weaving

Chapter 237
After setting up the banner of recruiting soldiers, there were still crowds of onlookers on the first day, but there were very few applicants. However, once those applicants were selected, they all left with three taels of silver and smiled, and spread the word overnight. whole city.

From the second day onwards, the number of applicants has increased several times compared to the previous day, but Zhang Cheng's rules are very strict. He only needs to be from a good family, and if one person applies, there must be more than two local families as guarantees. However, those with bad habits will not be accepted. trick.

But attracted by the three taels of An Jiayin, the children of all the military households were all moved. They spontaneously went to the recruiting office outside the west gate of the town to apply for recruitment, and all of them wanted to earn three taels of An Jiayin to go back.

At this time, a stone of rice in Xuanfu Town was worth about one tael to five silver. Even in a famine year, a stone of rice was worth around three taels of silver at most. Compared with Shaanxi and Henan in the famine years, Xuanfu was relatively stable.

In this way, three taels of silver can be exchanged for about two shi of grain. If one shi of grain is eaten by one person and mixed with other sundries, it can be eaten for a hundred days. Two shi of grain is very tempting for ordinary military families.

What's more, Zhang Cheng also promised that after enlisting in the army, each soldier will be paid almost one or two taels of monthly silver. Although Zhang Cheng has a bad reputation in the town, he is mostly drunk, but he has never broken his promise. Word.

Sure enough, within five days, Wu Zhizhong recruited a thousand soldiers from Zhongliang's family, and they were all in the barracks of the Right Wing Battalion outside the west gate of the town. A is responsible for the drill.

For the time being, it's just some battalion exercises, familiar with the basic military orders, and knowing how to stand in formation. These newly recruited sergeants are still in charge of the drills, and he also draws sergeants from the old battalions to be in charge of the drills.

According to Zhang Cheng's vision, Wu Zhizhong would stay in the town in the future, and be responsible for the logistics and recruitment here, as well as the initial drills of the new army.

However, his idea was strongly opposed by Wu Zhizhong.

…………

In the evening of that day, Wu Zhizhong withdrew to see Zhang Cheng, and they had a discussion in the east side hall

"General, although I have only one arm left, I can kill thieves before the battle. I have made up my mind to follow the general, and I will never complain about it. However, the general can arrange others so that I can stay with you forever." In front of the general." Wu Zhizhong said expectantly.

Zhang Cheng was a little embarrassed, in his heart, he trusted Wu Zhizhong very much, so he planned to make him stay in town to handle some affairs.

"Old Wu, it is because of my trust in you that I want to keep you here in Zhencheng. If it were someone else, I might not be completely at ease." Zhang Cheng said in a deep voice.

Wu Zhizhong sat on the chair, shook his head, and after a while, he raised his head and said: "General, there are two old ladies sitting here in the town, it's not a big problem if you think about it, I just want to be by the general's side,
Don't look at me with only one arm, but I am no worse than those two-armed old boys. I can also fight and fight, and protect the general. "

Looking at his excited expression, Zhang Cheng felt a little ridiculous in his heart, but also a little helpless, and said, "Well, I've been thinking about setting up a military camp, and you will manage it here in Zhencheng first, and wait for me to go to the North Road Once you settle down over there, you will lead everyone to rush over there.”

Wu Zhizhong said: "The last general will obey the general's orders."

Looking at his satisfied expression, Zhang Cheng also shook his head helplessly.

…………

In addition to these military affairs, Zhang Cheng was repeatedly urged by his mother and aunt. It turned out that Zhang Cheng's aunt had a cousin who married Wu Jinkang, a Jinshi in Guide Prefecture, Henan Province. .

Some time ago, Zhang Cheng's aunt, Zhang Han, wrote to her cousin to see if there was a suitable candidate around her, and introduced one or two to her nephew Zhang Cheng, thinking of the choice of marriage.

At this time, although the marriages of the children of officials in the Ming Dynasty were still the words of matchmakers, with three letters and six engagements, in fact, most of them were secretly managed by the hostesses of various official families.

They acted as matchmakers, threading needles, building bridges and building roads. Zhang Cheng was originally a scholar, but after his father passed away at the age of 15, his temperament changed drastically.

From then on, he didn't like reading, and he was full-time chivalrous. He wanted to join the army and serve the country. Uncle Zhang Yan had no choice but to recruit him into his army as a soldier. In short job.

But after he got into the army, he didn't know what stimulated him, so he became very drunk, and often made troubles after drinking, so that everyone in the town knew that Zhang Cheng was an alcoholic, and he even broke into the next publicity war. The nickname of the small wine tank in the town.

Therefore, even though he is the nephew of General Zhang Yan, the matter of in-laws has been delayed because of his bad reputation. Moreover, Zhang Cheng's mother really wanted to find a scholarly family for him according to his father's wishes. The family is married.

So it has been delayed until now, but now Zhang Cheng's temper suddenly changed, her aunt hurriedly wrote a letter and sent it to Beijing, to her cousin, hoping to find a young lady from a civil servant's family, as a Zhang Cheng's wife.

At the same time, in Xuanzhen, Datong, and even the military generals in Shanxi, several matchmakers were also entrusted to find suitable female families for them.

Just at noon today, a letter came back from Jingzhong, saying that the cousin-in-law who worked as a doctor in the Ministry of Industry had some friends in the officialdom and was very interested in Zhang Cheng.

All of this is nothing more than the fact that Zhang Cheng's performance in entering the guard this time is too eye-catching, and it is also due to the fact that even Lu Xiangsheng gave him his name, and the current emperor has repeatedly praised him. His future achievements may be promising.

However, that cousin and cousin-in-law are still investigating everyone's situation in various places, and they also want to do their best to handle this matter, not only to be worthy of their cousin, but also to take this opportunity to make friends with Zhang Cheng, a new military figure. Maybe in the future, he will become his Olympic aid abroad.

…………

On April [-]th, Zhang Cheng was called by his mother and aunt to the back garden of the Zhang mansion. Under the old pagoda tree by the pond, the aunt was patiently introducing to Zhang Cheng the feedback from the matchmakers entrusted by all parties. .

According to his aunt's judgment, there was a hereditary military family in Xuanzhen, and a Ni family who had served as a minister in the previous dynasty. Hu Shuxiang's family married.

However, the daughter of the Ni family had a slightly different horoscope with Zhang Cheng, so she was directly rejected by his mother, Zhang Yang.

But there are two daughters of court officials in Beijing, both of whom are very similar to Zhang Cheng's horoscope, and among them there is a prostitute daughter of an official family with the surname Ji, who is upright and honest, so she is indeed an excellent candidate.

Both Zhang Cheng's mother and aunt were very satisfied, so they hurriedly called Zhang Cheng to discuss the matter. If Zhang Cheng had no objection, he could write back to his cousin in the capital and contact the matter with all his heart.

(End of this chapter)