"I'm so excited. We're going to war. Soon, we'll be heading to the battlefield."
"Yeah, we'll be risking our lives on the battlefield soon enough."
"As long as I can take the head of an ordinary enemy soldier, I can exchange it for a plot of land. I don't need much—just taking two heads would satisfy me."
In a military camp of the Gai Kingdom, an unusual atmosphere pervaded the air. Soldiers, with flushed faces and feverish expressions, looked eager and expectant. This wasn't limited to the new recruits; even battle-hardened veterans were infected by the mood.
The root of it all lay in the decree issued by the new king upon his ascension: military merit could earn titles of nobility and land grants. In other words, whether a soldier was a green recruit or a seasoned warrior, as long as they were brave enough to fight on the battlefield and could secure enough enemy heads, they could change their destiny.
However, even the most enthusiastic soldiers harbored a trace of doubt in their hearts: would their king truly fulfill the promises he had made to them?
After all, across all nations, none had ever offered such promises to ordinary soldiers in their armies—killing enemies to earn titles and land was unheard of.
"Someone's been enfeoffed!"
Suddenly, a loud shout broke the restless atmosphere in the military camp. Instantly, the entire camp erupted as though a drop of water had hit a pot of boiling oil.
As the soldiers buzzed with excitement over the news, the voices of officers barking orders rang out across the camp. The commanders were relaying the orders of the army's general.
The officers instructed the soldiers to line up in formation and prepare to witness the enfeoffment ceremony of one of their comrades.
Led by their officers, squad after squad of soldiers marched to a spacious field. There, they formed several layers of rings around twelve slightly disheveled cavalrymen, whose bodies were stained with blood.
Soon, some among the crowd recognized these twelve cavalrymen—they were scouts, the vanguard and often the first to clash with the enemy.
It was clear that these scouts were the protagonists of this enfeoffment ceremony. The blood-dripping heads hanging from their belts had earned them their titles.
In the midst of the crowd's anticipation, the general commanding this army arrived. He did not say much or make any grand gestures. He simply gave the twelve scouts a few words of encouragement before officially bestowing upon them the first rank in the twenty-tier noble merit system.
Yes, Muria had directly transplanted the twenty-tier noble merit system. This system, with its clear hierarchy and reliance on enemy heads to advance, was the most effective way to ignite soldiers' fighting spirit.
After conferring the titles and announcing the benefits of achieving the first rank, the general promptly left without lingering. If not for the unprecedented significance of this first enfeoffment ceremony, he likely would not have appeared at all.
Yet his departure did nothing to dampen the soldiers' fervor. In fact, it heightened their excitement. His job was done. At this moment, every soldier in the field stared red-faced and wide-eyed at the twelve excited scouts standing in the center.
These twelve bloodied and dirtied low-ranking soldiers had not undergone any drastic physical changes. The only difference was their new hairstyle—a hair knot personally tied by the general, symbolizing their new status as first-tier nobles, or "Gongshi."
The Gongshi title would undoubtedly become widespread in Gai Kingdom as time passed. Eventually, it might even become something so common that everyone had one. But for now, at this very moment, only these twelve scouts in the entire kingdom held this title. Human happiness is often simple: having something others don't is enough to bring great joy.
And so, the twelve scouts stood there grinning foolishly. Yet not a single soldier in the crowd mocked them. Instead, they gazed upon the scouts with envy and jealousy, their eyes gradually turning red.
The soldiers' jealousy wasn't directed at the scouts' simple and somewhat comical hairstyles, nor solely at their newly acquired Gongshi titles. It was aimed at the tangible benefits that came with becoming Gongshi.
One plot of land, a house, and a servant—these were the rewards of achieving the Gongshi rank. For a poor family, this was enough to instantly transform them into a comfortable middle-class household, free from hunger and hardship.
What excited the soldiers even more was the knowledge that this was merely the first tier of noble ranks. Higher ranks, such as the second and third tiers, promised even greater rewards. And all it took to earn these titles was killing on the battlefield—something that aligned perfectly with a soldier's duty.
Killing was, after all, their purpose on the battlefield.
After this enfeoffment ceremony, the soldiers' thirst for battle was completely ignited. Morale soared to an unprecedented level.
Soon after, this army clashed with the forces invading Gai Kingdom, and war erupted.
War is no trivial matter. When the size of the opposing forces reaches a certain scale, conflicts become prolonged, with both sides' generals engaging in constant probing.
They tested each other's troop strength, soldier quality, the presence of powerful individuals, and the adequacy of logistical supplies—all factors that could determine the course of the war.
Each probe resulted in a small-scale skirmish. The general commanding the invading army was bewildered to discover that the soldiers of Gai Kingdom were vastly different from those he had encountered before.
Previously, Gai Kingdom's soldiers behaved similarly to his own: they would retreat once casualties reached a certain threshold. But now, Gai Kingdom's soldiers resembled bloodthirsty tigers and wolves, driven by an insatiable hunger.
What the invading general didn't know was that this transformation was fueled by Gai Kingdom's system of enfeoffment. After every skirmish, soldiers who returned to camp carrying enemy heads were rewarded with titles and land grants.
These rewards drove the soldiers to fight with reckless abandon, disregarding their own lives. Under the military merit system, everything earned on the battlefield could be inherited directly by their families.
...
In a small village, a group of ragged teenagers squatted near the entrance, watching a cavalryman clutching a scroll gallop into the village. Their eyes sparkled with envy.
"Someone from our village has been rewarded on the battlefield again!"
"How many messengers like this have come to deliver good news this month?"
"Lost count."
"I think it's the thirteenth one."
"Wow, that means our village now has thirteen Gongshi?"
Boom! Boom!
Just then, the sound of drums echoed from the village. The teenagers exchanged glances and rushed toward the source of the sound.
Before long, they arrived at the dilapidated ancestral shrine, where they saw the hunched and white-haired village elder standing alongside the cavalryman who had just delivered the scroll. The cavalryman held the scroll tightly and gazed at the villagers gathering in response to the elder's summons.
Once most of the villagers had assembled, the cavalryman began reading aloud the contents of the scroll.
It was a decree granting a second-tier title, "Shangzao," to a seemingly unremarkable young man from the village.
"By decree, ten-squad leader Simba is hereby granted the title of Shangzao, along with two plots of land, three large-horned cattle, and two servants."
The announcement caused an uproar among the villagers, each of them filled with envy and jealousy. The teenagers, too, were wide-eyed and breathless after hearing the news.
Moving away from the crowd, the teenagers huddled in a corner and whispered among themselves.
"I want to join the army."
"Me too."
"If I become a Gongshi, my mom and my little siblings won't have to starve or freeze anymore."
"But my mom says the army's rewards aren't that easy to get. If you're not careful, you could lose your life. You can't enjoy anything if you're dead."
One boy, dressed in relatively clean clothes, tried to reason with his companions after hearing their resolve to enlist and seek military merit.
"Enjoy? Look at the kind of houses we live in. We barely have enough to eat. What do we have? Nothing. Just these worthless lives.
Before, we didn't have any opportunities, but now we have one—a chance to change our fate and our families' fates. And you want us to give that up?"
"What's there to fear about dying? Getting killed by a blade on the battlefield is better than starving to death here."
"Winning military merit isn't as hard as you think. Look at Simba. Is he any different from us? He's just a few years older and a bit stronger.
Now he's a Shangzao. Remember the shack his family used to live in? Now look at their new home—they have land, cattle, and servants. Don't you want that?"
"Yes," the boys replied, their faces red with excitement at the thought of rewards.
"Then what are we waiting for?"
"Let's set a time and enlist together. We'll fight on the battlefield for wealth and honor."
...
Faced with the invasion of three neighboring countries, Gai Kingdom launched a fierce resistance. As the war dragged on, soldiers fought valiantly on the frontlines, and the rewards they earned continued to be delivered to their families.
As a result, the entire kingdom was gripped by an overwhelming sense of excitement. Countless young men left their homes without hesitation, determined to fight for military merit and change their destinies.
With sufficient incentives, even the most cowardly individuals could become bloodthirsty tigers and wolves. Under the stimulation of the military merit system, Gai Kingdom was gradually transforming into a nation
of ferocious and warlike predators. The constant flow of rewards also stirred up hidden strongmen from the kingdom's lower ranks.
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