The number of registered male conscripts can be changed. The officers will screen out the disabled and clear out those with epidemic diseases.
There is room for tolerance for disability, but epidemics are completely intolerable.
The officials of each county government would never allow people with plague to infiltrate the ranks of able-bodied men. In the Wei Dynasty, this was a capital crime, punishable by death, as it meant spreading the plague into the army.
Therefore, the rich children who did not dare to lose their hands or feet would most likely report an epidemic and thus escape military service.
Of course, there is a price to pay for doing this. Families who need to report diseases on behalf of conscripts have to solve the problem themselves, which costs a lot of money.
Zhou Yuan never expected that Ergou's father would actually use the family heirloom land to find someone to replace Ergou's military service quota.
As a result, Ergou's family has no way out except to go to the city to make a living.
Their family was no longer even a farmer at this moment, but at best a refugee, and their social status plummeted from the bottom to the very bottom.
Perhaps this serious illness changed Ergou's family's mind. Now they would rather take some risks to save the only male descendant in the family.
However, coming to the city alone without anyone to rely on, I don’t know whether it is good or bad, and whether I can live in peace.
"Er Gou doesn't show off his wealth. No matter where you go, when you're unfamiliar with the place, it's better to live a simple life."
"I know Brother Shitou. My father told me to go to the city to be an apprentice, and Uncle Luo from Dongcun introduced me to a carpenter master.
I can endure hardship. As long as my master doesn't beat me to death and teaches me how to make a living, I will take care of him until he dies."
"Okay, if I become famous, just tell me my name if you get bullied."
Zhou Yuan felt touched that Ergou dared to give him a pearl in good condition.
After all, Ergou takes risks when he gives gifts.
If he were a vicious person, the lives of Ergou's family would be in danger.
"Brother Shitou, can we have your farmland back?
Or you can also choose to use your land to pay for labor service, and we two brothers can go to the city together to make a living so that we can look after each other."
"I can't leave this way. You know it's written in black and white on the land deed that I can only get the land back after I get married."
The father of the predecessor was afraid that he would not be able to come back before he joined the army, so the villagers took the opportunity to kill Zhou Yuan and wipe out the family, and then they handed over the private land to the headman's house.
As a result of this death, the predecessor grew up safely and was able to get a share of food rations from the village head every year.
But it’s a bit difficult to get it back.
After all, he had a reputation for being stupid in his previous life, and both respectable and unrespectable families looked down on him as a simpleton who lived alone.
"Yes, it's harder for someone like you to find a wife than it is for me. Your land has probably been taken as private property by the village head.
He won't agree to anything, so you take his land to pay the labor service."
"Ahem... By the way, Brother Shitou, just pretend I never told you about what happened a few days ago. I want to try to have a baby on my own."
After a brief farewell, Ergou and his family left in a hurry and arrived in the city two days before the county officials entered the village.
The man who replaced Ergou in the military service was called Li Dazhuang. There were five males in his family, a typical example of a family with a large population and limited land.
Zhou Yuan saw clearly that when the officers called out to other able-bodied men, they drew a circle, but when they called out to him, they drew a horizontal line.
This meant that their family was extinct. As long as he didn't come back, the service and tax payments in Houqiaoxi Village would be counted as 66 households.
Although Ergou's family lost their land and went to the city to make a living, their household registration is still in Qiaoxi Village, and they will still be counted as candidates for household registration when they serve in the military in the future.
"Gentlemen, please be quiet for a moment, I will say a few words.
This military service is a decree of the imperial court, and we brothers are not deliberately harsh on you."
"Look at these men serving in the army, some are young, some are old. We brothers will just pretend that there are no strong men in your family and fool you.
We brothers value friendship, and I hope you will value morality. Once you leave this village, don't run away or cause chaos. Otherwise, if the county government investigates, your family members will be implicated."
"I won't say much else. You guys should choose a responsible man to lead the team.
We will pass through more than a dozen post stations, but will not enter the county seat, but will go straight to Jing'an City, the county seat."
It is reasonable that the conscripts do not enter the county town. They are all from the same village and are just passing through the county town. Once they have evil intentions, they will inevitably harm the people in the county.
Interestingly, the officers also approved of the practice of elderly people replacing able-bodied men.
I think the Wei Dynasty did not have many wars, and recruiting soldiers as usual was to maintain the system rather than to replenish troops in an emergency.
"Why don't you choose? If you don't choose, I'll just order whatever you want."
If they were doing corvée labor, the villagers would definitely rush to be the team leader, but this is military service, and the team leader will most likely be selected as a regular soldier, and the villagers don't want to do this hard job.
"I'll do it."
Under the gaze of the villagers and the police, Zhou Yuan stood up with a hatchet hanging from his waist and a whistle stick in his hand.
"Good man, young people are still full of energy. Okay, you will be the captain of the Qiaoxi Dingyi."
Zhou Yuan's demands are different from those of the villagers. Most of the villagers want to return to their hometown to farm as soon as possible, but Zhou Yuan wants to leave his job to practice martial arts and strengthen himself.
For this reason, the identity of team leader, which the villagers avoided, was a starting point worth striving for for him.
But what Zhou Yuan didn't expect was that he would have to prepare his own dry food for the military journey.
The village head, Old Li, took Zhou Yuan's hand and repeatedly told him to take good care of the several wheelbarrows in the village and not to lose anything, not even the food.
So, under the leadership of the police, the villagers set off, pushing wheelbarrows loaded with miscellaneous items such as hatchets, pottery jars, and straw mats.
As the team leader, Zhou Yuan did not have to take turns pushing the cart. Instead, he was arranged by the officers to be in the middle of the queue, managing twenty-three villagers.
The group walked and stopped, first went to Qiaodong Village to meet up with another team of able-bodied men, then went to Shashi Village and Dalinzhuang to gather a team of 100 people, and then headed towards Jing'an City.
Led by a constable who was familiar with the route, the young men arrived at the post station before nightfall.
There is a place to live here, a large bunk bed with no quilts, but at least it can shelter you from the wind and rain, and the men don't have to pay any money.
However, you have to pay to eat here. Even the team leaders only asked for hot soup and took out the bread from the cloth bag to soak it in the soup.
The old men who had experience in military service became important at this moment. At their command, several young boys ran out to collect firewood and hay and boiled water outside the post station.
When Zhou Yuanchu saw all this, he felt like he was on a group adventure picnic.
Only when Zhao Dahuang handed him the cold pancake did he break away from his romantic fantasy and return to the reality of sleeping in the open air.
"Sweet, sure, Uncle Dahuang, you can still get some sugar."
"What nonsense are you talking about? This is a jujube paste cake, a dry food made by steaming red dates and rhubarb rice together.
In previous years, we didn’t receive such treatment when we were doing corvee labor. We just had to arrive at the place half-dead.
But this military service is not possible. If they are in poor condition and are sent back to the barracks, we will need to recruit strong men."
"You are in luck, my boy. After eating this jujube paste cake, I guarantee you will arrive at the military camp full of energy."
After a noisy dinner, the villagers didn't need Zhou Yuan's instructions at all. They took the initiative to give up the big bunk bed to the elderly and the weak, spread straw mats on the ground and went to sleep.
At this moment, Zhou Yuan truly felt the hardship of military service and the importance of his fellow villagers.
"Shitou, pick a few men to watch over the grain carts. We can't afford to make any mistakes."
"It can't be wrong, don't worry."