CHAPTER 62: CHAPTER 62: THE CHAOTIC ERA BEGINS

Although Chen Mo has never been to Fuyou City, he has learned about the major cities of Qingzhou from books.

Fuyou City is the largest city in Qingzhou closest to the Northern Land. Strategically, it is the first line of defense in Qingzhou. If Fuyou City falls, it means there are no more defenses before Nanyang, and they can only fight by relying on the city.

Impatiens is also a major city in Qingzhou, second only to Nanyang in population. It is located on the right flank of Nanyang. If Impatiens falls as well, Nanyang will be completely surrounded by the rebel army.

It can be said that the situation in Nanyang is very critical at the moment.

In order to rescue Impatiens and relieve the siege of Nanyang, conscription is necessary.

According to Wu Mountain, Pingting County only received a quota of five hundred due to the County Magistrate being a student of the Lord Prefect. Other counties received quotas of a thousand, and some with larger populations received even more.

Chen Mo originally wanted to enter the city to find out if the rebels had attacked, but unexpectedly, the Qingzhou Army had already lost a battle.

Isn’t the weather just warming up, not even spring yet?

This is happening too fast.

"Brother Wu, doesn’t Qingzhou have a hundred thousand elite soldiers? How could Fuyou City fall before spring?"

In Chen Mo’s limited historical knowledge, ancient peasant uprisings, no matter how large, were mostly suppressed.

Ultimately, a rebel army made up of peasants is nothing more than a motley crew. How could they be a match for a regular army, especially in a Martial Arts World.

Wu Mountain shook his head. As a small constable, he didn’t know the exact details. He said, "I heard that they won initially, but then fell into an ambush after pursuing the victory. I’m not too sure about the specifics."

Bold and strategic, it seems this rebel army is not just a simple peasant army.

Chen Mo sipped his tea and said, "Brother Wu, these five hundred quotas set by Lord Chang for the county, does he plan to recruit outside the city?"

"Brother Chen, you truly are a scholar; your mind works quickly," Wu Mountain said. "According to the Lord’s plan, we start recruiting from outside the city first, and if not enough, we’ll fill it in from inside the city."

Indeed, they really don’t consider those outside the city as people.

As for offending people?

When they collected the city entrance fee earlier, they already categorized people’s status.

If you can’t even afford the entrance fee, what does offending you matter?

Lightly tapping the table with his fingers, Chen Mo smiled and said, "Since Brother Wu came to find me, there must be a way to help me avoid conscription."

In this world now, being caught to go to the frontline is as good as a death sentence.

Moreover, he’s doing well enough not to rebel against this damned court; he certainly won’t risk his life for it.

As a transmigrator, he felt no sense of identity or belonging to the Great Song Dynasty.

Wu Mountain gave Chen Mo a thumbs up and said, "Brother Chen, from the first time we met, I felt you had a compassionate face. Last time at Purple Gold Tower, I found you incredibly open-hearted. As brothers, how can I bear to see you on the battlefield...

The government office has decided to start conscripting tomorrow. If Brother Chen wants to avoid being taken, there are only two ways: One is to buy a house in the city now and move there immediately. But this method is not safe; if the government office doesn’t gather enough people outside, they’ll still recruit from the city to fill the gaps..."

Saying this, Wu Mountain paused, rubbed his hands, and whispered, "Money can stave off disaster."

"How much?" Chen Mo understood what this meant, paying to have someone else take his place. Originally, he would be taken, but by paying, a poorer person could replace him.

But with the current situation, it seems even this standby might not work. They’ll just forcibly conscript strong men.

Wu Mountain wrote a number with tea on the table using his finger.

"Five taels." Chen Mo raised an eyebrow. It might not sound like much, but in a small village like Fu Ze Village, even if you emptied your savings, you couldn’t afford five taels of silver.

"Brother Chen, you’re a martial artist, so the price for martial artists is five taels. If you’re not a martial artist, it’s another five taels," Wu Mountain said.

Wu Mountain left, and as he did, Chen Mo discreetly gave him one tael of silver.

Wu Mountain is someone you can deal with; at least when he takes money, he does the job. Chen Mo also needed a source of information in the government office.

As for the conscription money, Chen Mo planned to pay.

Although he could hide in the cellar or escape to the mountains, firstly, doing so might implicate Wu Mountain, and secondly, since there was not yet chaos, Chen Mo didn’t want to hide.

Of course, there’s another way to avoid conscription, but it’s quite ruthless.

That is to self-mutilate, blind oneself, or break one’s limbs.

If he remembers correctly, there was a passage he learned in school, "Sai Weng loses his horse, how do you know it’s not a blessing," that talked about this.

...

The next day.

Just as Wu Mountain said, the government officials came to the village to conscript, causing an uproar.

This time not only were there government officials but also the city’s Defense Army was sent to assist.

Doors of houses were kicked open one by one.

"The Celestial Master Traitor from the North has attacked; it’s time to make a name for yourself."

"Lu San, hmm? Where is this family?"

"Forty, do you think you can avoid it? You can still walk and jump."

"What, you as a woman want to join the army on behalf of your father? Get out."

Suddenly, the village was filled with the sound of crying, with scenes of families being torn apart and spouses separated everywhere.

But Chen’s Family and Zhang He’s Family, having paid the silver, were spared.

...

Fu Ze Village already had a small population, and this caused great sorrow. Every household had someone crying.

Previously, no matter how tough life was, even when paying taxes, villagers would greet each other with smiles.

But now, all the smiles were gone.

Instead, Liu Shu, who hung out with that group of ruffians and was never home, managed to escape conscription.

Due to the impact of conscription, the crying in every household affected Han Anniang’s mood.

Song Min was making funny faces to cheer up Han Anniang.

"Uncle, when will these days end?" Han Anniang held Chen Mo tightly, her voice soft and tender.

Chen Da suffered severe injuries on the battlefield and passed away not long after returning.

Han Anniang knew that once these people went to the battlefield, not even one out of ten would return alive.

Upon hearing this, Chen Mo remained silent. He didn’t know when it would end, only that such a massive peasant uprising requiring the court to conscript soldiers to counter it often indicated the impending fall of a dynasty, signaling the true beginning of chaotic times.

Then order would collapse, chaos would emerge, and human lives would become as insignificant as weeds.

Currently, a village might see starvation deaths and children being sold as minor issues.

By that time.

The human world would no longer be humane.

Bones would lie exposed in the wild, and not even a rooster’s crow would be heard for a thousand miles.

That would be Hell...

ps: I’ve seen comments earlier claiming the protagonist plans to overthrow the court and rebel, and I now clarify this isn’t a rumor, it’s the main storyline.