As a newly promoted soldier of the Northern Tang Naval Division, Niu Er certainly could not join the ranks of the official army at the first time, and his new task now is to appease the emotions of the villagers who have burned their homes.

Anyone who destroys all the property of the family and burns down the only house and fishing boat is naturally hated for these murderers, but in front of the bright swords and guns and fierce soldiers, he dares to be angry but does not dare to speak, and even dare not show his anger on his face, he can only hide it deep in his heart.

The man hung his head and clenched his fists tightly, and the woman held the child in her arms, crying hoarsely until she finally fell asleep from exhaustion. The old men were huddled in the cabin in a clump of hope, their faces full of despair. As the ship farther and farther from shore, their mood became more and more depressed.

At this time, a familiar face like Niu Er appeared among them, which could at least give them a little comfort.

Niu Er was also angry.

At this moment, his wife, sister-in-law and nephew are also in this boat.

Holding his nephew and standing in the midst of this group of helpless people, he was not full of sorrow.

"Your nephew, with a tiger's head and a tiger's brain, has good bones!" A voice came from beside him, Niu Er turned around, and saw Fang Ren, a Northern Tang officer captain who had competed with him in underwater kung fu.

was defeated by an opponent in the field he was best at, and Niu Er had to be convinced by the person in front of him.

Fang Ren took out a lollipop from his pocket and wanted to hand it to the tiger-headed kid, but Niu Er vigilantly hugged his nephew and turned around halfway and dodged.

"What? Afraid I'll poison your nephew? Fang Ren was angry and funny, peeled off the kraft paper outside, stretched out his tongue and licked it, and said, "Sweet, it's sugar, haven't you seen it?" ”

Seeing Fang Ren behaving like this, Niu Er took it, licked it again, and then handed it to his nephew.

"What kind of sugar is this? Why is it so sweet? Seeing his nephew licking and a smile on his face, Niu Er couldn't help but ask with some curiosity.

"There are so many good things you haven't seen before!" Fang Ren said angrily. "These people are very hostile to us, so you can calm everyone down, and it won't be long before we reach our destination."

Niu Er said angrily: "You burned our home and our ship, can everyone not hate you?" ”

Fang Ren's eyes rolled, "Where do you call it home, also call it a house, a group of dilapidated grass sheds, all the property in the family can be worth a few silver dollars?" ”

"No matter how worthless it is, it's our nest!" Niu Erdao.

Fang Ren snorted and said, "Soon, you will have a new nest, that is the real house, the real home." ”

"You're going to give us a new house?" Niu Erqi said.

"Or else?" Fang Ren sneered: "Do you think that we are those brutal officials in Lingnan, who only collect taxes from you, regardless of whether you live or die?" ”

Looking at Fang Ren, Niu Er said in his heart, you are not much better than those who are officials, didn't you also burn down our house and all our belongings? The officials are all raccoon dogs, and none of them are good. But he only dared to say this in his heart, and he didn't dare to say it in his mouth, if he angered the person in front of him, he glanced at the heavily armed soldiers on the battleship.

"Why didn't some of the warships come back?" He asked softly.

Fang Ren said: "They still have a mission, and there will be many people like you who will come back with them later." ”

Niu Er suddenly understood, these Northern Tang Dynasty people were sweeping the coast, those villages near the sea, and I don't know how many people will suffer this time? Looking at the villagers in the cabin, Niu Er thought worriedly, I don't know what these Northern Tang people are doing to kidnap these ordinary people? To be a slave?

He shuddered.

He glanced down at the new military uniform on his body, and said in his heart that he was now with them, and other people couldn't take care of it, so it would be good if he could get his family out of the most tragic fate.

"Are we going to Chuanshan Island?" Niu Er asked.

Glancing at Niu Er, Fang Ren smiled and said, "You're quite familiar with this area, yes, let's go to Shangchuan Island." ”

Of course, Niu Er knew about the Chuanshan Islands, and I heard that there had long been occupied by some vicious pirates, and now it seems that where are the bandits, it is clear that these are these people.

Fang Ren glanced at Niu Er's nephew, who was licking the lollipop vigorously, while the children around him were staring at the kid with enviable eyes at the moment, salivating at the corners of their mouths.

In the midst of laughter, Fang Ren summoned a soldier and gave a few orders, and after a while, the soldier walked back, holding a box in his hand, taking out lollipops one by one, and giving one to all the little dolls present.

Watching those children licking lollipops, Niu Er suddenly felt that the guy in front of him who almost killed himself didn't seem so hateful.

Time passed slowly as the ship moved.

Niu Er was awakened by the sound of a military horn, and as a recruit without any training, he did not yet have the consciousness of a soldier. I opened my eyes a little dazedly, glanced at my little nephew who was nestled in my arms, and then looked at the neighbors around me, and they all woke up at this moment.

They watched as the soldiers on the battleship got busy, and once again anchored and sailed, and when the sun rose, Niu Er finally saw the land in the distance.

He knew that it was Shangchuan Island, he looked back at the crowd, and in the cabin, all the neighbors also supported each other to stand up, and in the future, it would be their home.

Fang Ren appeared in front of Niu Er again.

Getting closer and closer to the land, Fang Ren pointed to the rows of blue brick and blue tile houses in the distance, and said to Niu Er: "How are these houses, how are these houses better than your broken grass houses?" ”

Niu Er was puzzled and turned his head to look at Fang Ren.

"Those houses were originally our barracks, but in the future, they will be yours. Once you have landed, you will be counted from house to house, you will be registered, and then you will be given houses, food, and livestock. Fang Ren said.

"Given to us?" Niu Er pointed to his nose and asked in shock.

Fang Ren glanced at him: "Your eldest brother Niu Dayou, you have no share, you are a soldier, so you will naturally live in the barracks." ”

"That's for us?" Niu Er ignored Fang Ren, but pointed to the blue brick houses in the distance that looked extremely beautiful, and continued to ask.

Fang Ren rolled his eyes, too lazy to explain to this uninformed guy.

"This is an important base for our Datang Water Division. Originally, there weren't many people on the island, and it was basically deserted, but we have been operating here for three years, and it is very different! Fang Ren said: "Now there are brick factories, ship repair factories, food processing factories, and all kinds of workshops and shops on the island. Those of you, when you arrive, who have a skill, can go to the workshop and find a job to do, for example, a carpenter, a stonemason, a blacksmith, and the monthly salary is very considerable, and a good craftsman's salary is five silver dollars a month. ”

"Five silver dollars? Are there so many carpenters too? Niu Er shouted: "My brother knows carpenter's work!" ”

Fang Ren smiled: "That depends on his level." It doesn't matter if you don't have skills, on the island, we will give you some land, you can cultivate it yourself, if you don't even know how to farm, then you can also do odd jobs, we sailors are here, and there are many opportunities to work. As long as they are not lazy, everyone can live a good life. ”

"Those houses, do you want money?" Niu Er swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Fang Ren smiled: "You guys are lucky, these houses are as compensation for us burning your house, so we don't need money." However, the house of each family is not big, and you can live in a crowd, if you want to get a better and bigger house, then work hard to earn money to build it yourself! On the island, a homestead the size of a hundred steps costs only five silver dollars. However, these things will be handled by your county commander in the future, and they have nothing to do with our army. ”

"Sir, how much tax do we have to pay?" I don't know when, Niu Da also stood beside Niu Er and asked cautiously.

"You only need to pay one tax, the poll tax!" Fang Ren said: "One silver dollar per person a year, and a family of four is four silver dollars." However, your Niu Er is a soldier, and he can be tax-exempt until he retires. ”

"Nothing else?" Niu asked in a trembling voice. "How long do you have to serve in a year?"

Fang Ren shook his head: "There is no such thing as conscription, in our Tang Dynasty, all these jobs are bought by the government. To put it simply, when you go to work for the government, the government will pay you. ”

Niu Da Niu Er was in a trance.

Is this still a government? Why does it feel like a dream?

They claim to be Datang, and those officials in their hometown also claim to be Datang, these two Datang seem to be very different! Niu Da didn't understand the trick inside, but for him, if he didn't have to worry about his life, he could still get a place to live, he could find a good job, and the family could live together, where it was, in fact, it didn't matter much.

"Niu Er, give you three days, one is to help your eldest brother deal with the affairs of the family, and the other is to help the local government to do some things, you are familiar with it, just obey the arrangement of the Shangguan when the time comes." After three days, when you come to the barracks to report for duty, if you don't meet the deadline, you will be treated as a deserter, and you will lose your head, you know? ”

"Got it." Niu Er said in a low voice.

With the loud cheers from the pier, the battleship shook slightly and landed.

The Tang Navy's policy of sealing the sea and sweeping away the sea in Fujian and Guangzhou also officially kicked off.