As soon as everyone rushed out of the house, they heard several high-pitched and clear howls in the air, and a shadow swept through the sky.

As soon as Gao Ge raised his head, he only felt a strong wind blowing in his face, and saw a huge fierce bird flapping its wings wildly, making a huge sound of flapping wings, slowing down the momentum of the dive, and falling from the sky.

The surrounding grass and trees were blown by the strong and chaotic wind, and the "click" sound of trees breaking was constantly heard.

Gao Ge and the others also stood unsteadily in the strong wind, squatting down one after another, lowering their center of gravity, so that they were not blown to the ground.

When everything was calm, Gao Ge saw the appearance of the fierce bird in front of him clearly, like an eagle, but with a multicolored crown of feathers on its head and four claws under it.

This fierce bird is taller than a horse, and its wings are slowly retracting, and the wingspan is more than ten meters, and its eyes are golden, and the fierce flame is so fierce that people dare not look directly.

The four-clawed crested eagle, the adult body is a third-order demon bird, is one of the few demon birds that can be domesticated by humans, as long as it hatches from the egg, it will be taken care of by humans, and it can be driven when it grows up, but their reproduction rate is extremely low, so the crowned eagle air ride is an extremely valuable type of troops, mostly used to reconnoiter the enemy or transmit extremely urgent military information.

With a "Teng" sound, a samurai jumped from the back of the crowned eagle, not tall but extremely capable, wearing a fur standard leather jacket, decorated with a beautiful bird wing pattern on his chest, extending to his shoulders, wearing a leather hat, which could be seen from the open leather jacket, wearing light chain mail and a short sword hanging from his waist.

This is an Eagle Envoy, an officer of the Kingdom Crowned Eagle Air Cavalry, which has only one brigade in total, which is subordinate to the Imperial Guards and is under the direct command of the king.

At this time, His Royal Highness Prince Golden and Commander Vasiliste had also heard the news.

The Eagle Envoy stepped forward, handed a roll of wax-sealed secret letters to Golden, gave a military salute, and said loudly: "Your Highness, this is Your Majesty's handwritten message, and he will let you read it immediately." ”

Gordon nodded, opened the secret letter, and only glanced at it, and his face sank.

After hurriedly reading the secret letter, turning back and whispering a few words to Francis who was standing behind him, Golden turned to Vasilist and said, "Your Excellency, my father has ordered me to return to the royal capital immediately, without a moment's delay. The Imperial Guards will also be deployed tomorrow under the command of Francis. And your golden griffin, set out as soon as possible and return to your station, waiting for new orders. ”

"Something big is happening. Vasilist said briefly.

Golden nodded and said, "Yes, we will soon know what is going on, and now the most important thing is to act according to my father's orders." ”

"The relocated military families will arrive tomorrow, and after settling them, the golden griffons will get up and return to the Great Wall in two days. It is indeed time to go, a few days later, when the flood season comes, the Wuding River will begin to flood, and the savanna will overflow, and at that time, it will be impossible to go if you want to. Vasilistt.

"Your Excellency, my biggest gain from this counterattack against Nanban is that I got to know you, and I have learned a lot from you. Golden said to Vasilist as he walked towards the Crowned Eagle.

"Your Highness is too modest. Your wisdom and generosity to the warriors also impressed me, and the entire Golden Griffin. Vasilist paused slightly as he followed Golden.

As he walked in front of Gao Ge, Golden stopped and said to him: "Baron, although I am only canonizing you on behalf of my father, this is also a kind of fate, and you can come to the king to find me in the future for anything." ”

"Thank you, Your Highness, for your kindness, I have written it down. I wish Your Highness a smooth journey. Gao Ge bowed his head respectfully.

For His Royal Highness the Fourth Prince, Gao Ge still has a good impression.

Golden smiled and nodded, and walked to the side of the crowned eagle, the eagle envoy handed over a leather robe with both hands, and said respectfully: "Your Highness, please put on a leather robe, the air is very cold." ”

On the back of each crested eagle is a saddle for two people, and there are several skins for weapons, bows and arrows.

The eagle jumped on the crested eagle and sat in the driver's seat.

After putting on his leather robe, Golden jumped lightly and jumped on the back of the eagle, and the crested eagle grunted in his throat.

There was a belt with a steel buckle in the saddle, which Gordon had so skillfully tied to his waist and attached it securely to the saddle.

"Okay, let's go. Seeing that His Royal Highness the Prince was ready to stop, the eagle envoy stuffed a small bone flute hanging from his neck into his mouth, and with a puff of his cheeks, a sharp whistle sounded.

As soon as he heard this voice, the crested eagle suddenly raised his head and roared excitedly, his voice clear and high-pitched, deafening.

Immediately afterwards, the crowned eagle spread its wings, flapped vigorously, ran a few steps, kicked the ground hard, and was already soaring into the air.

As soon as it left the ground, a gust of wind swept by, and the crested eagle whistled excitedly, its wings spread wide, and it circled and climbed rapidly on the rising air current, with its head high and tail low, and its body raised high.

A moment later, the eagle had risen into the sky, and by this time, the sun had set below the horizon, but the sun was still shining in the sky, and the eagle was illuminated by the sun, and slowly turned into a small golden dot of light, and finally disappeared.

The next morning, the Imperial Guards left Weishan City.

In the afternoon, the military household who was ordered to move to Weishan City arrived.

The Tuanyue Kingdom implemented a dual military service system, and the core area implemented a conscription system, with high salaries to raise professional soldiers, while in the border counties, the government military system was implemented.

The government military system, also known as the tuntian system, or the military household system.

The government soldiers are based on households, each household is a soldier, and the kingdom is granted a field without levying taxes, and they are farmed in peacetime and soldiers in wartime.

When there are more than two males in a military household, the family must be separated, and after the separation, one of them will inherit the military household, and the others will be removed from the military status and become civilians.

The military household is a semi-free people, and the kingdom will go wherever you need to go to the tuntian to defend.

Since he has been a soldier for generations, he does not have to pay taxes, and all the fruits of the field belong to him, so he must have no worries about food and clothing, and such a warrior should be strong and well-trained.

That's what Gao Ge imagined.

But this illusion was shattered when he saw the ranks of military households winding under the city.

What kind of people are this, ragged, skinny, helping the old and the young, listless, if it is an army fleeing the famine, no one doubts.

"Speaker Darigori, what's going on?" Gao Ge frowned and gestured to the city.

Dari Gaoli is the speaker of the round table, which was personally appointed by Gao Ge, and he will preside over the weekly round table in the future, and will be directly responsible to Gao Ge.

"Lord Baron, the current military household system is not as good as it was when the kingdom was first founded, and they are now ......miserable," Darigori began to elaborate.

Gao Ge's brows became deeper and deeper.

......

Is Weishan City ahead?

Vincent straightened up with difficulty and looked at the castle rising from the ground in the distance, sweat flowing into his eyes, stinging uncomfortably.

After two days of struggling and wading through the muddy savanna, and dragging a rudimentary broken flatbed, he was so tired that he felt that he might fall in the muddy water in the next second, just like the people who had fallen along the way.

But he can't fall, at least not yet.

Vincent took a few breaths, pulled out a clay water bottle from the pile of tattered luggage on the flatbed, and drank a few sips, the thirst in his throat eased considerably.

The things on the flatbed are all he has, and his most valuable thing, the old cow that has been with him for nearly ten years, was also sold two months ago and exchanged for life-saving money for his daughter's treatment.

If the old cow was still there, it would have been easier along the way, but unfortunately, the few silver eagles exchanged for it still couldn't take back Ariel from the hands of death.

"Landini, drink some water. Vincent whispered softly to a woman who was sitting motionless on the flatbed cart and handed over the water bottle.

"You give Ariel back to me. The woman muttered vaguely like a dream, her pale face and eyes as empty as a dead man.

Vincent sighed and put the water bottle to his wife's mouth, and she did not refuse, allowing the water to pour into her mouth, half of which flowed on the tattered placket.

When her daughter swallowed her last breath, it seemed that her soul was also taken away, and she never said a word, never sleeped, but just held her daughter's small body tightly in her arms.

When Vincent forcibly snatched her daughter's body, which had begun to change color, from her arms, she reached out in despair, like a drowning man, and said only one word: "You give Ariel back to me." ”

From then on, she would only say this one sentence.

In fact, Vincent's heart was also broken.

Ariel, the only joy, the only hope, the only solace in their desperate life.

He watched her wither, wither, wither, and finally turn into a small jar of ashes in his arms, but he could not do anything about it, and let death snatch her from his bosom.

"Daddy, am I going to die?" asked softly, the eyes that had once shone like stars, half-open and half-closed.

"You won't die, my mother and I won't let you die. He endured the almost suffocating pain in his chest, gently rubbed his soft pale hair, and whispered.

"I'm not afraid of death. The little man struggled to open his eyes, and his eyes burst out with deep affection, "I'm just afraid that if I die, you will forget me." Don't forget me, Dad, and always remember that I've been here, okay?"

"Never forget you. He held his daughter tightly in his arms until his tiny body became cold.

He didn't shed tears, the tears had long since dried up.

The fate of military households, why is it so tragic!

It is all a fantasy to say that the state gives land, does not have to pay taxes, and does not submit to forced labor!

Once assigned to the fief of a noble lord, the military household became his serf, and at least seventy percent of the crops produced in the fields were to be given to him, as well as endless roads and endless walls, until the last drop of oil in the bone marrow was squeezed out.

It is very common to work hard day and night, but not be able to feed a family, and sell children and daughters.

No one cares about the terms of the kingdom's laws, and the glorious soldiers who followed King Fidelele to conquer the entire Tuyue Kingdom and made great achievements have long since been reduced to lowly military households that anyone can exploit.

If it is possible for anyone to gain some benefit from these poor people, who will come out and speak for them.

Their batch of 1,000 military households were gathered from the territories of eight nobles in the two border counties, and when the mobilization order was issued, these nobles were as reluctant as if someone had snatched a piece of meat from a bowl, as if they had forgotten that the military households were originally the property of the state, not their private property, and were only temporarily under their command and management.

As the poorest, the fewest family members, and the most devoid of oil and water, Vincent's family was first included in the migration list.

However, there seems to be an anomaly.

For example, the one not far ahead, a middle-aged man who didn't communicate with anyone along the way and had a stern face, actually spent five copper eagles to hire an ox cart from a military household, and his feet were not stained with mud along the way.

Five bronze eagles, enough for Vincent and his wife to live for two months, I didn't expect that there were such rich people in the military household.

However, Vincent also noticed that when approaching Weishan City, the local tyrant finally jumped out of the ox cart and started walking.