As a young marshal, it's reasonable for me to have 300,000 private troops, right?

[Brain storage! Please place your brain here.]

[This book is set in a parallel world, during the warlord era in China on Earth. It has no relation to official history. Please do not draw any connections or make any assumptions about it. This is hereby declared!]

In the twelfth lunar month in Northeast China, the weather is freezing cold. Goose feather snowflakes swirl in the north wind, howling and stinging the face like needles. The bone-chilling cold seeps into the collar and cuffs, and even wearing three layers of cotton-padded coats cannot keep out the biting cold.

On the official road outside Fengtian City, a bare horse-drawn carriage was speeding through the wind and snow.

There wasn't even a piece of tarpaulin to shield the carriage from the wind. The wooden planks were painful to the touch, and snowflakes seeped in through the gaps, covering the carriage with a thin layer of white.

Three children huddled in a corner behind the car, their faces red from the cold, their snot frozen into ice crystals, curling up tightly to keep each other warm.

On either side of the carriage, three officers carrying guns rode closely behind on tall horses. The crunching sound of their horses on the snow, mixed with the sound of the wind, made the scene particularly conspicuous.

Anyone with eyes can see that these three children are definitely not ordinary people.

"Liu Zi! Liu Zi, wake up! Don't sleep! It's so cold, you'll freeze if you fall asleep!"

Inside the carriage, the older girl held her frozen hands and shook the boy next to her vigorously.

Snowflakes clung to her own eyelashes, and her voice trembled uncontrollably.

Qi Fan was suddenly awakened from his sleep. The cold snowflakes crept into his collar, making him shiver and instantly wake up.

Before my eyes was a vast expanse of white snow, in my ears was the howling wind, and beneath me was a hard wooden plank carriage. Where was I?

He was clearly a self-media blogger from the 21st century, explaining "The Young Marshal" in front of his computer, analyzing Zhang Xueliang's life with great enthusiasm, when suddenly the power went out.

As he crawled to fix the power switch, his fingertips just touched the switch when a sharp pain struck him, and he fainted.

When I opened my eyes again, how did I end up in this icy, snowy place?

"Where...where am I?" Qi Fan asked blankly, his voice thin and hoarse, with a childlike tone.

"Liu Zi? What's wrong?" The girl frowned and reached out to touch his face. The icy touch made her heart tighten.

"Are you frozen stiff? Don't scare your sister like that!"

Six sons?

Qi Fan looked down at his tiny hands and feet, so thin and small, that he looked no more than ten years old. Had he transmigrated?

He suddenly remembered the TV series "The Young Marshal" that he had just narrated. Wasn't Zhang Xueliang's nickname "Sixth Son"?

"You called me Liu Zi? I... I'm Zhang Xueliang?"

"Who else could you be but Zhang Xueliang?" The girl shouted anxiously, her eyes reddening, towards the car.

"Xishun! Xishun, come quick! My brother seems to have caught a cold!"

Upon hearing this, the officer on horseback in front suddenly pulled on the reins, and his warhorse reared up and neighed.

The officer named Xishun dismounted and ran quickly through the thick snow to the side of the carriage. He reached out his rough hand to Qi Fan's forehead and then touched the back of his neck.

"You don't have a fever, Miss." Xi Shun frowned and looked up at the swirling snow.

"The weather is terrible, and the bandits are rampant. We need to hurry to Fengtian City. Once we get there, I'll ask a doctor to give Liu Zi a thorough check-up."

Qi Fan's heart skipped a beat, knowing that now was not the time to be sentimental.

Judging from this setup, he was truly dressed as Zhang Xueliang, with his sister Zhang Shoufang by his side and Zhang Zuolin's personal bodyguard Xishun. If he gave himself away, who knew what trouble might ensue.

He quickly composed himself and forced a stiff smile: "Sis, I'm fine. I was just sleeping too soundly and I'm a little dazed."

Zhang Shoufang stared at him for a long time. Seeing that his eyes were indeed clear, she breathed a sigh of relief, but then frowned again, her tone full of resentment.

"It's all our heartless father's fault! When he came to take us back to Fengtian, he couldn't even spare a car, so he sent this beat-up horse-drawn carriage! It's completely bare, without even a shed, and snowflakes are pouring down our necks. He wants us three sisters to freeze to death so he can make room for his concubines to have another litter of babies!"

The north wind was still howling, and the snow was falling harder and harder. The carriage churned through the snow and bumped along the way toward Fengtian City.

Qi Fan huddled in the corner of the carriage, his mind in turmoil.

Transmigrating into Zhang Xueliang isn't a bad start, but as a modern person who's read countless online novels, shouldn't I have some kind of cheat code? I can't just rely on this seven or eight-year-old body to repeat the original owner's old path, can I?

Just as I was thinking this, a cold, mechanical voice suddenly rang in my mind, devoid of any emotion:

[Host detected to have transmigrated to Fengtian (Shenyang) in 1912. System is binding... Binding progress 1%...2%...3%...]

Qi Fan's eyes lit up. Here it comes! The standard equipment for transmigrators is indeed present!

Although the progress is as slow as a snail's pace, something is better than nothing.

He clenched his small fists secretly, a fire burning in his heart: the three northeastern provinces that Zhang Xueliang failed to protect and the Japanese devils that he failed to stop back then, this time it's my turn, Qi Fan's turn!

If those little devils dare to plot against China again, I will beat them until they cry for their parents and know why the flowers are so red!

He was happily imagining the future, even starting to plan which skills to exchange for first after the system was bound, when a crisp gunshot suddenly pierced the snowy night sky.

"Bang!"

The gunshots were particularly piercing on the empty official road, startling the warhorses on both sides, who pawed at each other restlessly.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of rapid, hurried hooves came from behind, "clatter clatter clatter," crushing the snow and carrying the menacing aura of bandits as they approached the carriage.

"Damn it! Bandits! Be on guard! Prepare for battle!"

happy Shun's expression changed drastically. He suddenly drew his pistol from his waist and shouted loudly.

His warhorse reared up, neighing and turning to the rear. The other two officers reacted instantly, drawing their guns and forming a defensive formation, aiming their rifles at the direction from which the sound of hooves came.

Qi Fan's smile froze instantly, and he was completely stunned.

isn't it? !

I just transmigrated and I'm already being robbed? The system is only 3% bound to me, and I haven't even received a newbie gift pack yet! Can't this robbery come later, and wait until I unlock a skill before I take action?

He quickly recalled the plot of "The Young Marshal" and the early life of Zhang Xueliang that he had researched, but this part was completely missing! The original owner of this body did not encounter any bandits on his way back to Fengtian!

Where did this variable come from?

Qi Fan's heart sank to the bottom. He knew all too well how ruthless the bandits were in those days; they committed all sorts of atrocities, from burning and killing to looting and pillaging, and encountering them meant almost certain death.

Even if he is Zhang Zuolin's son, it's not necessarily safe. His cheap father is notoriously stingy. If he thinks the ransom is too high, he might really be heartless and abandon him. In that case, my life, which I just transmigrated into, would be lost in this desolate wilderness.

Zhang Shoufang, standing nearby, was also terrified, her face turning deathly pale. She clung tightly to her youngest son, Zhang Xueming, her body trembling uncontrollably, her voice trembling with tears: "Xishun... what do we do? What are we going to do?"

The wind and snow intensified, and the sound of horses' hooves grew closer. In the distance, a dozen dark figures could be seen emerging from the snow and mist behind them, brandishing knives and spears and shouting crude commands as they charged toward the carriage.