Looking at the people who were constantly conscripting men on the streets, many old people in the Arab Empire sighed helplessly. In their lifetime, they had witnessed the prosperity and decline of the empire.
In the past, when the empire waged foreign wars, there was no need to conscript men like this. Young people were proud to join the army. Of course, there was also the attraction of economic benefits, because once you become a soldier, you can get a lot of spoils by defeating foreign countries.
They were originally just ordinary people, but after several wars, these people were able to accumulate a lot of capital and live a good life after returning to their country. This is how many middle-class people came into being.
But what is the situation now? Although the imperial court is still promoting that after defeating the Tang army, everyone can become a landlord and have a large amount of gold and silver treasures, these people don't believe it. No matter how you say it, they have only one idea, that is, not to join the imperial army.
Lying can only deceive those who are stupid, but do you think everyone is so stupid? The war with the Tang Dynasty has been going on for such a long time. Many people went to the battlefield and couldn't even get a letter back, let alone come back alive.
Even so, you're still claiming that everything is going well on the front lines, that you've captured this part of the Tang Dynasty today, and that you've killed this or that Tang army tomorrow? At first, some people believed these lies, but now, even a three-year-old wouldn't believe them.
According to what you said, if the Empire won such a great victory in the war, why didn't it bring back any spoils? Instead, many goods in the north were lost.
In the northern part of the Arab Empire, many goods were shipped to the capital for sale. But look at the markets in the capital, and are there any northern goods? Even the merchants who once flocked here are gone. It's a common practice to block foreign merchants for security reasons, but why are our own Arab merchants gone?
Are you going to block even your own merchants in order to suppress information? If so, merchants won't be able to ship goods to other places, the economy won't develop, and taxes won't be collected. Even if you were going to war, the Caliph wouldn't be so foolish as to block all of his own merchants, right?
Therefore, anyone with intelligence understands that the real situation is definitely not what you said. The real situation is that we can no longer hold on. The north may have been occupied by the Tang army. Although you can block the news from the north, we can also have our own guesses.
"I really don't know why these people are so persistent. There are no young people left in our village, no one under the age of 60, yet they continue to search our village."
An Arab father said helplessly that thirty years ago, he had followed the Arab Empire's army on an expedition to the Mediterranean coast. At that time, he won fifteen taels of gold. In the poor Arab Empire, fifteen taels of gold allowed him to build a house and buy land, so that he could have his own family.
At that time, this guy was so happy. He felt that he had established a foothold in this society, so his whole family moved here. But what happened now? His two sons were nowhere to be found. They were both captured by the imperial army.
Every time he wanted to ask, the person in charge of conscription was always replaced. Those who recruited soldiers last time were nowhere to be found, so he had no idea where to ask.
"Enjoy the present day. If you don't, I'm sure you'll be forced to return to the battlefield too. Look at the people in those teams. Aren't there a lot of people in their fifties? What does this mean? It means we don't have any young people anymore. This is the situation around the capital. What do you think other places will be like?"
Another old man said with a wry smile that of course he didn't need to go back to the battlefield, because during the last war, this guy broke one of his legs and thought he would not survive. Who knew that he relied on his tenacious vitality and finally survived. But this guy didn't live well either. He had no food to eat every day.
Just now, in addition to looking for people, the conscription team also took away the only half bag of food in the house. Even if I am a pitiful old man like me, those people will not care about my life or death. According to them, any person or item that can be useful in the war will be requisitioned by the empire immediately.
Of course, they won't take it for free. After the empire defeats the Tang Dynasty, no matter how much they have taken from you, the empire will return it double. This sounds very nice, but based on the current situation, how can you win?
Just by mouth?
The two old men looked at each other and saw despair in each other's eyes. In a society without young people, it would be difficult for old guys like them to survive.
In fact, they all had a question in their minds: the great Khalifa had always made very shrewd decisions in the past, but what was going on now? Foolish ideas followed one after another. It didn't matter if you made a mistake yourself, but if the entire empire was affected, each mistake would involve tens of thousands of troops, even hundreds of thousands. Even the Arab Empire, with its deep financial resources, could not withstand such losses.
"Go back, there's no point standing here."
The old man with a broken leg said helplessly, "You have to live one day at a time. If you still want to worry about the country and the people, then you should first look at what you are going to eat for your next meal. If you can't even solve this problem, then you don't even have the qualifications to worry about the country and the people."
The other old man was also preparing to go back, but he heard shouts and screams in the distance. The two looked at each other, then supported each other and went to a higher place. Sure enough, some people had begun to resist. These should be some people from the next village. No one knew where they got so many weapons, and they actually started fighting with the conscription team.
"What should we do? We have internal and external troubles. After this first resistance, many people will follow suit."
It was hard to tell what expression was on the old man's face with the broken leg, and there was even a bit of longing in his heart. Although he said that he stood on the side of the empire, he didn't want to live like this in his heart. If he could change to a new way of life, it would be a good thing for all the people, but he didn't have the ability to promote it.
