Section 012: The Militia

Li Zhan replied unhurriedly, “Zheng Jun, let me ask you a question: how much wood can a villager chop in one day?”

Though Zheng Jun didn’t understand why Li Zhan suddenly shifted the topic from barracks to logging, he still furrowed his brow and calculated carefully before answering, “At present, with just the basic logging skill, a villager can chop five units of wood an hour. Subtracting time for meals and breaks, and assuming an eight-hour workday, that’s forty units of wood a day.”

Li Zhan continued, “Although we still can’t build a marketplace, in your opinion, what should be the exchange rate between wood and grain?”

Zheng Jun replied, “Basically, wood and grain are equally important fundamental resources. As long as there’s no malicious hoarding or dumping by any merchants’ guild, the exchange rate should be one to one.”

Li Zhan smiled and asked, “Judging by the level of those dozen or so gray wolves just now, how many militiamen do you think it would take to handle them?”

Zheng Jun thought for a moment before replying, “If villagers assist, just two militiamen would suffice. If it’s just the militiamen alone, three would be more than enough.”

Li Zhan walked over and patted Zheng Jun on the shoulder. “A militiaman consumes two units of grain per day. A lumberjack’s day’s work is equivalent to forty units of grain. Those wolves just now injured three villagers, leaving them unable to work for two days. You should understand the gains and losses involved.”

As Li Zhan spoke, he had already walked past Zheng Jun, leaving him standing there in a daze. The next moment, realization dawned on Zheng Jun and he exclaimed, “Oh, Chieftain, I understand now! I’ll go build the barracks right away!” With that, he dashed off toward the center of the tribe.

The workers at the lumberyard had been listening in with pricked ears. Now that it was certain the tribe was going to build a barracks, they all burst into excited cheers—

“Fantastic! From now on, we won’t have to worry every time we go to work!”

“We’re finally going to have our own army! I’m so looking forward to it!”

“I wonder if I’ll be selected as a militiaman. I’m so nervous!”

“Don’t flatter yourself. With that scrawny frame of yours, I suggest you stick to lumberjacking—it’s a promising line of work!”

...

Li Zhan made a round along the forest’s edge, but didn’t see Ruoyan anywhere. He wondered if the little girl had logged off. Just then, Ruoyan emerged from a nearby grove holding a handful of green plants—he had no idea what they were.

Seeing Li Zhan, Ruoyan called out joyfully, “Hey, look what I found!”

She had really grown quite familiar with him—after just a couple of hours, she was already calling him “hey.” Li Zhan smiled wryly and walked over.

“What is that? Wild grass?” he asked, picking up a stalk and examining it.

“You’re hopeless,” Ruoyan scolded playfully. “That’s water-chicken greens. What I have here also includes dandelion and wild leek—they’re all edible wild herbs. I often go foraging for them outside the city with my mother. They’re delicious raw or cooked.”

Hearing they were wild greens, Li Zhan immediately lost interest and tossed the plant back to her. “Actually, I’m the one who’s hopeless. I think you must be really bored to come out here to dig up weeds for fun. If it were me, I’d rather draw circles in the dirt by a wall than do something so pointless.”

Ruoyan rolled her eyes, looking as if she shared no common language with him, and walked ahead with her handful of wild greens.

Li Zhan shrugged at her retreating figure, glanced around, and, seeing nothing left to arrange, decided to return to the center of the tribe to check on the progress of the barracks. He followed Ruoyan back toward the tribal center.

When they arrived, they found Zheng Jun leading three villagers skilled in construction, working hard to finish the barracks. The main frame was already complete, and only the thatched roof remained to be laid.

The barracks was a two-story building, slightly shorter than the tribal center. The first floor housed the training hall and martial practice room; the second floor was divided into many small rooms for the soldiers to rest. A single barracks could accommodate up to twenty soldiers; any more would require building additional barracks or huts. Connected to the main building was a fifty-by-fifty-meter training ground for new recruits, with several simple wooden dummies for weapon drills.

As Li Zhan approached, Zheng Jun finished laying the final layer of thatch on the roof. Wiping sweat from his brow, he called down, “Chieftain, as you instructed, we finished the barracks in the shortest time possible—please inspect it.”

Li Zhan took a general look and nodded. “Well done, everyone. From today, our Yanhuang Tribe will no longer suffer the awkwardness of being defenseless. This is thanks to your efforts.”

Having grown up under the red flag, Li Zhan was no stranger to political work. The builders were visibly moved and inspired by his words.

Once Zheng Jun climbed down from the roof, Li Zhan instructed him to select five villagers from the populace who possessed above-average constitution, strength, and potential, to form the tribe’s first militia squad. Zheng Jun quickly complied, and soon five villagers stood before Li Zhan. Their attributes were indeed a cut above the average, with one standing out even more:

—Villager [Male]—
Name: Zhao Ming
Civilization: China [Yanhuang Tribe]
Title or Position: None
Level: 3
Attributes—Potential: +8; Constitution: 13; Strength: 15; Intelligence: 5; Agility: 2; Loyalty: 78; Support: 50
Leadership: 5; Attack: 2+0; Defense: Armor 0+0 / Shield 0+0; Speed: 1
HP: 76; MP: 58
Skills—Intermediate Fishing and Hunting 12%

His level, potential, and leadership matched Li Zhan’s, but his HP was even higher, and his constitution and strength exceeded Li Zhan’s—remarkably rare for an NPC villager. His intelligence, however, was low—a natural-born warrior.

Li Zhan opened the chieftain’s command interface and clicked on the barracks. Before officially transferring the five villagers, he asked their opinion. All five expressed willingness to become militiamen and swore to protect the tribe at all costs.

With their consent, Li Zhan clicked confirm.

A white light enveloped the five villagers. When it faded, their appearances had changed—their muscles more defined, their faces more resolute. Their attributes had also shifted (still taking Zhao Ming as an example):

—Soldier [Male]—
Name: Zhao Ming
Civilization: China [Yanhuang Tribe]
Title or Position: Militiaman
Level: 0 (Villager-to-Militiaman resets level to zero; further advancement preserves level)
Training: 50
Morale: 70
Attributes—Potential: +8; Constitution: 13 [+2]; Strength: 15 [+3]; Intelligence: 5 [–2]; Agility: 2; Loyalty: 95; Support: 78
Leadership: 5; Attack: 5+0; Defense: Armor 0+0 / Shield 0+0; Speed: 1
HP: 28; MP: 10
Skills—Basic Brawling