Chapter 154 Recruiting Soldiers
It wasn't Xiao Qing's imagination; Fu Mingyi had changed his tactics.
Xiao Qing remained noncommittal, simply picking up her cup and slowly sipping her tea.
The environment can change a person.
The Xiao Qing of the past would never have drunk tea with such perfect posture and elegant demeanor. Now, she has learned it too.
Even without conscious effort, some things have already left their mark on her very being.
Feng County is different from Xi County.
Xi County is an old town with a focus on daily life. The roads are not wide or straight, and the buildings are all in a style that exudes a strong sense of daily life.
However, Feng County is a military town. Because of the garrisoning of troops, the roads here are wide and flat, the houses are neat and orderly, and even the street layout is mostly square.
The city was divided into strict zones, including granary areas, garrison areas, ordinary residential areas, commodity trading areas, and so on.
Fu Mingyi's idea was to wait until Li Qinghe had stolen the item before going to find Zhao Ziyuan, so the two of them strolled around the city.
Having been out for five days already, despite the long journey, Xiao Qing felt a growing unease as she strolled leisurely through the streets. Fu Mingyi never mentioned anything about the palace or their return to Nanhua.
It feels like I've been absent from work for a long time.
She immediately stopped the thought from her mind and reassured herself that they were on a mission.
But at the same time, she wondered if she had been influenced by Fu Mingyi and had also become a workaholic.
As Fu Mingyi strolled along, he casually introduced her to the city, as if he were a local.
Xiao Qing looked at him strangely, "Why do you know so much about the situation in every place?"
Fu Mingyi smiled and said, "Back then, I was young and didn't like the constraints of home, so I traveled all over the country until... I had to go back."
Xiao Qing became interested.
"So you learned many of your skills in this process?"
Fu Mingyi raised an eyebrow. "What skills do I have?"
Xiao Qing couldn't help but laugh.
Is Fu Mingyi so insecure about herself?
Girls are petty, and Xiao Qing believed that her heart was only a little bigger than the eye of a pin.
"Do you remember when you scared me before? Hmm, even though I could hear you talking even though I was looking at you and you weren't saying anything?"
Fu Mingyi smiled. "That matter."
But he didn't say anything after that.
Xiao Qing became even more curious, "Are you actually a martial arts master with powerful internal energy?"
Fu Mingyi's heart softened a little when he saw her expression that said, "I'm determined to get the truth out of you today."
"Actually, my martial arts skills are not as high as you imagine. They are not comparable to Mr. Wu. Zhao Youchen is probably much stronger than me."
"How is that possible?!" Xiao Qing's eyes widened.
"As for what you said about transmitting sound secretly... there are indeed techniques involved."
Xiao Qing blinked, becoming even more interested in this "technique".
Fu Mingyi smiled and said, "Let's go take a look over there."
This means it can't be said.
Xiao Qing glanced at him regretfully, then stopped asking.
As the two were walking, a patrol of soldiers came towards them.
The leader was a dashing young soldier. He glanced at Fu Mingyi and Xiao Qing, and then suddenly stopped when he got closer.
"Where are you from? When did you come to the city?"
Xiao Qing lowered her head slightly, feeling a sense of déjà vu, like someone she had seen on TV being questioned by the police at the train station when entering the city.
Fu Mingyi, on the other hand, seemed much more generous.
"A native of Xi County, Dingzhou."
“Dingzhou?” The soldier thought for a moment. “There are indeed quite a few people from Dingzhou who come to Yingzhou, but not many from Feng County.”
Fu Mingyi said, "To be honest, I only want to join the army, but because my younger brother needs someone to take care of him and I have no connections, I haven't been able to do so. I came to Feng County this time to see if there's any opportunity."
Xiao Qing thought Fu Mingyi was really good at twisting words, and the soldier's expression immediately calmed down a lot.
"I think you're a good person, so I'll tell you something. In recent years, the imperial court's policies have been good. If you want to join the army, you don't need any connections, as long as you have real skills. But you've really come to the right place. Joining the army in our Feng County would be the best thing."
“Our Commander Zhao of Feng County is known for his love for his soldiers, which is common knowledge in the surrounding prefectures and counties. If you are capable enough, go to Commander Zhao’s tent and recommend yourself. Commander Zhao will test you. This is faster than participating in the imperial military examination.”
Xiao listened and something seemed off.
Fu Mingyi smiled, looking extremely grateful, and quickly cupped his hands, saying, "Thank you for the guidance."
The soldier nodded coolly and led the men behind him to patrol the street.
After they had walked a distance, Xiao Qing asked, "Were they talking about recruiting private soldiers?"
Fu Mingyi's expression darkened.
This is somewhat different from what Zhao Youchen said.
Zhao Youchen also did not mention that his uncle recruited soldiers in Feng County in this way.
At this time, local authorities were not allowed to recruit soldiers privately at will. If a locality wanted to recruit soldiers, it had to report to the imperial court first. After the number of recruits and related matters were determined, a conscription order would be issued to the locality, and only then could the locality recruit soldiers.
Even so, military examinations still had to be organized, only the examinations in these places were not as rigorous.
However, I've never heard of recruiting soldiers just requiring a personal test, have I?
Xiao Qing could tell something was wrong, so how could Fu Mingyi not?
Fu Mingyi felt that Zhao Youchen either didn't know the truth himself, or he was hiding a lot from him.
"It sounds like recruiting private soldiers."
It seems we really need to meet.
Xiao Qing suddenly thought of a question.
"So, could it be that he misappropriated state taxes specifically for this purpose?"
Fu Mingyi nodded slightly. "This is not quite what the rumors outside are saying. However, private soldiers do not have military status, and the imperial court will not be responsible for their financial expenses..."
His expression suddenly changed.
"What's wrong?"
"Judging by the days, the imperial censor sent by the court will be arriving soon."
He frowned, recalling how Wang Xiang had casually recommended that censor, and how they had haggled for a long time over issues such as the imperial examinations. He thought that the two sides had reached a pretty good compromise, but he never expected that Zhao Ziyuan would have such a thing happen.
Even though the living conditions for military generals have greatly improved, recruiting private soldiers is still not allowed.
To put it bluntly, this could cost you your head!
What was Zhao Ziyuan thinking?!
Because of this incident, they later took a short stroll around, mainly to get a feel for the atmosphere of Feng County and to hear what people thought of Zhao Youchen.
After they returned, Fu Mingyi began to consider it carefully.
He is now worried that it is possible that Wang Xiang and his group actually knew about these things.
Why didn't he come this way...?
Could it be that their accusation against Zhao Ziyuan for embezzling state taxes is a pretext, and they're using this incident as an excuse...?
Just as he was thinking this, the shop assistant came to knock on the door.
"Are the guests resting?"
Fu Mingyi got up and opened the door.
The other party at the door said, "We apologize for disturbing you, guest. Please prepare your travel permit and other necessary items. There is a routine patrol today, and we need to check anyone entering the city to stay overnight. We apologize for the inconvenience."
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