"The treatment of the special army is much higher than that of the cantonment soldiers, so the requirements for recruiting soldiers are naturally much higher than those of the cantonment soldiers."

Seeing that everyone's enthusiasm for joining the army was high, Gu Yunji came out at the right time to "pour cold water", and said unhurriedly: "First of all, the appearance and body type, should not be too thin or too short, the height should be between five feet eight inches and six feet two inches, the age should be between twenty and thirty-five, and only children are not accepted." ”

"The second is background, no businessmen, no scholars, no lowly status, limited to farmers, preferably mine workers."

As soon as the above hard conditions came out, it instantly aroused an uproar in the crowd.

In this era, one foot is about 30 centimeters, and 5 feet 8 inches to 6 feet 2 inches is 1.74 to 1.86 meters, which is quite high for ordinary people who are malnourished all year round.

Farmers rely on the weather to eat, even in the rich Jiangnan, most people are only struggling to survive the food and clothing line, lack of meat, eggs and milk since childhood, adult men can generally only grow to one meter and six. Only those who are born with good genes or have good food at home have a chance to grow taller.

The height criterion alone has screened out more than half of the people, and the age requirements of the special army are also much higher than those of the cantonment soldiers.

The imperial court stipulates that men serving in the military are between the ages of sixteen and fifty, and even the Northern Xinjiang Iron Cavalry Battalion, which has always been known for its strict recruitment, only recruits men between the ages of eighteen and forty, but Gu Yunji and others greatly narrowed this range, directly selecting the strongest and most energetic age group of twenty to thirty-five.

"Listen to me—"

When the crowd was in an uproar, Gu Yunji pulled his throat and continued to talk about the unfinished standard: "In addition to the above external conditions, there are also internal conditions!" ”

Someone curiously asked, "What are the internal conditions?" ”

Gu Yunji said: "The internal conditions are - the appearance needs to be correct, the mind needs to be firm, you must be able to endure hardships, obey orders, and be able to stay calm and calm when you see the widows." At the same time, the character should not be too timid, nor too aggressive, not weak, not too white skin, not calloused, not vain. ”

"Don't have sharp-beaked monkey gills, don't have fat heads and big ears, don't have a flamboyant tongue, don't stutter cowardly, don't have a young son at home, don't ...... old parents"

The front was okay, but seeing that Gu Yunji was more and more outrageous, everyone shouted: "Eh! What is this? Don't do this, don't want that, what do you want? ”

"Don't have sharp-beaked monkey gills, fat heads and big ears, why don't you have white skin and calluses on your hands? I was born with white skin, and my father and mother gave me a good appearance that everyone loved, but I was still disgusted by you, who did I recruit to provoke! ”

Gu Yunji was not annoyed when he heard this, and explained good-naturedly: "These standards sound outrageous, but they all have a reason, not that we are talking nonsense casually. We are looking for farmers or miners who can endure hardships and have an honest personality. And most of the sons and daughters in the family and their parents have been loved since they were children, and they will inevitably not be able to endure hardships when they grow up. ”

"Most of the rest are also the truth, white skin, no calluses on your hands, it means that you don't have to work on weekdays, and you haven't been exposed to the wind and sun, isn't this just a proof of pampering?"

"As for not being flamboyant and cowardly, it's because our anti-Japanese special army is a group battle, which requires a high degree of tacit understanding and cooperation between colleagues, and too extroverted or too introverted personality may affect the team's cooperation, so we don't want to."

Someone was curious: "It's okay to say anything else, but a person's personality is not something that can be seen for a while, how do you know if the other party's character is slippery or cowardly?" ”

Gu Yunji smiled slightly: "We have our own set of standards for this, but we can't say it now, some people will deliberately imitate it when they say it, so it will be inaccurate." ”

"Okay, the above is all the treatment and requirements for our recruitment, if you are willing, come and sign up now, we will screen and inspect on the spot, and those who pass can become a member of the anti-Japanese special army."

Although there were many requirements for enlistment, the treatment of the special army was really good, much better than farming and mining, and everyone was excited, scrambling to crowd in front of the registered officials, clamoring to sign up for the army.

There are two levels to pass when signing up for the army, the first is to pass the inspection of the recruiting officer to determine that the height, age and other conditions meet the requirements, but then it comes to the second level - Gu Yunji and the three of them will personally conduct the inspection.

Looking at the preliminarily qualified young men in front of him, Su Qi calmly introduced himself: "I am Su Qi, the Duke of Dingguo, and the two people around me are Lord Shen Baiyi, the commander of the Zhejiang Metropolitan Government, and Lord Gu Yunji, the prefect of Shaoxing. Next, we will give you some simple instructions, please do what we ask. ”

"First of all, please face me and form a neat line of ten."

Most of the men were from peasant households, and the most powerful people they had ever seen were none other than squires and lieutenants, and suddenly saw three officials of such a big age, and everyone instantly became nervous, panicked and didn't know where to put their hands and feet, and stepped on other people's feet in the chaos, and the crowd screamed from time to time.

In this process, the expressions of the three remained unchanged, silently observing the performance of everyone. After the queue was roughly arranged, Su Qi and the three of them withdrew more than a dozen steps away, and said, "Okay, now please walk towards me in each row in turn, stand three steps in front of us, and call out your name and age in order from left to right." ”

The queue alone was chaotic enough, and now it was even more crooked, and nine out of ten people were going to make mistakes. Either I was nervous with my hands and feet, or I took the lead when I signed up, and even stepped on my shoes.

is just a few instructions, but the results presented are not satisfactory, no need for Su Qi and others to say, the men also know that they are behaving badly, and they are all depressed.

After the observation, Su Qi selected qualified candidates one by one: "...... In the second row, the first, fifth, sixth, and ninth counted from left to right remain, and the rest can leave. ”

The man who was named was stunned and surprised, and said in disbelief: "Is the grandfather of the country talking about me?" Did I pass the exam? ”

Su Qi smiled and nodded: "Yes, you passed, from today onwards, you will be a member of the anti-Japanese special army." ”

Knowing that he was successfully selected, the men were all full of excitement, and there were also a few very self-aware people who said helplessly: "But when I walked over just now, I stepped on the foot of the person on my right, and I am not the best one, can I also be a soldier?" ”

Gu Yunji smiled: "Of course you can." You're all untrained civilians, and even if you behave well, can you have soldiers? We are not really trying to evaluate you, but to observe your heart and character and choose the most suitable person. ”

Don't look at just a few simple instructions, but there are many things that can be seen.

The person who walks the most neatly and with the loudest voice is not necessarily good, but it shows that he is expressive, easy to be self-centered, and inconvenient to manage. On the contrary, those who suddenly saw that the officials were a little shrunken, and their behavior was restrained but not too timid, was the most suitable to enter the anti-Japanese army.

Of course, this method is not completely accurate, and there are subjective differences in the standards of Gu Yunji and the three of them, and there is no guarantee that the people screened out must be the most compliant. But it is better to have a shortage than to be excessive, which can at least show from the side that most of the people who do not pass the screening do not meet the requirements.

The recruitment was carried out in an orderly manner, and the day was getting higher and higher, and another group of men who met the requirements were selected. Gu Yunji's gaze slowly swept over these recruits, and when he touched a certain figure, his eyes suddenly lit up: "Wang Erquan, come over to me!" ”