The commoners gathered around the notice and discussed animatedly. Most of them were illiterate. They begged a middle-aged boy who had fled to " Chikan " to read out the notice. After hearing the explanation of the recruitment clerk, they were confused and showed an incredulous expression.
"Eh? Do the Australian soldiers still have to train every day?”
"There will be a martial arts performance assessment in 30 days. If you don't meet the requirements, you will be eliminated and won't be able to obtain the silver…
"What's so difficult about that? You think they're the guards of the government?”A fisherman from Fujian looked down on the government troops. If the government troops were really good at fighting, they wouldn't have been so troubled by the pirates along the coast.
"Two stones of brown rice from the An family that passed the assessment. The soldiers were paid one tael or two coins a month, and their food and clothing were in the barracks.
How generous were these conditions! More than a dozen people who looked like farmers shook their heads and calculated the benefits of being a soldier. They happily discussed the high treatment offered by the Aussies.
On the surface, the monthly salary of one or two taels of silver didn't seem high. The monthly salary of the Ming Dynasty border army was more than one tael, and there were even two or three taels of silver. However, this was only on paper. In fact, considering that the Ming Dynasty generally ate empty salaries and drank the blood of soldiers, it was not bad for a big soldier not to starve to death. It was also common for them to be in arrears for many years.
After spending some time with the Aussies, the new immigrants had more or less figured out the temperament of the Aussies. They were fair and trustworthy, valued both industry and commerce, and their monthly salary was definitely sufficient!
Most of the new immigrants were in the " 100-day labor " of the Australian people. They had almost no currency on hand. They had nothing to spend other than exchanging some food and Australian soda with the circulation coupons that represented " remuneration " every day.
The number of foreign Chinese businessmen, Nanyang natives, and Western barbarians was increasing day by day, bringing with them a wealth of consumer goods. The new immigrants had long been itching to satisfy their appetite and physiological needs.
For a time, the new immigrants enthusiastically signed up, but there were conditions for recruiting soldiers.
The age could not be higher than twenty-five years old. If one had a good physique, had been a miner, or could read and write, then the age could be relaxed to thirty years old.
However, almost all the immigrants did not know their exact age. Occasionally, a few knew which emperor they were born under, because the new emperor would often grant amnesty to the world.
Malnutrition, sallow complexion, emaciation, and short stature were the major drawbacks of the feudal dynasty. Many young adults had an average height of about 1.6 meters. If they wanted to be soldiers, they had to take care of their bodies.
However, because of the people who wanted to be soldiers and eat food, they had to move. There were simply too many people. The army had tried their best to filter out the applicants, but only a thousand remained. Be it height or age, the quality of the soldiers was extremely poor. 95% of them were illiterate, and it was not an exaggeration. No matter how they screened, they were still the same group of people. The army could only relax their standards.
As for the navy, it was especially easy to recruit soldiers. Fujian was a poor province with many mountains and little land. There were many people who went to the sea to make a living. A random stone thrown in the crowd could hit a very good sailor seedling, but the motives of this batch of recruits were not pure.
Firstly, they thought that the Aussies were like Zheng Zhilong, Liu Xiang, Chu Cailao, and other maritime forces, and they came here to be pirates.
The navy repeatedly emphasized that the " Australian and Song " were not pirates, but descendants of the former Song Dynasty. The navy could not rob and kill as freely as pirates. They also gave the recruited sailors some education, but they could not change their thinking habits in the short term.
Zhang San, who had just turned seventeen, was a member of the army.
His family suffered from the "poverty disease". When he went through all kinds of hardships to escape from famine and crossed the sea to the high officials to seek a way to survive, the whole family was left with him and his sister. However, when they became high officials, he and his sister were still in a state of poverty.
One time, when he brought his sister to the market carefully, her sister stared enviously at the clothes in the Australian clothing shop, as if she was staring at a precious treasure that could only be seen from afar.
His sister paused for a moment before pulling him away quickly. She knew that she had no money, so she left quickly to avoid adding to her sadness.
His sister's humble and embarrassed micro-expression deeply hurt Zhang San's heart. He swore at that time that after he worked hard to save money and food, he would buy two new clothes for his sister as soon as possible.
His goal was now even clearer.
As long as he passed the Australian assessment, he would be able to become an Australian soldier. With a monthly salary of one tael or two taels, he would be able to buy new clothes for his sister immediately!
When he thought of the happy scene that he could surprise his sister, he felt extremely excited.
Zhang San, who had just turned seventeen, quickly passed the preliminary examination and became a soldier. However, if he wanted to continue participating in the training, he had to shave his hair. This made some immigrants stay away from him. However, to Zhang San, it made no difference whether he shaved or not. Could he eat his fill without shaving his hair?
Therefore, under the temptation of passing the review and getting a monthly salary, Zhang San officially shaved his head and "shaved".
The 1,000 soldiers were divided into 10 groups. The Aussies said that 100 people were called a " company." Zhang San thought that this so-called " company commander " should be the commander of the government army.
The " platoon leader " and " company commander " were all Australian officers, especially the soldiers in the first squad. Almost all of them were Australian, and even the leader of the Australian, General Li, participated in the military training.
This made Zhang San feel a little fresh. He had heard from the instructor of a local rich man that most of the leaders of the government troops did not participate in training. They just watched the big soldiers set up formations and did things perfunctorily. They could not even practice for three to five days. Their weapons and martial arts had long been abandoned.
The leader of the Kun people lived, ate, and trained with the soldiers, which made Zhang San feel that many of the Aussies must be poor people.
Zhang San stayed in the Third Company. He was pleasantly surprised to find that his two playmates, Li Si and Wang Wu, were also in the formation. However, one of them was in the Sixth Company, and the other was in the Seventh Company. They had nothing to do with him, but it was always very reassuring to have acquaintances in the army.
He had thought that after joining the army, he would have to practice eighteen kinds of weapons like the government army. At the very least, he would have to learn melee combat like the pirates or touch a musket to satisfy his craving.
It was said that the Australian handguns were well-made and would not explode after a few shots like the government troops.
However, Zhang San did not manage to get the musket that he had been longing for. The Aussies only ordered them to run, stand, and march.
A thousand people ran in a long line along the Xingang Creek (now known as Tainan's Yanshui Creek). The natives along the river often stood in the woods and watched them as if they were watching a show.
Zhang San thought that his physical strength was good. The teenager often played with his friends in the village by the river. His physical strength was much stronger than his peers. However, the harvest in recent years was not very good, and he could barely eat. The six-mile long run stipulated by the continents was very tiring.
It was said that the final goal of the long-distance run would be raised to 10 miles, and he would have to run it once in the morning and evening.
Every time he finished running, he would be as tired as a defeated dog. Every time he returned to the military camp, he would fall asleep in less than a breath's time after climbing into bed. Several pairs of straw sandals were worn out from running.
Although it was given out by the Aussies for free, it was said that after passing the review, he could wear shoes specially designed for soldiers. He was looking forward to it.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。