The Hard Road of Martial Arts

No one came looking for trouble, and Chen Sanshi lived a peaceful life.

For five days straight, he went up the mountain to hunt every day, delivered goods to the restaurant, then went home to sleep—a simple three-point routine.

As for Qin Xiong...

By the next day, wild wolves had gnawed the corpse down to nothing but a skeleton. Chen Sanshi had even taken the opportunity to shoot several of them dead.

"One wild rabbit, six jin; two pheasants, five jin and three liang; plus a fifty-jin roe deer..."

Eight Treasures Restaurant.

Like a quest turn-in point in a game, Chen Sanshi had gotten into the habit of coming here to sell wild game.

The proprietor, Liu Hongda, tapped his abacus. "Exactly one tael of silver. Catch!"

One tael of silver, if not for the inflated prices in these war-torn times, would have been enough to support an ordinary family for a month.

Yet Chen Sanshi remained calm. After all, he had made seven taels in one go not long ago.

Unfortunately, wild boars were not so easy to find.

"If only I could go to North Mountain!"

"I heard Uncle Zhao and the others say that true deep mountains might contain 'exotic beasts.' One could sell for more than ten taels, perhaps even an astronomical price!"

"What a pity. Without backing or connections..."

North of Second Mountain was completely occupied by martial artists. If rural hunters dared go there, at best they would be beaten and robbed of their prey; at worst, they might lose their lives. It was downright tyrannical!

"I still need to ask around about martial arts schools."

Thinking this, Chen Sanshi did not hurry off.

After waiting roughly half an hour, he saw Zhang Shun come over carrying a fish basket to sell his catch.

At the mention of martial arts schools, Shunzi began cursing. "Brother, don't even mention it! Those two never meant to help me. They were just scamming free food and drink, ate up a full two taels of my silver. But..."

He lowered his voice. "I didn't let them have it all their way either. Yesterday, I used a trap to splash both of them with golden juice. That at least let me vent a little!"

"Do they know you did it?"

Chen Sanshi was somewhat worried.

During this period, he had often gone back and forth to County Town and encountered quite a few martial arts school disciples. Every one of them was domineering and unreasonable; some even beat ordinary people in the street for no reason at all.

If Shunzi disgusted them in that manner, he might end up bringing trouble upon himself.

Some things either should not be done at all, or should be done thoroughly. "Don't worry, they didn't see me."

Zhang Shun changed the subject. "Right, brother, weren't you planning to learn martial arts too? What are you going to do?"

Chen Sanshi shook his head. "What about you?"

"Sigh, I'm worried about it too."

Zhang Shun sighed heavily. "Aside from the four great martial arts schools, the remaining schools in County Town aren't much cheaper. Most importantly, you have to spend two years doing hard labor before you can even enter. Without three to five years, don't even think about learning real kung fu.

"But what choice do we have? Later on, I still plan to find a martial arts school with a better reputation and give it a try."

It was basically the same as what Chen Sanshi had learned.

In these times, it was not easy to change one's fate through studying. It was even harder to do so through martial arts.

A thousand words, ten thousand phrases, all boiled down to one sentence: ordinary people should not dream of a good life!

There was no way he would spend three to five years being forged into shape by some trash martial arts school.

Besides martial arts schools, there was actually one other place where one could learn martial arts...

The Garrison System!

But becoming a military household meant going to the battlefield and killing enemies, especially in these war-torn times.

He would ask about it first.

Chen Sanshi bid Shunzi farewell and went to the market to find Old Xu.

Upon hearing his question, the old man could not help but laugh. "How much silver does it cost to become a military household?

"Little Stone, are you stupid? Becoming a military household doesn't cost a single copper coin. They even have to pay you!

"The garrisons want to recruit people, all right—but how many are willing to go?"

The Great Sheng Dynasty had endured for more than three hundred and fifty years.

After the Grand Ancestor founded the nation, he implemented the garrison and military command system.

Simply put, it was a system of military farming.

Seven parts farming, three parts defense.

At the beginning of the dynasty, Great Sheng had a full three million military households, and they were self-sufficient.

The Grand Ancestor once said, "The soldiers of my Great Sheng need not eat a single grain of the people's rice."

"It really is that similar?"

Chen Sanshi could not help recalling a ruthless figure from his previous life who had begun with nothing but a bowl and forcibly carved out an empire.

Just like the Ming Dynasty, Great Sheng's Garrison System had gradually rotted away as time passed, teetering on the brink of collapse.

Only reforms pushed through by the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet fifty years ago had forcibly extended its life until now.

Yet from Old Xu's tone, the reforms did not seem particularly thorough. They had merely kept up appearances; in truth, the system was still hovering at the edge of ruin.

Three hundred and fifty years is already not easy.

After all, that Ming Dynasty lasted less than three hundred years.

Why did the Great Sheng Dynasty outlive the Ming by seventy years? Because it never had an emperor who had studied abroad?

Or because this world has martial artists, using force to suppress everything and prolong the dynasty's lifespan?

*...*

Old Xu said, "Little Stone, do you want to learn martial arts?"

Chen Sanshi tacitly admitted it.

"If you only want to strengthen your body, the martial arts schools in Poyang County can satisfy you. But if you truly want to step through the doors and enter the hall on the path of martial arts, they are not worth looking at.

"Either join a great sect at the prefectural level;

"Or join the army."

"But under heaven, is there any sect larger or stronger than the imperial court?"

Old Xu spoke earnestly. "Child, think it through. If you truly want to join the army, this old uncle can get you in.

"But why join the army in these war-torn times?

"This old man will speak from the heart: it's good enough for common folk to live steadily and peacefully.

"Take my foolish son. He's always thinking of winning merit and establishing a career, without even looking at whether he has that fate. Sigh..."

"Thank you, Uncle, for your guidance."

Chen Sanshi cupped his hands and took his leave.

This matter truly required careful thought.

Lost in thought, he walked toward home.

Before he even reached the village entrance, he heard noisy arguing from within.

A young man dressed in a dark bluish-green robe, a sword hanging at his waist, was leading four or five people through the village, stopping people one after another to question them as though searching for someone.

With Chen Sanshi's hearing, he could make out the conversation from far away. Yet he did not hide. He openly walked over and, as expected, was stopped.

"Brother, please wait."

The leading young man had handsome features and spoke quite politely, but there was concealed disdain in the way he looked at people. "Have you seen my elder brother, Qin Xiong?"

"Brother Qin?"

Chen Sanshi's expression remained natural. "I saw him a few days ago. What happened?"

Qin Feng said coldly, "Five days ago, my elder brother vanished without a trace. There has been no news of him to this day."

"Vanished? That can't be possible!"

Chen Sanshi looked thoroughly surprised. "Brother Qin was perfectly fine. How could he have disappeared?"

Qin Feng shook his head. "If you learn anything of his whereabouts, please tell us."

"Hiss..."

Chen Sanshi stroked his chin. "A few days ago, barbarians infiltrated Poyang County and killed the County Magistrate. Could it have something to do with this?"

Qin Feng ignored him and turned to question the next person.

I wonder how well Qin Xiong's younger brother has trained in martial arts.

The disciples beside him all call him Senior Brother. He seems to hold quite a high position.

If I launched a sneak attack, could I kill him with one arrow?

I still have to learn martial arts!

Chen Sanshi pushed open his door, but did not smell the familiar scent of cooking.

"Lan Jie'er isn't back yet?"

"She should have been."

Only after half an hour did hurried footsteps sound outside the door.

"Shi Ge'er!"

"What happened?" Chen Sanshi asked.

"The tax collectors, they're collecting taxes..."

Gu Xinlan leaned against the doorframe, panting so hard that she could barely speak.

Chen Sanshi remembered that today was the final deadline for paying taxes.

In previous years, at this time, tax collectors would bring men from the yamen to inspect and tally each household one by one. Those unable to pay their taxes would be taken away for hard labor.

"Don't panic. Speak slowly."

Gu Xinlan said in broken phrases, "Aunt Li... Shi Ge'er, hurry and go take a look! Aunt Li's family can't pay their taxes, and they're about to be taken away!"