One day in April, a group of loyal officers and soldiers wearing red military uniforms escorted a group of new recruits. These are thousands of recruits recruited from Luzhou, and these recruits of different colors and colors are of different ages, ranging from elders in their forties to young people in their seventeens and eighteen.

Without exception, the expressions on their faces all looked a little dazed, even a little painful. For them, the reason why they have such expressions is because in their eyes, what they are experiencing now is undoubtedly a disaster.

Conscription for military service!

Although it is recorded in the history books, although in the past, it was common to plunder the people as soldiers. But for the people of Jiangbei in the fourteenth year of Yongli, all of this is strange now, and it can even be said to be painful.

However, despite this, the conscription process was still relatively smooth, and there was no resistance from the people in each prefecture and county, and the full amount of strong men was requisitioned according to the armor roster almost without much difficulty. Although it was painful, the people still chose to obey and choose to obey. It's like they once chose to touch shave.

However, despite the seemingly obedient choice, there are still many families who still resist conscription in their own way, in order to avoid military service, men pretend to be fools and lame, women dress them in tattered clothes, make them unkempt, make them look like fools, and some even choose to self-harm, such as cutting off one of their fingers for fear of being selected for military service. But their actions were reported by the neighbors, and then they were severely fined.

However, despite their every possible means of evading military service. But no one dared to resist, the lesson of more than ten years ago, the lesson of not keeping a head, more than ten years of slavery, so that the people are accustomed to obedience, when the whip is on the body, they choose to bear silently, rather than resist.

And these strong men who were selected for military service just faced all this blankly, although they were of different ages, but their expressions were surprisingly similar, all of them were frightened and uneasy. When they left their hometowns, some of them calmly occasionally looked back into the distance, wanting to see the hometown that was far behind, some cried while walking, and some silently lowered their heads and walked there. People have different expressions, and they accept all this. Perhaps they are used to going along with it. Accustomed to this oppression, although they are not adapted to military service, eventually they choose to accept it.

And whenever the team passed through a village, it was followed by a large group of people. They were the parents or other relatives of one of the recruits, and they followed behind in twos and threes, breathlessly. Because once these people leave their hometowns, they will enter the army to serve, three years, whether it is long or not, whether it is short or not, only God knows whether they can come back alive, after all, they have no eyes on the battlefield, and their lives may be lost.

Most of the people who followed the team were women, mothers or sisters or wives of one or more of the strong men in the group. They desperately wanted to look at their relatives again with those tearful eyes. When they see their loved ones, they always try to pull them home.

And at this time, the soldiers on horseback would come on horseback, and scatter them with their whips, as if they were enemies, and would unceremoniously drive the women with their horses, not considering that they were just a group of women.

In the face of the leather whips whipped by the soldiers, these beaten women all looked like they were in pain, howling and crying like a funeral. Standing on the side of the road in agony, he gave up the chase for a moment and waited until the ranks of these strong men were gradually moving away. They will catch up again.

And these women with small feet wrapped in small feet just like this, one foot deep and one shallow, desperately ran behind. Some of the women even shouted loudly in some nervous disorders, and in the end, they still fell far behind the back of the group with their little feet.

However, despite this, some mothers and wives kept calling their sons and husbands, trying to tell them a few more words in the shortest words to take care of their health on the road.

"Dad, you must come back alive!"

"Changshun, Changshun!"

Another woman desperately searched for the man's figure with her eyes, and when she saw the man's figure, she looked at the man's familiar face. Then there was some crying out loud in despair.

"Come back alive, you will come back alive......"

Finally, they stood there blankly and even in despair, looking at the figures of the men who were gradually disappearing from their eyes. The relatives who looked at them left them like that.

Such a scene was staged throughout the land of Jiangbei, and the parting emotion made thousands of newly recruited strong men all silent in a heavy atmosphere, until they walked out of the boundary of their hometown, their expressions slowly became better, especially when some older people were telling jokes there, the laughter began to dilute the sadness in people's hearts.

Occasionally, they would look at the soldiers who were "escorting" them, and their cheeks were shiny in the sun.

"Look at these soldiers, how strong they are, and you see how oily their faces are. They must have eaten meat every day. ”

"I dare say they must have a meal of white rice......"

"Hey, you're right!"

The official who was riding on the horse said with a smile.

"When I arrived at the barracks, I didn't say that I was full of white rice, three fingers wide of big fatty meat, and there were at least two pieces of salted fish in the bowl, and I could eat as much as I wanted......"

Since it is in this peaceful and prosperous era, the meat is not eaten every day, listening to the words of the commander, looking at the ruddy faces of those people one by one, and the appearance of shiny faces, these strong men even began to look forward to the food in the army.

Maybe for these recruits. Food in the barracks became their only expectation. It is also the only thing that can dilute the sorrow of parting in their hearts.

When they passed through a village, at the entrance of the village, there was already a captain beckoning people to invite them to tea with bowls.

"There are also soldiers in this armor, and when you pass by, you can take a sip of hot tea here, and when they pass by other villages, they may be able to drink hot tea......

The heart-to-heart words made the hearts of these strong men seem a little complicated, but for them, this is just an episode on the road, after all, for them, they will soon enter the barracks and become a soldier.

After walking for several days, they finally arrived at the military camp on the bank of the Huai River, and along the way, thanks to the strict joint sitting method, no one dared to escape. It is completely different from the past when a large number of new recruits fled to the army.

In the barracks, they saw patches of red, those strong men in red military uniforms, when they walked in front of these people who had just come here with surprised expressions on their faces, they all raised their necks, and looked at them as if they were more proud than the old man Xiucai.

In fact, these people are just a group of recruits who came a few days before them, who have just put on their military uniforms and even learned to walk, almost naturally, act as veterans in front of these recruits. After checking the roster, the recruits were driven by the officers into the camp, where they were led to mats and where they could be pitched.

In the barracks, there are some other people's shacks erected, but no one knows how long they will live here, but they are no strangers to building shacks, this row of shacks stretches very long, very neatly arranged, along the Huai River dam all the way through.

Not only on the banks of the Huai River, but also on the banks of the Yellow River, the Yangtze River, and the canals, the reason why the new barracks were chosen to be set up by the river is that it is very simple, in order to be able to use the river to transport the army, of course, it is also because the river transportation is convenient for the transportation of military rations, and with the convenience of river transportation, not only can the transportation of military rations be guaranteed, but even the pigs within hundreds of miles nearby can be easily transported to the battalion, so as to ensure the food of the recruits.

Zhao Mantun, who was dazed, looked at the shacks that had been built, and then began to fiddle with his mat back and forth like this, and this shack was his home from then on.

"Mantun, don't stand, go get a few more bricks, this shed is built, but you still have to make the bed, if this bed is not high, when it rains, it must not fall into the muddy water, even this quilt has to be ......soaked in water."

Wang Zhuping shouted at Zhao Mantun there, reminding him.

The so-called bed is nothing but a wooden plank, which is made into a bed by a brick, and the bed is covered with a straw mat and a layer of straw, which becomes the place where they sleep, and as for the quilt, they have brought it with them from home. Along the way, thanks to the quilt, they were not blown by the cold wind of this spring night. Now that I am in this camp, I naturally have to find a way to protect this quilt. Perhaps this quilt will accompany them until the end of their military service.

"Hey, I see."

Zhao Mantun's whole person seemed to be submissive, not to mention the commander's orders, even the orders of his fellow villagers, and he had never had the slightest doubt, and now, for him, he had accepted his fate. It's not even as hopeful about life as it used to be. Now all hope is gone.

After half a pillar of incense, Zhao Mantun moved more than a dozen bricks, and those bricks raised the bed board again, and everyone brought wheat straw and spread the wheat straw on the bunk, so that the big guy could lie down comfortably.

"Mantun, your family must be doing well!"

Suddenly, Wang Zhuping's words made Zhao Mantun stunned.

"Hehe, Mantun, don't pretend, Brother Wang ran through the rivers and lakes with the boat, and those things can be seen at a glance."

Li Fengji on the side echoed, his tone was full of flattery, there were more than a dozen people in this shed, Wang Zhuping could be named by the chief as the "squad leader".

"Actually, it's nothing, in our luggage, at most there are two pairs of shoes, but in your luggage, there are five pairs of shoes, that day I took a look, the line of your shoes is different, if you guess correctly, it must be your mother-in-law and someone bought it, I'm afraid that you will break the shoes on the road, no shoes to wear, right."

Wang Zhuping's words made Zhao Mantun stunned, it was really so, if he hadn't stopped him, maybe his mother-in-law would have bought him two more pairs of shoes.

"You haven't been far away, when you go out, your clothes are not expensive, but the expensive ones are shoes, these shoes, usually look inconspicuous, but if you go out and the shoes are rotten, then the one who suffers will be this foot, if the foot makes things rotten, when the time comes, you will not be able to express your life......"

Although Wang Zhuping, who was born as a boatman, has not traveled too many roads, but on the boat, he has seen all kinds of people, heard all kinds of stories told by those who traveled from south to north, and naturally saw more than others, and even because of this, he was named as the squad leader.

Sometimes, a person's insight, when inadvertent, can change a person's fate. Zhao Mantun smiled reluctantly.

"What's a good life, it's just enough to eat, in the past, there was land everywhere, as long as you are willing to work hard, you can eat a full stomach, and I was thinking about opening a few more acres of land, but who knows, who knows......"

Mentioning his own experience, Zhao Mantun only felt a burst of sadness, and the tears almost didn't flow out. Once upon a time, she was full of hope for life, he was full of yearning for the future, worked hard, wanted to change his fate, but now that he has been pulled into the line, he will never imagine everything again. After all, everything has changed.

"Who knows, this government first fiefdomed the land and did not allow the wasteland to be cleared, and now it has been ordered again, and I don't care about this soldier, and the family relies on my mother-in-law, a woman's family, but how can it be a good ......?"

When Zhao Mantun was complaining about the sky, Wang Zhuping, who was lying on the straw, didn't even look at him.

"Mantun, you, you're all on this, crying a fart? If you dare, be a deserter! If you don't dare, take back the cat urine, yes, yes, didn't the official document say that the other households in the first place should farm and collect grain for your family, otherwise, the government will punish people, don't worry, or think about the future, rely on your parents at home, rely on friends when you go out, from now on, we brothers will want a bowl to eat, and when the time comes, you can take care of it more......"

The reason why he said this was to remind these people that now that they were soldiers, they had to accept all this.

"When you go to war, in the final analysis, you still have to rely on the big guys to take care of each other. Just complaining here, maybe you will lose your life as soon as you go to the battlefield. Even other people, we have to figure it out, isn't it just three years? After three years as a soldier, you can go home! ”

Three years!

It's not long, it's not short!

Everyone's heart is silently counting there, counting how long it will take for the three years to end!

But how many people will make it home alive? No one has an answer in their hearts!