Chapter 58: Promotion in Rank, Becoming a Squad Leader

Stepping up to the well head, Li Dao was about to pick up the wooden bucket to draw water when a hand suddenly reached out from the side and snatched it away.

Before he could even speak, Zhang Meng chuckled and said, "Brother Li, let me help you."

Li Dao was momentarily taken aback. He glanced at the other man’s coarse, rugged face, then unconsciously touched his own relatively refined features—was he really considered that old?

Though he found it baffling, he was naturally more than happy to accept a helping hand.

"Thanks," Li Dao replied, taking the bucket from Zhang Meng.

Zhang Meng scratched his head. "Brother Li, what are you talking about? We're brothers in the same tent, no need to be so polite."

Li Dao looked at Zhang Meng, then past him at the group of men standing behind, and abruptly set the wooden bucket back down on the ground.

This sudden movement startled Zhang Meng and the others, causing them to step back instinctively.

They soon realized, however, that Li Dao had merely put down the bucket to retrieve the wooden ladle inside it.

A wave of embarrassment instantly washed over the group for their jittery reaction.

Glancing sideways at them while washing up, Li Dao said, "Alright, out with it. If you have something to say, spit it out. No need to beat around the bush."

Hearing this, Zhang Meng took a deep breath and spoke up, "Brother Li, the lads here... we want to follow you. We want to acknowledge you as our boss."

"Follow me?"

Li Dao paused, his hands still in the water, and asked, "What do you mean?"

"It means we want to throw our lot in with you."

"You want to serve under me?"

After splashing water over his face and rinsing himself off, Li Dao turned around to face the men. "You want to be the soldiers under my command?"

"Yes."

"Then you've got it all wrong. Right now, I'm just an ordinary soldier, exactly like the rest of you."

"That may be so, but with your strength, Brother Li, you'll definitely get promoted in no time. When that happens, how about letting us follow you?"

After wiping the water from his skin, Li Dao looked at these men with a newfound seriousness.

Ever since arriving at Yellow Sand Town yesterday, he had interacted with these notorious troublemakers. It was true that compared to the soldiers he had previously seen serving under Wei Yun, the troublemakers of Yellow Sand Town were vastly superior.

With his primary goals being the enhancement of his personal strength and the acquisition of authority, he had naturally entertained the idea of bringing these men under his wing. He had assumed such a feat would require a slow and gradual process, given that rebellious spirits were notoriously difficult to tame and overnight success seemed impossible.

Yet, contrary to his expectations, merely a single night had passed, and Zhang Meng and his crew had initiated the approach themselves.

Although there were only nineteen of them, it was a beginning, and subduing these unruly elements had proved somewhat simpler than he had imagined.

With his rapid train of thought, he quickly deduced the underlying reason.

Troublemakers were fundamentally different from ordinary soldiers; they were not easily conquered by anyone. With a regular soldier, possessing an official rank was often enough to command obedience.

Troublemakers, however, did not care about rank. To win their submission, one had to command their respect and awe on a deeper, more profound level. The hard lessons of the previous night had accidentally and successfully beaten these rebellious spirits into submission.

Of course, compared to ordinary soldiers, troublemakers still offered distinct advantages. First, their overall physical and martial aptitude surpassed those of ordinary troops; second, once they yielded, their loyalty would far exceed that of standard soldiers.

Seeing the expectant looks on their faces, a faint smile played across Li Dao's lips. "If you want to follow me, then wait until I've earned an official rank first."

At these words, Zhang Meng's eyes lit up. This practically amounted to agreement, and a wave of relief washed over his heart.

Xue Bing stepped forward on the side and quickly changed his tune, saying, "Boss, you don't need to worry about that. Our Great Qian Dynasty operates on a military meritocracy. The battle achievements you racked up yesterday are more than enough to secure you a promotion and a military title."

"I reckon Commander Zhao will finalize it today. After all, with a fierce warrior like you in his hands, no one would be foolish enough to leave you as a mere private."

As if orchestrated by fate, the moment Xue Bing finished speaking, a neatly uniformed soldier approached them.

"Is this Li Dao?" the soldier asked directly upon seeing an unfamiliar face.

In the blink of an eye, Xue Bing and the others surrounded the messenger. Zhang Meng grabbed the soldier by the collar and demanded in an unfriendly tone, "Hey, kid, what business do you have with our boss?"

The soldier was utterly bewildered. *Who am I? Where am I? Since when does a fresh recruit on his second day command such high status?*

"Alright, put him down."

Hearing his boss's voice, Zhang Meng finally released the soldier, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "Our boss wants a word with you, so show some better attitude."

The reason for their aggressive posturing was simple: since they had chosen to recognize Li Dao as their leader, elevating his status would naturally elevate theirs as well. Their immediate priority was to distance Li Dao from the ordinary soldiers; otherwise, they would never be able to hold their heads high in front of the others.

Looking at the nervous soldier, Li Dao asked straight to the point, "May I ask what business you have with me?"

Glancing around at the circle of fierce-looking men, terrified that a wrong word might lead to a brutal beating, the soldier replied cautiously, "It's... Commander Zhao asked me to summon you."

Hearing this, Li Dao nodded. "Very well, I understand. I'll get dressed and head over right away."

The soldier nodded in acknowledgement and hurried off under the watchful gaze of the group.

Seeing that outsiders were gone, Xue Bing couldn't help chiming in, "Boss, Commander Zhao is most likely calling you over to calculate your military merits."

"I'll know once I get there."

***

Shortly after, clad in the formal military attire of Great Qian, Li Dao arrived at Commander Zhao's tent.

"Commander Zhao."

Hearing the voice, Zhao Tongan looked up. Seeing it was Li Dao, he beamed and said, "You've come at just the right time. I was right in the midst of tabulating your battle merits to see what rewards you're due."

Holding a ledger in his hand, he explained, "According to Great Qian's merit calculation system, an ordinary enemy soldier is worth one merit point."

"North-Barbarian cavalrymen are classified as special combatants, so each one counts as two merit points."

"Furthermore, depending on the cultivation realm of the enemy, additional merit bonuses are awarded."

At this point, Zhao Tongan paused, looking up to add, "There is one thing I must clarify for you."

"Aside from the North-Barbarian cavalry leader whose exact cultivation realm was evident, the cultivation levels of the other barbarian cavalry are unclear. Therefore, those regular troopers can only be calculated based on standard merits. Only the cavalry leader's cultivation realm can be factored in separately for bonus points. Do you understand?"

Li Dao nodded. "I understand."

"Good."

Zhao Tongan continued tabulating, "You killed a total of one hundred and fifty-three North-Barbarian cavalrymen yesterday, earning three hundred and six merit points."

"The cavalry leader held a special position, granting fifty merit points by himself. In addition, because of his First-Tier Postnatal cultivation realm, an extra one hundred merit points are added."

"Therefore, your total military merits for yesterday come out to four hundred and fifty-six points."

Zhao Tongan looked at Li Dao and clicked his tongue in amazement. "This merit tally of yours has shattered the record for a recruit's debut battle here at the Yellow Sand Town garrison."

"As things stand, across the entire Yellow Sand Town camp, aside from myself and a few hundred-man commanders, there is no one whose merit points exceed yours."

"Tell me, you are familiar with Great Qian's military aristocracy system, aren't you?"

Li Dao nodded. Since he had chosen to enlist, he had naturally familiarized himself with such matters.

In the history of his previous world, the Qin Dynasty's military merit system was divided into twenty ranks. The Great Qian Dynasty's military merit system, however, was distinct and divided into thirty ranks.

These ranks were further categorized into several tiers, with different tiers granting distinct privileges. The lowest-tier military titles might merely elevate a person's social standing slightly above that of a commoner, while the highest-tier titles rivaled the status of imperial princes.

However, since the establishment of the military merit system in Great Qian, no one had ever managed to elevate their military title to the absolute highest rank. The reason was that the top few ranks demanded not only an astronomical quantity of merit points but also specific, stringent prerequisites.

Throughout Great Qian's history, aside from a handful of founding generals, virtually no one had ever fulfilled those special requirements.

Take the thirtieth and highest rank of military nobility, for instance. It required the claimant to serve as the commander-in-chief of Great Qian and successfully execute a war of national annihilation.

Had it been during the early days of Great Qian's founding—an era when hundreds of states coexisted—such a feat, while difficult, might have been possible. But nowadays, the hundreds of states surrounding the Great Qian Dynasty had consolidated into a single-digit number of powerful empires, each possessing formidable national strength. Under such circumstances, launching a war of national annihilation was practically impossible.

Even if one somehow managed to conquer another nation, the day the enemy state fell would invariably mark the day Great Qian itself was destroyed, for the remaining empires would never stand by as passive spectators.

Consequently, the highest tiers of military nobility had effectively become mere ornaments.

Even so, countless individuals continued to enlist and throw themselves into military service, because even when the highest ranks were excluded, the remaining military titles were more than enough for an ordinary person to strive for a lifetime, or even die gloriously on the battlefield.

Furthermore, Li Dao was aware of another characteristic of the military merit system: military titles could not be inherited.

Most individuals who held high military ranks also wielded actual military power. To prevent the concentration and hereditary consolidation of military authority, the architect of the system had explicitly decreed that military titles were non-hereditary.

Of course, the higher authorities had not completely closed off all avenues. If one wished to secure a hereditary title, they could trade their military merit rank for orthodox aristocratic titles such as marquis or duke. However, such a trade required the simultaneous relinquishment of all military command.

In short, compared to the Qin Dynasty's system in his past life, the Great Qian Dynasty was far more rigorous in this regard. While liberally delegating power to boost martial prestige, it simultaneously employed alternative mechanisms to safeguard imperial authority.

Zhao Tongan continued, "Since you understand, things are simple."

"Among the thirty ranks of military nobility, each of the first five tiers requires one hundred merit points. This means you are eligible to apply for and be appointed as a Fourth-Tier Military Noble."

The reason such a massive amount of merit points was consumed so quickly was that merit could be acquired through means other than slaying enemies. For instance, accumulating seniority allowed an ordinary soldier to automatically gain one merit point per week of service, and various military camp missions also yielded rewards.

It was simply that compared to those alternative methods, advancing through military titles in the early stages by slaying enemies on the battlefield was far faster.

In later stages, however, generals were required to command troops, complete extensive military missions, or achieve monumental feats to ascend further. The reason for this later shift was that if someone truly relied solely on killing enemies to accumulate merits according to Great Qian's regulations, the sheer number of lives required just to reach the tenth tier would be an astronomical figure for an ordinary person.

Beyond that, advancement literally meant paving one's road with mountains of corpses and seas of blood. The saying "the success of one general is built upon ten thousand skeletons" was a living reality, and that applied merely to ordinary commanders. For high-ranking generals to complete their promotions through slaughter, one would have to recall the proverb: *To slaughter nine million makes one a hero among heroes.*

"Very well, thank you for the trouble, Commander," Li Dao said with a nod.

"Trouble? Nonsense, this is nothing less than what you've earned."

With that, Zhao Tongan abruptly continued, "This application for a military title still has to go through official bureaucratic procedures, so it won't reflect on your status immediately."

"However, I do have an additional reward specifically for you."

Li Dao's eyes flickered. "May I ask what reward that is?"

Zhao Tongan looked straight at him and asked bluntly, "Do you want to command troops?"

*As expected, it's this kind of reward!*

Li Dao had already half-guessed it the moment Zhao Tongan opened his mouth. Facing such a question, he nodded without the slightest hesitation. "Naturally, I do."

Zhao Tongan smiled. "I figured as much."

He then elaborated, "Ordinarily, with your strength, taking on the role of a hundred-man commander wouldn't be a problem. But since you've just enlisted, your merit is sufficient, yet your seniority is somewhat lacking."

"You don't need to worry about that, though."

"In the military, there is a practice of exceptional promotion. As long as you continue to accumulate battle merits moving forward, I can exceptionally promote you to a hundred-man commander."

"As for right now, you can start off as a squad leader to learn the ropes of leading men."

"I recall you are quartered in the sixth tent. How about having all the men in the sixth tent placed under your command?"

One had to admit that Zhao Tongan's arrangement aligned precisely with Li Dao's intentions.

Li Dao nodded. "That will suffice."

***

A short while later, Li Dao stepped out of the tent.

"I wonder which fool managed to send such an extraordinary soldier to..."

Watching Li Dao's retreating figure, Zhao Tongan muttered to himself instinctively, but stopped mid-sentence, suddenly feeling as though the remark was an insult to himself.

With a swift mental pivot, he amended his words internally: *Such a fine soldier is naturally destined for a fine camp. He's a match made in heaven for our Yellow Sand Town garrison.*

Thinking this, he couldn't help but break into a wide grin.