The First Sage of Military Strategists

Chapter 1 Han Qing
Dayu, in Shu, Yongning Prefecture, Baiyun County.

North of the yamen, in a small, square courtyard, more than thirty boys dressed in coarse cloth were busy chopping wood, carrying water, or feeding horses.

Han Qing was sitting in the northeast corner, sharpening his knife against the wall. It was still dark, and the early autumn morning was quite chilly.

He gripped the handle with his right hand and pressed the blade with his left, rubbing it repeatedly on an oval gray whetstone, making a whooshing sound.

There was a wooden bucket on each of his left and right sides. The bucket on the left was filled with clear water, while the bucket on the right contained some black, viscous liquid.

He would occasionally reach into the bucket with his left hand, splash a stream of water onto the knife, and repeat this several times. His fingers were frozen red and even began to feel numb.

Han Qing's expression remained unchanged, showing no change whatsoever. He was simply sharpening his knife with great care, intending to sharpen it repeatedly thousands of times until it was gleaming from top to bottom before he would stop.

"This knife is almost finished!"

Fifteen minutes later, Han Qing stopped, raised the knife and examined it carefully. The blade reflected the sunlight, and a young man next to him was accidentally blinded by it, but he did not get angry. Instead, his eyes showed respect.

There were more than thirty servants in this small courtyard, and three of them were responsible for sharpening knives, but none of them could compare to Han Qing.

Han Qing reached into the wooden bucket on the right and dipped a brush into some thick black oil, then evenly applied it to both sides of the blade. He then carefully wrapped the broadsword from top to bottom with a long strip of gray cloth. After that, he got up and went to a wooden hut next door, where he placed the sword in a wooden box containing four other swords, which were also his achievements for the day.

"I got up before the rooster crowed at midnight to sharpen my knife. Master Fang should be satisfied, right?" Han Qing murmured. Of the thirty-odd servants, he was the most diligent, a fact known to everyone in the courtyard.

Servants held the lowest status in the government office. They ate two meals a day in a communal dormitory, never ate meat for a month, and earned twenty coins a month. However, their workload was enormous. They had to work from morning till night every day, doing all sorts of odd jobs and heavy work, and they had to endure being beaten and scolded.

Han Qing didn't like sharpening knives, but he had no choice. In this era, as a commoner, he couldn't do whatever he wanted.

"Since I have no other choice, I should do my job well. Perhaps there's a sliver of a chance I can become a minor official, and that way I won't let my parents down," Han Qing murmured to himself, a hint of anxiety creeping into his heart.

...

Three poles in the sun.

As the weather warmed up, Han Qing sharpened another knife. The blade was translucent, like a mirror, reflecting the face of a dark-skinned young man.

He was sixteen years old. Although his skin was rough, his features were well-defined, and he was considered a handsome young man in the surrounding area. In addition, he was over eight feet tall, lean and strong, and his appearance and temperament stood out among this group of teenagers.

He got up and was about to put the knife into the wooden box when he suddenly heard a cry.

"Master Fang, please, don't send me away! My father is a fisherman from Songshui Village. He scrimped and saved to scrape together enough money to send me here. If I go back like this, I won't have the face to see my father!"

A thin boy knelt at the door of a house on the east side of the courtyard. Instantly, many boys, including Han Qing, stopped what they were doing and looked at him.

“Skinny Monkey, your three-year term is up. If you fail to become a minor official in the yamen, you must get out of here. That’s the rule of the yamen. It’s no use begging me.”

An obese, lame old man emerged from the house. He was dressed in cloth, with a jade gourd at his waist. His eyes were half-open, giving him a half-asleep, half-awake appearance.

This man's real name is unknown; everyone calls him Master Fang. He is in charge of managing more than thirty servants and boys in this small courtyard. When Han Qing first saw him, what impressed him most was his neck, with layers of skin and flesh piled up, like a tire from his previous life.

In this day and age, people with this physique are not ordinary people. For example, Master Fang has meat at every meal, doesn't need to do anything, and lives a very comfortable life.

"Master Fang, the rule is that if you don't become an official within three years, you have to leave. But if you say the word, I can stay. Please, Master Fang, give me a chance!" Skinny Monkey cried out, kowtowing three times to Master Fang. The kowtows were so heavy that blood streamed down his forehead.

"Go away, kowtowing won't help. You're so sloppy in your work, what use are you to me? Get out! If you don't leave, I'll whip you!" Master Fang waved his hand, turned around and went back into the house, closing the door tightly.

The many teenagers fell silent, too terrified to speak.

Actually, Master Fang had been quite kind to them. There were also servants in other side courtyards of the yamen, and the cries of the boys could be heard from time to time.

"I only have one month left, is there still a chance?" Han Qing was extremely worried.

Three years ago, he transmigrated to this world, his soul occupying the body of a boy with the same name and surname, who had parents nearing sixty years old. The two elders treated him extremely well, scraping together a large sum of money to send him to the government office as a servant.

For three years, he worked hard, hoping to become a minor official in Baiyun County. Even if he didn't become rich and powerful, he could at least eat and dress warmly, and that wouldn't be letting his parents down.

However, every position in the government office was filled by a single person, and with one month left before his three-year term was up, he still hadn't received an opportunity.

"Stop! Let's eat!"

A shout rang out in the courtyard; after a busy morning, the boys finally got a short break.

“Dumb boy, you only have one month left, but I don’t think you’ll be kicked out. You’re hardworking, and everyone in the courtyard has seen that. Master Fang shouldn’t kick you out.” Liu San, the round-faced boy, squatted in the corner, munching on a cornbread bun, and mumbled to Han Qing beside him.

"Mm," Han Qing replied.

When he transmigrated, his memories were not fully integrated with the original owner's. His memories before the age of twelve were very fragmented. He was suspected to have come from a wealthy family. A woman with a blurry face once gave him a white jade pendant and told him to carry it with him at all times and not to lose it.

He remembered the appearance of the white jade pendant very clearly, and he vaguely felt that it was very important, but now it has been lost.

The two elders were unaware of the inside story, because the original owner of this body was taken in by them six years ago and was their adoptive parents.

That's why Han Qing was unfamiliar with the world when he first arrived. When he came to the yamen, he was afraid of saying the wrong thing, so he was very sparing with his words and was also very withdrawn. Over time, he got the nickname "the mute".

In the courtyard, his only friend was Liu San, whose house was right across from his.

"Han Qing, I heard a few days ago that the government sent people to catch a big thief but failed and many people died. This is a good thing for us, maybe some positions will become available." Liu San said in a low voice.

Han Qing did not answer, but suddenly got up and hurriedly ran to his room.

Liu San wasn't angry, because in his eyes Han Qing was just a eccentric and withdrawn person.

"I'm losing control, I want to kill someone!"

Han Qing's eyes were bloodshot, his vision blurred, and he even began to hallucinate, hearing someone urging him to take a knife and kill everyone in the courtyard.

Since his birth into this world three years ago, this strange illness has plagued him, causing his murderous intent to erupt periodically and become difficult to suppress.

He rushed into the room and pulled a book from under his bed. It was called the "Sage's Classic," a common primer in schools in this world, similar to the "Standards for Being a Good Student and Child" and the "Three Character Classic" from his previous life.

He carefully read every word, from beginning to end, for more than a dozen pages. His murderous intent gradually weakened, and by the time he had read more than thirty pages, it was completely suppressed, and he returned to normal.

“Reading can suppress my murderous intent, but I can feel it accumulating and will eventually erupt. I might lose control and become a demon.” A deep worry lingered in Han Qing’s eyes.

He didn't want to hurt others for no reason, and he didn't want to lose his life because of it. This was a government office. How could he survive if he committed violence with a knife?

"Earning money for medical treatment or joining the army—it seems these are the only two paths I can take to survive!" Han Qing pondered.

It's better to guide than to block. If the problem can't be solved, then the only option is to join the army so that one can kill openly and legitimately.

But this was a last resort; he had never killed anyone and did not want to kill anyone.

"For myself and for my parents, I must live!" Han Qing clenched his fist.

"I don't know why I transmigrated. Could it be because of that Seven Killings Stele?" Han Qing calmed down and recalled that before he transmigrated, he had visited a stele with seven killing characters engraved on it. That night, he had a dream of fighting on the battlefield. When he woke up, he found himself here. He vaguely felt that the two were related.

Two updates every night from 7 pm to 8 pm.

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(End of this chapter)