Military Households

Outside the Liangcheng Thousand-Household Office, Wuqu Province, Great Jin.

"Brother, Brother."

Lin Xuan was not woken by sleep, but by being shaken.

He opened his eyes to see a delicate-looking young girl standing by his bed.

"What is it, Sister An?" Lin Xuan had only transmigrated here a few days ago. The integration of his memories left his head feeling heavy and muddled, and when he slept, not even a thunderclap could wake him.

The girl before him was named Lin An, sixteen years old, one year his senior. Nominally, she was his foster sister, but in reality, she was a child bride; there was no blood relation between them.

"Hurry and get up. The salt at home has run out, and Mother wants you to go to the county town today to buy some."

Lin Xuan dragged his heavy head up and hurriedly put on his clothes.

The Lin Family ate in the main hall. It was not large, with walls made of rammed earth. The bottom section of the wall was stained with black, damp patches, and a light touch would cause the plaster to crumble into dust.

The house was desolate. The large table that could once seat a full family now stood mostly empty.

Of the men in the house, only Lin Xuan remained. The only women left were his mother, Chen Fang, and Lin An.

All of this was thanks to the Qiangqu People from the north.

The Qiangqu People were originally a vassal state of Great Jin, but in recent years, they had risen abruptly, taking advantage of the nation's decline. Their iron cavalry frequently breached the borders, plundering the people and livestock of Great Jin and destroying garrison forts, becoming a grave menace to the north.

The Lin Family were military households of Great Jin. The men of the family had served in the army for generations; sons succeeded their fathers, and younger brothers succeeded their elder brothers.

Because of this, Lin Xuan's father and uncle had successively gone to the front lines to fight the Qiangqu People.

Just a few days ago, even his forty-seven-year-old grandfather had been conscripted!

Lin Xuan was only fifteen this year, the last male in the household, and he would only be conscripted a year later.

The military households at the bottom of Great Jin were the most miserable of all. Not only did they have to farm and provide their own food and weapons for battle, but they also had to perform unpaid corvée labor, holding a status lower than that of commoners.

With the front lines in crisis, Great Jin was retreating steadily under the onslaught of western bandits and the northern Qiangqu People. It was feared that they wouldn't last much longer before the Garrison came to seize more men for the army.

Lin Xuan did not want to die.

But what could he do? He did not know.

Running away carried extremely high risks. Great Jin's supervision of the populace was strict; without travel permits issued by the government or the Garrison, fleeing to another region meant living as a fugitive, relegated to performing menial, dirty, or low-status labor.

If discovered as a runaway military household, one would inevitably face a brutal beating and forced conscription, with the family suffering collective punishment.

He could defect to the western bandits, but countless northern prefectures and counties had fallen, and the roads were filled with refugees fleeing south after disasters, creating utter chaos.

With his current frail physique, taking his mother and child bride on the run would lead to dire consequences the moment they encountered straggling soldiers or villains.

Lin An served rice and handed out bowls. Lin Xuan noticed the calluses and several needle pricks on the young girl's hands.

He sat at the table, looking at the watery porridge and bitter vegetable roots, his heart sinking.

His mother sat at the head of the table, her eyes dull and her expression bleak. With all the men of the house conscripted, the heavy burden of supporting the family had fallen entirely upon her.

In recent years, there had been severe droughts, and the family's savings were nearly exhausted.

A few days ago, she had accidentally fallen while working. Her right foot was now swollen, and she could barely walk. She couldn't bear to see a doctor, so she just had Lin An treat it simply with herbs, hoping to hold out for a few days to see if it would improve.

Lin Xuan also knew about his mother's leg, so he asked, "Mother, is your leg feeling any better? If it hasn't healed, let's go see a doctor. If you save a little money now but end up losing the use of your leg, that won't do."

"No need, An'an applied some herbs for me. The swelling and pain have subsided quite a bit; it doesn't hurt as much," Chen Fang shook her head hurriedly.

His mother didn't even dare to seek treatment for her injured leg!

Lin Xuan blew on the steaming hot millet porridge he had just cooked, thinking, Make money, offer bribes, and let that Thousand-Household official profit; then he won't conscript me.

A one-time bribe might result in taking the money without doing the job.

But continuous bribery, letting the Thousand-Household know that he needed to keep Lin Xuan alive to continue providing him with income, would have a different effect.

How to make money? Lin Xuan wasn't very clear. He didn't know how to refine salt or sugar.

In his past life, he had ridden the waves of the internet and AI to earn quite a bit of money.

But times make the hero; without that environment, his past experience was almost useless.

Lin Xuan first wanted to practice martial arts. He felt that in this world, martial strength was the foundation of wealth.

The reason the men of his family had died in battle one after another was that their martial prowess was too low. This world valued the Martial Way; by eating and exercising to cultivate internal energy, high-level martial artists could easily defeat a hundred enemies, or even more, far exceeding ordinary people in both speed and strength.

The military households at the bottom were so poor they could barely survive, let alone afford to eat, so how could they have the energy to learn martial arts?

"Xuan'er, after you finish eating, go to the county town to buy some salt. Ten wen per catty of coarse salt will be enough," Chen Fang instructed him.

Lin Xuan nodded, quickly finishing the thin soup and eating some cold, dressed bitter vegetable roots.

This vegetable tasted similar to the fish mint from his past life, but without the fishy smell, and with a hint of sweetness amidst the bitterness.

He picked up an old waist saber from the house; it could serve as self-defense if he encountered villains or wild beasts on the road.

The blade was about three feet long and weighed about two catties. He could handle it, though swinging it was slightly strenuous.

"Can Brother go by himself? Or should I go with you?" Lin An was worried, looking at Chen Fang in hopes of being allowed to accompany him.

Lin Xuan shook his head, "No need. It's just buying some salt; I can go by myself."

The county town was five miles away, not very far, but he felt that having Lin An go with him would only increase the risk.

Because she looked refined and handsome.

After taking the money, Lin Xuan took his household registration tag, a salt jar, and a small amount of his pocket money, then headed toward the location of the county seat as remembered.

There were not many people traveling to and from the county seat, and Lin Xuan observed that the vast majority of them looked sallow and emaciated, a direct result of the hunger they had endured over these years.

Wuqu Province had suffered from disasters year after year for over a decade.

Droughts, floods, and locust plagues were constant.

The Lin Family had once been quite wealthy; unlike most military households, they owned twenty mu of private farmland and had tenant farmers to help with the cultivation.

However, the year-after-year disasters ruined the harvests, and with the men sent off to the battlefield, there was no one left to work the fields, leading to increasing poverty.

If there were another disaster this year, they would likely have to sell their house and land.

Suddenly, Lin Xuan saw not far ahead what appeared to be a large group of Garrison soldiers digging pits with farm tools, though he had no idea what they were doing.

Garrison soldiers were typically stationed within the Garrison to drill and farm, so their presence near the county government office meant something must have happened.

Lin Xuan curiously stepped forward to observe, only to find that the Garrison soldiers were slacking off and moving sluggishly.

The main reason was that they had not been paid for a long time, and coupled with the natural disasters of these years, they had been starving for too long; it was already difficult enough that they had even shown up to work.

A few Garrison soldiers turned to look at him, but they said nothing.

Just as Lin Xuan was about to leave, the supervising flag officer Lin Jie, dressed in a battle jacket, called out to him, "Dazhu, come over and lend a hand."

Dazhu was Lin Xuan's humble nickname, following a unique custom among country folk who believed that a lowly name made a child easier to raise.

Lin Jie was his grandfather's younger brother, but the two families had once had a major falling out, so their relationship was quite distant.

Lin Jie had many sons, and although several had been conscripted for military service, he still had a few laborers left in his household, making them wealthier than Lin Xuan's family.

"Great-uncle, what is this for?" Lin Xuan did not agree immediately, choosing instead to ask for clarification on the situation.