A noble middle class couple, looking to advance their position in the kingdom, spends their money on an army legion in order to win the King's favour. A country bumpkin peasant is conscripted into the King's legions. His wife follows to tend to his needs but neither is keen on the life of a soldier, nor are they well suited to the rigors of life in the training field. When the King visits the newly formed legion he is taken aback by the motley crew that the noble has assembled. The noble vows to make the finest army ever assembled and points to the bumpkin as the hallmark by which all soldiers will be measured, not realizing that he has selected the most inept individual in the platoon.