Brother Zhou Joins the Transmigration Army

"Ow... damn it, it hurts... hurts... hurts..."

Zhou Yao slowly opened his eyes in a daze. "My whole body hurts... especially my head!"

Zhou Yao tried to move, but suddenly felt as though he were hanging in midair. His eyes flew wide open, and he swore in fright, "Fuck..."

"Wasn't I doing parkour? I remember running from the third floor of one building to the third floor of another when my foot slipped, and I fell from the third floor. Then I passed out. How did I end up hanging from a tree on this cliff?"

Just then, a fierce headache swept over him, and all the memories slowly flooded Zhou Yao's mind.

As it turned out, the original owner of this body was also named Zhou Yao. Both his parents had died when he was a few years old, and he had lived alone ever since, scraping by as a hunter.

As the memories gradually grew clearer, Zhou Yao learned that this was a country called the Great Zhou State. Years of warfare had left nine out of ten households empty, and men were scarce. The emperor of the Great Zhou State had therefore ordered its laws amended. Under those laws, men had to marry and have children once they turned sixteen. Every man in the Great Zhou State who reached sixteen had to marry six or more women, or pay a fine of ten taels of silver for each wife he fell short.

The law also stipulated that if a man paid the fine at sixteen but still had fewer than six wives by the time he turned seventeen, he would be seized and sent to the army or forced into labor.

This could be called the harshest punishment of all. The emperor of the Great Zhou State had no choice but to enact such laws, because the Great Zhou State was surrounded by wolves and tigers. The neighboring countries all had designs on it, wanting to annex it and seize the chance to expand their territory and strengthen their nations.

This was a world where the strong preyed on the weak, and every country seemed especially fond of land. In this world, every emperor believed that the more territory and land his country possessed, the stronger it would be. They would be kings, and other countries would bow to them as subjects. What these emperors wanted was the feeling of standing high above everyone else and looking down on all living beings.

The laws of the Great Zhou State also stipulated that women within the Great Xia State had to marry once they turned fifteen, after which their main duty was to bear children. Women of the Great Xia State were required to marry at fifteen and have three or more children by the time they turned twenty, with three as the minimum.

If a woman had not borne three children by the time she turned twenty, she would be fined fifty taels of silver for each child she fell short. If she had borne none, the fine was five hundred taels. If a woman was still unmarried at sixteen, or could not find a husband, she would be seized and made to serve as a military prostitute.

The laws of the Great Zhou State were undeniably harsh. The fines and punishments were extremely severe, among the harshest of penalties.

Of course, this was terrifying to the common people of the Great Zhou State, but to officials and wealthy landowners, the fines were a drop in the bucket. They did not take them seriously at all.

But the most important problem was that the Great Zhou State was currently suffering an extraordinary drought, the likes of which had not been seen in a hundred years. In many places, crops had failed to yield a single grain for two consecutive years.

The Great Xia State was now experiencing an extremely severe food shortage and an equally severe water shortage. Vegetables were scarce, and meat was also in desperately short supply. All in all, the Great Zhou State was now short of everything.

Many common people had starved or died of thirst, and the water levels in the four main rivers of the Great Zhou State had been falling steadily. The remaining water would last only two years. If it did not rain, the Great Zhou State would fall.

Zhou Yao now knew all the original owner's memories. "Zhou" was the surname of the Great Zhou State's imperial family, and those with the surname Zhou were considered a cut above the rest.

However, Zhou Yao knew only that his name was Zhou Yao. He knew nothing about his parents or his past, and he could not remember them either. Since Zhou Yao could not remember, he stopped thinking about it.

Zhou Yao had recovered by now. Hanging from this tree on the cliff was no solution. If the tree broke, wouldn't he be done for?

So Zhou Yao struggled with all his might to climb up the cliff, then sat down, gasping for breath.

After resting for a while, Zhou Yao stood up and looked down the cliff, patting his chest. Fortunately, he had loved parkour since he was little and was in good physical shape, and the original owner had also been in excellent shape. Otherwise, he might really have died here.

Suddenly, Zhou Yao smiled. Who would have thought? I, Zhou Yao, actually transmigrated! Was it because I usually read too many transmigration novels? Something like this actually happened to me, Zhou Yao. Damn it.

Why couldn't you have sent me into a rich family? A high-ranking official's or noble's family would have been fine too! Then I, Brother Zhou, could have eaten and drunk well every day and married lots of wives and concubines. Now that would have been the life! Damn it all!!!

Oh well... imagination is beautiful, but reality is cruel. Still, since I'm here, I might as well make the best of it. I, Brother Zhou, have claimed a place in the transmigration army.