In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 531 An Endless Stream of Meat

When his blood dried up, Xia Yan also reached the end of his life.

He glanced down at his battered body, a hint of resentment flashing in his eyes.

Xia Yan's original surname was not Xia, but Jin, and his original name was Jin Yan.

He was born into a farming family. In addition to his parents, he had four younger brothers and sisters, making a total of seven people in his family.

For ordinary farmers of this era, supporting a family of seven was obviously not an easy task. As a child, Xia Yan often heard his parents sighing and lamenting, as if they were worried every day about where their food would come from.

In fact, the Jin family lived a very frugal life, and the output of their few acres of poor land was far from enough to feed the family of seven.

Therefore, in Xia Yan's childhood memories, the word "hunger" was the word he heard his younger siblings say most often.

The family has five children, all of whom go hungry or under the table, and all of them are thin and pale. The parents are often worried about this and have tried to find ways to change the family's situation.

However, what could they, as mere farmers with neither knowledge nor ability, possibly change?

All they could do was work harder to cultivate their fields, hoping that the land would yield more produce so that their children wouldn't go hungry.

It is obvious that in this era without chemical fertilizers and various breeding technologies, the output of the land is limited. Even if Xia Yan's parents worked hard to cultivate their few acres of barren land, they could not feed seven people and could only keep the family from starving.

This situation continued until Xia Yan grew up.

At the age of eighteen, Xia Yan looked at his impoverished home and his parents' deeply lined faces, and made a decision: to join the army!

That year, a quartermaster from one of the three major military camps in the capital led a group of soldiers to the county town near Xia Yan's village to recruit soldiers. Through this group, Xia Yan learned about the benefits of joining the army.

Joining the army not only means you can eat your fill every day, but you also receive a monthly military salary. Although you have to go to the battlefield and could die on the battlefield at any time, it's still better than going hungry one day and eating your fill the next, isn't it?

Xia Yan, at 18, is at the age when he can eat the most, but he has never felt full even once. This is because his younger siblings are still young, and as the eldest son, he needs to share more of the family's meager food rations with them.

It can be said that Xia Yan's biggest wish at 18 years old was to have a full meal.

So after hearing from the quartermaster that joining the army would guarantee a full stomach, Xia Yan made up his mind to join.

When he told his parents about it, they did not refuse. After a long silence, Xia Yan's father said, "Yan'er, it is my incompetence that I have not been able to give you a good life! If you want to join the army, then go ahead. At least you will be able to have a full meal."

There is indeed a saying in Xia Kingdom that good men don't become soldiers and good iron isn't used for nails, but for the Jin family, sending their eldest son to the army was the best choice they could make.

Because his family was too poor, Xia Yan joining the army would at least save some of his food rations, allowing his younger siblings to eat more.

"Father, I don't blame you."

With tears in his eyes, Xia Yan said to his parents, "I know you've tried your best! But this damned world won't give us a way to survive!"

Xia Yan saw his parents' hard work and naturally wouldn't blame them. One of the reasons he joined the army was to help ease the burden on his family.

"You are a sensible child."

Xia Yan's father forced a smile and said, "Yan'er, if you join the army, you might become a general someday. Then your father and mother might even benefit from your success."

"Father, Mother, just you wait! I will definitely become a great general!"

No one in this world doesn't want to return home in glory or to reunite with honor, and Xia Yan certainly does too.

He desperately hoped that he could become a great general, just as his father had said, and then return to the village in a magnificent military uniform, so that he and his family could enjoy the envious and admiring gazes of the villagers.

"Mother believes in you, Yan'er, you will definitely become a great general."

Xia Yan's mother held his hand tightly, reminding him, "Yan'er, when you get to that military camp, be sure to behave yourself and don't offend any important people, understand?"

"I know."

The next day, Xia Yan packed his bags, bid farewell to his parents, younger brother and sister, and headed to a nearby county town. He then went with the quartermaster who came to recruit soldiers to the garrison of the three major camps located near the capital.

It's worth mentioning that on the way to the encampment, Xia Yan experienced the feeling of being full for the first time.

The quartermaster in charge of recruitment was very generous. He not only gave Xia Yan and the other good men who joined the army dry rations, but also generously took out the cured meat he carried with him and shared it with Xia Yan and the others.

That was the second bite of meat Xia Yan had ever eaten in his life. As for the first bite of meat... it was a pound of pork that his mother had someone bring back from the county town many, many years ago when the family had a bumper harvest.

One pound of pork was enough for a family of seven, so Xia Yan naturally couldn't taste anything special; he only remembered that the pork was very delicious.

The quartermaster brought out a generous amount of cured meat; even if dozens of men ate together, each could get two or three ounces, along with the dry rations provided by the quartermaster…

During the two days of travel, Xia Yan and the other respectable young men who had joined the army felt as if they were living in paradise, and thought that even death would be worthwhile.

"How does the cured pork taste? Delicious, right?"

The quartermaster patted Xia Yan on the shoulder and asked with a smile.

"good to eat!"

Xia Yan nodded vigorously in response while eating his dry rations.

"As long as it's delicious."

The quartermaster said with a smile, "Once you join the three main camps, if you perform well, you'll have an endless supply of meat to eat."

"I will definitely do my best."

Xia Yan clenched his fists, his determination to join the army hardening, not for anything else but for the endless meat the quartermaster had promised!

Two days later, the good days for Xia Yan and other good-natured young men who joined the army came to an end. They arrived at the garrison of the three major battalions and began their daily training.

For young people like Xia Yan with weak foundations, the training in the three battalions was not an easy task, but rather quite... difficult.

However, whether it was Xia Yan or the other respectable young men, they all gritted their teeth and persevered.

Because the quartermaster hadn't lied to them; in this military camp, they could indeed eat their fill every day, and even just for the sake of these three meals a day, they had to grit their teeth and persevere.

Not to mention, once they pass the camp training, they will become regular combat soldiers in the three battalions, and at that time...

They not only get enough to eat, but they also receive military pay!