer seemed to have cast a glimmer of fire in the endless darkness, allowing them to vaguely see the light and no longer be in eternal despair.
At this moment in Bianzhou City, the Jin army inside the city and the Quanrong troops led by Wei Mingshan outside the city had been confronting each other for more than ten days.
On the inside of the city wall, which was blackened by gunpowder smoke, there was a notice with the royal seal on it.
Ah Feng and dozens of slaves gathered in front of the notice, listening to the sergeant explaining its contents.
Ah Feng raised her head and stared at the line of words written in black and white on the paper.
"Whoever obtains one of these poems will be freed from slavery."
His blood-stained hand clenched the weapon in his hand and trembled slightly.
In the martial arts arena of the Jiangcheng military camp,
Helan Zhen made a feint and jumped out of the circle. He took a breath and raised his hand to call for a stop.
"Qiao Sheng, what's wrong with you lately? You're working too hard. I can hardly handle it."
Mo Qiaosheng was shirtless, sweating profusely, and breathing heavily. But his eyes were full of light, and he seemed to have endless energy, and he was unwilling to stop for a moment.
"Sir, another round!"
———————
First release in Jinjiang