The borders at the North did not change much after the initial conflict, though there are skirmishes daily, the system of trenches commissioned by Li Ming provided unbreakable, while the revolutionary soldiers had not initiated a single attack.

Thus, the next two months passed, and the end of winter was nearing, though the frozen lake seems unchanged.

Liu Five has recently moved to Bingjiang with his wife, Zhi Tao, under the urging of his older brothers.

At first, he was worried about leaving his parents behind, as, in recent years, they could no longer perform any manual labour, and would undoubtedly become a burden if they were to follow him to the city.

Furthermore, his oldest brother, despite essentially acting as the head of the army, had actually garnered little wealth, in truth, his income was only ten times that of the average soldier, who received very little in the first place.

Thus, he was rather surprised when Liu One had informed him that basic necessities, such as housing and food, were all state-subsidised to be void of all cost.

Naturally, he still has to contribute to society, though he is certainly experiencing far fewer risks than if he had moved to the city without any safety nets.

After he had received this piece of information, he had made no hesitation to bring his parents and Lady Zhi to the city of Bingjiang.

Liu Five had a rather typical meal of steamed buns, though it appeared rather plain, he still felt rather impressed, as it was not too long that the city of Bingjiang had been undergoing a severe shortage of food, where a basket of these simple and plain buns was enough to buy a human life.

As he remembers the famine, he gave off a light sigh as he remembered his older brothers, particularly regarding Liu Four, who he had been quite close to.

Furthermore, he had yet to receive letters from his brothers for three months, causing him to feel even lonelier.

Though he felt a slight tinge of pain within his eyes, he

Due to remember his brothers, he could not feel much joy at Zhi Tao’s cooking, though he typically would praise her cooking, particularly where she had managed to skillfully mould the buns into a peach shape, usually causing him to have hesitation in eating the food.

After he had consumed the rather plain meal, he rinsed his face, and left his residence, silently greeting his wife as he went past the front door.

His residence was rather interesting, as it had been formally the house of a wealthy family, though after the city had been taken by Li Ming, the family was forced to share housing with three other families, while the courtyard that connects the housing had become a communal property shared between the four families.

Naturally, the wealthy family were not pleased with this arrangement but were far too afraid to speak up after the execution of head numerous similar families on the charges of hoarding grain.

Liu Five himself did not know of this, being only aware that the family occupying the Northern wing of the residence would constantly bicker with the various other migrants that occupy the housing complex.

Though today, it appeared slightly different, as the family that occupied the Northern wing had their eldest son volunteered to join the military in hopes of regaining his family’s influence in the city, thus, only wailing could be heard.

To this, Liu Five silently scoffed, thinking that no one can go higher than his brother’s position, yet he and his wife still lived in the same courtyard as the common folk.

It appeared that he recovered from his session of reminiscing rather quickly.

Regardless, these thoughts barely flashed through his mind, before he walked out the housing complex in a rather joyful manner, his footwork nearly developing into a skip. As he went past the governor’s building, he took a left turn into a rather broad street.

The street appeared to have been nearly constructed, as the tile pavements are still remarkably clean, while there was a lack of any shops, aside from a small restaurant, which seemed to be selling flatbread and noodles. Past the restaurant, there appeared to be a rather large building.

The building appeared remarkably different from the rest of the city, the roof was not curved as it was for the rest of the city, lacking an appearance of elegance. While the material seemed to be solely composed of earth, possessing very little decoration.

It could be said that this building serves only to be functional, lacking any of the Feng Shui present in most Zui building.

Liu Five stared momentarily at the building, before placing his hands within his sleeves, taking out two pairs of simple wooden slip, both containing only his name, before placing one into a socket attached to the building, while attaching the other onto his belt.

Walking within the building, he waited for some time, before an individual with a pleasant smile approached him.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“I suppose you are Liu Five,” the individual stated after glancing at the slip located at Liu Five’s belt.

“Indeed, and how would I address sir?” Liu Five asked, glancing at the slip located at the individual’s belt, yet it only displayed a thin red stripe.

“ Liu Five, I was orphaned, thus I only possess the given name of Ren,” Ren replied, before taking off his wooden slip, while taking out a different wooden slip from his sleeves” The slip with the red stripe possess no names, the only reason that it is currently within my hands is due to me being elected as the manager of this factory for this month, the reason why it has no names written on it is a result of the possibility that it may change at any moment,” Ren, having noticed Liu Five’s curiosity on the slip, gave a rather detailed explanation, though perhaps it was slightly uncalled for.

“Then, if it is not disrespectful, may I ask how sir has managed to become the manager of the factory?” Liu Five asked.

“Naturally this one shall explain, Liu Five you see, I was born without parents, and thus had little prospect throughout my life, furthermore, I was illiterate, thus possessing no opportunity to go through the imperial examination, the only possible method for one such as myself to advance in the Sui Dynasty,” Ren began to narrate while leading Liu Five through the factory, raising his voice as he walked past the blast furnace.

“During the famine, I had begun to eat the bark of trees to stay off my hunger, while other people had begun to eat flesh, I stayed off that desire,” Ren said, before pausing his step and words, `` Fortunately, I was able to survive past that time, and began to receive rations of grain,” Ren continued, stepping vast a large pile of logs while greeting the people by the side making the stock of the gun.

“Afterwards, I attended the first public lectures held in the city square and learned how to read and write,” Ma Wen said in a slightly rushed tone,” After six months, I was officially considered to be literate enough to begin to work at the factories.”

“At first, I had worked at a paper mill, from what I’ve heard, some of these papers were even used by the president herself,” Ma Wen started with an expression of pride,”, though after two years I was transferred here, as the new rifles produced required more skilled labourers,” Ma Wen said,

“At first, I had been in charge of making the bolt handle of the rifle, though as I laboured, I noticed many of my fellow workers were struggling, so I helped them,” Ma Wen said, passing by a group of workers manufacturing the different parts of the bolt, and similarly greeted them.

“When I had first come to this factory, I was not even aware that elections were taking place, so I was truly shocked when I had been elected to be the manager of this factory,” Ma Wen said, expressing a hint of nostalgia.

“Nevertheless, Liu Five, you have been assigned to assemble the rifle,” Ma Wen said, before arriving at a small desk. Laid on the table are several boxes, each containing different parts of the rifle.

In an impressive speed, he assembled the rifle, before placing it into another box, though it was at the side of the table.

After giving a glance at Liu Five, Ren once more assembled the rifle, though in a much slower speed, before stepping away from the table.

Liu Five stepped into the stop Ren had formerly occupied and began to assemble the rifle, though he soon began to struggle.

“That’s the magazine,” Ren said as Liu Five struggled to insert the object within the stock, before taking over.

Liu Five bowed in an embarrassed manner, before continuing to assemble the rifle.

Once again, he began to struggle soon, leaving Ren to take over.

“Liu Five, have you received the assembly pamphlet?” Ren asked in a patient manner, before stepping aside from the table once more.

Liu Five nodded his head, before saying,” Many of the words I do not recognise, though the drawing conveyed the meaning quite efficiently.”

Ren gave a face of understanding, before leaving the desk once more.

Liu Five still struggled, however, with the help of Ren, he soon managed to adjust into his role rather comfortably.

Liu One used his chopsticks to pick up a piece of mutton from his bowl of noodles, placing it within his mouth, he felt a great deal of admiration toward the chef, as it tasted quite tender.

“Ma Wen, are you certain that the modifications you have applied to the rifle will be beneficial,” Liu One asked the scholarly looking man, though the person appeared slightly pale, perhaps due to his recent days spending within his personal study.

“The original rifle we had salvaged composed primarily of breech loading rifles from Theudo, there was also a small amount of bolt action rifles from another nation,” Ma Wen said, refreshing himself with a paper fan.

“The bolt action rifles possess numerous flaws at first glance, the mechanism can easily break down as a result of the stress the black powder caused on the pin, while the accuracy is inadequate as the rifle uses paper cartridges,” Ma Wen continued to fan himself, though slowing down as he spoke.

“Therefore, I had first asked Lady Xu to adopt the breech loading rifle, though she had quickly dismissed the idea, and had forced me to make improvements on the bolt action rifle,” Ma Wen continued to fan himself.

“I have already discovered the issue of the rifle primarily sits with the black powder, thus I had taken inspiration from one of the Far Eastern scientist’s inventions of the guncotton, which produced practically no smoke, and improved its rate of combustion, so that it may be applicable be used for munition,” Ma Wen closed his paper fan, making a rather loud noise that ring through the room.

“Unfortunately, I am not aware of any method to replace the paper cartridge,” Ma Wen said as he tapped his head with the folded fan.

“Then why did you reduce the length of the rifle?” Liu One asked, before drinking the soup within the bowl.

“The length of the guns are not suitable for the conditions of the trenches,” Ma Wen replied, still tapping his head with the fan.

“So why did you not change to a breech loading rifle if you were not able to solve the problem plaguing the bolt action rifle,” Liu One asked, before placing an iron tale onto the table.

“I had attempted to persuade Lady Xu to do so, yet she remained stubborn in the adoption of bolt action rifles into the military,” Ma Wen responded.

Liu One gave off a ‘hmm’, before leaving the restaurant and walking toward the weapon manufacturing. Walking toward the end of the production line, it appeared that he wishes to test the rifle himself.

After walking past the metal works, his steps abrupt paused.

Liu Five appeared rather focused on the assembly table and did not notice his older brother’s arrival.

After some time, Liu One spoke.

“I… got married,” Liu One said, his voice slightly hoarse, though overall, it was quite calm.

Liu Five looked up from the half-assembled rifle, displaying a face of shock, before saying.

“Congratulations, do you want to eat with mother and father today,” Liu Five asked in a rather silly manner as he placed down the gun.

Liu One nodded his head, before leaving along with his younger brother, abandoning Ma Wen, though he only opened his fan and began to refresh himself once more.

“Did the letter not yet arrive?” Liu One asked?

Liu Five responded by shaking his head, before saying.

“All letters by military personnel must be checked before it can be sent, that must be why,” Liu One said.

Eventually, they walked in a rather silent manner and soon arrived at the courtyard.

The family housing the Northern wing were quite shocked upon seeing Liu One, still wearing his military uniform, swiftly entering their room, they began to discuss how to curry flavour with Liu Five and his family.

Liu One gave a confused glance, before noticing their extravagant clothing, but did not explain to Liu Five, who still maintained a rather silly face.

When they entered the residence, Liu One gave a deep bow to his parents while Liu Five was slightly curiously where Zhi Tao was and began to search for his wife.

Unexpectedly, Liu Five had found her rather pale-faced, having just puked into a large basin.

Liu Five was rather confused and decided to ask his mother.

From Madame Liu’s wrinkled face, a smile occurred, before she asked her youngest child when Zhi Tao had her last period.

Liu Five searched his memory, but could not remember any recently.

Liu One smiled, Madame and Sir Liu smile, while Liu Five retained his confused face.