Chapter 641: This Is Your Name

Luo also agreed immediately; the mission he had just carried out was quite exhausting, and it was good to successfully hand these people over first. Once this major task was completed, he would definitely be able to have a period of vacation.

Afterward, Chun led Luo and the others toward the camp that had already been set up. In Luo's view, it was extremely crude, but it could still ensure that these captives would not freeze to death in Winter. Although they were not given clothes or animal skins, Huaxia had plenty of soft, crushed Grass stalks, and having these was enough for them to use.

Baifeng had once told them that Grass stalks were "golden silk quilts." Although they did not know what a golden silk quilt was, they knew it was an extremely good thing the moment they heard it.

When the captives were brought to this slightly desolate place, they were still a bit bewildered because they had already seen the prosperity of Lema City and then seen the city walls of Huaxia City, thinking they would be able to live inside that city. However, being brought here, they were still very confused.

But once they saw the camp that had already been set up clearly, they had already guessed most of it. After all, these Soldiers, who looked so noble at a glance, could not possibly leave such tall and sturdy houses unlived in to stay here.

But for these captives, the Tents here were completely enough for them to use; they were much better than what they could build themselves.

Luo pointed at these Tents and asked, "Master Chun, this is where they will live, right? But how should this be arranged? Should the people from the Ministry of Revenue arrange it, or should we?"

Chun hurriedly walked toward the depths of the camp and saw the Ministry of Revenue officials who had already set up tables. They had already arrived for quite a while and had prepared everything, intending to register the household status for the Slaves right here and then arrange for them to move in.

Everyone was familiar with this, and after Luo took a look, he knew how to arrange it. So he instructed the Soldiers, "Divide them into groups. Have men and women stand separately, four rows each. Those under ten years old should stand separately as well."

The Soldiers also acted quickly, standing in a line on both sides of the Ministry of Revenue's tables to maintain order, while other Soldiers went into the crowd of Slaves, telling them as they walked, "Stand separately by gender! Stand separately by gender! Line up one after another, we are assigning Tents to you!"

Hearing the instructions, the Slaves also quickly separated. The man and woman at the head of the lines had already been pushed forward by the Soldiers. Those who did not understand were not dragged over forcefully; once there was a reference, the people behind knew what to do.

Once there were a few dozen people at the head of the lines, the people from the Ministry of Revenue began their work.

This time, over a dozen people from the Ministry of Revenue had come; some were registering information, some were writing identity tags—in any case, the division of labor was clear.

The men in the first row stepped forward, timid and shrinking, not knowing what they were about to face. The Ministry of Revenue official held a brush in his hand, along with a registration book. Beside him were several boxes of bamboo slats, on which their names, approximate height and age, and which Tent they would live in would be written, corresponding to the registration book.

The official asked, "Do you have a name?"

That Slave answered in a very small voice, "No..."

The official was not angry, but said sternly, "Speak louder in the future. And those behind, listen up too: when we ask questions, answer in a loud voice. Otherwise, I will record you as a mute, and you won't have a good life in the future; the food you are allotted will be less than others."

The Slave who had just been questioned was a bit scared. After the official finished speaking, he immediately repeated in a loud voice, "I do not have a name!"

The official nodded with satisfaction but still cautioned, "But there is no need for the voice to be that loud; no need to roar. Just speak normally, as long as I can hear it."

Afterward, he placed a tray of wooden blocks in front of the Slave and said, "Come, pick two at random."

The Slave did not understand, but still tremblingly picked out two wooden blocks and handed them to the official.

The official took the wooden blocks, looked at them, and then read, "An, Gao. Listen, from now on you shall be called Gao An. This is your name."

Because choosing names was a laborious task, spending effort to name one's own child was nothing. Many who were illiterate even felt the names they chose were not good, so they would bring some food or the like to ask literate people, or even school teachers, to name their children. The scholars also gained a little benefit in this regard.

However, there was no need to put heart into thinking about the names of Slaves. One or two would be fine, but with tens of thousands of people, it was difficult to handle. Thus, a Ministry of Revenue official proposed this random combination naming method. Although the names produced mostly had no meaning, or no good meaning, they were still names.

When Baifeng heard this, he thought it was a good method, so he gladly adopted it and had them select six hundred characters with decent meanings, separated by gender, written on wooden blocks, and then taken to be drawn randomly.

To avoid different groups drawing the same name—although the probability was very small—the wooden character blocks in each person's tray were different. As for the Slaves, whatever they drew was what they got, with no chance to change it again. Then the officials would change the order so it sounded smooth. If it really could not be read, the officials would also, according to their own mood and thoughts, let the Slave choose again.

The Slave just now never expected that with such a casual choice, he would have a name. Before he could be happy, a temporarily reassigned Soldier walked to his side holding a very long wooden stick.

He wanted to dodge in fear, but was scolded, "Don't move, stand still! Stand straight, lift your head!"

Gao An, who had just received his name, could only obey obediently, standing straight and still. The Soldier stood the wooden stick next to him and said, "One six two." Then he took the stick away. Gao An had no idea what had happened.

The official then wrote "Gao An" in the name column of the registration book. The gender was naturally male. In the height column, he wrote one chi six nine Village, and it was not in Arabic numerals. Behind that was a physical appearance column; the official took one look and wrote "black, thin, medium-upper."

The official writing the identity tag then wrote all these points onto one side at the same time.

The official stopped his brush and asked him again, "Do you have any skills? What can you do?"

Back on the road, Luo had already said this more than once, so Gao An knew this concerned his fate, and he wanted to give it a try.

But during the time he paused, the official said loudly, "When asked for all your information, answer me truthfully. Especially regarding what you can do—we are going to verify it. If you lie, not only will there be no benefits for you, but you will also be beaten. If it's serious, you won't have food to eat. Do you understand?"