Many years have passed since we lived in peace, and the people here are happily reproducing. I was just a bachelor soldier at first, but now my family has dozens of people.
The local government also knows what is going on in this kind of village. Although they are now useless old soldiers, they still have many students and old friends in the army, and some of them have even become officials. If you want to find out about their problems, it may not show up at the time, but if there are generals going to the capital, they will stop those generals and say a few words, and the local officials will be very happy.
Therefore, when there is nothing to do, local officials will not come here, unless they are mentally ill. Not only can you not find any good things here, you may even lose your job. For every official, such a place is a forbidden zone in his life.
But the situation today was different. The children in the village saw from a distance that a group of black knights were coming. These people were wearing black gauze clothes, riding war horses and camels, and were heading towards the village. It was obvious that something was wrong.
The young people in the village also saw this scene and hurried to inform the elderly in the village. They had never seen anything like this since the day they were born, which had been twenty or thirty years.
Hadn't the court promised them before? The village wouldn't be recruited, but these people were clearly recruited from the capital.
Although the elders in the village often say that they want to send their children and grandchildren to join the army, it is just talk. No one is really willing to let their sons join the army.
Especially those families who can make a decent living are even more reluctant to let their children and grandchildren join the army. They have experienced the ruthlessness of the battlefield in their early years. Now they are shouldering the credit just to let their family live a good life.
People in their forties and fifties are not that worrying, after all, they are too old to keep up. Even if they are brought to the battlefield, they will not be able to serve the empire. The most worrying thing is people in their thirties.
In the eyes of all generals who have served in the military, these people can be said to be the most valuable assets of the entire army. Their physical strength can still keep up, and most importantly, their combat experience is very rich. If they can be organized, they will definitely have more than three times the number of new recruits.
Moreover, these people all have families and jobs, and are easier to control. They will never desert on the battlefield. If they desert or surrender, their families will have a hard time. Even if they are assigned to do the most dangerous work, these people will go without hesitation, and their families will take good care of them after they die in battle.
But if you escape, then your family will have to enjoy the exile. Anyway, there are too many places to be exiled around the Arab Empire. They have newly occupied lands everywhere. The disputes between them and the indigenous people in those lands can be said to be endless in three days and three nights.
Several old men came out of the house in a panic, looking at everything in front of them in some disbelief. If it were normal times, it would be okay for their family members to join the army. After all, the army of the Arab Empire was invincible. Although there were casualties, the chance of survival was very high.
But the situation is different now. The army of the Arab Empire is fighting against the army of the Tang Dynasty. Everyone can see that our losses were very heavy when fighting against the army of the Tang Dynasty. Although the court has been promoting our victory, these old people also understand that if we really won, would they send people to them to recruit soldiers?
Sending people here to recruit soldiers can only mean one thing: the existing army can no longer hold on, and these people must be dispatched.
"Hello, old man Modila..."
Just when these old men had not yet figured out the situation, a team of black cavalrymen had already arrived in front of them, and a young officer dismounted from his horse. This man knew Modira. When old man Modira led his troops to capture Tunisia, it was a huge price to pay. He brought more than a hundred people, but in the end only five or six people survived. Those five or six people were the original residents of this village.
"Sir, I don't know why you came here. We once received the will of the previous caliph, allowing us to live here permanently and not allowing us to join the army again."
Modira said nervously, "I have four sons, three of whom died on the battlefield, and one son is still with me. If I were to be drafted, I wouldn't worry about going to the army, but I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to keep this son. Is he going to be sonless when he gets old?" "What's more, my grandson is still young, and I have no way to support the family."
"That was all in the past. Now, under the command of Grand Marshal Sukhguman, His Excellency the Caliph has given us permission to recruit soldiers from around the capital. According to the policy we have established, your village must provide nineteen men under the age of thirty-five."
The gentleman took out the official document he was carrying. There were people in the village who could read, and when they saw the blue official seal on it, they knew it was real. Moreover, it was stamped with two official seals, one for the army responsible for conscription, and the other for the local government.
Nineteen people under the age of thirty-five?
Modira began to think in his mind whether he could keep his son, but when he thought about it, he found that the government had already counted everyone, including his only living son, and no one could escape. They were going to transport away some of the most elite people in the village.
You should know that the area around the capital of the Arab Empire was not so peaceful. There were still many desert bandits around it. These people had all kinds of identities in the early years, but they had one thing in common, that is, they were at odds with the Arab Empire, so they ran to the desert to become bandits.
The Royal Capital Garrison had also cleared out the bandits many times, but unfortunately they hadn't achieved much success. Some people even said that the leaders of the bandits kept giving gifts to the garrison, which was the reason why they survived countless raids.
If all the strong laborers in the village leave now, then this village will become the favorite place for robbers. Maybe they will come early tonight, and then the whole village will become a disaster area.
