King's shilling

The king's shilling is a term from a long time ago when kings used to pay men to join the army. They would give them a shilling, which is like a coin, and that meant they were now part of the army. But sometimes, men didn't really want to join the army, and they wanted to keep doing what they were doing. So, if they were tricked or forced into taking the king's shilling, they were kind of stuck. They had to go to war, even if they didn't want to. That's why people use the phrase "taking the king's shilling" to mean that someone was tricked or forced into doing something they didn't want to do.