After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times
Chapter 161 - 155 Recruiting Soldiers 1

Chapter 161: Chapter 155 Recruiting Soldiers 1

Zhao Hanzhang handed the two envoys from the county government to Zhao Ming and returned to Shangcai with Zhao Erlang.

She directly set up a table on the official road into Shangcai, had people place two baskets of money and a cart of grain by the roadside, and openly recruited soldiers with drums and gongs.

Refugees passing by stopped to watch.

Those alone and without help did not hesitate to step forward to inquire about the conditions for enlistment, learning that as long as they were young, obedient, and willing to endure hardships, they’d qualify.

Of course, it was even better if they had special skills, or were strong and fit, could ride a horse, knew martial arts, or had great strength. Any talent would mean higher pay and status in the army.

Ji Yuan sat beside her, helping with the recruitment.

Because there were many people fleeing, Zhao Hanzhang didn’t only recruit single men; she also accepted entire families, promising them arrangements to plow and farm the land with food available monthly.

Indeed, those who came to rely on them firmly refused to become tenant farmers, even rejecting Zhao Hanzhang’s offer of land gifts. They only agreed to work as long-term laborers or sign indentured contracts as long as their families had food to eat.

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t understand, so she took advantage of Ji Yuan handling the recruitment to squat beside a soldier she had just recruited and asked, "I just offered you land, why weren’t you the least bit tempted?"

The soldier, seeing Zhao Hanzhang, immediately stood up to salute, but Zhao Hanzhang stopped him, "Sit down, sit down, no need for formalities."

The soldier squatted down too, cautiously saying, "I feel being a slave is quite good, as long as I work hard, I can have food without worrying about livelihood."

Zhao Hanzhang asked, "With your own land, wouldn’t working hard yield more harvest?"

The soldier shook his head, "I also have land, totaling twenty-eight acres, but it’s useless."

Zhao Hanzhang was surprised, "Why is it useless?"

"We can’t survive," he said, "Last autumn, Yingchuan began to suffer from drought early on, leading to a poor harvest, and then winter brought a snow disaster, causing much of our winter wheat to die."

"This spring, rain has been scarce. We knew this year would be tough as soon as the snow melted, with only thirty percent of the wheat surviving. It was so dry, even the remaining wheat died. We wanted to switch to spring wheat or try planting rice, but it’s not possible."

He added, "There’s not a drop of water, even drinking water is scarce, let alone for farming. The government demands summer and autumn taxes, I have already sold my wife and a son and a daughter, now only this one and my old father are left, I can’t sell them."

"I’ve figured it out, farming on my own won’t work; I must rely on big landlords. We work and get food; the taxes are paid by the landlord. We just need to obey and we can survive." The soldier paused, asking Zhao Hanzhang, "Miss, if I die in battle, will you truly support my father and son as you said?"

Zhao Hanzhang looked at his dark, weathered face; he didn’t speak, revealing he was only twenty-two, yet appeared like a man in his forties, even with some white hair.

She nodded, "Since you’ve signed the indenture contract, you are all under my care. I will certainly provide."

He didn’t seem entirely convinced, but he relaxed, showing a smile, "Miss is a kind-hearted person."

Zhao Hanzhang smiled at him, feeling somewhat heavy-hearted as she stood.

Many held similar views, preferring to sign indentured contracts or long-term labor contracts, ignoring her attractive offers of land and cheap rent, only asking about their salary or food each month.

Zhao Hanzhang sighed softly, sitting beside Ji Yuan, "Times are hard."

Ji Yuan turned to glance at her, indifferent, "When there’s no righteousness above, heaven sends punishment, nothing can be done."

"Punishment from heaven?" Zhao Hanzhang murmured, "This surely feels like natural and human disasters striking together; is it due to the Little Ice Age in the northern hemisphere?"

Ji Yuan didn’t hear clearly, turned to ask, "What did you say, miss?"

"Nothing, just expressing thoughts. In such difficult times, without stability, the people may find it hard to endure these disasters."

Ji Yuan muttered, "Only if a genius emerged from the Sima family."

Zhao Hanzhang, "It would take an extraordinary genius to suppress the ambitions of the Sima family. Alas, having too many relatives with too wide feudal grants isn’t good either."

Ji Yuan agreed deeply, intending to discuss further with Zhao Hanzhang when he saw the clip-clop of an approaching carriage, quickly lowering his voice, "Miss, County Magistrate Chai is here."

Zhao Hanzhang turned her head, finally seeing the carriage rushing from the side and rear.

Before the stopped carriage had stabilized, County Magistrate Chai hurriedly supported Chang Ning out.

Seeing many people lined up before Zhao Hanzhang, extending far, all here to seek refuge, with more standing around, he quickly lifted his robe and trotted over, "Third Lady, what are you doing?"

Zhao Hanzhang stood and saluted with a smile, "County Lord, I am recruiting soldiers."

"You, you can’t privately recruit a military force!"

Zhao Hanzhang promptly produced the Recruitment Order for him to see, "I am not recruiting privately, this is orders; look here."

County Magistrate Chai opened it to see, unexpectedly finding that the Inspector had truly given her a Recruitment Order, rendered speechless for a while, "This, this shouldn’t be recruiting in Shangcai County; it clearly states that it is a special authorization to recruit in Xiping County; the Third Lady should recruit soldiers in Xiping."

"Xiping County just had a battle, there aren’t many people," Zhao Hanzhang said, "Don’t worry, I won’t take your people. That’s why I set up camp at the crossroads for recruitment; all those coming here are refugees. Couldn’t Shangcai County also collect so many refugees now?"

"Oh dear," County Magistrate Chai stomped his foot, "Not just refugees, there are also people from our Shangcai County mixed in."

"Impossible," Zhao Hanzhang declared righteously, "They have land and home here, being good citizens is much better. Who would want to be soldiers or sell themselves as servants?"

"It’s just to avoid tax," County Magistrate Chai looked around and quickly pinpointed individuals, "That one, that one, and those few are troublemakers; failing to pay taxes leads to fleeing, and I didn’t expect them to end up here with the Third Lady."

"You might recruit refugees, I won’t stop you, but you can’t recruit people from Shangcai. With your recruitment point here, the locals hear the news and many are flocking."

Zhao Hanzhang quickly replied, "I didn’t know they were Shangcai people; they claimed to be from Yingchuan or escaped from Yu Yang, and I believed them. How could I know they were deceiving me?"

County Magistrate Chai tentatively asked, "So will the Third Lady hand them over to me to take back?"

Handing them over to County Magistrate Chai would almost mean death, serving prison time under the law for tax evasion with a severe penalty of beheading, lighter punishment involves jail time.

Better to work the land under her than sit in jail.