On the way to the mountain, Tong Song and his young servant Liangui followed the villagers.
The villagers walking in front occasionally looked back at the two of them, and whispered to the villagers around them: "I think these two are the young master and the young man from a wealthy family. Can they really lift trees up the mountain? Don't you have experienced hardships then?"
Show your waist!"
"It's possible. If they both have the skills, the weight of a tree won't be a problem for them."
"I don't think they have any skills at all. Haven't you seen their thin bodies?"
The villagers spoke a dialect, the dialect of their hometown. Tong Song heard them talking, but he didn't understand a word.
Otherwise, if he knew that these people said he was thin, he would be so angry!
"The princess asked him to follow us up the mountain. He must have some strength, otherwise the princess would not find someone to cause trouble for us, let alone help!"
"The second brother is right. The princess originally wanted to find someone to help us. We should trust the princess. These two people must be able to carry the tree."
Halfway up the mountain, there were about a dozen chopped trees piled in the grass beside the mountain trail.
The trunk of the tree is straight, making it a good timber for building beams.
The weight of freshly cut wood may be twice that of dry wood. A tree may weigh more than one hundred kilograms, and a large tree may weigh two to three hundred kilograms.
The villagers took more care of Tong Song and his servants. When choosing trees, they tried to choose big ones.
Finally there were two smaller trees left.
Although the trees were small, the villagers who led the way up the mountain were still a little worried. "Sir, you two have a try. If you can carry it, you can carry it. If you can't carry it, just treat it as a trip to the mountain."
The villagers' attitude of clearly looking down on him made Tong Song feel unhappy. He said with firm eyes: "I can handle it!"
The villager nodded and taught him how to carry the tree on his shoulders. There are methods. If you don't use the method properly, it will be easy to wear off the skin on your shoulders.
"Since you can carry it, let's try it." The villager lifted the other end of the tree off the ground.
Tong Song followed the method of other villagers just now and squatted down in what he thought was the middle of the tree.
The villagers moved the tree to his shoulders, and Tong Song stood up slowly while holding on to the tree.
The villager smiled and asked: "Can you carry it? Does it feel heavy?"
Tong Song picked up the tree and felt it was lighter than expected, so he smiled and said: "It's not heavy, I can carry it!"
"Then I'll let go. You hold the tree trunk steady." The villager slowly let go of his hand.
As soon as his hand left the tree trunk, Tong Song felt the tree behind him sink. He staggered a few steps and almost sat on the ground. Fortunately, at the last critical moment, the villagers held on to the tree trunk.
"When carrying a tree, the weight at the front and back must be about the same, otherwise it will be very difficult to carry, and the weight at the front and back is inconsistent, making it easy to fall when carrying it down the mountain." The villagers shared their experiences with the master and servant.
Tong Song made some adjustments and finally found the best point to focus on. He easily carried a tree and walked down the mountain.
Lian Gui followed suit and followed his master's lead, carrying the tree on his shoulders.
Seeing their speed, the villagers who were lagging behind smiled and shook their heads. It was useless to play harp now, and they would only be able to carry it home in the end.
At first, Tong could bear the rough bark coming into contact with his shoulders, but after carrying it down the mountain for a short distance, his shoulders started to hurt.
The further I walked, the more my shoulders hurt.
"Sir, your shoulder feels bad? How about you throw the tree aside and we can carry it ourselves later?"
The young master started walking briskly, then became slower and slower, and his steps were a little unsteady. The villagers were really afraid that he would slip and roll down the mountain.
Tong Song gritted his teeth, "It's okay, I can carry it down the mountain!"
Although she looked arrogant on the face, in fact, looking at the distance to the foot of the mountain, Tong Song was about to collapse!
The rough tree bark hurt his shoulders, and every step he took was like a knife scraping against it. It hurt so much!
After Xia Jing finished talking with the village chief, she sat under the big tree and drank tea comfortably. Then she saw Tong Song and Lian Gui coming back carrying a small tree.
Although they were lifting with their shoulders, looking at them trying their best to support the tree with their hands, one can imagine that their shoulders were seriously injured.
"How is it? How does it taste?"
Tong Song shouted one, two, three, and Lian Gui threw the tree aside with all his strength at the same time.
As for his shoulder, he doesn't dare to touch or rub it now because it really hurts too much!
"I'm so thirsty, can you let me drink some water first?"
Hongmei brought a bucket of water from the side and put it aside, "Master Tong, no matter how thirsty you are, please wash your hands and face first."
When Tong Song sat down, Xia Jing asked with a smile: "It's too late today. We can't go back even if we want to. We have to spend the night in the village. Do you have any objection?"
Regarding living outside, Tong Song instinctively frowned. When he met Xia Jing's teasing eyes, he rolled his eyes speechlessly, "I'm a grown man and it doesn't matter. I just want to wrong the princess to suffer with us."
After hearing what he said, Xia Jing chuckled: "As long as you don't care, I, a person who has even laid in a coffin, do I care about sleeping in the countryside for one night?"
Tong Song: "."
He discovered that the princess could choke people to death when she spoke!——
The situation in the Central Plains is becoming increasingly tense.
After Xia Jing arranged the spring plowing of the farm, she asked the clerk to write a recruitment notice and post it.
Once the notice was posted, the whole city was in uproar.
In the restaurants, teahouses and streets of Fucheng, all the people talking about the conscription were the matter.
"The military was drafted last year. Why is it that it was drafted again not long after the new year started?"
"I heard that this conscription is different from the last one. Last year, every household had to send a soldier, which the government called compulsory soldiers. But this year's conscription, joining the army is completely voluntary. If you are between the ages of 18 and 20,
If you are five years old and want to join the army, you can go to the government office to register. If you don't want to, the military office will not force you to do so."
"Hearing what you said, I suddenly felt less nervous. As long as I'm not forced to join the army, I don't have any objection to whatever the government does to me!"
"Short-sighted people, today's military recruitment is very different from before. Nowadays, people with vision are trying every means to get their children to the military camp, but you don't know how to seize the opportunity when you send it to your door."
"You sound like you have a lot of vision. Instead of showing off here, why not take practical actions and send your son to join the army!"
"My son has passed his age. Otherwise, I would have let him join the army and then make great achievements and honor our ancestors. How great!"
"It's typical of you to stand and talk without pain in your back!"
In the restaurant, during lunch time, several tables of chatty guests were blushing and foaming at the mouth.
A table of people in the corner of the first floor of the restaurant were always paying attention to the progress of the matter. Listening to these people's discussions, there were no unnecessary expressions on their faces.
"The conscription policy in Lingnan is really weird. Everyone is afraid of conscription. In this era, there are still idiots who volunteer to join the army?" Qiu San whispered to a few people at the table.
Mazi picked up a peanut and threw it into his mouth, chewed it, swallowed it, took another sip of wine, and then said: "San'er, don't take it for granted. Even though there is such a weird recruitment notice in Lingnan, there are still many people queuing up.
Registration; when I came from the inn, I found that there were many people queuing up at each military recruitment registration office."
This doesn't look like a cold situation at all. Could it be that the consciousness of the people in Lingnan is too high?
Do you understand the importance of protecting your homeland?
Wu Zhong looked at Mazi when he heard this, "Are there really many people queuing up?"
He was also shocked. Are there really passionate young people in this era who are not afraid of death?
"How can I lie to you?" As he said that, Mazi turned his head and looked at Zhu Wei.
"Brother, this is a rare opportunity. It would be a pity if we don't join the military camp with our martial arts skills."
Anyway, we can’t get into the den of thieves again!
If he was asked to choose between farming and joining the army, he would rather join the army. No matter how hard it is, it is ten thousand times better than facing the loess every day and turning his back to the sky.
Zhu Wei did not answer him immediately, but talked about the current situation, "In the past, we had to go to the mountains to become bandits because we had no stable life; now in Lingnan, the government settled us in the village and gave us several pieces of land.
The land is for us to plant. It can be said that our previous wishes have been realized directly by coming to Lingnan. Are you willing to abandon this kind of life?"
Now they no longer have to worry about three meals a day. If they don't join the army and just stay at home and farm some fields, they can be rich for life.
But if you join the army and go to the battlefield, the changes in your life will be a bit unpredictable.
No one can tell what fate the future will bring!
It is possible to soar into the sky, and it is even more possible to rest on the battlefield forever!
It can be said that having a wife and children on the hot bed is what most men look forward to. Now that this wish is about to come true, it takes courage to choose another path.
There was hope in Mazi's eyes, but he was a man who couldn't calm down, which meant that worldly things couldn't hold him back. "Brother, I'm just a loner, and it's the same wherever I go."
After Zhu Wei heard what he said, he didn't know if it was a psychological effect. Anyway, looking at Mazi now, he found that he might actually have some good fortune in the future!
Wu Zhong hesitated for a while and then said hesitantly: "Brother, how about we try to sign up?"
Zhu Wei: "I don't object to trying to sign up, but I'm worried about whether anyone from Prince Qian's palace will recognize us?"
If someone does recognize them, it means they have fallen into a trap.
Wu Zhong: "."
This is indeed a difficult problem. When they were "naughty", how could they have thought of the scene they would meet in the future?
Mazi smiled nonchalantly and said: "When we first took action, our faces were covered with cloth. Unless we could see through, no one would be able to recognize us."
Zhu Wei raised his eyebrows and did not refute his words. As for recognition, although he said so, he was still very confident that no one could recognize him.
The recruitment period lasts for half a month, and there is no limit on the number of people, only the age limit.
Ye Fei stared at the recruitment point downstairs and turned around to ask Xia Jing: "Princess, why do you have to limit the age for this recruitment? In fact, those in their twenties are when they are at their strongest. Isn't it a pity to exclude them from the recruitment?
?”
Xia Jing glanced at his handsome features and said with a smile: "If a man in his mid-twenties wants to get married, he will get married already. If a married man leaves his wife and children to join the army, isn't this a scam?"
Hongmei took over the conversation: "It's more than just cheating people. I think cheating children and women makes them their own children. If a man joins the army at this time, he will not be able to return for several years. The child's growth stage will be missed. When the child grows up, he will not need much more."
At the age when you are worried, your father comes back to pick the ready-made fruits, but the woman is tired and has turned into a yellow-faced woman!"
Thinking about this kind of thing makes me feel that life is too miserable for women!
After a few years, the husband came back and said that he had achieved a little success. What is waiting for this woman may be that the husband takes care of her and comes to pick the fruits of her victory!
Heartbreaking!
Ye Fei's hand holding the handle of the knife tightened, and he stared at the people queuing up to register downstairs, "In the age group of 18 to 25, if you get married earlier, you will already get married. How do you say this? They also have some at home.
Wife and parents.”
Xia Jing wanted to hit him on the head, "There must be an age limit for conscription, but our plan must be more detailed. The age limit is only to reduce this situation, not to eliminate it!"
Some men in this era got married when they were fifteen or sixteen years old. If marriage precludes joining the army, then there were only a few men in the entire Yu Dynasty who were qualified to join the army.
Ye Fei stared at the people queuing downstairs and said with emotion: "In the past, when the government issued notices to recruit soldiers for corvee service, the people would hide if they could. No one has ever taken the initiative to say that they want to join the army. Now it seems that many men have also done so.
If you are passionate and dare to join the army, your courage is commendable!"
Xia Jing held her jaw and told the truth: "Most of the men who came downstairs to apply for the army came here to get a stable military salary. If they were replaced by soldiers and horses of the imperial court, it would be impossible for him to join the army without guaranteeing his life.
So motivated and motivated.”
However, Xia Jing wanted soldiers who wanted to join the army, but most of them still refused to apply. She expressed regret.
If they can apply, she will give them good treatment.
Just as she was thinking about it, Xia Jing noticed a group of people at the back of the queue, "Hey! The looks of these people look familiar. Ye Fei, come over and have a look. Do you know them?"
Ye Fei's eyes swept over the faces of the group of people behind him one by one. When his eyes fell on the face of one of the men, he paused slightly and said, "I have a guess about the general situation of this group of people.
"
"Oh, tell me!"
These people were a bit out of tune with the people around them. Although they were all dressed simply, Xia Jing still heard a lot of important information.
Ye Fei did not whet his appetite, and silently withdrew his left hand, which was trying to cause trouble, and pointed at one of the men, "That tall and big man is the one with the big black mole on his mouth. He is the one who travels around various states to rob."
When the bandits were born, many wealthy businessmen or wealthier refugees were robbed by them."
"The men with him are most likely bandits from one of their villages."
Their momentum is really not something ordinary people can possess.
Speaking of bandits, Xia Jing suddenly remembered the voice she heard when she had just traveled through time and her head was a little confused.
At that time, her funeral procession happened to pass by that road,
At that time, she was lying in the coffin and could vaguely hear voices outside. Now she remembered that it was these people who had committed the crime and robbed her of all the belongings she had buried with her.