It was midsummer, there was no wind at all, the weather was hot like a big steamer, and even breathing was so difficult.

Yang Xiaobao can't remember how long he has been standing, he originally felt relaxed to stand, but at this time, he had to use all his strength to maintain.

But he didn't dare to move, because not far away, a tigerish figure was staring at them.

Within the specified time, as long as you move, this expedition will be accompanied by the baggage battalion.

Cao Rui, the commander they called Cao Blackface, was the most feared person of all the recruits in the Shenji Battalion, although he was young, he was the most ruthless person in the Shenji Battalion.

He is not only cruel to others, but even more cruel to himself.

It was so hot that the other commanders were eager to hide in the shade of the trees and rest for a while, staring at them was enough, but he wanted to stand with them.

He didn't move, and no one dared to move, unless, he was carried out......

However, being carried out means being brushed down and going to the baggage camp.

Yang Xiaobao is not the smartest, recruits have been trained for half a year, whether it is a guard of honor, cross-country running, or shooting, he is not the best.

Even when he learned to read and write, he didn't know more than a thousand words, which belonged to the middle and late stages.

But he can endure hardships and have perseverance.

As long as others can stand it, you can stand it.

Since he was an orphan at the age of seven, he has endured hardships and often cannot eat enough for several days.

He asked for food and went to Xiangyang, and then became a little beggar in Xiangyang City.

He has been begging for food on the street for two years, but he has no vices, and when he sees someone weaker and pitiful than himself, he is willing to help when he is hungry.

Until one day, a little old man came up to him and asked him if he would like to be his son, and he nodded.

The little old man was a widower, and when he was visiting relatives, his wife was snatched by bandits, and he committed suicide by jumping into the river, and the child later fell ill and died.

He owned two mud huts in Xiangyang, near the South City Gate, and made a living selling noodles and pancakes.

When he was grinding noodles at the wharf, he saw that the little beggar asked the traveler who had crossed the river for a piece of dry cake, but he gave half of it to an old beggar who could no longer sit up.

The little beggar became Yang Xiaobao and also had his own home in Xiangyang City.

Just a few years later, at the beginning of last year, Xiangyang City became Hanjing Mansion, and the prince came, and business was not good.

Originally, the noodle shop stuck at the south gate had a good business, but now the people of the entire inner city have to move out, and the market has also moved outside the city, affecting business.

By the autumn of last year, the houses outside the city had been built, and the people of the entire inner city of Xiangyang, even the officials, had to move out of the city.

Yang Laohan's house was also within the scope of the expropriation, but the prince was merciful and replaced Yang Laohan's two houses with a set of single-family courtyards.

could have changed the two storefronts outside the city, but Yang Xiaobao didn't want to sell noodles and wanted to be a soldier.

Yang Laohan couldn't persuade him, and Jin Yiwei's treatment was good, so he had food and drink every month, and he had always paid money.

Without helpers, Yang Laohan didn't want to open a restaurant, he didn't want a façade, he asked for a small courtyard, grinded tofu at home, and sold bean sprouts.

Yang Xiaobao saw that Jinyiwei was extremely majestic everywhere he went in Xiangyang City last year, so he wanted to be a soldier. When I heard the sound of their guns shooting at the shooting range, I was excited.

After the New Year's New Year's recruitment, he signed up as soon as possible.

But he didn't expect that it would be so hard to be a brocade guard, and every day, the instructors would not let them go until they were exhausted.

Now that this military uniform is on the ship, it is not easy to take it off.

Yang Xiaobao met the young master of a wealthy family in Xiangyang City, and because he couldn't stand this suffering, he became a deserter.

As a result, Jinyiwei chased him back to his house and sent him directly to the government.

Later, the government sentenced him to three years in prison, which can be much more bitter than being a brocade guard.

At least Jin Yiwei has meat to eat every day, and he doesn't need money for four clothes a year, but when he goes to labor, he eats leftovers, but he does the hardest and most tiring work.

That rich young master is now burning a cement kiln in Nancheng, and if he works slowly, he will be whipped.

He didn't want to be like that young master, he also wanted to earn a glory for Yang Laohan.

As the sun gradually set, Yang Xiaobao endured the soreness in his joints and tried his best to adjust the center of gravity of his body.

Just when he felt numb and was about to fall, he finally heard the voice of the commander Cao Hei's face. "Take a break! Those who stand for three hours today will be included in the forward battalion! ”

No one dared to cheer, but they relaxed their bodies, moved their legs, relieved the numbness in their bodies, and quietly waited for Cao Hei's face to dissolve.

It is not said that before the disbandment, any behavior is a violation, and it is not that no one was happy and sad before.

On the review stand, Cao Hei continued with a black face: "There is no training or study tonight, you can relax for one night." If your home is in Hanjing City, you can also go back to meet your family. Disbanded ...... now"

Hearing these two words, the fifteen hundred recruits couldn't help but let out a long breath, and some even cheered.

Everyone was hungry and thirsty, and they rushed to the water room in the camp.

Yang Xiaobao couldn't help wiping the sweat on his face, but when his hand touched the back of his neck, he felt a hot pain.

He knew that he was peeling off the sun.

The water house is located on the side of the cliff, on which a collection basin was built, dozens of pressurized water wells were installed, and every morning, soldiers on duty went to press the water to fill the pool.

Then they drink water every day, take a bath, and are connected to the water pipe below, which is very convenient.

After washing his whole head at the water pipe and drinking a stomach of water, Yang Xiaobao felt rejuvenated.

He took off his single clothes, wet and rubbed them at the water pipe, washed away the sweat stains, and then wiped his body with a towel, washed it again, wrung it out and threw it on his shoulder.

There are many people like him, and now it is July, the hottest time of the year, and they have been basking in the sun for three hours, standing from morning to afternoon, and everyone sweats a few pounds.

Although he didn't eat at noon, Yang Xiaobao didn't have any appetite now, but he knew that he was short of water and food now, and he had to eat.

What's more, it's not okay if you don't eat, Jinyiwei's inspector team has been staring.

After returning to the barracks to change into clean clothes and holding a steel lunch box, Yang Xiaobao followed the others to the canteen.

The cafeteria is ready, and the noodles in the cauldron have just been boiled.

There is no meat in the noodles, but there are lard residues, and there are a lot of green vegetables, and the noodle soup with heavy oil and salt tastes good and can also replenish the salt lost by the body.

Yang Xiaobao hasn't figured it out yet, how can there be salt in his body?

However, this is what the infantry drill code says, and it is said that this infantry drill code was written by the prince, and the prince is definitely not wrong.

After entering the barracks, Yang Xiaobao realized that he didn't know the world at all.

I used to only know how to fill my stomach, but then I followed Yang Laohan, and every day I worked, ate, and wanted to find a mother-in-law to live and have a few children.

But now he knows hundreds of words, and he also knows why the sun comes out of the east, why it is windy and rainy, and why there are springs, summers, autumns and winters.

"Xiaobao, rest today, are you going home?"

When I looked up, it was Chen Xiaowu of the same team. "Return, you won't return?"

Chen Xiaowu's face showed a hint of surprise. "I discussed with Da Kui and them, and I was going to go to the silk reeling factory to go shopping, maybe I could meet the little lady I liked."

Yang Xiaobao was also greatly moved, and now the place with the most young and good-looking ladies in the city is the silk reeling factory and textile factory in the west of the city.

There lived thousands of young ladies there, and the whole city liked to hang out there.

These little ladies don't have to go home to farm now, and they still have an income of 500 yuan every month.

Moreover, they also have literacy training, and now they all know a lot of words, and they are recognized as good matches.

After hesitating, Yang Xiaobao said: "I'll go home to see the old man first, if it's okay, I'll go over later." ”

He is already sixteen years old, and it is time to find his mother-in-law, so he can settle down as soon as possible, and when he returns from the expedition, he can get married.

Otherwise, when you come back from the expedition for a few years, it will be too late to find your mother-in-law.

As for whether it will not come back, almost no one is worried.

But they have muskets, and they are the only ones who fight them, and no one else has their share in them.

Otherwise, Jinyi Guard would not have signed up for the recruitment.

Only 6,000 people were recruited, and 10,000 people were not selected.

After eating and drinking, Yang Xiaobao washed his rice bowl and went out of the barracks with a large number of recruits.

The house that Yang Laohan was replaced was located in the outer city of Nancheng, but their barracks were at the foot of the mountain, which belonged to the suburbs, and there were still two miles to go home.

After walking a short distance, you will enter a chessboard-like community, where the houses are all two rows of houses with backs to each other, and the doors are facing the main road.

All the houses are two rooms with two floors, with a small courtyard in front of them, and two small rooms next to the small building in the front yard, one is a kitchen and the other is a utility room.

The front yard had a three-foot-high fence and a well.

As for the backyard, there are no fences, most of them are fenced vegetable gardens with a sewer in the middle.

Their house was in the first room of the third row, and from a distance, there was an unfamiliar figure in the courtyard.

Now is not the time to sell tofu, he chuckled in his heart and walked quickly to his home.

When I walked in, I saw a woman in rags fetching water, about thirty years old, but she didn't know her.

He asked, "Who are you and why are you in my house?" ”

The woman was so startled that she turned around and ran into the utility room.

Yang Xiaobao didn't open the door either, and jumped in as soon as he propped up the wall with both hands.

At this time, Yang Laohan came out of the utility room with a smile. "Xiaobao is back, I found you an eldest sister...... I found you a mother-in-law too......"

Yang Xiaobao was a little dumbfounded. "Dad, what's going on?"

"Let's talk about ...... when I enter the house" Yang Laohan pointed to the main room with a smile, and then turned back and said: "Don't be afraid, this is my son, and I will be a man for my eldest sister in the future."

From the main house, a fourteen or fifteen-year-old lady came out, and a seven or eight-year-old boy, both of whom were wearing new clothes, but they could still see that they had suffered a lot, and they were both yellow and thin.

Both of them looked at Yang Xiaobao a little nervously, Yang Xiaobao panicked, and didn't dare to look at it again, only remembering that his eyes were big.