Chapter 319 Who is the General?

"People from Nanling Village, come here!"

Next to the road behind, Zhang Hu was standing on an ox cart and waving his hands.

Beside him were more than twenty soldiers from Nanlingtun and seven or eight ox carts.

Seeing Li Qicheng and his family coming over, Zhang Hu shouted again: "The elderly, the weak, women and children, get on the bus, and put all your belongings on the bus. I'm talking about you, stop looking around, and get your wife and children on the bus!"

Seeing that Li Qicheng was still looking around, Zhang Hu jumped out of the car and urged them to get in.

"Oh, thank you, sir!" Li Qicheng helped his wife sit on the ox cart somewhat at a loss.

At this time, a soldier came running up and shouted, "Zhang Hu, Zhang Hu!"

"Here!" Zhang Hu responded quickly.

"The 19 households in your Nanling Village are all here. Hurry up and take the people away and let the people from Xihe Village behind come over!" said the soldier with sweat on his forehead.

After these people arrive, they will be immediately arranged in each hundred-household unit and each garrison. Each hundred-household unit and garrison must bring their own people and ox carts to transport the people.

There were more than 3,000 households and tens of thousands of people, plus soldiers who came to escort the people. The scene was extremely chaotic.

Fortunately, everyone was very well-behaved, and although there was some noise, nothing went wrong.

After receiving the order, Zhang Hu counted the people around him and after confirming that there were 19 households, he led his men eastward along the official road.

"Huzi, you guys are all here!"

"Yes, everyone is here. Nineteen households, more than one hundred and twenty people!"

A familiar person greeted Zhang Hu on the road, and Zhang Hu grinned.

Accepting the relocated people is a good thing for each hundred-household unit and each garrison, because in this way, the military households and soldiers under their jurisdiction can reach full strength.

The increase in military households and population will allow him to cultivate more farmland, harvest more food, and provide more soldiers for the Tenglong Guard.

Li Qicheng followed the oxcart and looked carefully at the soldier driving the oxcart. Seeing that the soldier was about 20 years old and had a kind face, he could not help but ask in a low voice, "Sir, where are we going?"

The soldier looked back at him and said, "Go to Nanlingtun. Isn't that written on your wooden sign?"

Li Qicheng smiled awkwardly. He could read and had attended a private school for two years, so he naturally knew what was written on the wooden sign.

But what kind of place is Nanlingtun?
"Are we far from Nanlingtun?"

"It's not far, just another dozen miles and we'll be there!" the soldier said casually.

"Oh!"

Li Qicheng actually had many questions, but he did not dare to ask too many. He simply asked a few questions and then fell silent. Instead, his eldest son Li Dalang came forward and asked the soldier, "Brother Cha, are you a soldier of the Tenglong Guard?"

"My last name is Wang, and I'm the third child in my family!" the soldier laughed.

"Ah, Brother Wang San!" Li Dalang was a lively young man and he immediately changed his words and shouted.

"Haha, I'm a soldier of Tenglong Guard, but I'm just a soldier. After completing basic training, I didn't pass the selection!" Wang Laosan said somewhat depressed.

Soldiers are also called regular soldiers, and every military household has one soldier.

As the basic training of the first batch of soldiers ended and the basic training of the second batch of soldiers began, the soldiers felt a bit like losers in Tenglongwei.

"Through selection? Selection of what?" Li Dalang asked curiously.

"Camp soldiers! You may not know, but the camp soldiers of our Tenglong Guard are very powerful!" said Wang Laosan.

"Are there any benefits to being a soldier in the camp?" Li Dalang continued to ask.

"Of course, we soldiers can only get 50% of the food and wages, while the soldiers in the camp can not only get the full amount of food and wages, but also silver." Wang Laosan flicked the whip, and a whip sounded in the air.

"Is that so? Then what are the conditions for becoming a soldier?" Li Dalang asked with some excitement.

He didn't know how much the 50% food and salary was, nor did he know how much the salary would be. But for the Li family today, no matter how much it was, as long as they could get some, it would be worth their efforts.

Wang Laosan turned his head and looked him up and down. "You have a pretty tall physique, but you're a little skinny. If you practice a little, maybe you can be selected."

The Li family used to be considered wealthy farmers, and their food and clothing were much better than those of ordinary people, so Li Dalang was in pretty good shape. However, due to the severe drought in the past year, the Li family began to tighten their belts, and coupled with the long journey for several months, Li Dalang became extremely thin and unrecognizable.

"We can really be selected! Then when can we participate in the selection?" Li Dalang asked expectantly.

"I don't know. It depends on the government's arrangements! I heard that the third batch of training will be carried out after the autumn harvest. We don't know the exact time!" said Wang Laosan.

The two talked as they walked, and soon they arrived at Nanlingtun.

After talking along the way, the worries in the hearts of the Li family members were reduced a little. Although they were not sure what the future would be like, judging from Wang Laosan's attitude, they felt that Nanlingtun should be a good place.

"Come here, come here! I have something to tell you!"

The convoy stopped in the open space in front of Nanlingtun, and Zhang Hu gathered the relocated people together.

"From today on, you are all military households of our Nanling Village. I am your chief flag officer, Zhang Hu!"

"Our Nanling Village belongs to the left hundred-household unit of the Tenglongweishanting thousand-household unit." "Our hundred-household unit is over there. See? The village over there is our hundred-household unit!" Zhang Hu pointed to the village in the east, which was about two or three miles away from Nanling Village.

"Since you are already military households, let me first tell you about our military household rules! Everything else is secondary, and obeying orders is the most important. If there are orders from above, you must execute them. If you violate them, you will be punished by military law..."

"Our duty is to cultivate the land. Over there, that is our land. We will also allocate land to you next year..."

"As for now, we have prepared houses for you, one for each family. The kitchens in the houses are stocked with three dou of fine grain, five dou of coarse grain, half a jin of salt, and some fruits and vegetables. We have also prepared some firewood for you, which should be enough for you to use for a few days."

"In addition, the general is kind and righteous. He knows that you are short of food and clothing, so he specially prepared some cotton cloth for each of you. Adults have one zhang, children have five feet, and there are 30 coins. Everyone has one, including children. You can go directly to the class room in the village to get the cotton cloth and copper coins!"

Zhang Hu pointed to a few houses in the center of the village and said, "That's the classroom. I work there on weekdays. If you need to pick up something or have other things, you can go there to find me!"

Zhang Hu talked nonstop for two quarters of an hour, his mouth dry. "Okay, I've said almost everything I need to say. You can learn the rest later!"

"I'll assign you houses now!"

"Wang Laosan, Li Dalang, arrange housing for them!"

Upon hearing this, several soldiers immediately responded and then led a group of confused people into the village.

The houses in the village were all newly built. When Yang Zhengshan received the official document from the Central Military Governor's Office, he had already asked the thousand-household and hundred-household units under him to build houses for the incoming refugees.

Soon, Li Qicheng and his family got a house.

The houses in Nanling Village are all the same, with four main rooms, two east and west wing rooms, and a small courtyard. As for the rest, they were built by the military households themselves. Most of them would build a shed in the yard to store firewood and farm tools.

Looking at the brand new yard, Li Qicheng felt a little like he was dreaming.

Although their home was much better than here before, they never thought that they would have a yard of their own since they left home.

"Brother Wang San, will this be our home from now on?" Li Dalang asked Wang Laosan excitedly.

"Yes, it's yours. We built these houses. You can build a shed here to store farm tools and firewood, and a pigpen or a chicken coop over there!"

"But you have to buy the piglets and chickens yourself."

Wang Laosan said with a smile.

"Thank you, Brother Wang San!" Li Dalang said with some emotion.

Wang Laosan waved his hands and said, "This is all from the general's kindness and justice. This is all given to you by the general!"

"Who is the general?" Li Dalang was a little curious. Along the way, Wang Laosan mentioned the general many times, but he never knew who the general he was talking about was.

"The general is the commander of our Tenglong Guard, General Dingguo appointed by the emperor himself!" Wang Laosan said with admiration.

Li Dalang blinked and asked, "Brother Wang San has met the general?"

"Of course, many houses in our village were crushed before the New Year. The general came to visit many times and taught us how to build igloos and snow houses! All these houses were built for us by the general!" said Wang Laosan.

Although they built the house themselves, the government also provided them with wages and food, so it can be said that they were hired by the government to build the house.

"Is that so?" Li Dalang had more respect for this general whom he had never met.

At this time, someone outside was calling Wang Laosan. Wang Laosan responded and said, "Pack up first, and don't forget to go to the classroom to get the money and cotton cloth later!"

After saying that, he left the Li family.

After he left, Li Dalang rushed into the kitchen.

"Dad, Mom, there really is food, look!"

Li Qicheng looked at the cloth bag his eldest son took out, looked at the food inside, and let out a long sigh.

Until now, they have always felt at ease.

Although the food was not much, it was enough for the family to eat for most of half a month.

At least they won't have to worry about starving for the next half month.

"Boss, please go to the classroom to get some cotton cloth first. We should make a few sets of clothes for replacement!" Madam Li said softly.

"Well, okay, you guys clean up first, Dalang, come with me!" Li Qicheng said.

The cotton cloth and copper coins were prepared by the Weisi Yamen. Although there were not many, they could be used in an emergency.

The reason for giving some copper coins was to hope that these new military households could live a more stable life, have money and food, and not feel worried.

However, the money will only be given once, and food will be distributed on time every month. Yang Zhengshan has already prepared to support these military households for a year.

Li Qicheng quickly received the cloth and copper coins. As there were many people in his family, each person received 30 coins, which meant 270 coins for nine people.

There are adults and children, even babies in swaddling clothes.

After a simple tidy up, the Li family had a simple dinner and then fell into a deep sleep.

This was the most sound sleep they had had in the past year.

(End of this chapter)