Chapter 968 Frontier soldier
Late June.
Tonghai, Shiping.
War has become normalized, and Zheng Enyang is used to it now. He has fought a few big battles, but not many small ones. He has also been promoted from that ignorant boy to a corporal, and was awarded the title of deputy fireman. His fire chief is exactly Yan Shizhu.
Although deputy fire is not a formal military position and has no rank, he is still a leader in the army. Besides, if he is promoted to the rank of corporal, his monthly salary will directly increase to 1,500 yuan. With extra allowances, his actual income was almost five or six times higher than the five hundred a month when he was a third-class soldier.
On the watchtower outside the city, Zheng Enyang's armor was also changed. It was lined with a soft cowhide armor, another piece of bright light, and an iron chain armor on the outside. He was holding a zhangbabu with a pennant槊, stand on the top of that watchtower, it is majestic and majestic.
"Did I say you are not hot? Standing on the top of a ten-foot watchtower and fully armed with three-layer armor, how many days have you been flirting, is it enough?"
Huo Chang Yan Shizhu boarded the watchtower, looked at his apprentice who had become his niece and son-in-law, and couldn't help shaking his head. Compared with his apprentice's appearance, he himself was dressed very lightly.
On a hot day, his body is just a set of loose hakama pleats, and a piece of iron chain armor covering his face. If it weren't for the frequent raids by barbarians nowadays, he wouldn't even want to wear this chain armor.
Zheng Enyang chuckled, "On the top of this ten-zhang watchtower, the wind is strong, not hot."
Yan Shizhu looked at this guy blushing, and he laughed. After all, young people are not as good as these old birds. They wear new armor every day like a baby.
"You don't need to wear so much in the watchtower, and the arrows of the barbarians can't shoot it. It's not too late to wear it when you leave the watchtower." Lao Yan patted his niece and son-in-law. Now the father and father are in charge of guarding the watchtower. Huo ten Tang soldiers, and a hundred Manding native soldiers.
Guarding this watchtower, when the barbarians don't come, besides drills in the morning, they also have to be in charge of the military camp around their own fort. They have set aside fifty hectares of land for this fort, which happens to be a field.
In addition to training and fighting, one hundred and ten people had to reclaim wasteland and cultivate land, so that part of the farmland in the fort could be handed over to the families of the barbarians for farming.
This is also the idea of Cui County Magistrate. One hundred barbarians stationed in the fort in the fort, trained outside the fields, and let these barbarians recruit their own children. As Yu Ding, they also receive some training and work in the fields. But the income from farming is actually the method of farming. After paying a certain amount of rent, the rest is all their own.
In this way, it not only filled the problem of the shortage of manpower in the bunkers, but also increased a lot of reserves.
Anyway, the area of Tonghai is vast and sparsely populated. The bunkers occupy mountains, rivers and valleys, and there is plenty of land around them.
Zheng En raised their 50 hectares of land, half of which was rented out to Yu Ding, a native soldier, and the remaining half was cultivated by himself. The grain he obtained could be more than 3,000 shi in one season, and more than 7,000 shi in two seasons. These grains are completely enough for one hundred and ten people in the castle. After all, a soldier is calculated as seven stones a year, and the total amount of food for a year is less than eight hundred stones.
The rest can solve the problem of monthly food and food reserves for the soldiers in the fort by themselves.
This solves the problem of food and grass for the long-term fight against barbarians.
"The rice is about to be harvested, so we have to guard against the Heman attack at this time." Yan Shizhu stood on the top of the tower and looked at the rice fields of the army stationed on all sides.
The rice has begun to turn yellow, and it will be harvest time soon.
Up to now, no matter Yan Shizhu or Zheng Enyang, they don't care much about the barbarians now. They can't bite at all under the fortress and bunker defense network deployed by the Dudu Mansion. If there are fewer soldiers, no reason is necessary. If there are more soldiers, the Dudu Mansion can deal with it better.
The only thing they are worried about is their food for the army. These barbarians can't attack the city, but they can do more damage.
Fortunately, they have the tactics of thousands of blocks, and the barbarians don't dare to get too close to the communication line, but they also have to guard against running out of the mountains during the harvest season.
"How are the crops growing in your field?" Old Yan asked.
"I went back the day before yesterday and went to the field to turn around. The growth is not bad, and the harvest this year should be okay."
"Will the harvester be busy by then?"
Before Zheng Enyang joined the navy, he got a real 100 mu of military land, all of which were exempt from the two taxes, which was quite affordable. There are 20 acres of continuous land, a total of five pieces, right by the Longhu Lake. The land is fertile and there is no shortage of water.
It is excellent to grow rice.
Because Zheng Enyang has been in the army, he has no time to plant his own land. After he officially married Yan Shizhu's niece three months ago, he borrowed some from Yan Shizhu and his colleagues with the military reward and his wife's dowry. , bought two buffaloes, and bought a few slaves.
These are all captured by the Tonghai Navy, and the internal purchases of the Tonghai Navy offer a lot of discounts.
Zheng Enyang wrote again to call one of his brothers and a younger sister over, asking them to help take care of the inside and outside, assist his sister-in-law in housework, and manage the fields.
The rooms at home are still the ones from before marriage. They are relatively simple, but they are still comfortable and warm to live in. In a village, most of them are the family members of the soldiers in Shibeng Township. They are guarded by high walls and are not far from the county seat. Far, but also safe.
The harvest season is coming soon. He and his wife have already discussed that they will hire a few temporary workers to help with harvesting and planting. After more than half a month of hard work, the double robbing will be completed, and it will be easy at that time.
"Are we going to have a vacation?"
Old Yan snorted, "The more the harvest season, the heavier our security and defense tasks. How can we have a holiday? We can't help the double robbery at home. We can only hire people at home."
"I heard Erniang is pregnant?" Lao Yan asked with a smile.
Zheng Enyang showed a happy smile on his face, "Well, I only found out when I went home two days ago, and I asked the doctor to see it, and they said it was indeed a happy pulse."
"Then you have to be even more careful, or I'll let my Sanniang go over and take care of it."
"Don't worry, my little sister is here too."
"Your girl is still young, and she has to juggle things. After all, Sanniang has experience in giving birth."
Lao Yan's third daughter is a widow. Her husband died of illness, leaving behind a pair of sons and daughters who are also miserable. Lao Yan asked his daughter to come back to her mother's house, and he also wanted to find a sailor for her to marry.
After all, although Tonghai is remote, the treatment of sergeants is not bad. Just the one hundred acres of land plus tax exemption is very superior, which is not available in the Central Plains today.
The government soldiers in the Central Plains are not enough, and now that the two-tax law is implemented, the government soldiers are also exempt from compulsory service, and the border areas such as Tonghai and Lingnan are still implementing the policy of the Wude period.
"Have you found the right one yet?"
"A few, I'm still thinking about it." Old Yan said with a chuckle. Most of the soldiers who passed the navy came from Lingnan, and many of them immigrated to the south in the early years of Zhenguan. These people used to be poor households in the Central Plains Wait, most of the conditions are not good, those who go south to make a living, rush to the south to immigrate and can divide the land.
After the establishment of the Tonghai Governor's Mansion and the establishment of the Tonghai Navy, these people settled down in Tonghai. Many of them are young people like Zheng Enyang, and there are also some widowers who have died of wives, or some who were poor before and have not yet come to marry. old bachelor.
Yan Sanniang is in her thirties, with two oil bottles, and her looks are average. It is not easy to remarry in the Central Plains, but in Tonghai, the conditions are actually pretty good. If Lao Yan is not picky, He is not willing to buy more dowry for his daughter, and always wants to find a more promising officer. This Yan Sanniang has already married.
Even now, it is said that there are several military men who are very interested in Sanniang. After the holidays, they often go to show their hospitality, carry water and firewood, and even repair houses, etc., but Lao Yan picks and chooses.
The battle is still fought, and life goes on.
For Zheng Enyang, life is actually pretty good now. He has been promoted and his salary has been raised. Just now Jun Cui and Xiaowei Liu opened the treasury again and issued a reward to the soldiers. thousand.
In addition, it seems that winter clothes for two seasons a year will be released soon.
According to the standard, a navy general has two sets of clothes in spring and autumn a year. The standard is six bolts of silk and cloth, twelve taels of cotton, and another three thousand for the clothes.
As a fire assistant, it can even fire a little more.
Tonghai is like spring all the year round, not too hot in summer and not too cold in winter, so you need to save a lot of clothes.
As long as it's not too bad luck, and you don't die in the battle with the barbarians, Tonghai is still a very popular professional errand. Many people can't take it even if they want to. Zheng Enyang was lucky at the beginning, just in time to catch up, and now he wants to join , can be difficult.
Before, Dudu Cheng went to Guangzhou to meet Wei Gong, and when he came back, he got 2,000 new troops. For this reason, many people broke their heads and wanted to come in with various entrusted relationships.
Zheng Enyang originally wanted his brother to come in, so he asked Lao Yan to find Lieutenant Liu, but he failed in the end. There are too many people who want to enter, so the children of the Tonghai Navy can’t enter if they want to. Strict selection criteria have been established.
Only when all aspects are in line, Zheng Enyang's brother is too young, and secondly, he can't ride and shoot. He has enough strength, but he is a little short.
"Master, do you think we will fight back at any time? It's not a problem to be so defensive every day?" Zheng Enyang looked at the golden field in the field, his wife was pregnant, and the rice at home was about to ripen. He really wanted to go back. The family helps harvest and plant rice.
"This is all ordered by the above. Those of us who are soldiers can only obey the military order." Lao Yan took out two betel nuts and gave one to Zheng Enyang. "It is said that this is a strategy drawn up by Duke Wei himself. If we fight like this, we can remain invincible, make Heman unable to advance or retreat, and finally consume them to death."
"But this is too unpleasant. If you sleep all day and have to turn a blind eye, can't you just kill them in their lair and uproot them like we did when we were in Lingnan? In that case, there will be no future troubles, and we can relax, and even the family members don't have to worry so much."
"Who doesn't want to, but our Tonghai Governor's Mansion manages such a large place, but there are only a few thousand soldiers. Do you think it's so easy to fight a big battle and go deep into the barbarian nest? If you make a mistake, have you thought about the consequences? So I said Ah, the above idea is also correct, if you want to win a battle, you must first consider the consequences of failure, in fact, we are doing well now!"
Old Yan patted his apprentice on the shoulder, "Keep staring here, I'm going down, I'm going to slaughter pigs in a while, and I'm going to start the sickle to harvest. It's time to put down your strength, and you have to prepare some meat in advance."
(end of this chapter)