Chapter 306: What Good Is It to Sell One's Own Life?

Weinan County, Negotiation Office.

Eight hundred men were divided into three squads, with Cheng Chumo, Yu Chi Bao Lin, and Qin Huaidao each serving as instructors, while Niu Jinda was the chief instructor.

As for what an instructor is, the three actually didn't understand it at all; they only knew it was Chen Yan's arrangement.

All matters concerning the training of these eight hundred men were planned singlehandedly by Chen Yan.

And Fang Bu Yu was one of the more than two hundred trainees under Qin Huaidao's supervision.

At this moment, the more than two hundred of them were arranged in neat rows, with Fang Bu Yu standing in the front row.

They had been holding this posture for almost an hour; everyone was already exhausted, but Qin Huaidao, the instructor, was being unreasonable.

Somehow a chair appeared, and Qin Huaidao, seated imposingly before them, had a small table placed in front of him; he was chomping on roasted chicken in big bites, occasionally lifting a cup of fine wine for a hearty swig, causing the soldiers ahead to have bloodshot eyes from watching.

But they could not move, nor speak.

They could only watch Qin Huaidao eat with their eyes wide open.

"Want to eat?"

Qin Huaidao tore off a chicken leg and suddenly asked.

"Report!"

A soldier shouted loudly.

It was their rule: one must report before speaking, or face punishment.

"Speak!"

"Want to eat!"

Qin Huaidao: "Wanting to eat is correct, just think about it!"

Everyone: "......"

"Do you know why you're being punished today?" Qin Huaidao asked again.

For a moment, no one answered.

Fang Bu Yu thought for a moment, then shouted, "Report, because we lost to the other two squads during yesterday's training!"

Since the squads were divided, the three teams often held contests to stir up their competitive spirit; overall each had wins and losses, but yesterday they were utterly defeated in a training competition.

"Wrong!"

Qin Huaidao scolded, "Losing is not shameful!"

"The one who formed your army once said, 'Failure is the mother of success; a temporary failure is not frightening, but the terrifying part is failing and never recovering!'"

"I ask you, have you accepted yesterday's failure?"

"Not accept!!!"

The crowd flushed red, shouting in unison.

"Your voices are loud, but useless!" Qin Huaidao stood up, hands clasped behind his back, pacing back and forth before them.

"I never impose severe punishment on my troops for a momentary failure; the reason I punish you to stand in military stance is because you embarrass me, you disappoint me!!!"

Qin Huaidao, angry, asked, "I ask you, since the first day you entered here, what was the chief instructor's first words?"

"Do not abandon, do not give up!"

This time, the crowd's voices were much weaker, many bowed their heads in shame.

Yesterday, some of the weaker ones, after enduring excessively long high‑intensity training, fainted—more than a dozen—when competing against the other two squads.

And for the sake of victory, they abandoned the comrades who had collapsed.

"Did you achieve that?" Qin Huaidao coldly scanned the crowd, "For a contest's victory, you abandoned comrades you lived with day and night."

"If you ever go to the battlefield, facing the enemy with real swords and guns, would you even abandon Tang Dynasty's territory?!"

"So the great effort we spent, the result is a bunch of good‑for‑nothing leeches who abandon comrades, abandon territory, abandon their own convictions?!"

"Report! We didn't!" the soldiers shouted, eyes reddened.

Since the start, Niu Jinda, Cheng Chumo, and the third instructor have continuously instilled patriotic ideology into these eight hundred, and so far it has begun to show results.

"None?"

Qin Huaidao sneered, "Then did I see wrong yesterday?"

All the soldiers at this moment bowed their heads in shame.

"Imagine, if this were a battlefield and you fell wounded, but your comrades abandoned you, no one cared, no one helped you—what would you think?"

"You must always remember, once you step out of the Negotiation Office, you, together with the other two squads—a total of eight hundred—are forever a single whole; you are brothers, and you cannot function without any one of you!"

"If one day you see your comrade die, you must carry his body back, for he is a hero and deserves an honorable return home."

"Remember my words: do not abandon, do not give up!"

"Do not abandon, do not give up!!!"

All the soldiers roared with all their might, the momentum of the two hundred soaring straight to the clouds.

It left Niu Jinda, who was far up on the high platform, dumbfounded.

"Damn, this kid really has a set, this method really works!"

"No, that's not right, it's just too damn effective!"

"......."

At noon, Qin Huaidao announced a break.

The more than two hundred soldiers, exhausted to the limit, instantly exhaled, forced their bodies to move, helping each other toward the mess hall.

It was almost the thing everyone looked forward to each day.

Although the training here was truly exhausting, the meals were undeniably excellent, a mix of meat and vegetables that tasted great; after eating for a while, they always felt a warm sensation throughout their bodies, an inexhaustible vigor.

"Old Fang, a few days ago, didn't the instructor have everyone write a letter home?"

"Did you receive a reply?"

Wu Yong, who was helping each other with Fang Wu Yu, casually asked.

Fang Wu Yu was taken aback, his gaze softening, 'I received it; it was written by my younger brother. He was arranged to go to school, and he can already write quite a few characters, but there are still some he cannot write. When Instructor Qin read them out for me to hear, he even praised my younger brother as a smart child; for the characters he cannot write, he substitutes other characters.'

This sounds somewhat laughable, but Fang Wu Yu felt quite satisfied.

His parents passed away early, and it was his older brother and sister-in-law who raised him and his younger brother.

But his older brother, while gathering herbs on the mountain this year, unfortunately broke his leg; the family lost its pillar, not only needing to treat his leg, but also having many mouths to feed, making life extremely hard.

In the past, Fang Wu Yu couldn't even think of sending his brother to school; just being able to pick up his older brother's work to support the family would have been good enough.

Fang Wu Yu would never forget that day, when three soldiers on horseback in armor found him and asked if he was willing to join the army.

After hearing the terms, Fang Wu Yu, disregarding his brother and sister-in-law's objections, agreed without hesitation.

He knew that joining the army would offer rich conditions unheard of since ancient times, and the work would surely be a matter of selling one's life.

Yet he still agreed.

Not for anything else, but because they promised to help look after the home, send his younger brother to school, guarantee he would have books to read, find a good doctor for his older brother, protect the family's fields from covetous outsiders, and each month he could still receive a substantial sum of money to send home.

Given such terms, what could it hurt to sell one's life?

"And you?" Fang Wu Yu countered, "You didn't say you still have a sister and two younger sisters at home?"

"How is your mother's illness?"

"All right." Wu Yong gave a simple, honest smile, "My mother's illness is already better; my sister has been sent to work in the workshop of Weinan County, and Zhang Mazi no longer dares to harass my sister."

"Once I save up some money, I will gather a dowry for my sister, find a good family in the future, and marry her off in splendid style."

"......"