Chapter 42 The thoughts of the mercenaries (three thousand words)

"I do." Harvey jumped out first. He was old. The reason why he was unwilling to retire was not only because he still had a treasure knife, but also because he didn't know what he could do after retirement, but also to use his remaining energy to exchange for a better life for his family and descendants. Now the opportunity has come. If he can use his life to gain a bright future for his descendants, then why should he cherish this life?

"I am willing to participate." Hal was the second to stand up. He also had family members. In fact, all mercenaries have family members. After all, although mercenaries have a little hard life, their income is indeed high enough. In addition, Benyin's humanized management has treated the soldiers under his command quite well. Therefore, almost all mercenaries have a lot of money in their hands. It is a waste to fall into the hands of those who have today but not tomorrow. If they die on the battlefield, they will only become the enemy's spoils. It is better to spend it first. So under the publicity of Benyin and others, almost all mercenaries married or bought wives and gave birth to descendants.

But the mercenaries themselves also know that their descendants have no future, because mercenaries themselves are not accepted by ordinary people. They are forced by life and forced to be mercenaries, but they do not want their sons to follow their old path in the future.

However, if you want to change the lives of future generations, you must let them master new abilities, but they can do nothing except war. The only thing they can teach children is the fighting skills they rely on for survival.

However, these combat skills will lead their children to their old path in the future. If no changes are made, it can be expected that their children will also take the path of mercenaries in the future. This is not the future they are willing to see but are almost destined.

Unless they can gain adventures, such as being favored by certain nobles or even kings, becoming their servants or soldiers under their command, they can get rid of the status of mercenaries and usher in a new life, or save an important member in the war, or make great contributions on the battlefield, then receive rewards, or even become nobles directly.

But neither of these two methods is so easy. In the former, you must have extraordinary abilities, otherwise why do you make others favor you? In the latter, you need luck. Even if there is no luck, you cannot catch it even if the opportunity appears in front of you. In short, these two methods are destined to be the treatment of a few people. The only consequence of ordinary mercenaries retire is to become ordinary people. However, they are used to life and death on the battlefield. How can these bloody warriors adapt to the life of normal people?

As for serving as a guard for landlords and wealthy businessmen? No one will choose this. Since they choose to be mercenaries, it means that they naturally yearn for freedom in their hearts and cannot withstand the constraints of rules and regulations. Even if they retire, they cannot be slaves for others - not to mention that they are not short of money. The decades of killing career are enough to make them earn enough money to provide their worries for the rest of their lives. This is the only better place for mercenaries.

Therefore, the mercenaries' way out after retirement is actually very narrow. This is one of the reasons why Harvey is so old but still active on the battlefield - he really doesn't know what else he can do after retirement. Even because his hands are covered in blood, he dares not hold his grandson, for fear that the sins he is injured and contaminated will be passed on to his children and grandchildren.

But now it is different. Their future has turned around. His Royal Highness of the Tang Dynasty is willing to accept them. Not only can they give them the identity of the Tang people, but they can even become nobles as long as they make contributions. In the eyes of these foreign mercenaries, officials and nobles are actually no different. After all, in their hometowns, officials are basically held by nobles, and this kind of responsibility is usually hereditary. Apart from joining the army and making meritorious service, poor people basically cannot have the opportunity to make a name for themselves.

Under the leadership of those waste snacks, it means that they can survive on the battlefield. It is impossible to make meritorious contributions. Even if they make merit, they will be snatched away by the nobles on their heads, and they may not even get a reward. This is also one of the reasons why most mercenaries are foreigners. After all, not only will they not get any credit for being a soldier, but they even have very little salary. The compensation for death is even lower. Who would join the army? On the contrary, although they have no status and no future, their income is great, and at least they can keep their families alive. Even if they die on the battlefield, the compensation is usually very high, which is far from what they can get by joining the army.

The Tang Dynasty is different. As I said before, the most difficult thing to obtain in the world is the nationality of the Tang Dynasty, because the Tang people are the happiest people in the world. Although there is also oppression here, there is no profession of slaves (or this profession is not open to the people of the Tang Dynasty). The nobles did not dare to blatantly kill their servants or abuse the people in their fiefdoms. These would be severely punished by law.

What's more, with the development of time, the Tang Dynasty has entered a prosperous era. The country is becoming more and more powerful. No neighboring countries dare to compete with it. The living conditions of the people in China are getting better and better. Especially in the development of Nanyang and other places, not only does the food price fall further, but most of the people also have their own land and most of them have some spare money in their hands. In addition, the domestic commodity prices are not expensive, and the sense of happiness becomes stronger.

It can be said that in the Tang Dynasty, you only need to be hardworking enough, so you can live a good life. If the weather is good and you work hard for two years, you can build a big house. Even if the weather is not smooth, you can almost buy the property you should have in three or five years. You can even marry a wife and live a happy life with a warm kang from now on.

Unlike foreign countries, even if the food you grow out of exhaustion is just farming for the nobles. The high taxes make the people live in poverty, and the food that falls into their hands may not even exceed 30% - such a small amount of food can barely make the family starve to death at most. It is impossible to have food stored. If they encounter a famine, they will have to wait and die.

In addition to life, there are also channels for promotion. Although the Tang Dynasty was also controlled by aristocrats, it did not completely cut off the promotion path for ordinary people. You can participate in scientific examinations in literature and join the army to make contributions. As long as you have the ability, you can become a senior leader of the Tang Dynasty. Nowadays, there are many great figures from civilians in the center of the Tang Dynasty. Among the local border officials, there are countless civilians.

In addition, the top scholars from poor families who have emerged in the past few years, and officials at all levels from poor families under Li Zhen, although the current poor forces are slightly inferior to those of aristocratic families and nobles, they can fight back and forth, and they will not be able to be pressed on the ground like before. These are enough to prove that as long as you have the ability in the Tang Dynasty, you will not lack the level of advancement. This is also the most enviable thing for foreigners to the Tang people - because here we have truly achieved the point where kings, princes, generals and ministers are more likely to be greedy, not like foreign countries or nobles, with clear hierarchies. The nobles were born as nobles, and common people could only be civilians, and it was difficult to have the opportunity to become nobles.

And don’t forget that the person who made this promise now is the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty. His identity is the second most noble in the Tang Dynasty. Even in terms of power in the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty is not inferior to that of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Today, the Tang Dynasty is divided into two parts. Part of it is collectively called the local area, plus the Turks and Goguryeo and other places. The owner of this part is Li Shimin.

The other part is the core of Lingnan, plus the areas including Nanyang, Tianzhu, Borneo, Luzon and even some Tubo, which are no less than the local area in terms of area, and their fiscal revenue is even more than the local area. Although this part is nominally dominated by Li Shimin and the taxes it should be paid every year, the real ruler here is Li Zhen. Sometimes even Li Shimin's imperial edict may not be as useful as Li Zhen's words in Lingnan. Especially with more and more students graduated from Wentian Shuyuan, Li Zhen has gradually replaced the Lingnan officialdom with his own people. In addition, the hundreds of thousands of troops in his hands have achieved the goal of truly controlling the south. Here, tens of thousands of people admire him and rule the world.

It is precisely because of this reason that some people call him the Southern Emperor, which means the supreme emperor who ruled the south, and corresponded to Li Shiminyao, who was in charge of the north. However, as soon as he knew this title, Li Zhen captured the person who had heard of this name - is this Hong Guoguo's intention to praise and kill him?

Fortunately, Li Zhen reacted quickly. After arresting the person, he handed a confession to Chang'an as soon as possible. Otherwise, if this was passed to Chang'an, I was afraid that even if Li Shimin believed him, he would have to be jealous of him. Even under the instigation of some people, it might not be necessary to recall Li Zhen from Nanyang to Chang'an. At that time, his efforts would have been greatly reduced.

But no matter what purpose others gave him the title of Southern Emperor, one thing is correct - that is, Li Zhen is really the local emperor of the south. Now everyone understands that as long as you cling to the relationship with the prince, you will not be far from your success.

Even mercenaries like Harvey and Haer know this truth. Now that this opportunity is delivered to the door, how could they let it go? You must know that as long as you participate, your identity as a Tangren will be basically confirmed, and even your family will become a Tang Dynasty person. This will not be changed even if you die in battle. If you can make great contributions in this battle, you will even be rewarded by the prince, become a real noble, and become a real master from now on... How could they let this be missed?
Chapter completed!