Chapter 23: The King Scatters the Stuffed Pancakes
As soon as the King's conscription notice spread, it caused an uproar among the people.
The first people to see it were of course the government officials, who were half‑believing, half‑doubting when they went to recruit.
The village chief of Mountain Mouth Village took the notice from the village head, looked at it over and over, wondering, 'Could the numbers have been copied wrong?'
"Three hundred cash a day, nine taels of silver a month — building the Prince You's mansion not only pays you, but also gives you nine taels a month? And two pecks of rice a day — even the emperor wouldn't dare eat that much!" Who would believe that if it were said aloud?
The village head's eldest son was also scratching his head there, saying, 'Could it be that because the King is young, someone is using his name to pull a scam? I heard from my second aunt's brother‑in‑law that the newly arrived Prince You is just a little kid.'
"This notice was issued by the government; whether it's true or false, this person has to go. I reckon they'll give something — look, it even says military personnel and the poor get priority. Surely the government wouldn't cut off our livelihood and deliberately tie us up with a thin rope, would they?!"
His third son had slipped in and been listening for a while; hearing this, he perked up. Thinking there was also a set of clothes, he said, 'Dad, let me go! If they don't give money, a set of clothes is fine too!' His second older brother was also at Upper Valley Pass, and that would qualify too. His father thought about it, then ignored him.
The village head felt this was surely a good thing.
He was a fair person; he first took Mountain Mouth Village's household register, picked the families with military service, listed more than twenty able‑bodied men, then from the remaining chose diligent people from households in hardship, quickly filling the quota — so much that the quota was almost not enough.
The government notice said they wanted people who could work and follow orders, and that they would form village‑based guarantor groups — if one messed up with a dung‑stirring stick, everyone would suffer. The old village head saw this clearly.
His second son was also serving in the military, ignoring the old man's fuss; the old village head wrote down the eldest son of his second son's household on the list.
"Our family will let Ming Ge'er go. Because his father brought benefits, we'll let him go."
The eldest had no objection; he always felt this wasn't very reliable — the treatment wasn't just good, it was almost too good. Three hundred cash a day, but hard labor in Youzhou never paid that much; even hauling salt at the Fishing Harbour Dock in the south paid at most a hundred cash a day.
And as for the two pecks of rice a day — even if it were all beans, that's unrealistic. Two pecks would feed their whole family for a day! No, more than that — what family dares to eat that much grain in a day!
The village head simply made a list, didn't delay any further, and hurriedly rang the bell to call a meeting.
It wasn't the busy farming season, and soon the village's threshing ground was packed with people.
The old village head personally read the King's conscription notice from start to finish, and then the crowd below burst into laughter.
"Village head, what are you up to, old man? You say it's the farming off‑season, the weather's hot, why did you call us out? Who wrote this? It's pretty laughable…"
"I must have misheard something — building the Prince You's palace, two pecks of rice a day?"
"We eat little during the off‑season, and after all the trouble to come here, this is what we get?"
"If they really gave two pecks of rice, I'd go even without pay…"
The crowd below exploded in an uproar, while the old village head stood immovable like a mountain, saying whatever needed to be said.
"... I think this is a good thing. The notice says the government gives priority to military personnel and the poor when picking quotas. Families with military members get priority — they want to reward those who block the northern barbarians on the frontier, to say the King hasn't forgotten their hard‑won merits abroad. Giving priority to the poor shows the King hasn't forgotten us commoners. Mountain Mouth Village only has forty slots; besides those with military families, there are a dozen or so left. There's no one in Mountain Mouth Village who isn't poor, so we can only pick the diligent ones who won't drag the village down, those with many mouths to feed. If you're not chosen, don't hold it against us — there are only forty."
As he went on, the crowd fell completely silent.
Some eyes reddened with the desire to go, while others thought it impossible, believing there's no such good thing in the world.
When the family of Old Man Yu, who had encountered slave‑catchers while reclaiming land, received a quota, they had two sons in the military. Getting this quota didn't excite the whole family as much as the uncle's family next door; they had barely saved their lives in the northern suburbs, and now the posting for their service happens to be exactly there as well.
Old Man Yu squatted under the eaves, drinking a few sips of water; his eldest and second sons were at Upper Valley Pass, only the eldest son of the main branch was an adult, so let him go.
"Let the eldest branch's Yan Ge'er go. This time they're recruiting over a thousand able‑bodied youths; adding the Prince's Mansion personnel, the Hu slave‑catchers certainly won't take this chance to move south again. The Prince You, a mere child, dares to live in the northern wilderness — what do we have to fear working there in the daytime?"
Yan Ge'er wasn't scared at all; that day he ran far off, looked back, and saw armored soldiers on horseback riding up to clash with the Hu people. His grandfather later said, 'Such fine armor must come from the Prince You's men sent from Chang'an.'
Once the personnel were arranged, everyone started talking about wages again.
After day‑dreaming a bit, they thought, 'If they really gave that much grain and that much money, how wonderful that would be.'
"If they really gave that much, Yan Ge'er could afford a wife…"
"What's more, if they really gave twenty‑seven taels, he could marry five — hahaha…"
"I've lived this long and never seen that much silver…"
"Are the clothes new? Our Yan Ge'er has never worn new clothes; they're all hand‑me‑downs from his younger uncle…"
……
The six hundred people of Youzhou City also caused a great uproar; they had no doubt at all that the Prince You could come up with the money, for ordinary folk usually see the Prince You's mansion with its endless high walls and think only the emperor's son could be so rich.
But Youzhou City is now the capital, already the biggest city in Youzhou; scattering six hundred quotas sent up huge splashes, and the nineteen wards almost broke their heads over it.
In the end, they didn't distinguish big or small wards — they just divided them evenly.
Early the next morning, the registration desk at the gate of the Prince You's mansion was crowded with ragged commoners.
They didn't need to register individually; the group leader just handed in the list, the Prince's Mansion clerk checked the roll, and also glanced at age and health. Moreover, they weren't worried about trouble — mutual guaranties would have each group watch over the other.
Baili Jing sneaked over to look at the excitement; at a glance, the people at the gate were dressed even more raggedly than what he usually saw on the street… disheartening.
Regarding ancient people's food intake:
In this text, one peck of rice is taken to equal 1.24 kilograms.
After checking, ancient resources were scarce, staple food consumption huge. An adult eating about one kilogram of grain a day would just avoid starvation, not be full; soldiers need to consume two to three kilograms of grain a day (two pecks).
Youzhou as a whole goes hungry; per capita intake is far below two pecks — 2.48 kilograms.
For example, hearing that Zhuge Liang ate one catty of rice a day (this catty is estimated to be sixteen taels), Sima Yi declared his days were numbered.
The
One dou equals ten pecks — you do the math; even if you add a hundred dishes of soup and water, it's still horrifying～
End of Chapter
