Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 5: Selecting Conscripts

That afternoon, nearly everyone from Quanbaojia Village gathered in front of Ou Yang’s house. The able-bodied men waited for him to select them, while the women and children stood by watching the commotion. With hundreds of people chattering and jostling, the scene resembled a bustling market. In the past, for fear of offending the master’s family, the villagers had never dared to build their thatched huts too close to the head of the village’s residence. As a result, a small open space had formed in front of Ou Yang’s house. This small square was used as a grain-drying yard after the harvest, but now it had become the venue for selecting the able-bodied men to accompany him. Several straw dummies stood as targets in the clearing, and a few non-Han men were demonstrating archery with soft bows. When it came to archery, the Han were far inferior to the Tatars, who excelled at mounted archery—not to mention the Jurchen, who made their living from fishing and hunting. However, the self-igniting firearms (flintlock muskets) favored by the Han were so devastating that in recent decades, the surrounding Di Yi tribes had almost never gained the upper hand in direct confrontations with the Imperial Army. Over the years, the Golden Empire—once the dominant power of the North—has fallen. Its people have either migrated westward or become slaves of the Huaxia Empire; today, most of them cannot even find a decent bow or a few iron arrows, let alone a flintlock. Fortunately, these barbarians’ archery skills remain intact. Standing fifty bu away, a few of them can still hit the target seven or eight times out of ten using soft-bowed bone arrows. The most skilled among them—such as Wukeshan—not only hits all ten targets with ten arrows but also has half of his bone arrows pierce right through the straw dummies’ heads, demonstrating astonishing power and accuracy. Ouyang estimated that if they had a good bow and iron arrows, archers like Wukeshan would be more lethal than matchlock gunmen. This hunt was the first since the new plate armor had arrived. Those selected were considered the village’s warriors, and their lives would certainly improve significantly in the future, so the competition was fierce. Wukeshan was the village’s top archer; everyone knew that Heheli, though a commoner, was exceptionally skilled in close-quarters combat; and Batu, with his immense strength—able to hoist a log one and a half times his height and as thick as his waist more than twenty times—had earned the villagers’ respect. However, competition for the remaining spots was fierce, and several hot-headed individuals immediately came to blows. Ou Yang showed no mercy, ordering Heheli and the others who had already been selected to beat the brawlers senseless with their staffs. After all, he came from modern society and understood the importance of discipline. Those who disregarded military discipline and relied solely on brute strength in battle were nothing more than brutes; allowing such people to accompany him would be irresponsible toward his own safety. However, most of the Yi people came from a rigidly hierarchical, semi-slave society, so they knew they had to obey their master’s orders. The crowd dared not continue their rowdiness and stepped forward one by one to demonstrate their archery and martial arts skills. After an afternoon of selection, as the number of available spots in the entourage dwindled, some finally couldn’t resist causing a commotion. Suddenly, a preteen boy leaped into the center of the clearing and shouted at Ou Yang, “Master Pai Jia, I’m an excellent archer and a fast runner! Please take your servant with you!” This youth was dressed even more raggedly than the others; the minimal use of leather and fabric was staggering, and in many places, he was simply bound with coarse hemp rope wrapped around a bundle of thatch. However, the boy was quite handsome, with chiseled features and fair skin, giving him the appearance of a mixed-race individual of East Asian and Caucasian descent. What left Ou Yang even more speechless were the pair of long, hairy ears on the boy’s head and the tail behind him, which was wagging frantically from side to side in an attempt to curry favor—this was a Di. The Empire distinguished between the surrounding “Di” and “Yi” peoples: beast-like humans, beastmen, and humanoids were all classified as “Di,” though in common parlance they were simply called “barbarians.” Meanwhile, savage human tribes such as the Tatars and Jurchen were classified as “Yi,” or “Tata.” It was said that some idle officials in the Ministry of Rites were even debating whether Western races like elves and dwarves should be classified as “Di” or “Yi.” The Empire discriminated against both Di and Yi without distinction. Although some texts described the Di as “human-beasts,” in the eyes of the literati, the Yi were also “beasts.” On the other hand, many Di people—who, in reality, were primarily beast-transformed humans with only localized animal features, such as animal ears, tails, or horns—were exceptionally beautiful, and it had become quite fashionable among the wealthy to keep a few as pets. But to the Yi people—who originally lived in a primitive society where iron was considered more valuable than gold—these Di people seemed even more backward and barbaric than themselves. By comparison, the Yi developed a sense of superiority, viewing themselves as civilized. In small border villages like Bajia, this sense of superiority created a social hierarchy in which the Yi held a status even lower than that of slaves; Yi slaves even referred to Di slaves as “servants.” This teenager named Hamuha was a member of the Quanrong tribe. People of this ethnicity possessed certain canine-like characteristics; it was said they had remarkable endurance and a keen sense of smell. Ou Yang didn’t know if this was true or not. For the past two years, he had continued to find the most absurd aspect of this world’s setting to be the jarring juxtaposition of creatures that should only exist in fantasy novels alongside muskets, cannons, and steam engines—it felt utterly incongruous. Hamaha had just turned 16 this year. In Ou Yang’s view, regardless of their strength, he had no intention of selecting these half-able-bodied youths, so he hadn’t even allowed them to participate in the first place. But this Dog Rong youth had lost both his parents; he was the only one left in his family who could barely be considered a able-bodied member, and he was responsible for his younger siblings. He was still a child, not yet strong enough, and suffered severe discrimination from the Yi people. He consistently failed to meet the logging quotas, which meant he received only a meager share of the rations delivered from town at year’s end. If he wasn’t selected for the hunt this time, he would have no choice but to send his younger sister to the town’s brothel just to survive. Therefore, seeing the available spots dwindling, Hamuha had no choice but to throw caution to the wind and step forward to fight for a chance. Heheli and the others cared nothing for Hamuha’s plight. Seeing him step forward to disrupt the selection without an order from the commander, they immediately growled and, along with Wukeshan, rushed forward to pin him to the ground. Even as he lay face-down on the ground, Hamuha continued to struggle and cry out, “I beg you, Master, please give your servant a chance! I beg you, Master, please give your servant a chance!” Several other Di slaves in the village looked on with pity, but, aware of their low status, dared not step forward to intercede. After all, Ou Yang had grown up in modern society; hearing the slave’s pitiful cries, he felt a twinge of pity. Moreover, he was curious about the legendary abilities of the Di people—he wondered if this Dog Rong really did have a dog’s nose. If that were true, taking him along might even make him useful as a hunting dog. Ou Yang waved his hand, signaling Heheli to release the Dog Rong youth: “What skills do you possess? I can give you a chance, but if you still fail to make the cut, don’t blame me for punishing you for insubordination.” Hamaha jumped up excitedly: “Thank you, Master! I’m an excellent archer and a fast runner—I’m sure I’ll be of use.” As he spoke, a Dog Rong girl of about twelve or thirteen standing nearby handed him a flexible bow and ten bone arrows. “From now on, you must all address me as ‘Sir’!” Ou Yang turned to the crowd and commanded, “You are slaves belonging to the Imperial Household Bureau, not my personal slaves. You may call me ‘Master’ when officials from the Imperial Household Bureau arrive.” The 8th Jia was considered an imperial estate, and the slaves in the village were the private property of the imperial family. Ou Yang, a former scholar who had volunteered to garrison the border, was administratively under the jurisdiction of the Lingxi Road School Supervisor. He had authority over the village, but in reality, he held no true ownership. Even if a low-ranking eunuch were sent down from the palace, it would be more appropriate for the villagers to address him as “Master” than to call Ou Yang by that title. These Di Yi barbarians knew nothing of this; they only knew that the village head held the power of life and death over them, so everyone addressed him as “Master” according to the customs of their hometown. However, since the village head had instructed them to call him “Sir,” they would call him “Sir.” Disobeying the Master’s orders would not end well. The young man from the Quanrong tribe stood at the shooting line, mimicking the proper form as he hooked the bowstring with his right thumb, wedged the arrow’s tail into the crevice between his thumb and index finger, drew the flexible bow to a full moon, and released the arrow. Ou Yang noticed that the boy’s strength was indeed relatively weak. Even setting aside Wukeshan, Heheli, Batu, and the others could fire five arrows in rapid succession, completing ten arrows in just two breaths. The other selected candidates could also fire two or three arrows in quick succession, all maintaining a hit rate above average. Only this young man took his time, aiming and shooting one arrow at a time. His final result was six out of ten—barely passing, but nowhere near the top twenty. For a boy his age, this was a respectable score, but given his current predicament, it was uncertain whether he’d even have the chance to grow up if he wasn’t allowed to join the hunt this time. When the results were announced, the boy stood frozen in place, his ears and tail drooping comically. The two children beside him—who also had dog ears and tails—were already so distraught they had started to cry. The girl, in particular, looked at Ou Yang with pitiful eyes, as if hoping he would give her brother another chance. Ou Yang felt his curiosity still needed to be satisfied. However, he suspected that Hamuha’s claims were exaggerated; judging by his archery skills, he seemed to be bragging a bit. So Ou Yang waved over Heheli, who was standing nearby, and asked, “I’ve heard the Dog Rong have a keen sense of smell?” “In reply to my lord… sir, that is indeed true. Just like a dog’s nose, they can smell human scent from two or three li away. In the past, when we went hunting, even if we found their hideouts, they’d already fled without a trace. They’re very difficult slaves to capture.” “So, can they also locate the settlements of those wild tribes from two or three li away?” “Well…” Heheli replied hesitantly, “We haven’t actually tried that. This servant has hunted in both Liaodong and here at Anxi Garrison, but I’ve never seen any of the lords use these slaves to track down game.” At that moment, Wukeshan stepped forward: “My Lord, this is feasible. Back when the Great Khan… when the Tartar Khanate still existed, there were scouts from the Dog Rong tribe who were skilled in both night combat and tracking. However, those men were trained by the various Taiji as personal bodyguards and warriors. Since Hamuha hasn’t fully matured yet, this servant cannot be certain if he’ll be up to the task.” “We’ll find out if it works by trying it,” Ou Yang ordered. “Heheli, go find a spot outside the village and lie in ambush.” “As you command!” Heheli immediately accepted the order and set off. Ou Yang said to the dejected Quanrong youth, “I’m giving you one more chance.” Hamaha, who had been crouching dejectedly at the edge of the crowd, could hardly believe his ears upon hearing this. He perked up almost instantly, and his previously drooping tail began to wag frantically again: “Thank you, Master… er, thank you, Sir. I will certainly do my best.” The little girl beside him was so delighted she nearly jumped three feet in the air; she hurried over to the straw target to find a few arrows for her brother. However, Ou Yang had no intention of testing his archery skills again. He ordered Hamuha, “You know Heheli, right? I’ve sent him to lie in wait outside the village. You have a quarter of an hour to find him.” Hamaha twitched his ears a couple of times, seemingly at a loss as to what skill was required to find someone. However, the other able-bodied men were all seasoned hunters, and several of the Di slaves who quickly caught on urged Hamaha to get moving. If he failed again this time and exhausted Pai Jia’s patience, Hamaha might not even survive the day. They were regarded by the barbarians as an even more barbaric race; they all felt a certain kinship in their shared plight and didn’t want this young lad, struggling to raise his younger siblings, to meet his end here. Hamaha was too young and inexperienced to fully grasp the situation. Still, he knew he had to heed the elders’ advice, and Pai Jia’s orders were not to be questioned. If he couldn’t figure it out, he’d just get the job done first and worry about it later. He ran to the village entrance. The snow had been falling steadily all day; less than a quarter of an hour after Heheli left, the snow had already covered his footprints. But Hamuha didn’t bother checking the tracks on the ground; he simply craned his neck and sniffed the air intently. Behind him, Ou Yang and the others watched intently from the sidelines. After just a moment, the young Dog Rong’s ears suddenly twitched. Hamuha darted in a single bound to the base of a large tree and, like a true hunting dog, let out a low growl—“Wo~~~ wo~~~”—at a snowdrift beside the tree. Seeing that he could no longer hide, Heheli had no choice but to crawl out of the snowdrift. Moments earlier, he had scattered a large handful of dry leaves over himself and burrowed into the snowdrift. Yet Hamuha had found him with ease. Ou Yang glanced at Heheli, whose nose was running from the cold. He stood with his head bowed to one side, showing no sign of resentment. Ou Yang felt that someone who was this thoroughly obedient deserved a reward. Turning to Hamuha, Ou Yang asked, “How did you find him?” “This servant sniffed him out. Heheli has his own sheep, so his scent is a bit stronger than others’!” The boy wagged his tail even more excitedly.