"Shi ge'er, are you really joining the army?"
In bed, Chen Sanshi lay side by side with Gu Xinlan.
"Is it because of what happened to Shunzi's family?"
"Partly. But not entirely."
That incident had only been one of the triggers.
It made Chen Sanshi think of Qin Feng.
He had killed Qin Xiong. There was no evidence left behind, but who could say Qin Feng wouldn't start suspecting him anyway? What if he decided to pull similar tricks? How would he handle it then?
Or worse—what if Qin Feng didn't even bother with evidence and just came to kill him? What could he possibly do?
He didn't even know how martial artists ranked their power. Relying on just a bow—was that really enough to protect this little home?
As for peace?
From the moment he crossed into this world and got targeted by Qin Xiong, that word no longer had meaning.
Even if he didn't strike first, someone would find a way to crush him.
Joining the army.
Not only could he learn martial arts, he might also gain status.
Climbing upward in every sense—that was the only way to truly survive in chaotic times.
Chen Sanshi spoke softly, "What's wrong? You don't want me to go?"
"You're the head of the house. Whatever you decide goes. I'm just… scared something might happen to you…"
Though Gu Xinlan said she had no objections, her tone held a faint bitterness. Her almond-shaped eyes shimmered with tears. She was clearly afraid of being left alone.
"Such unlucky talk. Say another word and I'll shut your mouth for you."
"No—mmph…"
After a heated negotiation that lasted two full hours, the couple reached a mutual agreement.
Chen Sanshi didn't sleep right away. He picked up a book and started reading.
Before he realized it, he was fully immersed. His proficiency climbed steadily.
At a certain moment, something clicked in his mind. Suddenly, everything in the book became crystal clear. What used to feel difficult now made perfect sense. Everything he couldn't grasp before had just opened up in front of him.
[Skill: Reading (Minor Achievement)]
[Progress: (0/800)]
[Effect: Seven Orifices of Wisdom, Mental Clarity, Perfect Memory]
Seven Orifices of Wisdom?
Unlike Archery, which directly strengthened his body, the effects of Reading weren't visible. They had to be felt.
What Chen Sanshi noticed most was how easily he could now understand the material. Every concept was immediately grasped and committed to memory.
'This is gonna help me a lot with martial arts later.'
'But damn—the progress bar jumped by a lot.'
'And just reading this one book doesn't improve me as fast anymore. Looks like I'll need to read more types of books.'
'Same goes for Archery.'
'Heavy bows are only found in the army.'
'Joining up… there's no backing out now.'
He shut the book and drifted into deep sleep.
…
The next day.
The sun rose as usual.
Chen Sanshi carried dried meat and grain into town.
"The county's under lockdown?"
From far away, he could already see soldiers in armor checking everyone at the gates. When he asked around, he learned that the martial artist who had tried to assassinate the barbarian-appointed magistrate hadn't been caught. Worse, the guy had sneaked back into town and killed the head of Yunhe Martial Hall in the southern district.
"Now that's a ruthless guy," Chen Sanshi muttered, impressed.
After being searched and questioned, he made it to the market and found old Xu Tou.
"So you've made up your mind? Come with me, then."
Old Xu didn't bother with pleasantries. He accepted the goods and brought out a donkey cart, leading Chen Sanshi out of the city. "I'll take you to my son."
In the Great Sheng Dynasty, military households were hereditary.
If your father was a military household, then your entire family line was one. When the father retired or died, the son took his place. If there was no son, they'd pick another male from the clan to maintain the troop numbers.
According to old Xu Tou, military household registries were tightly controlled. Back during the empire's golden age, very few outsiders were allowed to join. Nowadays, they wanted new recruits—but couldn't find enough.
In the early days after the founding of the dynasty, military households got great benefits. Rations were distributed based on family size. Training was free. Winter clothing was provided. Their standard of living was well above average peasant families.
But over time, everything changed.
No one knew how, but military farmland kept shrinking. Meanwhile, the labor burden on the soldiers only grew heavier.
Old Xu Tou said things were at their worst when he first joined the army.
Many military households couldn't even feed themselves with their government grain and pay. They had to work as tenant farmers for local landlords and martial halls. Some ended up little more than household slaves.
With nowhere else to go, many simply ran away.
At one point, in all of Liangzhou Garrison, the number of deserters reached a ridiculous fifty percent.
It wasn't until Grand Secretary Yan Liang took office that things turned around. He spent ten years of effort just to stabilize the garrison system. It hadn't collapsed yet, but the fighting strength was still embarrassingly low.
On paper, Liangzhou's border had twenty-nine garrisons and over 160,000 military households and soldiers. In reality, having more than 100,000 was already optimistic...
The real force holding the Great Wall was the Eight Northern Garrisons under the Grand Commander. Those were the true elite who kept the barbarians at bay.
The Eight Garrisons were well-paid, but they only took the best. You had to earn your name in the garrison first before even having a shot at joining them.
As the two of them chatted, they slowly left Poyang County behind.
West of the county was the Tiger Head Mountain Range. To the north lay the border's Great Wall.
Between the county and the wall was where the army was stationed.
Garrisons weren't just endless rows of tents like in TV shows. Instead, they were made up of purpose-built villages.
If there was no war, the soldiers lived like regular people—farming at sunrise and coming home at sunset.
Military camps between villages served as command posts and training grounds.
"Poyang may be on the border," old Xu Tou explained, "but thanks to the Tiger-Dragon Mountains in the way, it's tough for the barbarians to march through. Usually, it's just small groups of cavalry. So it's relatively safe."
"Whoa—" he called out as he pulled the donkey cart to a stop outside a camp and motioned for the boy to come along.
"You're here to enlist?"
Old Xu Tou had his son late in life. The man was barely thirty, with a short beard and sharp energy in his eyes.
Hearing that the recruit was a family friend, he didn't ask much and helped register him.
"Military households don't pay grain tax each year."
"If you're single, your monthly pay is 4 qian of silver. With a wife, it's 7 qian. If you've got five or more in your household, it's 1 tael."
"My dad says you're a hunter?"
Old Xu Tou cut in, "Little Shitou is something else! Villages for dozens of li around Poyang all know he's the best hunter around!"
Xu Bin nodded. "If you don't make it as a melee soldier, you don't have to serve as a formation grunt. You can be an archer instead—archers earn 1 tael and 5 qian a month."
They brought him to the office handling enlistment paperwork. After registration, he was given a set of old armor, a red-brimmed hat, and a training manual.
The yellowed, thread-bound book had four bold characters on the cover: Basic Spearsmanship for Infantry.
With everything in hand, from this moment on, Chen Sanshi was officially a border soldier of the Great Sheng Dynasty.
His assigned unit's full name was: Poyang Left Army, Front Garrison, Border Guard of Anding Prefecture, Thousand-Household Division.
"Lately we've been trickling in some new blood."
"You'll officially report to camp tomorrow. The Hundred-Household Officer will give a speech in the training field and start teaching you martial arts."
"Make sure you're ready. How you perform early on will shape your entire future in the army."
"Once you're stuck as a formation grunt, you'll never get the chance to climb up again."