Chapter 28

In midsummer, the rice fields outside the city were a golden hue, and the sun shone brilliantly.

In front of the Guan Gong Temple at the south gate of Macheng County, a few copper gongs sounded, attracting a large crowd of people who had come to the market early in the morning to buy and sell.

Under the row of large willow trees in front of the Guan Gong Temple, several wooden tables were set up, and a line of people stood in front of them, all wearing red robes similar to military uniforms. One of them was energetically beating a gong, while two flagpoles were planted on the side. One flag read "Recruitment," and the other was embroidered with the words "Militia."

A literate person stood there and introduced the situation to the surrounding crowd, "It looks like they are recruiting militia soldiers."

A large circle was drawn on the ground in front of the flagpoles with lime, and several strong young men were maintaining order, preventing the crowd from crossing the line.

The person in charge of recruitment was Liu Jun. Yesterday, he had brought a group of brothers and Lu Xueqi to the county town. After meeting with Li Chunjiang, Li Chunjiang was originally supposed to come and preside over the recruitment today, but due to some last-minute matters, he delegated the task to Liu Jun. He also sent a few servants, but it was clear that these Li family servants did not take Liu Jun, the future deputy commander of the cavalry, very seriously.

Although they were present, they were deliberately slacking off, sitting on the side, yawning lazily, and not caring about the recruitment at all.

Liu Jun was well aware of their thoughts but did not bother to pay attention to them. After all, he now had about ten brothers to help him, and he did not need these guys to do any work. Without their interference, things would be even easier. As someone who had served in the military for seven years in his previous life and had been in the martial arts for two years in this life, recruiting a few militia soldiers was not a challenge for Liu Jun.

Liu Jun looked at the growing crowd attracted by the gong sounds and smiled with satisfaction.

"Move our wooden dummies to the left."

"Old Three, read out our recruitment conditions to everyone."

"Sure thing," Wang Qian replied. He pasted the recruitment notices on the willow tree trunks and read them out loud.

"Everyone, listen up. This is the militia cavalry established by Scholar Jieyuan's son, Li Chunjiang, and Lord Liu Jiyeh from Xibay. It is under the command of Lord Mei of Shen Village's militia. Those who wish to join should sign up at the front. If you meet the conditions and are accepted, you will receive five taels of silver as a settlement fee, and then two taels of silver per month as salary. Additionally, you will receive six dou of grain per month, clothing, shoes, and other supplies..."

Wang Qian's loud voice immediately excited the crowd.

"Is this real? Two taels of silver per month? And six dou of grain?" A young man who had brought a string of fish to sell in the city asked loudly.

"Even socks are provided," a middle-aged man holding a basket of eggs said excitedly.

"Salt, oil, and pickles too!" An old woman driving a donkey shouted, not wanting to be left out.

"It must be a scam. There's no way the conditions could be this good," a merchant in a long robe, who considered himself well-informed, said disbelievingly. "I heard that the government in Shaanxi recruits soldiers for only ten taels of silver per year. How can the recruitment of militia soldiers offer so much silver? It's a scam, definitely a scam."

"Brother, be careful what you say. Don't you see who is recruiting? The government recruits soldiers for less money, but this is Li Chunjiang's recruitment. The treatment is different. Who is Li Chunjiang? He is a scholar and a genius from the family of the Minister of the Four Departments."

"Exactly, and it's also part of Lord Mei's militia," someone shouted.

The merchant, red-faced and embarrassed, still refused to back down. "I don't believe it. I'll stay here and see if it's real or not."

Many young people, however, ignored the merchant and started asking Wang Qian how to sign up. Soon, a large number of young people surged towards the registration desk.

The salary of two taels of silver per month was very tempting. To put it in perspective, the patrol soldiers of the government, who were selected from the sons of good families in the region, usually from families with fifty to sixty acres of land, initially served as a form of labor. After the implementation of the single-whip tax system, various forms of labor were paid in silver, but they still had to serve. The patrol soldiers received only seven taels of silver per year for their labor and food.

Similarly, the soldiers in the express post stations received about the same amount, and those serving in various other roles, such as fast classes, strong classes, and warehouse guards, received even less.

Although Macheng was a wealthy area, most of the land was concentrated in the hands of a few landlords and gentry, so most people relied on tenant farming or manual labor for a living.

What about the wages of craftsmen at that time? Generally, there were two types: craftsmen and laborers, each divided into long-term and short-term workers. Craftsmen earned more than laborers, and long-term workers earned more than short-term workers, but the difference was not significant. Different trades had different wages.

For example, a painter earned six fen of silver per day, a bookbinder earned seven fen of silver per day, a charcoal carrier and a tent builder earned five fen of silver per day, a porter earned twelve fen of silver per day, and a female sedan bearer earned forty-eight fen of silver per day. A cleaner earned only two fen of silver per day.

In general, a common laborer in Macheng, if engaged in non-technical work, earned about three to four fen of silver per day. For more physically demanding jobs, the daily wage might be five fen of silver, and for skilled craftsmen, it was about five to seven fen of silver per day.

One tael of silver was equal to ten qian, and one qian was equal to ten fen.

A common laborer without skills earned about three to four fen of silver per day, and if they worked thirty days a month, they would earn about one to one and a half taels of silver.

Now, Liu Jun was offering a salary of two taels of silver per month for the recruitment. Additionally, there were six dou of grain per month, clothing, shoes, and other supplies, and a substantial settlement fee of five taels of silver.

This was far beyond what a skilled craftsman could earn in a month, and who wouldn't be tempted? Besides, it was just a militia, not a government army, and both the Li and Mei families had good reputations, so people were not afraid of being scammed.

Many people signed up, including young men, some middle-aged men, and even some old men with white hair, as well as some weak and small individuals.

Zhang Shan and a few others stood there, with several wooden dummies placed nearby.

The first criterion for the applicants was height.

These wooden dummies were hastily made by a carpenter yesterday and were quite rough, but they had a human shape. Their purpose was to measure height, and each dummy was five feet two inches tall. In the Ming Dynasty, one foot was about thirty-two centimeters, so five feet two inches was about 1.66 meters.

Setting this height standard was not particularly high but was also not low. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the people in the south were generally not very tall, so 1.66 meters was considered relatively tall.

"See these wooden dummies? You must be taller than them. The age requirement is between eighteen and twenty-eight years old."

The first recruitment criterion was height, and the second was age. Liu Jun required the recruits to be between eighteen and twenty-eight years old. Too young or too old was not suitable. Although he could have set the upper limit at forty or even forty-five, since the conditions were so good, Liu Jun decided to recruit as many young people as possible.

These two criteria immediately discouraged a large number of eager applicants. Many were either too old or too short.

"I'm only thirty, I'm still young, and I'm much more suitable than those inexperienced guys," a few men in their thirties shouted, but the standards were the standards, and there was no room for negotiation.

At this point, the Li family's servants, who Liu Jun had assigned to the task, showed no mercy. They coldly pushed the protesting individuals to the side. They stood like door gods, preventing anyone who did not meet the criteria from passing.

However, even those who passed the height and age requirements were not out of the woods yet. Many more tests awaited them.

Those who passed the height and age tests were led to one side. Liu Jun nodded in satisfaction. Macheng was indeed a wealthy and populous place, and even though many areas in the late Ming Dynasty were struggling, this place seemed to be less affected.

"The third test is strength. Here is a row of stone locks, ranging from one hundred to three hundred pounds. Choose the one that suits your strength and try a few times. After the test, each person can go to the other end to get two steamed buns to eat," Liu Jun announced to the group who had passed the first two tests.

The first test was height, the second was age, and the third was strength.

The minimum standard was to lift two fifty-pound stone locks with both hands and hold them ten times. Of course, the more strength one had, the better, and the higher the score. If one could lift and wield the 200-pound Green Dragon Crescent Blade borrowed from the Guan Gong Temple, they would receive the highest score.

Many were mercilessly eliminated at the third test. Even the minimum requirement of lifting two fifty-pound stone locks ten times was not something everyone could do. Most could not, so they could only take two steamed buns and watch from the sidelines.

Although many were eliminated, they were still satisfied to receive two fragrant steamed buns.

At the table, a Li family servant watched the scene and frowned, saying with a dismissive smile, "Why make it so complicated? Just bring out the horses and the bows, and let them try riding and shooting."

This man had broad shoulders and a narrow back, with a full beard, and was clearly the leader of the Li family's servants.

Liu Jun smiled and said, "Macheng is not in the north, nor is it one of the nine border regions. There aren't many people who can ride and shoot. So, I can only try to select the closest match. We will recruit a group of young and strong men and train them when we return."

"Those who pass the strength test, take them over there and let them try riding the horses," Liu Jun said to the bearded man. "You are the expert in this area, so you will personally conduct the test."

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