12dz Chapter 768 He's Made It!
Chapter 768 He's Made It!
Only after the Yang family army had completely taken control of the entire prefecture did they begin to deal with the soldiers of the Qingzhou army.
Those who wish to continue serving in the military can join the Yang Family Army and become soldiers there. Those who do not wish to continue serving will not be forced by the Yang Family Army and will be released and sent home.
The vast majority of soldiers had grown tired of military life and chose to return home, while only a small number of Qingzhou soldiers chose to stay.
This is the treatment for ordinary soldiers, but Yang Zheng will naturally reward soldiers like Xu Xiaoma who have made meritorious contributions in surrendering the city.
Yang Zheng personally met with Chen Ge, Xie Yinghao, and Xu Xiaoma, who were in charge of surrendering the city, and asked them what rewards they wanted.
Chen Ge and Xie Yinghao were prepared. After some initial refusals, they finally asked to join Yang's army.
On the contrary, Xu Xiaoma surrendered the city only to seek a way out for his comrades, family members, and people in the city. He did not think about gaining anything and for a moment he could not explain why.
Seeing this, Yang Zheng did not urge Xu Xiaoma, but simply told him to go back and think it over.
Finally, after discussing it with his comrades, Xu Xiaoma approached Yang Zheng again and told him what reward he wanted.
Xu Xiaoma had limited experience and no ambition to climb the social ladder, so the reward he wanted was very simple: he hoped that Yang Zheng could give him and his comrades in Xiancheng some money and food so that they could improve their poor family situation.
With such a simple request, Yang Zheng naturally had no reason to refuse. He agreed immediately and promoted Xu Xiaoma to centurion.
In addition, Yang Zheng gave Xu Xiaoma a few days off so that he could go home to visit his parents and family.
So, after receiving the reward from Yang Zheng, Xu Xiaoma carried large and small bags back home and saw his parents and family whom he had been longing for day and night.
"This King Yang is truly a good official!"
After listening to Xu Xiaoma's story, Zhou Yan couldn't help but sigh. Yang Zheng not only treated the people in the city well, but also treated Xu Xiaoma, a soldier from Qingzhou who had once been his enemy, with such kindness. His magnanimity was truly admirable.
"Yes! General Yang is indeed a good man!"
Xu Xiaoma recalled Yang Zheng's face. As a soldier in the Qingzhou Army, Xu Xiaoma had seen many "generals".
But he had never seen any general who loved his soldiers like his own children as Yang Zheng did. When living in the military camp, Xu Xiaoma even saw Yang Zheng eating with the soldiers of the Yang Family Army and personally inquiring about the soldiers' family situations and helping them solve their problems.
It is rare to see a general who is so considerate of ordinary soldiers.
"Let's not talk about this, Mother."
After a moment of reflection, Xu Xiaoma happily placed the large and small bags he was carrying on the ground: "These are General Yang's gifts to me, come and take a look!"
As he spoke, Xu Xiaoma opened the package that was on the ground, revealing its contents.
"Is this a chicken?"
Xu Jun stared wide-eyed at the first package Xu Xiaoma opened, which contained five large, golden-feathered chickens.
Immediately afterwards, Xu Xiaoma opened the second package, which contained snow-white flour weighing no less than 20 pounds.
Finally, Xu Xiaoma took out a small bag from the inner layer of his clothes, which contained a full ten taels of silver!
Five yellow-feathered chickens, 20 catties of flour, plus 10 taels of silver...
This enormous fortune left Mr. Xu, his mother, and their three younger siblings completely stunned.
"Little Ma, where did all these things come from?"
Zhou Yan stared blankly at the supplies Xu Xiaoma brought back, and subconsciously asked a question.
Xu Xiaoma brought back so many things that she felt overwhelmed.
"Didn't I say? This was a gift from Marshal Yang."
Xu Xiaoma said with a smile that the contribution of surrendering the city was great. It was only because Xu Xiaoma shared the credit with his comrades who surrendered the city with him that he received the rewards. Otherwise, the rewards he would have received would have been much more than this.
Just look at Chen Ge and Xie Yinghao; not only did they obtain the position of centurion, but each of them also received a reward of five thousand taels of silver, as well as various kinds of grain, cloth, and so on.
"This is too much!"
Xu's mother stared blankly at the supplies in front of her for a long time.
The things Xu Xiaoma brought back would have been a considerable fortune even in the past, let alone now, when resources are scarce in the city.
"hey-hey!"
Xu Xiaoma scratched his head and said with a smile, "Father and Mother, these are all rewards I received for my good deeds. Please accept them without worry!"
After saying that, Xu Xiaoma looked at his three younger siblings who were looking at him expectantly and asked, "Do you want to eat meat?"
"miss you!"
My three younger siblings were practically drooling; how could they not want to eat meat?
"Then you wait here, I'll go kill a chicken right away, and our whole family will have meat to eat later!"
"Brother, we'll go with you."
Xu Xiaoma led the three little ones and a chicken to the kitchen to get busy.
Xu Jun and Zhou Yan carefully packed all the things Xu Xiaoma brought back into the house and put them away.
"Honey, Little Ma has really made something of himself!"
Zhou Yan said with a beaming smile after putting away the supplies.
The supplies and money that Xu Xiaoma brought back can greatly improve their family's impoverished situation, allowing both adults and children to have enough to eat.
"Yes! Little Ma has grown up and will be able to help the family in the future!"
The two men sighed with emotion. In the past, their family only had a few acres of barren land, and the two of them, who were able to work, had to shoulder the burden of supporting the entire family, making it almost impossible for them to breathe. Now, Xu Xiaoma could finally help them share the burden, which made them feel much more relaxed.
As the sun set, Xu Xiaoma finished cooking the chicken. The family sat around the table, enjoying the hard-earned chicken by the dim moonlight. The three children ate with gusto, their mouths greasy.
Zhou Yan only ate a little, trying to give as much chicken as possible to the children, while she ate wheat rice and a small amount of chicken herself.
"pony."
After taking a bite of chicken, Zhou Yan asked, "What are your plans for the future? Will you continue serving in the army, or will you join your father in farming?"
"Mom, I don't plan to farm!"
Xu Xiaoma shook his head and said, "General Yang has already promoted me to centurion, so I will be the centurion of Yang Family Army from now on."
"Centurion? Do you have pay?"
Xu Jun frowned and asked, "When Xu Xiaoma served in the Qingzhou army, he also received a military salary. However, since the death of the Qing King, this salary has been completely cut off, which is one of the reasons why the Xu family has become increasingly poor."
"Of course!"
Xu Xiaoma smiled and nodded, saying, "The Yang Family Army is different from the Qingzhou Army. I asked other soldiers in the Yang Family Army, and they told me that the Yang Family Army's pay is always paid in full, and they have never withheld a single penny."
Now that I'm a centurion, my pay will be higher than that of ordinary soldiers. With this pay, you won't have to work so hard anymore, Father and Mother!