Chapter 226 Life is so magical
This is an era of turmoil
The imperial court was corrupt, corrupt officials were rampant, and natural and man-made disasters were rampant.
Ordinary people are struggling to survive in the cracks.
A rough man wearing tattered linen clothes and with a full beard was sitting barefoot on the edge of a field, looking at the seedlings in the field that were dying under the scorching sun, and chewing a grass root fiercely.
"When will this day end?" The rough man spat grass roots on the edge of the field.
I looked up at the scorching sun above my head. It had been a month. This damn God hadn't let a drop of rain fall for a whole month.
This is going to force the people to death!
"Tiezhu, go home quickly. The officers are here to recruit soldiers and are heading towards your house!" A skinny man shouted loudly to the rough man across a field.
"Recruitment?" The rough man was shocked. Although he had expected it, this day came too quickly.
He quickly climbed up from the edge of the field and rushed home.
He was the only adult male in the family, so he was the only one who could go into conscription.
He was not afraid of joining the army. He was just worried about how the elderly, the weak, women and children in his family would survive if he went to the army.
When Lin Tiezhu ran back to his home, the officer had already left, but the conscription notice in his hand already had Lin Tiezhu's name written on it.
It's a done deal, there's no escaping it.
Seeing him come back, the family members who were originally gloomy at home forced themselves to cheer up.
"Uncle is back. Lunch is ready. I'll serve it right away." A middle-aged woman in coarse linen clothes wiped the tears from her face and walked towards the kitchen.
Lin Tiezhu opened his mouth, but in the end no words came out.
"Uncle, take a rest first." The sensible daya brought some clean water and handed it to her uncle.
Lin Tiezhu reached out and rubbed Daya's head. "Is Er Shunzi not back yet?"
"Shun Zi took his sister out to play. I'll go call him." Daya replied to Lin Tiezhu, then hurried out to find her younger brothers and sisters.
Lin Tiezhu walked towards the main house. When he opened the door, he saw his mother crying while holding the conscription document.
"Mom." Lin Tiezhu walked over and half-knelt beside his mother.
"My son." Following the voice, Old Mother Lin stretched out a trembling, skinny, rough hand and groped to touch Lin Tiezhu's face.
"Mom, I'm here." Lin Tiezhu tried his best to rub his mother's hand with his beardless face. Even though his mother's hand was rough and scratched his face painfully, he felt very satisfied.
"My poor son!" Old Mother Lin reached out and hugged Lin Tiezhu's head, sobbing.
Her husband died on the battlefield.
She was a widow who worked hard to raise her two sons.
After much difficulty, he got his eldest son married and had a child, and their lives became more and more prosperous.
She was just waiting to help her youngest son get married and have two lovely grandchildren.
She was content with her life, and when she died and went to the underworld, she would see her husband who had died early.
She could also proudly tell him that she had raised their child well and successfully continued the Lin family's bloodline.
But
The change happened so quickly
Five years ago, foreign enemies invaded and the imperial court urgently recruited soldiers, and her eldest son was conscripted.
A year later, only a set of bloodstained clothes and five taels of silver were sent back.
She cried until her eyes were almost blinded by fear, but she couldn't bring back her dead eldest son.
The youngest son was also disliked by the couple he was dating because he had a widowed sister-in-law and three nephews to take care of.
The best age for marriage is almost over.
She saw it with her own eyes and felt anxious.
The weather has been good in recent years and the family has accumulated some savings.
She had originally planned to use all her assets to help her youngest son find a wife this year.
But the weather started to get abnormal this spring. When it was time to plant staple crops, it didn't rain for a month after the seedlings were planted.
Seeing that the times were getting worse, the youngest son refused to see anyone else, wanting to keep his savings to ensure that his current family could survive the disaster.
But even this little bit of extravagant hope was shattered by this conscription order.
The youngest son was conscripted, leaving only the elderly, the weak, women and children in the family. Life was difficult even in peaceful years, let alone in years of disaster. How would they survive?
"Mom, I will come back. I will definitely come back." Lin Tiezhu's voice was muffled.
How could he want to leave? Now his mother at home is half blind, his sister-in-law is not in good health, the eldest girl is only twelve years old, the second girl is eight years old, and the youngest girl is even younger, only three years old.
How can they live without him?
In the evening, Lin Tiezhu went to his uncle's house next door and asked his uncle and his family to look after his family, and then went to the village chief's house.
After doing all this, he finally felt comfortable going to the battlefield.
He will definitely come back!
Lin Tiezhu turned around and waved goodbye to his mother, sister-in-law, and three nephews and nieces who were standing at the village entrance.
Then he tightened his bag and set out on an unknown road with the other men in the village who were also forcibly conscripted.
Half a year later
Lin Tiezhu and Goudaner from the same village became deserters together.
The world was in complete chaos. The severe drought that had lasted for more than half a year had caused a massive reduction in grain production. The imperial court was unable to collect grain and had to pay silver for disaster relief.
The amount of food and fodder that could be delivered to the front line became less and less. A month before Lin Tiezhu and his men decided to desert, the entire army began to tighten their belts.
In addition, this time they were not fighting against foreign enemies, but a coalition of disaster victims who were displaced by floods.
The more they fought, the more disheartened they became. Coupled with the lack of food and grass supplies, they became more determined to escape.
A dark and windy night
He and Goudan escaped with the others. When they first escaped, they were afraid of being hunted down by the imperial court, so they hid for a while.
Until one day, a piece of news came out in a town.
The entire Daqing Kingdom is now engulfed in war. In addition to the victims who revolted, the princes from all over the country have also taken action. Now there are wars everywhere.
Ordinary people don’t know where to go to survive.
"Brother Tiezhu, the court is in chaos, we can go back secretly." Goudan was still a teenager of fourteen or fifteen years old.
He was included in the conscription list in order to replace his lame father.
After joining the army, he has been following Lin Tiezhu. He knows that although Brother Tiezhu looks fierce, he is a good man.
On the battlefield, Brother Tiezhu saved him several times, which made him more determined to follow Brother Tiezhu, even if it meant being a deserter.
"Okay, let's go quietly." Lin Tiezhu reached out and touched Goudan'er's head, ready to return to his hiding place, take his bag and leave.
As a result, once I went back, I couldn't leave.
Among their group of more than sixty deserters, there was a centurion.
He also heard the news in the town and decided to take a chance in this chaotic world.
Lin Tiezhu and Gou Daner were swept up and joined this chaotic army which initially consisted of only more than 60 people.
Then
They took over that relatively wealthy town and used the opportunity to make money and recruit soldiers.
Three months later
This chaotic army recruited soldiers along the way and actually became a small force with more than 10,000 soldiers.
Lin Tiezhu also rose from a small infantryman to a young general in charge of 3,000 troops.
Life is so magical.
There are dead ends everywhere, but there is also hope everywhere.
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