Chinese Generals Summoning System

Chapter 5: The System’s Scanning Function

Although Liu Ji was a scholar who couldn’t even lift a chicken, his father, Liu Hao, was quite skilled in martial arts. Even Liu Tie, the Liu family’s loyal servant, was highly capable—perhaps even slightly more so than Liu Hao himself. In his youth, Liu Hao had served as a company commander in the border garrison, while Liu Tie was a squad leader under his command. Later, during a battle against the Hu tribes, Liu Hao’s unit fell into an ambush. In the end, out of a force of over a thousand border troops, only Liu Hao and Liu Tie—both covered in wounds—managed to fight their way out of the encirclement. Under the Great Jin Dynasty’s military system, five men formed a “wu” (五), led by a “wu-zhang” (伍长); ten men formed a “shi” (什), led by a “shi-zhang” (什长); fifty men formed a “dui” (队), led by a “dui-shuai” (队率); one hundred men formed a “tun” (屯), led by a “tun-zhang” (屯长); two hundred men formed a “qu” (曲), led by a “jun-hou” (军侯); and one thousand men formed a “bu” (部), led by a “xiao-wei” (校尉) and a “si-ma” (司马), with the xiao-wei serving as the commander and the si-ma as the deputy. Above the military commander were all generals, though their titles varied depending on the size of the forces they commanded. For example, the lowest-ranking general, the “Vice General,” could command only three units—that is, 3,000 men. Shortly after breaking through the encirclement and returning to the border garrison, Liu Hao and Liu Tie left the border garrison, laid down their arms, and returned to farming. However, when Liu Hao left the border garrison, he received a generous reward from his superiors. Later, Liu Hao married, had children, and became a small landowner, while Liu Tie served as his steward. Liu Hao and Liu Tie never spoke of that battle, which had nearly cost them their lives. Not long ago, their group of refugees encountered a small band of marauders. Had it not been for Liu Hao and Liu Tie, who killed five or six of the marauders—who were quite formidable in combat—this group of disaster victims might have been devoured by those marauders until not even a crumb remained, and they would never have had a chance to escape. However, even with Liu Hao and Liu Tie, their group lost half their number in the fierce battle against the bandits, with the loss of able-bodied young men being particularly severe. As they made their way toward the main hall of the temple, Liu Ji couldn’t help but ask the system out of curiosity, “9527, can you tell me my father’s combat strength?” “User, the Chinese General Summoning System has a scanning function that can retrieve a person’s three-dimensional stats—namely, Strength, Intelligence, and Leadership.” “That’s a great feature. It doesn’t consume any soul points, does it?” “Scanning a person’s three-dimensional data is a piece of cake for the Chinese General Summoning System, so you needn’t worry—this function does not consume soul points.” Upon hearing this, Liu Ji immediately instructed the Chinese Martial General Summoning System to scan his father Liu Hao, Uncle Tie, and four other able-bodied men. Instantly, the three-dimensional data for all six individuals appeared in Liu Ji’s mind. “Liu Hao: Strength 45, Intelligence 48, Leadership 38. Liu Tie: Strength 49, Intelligence 45, Leadership 32. Zhang Erga: Strength 16…” Through the system’s scan, Liu Ji learned that both his father and Uncle Tie had Strength scores above 40—Uncle Tie’s was even just one point shy of 50—while the four other able-bodied young men had Strength scores ranging from a high of 17 to a low of 14. Liu Pi, whom he had summoned himself, had a Strength score of 67—he seemed quite formidable, far surpassing both his father and Uncle Tie. In fact, Liu Ji didn’t realize that, given his father’s and Liu Tie’s martial skills, had it not been for certain circumstances preventing them from remaining in the military, they would have been more than qualified to serve as a Military Commander—and it wouldn’t have been impossible for them to hold the ranks of Military Deputy or Military Captain either. Moreover, over a decade ago, Liu Hao and Liu Tie’s combat ratings weren’t what they are today. In the centuries leading up to the Great Jin Dynasty, promotions for military commanders were directly tied to martial prowess. Even though the Great Jin Dynasty is now in its twilight years, the martial skills of its commanders are, for the most part, the real deal. “Master Liu and the others are back!” “Honey, you’re finally back.” “Thank goodness, everyone’s finally back.” The women in the temple’s main hall couldn’t help but break into joyful smiles when they saw Liu Hao returning with the other men. Even if their own husbands weren’t among them, their joy came from the bottom of their hearts. If this refugee group had lost its leader, Liu Hao, and these able-bodied young men, the fate of the women and children would be all too predictable. As for Liu Pi, who had suddenly appeared, the women did not consider him one of their own; in fact, they remained highly wary of him. As for Liu Ji, the women regarded him as someone in need of care. Liu Hao looked at the venison roasting over the campfire and, inhaling the aroma of the roasting meat, couldn’t help but swallow hard. Then he said to Liu Pi, “Brave Liu, let’s all have some venison first. I’ll save the millet I brought back and that dog for everyone to eat later. What do you think?” Liu Pi replied in a solemn tone, “Liu Pi has already pledged allegiance to my lord; from now on, we are family. Master Liu, there’s no need to be so formal—just call me Liu Pi from now on. This deer was hunted for all of us in the first place, so please, everyone, help yourselves.” Liu Hao immediately replied with a smile, “Excellent! Since Brother Liu Pi is willing to follow my son, both my son and our Liu family will certainly not let Brother Liu Pi down.” Just then, Liu Niuniu, standing nearby, said in a babyish voice, “Daddy, the meat’s all roasted. Niuniu’s so hungry—I want some meat.” Liu Hao waved his hand broadly. “Divide up the roasted venison first, and roast some more of the remaining meat. Today, everyone’s going to eat their fill! We just happened to pick up an iron pot on our way out—we can use the deer bones to simmer up a pot of soup. Man, it’s been so many days since I’ve had a single sip of hot soup!” By the time everyone in the temple’s main hall had eaten their fill, a deer weighing over 120 jin had yielded at least 60 jin of meat and offal, leaving less than half of it remaining. If it weren’t for the dozen or so jin of millet and a dead dog weighing over 40 jin that Liu Hao still had on hand, they certainly wouldn’t have been so extravagant. Liu Hao, who still didn’t trust Liu Pi,ate two large chunks of roasted meat and drank a big bowl of bone broth, then pulled Liu Pi aside to probe into his background. However, the memories granted to Liu Pi by the Chinese Martial General Summoning System were flawless; no discrepancies could possibly exist. So, even after grilling him repeatedly, Liu Hao couldn’t find anything amiss with Liu Pi. Moreover, through this exchange, Liu Hao had to admit that his bookish son had actually earned the loyalty of this Liu Pi. Liu Hao couldn’t help but whisper to Liu Tie, who was as close to him as a brother: “That bookworm Liu Ji never imagined he’d be this lucky. I’d say Liu Pi’s martial arts are definitely on par with yours and mine—we might not even be a match for him.” Liu Tie laughed and said, “Master, I told you the young master would go far one day! Look, now even someone like Liu Pi is voluntarily joining the young master’s ranks and calling him ‘Lord.’ Hehe, anyone who’s called ‘Lord’ must be a man of great ability!” Liu Hao pursed his lips and said, “It’s just good luck, plus Brother Liu Pi is an honest man who knows how to repay a favor. That kid Liu Ji doesn’t have any real ability!” Although Liu Hao spoke with a dismissive tone, his face betrayed a hint of joy. That his son had someone like Liu Pi swearing allegiance to him made Liu Hao genuinely happy from the bottom of his heart. As the leader of this group of refugees, Liu Hao decided to spend the night in the main hall of this abandoned temple. Tomorrow, they would continue southward; after another two or three days’ journey, they would likely exit the borders of Wan Prefecture and enter Yong Prefecture. Once in Yong Prefecture, another three or four days’ walk would take them to Qi County in Changping Commandery, the home of his late wife’s family. The deceased carpenter Xu was given a hasty burial by Liu Hao and his group. A coffin was out of the question; they didn’t even have a straw mat to wrap his body in—they simply dug a shallow grave and buried him. That night, Liu Ji lay on the straw-strewn ground, holding his younger sister Liu Niuniu close, but he couldn’t fall asleep for a long time. The main reason was that the sudden appearance of the “Chinese Martial General Summoning System” had left him far too excited. Having been transported to this world—which felt just as chaotic as the one he’d left behind—Liu Ji had almost given up all hope. Originally, he had been a shut-in just drifting through life, but the body and identity he’d inherited upon crossing over had left him even weaker—making him little more than an ant in this chaotic world, vulnerable to being crushed at any moment. Liu Ji glanced at Liu Pi, who was dozing against a pillar in the grand hall, and a faint smile involuntarily tugged at the corners of his mouth. With the Chinese General Summoning System, at least he now had some means of self-defense in this chaotic world. Relying on just Liu Pi wasn’t enough; it seemed he’d have to find a way to earn more soul points and summon a few more generals to his side. That way, if they encountered bandits or marauders while fleeing, he could protect himself, his father, his younger sister, and Uncle Tie—his entire family. Besides, the Great Jin Dynasty now looked as if it were on the brink of collapse. Now that he possessed the Chinese General Summoning System, perhaps he could make a name for himself. He didn’t aspire to wield absolute power or have a harem of wives and concubines, but he certainly wanted to live a better life—at the very least, one free from this constant life of displacement and hardship. Liu Ji lay on the dry grass, lost in his thoughts. After tossing and turning for a long time, he finally drifted off into a drowsy sleep, a faint smile still playing at the corners of his mouth.