Poor Family Chapter 659

  Chapter 659 Recruitment of Female Soldiers

At dusk, when Li Yanqing returned to his mansion, he was still more than a hundred steps away from the mansion gate, when he saw a large group of young women gathered in front of the mansion gate, about thirty or forty people, chattering non-stop, Li Yanqing immediately understood , this must be Qing'er's men coming from the capital.

At this time, I saw Hu Qing'er coming out of the mansion, she had already taken off her armor and changed into a blue warrior uniform, she walked to the steps, dozens of women fell silent, looked at Hu Qing'er together, Li Yanqing couldn't help but secretly nodded, Obviously they are well-trained female soldiers, they have been hiding in Baoyanzhai, and I don't know it.

  At this time, Hu Qinger saw Li Yanqing, and hurried over, "Brother, my former subordinates, they are all here!"

  Li Yanqing got off his horse and said with a smile, "Have you arranged the board and lodging?"

   "They just arrived and haven't had time to make arrangements."

  Li Yanqing turned his head and said to Zhang Ying: "Go to Wasi and book all the Qujiang Inn, including meals for ten days, go now!"

   "I understand the humble job!" Zhang Ying galloped away with a few soldiers on horseback.

   "Brother, is the Qujiang Inn a little far away?"

  Li Yanqing smiled and said: "For the time being, I will rent the house next door for the soldiers to garrison, and the west courtyard of the mansion will be freed up for the female guards to live in, and other female soldiers can enter the barracks."

   "Do you want to pick out the female guards now?"

"You decide, choose fifteen female guards, and the rest of the female soldiers will serve as team leaders to assist you in recruiting 500 female soldiers. I have explained to Mr. Mo that he will also send people to help, and he will know all the necessary supplies. get ready."

  Hu Qing'er breathed a sigh of relief immediately, it would be great to have Mr. Mo's help, otherwise she still doesn't know where to start!

   "Then I'll take them to rest and eat first, and I'll discuss the details with my brother later."

  Li Yanqing smiled slightly, "It's not a discussion, it's a report!"

  Hu Qinger blushed beautifully, gave Li Yanqing a blank look, turned around and left, she walked up to a group of female soldiers, waved her hand and said: "Everyone follow me, let's eat first!"

   Thirty-five female soldiers quickly lined up and followed Hu Qinger towards Wasi.

  Li Yanqing saw that the dozens of soldiers were dumbfounded, so he laughed and said: "Get along well in the future, your future wife will be among them!"

   All the guards suddenly laughed embarrassedly, Li Yanqing was in a good mood, and walked quickly to the mansion.

Two days later, all the counties in Jingzhao Prefecture posted notices for the recruitment of female soldiers. The notice clearly stated the duties of female soldiers, treating and caring for wounded soldiers, and a monthly salary of eight consecutive years. They were required to be over sixteen and under twenty For unmarried women, strong and healthy women are preferred, and those who are recruited will be given 20 Guan family allowances, and the service period will be three years.

  Nominally, it is used to treat and nurse wounded soldiers, but Li Yanqing has a deeper consideration. He wants to train a group of female spies to sneak into enemy cities to collect intelligence during wartime. Women have inherent advantages over men as spies.

  Mo Jun was personally responsible for the recruitment of female soldiers this time. Hu Qinger led 30 female soldiers to assist, and set up three recruitment points in Jingzhao Mansion. The recruitment of female soldiers quickly caused a sensation in all parts of Jingzhao Mansion.

Due to the Hundred Years' War between the Song Dynasty and the Xixia Dynasty, there were generally more women than men in Northwest China, and it was difficult for many daughters from poor families to marry for life. This made the employment fees for women in Jingzhao Prefecture and Shaanxi Road counties much cheaper than those in Beijing. For example, the monthly salary of maids and cooks is only three guan, while in the capital city it is at least five guan.

The notice stated that the monthly salary of female soldiers is eight guan qian, which is very attractive to poor families. In addition, the positions are clearly defined, and the Western Army does not have a tradition of camping prostitutes. On the first morning, there were many people flocking They brought their daughters from all over Jingzhao Prefecture to sign up.

  The registration point of Jingzhao Mansion is located in Beicheng. It is a compound covering an area of ​​five acres. Four soldiers are standing at the door. No one is allowed to enter. Seven or eight tables are placed at the door, and several civil servants are in charge of registration.

  First of all, it is to sign up, asking about the basic information such as birthplace, address, age, marriage, specialty, etc., and then the woman takes a wooden sign and enters the hospital to take the test.

Ten female soldiers are in charge of the test, and the test is relatively simple, that is, weightlifting, stick dancing, and running. It mainly depends on physical fitness, flexibility, and special skills. Girls who climb trees, run races, and go down rivers all day long are more likely to be hired. Women from martial arts families are the most popular.

  On the morning of the first day, fifty-two people were enrolled at the Jingzhaocheng registration point, which was beyond Hu Qinger's expectation.

  Li Yanqing came to the registration point for inspection at noon. The chief officer in charge of the registration was Hu Cao Yasi, named Han Cheng. When he saw the fellow judge coming, he quickly got up and saluted, "See fellow judge!"

   "Han Yasi, how is the recruitment situation?"

   "Reporting to my colleagues, it's not bad. Fifty-two people have been admitted, and almost one out of every three people has been admitted."

  At this time, a fit young lady ran out of the courtyard and shouted excitedly, "Daddy, I've been admitted!"

Her father is an honest middle-aged farmer, squatting on the ridge in the corner in a daze. From the patched clothes of the father and daughter, it can be seen that their family is poor. When the middle-aged man heard that his daughter had been admitted, he immediately Standing up excitedly, his old mother was sick in bed, waiting for her daughter's 20 cents of family allowance to save her life.

   "Daughter! What should we do next?"

  Seeing that he was running around in a hurry, Li Yanqing smiled and said, "Since you have been admitted, you can officially register."

"well!"

The middle-aged man hurriedly brought his daughter to the table, the registrar asked a question, they said a word, and the registration was completed soon, and the fingerprint was pressed. Li Yanqing looked at the registration form of the young lady, Zhu Feng, sixteen years old, A native of Lintong County, Jingzhao Prefecture.

At this time, a soldier put a small willow basket on the table, and Li Yanqing took a twenty-percent reunion from Han Cheng, handed it to the middle-aged man and said, "This is your daughter's twenty-percent home." Fei, any money shop in the city can be exchanged for cash. From now on, she is a member of the Jingzhao Army. According to the rules of the army, she will go to the barracks for training today, and she will have one day off every ten days. You can visit her Daughter, or write a letter."

   "Then ask the general to take care of my daughter."

  The middle-aged man told his daughter a few more words, turned around and left, Li Yanqing handed the willow basket to the young lady again, "Here are your military uniform and two sheepskins!"

  When the young lady saw two sheepskins in the basket, her eyes lit up and she shouted, "Daddy, wait a minute!"

  The man had just walked more than a dozen steps, and stopped again. The young lady ran up and handed the sheepskin to her father, "Give these two sheepskins to grandma!"

  A soldier next to her couldn't help reminding her: "Little girl, these two sheepskins are your army blankets. You should put them under your body when you sleep at night, otherwise you will catch cold."

  Xiao Niang whispered for a long time: "Grandmother is sick, she is afraid of the cold at night."

She bit her lip, and still gave her father two sheepskins to take to her grandmother. Seeing her father staggering away, Li Yanqing shook his head and said to the soldier: "For the sake of her filial piety, give her another piece of sheepskin." share!"

  The soldier took two more sheepskins and handed them to the young lady. The young lady bowed to Li Yanqing, "Thank you, General!"

  Li Yanqing smiled slightly, "Go! Train hard, and strive to be rewarded for meritorious service as soon as possible."

"Why!"

  Xiao Niang nodded happily, and followed the soldiers to the side door with several other admitted girls. After changing uniforms, they will be the first batch of female soldiers to follow the general Hu Sanniang to the barracks.

  Li Yanqing didn't come here specifically to inspect the recruitment of female soldiers today. He had other important arrangements. After leaving the female soldier recruitment site, Li Yanqing brought a few soldiers to Qiao's Firm in Beicheng.

   Qiao's Firm is one of the largest firms in Northwest China, mainly engaged in fur and oil business. Bao Yanzhai purchased beef tallow from Xixia and the Western Regions through Qiao's Firm.

The head office of Qiao's firm is in Taiyuan Prefecture, and the store in Jingzhaofu is also the foundation of the firm. Li Yanqing's dealings with Qiao's firm was during the Song Xia War a few years ago, and Qiao's firm helped them obtain a lot of important information. Li Yanqing was also a member of the Intelligence Department of the Hedong Army.

  Li Yanqing walked into the firm, and a steward came out to greet him, "May I ask what's the matter?"

   "I'm friends with your proprietor, the Qiao Brothers. I don't know if they are in Jingzhao Mansion?"

Intuition tells Li Yanqing that the Qiao brothers should be in Jingzhao Mansion, and the Jinxia two countries are fighting in Yunzhou, which directly threatens the safety of Taiyuan. As a businessman's nature of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, the possibility of the Qiao brothers leaving Taiyuan is extremely high, or Either hide in the capital, or hide in Jingzhao. In comparison, coming to Jingzhao is more likely.

  The steward laughed quickly and said: "Coincidentally, the second proprietor of my family just arrived in Jingzhao Mansion a few days ago, and he is now in the firm. I'm going to report now, who is the official?"

   "You are Li Yanqing, the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, visiting!"

  The steward was taken aback, "So it's Li Tongzhi, the villain just ignored me!"

   "You're welcome, go and report, I'll wait here for a while."

   "Please go to the living room and sit for a while, I will report."

  Li Yanqing nodded, and followed an attendant to the guest room to sit down. As soon as he sat down, he heard a hearty laugh, "Li Tongzhi, I haven't seen you for many years!"

  Seeing Qiao Zhongan, the second eldest of the Qiao brothers, appear in the hall, Li Yanqing got up and smiled slightly, "Are you safe, Master Qiao?"

  Qiao Zhongan walked in and said with a smile: "I have been to Baoyanzhai several times and wanted to visit officials, but your father said that you are in Jiayu County, so I have never had the opportunity."

   "Thank you, Second Proprietor, for remembering me. I came to Jingzhao at the end of last year, and it has been less than half a year now."

   "So that's the case, no wonder I don't know, please sit down, officials!"

  The two sat down, and a maid served them tea. Li Yanqing picked up the teacup and asked with a smile, "How is the situation in Taiyuan?"

Qiao Zhong'an shook his head, sighed and said: "Jinbing and Xixia have been fighting for Yunzhou for a month. I heard that the battle is very tragic. A large number of Yunzhou people fled to Taiyuan. When I came to Jingzhao Mansion, I didn't expect Li Tongzhi to be in charge of Jingzhao Mansion's military!"

  Li Yanqing took a sip of tea, and asked again: "How much does the second proprietor know about the specific battle situation in Yunzhou?"

  (end of this chapter)

Chapter end