Chapter 153: The Troops Enter the Village to Capture Men

Chapter 153: The Troops Enter the Village to Capture Men

Having shouted his warning in one breath, he then found his father and brothers in the crowd. Ignoring the instant commotion around him, he rushed over, grabbed their hands, and started running.

"Big Zhu, Big Zhu, tell us clearly, are the troops coming to our village?!"

"Are they really coming to our village? Is it true or not?"

"How many are there? Did you see clearly whether they were troops or bandits?"

The villagers who had been crowded at the entrance watching the spectacle suddenly bolted like a swarm of bees, trampling on each other's feet and colliding shoulders, causing immediate chaos.

Some of the weaker ones fell to the ground, no matter how much they screamed, no one reached out to help them. Countless feet stomped on their bodies and limbs, their cries of pain drowned out by the approaching hoofbeats near the village entrance. Amidst the dust swirling in the air, it was impossible to discern how many people were coming.

Screams of terror and shrill cries echoed incessantly. Villagers who had been leisurely observing others' misfortunes moments ago now ran aimlessly like headless flies, only knowing to flee with all their might. They ran towards their homes, into the mountains, jumped into wells, hid in water jars, and concealed themselves in stacks of firewood...

Children left behind by their fathers looked around frantically, only able to raise their heads and wail loudly, calling for "Daddy," but their voices failed to bring back the men who had vanished in an instant.

"Sanwaizi, has anyone seen my Sanwaizi?" An old woman ran while weeping, calling out for her son. She was a widow; her eldest son had died in an accident years ago, and her second son, who had incurred the wrath of an official during his conscription two years prior, had not survived the night after being flogged. Now, she only had her third son, whom she was planning to arrange a marriage for this year. He had come to the Wu family earlier to watch the spectacle, but with so many people around, she could not find him now.

"Niu'er, don't worry about your father, hurry up and run, hurry up and run!" A middle-aged man with a limp pushed away his son who was trying to pull him along, tears streaming down his face. He struggled to free his hand and forcefully pushed his son away, sending him far from him. "Don't look back, run, run into the mountains, hide in the cellar, don't make a sound no matter who calls you!"

"Papa!" The son, pale-faced, was carried away by the surging crowd, unable to break free.

Today was the Wu family's funeral, and most of the village had gathered. When the Chen family attacked, the rest also came to join the commotion, which meant that almost ninety percent of the village had come to the Wu family's place. There were several youths hanging around on the trees, eager to catch a glimpse of the action.

Perched high on a branch, a young boy gazed at the dusty entrance of the village, where the approaching figures seemed endless. The leading few rode on horses, dressed in the uniforms worn only by the troops, with swords at their waists and eyes as cold as stars. As they approached the village, they dispersed in unison, forming small squads of ten or so, heading in different directions to block the paths leading into the mountains.

The boy's face turned pale, and he lost his balance, falling to the ground. Ignoring the pain, he scrambled to his feet amidst the suddenly crowded crowd and found his father. After a brief exchange, the two took off running.

"Dad, they're blocking the path to the back mountain!"

"Did you get a clear count of how many there are?"

"I estimate there are dozens." The youth, looking anxious, wanted to run in the direction of his home, but his father held him back.

"Mom and Xiao Yao are still at home!"

"The troops don't capture women and children, Xiao Yao is only five years old, he'll be fine." The father tightly gripped his son's hand, his heart pounding rapidly due to nervousness, as if it would leap out of his chest. He tried to calm himself down and quickly thought of several routes to enter the mountains. Hearing that the troops had arrived, everyone's first reaction was to run into the mountains. There were several paths to enter the mountains in their village, and the one at the end of the village was the one they usually took. Judging from what his son said, the troops seemed to have come prepared, with a significant number of them specifically sent to block the path at the end of the village.

The more tense the situation, the less they should panic. He circled around twice on the spot, and under his son's urgent urging, he stomped his foot, pulled him away from the crowd, and ran towards the backyard of the Wu family. "Go this way, don't go forward, I remember that behind the Wu family is the Zhou family, and further ahead of the Zhou family's backyard is the cemetery, there's a small path into the mountains there. We need to be careful, let's enter the forest first."

Wei Dahu grabbed Chen Erniu, who was about to follow the crowd blindly, and pointed at the suspicious father-son duo. "Follow them."

Second Aunt's basket had already been taken over by Chen Dashi. With a group of about ten people, they were quite conspicuous. If they just followed the crowd, they would be no different from sitting ducks.

Wei Dahu whispered, "We aren't familiar with Xiaogou Village, and the village entrance is already controlled by the soldiers. Going forward would mean walking right into their hands. That man seems reliable. Let's follow him first and think of something else if things don't look good." Once they entered the mountains, they would be like tigers returning to their forest. Even if there were hundreds of troops, they wouldn't be able to catch them.

The most important thing now was to find a safe path into the mountains.

Usually, the men walked at the back, but this time, Aunt-in-law and the others tacitly fell behind, pushing the men to the front. Wu Zhaodi even had the presence of mind to tease, "If the troops chase us, we'll hold them back. Don't look back, just run."

Chen Erniu glanced at his wife, knowing that she was putting on a brave face. The cold sweat pouring down her forehead had already betrayed her fear. He felt sorry for her but did not refuse. When the troops came to recruit able-bodied men, women were indeed the safest, as they were not subject to conscription requirements.

The group moved swiftly, closely following the father-son pair around to the backyard of the Wu family.

Just as their backs disappeared around the corner, a group of troops galloped into the village. The leading troop leader pulled on the reins, and after hovering in mid-air for a moment, the horse's hooves landed on the ground. He drew the sword at his waist and spurred his horse toward the fleeing villagers, shouting sternly, "By order of Prince Chen, all men in Qingzhou between the ages of fourteen and forty-five must immediately respond to the conscription. Those who defy the order will be killed without mercy!"

After saying this, he raised his hand, and a squad of about ten soldiers scattered. Two guarded the village entrance, six drew their swords and chased after the fleeing villagers, while the remaining two started capturing people from the first house at the entrance of the village.

Their attitude was extremely poor. They pounded on the wooden door a few times, and when no one opened it, they kicked it open with their feet. After the door opened, they ignored the trembling old man inside and the child who was too scared to cry. They kicked aside the sieve in the courtyard, their faces fierce, resembling bandits more than troops: "How many people are there in your household? How many sons and grandsons do you have? What year is it now? Show me your household registration!"

The old man was terrified, hugging his grandson and wailing, "There are only my grandson and me in this house. I am already fifty-six years old, and my grandson is only six. Neither of us meets the conscription requirements."

"Where is your household registration? Show it to me!" The troop wasn't easily fooled. Seeing that the old man was crying with his head bowed, holding his grandson, and hesitating to fetch the household registration, he sneered, walked around the courtyard with his sword, and noticed a piece of clothing sticking out from the firewood pile that hadn't been hidden well. He raised his sword to stab it, scaring the old man to the point of losing all color in his face. He jumped up and cried, "Don't stab, don't stab!"

The man hiding in the firewood pile trembled all over, drenched in sweat, not knowing what to do. The troop kicked open the firewood pile, reached in, dragged out the person hiding inside by his clothes, and threw him outside the gate. The other squad of troops that had just entered the village ignored the man's cries for mercy, kicked him in the buttocks, and dragged him away.

"My son, my son..." The old man stumbled out of the house, the courtyard filled with his grandson's cries. Watching his son being dragged away, he collapsed to the ground and burst into tears, looking up to the sky.

"Dad, Dad..." The captured man struggled to turn his head back, his face ashen, repeatedly instructing, "Take care of yourself, leave the child to you, leave the child to you..."

The old man sat at the gate, sobbing uncontrollably. He knew that his son, once taken away, would never return.

His house was at the entrance of the village, and the troops on their big horses moved quickly. His son had injured his foot with a hoe a few days ago, making it difficult for him to run. So, he had hidden in the firewood pile.

But who would have known, who would have known.

In Xiaogou Village, screams of pleading and pain echoed continuously. In their panic, a man who had hidden in a water jar couldn't hold his breath any longer and stood up abruptly, coming face to face with a soldier standing with his arms crossed beside the water jar. Before he could plead for mercy, the soldier swung the handle of his sword and smashed it against the water jar.

With a loud crack, water splashed everywhere, and the soaking wet man was pulled out by his collar. The old woman, who had been cowering in the corner out of fear, suddenly rushed forward, wailing, "You can't take my grandson away. He just got married this year, and his wife is pregnant. The child can't be born without a father!"

"He is your grandson, but where is your son?" The soldier didn't use violence against her, but rather waved her away impatiently and looked at the young woman hiding behind the old woman, noticing that she was a few months pregnant. "Sending him to war doesn't mean sending him to his death. We are conducting a proper conscription. You should be grateful that you are citizens of Qingzhou. Nowadays, there is continuous warfare outside. This winter, half of the population in Youzhou died. In a hundred-household village, nine out of ten households are empty, and the number of families that have been completely wiped out is almost incalculable. Our prince is a capable man. If he performs well on the battlefield, he might even earn an official position. Perhaps by the time your great-grandchild is born, your family's status will have risen."

This family was lucky to encounter a soldier with a relatively good temper, who had the patience to explain a few words to the old woman and wasn't rude.

However, after checking their household registration and finding no other men eligible for conscription, the soldier ignored the old woman's cries and pleas, and without hesitation, pressed their only grandson down and took him away.

As for the short-tempered soldiers who were impatient with the villagers, they simply barged into houses and started capturing people. They checked household registrations at every household. If there were men who met the conscription criteria, they searched the front and back yards with their swords, poking and prodding cramped corners such as firewood piles and beds, and even rummaging through underground grain storage areas.

The situation of having men listed on the household registration but not being able to find them was common throughout the village.

The soldiers weren't worried about this and continued to the next house, not wasting any more time at this one.

Seeing them leave, the family visibly relaxed, but they didn't know that the few men from their family who had fled into the mountains earlier had been blocked by a squad of soldiers at the mountain entrance. Seventeen or eighteen men, both young and old, stared at the soldiers waiting like rabbits caught in a trap, feeling as if their blood had frozen.

"Run, why aren't you running now?" The leading troop leader sneered.

"In the name of the military, I beg you, with elders above and children below, please show mercy and spare me. My grandson was born this year, and I'm already forty-four, turning forty-five in two months. I implore you, have mercy..." In the crowd, a middle-aged man with graying temples was the first to break, collapsing to the ground and begging for mercy. He was suffering; it was so close, just a little more, whether it was the path into the mountains or his upcoming birthday, everything was just short by a bit.

He wasn't afraid of death, but dying on the battlefield, far from home.

"Everyone has elders above and children below, there are plenty like you. Even if your forty-fifth birthday is tomorrow, you're still coming with us today!" The leading soldier's face was cold. The previous recruitment drives had yielded too few, and now, under strict orders, if they didn't recruit at least twenty thousand this time, the general would send them to the vanguard unit.

At this moment, not just Xiaogou Village, but likely every village within ten miles faced the same situation.

Peasants trying to outwit soldiers was akin to children playing house, utterly laughable.

"Take them away!" With a wave of his hand, a dozen soldiers wielding swords moved forward to seize the villagers. Seeing no escape, the more agile ones turned to run back, prompting the mounted soldiers to chase after them.

The man who had initially begged for mercy seemed either terrified into immobility or resigned to his fate. As everyone else scrambled in all directions, he remained kneeling on the ground, motionless.

"If only you'd been this compliant earlier, why did you...?" The soldier pulling him hadn't finished speaking when his eyes widened suddenly.

Looking down at his bloodied sword, he wore an expression of disbelief.

The middle-aged man tried to smile but instead spat out a mouthful of thick blood. With both hands gripping the hilt, he didn't look at the blade piercing his chest but gazed toward the direction of his home. His wife must think he's hiding in the cellar right now.

A contented smile graced his face: "Truly, truly wonderful, I can be buried...buried in a familiar place..."

The soldier withdrew the sword, and without anything to support him, the middle-aged man's legs gave way, and he fell flat on his back. Blood gushed from his mouth as his gaze grew distant, and in the moment before closing his eyes, tears blurred his temples.

He could only hope that when his wife saw him, she wouldn't be too heartbroken.