activa-t Chapter 487: Out of Reach
Chapter 487: Out of Reach
A true man is born between heaven and earth; he should carry a three-foot sword and achieve unparalleled feats.
Perhaps influenced by this saying since childhood, or perhaps Tian Yu was never a law-abiding person, he did not want to be an honest farmer like his father when he grew up, but instead dreamed of becoming a high-ranking official.
Logically speaking, someone of Tian Yu's background should never have had the opportunity to be ennobled or appointed as prime minister, but fortunately, he was born in Youzhou.
Youzhou is the state with the largest border area with the grasslands, and it is also the main battlefield for the Xia Kingdom to resist the invasion of barbarian tribes. Hundreds of thousands of Great Wall soldiers are almost all stationed in the northernmost section of the Great Wall in Youzhou.
When Tian Yu was 19, he heard from the villagers that a military town not far from their village was recruiting new soldiers.
The so-called military towns are a unique feature of Youzhou. Because hundreds of thousands of Great Wall soldiers had to be stationed on the Great Wall for a long time to defend against barbarian invasions, a large number of people gathered there, and naturally, one settlement after another was formed south of the Great Wall. These settlements were initially just places for the soldiers of the Great Wall to rest, but as more and more people settled there, they gradually evolved into one military town after another.
The village where Tian Yu was born was very close to a town called Xinjun Town.
In the Xia Kingdom, joining the army was almost the only opportunity for ordinary people to achieve upward social mobility, apart from the imperial examination. Tian Yu would naturally not miss this opportunity.
Upon hearing the news, Tian Yu almost didn't hesitate and, disregarding the objections of his parents and peers in the village, chose to walk to Xinjun Town to join the army.
At the age of 19, Tian Yu, who was considered strong and healthy, passed the quartermaster's examination smoothly and joined the Great Wall Army, seizing the opportunity to realize his dream of upward mobility.
However, what happened next was not as simple as Tian Yu had imagined.
After successfully enlisting in the army, his first task was not to go to the battlefield to fight the enemy, but to undergo training!
The training of the Great Wall Army was extremely rigorous, with drills every three days and extremely intense. Many of the new recruits who joined the army at the same time as Tian Yu complained endlessly, and some even chose to desert because they could not endure the hardship and the strict rules of military life.
The Great Wall Army would certainly punish these deserters severely. Almost every recruit who tried to escape would be caught and brought back. Although they would not lose their lives, they would inevitably suffer physical pain.
Fortunately, Tian Yu was a hard-working person. Even though the training in the military camp was very tiring, he still gritted his teeth and persevered. After three months of training, he became a qualified soldier in the Great Wall Army.
At this time, Tian Yu also ushered in his first battle in his military career.
On the third day after Tian Yu officially joined the Great Wall Army, a sudden battle broke out.
A barbarian army broke through the Great Wall and invaded Youzhou. Tian Yu's troops received orders from their superiors to meet the enemy.
Even today, that war remains exceptionally clear in Tian Yu's memory!
It was a war in which the enemy outnumbered the enemy. Tian Yu's Great Wall Army numbered over a thousand, while the barbarian tribe on the other side had only about a hundred men.
However, the Great Wall army, which outnumbered the opposing force tenfold, faced an exceptionally difficult battle.
Barbarians are naturally strong and extremely ferocious. Ordinary soldiers of the Great Wall Army have almost no chance of winning against them.
If they weren't armed and armored, the soldiers of the Great Wall Army would probably have been torn to pieces by the barbarians in a single encounter.
Even with weapons and equipment, ordinary soldiers were still powerless against barbarians because the difference in strength between the two sides was too great.
Tian Yu even witnessed a comrade he knew very well being torn in two by barbarians. The bloody scene made Tian Yu almost vomit his dinner from the night before.
Finally, after suffering half their casualties, the 1000 Great Wall soldiers managed to kill all 100 barbarians.
Tian Yu was lucky enough to survive this bloody battle, but many others left this world forever.
After witnessing the bloodshed of the battlefield for the first time, Tian Yu had nightmares for several days in a row, filled with the ferocious figures of barbarians.
However, Tian Yu had a pretty good mental fortitude and quickly recovered. He continued training as usual, eating, drinking, and using the restroom as usual. In addition, he fantasized about gaining enough military merits to achieve his dream of becoming a marquis and prime minister.
It is obvious that being granted a title and the position of prime minister is not an easy thing.
Three years passed quickly. Tian Yu experienced more than a dozen wars, large and small, against the barbarians. In every battle, he charged to the front line to fight, all for the sake of gaining military merit and realizing his dream.
But there is always a gap between dreams and reality. After experiencing more than a dozen wars, fighting bravely and risking his life in every battle, and personally killing no less than 20 barbarians, Tian Yu was only promoted from an ordinary soldier to a squad leader. The dream of becoming a marquis and prime minister was still as far away as he could ever hope to achieve.
It was only then that Tian Yu realized the gap between his dreams and reality.
Coming from an ordinary background, even with sufficient military merits, it was difficult for him to get promoted because he had no connections and no one would speak up for him.
This is the prevailing situation in the Xia Kingdom. It seems that ordinary people can achieve upward social mobility through the imperial examination and joining the army, but in reality, these two paths have long been blocked by powerful families and clans.
The imperial examination system was monopolized by powerful clans, aristocratic families, and wealthy and powerful individuals. No matter how well an ordinary person studied, it was difficult to rise to a high position through the imperial examination. Moreover, people from powerful clans and aristocratic families were also good at studying, and their conditions for studying were hundreds or thousands of times better than those of ordinary people.
As for joining the army...
High-ranking positions in the military are also monopolized by powerful military families in the Xia Kingdom. It is even more impossible for ordinary people to compete with the sons of these powerful families.
Fortunately, Tian Yu was not discouraged. After being promoted to platoon leader, he fought even more bravely, always taking the lead in every battle, killing one barbarian after another, and earning one military merit after another.
Finally, Tian Yu's bravery caught the attention of the commander of the Great Wall Army at the time.
It was a war in which barbarians launched a massive offensive. Large numbers of barbarians attacked the Great Wall, attempting to break through the Great Wall army's blockade and enter Youzhou to plunder.
The Great Wall army, of course, would not sit idly by and wait to be killed. They fought hard and engaged in a fierce battle with the barbarian army on the Great Wall for several days.
During that war, Meng Liang, the commander of the Great Wall Army at the time, noticed Tian Yu fighting fiercely. Pointing at Tian Yu, who had killed several barbarians with his spear, he asked his adjutant, "What is this man's name?"
The adjutant was taken aback. Tian Yu was just a minor squad leader, not worth his attention at all. How could he know who Tian Yu was?
After some questioning, the adjutant finally gave the answer: "Reporting to the general, this man's name is Tian Yu, and he currently holds the position of platoon leader."