"Guan Ning is recruiting troops, Guan Ning is recruiting troops! If you want to join the army, hurry up and sign up at Neijiu Gate!"
"Those who surrender to the army will be rewarded with ten taels of silver for killing a bannerman! Ten acres of land will be granted!"
"You can get money by killing now, and you can get the reward based on your head. Men who want to get rich, sign up now!"
In the main streets of the outer city, groups of cavalry were galloping wildly, shouting and shouting. The people had long been ordered to stay at home and were not allowed to come out. The entire outer city was actually deserted, except for the thieves who kept shouting to recruit troops.
Soldiers were never seen again. Oh, occasionally some corpses were placed in conspicuous places at various street intersections, as if to tell people what the consequences of disobedience would be.
The sound of recruiting soldiers was still coming, and the huge bounty made the young and old men who were hiding at home in fear became excited. Those who were brave enough quietly unbolted the door bolt and walked towards the street through the crack in the door, thinking in their hearts.
, hesitating whether he should take the reward for his life. The timid one smelled the smell of blood from the shouting, and was so frightened that he hugged his wife and children and lay on the bottom of the bed without daring to move.
The older ones knelt devoutly in front of the portrait of Guanyin, and kept chanting "Bodhisattva bless, Bodhisattva bless..."
In a small courtyard on the west side of Guangning Gate, a tall and sturdy man hesitated behind the door for a long time. Finally, he gritted his teeth and got into the woodshed and took out all the people who usually support his family.
Then he squatted down and rummaged through the pile of greasy things, and finally his eyes were fixed on a sharp knife more than three feet long. After hesitating for a few seconds, he reached out and took the sharp knife in his hand, and then walked towards the courtyard door without looking back.
Go.
"Dad, what are you doing?!"
The wife who had been watching her husband seemed to know something when she saw this, her face suddenly changed, and she hurried to the door and blocked the door with her hands to prevent her husband from going out.
When the strong man saw his wife stopping him, he simply didn't hide it from him and said in a low voice: "They are recruiting soldiers outside. I'll sign up!"
When she heard that her husband was going to join the rebels, the wife was so frightened that she screamed, "Ouch!", grabbed her husband, shook her head like a rattle, and turned pale with anxiety: "Father, you can't go, those are
But the rebel soldiers, you can't surrender to them! This is going to be beheading, we can't go into this troubled water, my dad, I beg you, don't go, don't go!..."
"What a traitor! What do you know, you old woman! The emperor is dead, and now there is a change of dynasty!"
The strong man had made up his mind, how could he be persuaded by his wife? No matter what he said to her, it was useless, so he stubbornly grabbed his wife, then threw her into his hands and cursed: "Damn it, I Zheng Shazuo
I have been a pig all my life, and I have only earned a few taels of silver after working hard for a year. Now, if I kill a bannerman, I will be given ten taels of silver and ten acres of land. Where can I find such a good thing! What do you know, a woman? This day can be wasted.
You can’t give the money to our family! If you don’t pay for it with your life, you can’t get this money into our house on its own!”
"Woooo..."
The wife was petrified by her husband's actions and cried in a low voice. Seeing her like this, the strong man felt uncomfortable. He sighed and glanced into the house. Two children were standing at the door looking at him in fear.
He softened, but became more determined to join the army. He helped his wife up and whispered in her ear: "The four big fat pigs dragged outside Zhengyang Gate today all screamed and ran away. These pigs owe
If you don't fill up this hole with your money, what will happen next? There's nothing you can do about it. Guan Ning's army gave him a large reward of silver, and he also divided the fields. He just went to kill some bannermen. It's no big deal.
The dynasty has changed, and it's time for us Han people to be angry. You should be good, be obedient, and take good care of the children, but don't let them slip outside. I will come back as soon as I get the reward."
The wife squeaked, and the husband's eyes told her that he had already made up his mind on this matter, and there was no way he could persuade her to come back. As a mother-in-law, she knew the temper of the head of the house best, so she had to whimper and carefully replace her.
The husband tightened his belt, then silently walked to the door, gently opened the door bolt, and slowly pulled the wooden door aside, looking at the husband with tears on his face.
"I'm going."
When Zheng Tu passed by his wife, his steps involuntarily stopped, but he quickly walked outside without hesitation, holding the butcher's knife tightly in his hand.
After Zheng Tu went out, he saw Lai Pan Xiaosi next door, also shirtless, slipping out of the house with a kitchen knife in his hand. He glanced around like a thief, and then ran towards Xizhimen, turning back as he ran.
Looking around. After seeing Zheng Tu, Pan Xiaosi was stunned for a moment and said hello awkwardly: "Brother Zheng, you are here too."
"Um."
Zheng Tu passed by Pan Xiaosi with a gloomy expression and held the butcher's knife. His look made Pan Xiaosi's heart skip a beat, because he was most familiar with the butcher's knife in Zheng Tu's hand.
There are eight hundred pigs under this knife, if not a thousand. Now Zheng Tu is holding this pig-killing knife with a dead face, what does it mean? Pan Xiaosi is not stupid. He immediately swallowed his saliva and glanced at the kitchen knife in his hand, and suddenly became confused.
Feeling ashamed of himself, when he raised his eyes, Zheng Tu had already walked to the front, and quickly followed him.
"Brother Zheng, we are all neighbors. Now that we are in the army, you have to take care of your brother. My brother has never killed a chicken since he was a child. If we are really asked to kill the bannermen, Brother Zheng must help him.
"Brothers are afraid of being soft and can't kill people."
The recruitment point for Guangning Gate is located at Chaoyang Gate. When Zheng Tu and Pan Xiaosi arrived, there was already a sea of people outside Chaoyang Gate, packed with people. There were even many people they were familiar with, such as those from the grocery store on Qian Street.
The waiter Wan Er, Sun Jiu from Tangjia Rice Shop, Zhao Qi who sells grain gourds along the street, and others, these characters who are usually as timid as mice but are scared when they see a lazy coward like Pan Xiaosi, all came here.
Zheng Tu was afraid that Guan Ningjun wouldn't be able to recruit so many people, so he hurriedly pushed his way to the front and reported his name to an office. Pan Xiaosi also followed suit and reported his own name, but he still said "Pan"
"Little Four".
"Peng Dacheng!"
The general in charge in front of the recruitment point registered the name of the person who had been captured to work at the Yamen Office, and then loudly called the person's name. When his name was called, a Guan Ning soldier who had been waiting for a long time quickly responded and came out.
.
The commander-in-chief did not use this soldier, but pointed with a stick. Immediately, two soldiers came forward and pulled ten men whose names had been registered to one side. Then several more soldiers pulled out ten machetes from the carriage and handed them to them.
When they handed it to Zheng Tu, Zheng Tu pointed to his butcher's knife, shook his head and said no, he used his own knife to weigh it.
"Team Ninth, captain Peng Dacheng, team members Zheng Dafa, Pan Xiaosi, Sun Liang, and Bai Gang"
The commander-in-chief read out everyone's names like this, and a small team was announced. The newly appointed small flag Peng Dacheng didn't say anything. He shouted to his ten subordinates and ran to the back of Chaoyang Gate. Not far away, there were already
More than a thousand recruits with various weapons in hand have assembled and are on standby under the leadership of their respective team officers.