After making a decision, Zhang Duan and Zhao Yue began to prepare their own burdens. At this moment, Xian suddenly took out a bright red brocade wrapped in something out of nowhere and handed it to Zhao Yue, Zhao Yue touched it with his hand, the material was very smooth, and there were golden patterns on it in bright red, not like an ordinary object, and the wrapped thing seemed to be a book.

Zhao Yue looked at her mother and was about to open it, but was stopped by the Xian family, she told Zhao Yue that this was a relic left by Zhao Yue's deceased father, and she didn't know what it was, but Zhao Xun said before his death that it could only be opened when his son was successful or ready to give up when he was successful or ready to give up when his son did great things in the future. If the son has been doing nothing all his life, then pass it on to the grandson, and so on.

Seeing that his son was going out to serve the country as a soldier, Xian felt that it was time to hand over this object to him. And this farewell, I'm afraid that her old bones won't be able to survive when her son comes back.

Zhao Yue has always listened to her mother's words, she didn't say anything, just accepted it.

When he left, he stood at his door, watching Aunt Wang and Sister Li from the next village carry his mother to the ox cart and take him away, watching the wheels roll farther and farther on the dirt road, and finally disappear into the afterimage of a few old trees.

Zhao Yue secretly decided in his heart that he must get ahead. But right now, he and Zhang Duan can't even fill their stomachs, so they can only go to Kunyang City first to see if they can be conscripted into the army.

It is said that Kunyang City is not a county seat, but a small county under the jurisdiction of Yingchuan County, and since the implementation of the county system, such a division has lasted for hundreds of years. Zhao Yue and Zhang Duan set out from their village and took a day to get to Kunyang, there were not many people in the city, and the market was not very lively, but because someone recruited troops, a long queue was formed at the city gate, about thirty or forty people.

When entering the city, there stood two gatekeepers under the arched gate, wearing iron armor that glittered in the light, and not only that, but they also held halberds in their hands. This appearance made Zhang Duan very envious, and he asked Zhao Yue several times to see the majestic posture of the guard, but Zhao Yue had no mind.

In Zhao Yue's heart, he didn't want to be a soldier, he was just a soldier to eat, he was worried about his mother at home, his mother was old, maybe there was not much time, he came out now, in case he couldn't see his mother's last face, wouldn't it be difficult to fulfill filial piety, people are based on filial piety, he really doesn't want to be an unfilial person.

When they entered the city, the two men inquired everywhere, searched in a long line, and it took a lot of trouble to find a place to apply. It was guarded by soldiers, and in the center was a high platform that should be standing and speaking in a moment.

"Come on, come on, all line up, let me tell you about it, well, this process!"

Just when Zhao Yue was out of his mind, he heard someone shouting, and when he raised his eyes, he saw that it was a white man wearing an official uniform and a long beard, and he saw that he was dressed as a civil official. He walked up to the stage out of nowhere, holding a book in his hand, presumably a roster.

There were two other people who walked on the stage with him, one on the left and one on the right, separated from each other.

The civil official introduced that the left was the military marquis under General Dong Zhuo, Han Kui; On the right is the military marquis led by the imperial court, Liu Zheng.

Everyone looked at it together, although Han Kui and Liu Zheng were both generals, they were different from each other when they stood together. Let's look at Han Kui first, wearing a brand new black armor, looking mighty and majestic, with a scar on his face, his eyes are resolute, and he looks very serious, at first glance, he is a person who can fight well, and he has a sword pinned to his waist, and his hand is tightly grasping the hilt of the sword; But Liu Zheng looked a little unbearable, he was wearing a shabby red robe, he didn't carry any weapons, and he didn't look as fierce as Han Kui, and there was a helplessness in his eyes, which made people feel as if he had some grievances.

The three men stood on a high platform, surrounded by soldiers armed with weapons, and conscripts gathered around the stage and began to talk.

"Han Kui is under that Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo? Is it the Xiliang man who occupies the imperial capital that has been rumored recently? ”

"I heard that he is very capable, and now looking at the appearance of his subordinates, is it really so!"

"Yes, if you want to ask me to report, of course I will go to Dong Zhuo's subordinates."

In this chaotic voice, Zhao Yue showed a confused look, he did not communicate with the people around him, but glanced at the military marquis named Liu Zheng, and coincidentally, the person also glanced at him and showed a wry smile at him. At that moment, Zhao Yue's heart seemed to be touched, he knew what that smile represented, it was a manifestation of the pain and uneasiness in his heart, when he was young, he was single to take care of his old mother, that smile, that feeling, no one knew better than him.

At this moment, the civilian official who recruited the troops interrupted the people's discussion and shouted: "Next, let me tell you, what about our recruitment, it is calculated according to two or five, five people are counted as one army, and there is a military commander; Of course, five tithes are a team, and there is a team rate, but I think you don't have enough people for fifty people. After the civil official finished speaking, he poked his head to look at the group of people, as if he had roughly calculated the number.

Zhao Yue understood what he said in her heart, which meant that there were five people in a team, ten people in a team, and fifty people in a team, and the military ranks were team commander, chief, and team leader.

Zhao Yue took a lot of effort to figure out this, and suddenly his head was a little big, he knew that there must be a higher rank above, and he could command more soldiers, but the civilian official didn't say anything.

The civil official didn't give these poor people much time to think, so he continued: "Regarding the issue of treatment, I won't explain much, the soldiers under Lord Dong Zhuo will be paid once they join the army, and after each war, they will be rewarded for their meritorious deeds. As for the soldiers of the imperial court, just take care of the meal! If it is useful for you to fight, if you don't die afterwards, you may also be paid. ”

As soon as these words came out, the crowd suddenly boiled, and they were discussing why the soldiers under Dong Zhuo were treated so much better than the soldiers of the imperial court. In this way, of course, people will all go to Dong Zhuo's men to serve as soldiers, who will still work hard for the imperial court?

In fact, these people don't know that there is a war right now, and the armies in various places have no money to pay, so they only care about the soldiers' meals. The reason why Dong Zhuojun's soldiers are rich is mainly because Dong Zhuo is greedy, he squeezes a lot of people's fat and ointment on weekdays, and he also acts despicably, and it is rumored that he also steals graves and digs graves to earn funeral utensils.

"But!" The civil official suddenly shouted hard in the noise of the crowd: "Not everyone can come to Lord Dong Zhuo, I have just counted, there are thirty-seven of you, and only thirty of them can come to Lord Dong Zhuo as soldiers, as for how to select, well, of course it is a competition!" Merit-based selection"

Everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.

Of the thirty-seven people, only seven of them can't reach Dong Zhuo's hands, so it can be seen that the chance of being selected is still quite large. These men who came to enlist, except for Zhao Yue, who was invited by a friend and instructed by her mother, almost all of the rest were able to fight in various villages, so they came to serve as soldiers, and they were very confident in themselves.

It turned out that this was Li Ru's strategy to Dong Zhuo in a whisper that day: although the recruitment of private soldiers and court soldiers was carried out at the same time, as long as the men who applied for the draft saw the difference between the two commanders, and then added high salaries, most of them naturally entered Dong Zhuo's palms, but they still needed to leave some people for the imperial court. Above the court, those who keep swearing loyalty to the Han will not be relentless.

This strategy was so ingenious, but at this time, Zhao Yue and Zhang Duan, as well as all the people who came to apply, did not know what was going on. Come to think of it, they are all rural villagers, so naturally they don't know how to use these tricks. Even, some of them, as soldiers in the army, until they died on the battlefield, could not understand the deceit above the court. What they value is food. But what meat eaters value is power and wealth.

As for the competition mentioned by the civil official before, he later added that in order to save time, he could go head-to-head or work in pairs, the purpose of course was to keep those who could fight well in Dong Zhuo's army.

Zhang Duan hugged Zhao Yue's shoulders before he started, and said to him happily: "Changjiao, you can hear clearly, we will naturally be the soldiers under Master Dong Zhuo, don't worry, you follow me, I will win an extra place for you." ”

"Then thank you, big brother."

Zhao Yue hesitated slightly, but he still agreed, but he was a little shaken in his heart, he could understand that Liu Junhou had difficulties in his heart, and he also knew that that person was very distressed, even if he didn't understand what that person's difficulties and hardships were now, but if he joined the Han Army, he could make that person feel better, and he was willing to help with this.

Recalling that when he was in distress and anxiety, he also hoped that others could lend a helping hand to him, and he naturally understood the feeling of helplessness and helplessness in his heart. As for the amount of food and salary, and the quality of treatment, he doesn't particularly care, he has lived a hard life since he was a child, as long as he can eat enough, how can he fight a war if he eats so much.

Just when everyone was silent, one person took the lead to break the silence, and the voice was like thunder.

"I'm going to join Dong Zhuojun, whoever fights with me first, I'm a second cow, no one in the village dares to touch a finger of me!"

Everyone saw that this was said by a middle-aged man with a cloth towel on his head, the man had very small eyes, but he was very big, his whole body was like flesh, and he was wearing a cloth coat that was also large.

I saw him swaggering onto the platform and shouting to everyone, but someone in the crowd burst out laughing, and it was estimated that it was a question of whether there was armor as large as him in the laughing army.

Zhang Duan sneered: "Hmph, so rich places have to come out to grab them, so ostentatious, have you asked me?" Before Zhao Yue could react to stop it, he rushed to the stage.

The appearance of the two of them on the verge of breaking out made Han Kui and Liu Zheng, the two military marquis, the civilian officials in charge of recruitment, and all the soldiers who maintained order all watched with full attention.

"Who are you? Dare to be presumptuous in front of your grandfather Erniu! ”

"My name is Zhang Duan, a nobody, although I can read and write, but I have no culture, I came to enlist in the army this time, to be honest, in order to fill my stomach and not starve to death. But since this is the case, then you must choose more money and food, and good treatment, presumably everyone is the same, what qualifications do you have to grab the limelight. ”

If the two disagree, they will start fighting.

Han Kui spoke at this time, only to see him step by step from the high platform where he was standing before, and laughed as he walked: "Hahaha, okay, okay, you two are very imposing, let's say, what kind of weapons do you want to use?" ”

"What weapons?" Zhang Duan waved his hand confidently and said loudly: "The eldest husband walks between heaven and earth, relying on two legs, lifting weights lightly, relying on two arms, and not using weapons. ”

"Oh yes, no weapons." The man who called himself Erniu also echoed at this time.

Han Kui praised: "What a pair of strong men, so let's compete immediately." ”

When the second cow heard Han Kui say this, he couldn't help but clench his fists, and was about to rush up to give Zhang Duan the first blow, but Zhang Duan suddenly waved his hand and shouted: "Slow!" ”