The clerk in Wu Kai's silver shop skillfully picked up a five-tael silver ingot. He touched it in his hand as usual, smiled with satisfaction, picked up the scissors, and when the scissors went down, a small piece of broken silver fell out.
Then he picked up the spoon and put the silver pieces on the scale, exactly one tael, exactly.
The shopkeeper holding the account book next to him glanced at it and nodded with satisfaction. This guy is almost ready to start his career.
"Li Jia, the Haimen Guardsman, will be rewarded with one tael of silver from the prisoner!" The shopkeeper's long voice sounded far away.
A middle-aged man, with his upper body bare and only wearing a pair of half-patched shorts, rushed forward. He was very lean and had a good face.
"Shopkeeper Wu, Li Jia is here."
"Signed and pledged." Shopkeeper Wu expressionlessly threw the one-tael piece of silver he had just cut and weighed in front of him.
Li Jia quickly reached out and picked up the silver, not forgetting to pinch it with his nails and put it in front of his eyes for a closer look.
Shopkeeper Wu impatiently yelled and cursed, "These are all fine gold and silver just taken out of the Wu family's bank. What the hell are you looking at?"
"Hey, hey, hey." Li Jia didn't mind being scolded. He looked happy after confirming that it was real silver. This was indeed high-quality silver, with full fineness. This kind of good silver was the most popular. If it were exchanged for copper coins,
One tael can be exchanged for at least two thousand. Even if you buy rice, you can buy five buckets.
Li Jia pressed his fingerprint on the account book but did not leave.
"Are you still waiting for the banquet to start?" Shopkeeper Wu glared at him.
Li Jia looked at the boxes of silver and said, "Shopkeeper Wu, I want to get some more. My family has an eighty-year-old mother and a three-year-old child. Even my eldest grandson has just been born, and they are all waiting to eat and drink."
"Who is not waiting to eat and drink?" As a shopkeeper and a businessman, I have never seen anything like this, and my heart has already become numb. "One tael for the guards, this is a special reward from His Royal Highness, otherwise you can't even think about it.
Yes, this is all our Wu family’s money.”
"But the Wei Institute owes us more than one tael of monthly food."
"One yard equals one yard. Do you think it's too little? Then don't take just one or two, and go away."
Li Jia quickly grabbed the one tael of silver in his hand. Although the silver was small, it could still solve his urgent needs. The price of food has been rising every year in the past two years. This year, due to the Tatars moving south, the price has risen even more. Even in Haimen, a land of plenty,
A stone of white rice costs two taels of silver, which is several times what it cost in Taiping years.
Originally, Li Jia was doing some work at the pier, which was considered a bit profitable, but as the Tatars moved south, there were fewer ships coming in and out of Haimen Pier, and there were fewer merchants hiring them.
Even if I get a tael of silver and exchange it for some coarse grains of rice and wild vegetables, I won't be able to last long.
"I want to enlist in the army." Li Jia finally said through gritted teeth.
Unless absolutely necessary, no one wants to be a soldier, especially at this critical moment, when the Tatar soldiers have occupied Nanjing and Hangzhou. It is too dangerous to be a soldier now, but a family of more than ten people with four generations needs to eat and drink.
There is no work at the wharf, and there is no land in the health center. How can this family live?
Shopkeeper Wu looked at Li Jia for a few times and said, "You are so skinny and old. Do you want you to top up? Go away."
Li Jia gritted his teeth, "Shopkeeper Wu, don't look at me looking old. In fact, I'm only thirty-nine this year. It's just that I look a bit older due to the wind and sun. Don't look at me thin either. I work at the dock every day, so I'm very strong."
Very capable of carrying a load of three hundred kilograms and carrying a load of two hundred kilograms for dozens of miles without stopping."
"Also, I am also a disciple of the Guard. I have also received military training since I was a child. I have practiced large guns, bows and arrows. Although my martial arts skills are average, I still have some basic skills."
······
Some soldiers and men in the back who were waiting to receive the money were already urging and cursing impatiently, but Li Jia just stood there and refused to move.
Shopkeeper Wu was annoyed, "Okay, okay, whatever you say is what it is, but it's not my responsibility to recruit. I only pay the money. Go over there and see the apricot-yellow flag. It's the recruitment flag of His Royal Highness King Lu.
You used to think that whether you can be hired depends on your ability."
Li Jia turned his head and looked over, and saw an apricot-yellow flag erected over there, and people were already queuing up under the flag, so he grabbed his money and thanked shopkeeper Wu, and hurried away.
Under the banner of Xinghuang.
Wang Chuangzi borrowed several things from Wu Kai, including a hard bow, a broadsword and a stone lock.
A gong sounded.
Wang Chuangzi walked out, "This general is Wang Xiang, the guerrilla general of the Yongwei Battalion, who was appointed by His Royal Highness as the Supervisor of the Kingdom. He was formerly the Qian Commander of the Yongwei Battalion. He is now recruiting troops under the order. As long as he passes the assessment, he will be given two taels of Anjia silver and one more.
Two rows of grain, and will be paid on a monthly basis from now on. The first class is horse soldiers, who are paid 2 taels per month, and three dou of rations per month. The second class are fighting soldiers, who are paid 1 tael and 50 per month, and three dou of rations. The guard soldiers are the third class, who are paid monthly.
The salary is one tael, three meters and so on."
This condition was announced, which caused another commotion on the field.
It's not that the conditions are very good. When Qi Jiguang was recruiting troops in eastern Zhejiang, the conditions were better than this, and he could earn eighteen taels of silver a year.
However, the current situation is turbulent and it is more difficult for people to survive and make ends meet. If you can successfully apply, you can at least survive for now and even support your family.
"The assessment is divided into three items, hard bow, broadsword and stone lock. Bows are divided into twelve-strength, ten-strength, and eight-strength three. There are also numbered bows with more than twelve strength. Candidates can choose their own bow number, and they are limited to three pulls each time.
The times shall be subject to full completion.
To dance with the big sword, the swords are divided into three sizes: 120 jin, 100 jin and 80 jin. It is required to wield it freely.
The third item is to lift the stone lock, the first one is three hundred kilograms..."
Wang Xiang's words disappointed many people who wanted to apply. The conditions were too harsh. These were the standards for martial arts examinations.
On the steps over there, Wu Kai also said to Lao Zhu, "This is a martial arts examination. How many of them are up to standard in a small place like Haimen?"
But Lao Zhu just smiled and said, "It doesn't matter if the conditions are improved. We will recruit and select them according to the situation. Besides, now we would rather have fewer than too many. War does not rely on quantity. If we have more soldiers, we can still support them."
After the Prime Minister over there finished speaking, he immediately picked up the heaviest 120-pound Daguan Dao, and even danced with the sword. This kind of large sword is just like the Qinglong Yanyue Dao in Guandi Temple. It is essentially a training tool.
Strength is not used for combat at all. A lot of people can lift a heavy sword of 120 kilograms, but to dance like a flower requires not only strength, but also experience and skills.
Wang Xiang is obviously a regular practitioner. In his hand, the 120-pound sword can be lifted with ease.
"Wang Youqi is truly worthy of being a warrior from the Yongwei camp. His ability is amazing." Wu Kai was a little envious. He felt ashamed. He, a former Haimen ginseng general, was mainly obtained through money and connections.
He had only fought a few battles, but how could he compare to the adopted son of Huang Degong, Duke of Jingguo, and the battle-hardened Wang Chuangzi.
The Wang Xiang's broadsword dance made the whole audience cheer, and then he took advantage of the situation and raised the stone lock to perform a more beautiful flower trick, with the flower lock flying up and down in various patterns.
After he finished a set, no one dared to come up and try it out for a while.
"Those who apply and are selected will receive 2 taels of silver for their home and one tael of food for travel, and they will be given directly to their hands!"
Wang Chuangzi roared.
Immediately, someone couldn't help but came up to try. Unfortunately, several people in a row couldn't even draw the most basic eight-power bow. Lao Zhu knew that if we convert it, the power of a bow is about 11.25 pounds, which is eight-power.
That's ninety pounds. Lao Zhu also played with bows and arrows in later generations, so it's usually sixty or seventy pounds.
Of course, the power bow is different from the actual shooting bow.
The power bow is for training strength, not for actual combat, so actual shooting starts with four or five strengths, while training starts with eight strengths. There are even guys with great natural strength who can pull sixteen strengths.
In actual combat, the Eight Forces are considered elite shooters, and the Five and Six Forces are at normal levels.
At this time, it is purely a test of strength, and does not require accuracy or durability. However, several people came up and could not fully draw the Eight Power Bow.
The Prime Minister had no choice but to fetch another bow with a power of 4,567, and let him try it one by one.
When recruiting soldiers, the most basic thing is to be young and strong. If you don't even have basic physical strength, how can you be a soldier and fight in a war?
After trying for a long time, in the end, very few people could pass the six-power bow, and even the eight-power bows were a drop in the bucket. Most of them couldn't even pass the basic level of broadsword and stone lock.
Lao Zhu looked worried. The physical quality of the people of the Ming Dynasty was a bit worrying. They were all yellow and thin, with few fat people, and they were generally short in height. They were obviously malnourished.
"Your Highness, would you like to relax your standards?" Wu Kai asked.
"It is better to be lacking than to be indiscriminate. It is best to be under thirty years old, over five feet tall, without physical disabilities, and preferably without night blindness."
After a pause, Lao Zhu added, "Those who are fair-skinned, smart in action, and have no scruples when seeing people from the government, don't want them."
This was actually the standard for Qi Jiguang's recruitment at that time. Those people were from the market and were very slippery. They were unreliable and would run away at critical moments, and would even drag others along with them. Therefore, Qi Jiguang's first choice for recruiting soldiers was the honest men from the countryside who were dark, strong, and had strong skin.
people.
Even the Yiwu soldiers he later recruited were still a group of miners. These miners were poor, had stayed in the mines for many years, and had extremely strong endurance.
Many of the soldiers in the Haimen Guards and Haimen Association Camp are no longer soldiers. They are dock workers, guards from wealthy families, followers of landlords, etc. Lao Zhu actually does not want these people.
Farmers who are honest and honest are more reliable.
Especially the young sons of guards officers, powerful landowners, merchants and nobles, Lao Zhu did not want them. Fortunately, those people were not willing to let their sons take this risk.
Although there were some young people who enthusiastically requested to join the army, in the end Lao Zhu interviewed them personally and asked them to stay with him as scribes, attendants, etc. He really needs such people around him now.
"Your Highness, the silver is shining."
The king came to report.
More than 20,000 taels of silver were all spent in a short time.
The reward for Haimen Guards and Haimen Camp was more than 8,000 taels. This was because there were many vacancies. Otherwise, if the guard station had 5,600 troops and 3,000 troops were assisted, the reward would be 11,600 taels.
, now more than half of it has been issued, more than 8,000 taels.
Then they recruited troops, with a household allowance of 20 taels per person and one or two rations of food. About 3,000 people were recruited. The remaining part was purchased from merchants for cloth, shoes, hats, grain, etc., and was used up directly. They even fought with merchants.
Got some IOUs.
Lao Zhu doesn't think so. Once the money is raised, it must be used, otherwise it will be left to the offspring or left to the Tatars?
"Recruited three thousand?"
"His Royal Highness still has too few troops, so the general has relaxed some recruitment conditions. As long as he is young, strong, and has an innocent reputation, he will recruit. As for those who are not strong enough and are not skilled in martial arts, the general thinks that they can be trained and polished later."
Lao Zhu originally planned to recruit a thousand people, but now he has recruited three thousand, which is beyond his expectation.
But today there are too many people who want to take these three taels of silver.
Wang Xiang and other generals also wanted to take the opportunity to replenish their own troops, otherwise they would lead hundreds of people in a guerrilla attack. This guerrilla attack was not very tough.
Lao Zhu thought about it and agreed. He could never regret retreating.
"Yongwei 1st Battalion, 2nd Battalion, Shenji Battalion, and Haimen Battalion plus Taizhou Battalion and Jinyiwei will each add 500 new soldiers. You can each take your pick."
"Also, these two taels of house-keeping silver and one or two lines of food silver for each person must be distributed immediately without any deduction. After people are assigned to each battalion, they will first be given clothes, shoes and socks, and the Haimen Guards will replenish weapons as much as possible.
Make them look like soldiers."
Not all of the three thousand recruits were given to the Yongwei Battalion or the Haimen Battalion, but were evenly distributed among his current six troops, which was considered as balanced as possible to avoid one family becoming dominant.
"It's summer now, so we don't need blankets, but tents, clothes, shoes and socks are not all available at the moment, and weapons are not easy to equip."
"Take your time. You can find merchants to make tents and clothing. If you don't have money, you can borrow money first. For weapons, we can collect equipment from Taizhou, Haimen and other places first. If there are any problems, we will find a way."
Lao Zhu looked at the Yamen that was still crowded with people, "Old Wang, according to the original plan, let your Yongwei Battalion stay to take over the defense of Haimen Guard City, and I will let Wu Kai's Haimen Battalion garrison the guards on the other side of the river.
To assist in the defense, we will rush to Shipu early tomorrow morning!"