Xue Rengui was willing to take Li Xiao, a young man, and take him into the Wei Mansion as a soldier.

The government soldiers of the Tang Dynasty, especially the government soldiers in the early Tang Dynasty, are not ordinary, even Li Xiao clearly knows that the government soldiers have a high gold content, although the government soldiers are actually a bit like the militia, but the militia in the early Tang Dynasty is not everyone can be it.

This is similar to the workers of state-owned enterprises before the reform of later generations, or the civil servants later, not to mention the iron rice bowl, but it is indeed very popular. Because of this, not anyone who wants to be a government soldier can do it.

The Tang Dynasty has twelve guards and four mansions, six or seven hundred military offices, and hundreds of thousands of government soldiers, which is very large. Datang will select government soldiers every three years, and once selected as a government soldier, he will basically be a government soldier for life, and he will not end his military service until he is sixty years old.

In ancient China, many dynasties were actually treated very poorly, especially in those troubled times, and they were even more forced to be soldiers, but the soldiers of the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Sui and Tang dynasties were the opposite, and many people could not necessarily be able to be a soldier. Even the forbidden army in the Song Dynasty was not as good as it.

"Farming in leisure time, being a soldier in wartime, training martial arts skills in peacetime, going into battle in case of war, killing the enemy with real skills, making meritorious contributions, this is a rare opportunity for ordinary people to change their fate." Xue Rengui said with a smile.

"Gong Xue is kind, but a certain condition does not meet the selection criteria." Li Xiao replied, he actually didn't want to be a soldier in his heart, although being a soldier is good, but it is also full of danger, after all, in the era of cold weapons, the danger of being a soldier is not ordinary, and he may die at any time.

There is too much peace and stability, who wants to work hard.

"Well, the law of the Tang Dynasty, the law of picking points, those who have equal wealth will be strong, those who are equal in strength will be rich, and those who are even in wealth will be rich, and they will take more than one first." This is the standard for the Tang Dynasty to select government soldiers, first of all, you have to have money, because the characteristics of government soldiers is to provide their own equipment, there is no food and salary in peacetime, after being selected as a government soldier, they have a military name, serve for life, and the court is allocated to the military field, these fields are exempt from rent, and the government soldiers usually farm the land, and the income is their own, and they use these income to buy military uniforms and equipment, and even go to war, and they have to bring their own dry food, and even prepare mules and horses to go to war.

Therefore, the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty have to have money, and they cannot afford to buy these equipment without money.

First of all, there is a lot of wealth, so who are the preferred people for the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty? They are the children of landlords and rich peasants, and their families have enough money to support them in military uniforms, weapons, food, mules and horses.

Having money is only the first condition for choosing a soldier, and the second condition is for choosing a strong person. It's not enough to just have money, you still have to be physically strong, after all, you choose soldiers, you have to fight, and it's not okay to be weak.

The third condition is Dingkou.

Your family is a landlord, and you are strong, but if you are the only child in the family, then no, you still can't be selected.

A family must have at least two strong men before they can choose one. If there are many males in the family, it is preferred. This is also because the war is cruel, and it is easy to die when you are a soldier. If there is only one ding, then if you go to the army and die, this family will have no pillars, and the court is still very humane in this regard.

Of course, there are some conditions, such as if you want to be a government soldier, you must be innocent, first of all, you must be a good citizen, what kind of slave is a lowly person, what kind of merchant is a businessman, these people are not qualified to be a government soldier. In addition, if there are direct blood relatives in the three generations, if they commit any major crimes, they are naturally not eligible to be selected for the government soldiers.

The roots are red.

For example, the guards of the three guards of the inner palace have higher standards for selection, and they are all children of high-ranking officials.

Li Xiao's conditions are indeed not qualified for the selection of government soldiers, the Li family used to be a landlord's family, but now it is very poor, at most there is only one good citizen status, neither wealth nor much, the physical conditions are met, but other aspects are not qualified.

"But the rules are dead, and there is always a way." Xue Rengui said, "Back then, my family was poor and small, and I was not qualified to be a government soldier. But later, Taizong personally conquered Liaodong, and the sturdy sons of Yunguo volunteered to enlist, and I was a volunteer who volunteered to join the army. ”

Volunteer soldiers are a relatively peculiar situation, in the event of a major war, the imperial court recruited a group of strong and brave men to join the army, but they are not officially government soldiers, and they do not have a military name. But as long as you can make meritorious contributions, you will also be rewarded.

When Taizong ordered the Liao expedition, countless children enthusiastically joined the army, and Xue Rengui joined the Liao army through this way, and thus emerged in Liaodong and was promoted to an officer.

In the final analysis, whether you are a government soldier or a volunteer soldier, the key to attracting people is not the tax-free military fields, because although the military fields are tax-free, the cost of purchasing military uniforms is also very high. What really attracts everyone is that through being a soldier, you have the opportunity to kill the enemy on the battlefield and make meritorious contributions, earn fame, and obtain a way to enter the official ranks.

What is the most valuable thing in this day and age?

For ordinary people, the first is the field, which is the foundation of life, and the second is the official position. It is not simple to be an official, this is to change one's own destiny and even change the fate of the entire family.

Even if it's just the lowliest petty clan, that's not the same.

Although there are imperial examinations in these years, the way to enter the imperial examinations is still too narrow, and you have to study to take the imperial examinations, and ordinary people cannot afford to read.

Therefore, if ordinary people want to become officials, there is no other way than to rely on military merits. If you become a government soldier, you can get tax-free fields, you have the opportunity to go to the battlefield to make meritorious contributions, you can be rewarded with fame and even become an official and get a knighthood, who wants to miss such an opportunity.

Thinking about Xue Rengui, although his ancestors were crowned kings, they have been high-ranking officials for several generations, but when he arrived, his family was in the middle of the road, if he hadn't relied on being a volunteer soldier to fight and make meritorious contributions, where would it be possible to turn over.

Xue Rengui saw that Li Xiao was a talent, talked extraordinarily, had a wide range of knowledge, and was interested in cultivating and supporting, so he deliberately pointed out a clear path for him.

"Is the imperial court ready to conquer Liaodong again?" Li Xiao asked.

Xue Rengui was a little surprised, when Taizong personally conquered Liaodong, although he also captured countless Goguryeo cities, but in the end the class retreated and failed to destroy Goguryeo in a battle. Later, Taizong also intended to conquer Liaodong again, but in the end he could not continue.

Eight years have passed in the blink of an eye, and now the new emperor has been on the throne for four years.

The emperor and many elders of the court were interested in conquering Goguryeo again, but only the top officials in the court knew about this matter, and Li Xiao could actually guess it, which really surprised him.

"It's not impossible, if you conquer Liaodong again, it is very likely that the imperial court will recruit another volunteer athlete to join the army, and then it will be your chance." Xue Rengui said.

"Xue Gong, I think that if the imperial court conquers Liaodong again, this is really an opportunity for Xue Gong."

"What do you mean by that?"