29 Life Is a Battlefield Everywhere

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Han Lei decided that if she wanted to create a better life, she might as well begin in Qing County.

With someone in the family involved in government, doing business would be much easier.

Luo Hai was the magistrate of Qing County, as well as a family friend of the Zhao household. There could be no better place to begin her commercial venture.

The early-rising birds sang sweetly, while the servants who had risen early were busy sweeping the courtyards.

Han Lei was no longer sleepy. Ideas for various plans kept surfacing in her mind.

Before long, she arrived at the large courtyard Tao Qing and A-Mao had mentioned.

The wounded soldiers were already awake and were lined up in the courtyard, drilling.

“Good morning, everyone. You must have had a hard time traveling yesterday. Why didn’t you sleep a little longer?” Han Lei greeted them warmly as soon as she entered.

“It’s Miss Han! We’re used to this from our days in the military camp.”

“Good morning, Miss Han!”

“Miss Han, you’re up early too?”

Everyone stopped drilling and came forward to greet her enthusiastically. After spending more than a month together in the military camp, they had become quite at ease around one another. Although the Prince had given them to Han Lei as her guards, and they knew perfectly well that she was their mistress, they all regarded her in their hearts as a younger sister from their own family.

“Miss Han, you came to see us so early. Is there something you need?” Tao Qing asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

“Indeed, there is.” Han Lei pointed outside the courtyard and continued, “I brought you breakfast. Send two people to bring it in from the gate. We can eat while we talk.”

Several young soldiers laughingly ran outside. Before long, they returned carrying several boxes of breakfast.

When the boxes were opened, they were filled with hamburgers, fried chicken, and cola—things none of them had ever seen before.

The wounded soldiers let out a cheer and crowded around, reaching out to grab the food.

What made them happiest these days was getting to eat the meals Han Lei provided. Not only were they all made from fine grains and delicious, they were also foods they had never encountered before. More precious still, they could eat their fill at every meal.

It was practically the life of immortals!

Miss Han was truly kind to them!

“Don’t rush, don’t rush. There’s enough for everyone! Line up, line up.”

Han Lei watched them with a smile, unable to bring herself to scold them.

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Food was scarce in this era. Ordinary people generally lived on millet mixed with vegetable leaves, while steamed buns and baked flatbreads were usually made with bran mixed in. Even such a meager existence could not be maintained steadily; sometimes the food simply ran out, leaving families unable to put anything on the table. As for meat, it was beyond the imagination of ordinary households except during festivals and holidays.

After receiving their breakfast, everyone instinctively gathered around Han Lei in three concentric circles. They ate while waiting for her to speak.

Han Lei took a map drawn on a sheet of A3 paper from her spatial storage. She had drawn it herself in Yong’an City, based on descriptions given by Old He and several military doctors. It depicted the distribution of the various provinces of the Great Jing Dynasty, along with some of the major mountains and rivers known to Old He.

Han Lei had seen the military map Zhao Zun kept hanging in the central command tent. Her drawing skills were not particularly fine, but the map she had made was still far superior to that military map.

She unfolded the map and handed it to Tao Qing, who was sitting beside her.

“Take a look. Would you say this map is reasonably accurate?”

Tao Qing accepted it and gently stroked the A3 paper, unable to put it down. After studying it for quite some time, he finally made out the map drawn upon it—and was utterly amazed.

“Miss Han, this map is truly excellent. It’s so detailed,” Tao Qing praised despite himself.

“The important thing is— is it accurate?”

“It should be.”

Tao Qing had not traveled throughout the Great Jing Dynasty, but he was familiar with the distribution of its provinces.

“Good. Then listen carefully.” Han Lei straightened. “Anyone whose family lives within the territories of Cangzhou or Jingzhou, step outside the circle.”

As soon as Han Lei finished speaking, more than a third of the hundred and forty wounded soldiers stepped outside the circle.

“There are that many?” Han Lei asked, puzzled. The Great Jing Dynasty had only seven provinces. How could soldiers from Cangzhou and Jingzhou alone make up a third of the group?

“Miss Han, there is something you do not know,” Tao Qing hurriedly explained. “The land in Cangzhou is barren. In the regions north of Qing County, much of the soil cannot produce crops at all. As a result, most able-bodied men from those households choose to join the army. Jingzhou lies between Cangzhou and the imperial capital region. It is relatively prosperous, and its land is fairly fertile. But most of the land has been seized by powerful aristocratic families. Ordinary people have little choice but to become tenant farmers for those families, apprentice themselves to craftsmen, work as laborers in the cities, or make a living as small merchants and peddlers. Those with no other options can only join the army.”

“Oh! So that’s how it is.” Han Lei understood.

The traditional order was scholar, farmer, artisan, and merchant.

In ancient times, artisans and merchants were ranked at the bottom and regarded as the lowliest professions because the imperial clan and the great aristocratic families monopolized most resources, including education and land. On top of that, the court’s methods of selecting talent were unfair, cutting off ordinary people’s paths to advancement. Thus, commoners could only choose one of the latter two occupations—or join the army.

Ordinary people had no choice, though it was not for lack of wanting one.

Now Han Lei had arrived. She could offer them more hope.

Han Lei asked the group outside the circle, “Would you be willing to work and earn money near your own hometowns, and bring prosperity to the people there?”

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“Yes, we would.”

“Of course we would!”

The wounded soldiers outside the circle were all beaming with delight. Who would not want work that paid, especially if they could earn their living right on their own doorstep?

“Very well. Come with me now. I’ll explain as we walk.” Han Lei glanced at the watch in her spatial storage. It was nearly half past eight.

“All right!”

The more than fifty wounded soldiers outside the circle cheered and followed Han Lei toward the exit. The others immediately grew anxious.

“Miss Han, what about us?”

“That’s right, Miss Han. Don’t forget about us!”

Han Lei turned back and chuckled. “You should rest for now. Don’t worry—there will be plenty for you to do later. Don’t forget what I once told you: every place in life is a battlefield. Your battlefield is not here.”

Only then did the remaining wounded soldiers feel reassured. They squatted on the ground and continued eating breakfast.

Han Lei led the fifty-odd wounded soldiers out of the magistrate’s residence. Since the masters of the household had not yet risen, she simply informed the guards at the gate that they were going out to stroll through the streets.

The magistrate’s residence stood in the center of Qing County, with the street directly outside. It was still early, and many of the shops had not yet opened.

The group walked along, chatting as they went.

Han Lei divided them into two teams. The young and robust formed one team. Since there were many of them, she numbered them all with the surname “Da” for ease of remembering: Da-One, Da-Two, Da-Three, and so on, with Da-One as their captain.

The elderly, frail, and those who had been left disabled formed the other team. They were all numbered with the surname “Xiao”: Xiao-One, Xiao-Two, Xiao-Three, and so on, with Xiao-One as their captain.

The wounded soldiers talked over one another as they introduced Han Lei to the circumstances of Qing County.

After walking around for several rounds, Han Lei discovered that the streets that could truly be called the center of Qing County numbered only three or four. The buildings lining both sides were all wooden structures held together by mortise-and-tenon joints. None were very tall; nearly all were one or two stories high. It looked much like a market in a small rural town in the modern world.

After wandering back and forth for more than an hour, Han Lei finally stopped at a shop on the corner of an intersection.

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