coobybook Chapter 429: Conscripted Men 2
Chapter 429: Conscripted Men 2
The Taoist priest thought about it and nodded in agreement, "It is very likely. Apart from this reason, what else could make these honest farmers ignore their fields, wives and children and run to the mountains. And judging from their appearance, they have obviously been in the mountains for several days."
Although Lu Chuan and the Taoist priest were only guessing, they already had the answer in their hearts. After all, it was the autumn planting season, and if it weren't for the conscription of able-bodied men, why would these farmers run to the mountains?
Moreover, the group of people we just met were all men between fifteen and forty years old, all of whom were the strong laborers of the family. Apart from them, there were no women or girls.
Hearing this, Lu Chuan didn't know what to say for a moment. He was worried about his children and wife at home, and at the same time he felt helpless about the conscription.
The Taoist priest may have seen through Lu Chuan's thoughts, and said, "Don't worry, since they have been in the mountains for so many days and have not dared to go deep into the mountains, it means that they have not been forced into a desperate situation, and will not go deep into the mountains for a while. The girls are safe at home."
When Lu Chuan heard this, he felt relieved. That was good. This way, the child and his wife would not be in any danger for the time being.
The Taoist priest stood up and patted the dirt off his buttocks. "Let's go down the mountain and take a look."
Unexpectedly, before the two men reached the foot of the mountain, they met soldiers who came to arrest them.
There were quite a lot of officers and soldiers, about fifty or sixty of them. Each of them was wearing officers' uniforms, holding swords and shields in their hands. They were fully armed and equipped, and it was obvious that they came well prepared.
It has to be said that if the farmers and common people in the mountains really met these soldiers, they would have no chance of winning at all.
The weapons alone were enough to defeat them, not to mention the disparity in size.
The people had just experienced a natural disaster, and later on, grain taxes and various miscellaneous taxes continued to increase. In the past one or two years, they had almost never had a full meal. Everyone looked skinny and naturally could not compare with the officials.
Although the world is unstable these days, even ordinary officials live much better than ordinary people.
If the two sides really fight, even though the people outnumber them, they may not necessarily win.
The soldiers in the distance were getting closer and closer, and were about to reach the two of them.
Seeing this, Lu Chuan and the Taoist priest quickly hid themselves. It was not because they could not win the fight, but because they thought less trouble is better. They had more important things to do and did not want to waste time here.
The Taoist priest signaled Lu Chuan to follow for a while to see whether this group of soldiers were here to search for the group of people on the mountain.
After tracking for a while, Lu Chuan discovered that this group of soldiers were constantly searching in the mountains, but they were always on the outskirts of the mountain and did not seem to have any intention of going deep into the mountains.
Upon seeing this, Lu Chuan immediately returned to the place where he had just been to meet up with the Taoist priest, and told him again what he had discovered.
The Taoist priest snorted coldly, "Humph, it seems that these officers and soldiers still have consciences. They don't intend to kill the unarmed civilians. I just don't know how long this situation can last. If the government issues an order to arrest them, what will they do?"
"I think they don't want to arrest anyone, but their stance is different. After all, they have their jobs. When they are on duty in the government, they get paid monthly by the government, so they must work for the government."
The Taoist priest bowed and said, "It's getting late. Let's go down the mountain to check the situation. If we don't leave now, we won't be able to get back before dark."
The two kept on traveling, but when they arrived at the village at the foot of the mountain, they found that the doors of every household were closed and the village was eerily quiet.
Lu Chuan asked, "Why is it so quiet? Is there no one in the village?"
"He must be afraid of being caught, so he hides in the house and dares not come out."
"What a sin! Judging from the situation, the crops in the field should not have been planted yet. If this continues, we will be left with nothing next year."
"There's nothing we can do. Saving their lives is more important to them now. They're worried that the police won't be able to find any male laborers, so they'll take it out on the old, weak, women and children at home."
"That's true. Alas, when the world is unstable, the people suffer."
As the two were talking, the Taoist priest suddenly felt someone coming over here, and immediately pulled Lu Chuan over and hid.
Lu Chuan was confused. When he reacted, he found that he had already hidden himself.
However, Lu Chuan trusted the Taoist priest very much and did not ask any more questions. It was not appropriate to talk at this time.
Sure enough, after waiting for about three or four minutes, a group of soldiers came towards this side from the direction of the village entrance.
Some soldiers were walking while shouting, "Notice, notice, the government is hereby notifying everyone between the ages of 14 and 45 to report to the county government office to join the army. Anyone who disobeys will be killed without mercy."
Even though they shouted like that, no one opened the door. I guess this kind of thing has been happening all the time recently and people have become numb to it.
Seeing that no one opened the door, the officers began knocking on doors every household. After a lot of beating and smashing, still no one opened the door.
After the officers and soldiers had visited every household in the village and found nothing, they left again.
Lu Chuan and the Taoist priest came out from behind the straw. When they got closer, they saw that these officials all had consciences.
Although the noise of smashing and destroying was indeed quite loud, the things that were damaged were all worthless, just some firewood, tables, chairs and benches.
It is true that he was showing mercy, with much ado about nothing happening.
After the officers walked away completely, the doors that had been tightly closed slowly opened.
A woman from the nearest house opened the gate and peeked to see if the soldiers had gone far away.
As soon as he opened the door, he saw the Taoist priest and Lu Chuan standing on the road. He was so scared that he immediately closed the door.
Lu Chuan touched his nose embarrassedly and wanted to explain something, but in the end he said nothing and followed the Taoist priest.
The two of them walked around again and found that there were indeed soldiers and officers who had captured some people on the official road, and it seemed that there were quite a lot of them.
These people probably didn't hide well, or they happened to run into soldiers on their way home.
Since they have seen it, these officers and soldiers certainly cannot pretend not to see it. After all, they have tasks to complete every day.
However, it can be seen that these officers and soldiers did not treat these captured men harshly. Apart from having their hands and feet tied, there were no signs of beating.
Lu Chuan and the Taoist priest waited until the group of soldiers and officers had gone far away before they started walking up the mountain.
Given the current situation, we definitely cannot enter the county town today. Going to the county town now would be like walking into a trap and looking for trouble.
Lu Chuan is not that stupid. He has a wife and children at home. He will definitely not ask for arrest by the police.