Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 8 New Functions of the System
When Su Ze returned to his house, he found that his family was already penniless because of his father's case.

The simple wooden bed was covered with straw. Quilts to keep out the cold were a luxury in that era. Poor soldiers like Su Ze could only use linen to sew collected feathers to keep out the cold.

This kind of quilt is filled with feathers of various birds and straw fragments. The filling in the quilt often leaks out from the coarse linen, and the smell is also very intoxicating.

However, Su Ze could only afford such a quilt after he changed his family's life with the help of the system. There were still many families in Jianyang who could only rely on straw to keep warm.

It was not long after the Chinese New Year, and the winter in Luoyang was still lingering, with the chill still chilly. After a while, Su Yuyao came in with a brazier in her hand, pushed open the wooden door, put the brazier by the window, and said:
"Brother, it's freezing cold in late spring. Light a brazier before going to bed. Don't get cold."

Su Ze felt warm in his heart. Su Yuyao had taken care of him in the same way when he first crossed over. Looking at the firewood in the brazier, Su Ze noticed the marks on the girl's shoulders and knew that she had gone up the mountain to collect firewood with the neighbors. Su Ze asked distressedly:

"You went up the mountain to collect firewood again? Didn't I tell you to use the money to buy some firewood from the neighbors?"

Su Yuyao shook her head firmly and refused. The girl said in a resounding voice:
"Brother, you have worked very hard to support the family while on duty in the Imperial Guards. It is Yuyao's job to take care of the household. Brother, you still have to save this money to get married!"

Su Ze said self-deprecatingly: "As a poor military family, who would marry their daughter to your brother?"

Twenty years ago, the Yulin Huben were the elite of the imperial court. For ordinary children from good families without any family background, being selected into the Yulin was almost the only way to enter the officialdom of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Although Emperor Xiaowen investigated the family background, this monarch who was well versed in Han culture also understood the importance of military preparations.

Therefore, in addition to selecting officials from the sons of aristocratic families, the Northern Wei Dynasty also allowed the imperial guards such as the Yulin Huben to obtain official positions due to their merits, and to enter the officialdom by transferring from military merits to civil service.

But in just twenty years, the Imperial Guard, once the most powerful army in the empire, has now fallen into depravity.

Those with connections in the army regarded the Yulin Huben as a stepping stone to enter the officialdom, while those without connections had no chance of getting an official position even if they had made meritorious services. Over time, these powerless children of the imperial guards either degenerated into bullies and bullies in the city of Luoyang by taking advantage of their status as imperial guards; or they found ways to evade their military duties, used their power to enrich themselves, or took advantage of various conveniences to do business and buy property.

In just twenty years, the reputation of the Yulin Huben plummeted, and even the merchants in Luoyang City were unwilling to marry their daughters to military households.

And Su Ze was ostracized in the Yulin Army because of his father's case. He is still just an ordinary Yulin guard. He is at the bottom of the marriage market.

Su Yuyao said optimistically: "Brother, my father-in-law said that as long as you can be favored by the King of Qinghe and selected into his shogunate, you can become an officer! Moreover, the King of Qinghe is best at recommending talents to the court. Brother, your riding and archery skills will definitely be favored by the King of Qinghe!"

"Did your father teach you to say that?"

Su Yuyao stuck out her tongue, and Su Ze sighed:
"My father-in-law has put a lot of effort into getting me to participate in the selection of the Qinghe Palace."

Su Yuyao asked quickly:
"I heard that the army fought hard for this opportunity. Your father-in-law must have used up all the favors he had in the past to get this opportunity for you, brother. Why don't you want to go?"

"This matter involves the military, Yuyao, don't ask. Wait for Yafu to come and wake me up."

Su Yuyao hurriedly walked out of the room and said, "Brother, please take a rest."

After Su Yuyao left, Su Ze still couldn't sleep. Emperor Shenwu Gao Huan, King Qinghe Yuan Yi, these great figures who had separate biographies in history books appeared around him one by one. To put it in a naive way, Su Ze felt a sense of crisis that "the gears of the times were starting to turn."

Instinctively, Su Ze turned on the system, which was the basis for him to survive in this world.

The store still did not refresh, and no new tasks appeared on the map. Just when Su Ze was about to shut down the system, he suddenly found that the "map" interface had changed.

A chess piece appeared at the edge of the map interface. Su Ze thought about it, and the chess piece moved in front of Su Ze. He saw that the avatar of this chess piece was exactly the same as the riding slave purchased by the system.

As Su Ze "picked up" the chess piece, several areas lit up on the map.

The area with bright green light is Jianyangli where Su Ze lives. Su Ze puts the chess piece representing the cavalry slave on the map of Jianyangli, and a dialog box pops up on the map -

[In the safe area "Jianyangli", "Slave Rider Suda" can perform security commissions: 1 guard the stronghold, 2 raise war horses, please choose? ]

Is this a new feature of the system?
Su Ze moved the chess piece of the riding slave Su Da to another outer green area. From the map, it can be seen that it was the desolate suburb south of the city where Su Yuyao and the neighbors were collecting firewood.

[In the safe area "Southern Wilderness", "Slave Rider Suda" can perform safety commissions: 1 Collect firewood, 2 Collect grass, please choose? ]

There were only two areas left on the map, one yellow and one red. He moved the chess piece to the yellow area, which was exactly the Sitong City where Su Ze met Gao Huan.

[In the adventure area "Sitong City", "Qinu Suda" can perform adventure commissions: 1. Setting up a stall, 2. Horse selection (special actions that Qinu Suda can perform), please choose? ]

[Note that when performing tasks in the adventure zone, you may encounter risks such as death, detention, and injury of subordinates. The risk depends on the level difference of the zone.]

The last one is a red area. As expected, this is the palace where Su Ze is on duty to guard.

[Dangerous area "Palace", adventure commissions available: 1. Replacement of garrison duty, 2. Theft, please choose?]

[Attention!!! "Qinnu Suda" will encounter huge risks when operating in this area. The risks may affect the host, please choose carefully. ]

Now Su Ze's remaining sleepiness disappeared, and he sat up from the bed. It turned out that this was how the subordinates purchased by the system were used!
This reminded Su Ze of a small game called "Wandering Frog", which is to send the characters under your command to perform some simple tasks to collect supplies.

In this case, the selling price of 10 wen and the maintenance fee of 10 wen per month are too cost-effective. Even if Su Da is sent to the southern wilderness to collect firewood and then sell it in Sitong City, more than wen can be earned in a month.

However, Su Ze did not dare to send Su Da to the red area. The Northern Wei Palace was now heavily guarded. If he was discovered to have Su Da on duty in his place, he would be implicated and beheaded.

First, let Su Da carry out the commission of [Raising War Horses] in Jianyang. Su Ze looked at the huge map of Luoyang, those areas shrouded in shadow that he had not yet set foot on. If he "opened" these maps himself, would he be able to carry out more types of commissions?
In addition, if you have more subordinates, you can get a lot of benefits just by "entrusting" them.

Su Ze is even more looking forward to the next store refresh!
(End of this chapter)