In many American movies, we've seen groups like Boy Scouts. Although it seems to be a matter of concern, it is different from the army of the Eight Classics of Zheng'er. You know, any country in the world explicitly prohibits children from joining the military.
In 1907, an Englishman named Robert Baden-Powell was worried about the moral degeneration of The British youth at that time, and in order to save these lost youth, he created the Boy Scouts to hone the character and practical ability of British youth.
It is worth mentioning that once the Boy Scout movement was born, it quickly swept the world, and even the national government on the mainland at that time introduced this system. In 1912, Yan Jialin founded China's first Boy Scout Army at Wuchang Wenhua Academy, and later the Nationalist government designated February 25 every year as "Chinese Boy Scout Day".
At first glance, it seems that the Boy Scouts were the first Scouting organizations in the world. In fact, it is not, in the earlier European Middle Ages, there was a scout who was short-lived, but eventually disappeared into history. What's going on? Please read on.
In order to retake the holy city of Jerusalem, the Holy See at that time launched a 200-year-long religious war against the Islamic countries of Central Asia, which also gave birth to the famous Crusader knights.
At that time, the Crusades were not all adult men, but also a children's crusade. At that meeting in 1212, Stephen, a 12-year-old boy in Germany, dreamed that Jesus had given him an "oracle" saying that if a children's crusade were to be fought, Jerusalem would be breached.
Given the prevalence of feudal superstitions in Europe in the Middle Ages, Stephen's so-called "oracles" were not suspected. In addition, the Crusader knights of the Nahui served as basically bandits and robbers during the Crusades, and when they returned, each of them was rich and well-deserved, and was awarded the Medal of Honor by the Pope. In the context of everyone's yearning for the Crusade, Stephen's call naturally received a response from many children.
In the end, he raised more than 30,000 children. When the men were assembled, Stephen consulted the Pope about the crusade against Central Asia, but the Pope looked down on the ragtag crowd and did not give them the title of regular crusader. So Stephen decided to go it alone, leading his Scouts eastward.
However, the march is not as simple and casual as the family, plus they are all children, and the interest comes and goes quickly. When Stephen marched to the port to prepare for the sea, the team of more than 30,000 people ran and starved to death, leaving only 2,000 people. And, most embarrassingly, without papal patronage, Stephen discovered that they didn't have the money to take the boat.
However, at that time, two businessmen seemed to see through Stephen's heart, and they offered to take his party to Asia, and as a sign of sincerity, they also brought 7 large ships.
The child was wary of seeing such a "generous" businessman and got on the boat without thinking. However, the two men were not "helpful" merchants, but slave traders. The seven ships also did not sail to Central Asia, but to North Africa.
By the time the ship docked, It was too late for Stephen to repent. They were greeted by Arab nomads from North Africa, and the 2,000 children were sent to the large slave markets of Egypt and Algeria, respectively. After that, there was no more whereabouts of them.