ATPnovel Chapter 40 Dragon 1 tael
Chapter 40 Dragon 1 tael
Ever since he received the righteous people's carrying pole, he never went to deliver water to Old Zhou's oil shop again. Of course, the two elderly people in the oil shop didn't really welcome him either.
After all, being scared to the point of wetting one's pants and burning one's beard is too embarrassing to be compensated for by five taels of silver.
However, Yang Silang himself did not go, but his promise of providing a cartload of water every day remained unchanged.
He found a waterman who regularly delivered water to the oil shop and agreed to deliver an extra cartload of water to Old Zhou's family every day. He would pay for it and the money would be settled monthly.
You must keep your promises.
Of course, the "help" the Zhou family once gave was only worth a cartload of water a day, and that was no more.
Grandma Yao was so angry she almost threw the abacus beads at his face. If he hadn't made arrangements in advance, and had actually died on the battlefield that time, how could his little sister have kept the house?
Although he didn't go himself, he would send money to his eldest sister every now and then, ensuring that his eldest sister and daughter had enough to eat and drink.
Once inside, Yang Silang sat down with an air of authority. His fifth sister, while rubbing her disheveled hair, grumbled under her breath but still efficiently served her brother tea.
Yang Silang exclaimed that it's good to have a girl.
Fifth Sister's anger turned to joy, and she forgot about the previous grievances, chattering on about what had happened that day.
She and the Wang family's daughter attended a girls' school together, where female teachers taught them needlework, literacy, arithmetic, and all sorts of household skills.
It was a private school for girls in a well-to-do family in this area.
A quiet room late at night.
Yang Silang sipped his tea, listening to his sister's rambling. Outside, Hei Zi was gnawing on a bone, making excited whimpering noises.
The oil lamp crackled, casting the shadows of the two figures on the wall, swaying gently.
-
A few days later.
At the foot of the southeast city wall of Gongzhou Prefecture.
A dilapidated military camp stands here, surrounded by overgrown weeds.
Two soldiers stood slouching at the entrance of the military camp. One looked to be in his seventies or eighties and was probably about to collapse from standing, while the other was a snotty-nosed teenager, probably about the same age as Fifth Sister.
The two men were wearing short cotton uniforms that looked stolen; they didn't fit them at all.
Yang Silang and Wang Daniu took out their credentials, flashed them briefly in front of the other party, and then entered.
"Fourth Brother... we took the receipt upside down..."
"Hmm... I doubt they'd understand it either..."
The two entered the military camp and walked inside. They saw that the camp was very large, with a training ground and racks of all eighteen kinds of weapons, such as swords, spears, axes, and halberds.
There were also rows of dilapidated houses around the site.
Compared to other places, this spacious training ground, which can accommodate thousands of people, is far too deserted.
In one corner of the field, there were dozens of straw figures, and a dozen or so strong men, some riding horses and thrusting spears, others drawing bows and nocking arrows on horseback.
In another corner, a dozen or so people, clad in full armor and wielding swords and shields, were divided into two teams and engaged in a fierce battle.
I overheard the soldiers chatting at the gate, saying that dozens of students were preparing for the martial arts exams to become scholars and officials, and they had paid money to the martial arts hall to borrow the space here for practice.
Yang Silang and Wang Daniu watched the excitement, walking and watching as they went. They crossed the entire drill ground, went around the command platform, and came into view a high-walled compound, which was a government office.
The courtyard is imposing, built of large blue bricks, like a fortress.
Just like the martial arts arena outside, it was all an empty shell. Weeds grew in the cracks in the walls, and the three characters "Martial Arts Hall" hung on the mottled gate. The plaque had peeled paint and looked dilapidated.
Finally, the place became lively, with dozens of burly men lined up to wait. However, they were vaguely divided into two groups. One group had a ruddy complexion and a fierce aura, with loud voices and a bold demeanor. Several of them were injured and dressed in silk clothes.
Two of them were shouting loudly.
"If that dead horse hadn't stumbled and thrown me off, I would have seized that colossal banner!"
"Ma Qianli, stop trying to make excuses. It looks to me like you were shot down with a single bullet."
"Bullshit, Yan Tiansheng! You were clearly the one who got swept away by a single shot! You thief deserve to die too, why wasn't you stabbed to death?"
The other group, looking rather reserved, mostly dressed in cotton, light gray short-sleeved shirts, gazed enviously at the group opposite them who were boasting.
Yang Silang and Wang Daniu hurriedly stood at the end of the line and listened for a while before they understood.
It turns out that those who came to see the "training" this time were not only half "sponsored" servants, but also half from the military system.
They were soldiers under the command of the deputy general who flattened the sky.
Among them were ordinary soldiers, as well as several junior officers and senior officers, while Ma Qianli and Yan Tiansheng had already risen to the rank of battalion commander.
Yang Silang observed that these people exuded a murderous aura and were probably truly capable.
Although the martial arts academy is practically paralyzed, in the event of a major battle, some, like the lieutenant general, lose their heads, while others are promoted and made rich. It's normal for a group of meritorious junior officers and soldiers to gather here for training.
Ma Qianli and Yan Tiansheng, in particular, had prominent temples and spoke with great vigor, clearly indicating that they were people with extremely strong energy and spirit. They must have martial arts skills.
The dozens of people waited outside for only a short while.
With a creak, the door opened.
Two soldiers in blue uniforms stepped forward, bowing and scraping as they greeted the guests, saying, "Please come in, gentlemen. The token is now in my hands."
The two men looked at each other with intense longing, as if they were walking pieces of silver.
Yang Silang and Wang Daniu followed the group into the yamen. There was no one in the front office. They turned into the empty courtyard at the back and saw that the ground was paved with bluestone, covered with trampling marks, and even some deep footprints.
A fat old man, blind in one eye, wearing a black eye patch to cover his blindness and dressed in a greasy robe, sat in a grand chair, slurping his tea.
Although the robe was shabby, it still bore the insignia of a military officer wearing a bear costume. Everyone hurriedly bowed deeply and greeted the instructor.
The blind, fat old man sitting there had his single eye gleaming as he swept across the entire room.
"My surname is Long. I lost an eye on the battlefield, so people call me Long Yiyan (One-Eyed Dragon)."
The information that Ruan Mingyuan had helped him find out flashed through Yang Silang's mind.
The original instructor of the martial arts academy was so poor that he volunteered to join the army to fight in the bombing camp. He died on the battlefield.
Blind Dragon, a martial arts master with the strength of Iron Bone, is a new instructor who was transferred from somewhere and has just taken office. His temper and personality are unknown.
Long Yi took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and continued.
"I don't care about your background, whether you really want to learn martial arts or just want to make a show of it, I don't care."
"Of course, I'm lenient with my parents, so I naturally teach them less."
"You can't have it both ways!"
"If you don't understand and would like to ask, it will cost one tael of silver per question..."
"Of course, as long as you choose the six-month, twenty-tael pill package, you can ask questions an unlimited number of times during these one hundred and eighty days, but I cannot guarantee that you will answer them."
"Some people are just born with a blockhead; they're simply not cut out for this."
"Finally, remember this: in this place, money is number one, I'm number two, and there aren't many other rules!"
"Have you made up your mind? If you have, come and hand over the money..."
Long Yi waved his hand.
The two soldiers in blue immediately approached, carrying a large tray in both hands, their eyes burning with desire.
The martial arts academy normally recruits a batch of strong men, and the training period is half a year. They don't even have to worry about things in the military camp, and they don't have to be on duty or take attendance.
The crowd fell silent, surprised that this fifth-rank Dragon Eye Lord was so frank, and also so efficient and quick in collecting money.
This isn't just one eye of dragon, it's clearly one ounce of dragon!
Twenty taels is indeed the market price, but the instructors used to collect it in monthly installments, so there's no reason to pay it all at once.