Zhao Hanzhang handed the two envoys from the county governnt 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 enlistnt, 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 an higher pay and status in the army.
Ji Yuan sat beside her, helping with the recruitnt.
Because there were many people fleeing, Zhao Hanzhang didn’t only recruit single n; she also accepted entire families, promising them arrangents to plow and farm the land with food available monthly.
Indeed, those who ca to rely on them firmly refused to beco tenant farrs, 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 recruitnt 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, imdiately 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 lted, 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 governnt demands sumr 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 so 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 sowhat 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, "Tis are hard."
Ji Yuan turned to glance at her, indifferent, "When there’s no righteousness above, heaven sends punishnt, nothing can be done."
"Punishnt 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 tis, without stability, the people may find it hard to endure these disasters."
Ji Yuan muttered, "Only if a genius erged 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 Recruitnt 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 Recruitnt 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 recruitnt; 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 ho 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 recruitnt point here, the locals hear the news and many are flocking."
Zhao Hanzhang quickly replied, "I didn’t know they were Shangcai people; they claid to be from Yingchuan or escaped from Yu Yang, and I believed them. How could I know they were deceiving ?"
County Magistrate Chai tentatively asked, "So will the Third Lady hand them over to to take back?"
Handing them over to County Magistrate Chai would almost an death, serving prison ti under the law for tax evasion with a severe penalty of beheading, lighter punishnt involves jail ti.
Better to work the land under her than sit in jail.
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