"But... the youngsters in your family have been pampered for years. They can't withstand wind and rain. If they go out this time, I'm afraid... there'll be plenty of casualties. Even if you can harden your heart, I can't bear to watch it. Send them to Hidden Dragon later for recruit training! Training until December will at least give them a little more capital to stay alive. Even if they're only sharpening their spears before battle, they may not get sharp, but they'll at least shine!"
"Thank you!" Vice Principal Gao stood up. "Thank you for your generosity, Vice Principal Xiang!"
"Hmph, I'm not doing this for you. Anyone who dares step onto the battlefield is a fine son of our Yanwu. If they give everything they have and still get killed because they aren't strong enough, we've got nothing to say. But throwing delicate flowers straight in there, sending them straight to their deaths, isn't how we do things! That's setting them up to die, not sacrifice!"
Xiang Kuangren snorted. "Have them report tomorrow! I've got to correct every rotten habit those brats have and pull out every thorn on them. Otherwise, their habits alone will have the soldiers at the border laughing that Fenghai has no one worth sending, that we've sent a bunch of useless wastrels to make up the numbers. We'd be a laughingstock!"
"All right!"
"If any other families have youngsters to send, send them over now too!" Xiang Kuangren slapped the table.
Every December, from the end of the year into the beginning of the next, large numbers of soldiers at Sun Moon Pass went on leave, returning home to celebrate the New Year and reunite with their families.
This was also a tradition of the Military Department: letting these soldiers, who had guarded