Dandere General and his Lord

42. Notice

Gouyu Street in Jiangcheng was a small place where the lowest rung of society in the capital often gathered together.

The place was a hubbub of noises with crowds of people dressed in short brown jackets, trousers and straw sandals pushing and squeezing past each other.

Including the humble slaves dressed in rags with their bodies covered in dirt.

A group of soldiers dressed in bright clothes and armour with bags of tiger pelts tied at their waists and long swords in their hands walked through the throng of people.

They were all escorting a handsome young man dressed in a loose, red robe with a crown adorning his hair as he climbed up the platform at the center of the small town.

“The King.”1

“It’s the King.”

“My Lord, that’s My Lord.”

The crowd became tumultuous. Although they lived in the same city as the King, most of the civilians from the bottom rung of society had never laid eyes on their young monarch.

The armoured soldiers brandished their spears to part the crowd and maintain order.

Cheng Qianye sat down on a folding chair and waited for the crowd to calm down.

An official stood on the stage and pointed at a bronze cauldron2 in front of the stage before proclaiming in a loud and clear voice, “By the Lord’s command, anyone who is able to lift this cauldron will be rewarded with 10 gold taels.”

At this point in time, 1 stone3 of grain was for approximately 80 copper coins, 1 gold tael was worth around 600 copper coins and one could buy approximately 75 stone of grain with 10 gold taels. This was basically the amount of grain needed by an ordinary household of three for the entire year.

This cauldron had been there since a long time ago and it was used to burn incense whenever there were any sacrificial ceremonies. It wasn’t too heavy.

Was there really such a cheap benefit in this world?

The public simply did not dare to believe it and the whole crowd was buzzing with low murmurs. Many of the people stealthily lifted up their heads to glance up at Cheng Qianye who was sitting up on the platform. For a time, no one dared to step forward and try.

Cheng Qianye declared, “To the person who can lift it, grant 50 gold taels.”

The temptation of 50 gold taels was too much. A strong man with a tall and burly figure suppressed his fear of the sovereign sitting opposite him and pushed through the crowd of people, walking to the front of the stage before prostrating. “Xiaoren4 wishes to try.”

He walked up to the cauldron and stood with his feet wide apart, holding it with both hands before heaving it up with a gasp.

Sure enough, he managed to lift up the cauldron and walk around the stage unsteadily thrice before setting it back down in place with a ‘bang’.

The crowd was filled with silence and all of them, including the man, collectively raised their heads to look up at the monarch sitting on the platform. 

They saw Cheng Qianye lift up her hand a little, her loose sleeve waving as she said, “Reward.”

The attendants held a lacquer tray which had 50 gleaming gold taels piled up on it. It was handed over to the strong man.

The man’s face flushed red, unable to believe his great luck. He kowtowed repeatedly, speechless with excitement.

The crowd reacted like water in a hot frying pan, erupting into a wild hubbub of noises. Some were excited, some annoyed, and some were envious, too many to enumerate.

The official who announced the proclamation cleared his throat and motioned the crowd to quiet down before pointing at several sturdy flagpoles in the square and saying, “The first of those who can climb up to the top of the flagpole will be rewarded with 10 gold taels.”

This time, as soon as he finished speaking, more than ten robust figures stepped out from the crowd, eager to give it a try.

Finally, a man who was skilled at this sort of thing received his reward elatedly.

Once he made his way back to the crowd, several of his good brothers promptly encircled him, touching the reward he held in his hands amid a chorus of congratulations.

Soon after, as the crowd stood below with their expectant gazes transfixed on the stage, the official took out a yellow scroll and unfurled it before pinning it onto the notice board and reading it aloud in a booming voice.

“The Military Merit and Peerage System!”

Following the official’s speech elucidating the policy, the crowd was gradually filled with all kinds of voices.

“Military merit and peerage?”

“If you sever an enemy’s head, you can be rewarded with a field?”

“An Officer of the first rank. You can get a field.”

“At the second rank or higher, many taxes can be reduced or waived.”

“Twentieth rank, the title of Marquis.”

“Slaves who score merit are also entitled to become regular soldiers.”

“Is this true?”

“My Lord himself came for the announcement of this decree, is it possible for it to be fake?”

The outskirts of the city;

Inside a crude and simple house, a young married woman bustled around the kitchen with a young child on her back.

The sounds of coughing penetrated through the holes in the earthen wall.

“Er Niu, give the medicine on the stove to your Granny.” The woman cried out.

“Mother, I’m coming.” Er Niu was a young girl around 6-7 years of age. She led a toddler who was stumbling in her wake and carefully picked up a chipped bowl which was on top of the stove and walked into the inner area of the house.

The door curtain was lifted up and a man with swarthy skin and a robust figure walked into the house carrying a bundle of firewood on his back.

He furrowed his brows looking at the sparse gruel with wild herbs cooking in the pot.

“A’Yuan, you’re back.” The woman wiped her hands on her apron and took the firewood from the man’s back, saying with some embarrassment, “Mother is still sick and she has to drink medicine everyday, so I have to ration the food.”

Her husband, A’Yuan, was silent for a moment before saying, “A’Juan, the Lord has recently recruited soldiers to go to Bianzhou. I…. want to enlist.”

The woman named A’Juan was stunned and raised her head, staring at her husband in shock.

A’Yuan continued, “I went into the city today and heard that a new policy has been put into effect.”

“New policy? Is it that peerage system one? They went from door to door and read it aloud today.”

A’Yuan nodded, “The battlefield is dangerous, but I have some strength. If I take the risk and manage to cut off ten heads, we can get a field, a field of our own!”

He clenched his fists. “Our family has so many people. With the well-field system, we can only plant 100 steps away, and every year, we have to tend the public fields first, working corvees.5 Regardless of how desperately we both try, we barely manage to scrape by.”

A’Juan hesitated, “But, the battlefield….”

Her husband stretched out his hand which had become rough and rugged from years of hard work and gently touched his wife’s face. “The new policy says that as long as the man earns military merit, even if he dies, his son can still inherit his reward. As long as I fight til my last breath, I can earn a title as an officer of the first rank.”

He glanced at the little boy on his wife’s back. “In the end, our family will be able to have a field.”

Nighttime.

At the slave camp;

People who had worked all day like oxen and horses returned to the filthy resting area.

Most of them were emaciated with apathetic expressions as they lined up and waited to receive their share of the shoddy food.

Some of the older and weaker people hastily stuffed the food into their mouths as soon as they received it, lest they be wantonly robbed by others.

A man with a brawny figure with sturdy muscles narrowed his eyes as he languidly sat atop a haystack and waited for his “little brother” to bring him food.

“Brother Sheng, Brother Sheng.”

Several young men sat around him and fawned on him reverentially.

This slave who was known as ‘Brother Sheng’ had a malevolent scar stretching across one side of his face, from the bridge of his nose to his ear which had been split as a result. The originally handsome face appeared somewhat distorted and terrifying. 

“Brother Sheng.” A small and skinny man ran over with the food, panting heavily as he spoke excitedly, “Have you heard?! The new policy! The new policy!”

“What’s the new policy? Liu Hou’er, look how excited you are.” The man sitting on top of the haystack sneered and said, “The games of the nobles, what does it have to do with us slaves?”

“No.” The slave nicknamed Liu Hou’er cried out. He swallowed his saliva and took a deep breath. “They say that the Lord has implemented a military merit and peerage system ╾ chop off a head and you can shed the identity of a slave and become a regular soldier!”

“What?” The few men sat up straight and even Brother Sheng opened his cold eyes.

“Really, as long as we go to the battlefield and chop off the head of an enemy, we will not be slaves. We can be treated just like a regular soldier!”

“How is that possible? We are the Lord’s property. Who under this sun would just renounce their property so casually like that? Those nobles probably just want to coax us with false benefits so that we will go and court death at Bianzhou because they’re afraid that we won’t try our best.” Brother Sheng said coldly.

“The notice is written clearly and has been put up all around the city and there are even petty officers going around specially and explaining the details.” Liu Hou’er swallowed his saliva. “I listened for a long time. It’s not only the exemption of slavery, but there are titles as well, with twenty ranks in total.”

“Explain carefully.” Brother Sheng sat up.

“For the first rank, you must cut off ten heads and you will be able to become an Officer of the first rank.” Liu Hou’er spread open his fingers and started counting. “You can get a field with this title.”

“The second rank is the Higher Officer which gives you more rewards. Third rank…. third rank, ahh I can’t remember. Anyway, the more enemies you kill, the more rewards you get. If you can get a house and land, you can marry a wife and you can even have your taxes reduced.”

The few slaves at the scene exchanged glances, all of their hearts thumping wildly.

“Once you reach the fourth rank and higher, it’s even more outrageous. You’ll have the chance to become a noble master and even serve as a government official! Like the Pavilion Chief and the Chief of Agriculture, any of these are possible.” Liu Hou’er’s heart was brimming with these dreams that felt too good to be true. “At that time, you can walk around the street in new cotton clothes with a blade at your side and your chest sticking out and catch a few thieves. And every month, you will have white rice to eat.”

The crowd laughed and said, “Hou’er you, do you want to be a noble government official?”

Liu Hou’er blushed and said, “Of course I can’t do it. I merely wish to stake it all and chop off an enemy’s head so I can get rid of this status as a slave, then I would be perfectly content.”

“Naturally, if we follow Brother Sheng, you could get the rank of an Officer of the first rank and have a little land. Then if you can go back and marry a little wife, it would be worthwhile even if you die.” He rubbed his head and said, “You can’t get a title higher than the fourth rank unless you have made great achievements. We are not skilled at martial arts or experienced, we need not even think about it.”

“But our Brother Sheng is different.” Liu Hou’er kissed up to him, “With such an opportunity, our Brother Sheng will certainly be able to get a promising title of the fourth or fifth rank. When that time comes, he can become a Pavilion Chief or the county’s Yamen Attendant and we can soak up some of his light.”

The crowd burst into laughter. The news that Liu Hou’er had brought was like lighting a fire in the boundless night, allowing them to catch a glimpse of the light, no longer stuck in endless despair.

At that moment at Bianzhou, the Jin Army inside the city and Wei Mingshan and the Quanrong Army outside the city had already been confronting each other for more than ten days.

Inside the city walls filled with black smoke, there was a notice with the seal of the monarch.

A’Feng and a dozen other slaves gathered around the notice and listened to the contents of the officer’s announcement.

A’Feng raised his head, gazing unwaveringly at the line of words written blatantly on the white paper.

“Those who can get one head can eliminate their status as slaves.”

His hand dyed with blood tightly clenched his weapon as he shuddered softly.

At the martial arts arena in Jiangcheng’s military camp;

Helan Zhen flashed past and jumped out of the ring. He panted heavily as he raised his hand, calling to stop.

“Qiao Sheng, what’s the matter with you recently? You’ve been fighting so hard, I can’t fight back.”

Mo Qiao Sheng was bare-chested and sweating furiously as he panted slightly. Nevertheless, his eyes seemed to be shining with light and he felt as though his body was filled with endless strength. He didn’t want to stop even for a moment.

“Your Excellency, one more round!”

~

1. King as in monarch or ruler. As I mentioned before, all their titles are a mish-mash of titles rn.
2. An ancient chinese cauldron with two to three legs and two handles, called “Ding” in english. They were used for cooking, storage, and ritual offerings to the gods or to ancestors.They varied in size, but were generally quite large and heavy. There are ones which are even bigger than people.
3. Unit of weight. 1 stone = 14 pounds = 6.3 kg. 75 stone = 1050 pounds = 476.2 kg.
4. (小人 – Xiaoren) – I, me / This humble man / This ordinary man / Villain, Base person [A humble way to refer to oneself / Used by a person of low social status when speaking to his betters.]
5. Unpaid labour owed by a vassal to his feudal lord.