21 The canton system I
Well, the 4000 word chapter I had done seems to be turning into 6000 words, if you like this chapter I will turn it into three 2000 word chapters.
Extra chapter, 10 comments in THIS paragraph or 10 reviews regardless of rating(cumulative)
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Luthor, peasant, near tumbleton.
''sorry Luthor ours can never be, my father expects me to have a better match than you'' 'said the woman I was trying to seduce.
Finally, she left me alone
for the last few moons I have been trying to get a wife, but I have had no luck mainly because of the economic condition of my family, I was not a suitable match for any woman in the village, my parents are immigrants from the stormlands, my family was very poor, since we had no dealings with the feudal lord, and therefore we had no right to plant, we could only help those who had deals or do other kinds of jobs not very well remunerated
my parents had emigrated for economic reasons, although their situation improved with respect to the stormlands in the reach we were considered almost beggars, our house looked like a pig sty.
When the Prussians arrived we went through many things, the attempts of rebellion of the feudal lords, the calls of the faith to fight against the Prussians, but finally the Prussians won the conflict, crucified the rebels and had settled in the land.
They were not well seen in the beginning in our village, but when they started with the king's charity in Prussia, things changed, one of the first houses they rebuilt with their famous liquid stone was my family's house, at last we had a decent place to sleep.
But the other situation did not change much, we depended a lot on our neighbors to be able to eat, and we arrived to the Prussian canteens, with the time they opened our eyes of how corrupt the faith was, and they offered us to baptize us all, think that with the passage of the days all accepted, all had benefited in something from them, and they always helped without asking anything in return.
Our town had been converted to the light of Protestantism 2 moons ago, and we had not had any kind of problems that the septon proclaims would happen to us if we abandoned the faith of the seven for the new religion of the Prussians, only that from time to time the septon comes out to shout that we are traitors of the faith, but nobody listens to him, he is just an old liar.
The Prussians began to marry with the women of the village and word spread of how well off these men were economically, many fathers and mothers did the impossible to raise a dowry and give it to the Prussians to guarantee a secure future for their daughters.
The Prussians were the richest people who were in the reach, they were mostly soldiers who were receiving a large payment for their services and when they met certain age requirements their king showered them with gold for their long military services.
This made it extremely difficult to get married in this town, since they were all chasing, the Prussians, which in cases like mine was impossible, and I would just have to wait for an opportunity to come along.
One day, like any other, I was working in the fields of a neighbor, until we were informed that a herald had arrived from the king in Prussia about a new decree.
We had to finish our work as soon as possible, as it was probably very important information from the king in Prussia about the future of our village, and we were all working quickly to hear the news.
In a matter of hours, we finished checking and arranging the fields for the future harvest.
I was heading to the church with my friends to hear the news, we could see the herald with a letter he was preparing to read, when most of the people gathered, they began to read the news
''by mandate of the king in Prussia and paramount lord of the reach, he divides his properties of the reach in cantons, this town is under the jurisdiction of the canton number XV, which will be in charge of the military governor Gustav von Lübeck, from today in coordination with your local priests, each canton must offer 1000 volunteers or obligated to serve in the professional army of the king in Prussia which will be remunerated with the amount of 32 stags each moon paying each week 8 stags, also the canton shall offer 1000 volunteers or obligated to military service for the garrison and protection of the territories under the jurisdiction of your military governor, the payment for this service is 22 stags, any questions about the requirements and conditions may be made with your priest, who must keep your records up to date to be able to exercise this service'' said the herald.
There were many murmurs about this decision, no one knew what a canton was, we only knew that the lord was looking for soldiers and guards, many were interested in this service, the pay was good and many saw how the Prussian soldiers lived much better than us with guaranteed payments moon to moon
''you heard Luthor 32 stags, for being a soldier of the lord'' said one of my friends ''yes, but we must know what else they offer, many have been offered glory and prestige to die fighting in a battle'' I said doubtfully.
Quickly, we approached the priest to get the information we needed.
a great mass formed near the priest in order to ask the requirements that the Prussians ask for to form this professional force
''to be able to be part of the army you will have to travel to ciderhall, where is the headquarters where they will make the selections, you must consider that the training will be hellish, the policy of recruits is to separate as soon as possible the strong from the weak, besides they can be taken anywhere to serve in the army, I pay 32 silver stags, tax exemption on that money, 20 years of service, 3 golden dragons when they retire per year served, this is an obligation, if they do not fill the quotas they will be forced to serve '' said the priest looking us in the eyes''
''if you want to participate in the garrison, the thing is simpler, no such strict training is required, as your duties will be the protection of the canton territories,22 silver stags,5 years of service, this is an obligation, if you do not fill the quotas you will be forced to serve''said the priest.
''but don't forget if you desert you will be considered traitors before the military governor and the punishment will be carried out against your relatives, if you are not found, if you should desert the punishment will be the confiscation of goods from your relatives or the forced recruitment of a relative of yours in age to serve, so think well about deserting'' finished the priest.
The offer to join the professional army was too tempting, many wanted to join, but the punishments were also high, but also we would have to leave our homes for a long time, I decided to ask my father who was a soldier and think about it a little better.
When I arrived home, I met with my father and mother
''father, the Prussians are looking for soldiers, the pay is excellent, and I was thinking of enlisting'' I said without looking at him ''you are not thinking of joining, are you? I have told you that many peasants are recruited with these lies to die as meat shields for the lords'' he said with a serious tone.
''but father what else can we do we can't live forever on the charity of the Prussians'' I said trying to make him see my point ''we have a life here we can't lose it for your youthful dreams, we have been in this town for 16 years Luthor you can't leave this life behind to be a soldier'' he said with an angry tone
''you call living on charity a life?, having to look for jobs, what to do every day with our neighbors to be able to eat, if it wasn't the Prussians, there would still be days that we couldn't eat anything and we would have to go looking for roots to survive'' I said with an angry tone.
''we do what is necessary to live'' said my father ''you are content with the minimum to avoid dying, I don't want that with my life, I don't want my children to have to suffer this, I wanted to count on your blessing to go and try my luck, but it seems that you are very happy with your new life under the Prussian government'' I said almost shouting as I left the house
''go abandon your family, you'll come crawling back when they discard you like the lords of the stormlands did to me'' my father shouted.
Quickly, I went to where the people who wanted to participate in the recruitment were gathering, there were almost 20 men, after waiting for a while I handed in the document that the priest had given me the day he baptized me so that they would let me get on the wagons that would transport us to Ciderhall.
I had abandoned everything to follow this dream and I already had my doubts, I had never been so far away from home, the farthest I had gone were the fields of our village, and now I was very far away from my home.
But it was too late to regret, failure was not an option, I would only have to overcome the training that the priest spoke, during the trip I dedicated myself to observe the landscape, I was so used to see my village that everything seemed new and beautiful.
During 3 days we were transported by the Prussian supply wagons that had to take the applicants to the army, I was sleeping until I was awakened.
I was sleeping until I was woken up, ''hey, you're finally awake, we're almost to ciderhall, so you'll be ready to get off the wagon when we arrive'' said one of the soldiers who were transporting us.
From a hill, we could see the camp that was just outside ciderhall it was huge and there were many people, apparently the announcement was massive.
When I came down, I was greeted by a quartermaster officer.
''Greetings, applicant, I must inform you that for the moment we are not conducting the preliminary tests you must wait for the next 2 days to officially start, during this time you will be assigned a tent where you will sleep, remove a bag from the side where you will be given some supplies, so you can endure the remaining 2 days.
Quickly, I went to my tent where there were 5 other young men with whom I would share a tent, no one had much interest in talking, so I dedicated myself to see what the Prussians had given me
They had given me dried meat and dried fruits, also a cloth bag full of feathers, I had never had one, I was very used to sleeping on the hard ground
apparently the dried meat, nuts and dried fruit was not the food for the 2 days but something extra, as they gave us some military rations while we were waiting for our tests.
For 2 days we were waiting until the physical selections started, I had to line up to a complex of military tents where the preliminary exams were taking place, the line was advancing very fast; however, at the same time many men were leaving with defeated faces.
I did not know what kind of test the Prussians were performing that caused so many people to be rejected, almost 60% of the applicants were left out of the first tests, I was nervous, I cannot fail, I had risked everything for this I must give the best of me in this test.
When I entered the tent I saw many Prussian soldiers
''Name?'', asked the Prussian officer ''Luthor, sir'', I answered quickly.
''well, hand over your file issued by your priest and stand next to that measuring rod'' said the man as he pointed to a measuring rod.
I handed in my file and went to the bar, where the Prussians put something over my head
''1.78 m captain, you meet the height'' said the soldier next to me ''well you pass this examination, continue to the next one'' he said as he stamped my file and passed it in my hand.
Quickly, I went on to the next tent where there were a bunch of Prussian bird men, the famous doctors of the King of Prussia's armies.
''Get undressed,'' said the birdman.
I have no idea why they were asking me that, but I quickly obeyed and looked like god brought me to the world, the bird man was watching me and opened my mouth looking for something.
You have no visible deformities and your teeth are healthy, Luthor you passed the physical examination, but tomorrow you will have to go to the preliminary training," said the birdman handing me my stamped file.
