Chapter 1479: Tricked Into Going Off to Sell Cowboys!

As soon as they heard there were Boy Scout quotas to be had, those bumpkin Chiliarchs and Centurions of Jining Guard all perked up! Boy Scout slots were a fine thing — these Chiliarchs and Centurions all had sons and nephews at home with no prospects.

Moreover, the Chiliarch and Centurion posts in the Pacify-the-North Army were not hereditary in perpetuity. The only political privilege these Chiliarchs and Centurions could win for their descendants was to serve as personal guards for the "feudatory lord." Zhu Hebao would, based on the performance of these Chiliarchs and Centurions and of the young personal guards themselves, recommend the young guards to the Military Academy for "gilding" — the Military Academy had a special "gilding class" set up just for them, with a relatively simple curriculum, though still fairly practical.

Once gilded at the Military Academy, they could return to their home garrison and take office. Usually they became probationary Centurions or junior officers, then rose step by step. The reason the feudatory lord could keep control, it was said, rested precisely on this "power of gilding" — after ten or twenty years of gilding, a Military Academy clique had formed across the various feudatories, and seniority now counted. Unless one was a fellow disciple of the Military Academy, it was simply impossible to rise in office and wealth in a "close feudatory" like Pacify-the-North.

But the gilding quota was limited after all, while the Chiliarchs and Centurions below tended to have many sons and much good fortune. Those who could not get into the gilding class had to sharpen their heads and squeeze into the Boy Scout ranks.

However, recruiting Boy Scouts was not something the feudatories managed themselves. It was under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Guard Boy Scout Superintendent's Office in Yingtian Prefecture, and one had to pass that office's examination to become a Boy Scout. The Imperial Guard Boy Scout Superintendent's Office examination was extremely strict — it did not look at family background, only at physique and ability.

So the Chiliarch and Centurion households of the various feudatories could only strive to train their own young lads and let them compete for Boy Scout slots on their own merits. But Boy Scout slots were always a case of many wolves and little meat — not enough to go around! And the Boy Scout age was only around ten, so there was not much time for the Chiliarchs and Centurions to train their sons. Competition was therefore fierce. Now that each Centurion could get one or two extra slots, how could that not excite everyone?

Yet fine as the Boy Scout slots were, the cowboys of the New Continent were truly unwelcome. Without some tricks, no one could be recruited.

"Your Highnesses, with Boy Scout quotas on the line, we will certainly do our utmost. But going to the New Continent to be cattle-herding military households... I fear that will not do!"

"Indeed. If it were enlisting as paid recruits, the men below might have some spirit. But becoming military households, and nomadic herders at that — who would be willing?"

"Isn't that so? Once you become a military household, you and your sons and grandsons are all handed over. Could you ever return to Jining after that?"

"Right — never coming back to Jining. You'd have your sons and grandsons herding cattle forever in that what's-it-called New Continent United States' Huaizhou and Dezhou!"

Huaizhou and Dezhou were the fiefs of Zhu Hekun and Zhu Hezhen, the two princes, on the New Continent. Roughly speaking, they lay on the great plains of northern New Continent, though exactly where was hard to say. All that was known for now was that Huaizhou was in the north and Dezhou in the south.

At the thought of his sons and grandsons herding cattle in Huaizhou and Dezhou forever, Zhu Hekun was so grieved that tears nearly fell. But there was nothing to be done — their scheming father had sent them, and how would they dare not go?

Zhu Hebao, standing by, also felt rather sad listening to this. He too knew no one wanted to go herd cattle on the New Continent. There was no future in it! Digging gold and hunting sable was one thing — at least you could make a profit. But who would want to travel so far to herd cattle and sheep? Beef and mutton were not worth anything over in the New Continent either.

"Prince Huai," Zhu Hebao turned his head to glance at Zhu Hekun and lowered his voice, "I think this matter calls for deception!"

"Deception?" Zhu Hekun frowned. "How would we deceive them?"

"We can't tell the men below they're going to the New Continent to herd cattle. Tell them it's cattle-herding, and even a fool wouldn't go!"

Even a fool wouldn't go — what kind of talk was that! Zhu Hekun thought to himself: Didn't Old Five and I go? Are the two of us fools? We two are filial sons!

"Then what do we say?" Zhu Hekun, the great filial son, asked with a bitter face.

"Just say..." Zhu Hebao thought for a moment. "Just say they'll be personal guards for the King of the United States, the Prince of Huai, and the Prince of De! Serving as a personal guard in a princely household is a good post. Even though it means going to the New Continent United States, there will still be people willing to do it. Once the men arrive in the New Continent, whether they herd sheep or cattle will no longer be up to them."

"This..." Zhu Hekun mulled it over, then nodded. "Fine, let's do it that way! No matter what, we have to get the men tricked into going to the New Continent United States! Once they go, they'll never come back!"

Once they went to the New Continent and took their "green papers," did they still hope to return to Jining to eat sand? Don't even mention a door — there wasn't even a window. For the rest of their lives they'd honestly be New Continent people! From then on, their sons and grandsons would all be farming and herding along the Mississippi River!

Zhu Hebao nodded and said to the Chiliarchs and Centurions of Jining Guard: "Prince Huai has spoken — you are to deceive. You must deceive well, and not let the men below see through it. If they see through it, no one will be willing to go to the New Continent United States, and if you fail to meet your quotas, I will have a hard time answering to His Majesty. Then I'll come back and strip you of your Centurion and Chiliarch posts!"

After the lure came the threat. As soon as Zhu Hebao's words fell, the Chiliarchs and Centurions below at once broke into a chorus of assent.

Wasn't it just tricking the poor men below with no prospects into going to the New Continent United States to be cowboys? How hard could that be? Those people had no good food to eat staying in Jining anyway. Going to the New Continent, at least they'd get a mouthful of milk to drink, wouldn't they?

Outside Jining Guard city there was a river called the Bawang River — a very domineering name, though no one knew whether it had anything to do with Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Chu. In any case, the Hegemon-King of Chu had certainly never been to Jining. And this river with the domineering name, if placed in the south, would be nothing more than an unremarkable little stream, with little water, often running dry in the dry season.

Yet it was precisely this little river that irrigated ten thousand mu of fine farmland on both banks, worthy of being called Jining Guard's "river of life." Old Six Niu's family, who had lived for over ten years at Bawang River West Fort, depended on this Jining river for their livelihood. His father, Niu Dawei, had originally been a hunter in the Lüliang Mountains, a fine archer and skilled at scaling mountains and leaping ridges. After the great chaos of the Jiashen year, he had joined the Prince of Dai's army. He had hoped to climb upward on his own abilities, but had not expected that holding office was not easy. Though he had had several chances, all had come to nothing because he bungled his assignments. In the end, all that was passed down was a single estate here at Jining. Because it was a military-service estate, it could not be divided among his four sons, so it went entirely to Old Six Niu's eldest brother. Old Six Niu and the others worked for their eldest brother. But their eldest brother treated his younger brothers well — he scrimped and saved himself, even took out usurious loans, yet managed to get wives for all of them. Old Six Niu was the youngest in the family and the last to marry. By then, Eldest Brother Niu had emptied his coffers, so he could only get Old Six a widow, who also brought along a stepdaughter. Later, Old Six and that widow had four more children — two boys and two girls. So now he had five children to feed, plus his secondhand wife. What a big family that was!

Because there were many mouths to feed and no land of his own, Old Six Niu's circumstances, like Wang Xiao'er's, grew worse year by year.

And he was already "old" — twenty-six years old — and had never had much schooling. Never mind the Boy Scouts, he could not even become a veteran soldier. For the rest of his life he would farm and herd sheep, save money to help his brother repay the usurious loans, and if anything was left over, save up betrothal gifts for his sons and dowries for his daughters.

Today, Old Six Niu was just driving several dozen horses back to the gate of Bawang River West Fort — not his horses; he was herding them for Centurion Li's household — when he saw his "old lady" Yang Erniang (actually not old, only twenty-seven, but life was so hard she looked forty) standing at the main gate with a brood of children, craning her neck and looking around.

Old Six felt a surge of irritation at the sight of this woman and her brood — all mouths that could eat but not work. It was only afternoon, and already they were craning their necks waiting for the meal? When would this life ever end!

"Husband! You're back—" Yang Erniang spotted her husband from afar and started hollering, "Prince Huai's household retainers have come to the fort to recruit personal guards! Lots of people have gone — let's go too!"

Become a personal guard?

Old Six Niu did not know what to say. What time was it now? This was no longer the era of great chaos under heaven. Who would recruit a twenty-six-year-old as a personal guard now — and one who looked old, like a forty-year-old personal guard at that? And a princely household's personal guard... which princely household was so down at heel?

Old Six Niu was just about to start cursing when a man in a long robe suddenly came out of the fort — it was Centurion Li of Bawang River West Fort, and he too shouted along with Yang Erniang: "Old Six, hurry up! The prince is recruiting personal guards — a hundred taels of settling-in allowance, and they'll take you even at twenty-five! Go quickly, and once you get the silver you can pay off what you owe!"

(End of Chapter)