“Congratulations my lord, I see that the number of strong men who have come to sign up for the recruitment of soldiers today alone is feared to have exceeded 10,000 people.”Zhao Zhi Xian rushed to the recruitment site after finishing his Yamen business, and seeing that the recruitment site was overcrowded, and the line of applicants was hundreds of metres long, he couldn’t help but arch his hand to Zhu Ping An and congratulate him.
“Hehe, this is also thanks to the assistance of Governor Zhao.”Zhu Pingan smiled and returned Governor Zhao’s bow.
“Your Excellency is overstating it, it’s all a matter of lifting a finger. I wonder how your Excellency’s army recruitment is progressing now?”Governor Zhao asked.
“There are already more than twelve thousand people who have come to enrol, and the number of strong men who have been initially selected as suitable has reached more than eighteen hundred, which has long exceeded the intended number of twelve hundred. According to the enthusiasm of the people to register, today and tomorrow there will be a large number of people to come to register, it is expected that eventually there will be more than 30,000 people to apply for the recruitment, the preliminary selection will have more than 4,000 people. When the preliminary selection is complete, then the best of the best will be selected, and from there, 1,200 people will be chosen.”Zhu Pingan looked at the bustling recruitment site with satisfaction, hooking his lips as he returned, “Originally, I had planned to use about a week to recruit soldiers, but now it seems that it will be completed in almost three days.”
“With 4,000 fit and the best of the best, your honour will definitely be able to raise 1,200 elite soldiers, and will be able to make new achievements in the future.”
Zhao Zhi Xian sniffed and couldn’t help but compliment.
“Hehe, let me borrow Governor Zhao’s good advice.”Zhu Pingan smiled back.
“However, since there are so many fit people, why doesn’t Your Excellency recruit more soldiers?”
Zhao Zhi Xian asked, in his heart, he preferred Zhu Ping An to recruit more than a thousand or so people, this could effectively reduce the hidden dangers of law and order within the territory, with fewer people, there would naturally be fewer armed fights and whatnot, and moreover, more than 2,000 people was not too many, and it would not affect Yiwu County’s defence against the Japanese invaders.
“I also want to raise more soldiers and horses, but this time, Governor Zhang approved 1,200 people, and in the future, the allocation of food and wages will also be in accordance with this number. Recruiting soldiers is a rather sensitive matter, it is not appropriate to go beyond the approval.”
Zhu Pingan softly explained.
When Zhao Zhi Xian heard this, he thought of the current military system and couldn’t help but nod his head, “Indeed, what Your Excellency said is very true.”
“But in the future, if there is another opportunity to recruit soldiers, I will definitely come back to your county, hehe, at that time, I also hope that Zhao Zhi Xian will not mind me picking off your county’s warriors.”Zhu Pingan smiled, half-joking and half-serious, and said.
“As Your Excellency said, the world’s prosperity and demise is the responsibility of every man, to eliminate the Japanese invaders, I, Yiwu people are naturally obliged to do so. In the future, if there is an opportunity to recruit soldiers, your honour may come, I will assist with all my might, and I, Yiwu people, will be at your disposal. Even if I leave my post, I will still explain and urge the next governor to fully assist you in recruiting soldiers.”
Zhao Zhixian did not hesitate to state his position.
“Zhi County Zhao is deeply righteous, this official is impressed.”Satisfied, Zhu Pingan arched his hand at Zhi Xian Zhao and said.
“I didn’t expect so many people to come and sign up, my humble servant will deploy another batch of clerks and errand boys to assist your lordship.”
Noticing that there were too many people at the scene and that the manpower under Zhu Pingan’s command was somewhat insufficient, Governor Zhao spoke up.
More manpower was better, so naturally, Zhu Pingan would not refuse.
Today and tomorrow is the primary election, all those who pass the primary election will receive a note with their name and serial number, the serial number from the “one” in turn, tomorrow there is a day of primary election registration time, all those who pass the primary election with the note to participate in the final election, after passing the final election is the Zhejiang army recruits.
Valley</span> As the sun set, today’s recruitment came to an end for the time being, with a total of more than twenty thousand people coming to sign up for enlistment.
On the second day another ten thousand people participated in the preliminary election, and in the course of two days, a total of over four thousand three hundred people passed the final election.
Early in the morning of the third day, when the sun had just risen, more than 4,000 townspeople who had passed the preliminary selection were already waiting for the final selection at the recruitment site. The final selection would be made from the best of them, and 1,200 people would be chosen to join the Zhejiang army.
The final election site than two days before the primary election more people, in addition to participate in the final election of the townspeople, there are a lot of people watching, will be outside the venue surrounded by layers and layers and layers, even the howling cold wind can not blow into the venue.
There is no way, these days there are not many entertainment programmes, and even fewer free ones, so how could people miss the rare chance to see a hilarious event, naturally, they called their children, young and old, as well as young and old girls and daughters-in-law, to come.
In addition, many vendors with a keen sense of business, like sharks who smelled the smell of blood, sharpened their heads and entered the scene, peddling around the scene to sell all kinds of snacks and nibbles. There is a lively can watch, and then with affordable snacks snacks, simply do not too beautiful, anyone can not refuse, so that hawking stalls vendors earn a pot full of money.
The whole scene was so crowded and lively that the temple fair at New Year’s Eve was just like that.
It was not an exaggeration at all to say that this had been the grandest event of the year in Yiwu County, bar none.
Zhu Pingan drew on the experience of modern military recruitment, the final selection of several standards: one is eyesight, two is physical fitness, three is running, four is age. Through these four items, the top twelve hundred were selected from the best of the best.
This was very different from other generals’ recruiting in the past, which focused more on hands, fists, feet, fighting, and so on.
“My lord, why don’t you prioritise the selection of good fists and feet with kung fu background, instead focusing on the eyes to see far, running fast or not ……”Liu Dazhou was puzzled and asked Zhu Pingan for advice.
Zhu Pingan smiled slightly and simply explained, “Big Dagger, we are selecting soldiers, not generals. Fist, feet, hands and martial arts can all be improved through acquired drills; while eyesight is irreversible with the current medical conditions, our Zhejian army focuses on firearms, and eyesight is one of the keys. In addition, running is also very important, marching and fighting, whether it’s attacking or retreating, running is essential.”
“I see, I understand gongzi.”Liu Dabao nodded as he came to a realisation.
The final selection was hotly opened.
Zhu Pingan made more than ten custom-made boards in advance, borrowing the modern eyesight chart, on which he wrote the word “mountain” with lines of openings in different directions, and set them up in a position five metres away, and one by one, the townspeople who had passed the preliminary selection covered one of their eyes with a small board under the command of Liu Dazhou and the others, to look at the opening direction of the word “mountain”, and in this way, to see the “mountain” and the direction of the opening.The opening direction of the word “mountain” was used to assess their eyesight. Those who could accurately see the opening of the word “mountain” in the penultimate line passed (with a visual acuity close to the modern 5.0), while those who could not see it were not selected.
Physique is mainly to see the height and weight, generally about the same height and weight can pass, too short or too thin or too fat to be selected.
Running is a group of one hundred people, around the recruitment site to run twenty laps (almost close to 10,000 metres), as long as you can run in three quarters of an hour on the pass, if you can not stick to it, or more than three quarters of an hour will be selected.
Age is preferred to select young people between eighteen and twenty-five years old, which is the best time to enlist.
