conscription!
The emperor's decree to conscript soldiers was something everyone had expected.
Due to several northern expeditions, the soldiers suffered many casualties, but they were never replenished.
However, this conscription was not carried out from ordinary people, but from civil and military officials in the court, and even from noble families!
Almost every household received a conscription notice. Any descendant who was fifteen years of age or older, and who was not an official or married, had their name on the notice.
Fortunately, the emperor did not intend for any family to be childless.
The decree stipulated that each family should recruit at a ratio of three to one, with a maximum of three sons, but one of them must be the legitimate son.
In other words, even if a family has more than a dozen sons, at most only three will be used, but there must be a legitimate son.
In this way, families with few children are unlucky.
For example, in the family of a certain minister, there were only two grandsons, one legitimate and one illegitimate.
Now that the legitimate son has to join the army, while the illegitimate son has escaped this fate, the family is bound to fall apart!
The legal wife demanded that the illegitimate son be replaced by the legitimate son, while the concubine insisted that the imperial decree could not be disobeyed. In the end, the wife and concubine fought each other, and the legitimate son and the illegitimate son could not maintain the facade of harmony and turned into enemies.
The worst off are families where only one child meets the criteria, and that child is the legitimate heir, like the Wu family of the Marquis of Jiangning.
The second branch of the Wu family has a son who is already married. Last year, through the Empress's connections, he became a county magistrate in the south.
However, the eldest son of the main branch was eighteen years old, but he was neither married nor had any official rank.
This was also the Crown Prince's wife's son, born late in life, whom she doted on. He was not good at studying and did not like martial arts. She thought that with the Empress's brother's status, she could find a good wife and wait to inherit the title in the future.
Who would have thought that an imperial decree would be issued, and the entire Jiangning Marquis's mansion would have to send this precious child to join the army!
Not to mention that the Crown Prince's wife fainted from anxiety, even the old Marquis and his wife had difficulty breathing.
These past two days, Madam Wu has been torn between resenting her daughter's lack of ambition and fearing that she might actually drive her to her death.
So she simply lay in bed and ignored everything.
Then suddenly this big thing happened, but instead of being anxious, she was so happy that the corners of her mouth turned up and she couldn't stop smiling.
Doesn't the eldest son's family usually act arrogantly and look down on the second son's family?
Now look what's happened! Their precious son is going to die in Jiangbei. Who knows, maybe in ten or eight years, the title of Marquis will fall to their second branch of the family.
The Crown Prince's wife finally woke up, crying so hard her eyes almost bled. Seeing her sister-in-law's expression, she could easily guess what she was thinking.
Thus, the usually dignified noblewoman turned into a shrew. The Crown Prince's wife pounced on the Second Madam, grabbed her hair, and began to kick and beat her severely.
"You're gloating, aren't you? If something happens to my son, your whole family won't live either!"
The second wife was no pushover either. She grabbed her sister-in-law's hair and started cursing even more merrily, "I'm just gloating, so what! Aren't you the Empress's mother? Aren't you proud?"
"I told you to go to the Empress to save my daughter, but you kept making excuses. Now look what's happened, your son is going to his death. Let's see what you're going to do now! You deserve it, you deserve it!"
The two sisters-in-law were fighting so hard they were rolling around on the ground, leaving everyone who saw them stunned.
"It's over, it's over, the Marquis's mansion is going to fall." Despair filled the old Marquis's eyes.
Back then, when the palace was selecting consorts for the princes, their family didn't expect their granddaughter to be chosen, but she was unexpectedly betrothed to one another.
Fortunately, he was an unfavored prince, but his family was still granted a title and received this marquisate.
He was even smug about it, thinking that this was a good thing.
Unexpectedly, the unfavored prince became emperor.
Everyone envied the Wu family for their meteoric rise to power, becoming the maternal family of the Empress. Only he lived in constant fear, his worries outweighing his joy.
He knew his own family situation best; he wasn't a talented man, and his two sons were even more mediocre.
Wealth and luxury may just be the beginning of ruin...
Sure enough, once the eldest son became the heir apparent, the second son became unhappy.
The two families often quarreled, making their lives uneasy.
Previously, his second son and his wife had strongly advocated for their granddaughter to marry the Marquis of Xinting, and he had supported them.
They simply hoped that their second son and his wife would get what they wanted, so they would stop eyeing the title and be jealous of their eldest son. The Marquis of Xinting was a capable man who could protect his family to some extent.
Little did they expect that the plan would not only fail, but also cause their two sons to quarrel again.
Now that the two daughters-in-law have completely fallen out, what prosperity can the Wu family possibly have left?!
A harmonious family is essential for prosperity, but the future of the Wu family is almost predictably destined for decline...
The old marquis felt a sense of relief, as if a sword had finally fallen from his head, but more than that, he felt a deep sorrow.
After much difficulty, the group managed to pull the young master's wife and the second wife apart. When they turned around, they discovered that the old marquis had fainted and was unconscious.
"Father! Father!"
"Grandpa!"
"My lord!"
Everyone became increasingly chaotic, frantically calling for a doctor, and almost ripped the roof off in the process.
Under the same sky, in Xinduli, many families are in similar situations.
However, there are exceptions, namely... the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.
The Duke of Zhenguo and his wife, along with their son, had been waiting for their conscription notice ever since they heard the news.
It wasn't that they wanted their son to join the army; it's just that every family has to deal with it eventually, so they figured they might as well read the post carefully and then discuss a solution.
The young prince was terrified. Regardless of his age, he clung to his mother's arm and wouldn't let go. "Mother, I don't want to go to my death! I'll never cause trouble again. I'll study, I promise I'll study hard. You have to find a way to stop me from joining the army!"
The Duchess was so heartbroken she almost fainted, but she tried her best to comfort her son, "Don't be afraid. If all else fails, have your father plead with the Emperor. You are our only son, and the Emperor cannot allow our Qi family bloodline to end!"
The Duke of Zhenguo had the same idea. He paced back and forth on the ground with his hands behind his back, even planning how he would plead with the Emperor when he saw him.
As a result, it got dark, but no invitation arrived.
The three family members finally came together and believed that the Qi family was not eligible for military service.
The young master immediately knelt down and kowtowed towards the palace, and the Duke and his wife no longer felt sorry for the 100,000 taels of silver they had previously offered.
This 100,000 taels of silver is incredibly useful; it saved my son's life twice!
The young master was about to go out and show off, but the Duke pulled him back.
"Fool! Are you looking down on others because they don't seem to mind, and you're inviting hatred by going out? If you want to be dragged out and used as an example to pressure the Emperor, then go ahead and go! But if you end up being thrown into the army, your family won't be able to get you out!"
The prince was so frightened that he shrank back and didn't even bother to go outside; he simply hid inside and refused to come out...
There is never a shortage of clever people in this world. When the imperial edict was issued, some people immediately realized that this was the emperor's punishment of powerful and aristocratic families.
Punish them for turning a blind eye to the empty treasury!
Punish them for interfering in the Northern Expedition and withhold their compensation money!
Punish them for enjoying peace and wealth without paying any price!
As a result, many people regretted not donating money when the Duke of Zhenguo donated it. Now, they had completely angered the Emperor, who sent down lightning and struck them half to death.
Especially after hearing that the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion hadn't received the conscription notice, everyone was filled with regret...
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