I am Fugui

Chapter 72

Putting on a dark green raincoat, Jiazhen's needlework was very good. He vaguely remembered that when Jiazhen first came to Xu's house, she was a lady who knew only how to play piano, chess, calligraphy and painting.

But in just five or six years, needlework, meals, laundry, and various housework became very proficient.

Moreover, Xu's mother also admitted that now Jiazhen's needlework is better than hers, and the food is more delicious.

Green out of blue and better than blue, Jiazhen seems to be one of Xu's mother's proudest points.

This raincoat was made by Jiazhen and Xu's mother together. The stitches are so tightly sewn that there are no traces of stitching unless you look carefully, as if the canvas is naturally the shape of a raincoat.

The raincoat was very long, hanging down to the knees, and had a big hat, and an inner bag was sewn into the raincoat.

After putting on the raincoat and hat, he put on a bamboo hat and stepped on straw sandals. He waved to Feng Xia, walked out of the yard, and disappeared into the thick fog.

The spring rain has not yet ended, and there is a continuous drizzle in the thick fog. Don't look at it as just a drizzle, and it will wet the bamboo hats in a short while. The thick fog is full of moisture, and a layer of fog has condensed on the surface of the raincoat.

The dirt path was full of mud, and there was a footprint when one stepped down, and within two steps, a pair of big feet were covered with yellow mud.

After another two-hour journey, when we arrived near Yunxi County, the rain intensified a little, the fog became thicker, and the scene 20 meters away looked a little blurry.

As before, I didn't rush into the county seat, turned down from the dirt road, rinsed off the mud on my feet in the Yunxi River, wiped off the water stains, and then put on the cloth shoes.

The river water in the early spring was still extremely cold. In addition to the rainy weather, even though I was wearing cotton clothes, I was still shivering from the cold.

Walking into the county seat, as soon as I walked into the city gate, I saw a group of people gathered around a place.

The nature of watching the excitement prompted him to walk over, relying on his superhuman height, through a group of heads, he saw a huge wooden sign standing inside.

Inscribed in three large black characters in charcoal on it—Conscription Office.

Next to the wooden sign stood two soldiers in yellow leather clothes, holding rifles and steel helmets, and there was also a wooden table.

Sitting behind the wooden table was a middle-aged man in a Chinese tunic suit, with a poster for conscription posted on the back.

The middle-aged man looked at the crowd and introduced enthusiastically: "In order to protect everyone from outside bullying, we have started conscription, which has many benefits."

"As long as you sign up, we will immediately give you a settling allowance of [-] French coins. In addition, after serving as a soldier, you can take care of food and housing every day, and you can get [-] French coins every month."

"If there is a combat mission, in addition to [-] French currency per day, there is also a reward of more than [-] French currency for meritorious service. As long as you have served in the army for more than five years, you can still get [-] French currency when you leave the army."

"There are many benefits. Everyone actively signs up and actively promotes it. Everyone will unite to protect this hard-won peace."

Everyone heard a commotion and asked whether it was true or not.

Although the legal currency has depreciated sharply, due to the arrival of peace, legal currency transactions are becoming more and more popular in the south, and the value fluctuations are very small.

Therefore, people have more trust in legal currency, and the conditions given by this Chinese tunic suit are quite rich.

If he didn't tell lies, it would be more cost-effective to be a soldier than to farm.

The Chinese tunic continued: "Of course it is true, but we also have conditions for conscription, not for those who are too old, not for those who are too young, and not for those who are weak. Those with battlefield experience are preferred."

Although the discussion was very heated among the people, some people also asked: "Now that everything is peaceful, why is there still a need for conscription? Could it be that there is going to be another war?"

"Yeah, there won't be another war, then I can't bear to let my kid suffer death."

Hearing the words, the Chinese tunic immediately stood up and explained: "There is no war, so please don't make random guesses. You all know how much we spent to get Sakura to surrender."

"Although it's peaceful now, we still need to prevent other foreign devils from harassing us, so we need to replenish our army. Don't worry, we won't let you go to the battlefield."

The Chinese tunic suit made a strong promise, but still no one signed up.

How could such an important matter as joining the army be decided by himself.

Even if you are tempted, you have to go back and discuss it with your family.

The middle-aged man seemed a little anxious, and he was still vigorously promoting it. There were stacks of French coins on the table to attract people to join the army.

Xu Fugui stopped and watched for a while, looking at the middle-aged man with disgust in his eyes.

He didn't know this middle-aged man, but this man must have something to do with the southern army. In his previous life, he was captured by the southern army as a strong man and suffered for several years.

In the end, although she saved her life from the battlefield, when she returned home, Fengxia became deaf and dumb due to a fever, and Jiazhen was also overworked, which left hidden dangers for future osteomalacia.

As for Xu's mother, she missed him and left early within a few months after he was arrested.

All this was caused by the southern troops.

At this moment Xu Fugui really wanted to go out and expose the middle-aged people's claims loudly. If they were not preparing for the war, why would they come to conscript.

But he didn't have the courage after all. He was a selfish person who only wanted to protect his family.

The life and death of others has little to do with him.

In another half a year, the war will resume. During that time, he will find a way to stay in the village and not come to the county, so as to avoid being dragged into a strong man.

Walking in through the city gate, he walked against the crowd, and more and more people rushed to the city gate to see if being a soldier really had such a good treatment.

The bluestone floor in the city was also wet from the rain, and the sewage flowed across the potholes, emitting an unpleasant stench.

Carefully avoiding these puddles, stepped on the raised bluestone slabs, all the way to the street where Wang's Restaurant is located.

"Brother Kang, happy new year, I wish you a prosperous business and a lot of money."

When he came to the kangbaozi stall, Xu Fugui said hello.

Kang Baozi didn't recognize him for a while, until he took off his bamboo hat and raincoat hat, he suddenly said: "It's Fugui, I haven't seen you for a while, do you still have a braised meat stall? Sigh, don't talk about making money Guangjin, it’s good to have something to eat.”

Xu Fugui put on his raincoat and hat again, and held the bamboo hat in his hand, "Where do you get the money if you want to do it? Isn't this today to see if the business is good?"

Kang Baozi shook his head and sighed, "Maybe it's the end of the Chinese New Year, and few people come to the county. Business is not as good as before, but the business of the seed shop has improved."

"It's spring, and it's time to plow the land, so the business of the seed shop can't be good.

Chatting with Kang Baozi for a while, I found out that the business in the county is very difficult to do, especially the excessive and miscellaneous taxes.

Xu Fugui sighed a little sadly, he didn't have much food for farming, and he couldn't make much money from doing business, so how was life going.
(End of this chapter)