1635 Han style rises again

March 1681, 3, Hot Springs.

In early autumn, there is already a busy scene in the vast fields.In addition to the busy adults, sweating like rain in the farmland, trying their best to harvest the mature crops, there are also countless children in it, helping their parents and doing some farm work within their ability.

In the countryside of Qi, almost every child in the family (except infants), no matter what age, does a lot of work.Whether they are temporary farm laborers or parents' helpers, they can help parents get more remuneration and harvest.

The demand for "child labor" is very large during the harvest season, which can be seen from the holiday schedule of schools at all levels in the traditional Qi State.Women's and children's work is usually more mechanical, such as collecting felled straw, binding them into bundles, and stacking them together for fuel, or picking up abandoned ears of wheat in the field, and driving carts (carts) to carry grain.

In addition, such labor is required for picking peas, digging potatoes, selecting hops, and breaking corn.Weeding farmland basically also needs to be completed by manpower. For some farmers who are unable to do what they want, it is a good economic choice to hire a few idle children.

Boys generally do some crude or dirty work, cleaning up stables, sheepfolds, and composting.Girls were generally responsible for gathering and binding the cut stalks, milking the cows, and collecting grain scattered in the fields.

Of course, in different regions of Qi, the children are responsible for different farm work. Some can manage wool, while others can fold and weave wooden baskets.They are all trying to help the family "make ends meet."As for collecting firewood, chopping firewood, fetching water, and tending the vegetable garden or nursery, it is the daily work of the children.

In the big cities in the north, even many factory owners "kindly" hired a large number of children to work in the factory so that their immature shoulders could share the financial burden of the family, and a large part of them were under the age of 14.Compared with adult men, children's wages are less than two-thirds, or even only one-half, which will be the best choice for those economically minded factory owners.

Although, some scholars and educators have expressed their dissatisfaction with this, thinking that this move is a kind of devastation for the youth of the Qi State, and a squandering of the future of the Qi State.Children under the age of 16 should continue to receive education and acquire more knowledge and skills.This not only has economic significance for children, but also fosters more high-quality citizens for the whole country, thereby enhancing the country's future competitiveness.

However, in the eyes of ordinary people, a boy working in a factory can earn a lot of money. For the whole family, it is an important way to increase income.

From about the age of 14, boys earn more than their mothers; and by the age of sixteen or seventeen, many boys even earn more than their fathers.

For more than 40 years, although women in Qi State have participated in social labor extensively, their salaries are generally very low.Even for the same jobs as men, women earn half or two-thirds what their fathers, husbands, and brothers earn.In many factories, some jobs are clearly divided, and men and women do slightly different tasks, which to some extent masks this income gap.But even the most skilled and hardworking female workers struggle to get better wages.

Before the age of thirteen or fourteen, the children's salary is usually very low - about two or three yuan a month, so for boys, it is better for boys to take care of younger siblings or do housework at home than to go out to work part-time or do temporary work. Sex work makes more sense.A boy who helps out at home can let his mother go out to work. Although the mother does not earn much, it is at least comparable to children under the age of twelve or thirteen.

Once boys reach the age of 14, full-time employment becomes their best option.At present, an adult man in Qi State can earn 8-10 yuan a month from the factory, while his 13-year-old son can earn four or five yuan.If you are lucky, a boy of fifteen or sixteen years old can even earn 8-9 yuan, and only higher.

At this time, mothers often give up their original jobs and take over all housework from their children. This "strategy" can maximize family income.In urban areas, many working families rely on their children's income as much as their adults. Boys are the second-line workers in the family. If a family has many earning boys, adult men don't even have to be responsible for supporting the family.

Almost without exception, the money the boys earned went to their mothers, who gave them small pocket money as pocket money, and used the rest for necessary household expenses.A money-making boy in the family always greatly improves the other children's meals, and every child knows that.

"At that time, whenever I handed over my salary to my mother, I felt extremely proud and satisfied when I saw her gratified expression." Lu Fangqiang, a tactical instructor at the Daxing Army School, watched as he was busy shuttling through the farmland. As a child, I seem to have seen myself when I was a child, "I can make money for the family, and I feel like a real man. At home, I can enjoy the priority treatment at mealtimes like my father, and I can have a drink. Drinking wine, you can have your own single bed."

Liao Xiuyi's arms were wrapped in bandages, hanging around his neck, leaning against the wall of the carriage, quietly listening to Lu Fangqiang's story about his youth.

"Then why did you think of joining the army again?" a student soldier asked curiously.

"In the 28th year of Qianwu (1670), I Daqi launched a war against the Kingdom of Mataland. I saw groups of mighty and majestic army officers and soldiers boarding ships to Kaihua Island (now Java) at the wharf of Weihai (now Cairns, Australia) Isle), that scene, I was immediately shocked. At that time, I thought, hey, shit, if you want to be a real man, a real man, is there a more suitable career than joining the army?"

"So, you joined the army and stayed there for 11 years and never wanted to retire?"

"If the army doesn't dislike me, I would like to be a soldier for the rest of my life." Lu Fangqiang reached out and wiped the five-pointed cap badge on the brim of his hat, "If you want me to wear the civilian clothes again, I will feel bad! As the author said, our Daqi army is invincible and invincible, and as a member of it, you can experience the sense of pride and honor that ordinary people do not have."

"Unfortunately, we lost to the Jianye Army Academy in this confrontation exercise." Qi Guangzheng said regretfully while sitting at the back of the car.

"No way, whoever equips them with more advanced weapons, this battle has just started, and we are judged to be half killed." Lu Fangqiang said with a wry smile: "Even in the end, we gather all our troops and rush out of Gangu Fort , and launched a bayonet charge against them, but it was useless and only increased casualties."

More than 20 days ago, the confrontation drill between the Daxing Army Academy and the Jianye Army Academy lasted less than three hours in Gangu Fort, and ended with the nearly annihilation of more than 200 cadets from the Daxing Army Academy.

Facing the battlefield carefully arranged by the cadets of the Daxing Army School in Gangu Fort, the opponent did not follow the established routine at all. After two small-scale tentative attacks, they moved out the latest large-caliber mortar developed by the Montenegro Military Factory. , constantly throwing "blooming bombs (shrapnel)" at Gangu Fort, which is to use a shell to wrap countless small iron balls and launch them out, let them fly over the enemy's position and explode the small iron balls in them, then these small iron balls The ball then maintains the deadly speed of the shell, shooting enemies around it.

After five rounds of shrapnel bombardment, the combat staff sent by the Ministry of the Army made an assessment and determined that half of the cadets at the Daxing Army School located in Gangu Fort were killed.

Afterwards, when the defenders of Gangu Fort assembled all the artillery and intensively bombarded the enemy's howitzer artillery positions outside the city, they retreated 500 meters in the opposite direction.Just before the cheers of the defenders fell, the Jianye Army School used the improved version of the rocket to carry out a saturated attack on Gangu Fort in the form of fire coverage.

Under such circumstances, more than 40 cadets of the Daxing Army Academy were judged to have died in battle, making the entire defenders less than [-] and on the verge of collapse.

Unwilling to fail, the defenders, under the command of the tactical instructor, held muskets and launched a bayonet charge towards the enemy outside the city.In the end, less than ten people were able to kill in front of the enemy, and they were gathered into hedgehogs by the opponent's dense bayonet array.

The heroic student Liao Xiuyi was unwilling to "sacrifice" for this. After being judged dead in battle, he still charged left and right with a musket.His behavior successfully angered the opponent, and he was blackhanded, his arm was twisted, and he was firmly pressed to the ground.

"People in the Jianye Military Academy don't follow the rules!" A cadet soldier yelled: "How can there be such a war? They don't even teach the basic tactical skills, and directly use shrapnel bombardment to kill and injure my defenders in large numbers. Covering the battlefield with rockets, disregarding the casualties of the civilians in the city... Isn't this just relying on brute force to fight!"

"Rules?" Lu Fangqiang sneered, "Our Qi State used all kinds of advanced firearms to bully those Nanyang natives, and when we attacked Japan and the Mughal Empire, we defeated their troops and killed their generals. Why did we ever tell them Follow the rules? Use advanced weapons to avoid close contact with the enemy, thereby reducing your own casualties. This is also a tactical skill! The lives of myself and my subordinates, inflicting the greatest damage on the enemy, and winning the final victory. As for the choice of tactics and skills, naturally there is no need to use them to the extreme, let alone any rules!"

More than [-] cadets and soldiers from the two military academies, Daxing and Jianye, rested in Wenquan Town for two days, and then took the train to Jianye City, preparing to practice the next stage of military subjects - beach landing operations.

March 3, night, nine o'clock.

When the train arrived at Yongxing (now the small town of Adelaide River in northern Australia), it was thought that it was just a stop. After adding coal and water, the locomotive would continue to drive towards Jianye City.But for some reason, the train did not start for a long time. Instead, all the passengers were asked out of the carriage one by one, causing a burst of confusion.

"Wow, there are so many policemen, gendarmes, and armed local soldiers on the platform..." The trainee soldiers in the carriage lay down on the edge of the window and looked out.

With the help of dozens of gas lamps on the platform, dozens of policemen and gendarmes can be seen leading the complaining passengers towards the outside of the station. More than 200 armed town soldiers, led by reserve officers, carry their bags , carrying muskets and boarded the train one by one.

"Are these township soldiers cooperating with us in military exercises?"

"It can't be. There is a battalion of the army stationed in the Black Mountain Army Camp. Why don't you let the soldiers from the village accompany us in the confrontation drill?"

"Could it be that the natives in the Nanyang region have rebelled, and need to urgently dispatch soldiers from the mainland to support them?"

"Nonsense! The local soldiers haven't gone out to fight for more than 20 or [-] years. If this is really a rebellion in the Nanyang region, relying on the two governors of Xuanhua (today's Timor Island) and Kaihua (today's Java Island) The garrison army and the armed town soldiers can also be easily pacified, and they will never ask for help from the mainland!"

"Then these country soldiers in full armor are taking the train with us, what are they going to do?"

"Could it be that there are a few desperadoes who need the cooperation of these armed local soldiers to round up?"

"That's not right. If there are desperadoes in other places, why not mobilize the local armed village soldiers, but draw them from Yongxing?... I think it must be something big in the north!"

"..."

"The native coolies in the Kaiyuan (now Humpty Doo, northern Australia) mine rioted!"

An instructor of a military school lieutenant (captain) said to the cadets in the carriage with a serious face: "At the request of the Jianye Mansion and the order of the Northern Command of the Army, all the cadets of our military academy will be temporarily recruited to go to Kaiyuan to quell the native riots." Remind everyone, this is not a drill! This is an actual battle with real guns and live ammunition, to suppress those daring native coolies! In the next battle, all your performances will be recorded in the graduation evaluation."

"Instructor, do we need live ammunition?"

"What do you think?" The military captain looked at the student who asked the question mockingly, "If you think the bayonet stabbing technique is excellent, you can also show your personal bravery to those natives!"

"Instructor, how many are those natives?...Could they have already reached Kaiyuan City?" A student who lives in Kaiyuan asked worriedly.

"The number of rioting natives is about [-]." The military captain thought for a while, and then said: "As for whether they have invaded Kaiyuan City, I don't know. The order given to us is to take the train. Arrive at Kaiyuan as quickly as possible. Well, boys, check your bags and weapons, and throw away unnecessary things. Let's go to the first battle of your military career together!"

Ai Cheng and several Qin students couldn't help but looked at each other, with shocked expressions on their faces.

There is also civil strife in Qi!