Aspirations of Beauty Chapter 2

Victory Square is one of the capital’s most important infrastructure, and the Arc of Triumph which lies within it one of the most iconic. Amid the countless number of government offices in its vicinity, the Army’s recruitment office, proudly flying the banner of the military, is also located here.

In accordance to the laws of the Empire, only men between the ages of sixteen and forty-five may enlist in its ranks. However, once enlisted, they may only be discharged with permission from the military administration, while all those who leave without doing so will be treated as deserters and punished accordingly.

Due to the large population size of the empire, manpower for the army have had always been plentiful, so a professional recruitment system was adopted. As the empire is highly segregated by estates, lower cla.s.s citizens will often enlist in the army to try and obtain a higher status.

As for the estates, at the top occupying the position of the first estate is the Imperial clan, with all the immediate family of the Imperial family.

The second estate consists of the n.o.bility, those who has made great military contributions or introduced revolutionary ideas for reforms and governance. The enn.o.blement itself is hereditary, however, to regulate the number of these clans, Imperial laws not only dictate that only one individual may inherit the t.i.tle, but also that in order to retain their n.o.ble states, following generations must also make similar forms of contribution to the state within three generations, otherwise their n.o.bility will be revoked. Nevertheless, even if one is without such status, descendants of those who were once n.o.ble will be considered with preferential circ.u.mstance for appointments and promotions for posts within both the government and military.

The third estate are the upper cla.s.s, consisting of regular state bureaucrats, merchants, landowners, workshop owners, and other such individuals whose positive contributions to society had caught the attention of local and regional magistrates. An application will be submitted naming their merits and once approved, a note would be made with the central imperial administration giving them, along with their descendants the privileges of such cla.s.s.

The fourth estate are the normal citizens, whose official name is “freeman”. They work simply regular citizens with nothing interesting of note, working in various professions as another cog of society.

The third and fourth estate are both considered to be normal citizens.

There is another cla.s.s of individuals, whose existence has yet to be directly recognized by Imperial laws. These individuals are slaves. Having given up their freedom because of crimes, debt, or as prisoners captured during war time, they go about live at the lowest standard of living. To return a slave their status of freeman, his or her owner must produce identification information detailing how they obtained their slave status in the first place. Along with appropriate fees, these doc.u.ments will be submitted to the regional magistrate for their approval. In addition, the Emperor also has the authority to grant the freeman status to slaves.

Because of the rigid social structure and the preferential treatment given to the descendants of the n.o.bility, those of the third and fourth estate often needs to put in several times more effort to receive recognition for promotion. As such, no matter how talented an individual of the lower estates is, their brilliance is often buried under those of the upper aristocracy. This has become a major issue for the empire, a problem that in Li Wufeng’s mind, has become an even more pressing concern than the threat of a foreign invasion.

There are some learned scholars who has realized the drawbacks of this system and raised such questions with the Emperor. However, as this issue affects the privileges of the aristocracy, the group that heavily dominates court politics, these proposals often face with strong opposition and were all dropped without showing any result.

Wufeng had once asked his master what is the necessities for success. After their discussion, the conclusion they reached was that the requirement for true success lies not in the martial ability to best all other experts; nor is it the moral integrity of a saint; nor is it knowledge of undefeated stratagem; rather, it is the ability to make the right choices and utilize talents while having the heart for tolerance and forgiveness, for that is what defines true success. Yet with the current system of the Empire, the genius is often suppressed to such a degree that they are unable to lift their heads and lead a respectable life in the Empire. In the end, many of them are driven out, seek other lands, where some has even become a threat to the Empire.

When he arrived at the recruitment office beside the Arch of Triumph, he found that, despite it being early morning, the square was already jam packed with a crowd.

Not only have the Empire always placed a great emphasis on military achievement, but in recent years, the Empire’s foreign war efforts were also often fruitless, greatly harming its reputation within the international community. Thus, the current Emperor has placed a great degree of attention at finding stronger soldiers, heavily awarding their achievements.

While citizens of lower Estates may find it hard to break through the social constraints of their cla.s.s in the political arena, as long as they have courage, there will be a always be a great number of opportunities for advancement on the battlefield, driving enthusiasm for enlisting with those of lower estates to an all time high.

Looking at the reason for the current recruitment drive, Wufeng saw that in order to face the ever more pressing circ.u.mstance the Empire faces, new divisions were being formed to reorganize the City Guards. As these guards are stationed in and near the city, many of the capital’s citizens had came out to enlist.

After waiting for two whole hours, Wufeng finally arrived at the counter. As he presented his identification information to the middle-aged officer, the officer’s eyes widened in shock and had to double check before finally filling out the forms. Wufeng understood the officer’s reaction for rarely if ever does someone of the n.o.bility enlist in the army through such a venue. Normally, using connections, those of the second estate would join the military as either an officer or as an official with the army administrations.

With an easy identification check, it wasn’t long before the recruitment office approved Wufeng’s application, and just like that, he became the newest soldier of the Empire’s City Guard Army’s Third Division.

During the initial three months of basic training, Wufeng often demonstrated his talents, gaining the approval of the training officer. With his recommendation, as well as Wufeng’s n.o.ble background, he was soon appointed to the rank of lieutenant as the leader for the Second Platoon of the Empire’s City Guard Army Group, Third Division, Fourth Regiment, Fifth Battalion, Third Company.

(TL note: Normally, I’ll put this at the end, but this list of military group is making my skin crawl. If anyone have an idea of fixing it, please comment or send me a message)

After receiving his appointment as lieutenant, Wufeng couldn’t help but feel excited, after all, this is his first achievement following his initial step. The path that he had chosen couldn’t be said to be easy. Normally, a new soldier will find it very hard to advance in rank. Yet despite of that, having not eve reached seventeen years of age, Wufeng had alredy been promoted two ranks directly to that of platoon leader, bypa.s.sing the normal sergeant rank for the leader of a squad.

A platoon is composed of three squads numbering around thirty-five men in total. Whether he can fulfill the capacity of his rank and be accepted and respected by the men under his command is still yet to be seen. It is almost a certainty that there will be veterans and other confident individuals who will purposely make it harder on him, thus rather than wait for conflict to arise, it is better to just openly deal with them as soon as possible. Thinking of this decision, Li Wufeng let out a confident smile.

“Gentlemen, before everyone is seated, let me first introduce myself. I’m from Zhongzhou, and my name is Li Wufeng. As brothers in arms in the future, I will be acting as your squad leader, so I hope we can all cooperate in the future,” standing in front of the men, Wufeng made a simple and concise introduction.

The men’s faces expressed a mixture of surprise, dissatisfaction, and jealousy, but they all kept silent. In accordance to the Empire’s laws, if a soldier is found in contempt of authority, then he will be court martial under military law.

Wufeng’s following words took a different tone, “Despite not saying anything, I’m sure that everyone is thinking, ‘where did this beardless brat come from? Did his relatives meddle with the affairs of the military to allow him to make a living, but then why is he all the way down here?’ I will tell you clearly now, I, Li Wufeng, was born as a member of the n.o.bility, but I did not come here to muddle along for the income. As the proverb once said, whether it be horse or mule, just let it try. Right now, I still haven’t become everyone’s’ leader, so if there are anyone who questions my ability, let him come and teach me. As soldiers of the fighting ranks, the only thing that matters is how effective we are at killing! I swear upon my honor that I will not seek revenge against those that challenge me, and regardless of outcome if I go back upon my word, the heavens shall strike me down. If someone can best me, then I will recommend to the top for you to have my position of lieutenant while I shall become a regular soldier instead.”

Wufeng’s words immediately caused a great deal of commotion within the ranks. How hard can it be to best a youngling? Since he had already sworn in front of everyone, he can not retract his words. For those challengers, even if one loses, there are no negative outcome, but if he win, then the possibility of a promotion or two is almost certain. Faced with such kind of deal, how can the people’s heart not be tempted.

“What, is there no one who has the courage?”

As soon as these words left Wufeng’s mouth, a shout sounded from the crowd,

“I will! Private Kang Jianguo seeks guidance from the lieutenant”

Wufeng sized up the man that jumped out from the crowd. At around twenty three to twenty four years of age, he had a st.u.r.dy build and a beefy size. The man held a shield in his left hand and a sword in his right, radiating a heroic presence. He bowed towards Wufeng before retreating to take up a ready position. Without hesitation, Wufeng took a spear a nearby soldier before shouting, “come!”

The opponent did not hesitate, with the shield on his left arm protecting the body, he immediately stepped forward, throwing his entire ma.s.s into the attack.

Pivoting his frame, Wufeng countered by thrusting his spear towards the lower section his opponent. Immediately, Kang Jianguo struck his left arm along with the shield into a smooth downward motion, deflecting the tip of Wufeng’s weapon.

‘Dang’ came the sound of the clash between spear and shield, and both retreated a few steps. Wufeng is deeply impress by the martial skill displayed by the opponent, but what he did not realize is that the audience has already been shocked speechless by his very own performance. One has to know that the challenger, Kang Jianguo, has the reputation of being the most fearsome and skilled individual among all the new recruits of the entire Third Division.

The disparity between the power behind each individual’s strike is also shocking. Not only had Kang Jianguo used all his upper body muscle when deflecting that strike, but the toughness and weight of a shield is incomparably more st.u.r.dy than that of the tip of the spear. Comparatively, Wufeng had only used the strength of his arms, a difference that is obvious to all those watching, and yet this individual was already the best from the batch of new recruits.

Kang Jianguo is even more aware of his current situation. Despite appearing to have evenly deflected that last move, the truth is that his left arm has already been struck numb, unable to find even the most basic strength, yet all he can do now is disregard his discomfort and continue to preserve.

Shaking his left shield, Kang Jianguo executed a fast forward roll, arriving directly in front of Wufeng, and swung his right sword without mercy. However, Wufueng was already prepared and took an immediate step back, avoiding the swing before thrusting his spear in the direction of the opponent’s throat without a moment’s hesitation.

Turning his head to the side to avoid the strike, Jianguo bashed his shields forwards while simultaneously bringing his sword in to defend.

Wufeng parried the shield bash aside with the length of the spear before taking two steps back and directly thrusts the spear to the direction of Jianguo’s right sword. Unable to bring muster enough strength into the right arms, Jianguo was soon overpowered as Wufeng brought the spear into an upward motion. Jianguo’s sword flew to the ground several meters away.

Kang Jianguo dumbly stood with with a face of embarra.s.sment, not doing what to do. He wasn’t release from his stupor until Wufeng stabbed his spear into the ground before picking up the sword and returned it to Jianguo. Seeing this, Jianguo bowed with respect before apologizing, “Your subordinate is with crime, not knowing the different between the heavies and earth, respected official please forgive me.”

“I had already said, I welcome everyone’s teaching. You are without fault, so there is no need for punishment.”

The speed in which Kang Jianguo was defeated shocked many people. Reevaluating the situation, the members of the platoon had fell quiet.

Several veterans turned their eye towards a man standing at the very left of the line. At around one or two years older than Kang Jianguo, this individual didn’t even have Jianguo’s build, but standing there, he propagates a sort of presence that is incomparable to that of a newbie.

Wufeng did not say anything else, choosing to simply smile in the direction of this individual. While his face clearly showed his reluctance, in the end, caving into the pressure of the ma.s.s, he still came out and bowed.

“This one is named Liang Chongxin, the sergeant of the first squad, please enlighten me,” the tone that he used is much more polite when compared to the previous challenger.

“Please,” Wufen did not waste any time either. It looks like Liang Chongxin’s abilities is far superior to that of the previous Jianguo. Slowly, Chongxin walked out with a halberd in his hand. As for Wufeng, he picked up the sword and shield that was previously used by Kang Jianguo.

This action caused immediate murmurings in the audience. Earlier, Wufeng had easily used a spear to disarm the sword and shield wielding Kang Jianguo, demonstrating his proficiency with longer weapons. Yet, now that his opponent had chosen the halberd, he switched to the swords. This demonstrates that Wufeng is actually a master of all types of weaponry in which case it could be said that no one else within the audience has the ability to defeat Wufeng.

Seeing this, Liang Chongxin’s already nervous expression turned even graver. ‘Fine, since this demonstration is for the sake of fulfilling the brother’s curiosity, I’ll just try my best regardless of outcome,’ thinking so, he immediately pumped himself up, and with a shout, began his a.s.sault with a clean thrust using the halberd’s tip. Looking at the excellence of such a move, the audience immediately started cheering.

However, Wufeng didn’t slack either. Pivoting his left arm with the shield, a simple tap against the halberd’s tip caused the the fearsome attack to be dispelled. The cheering of the audience which still hasn’t subsided following Liang Choxin’s technique exclaim even louder for the brilliance of Wufeng’s simple defense.

After the countering Liang Chongxin’s attack, Wufeng threw his body forward, and swung the sword at his opponent’s head. Using the blade on his halberd, Chongxin parried the attack before once again thrusting its tip towards Wufeng’s stomach, who avoided it by taking a step back. Pressing forwards with the momentum of the attacks, Chongxin continued to pommel the tip of his halberd in the direction of Wufeng’s ribs, but this time, knowing that if he does not disrupt the ferocity of the attacks, then the match is as good as over for him, Wufeng met his opponent’s blades with his shield, locking it in place. Advancing forward, the blade in his right hands simultaneously cut its way towards his opponent’s midsection.

Liang Chongxing did not antic.i.p.ate that rather than retreating, Wufeng would choose to advance instead, and as a result, his was caught unprepared, unable to defend himself with his halberd. The only action he could take was retreat, but Wufeng was unrelenting in his pursuit, cornering his opponent without mercy.

This storm of consecutive attacks made it impossible for the strengths of the longer weapon to be used while allowing Wufeng to capitalize upon the strength of the sword, its speed. It wasn’t soon after that a hole appeared in his opponent’s defenses and Wufeng was able to exploit it, cutting off the shoulder strap of the armor.

This action could already be seen as lenient as if the fight was on a battlefield, then Chongxing would have already lost his shoulder, and subsequently his life.

Liang Chongxin felt that this outcome was somewhat to be expected. From the very beginning, he was already mentally prepared for the possibility of defeat, having preserved for this long he has fulfilled the expectations of his peers. Considering that his opponent was still clearly holding back, if he doesn’t admit defeat now, it would be too unreasonable.

“Your subordinant is defeated, many thanks to the official for this mercy,” Liang Chongxin said in a respectful tone as he bowed into a curtsy.

“Oh it’s nothing, this was for both our benefits, not to mention we are all brothers from now on,” Wufeng replied as he went to help Liang Chongxin up.

Seeing Wufeng’s modesty, an att.i.tude that is completely opposite of the arrogance normally displayed by youths of the aristocratic cla.s.s, Chongxin and the soldiers wouldn’t help but be moved and convinced.

And just like so, Wufeng was able to used his own ability to demonstrate his worth, greatly earning the respect of everyone in the unit. WIth his reputation secured, from that moment on, there was no one in the Second Platoon that dared to view him as ‘simply another child’.