Chapter 1086: Chapter 1073: Military Honors and Noble Titles, Soldiers as Fierce as Tigers and Wolves Chapter 1086: Chapter 1073: Military Honors and Noble Titles, Soldiers as Fierce as Tigers and Wolves “I’m so looking forward to it; we’re going to war, and we’ll be on the battlefield soon.”

“Yes, we’ll be risking our lives against others on the battlefield in no time.”

“Just by beheading an ordinary soldier, I can get a piece of farmland. I don’t ask for much; if I can take down two enemies’ heads, I’ll be content.”

In a military camp of the Gai Nation, there was an unusual air filled with soldiers whose faces were flushed with excitement, their eyes brimming with anticipation. This was true not just for new recruits but for seasoned veterans as well.

The root of all this fervor stemmed from the Army Meritorious Title Order issued by the new King, who decreed that whoever decapitated an enemy could be granted a title and bestowed with land. In other words, whether a new recruit or an old soldier, as long as one was brave enough to fight on the battlefield and slay enough enemies, one could change one’s destiny.

However, even the most exhilarated soldiers had a sliver of doubt in their hearts: would their King fulfill the promises he had made to them?

Looking at all the kingdoms, there had never been one that promised ordinary soldiers ranks and farmland simply for killing the enemy.

“Someone has been granted a title!”

Within this restless military camp, a cry suddenly rang out, and in an instant, the camp exploded like a drop of water hitting boiling oil.

While the soldiers were agitated by this news, the officers’ voices were heard in every tent, delivering the commander’s orders.

The officers had the soldiers form up in ranks, ready to witness the ennoblement ceremony of their fellows.

Ranks of soldiers, led by their officers, arrived at a spacious field and clustered tightly around twelve somewhat disheveled cavalrymen covered in blood.

People soon recognized the identities of these twelve cavalrymen as scouts, the unit most likely to make initial contact with the enemy.

Clearly, they were the protagonists of this ennoblement ceremony. The bloody heads hanging from the cavalrymen’s waists were sufficient for them to be granted titles.

Before long, the general in command of this large force arrived at the scene. He didn’t say much or do much, merely offering a few words of encouragement to the twelve scouts before directly conferring upon them the titles of First Class 20th Rank.

That’s right, Muria had directly adopted the Military Merit Conferment System of the 20th rank, with clear levels and promotion dependent upon enemy heads taken—most adept at stirring up the martial spirit among soldiers.

After the general had finished the conferral ceremony and declared the benefits of receiving the First Class title, he left without lingering. Had it not been for the extraordinary significance of this first-time ennoblement, he would not have appeared there at all.

But his departure didn’t affect the soldiers’ growing excitement. His duty was done, and now every soldier watched with flushed faces and thick necks the twelve scouts standing in the central field, their expressions excited.

These twelve blood-soaked common soldiers hadn’t changed much in appearance. They had simply changed their hairstyles, with their hair tied up by the general himself as a symbol of their status as First Class public officials.

The public official title would, over time, become widespread within the Gai Nation to the point where it might eventually be commonplace.

But for the Gai Nation right now, at this very moment, there were only these twelve public officials. Happiness for people is quite simple: having what others do not is enough to rejoice for an entire day.

So at this moment, the twelve scouts stood there grinning foolishly while the surrounding soldiers, not a single one mocking them, looked on with eyes full of envy and jealousy, gradually turning bloodshot.

The reason soldiers envied the scouts wasn’t their comically simple hairstyle or their First Class rank but the substantial benefits that came with it after being ennobled.

A piece of farmland, a residence, and a servant—these were the benefits granted to a public official. Being ennobled meant that even the poorest families could instantly transform into decent households, free from worry about food and shelter.

And what fueled the soldiers’ fervor even more was that these benefits were only associated with the First Class rank; there were second and third ranks with greater rewards to be obtained. And to earn these ranks, one simply had to go to the battlefield and kill the enemy.

Wasn’t that their very duty as soldiers? They went to the battlefield specifically to kill.

After this ennoblement ceremony, the soldiers’ desire for combat was fully unleashed; morale soared to unbelievable heights.

Then, this army clashed with the invading forces of the Gai Nation, and war broke out…

War is no child’s play. Once the scale of both fighting sides reached a certain level, the duration of the war would extend, with both leaders continuously probing each other.

They tested the enemy’s troop strength, soldier quality, number of powerful warriors, and whether the logistics and provisions were adequately prepared—all key factors that would determine the course of the war.

Each probe was a minor war in itself, and the general leading the army that had invaded the Gai Nation was somewhat baffled to find that the Gai Nation’s troops were drastically different from what he had encountered before.

The previous Gai Nation soldiers were similar to his own, disintegrating naturally after reaching certain casualty levels. But now, the Gai Nation soldiers were like a pack of ravenous, bloodthirsty beasts.

What the commanding officer of the invading army did not realize was that the Gai Nation’s soldiers’ behavior resulted from the fact that any soldier who could return to camp with an enemy’s head would be rewarded.

It was these awards that inspired the soldiers to fight valiantly without regard for their lives, treating their own existence as if it were nothing, because under the Military Merit Conferment System, everything earned on the battlefield could be directly inherited by their relatives.

…

A group of ragged boys squatted at the entrance to their village, watching a cavalryman clutching a scroll gallop into the village, envy gleaming in their eyes.

“Someone from our village has won an award on the battlefield again!”

“How many cavalrymen have come to bring good news this month?”

“I can’t remember.”

“I think it’s thirteen.”

“My goodness, does that mean our village now has thirteen gentlemen?”

Boom! Boom!

Just then, the sudden sound of a drum came from within the village. The boys looked at each other and, as if by some unspoken agreement, dashed towards the source of the drumming.

Soon they saw the stooped and white-haired village chief in front of the dilapidated ancestral hall, and beside him stood the cavalryman whom they had just seen bringing the good news. At that moment, the cavalryman was holding a scroll, gazing at the villagers summoned by the chief, who arrived in twos and threes.

Once most of the villagers had gathered, the cavalryman immediately began to read out the award decree in his hand.

It was nothing other than a decree conferring Second Class Rank on a simple and honest young man from the village, someone who seemed quite unremarkable in the eyes of the commoners.

“I hereby confer upon Simba the rank of Senior Official, grant two pieces of land, three bull oxen, and two servants.”

Upon the announcement of the award, all the villagers were astounded, their eyes filled with envy and jealousy. Hearing the award decree, the boys exchanged glances, their breathing growing heavy.

The group of boys moved away from the fussing villagers and gathered in a corner,
“I want to join the army.”

“So do I.”

“If I could become a gentleman, my mom, and my younger brother and sister wouldn’t have to go hungry or cold again.”

“But my mom says the awards in the army aren’t so easy to get. One careless mistake and you could lose your life. Only while alive can you enjoy everything. Dead, you have nothing.”

Observing his companions one by one expressing their desire to join the army and go to the frontlines to earn military honors, a boy dressed in relatively clean clothes couldn’t help but speak up.

“Enjoy? Look at the shacks we live in. We worry about meals, what do we have? We have nothing, just our miserable lives.

We had no chance before, but now, an opportunity to change our destiny, to change our families’ fate lies before us, and you want us to give it up?”

“What is there to fear in death? To be killed on the battlefield by the sword is better than starving to death here.”

“Earning military honors is not as difficult as you imagine. Look at Simba, what’s different between him and us? He’s just a few years older and a bit stronger than us.

Now he’s a Senior Official. Remember what his home used to be like, and look at what he lives in now. He’s got his own fields and cattle, and even several servants to attend to him. Don’t you all want to achieve that?”

“Yes.” The boys, completely tempted by the rich rewards of military achievement, responded with flushed faces and thick necks.

“Then what’s the hesitation?”

“Let’s set a time to join the army together and gamble for wealth on the battlefield.”

…

Facing the invasion of three neighboring countries, Gai Nation resisted fiercely. The war raged on, and as the soldiers valiantly fought on the frontlines, the military titles and awards they earned were continually sent to their families.

Thus, the entire Gai Nation was engulfed in a state of extreme excitement due to the unceasing awards, and countless men of eligible age left their hometowns to step resolutely onto the battlefield, hoping to earn military honors and transform their fates.

With sufficient temptation, even the most cowardly person can transform into a bloodthirsty wolf. Under the spur of the Military Merit Conferment System, Gai Nation was gradually becoming a nation of bloodthirsty warriors, and the unending stream of awards also enticed the strong who lay hidden among the lower classes.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read