This is the memory in Samuel Howard's mind, and the journey was much the same. Wuzhai Fort was not large, just a few streets, and Samuel Howard quickly looked over all of them.

There was only one main street, the one leading to the thousand-household residence and the government office. On the street, besides some shops run by local military households' families, there were also a few stores operated by merchants from other places. But to be honest, there wasn’t much business to be done inside Wuzhai Fort; these military families were just making enough to get by.

Obviously, a place like Wuzhai Fort couldn’t attract many merchants—people here clearly had no purchasing power. Merchants tended to gather at Ningwu Pass, which was the seat of the Shanxi Garrison, with many military officers present. Or they gathered at Pianguan, where they could trade with the Mongol tribes of the Hetao region.

The area near the thousand-household residence could perhaps be considered the “rich district” of Wuzhai Fort. The farther from the residence, the more ragged people there were along the street; Samuel Howard saw many emaciated people, dressed in tattered clothes, looking listless.

If it weren’t for his Ming military uniform, others might have thought he was a bandit. And it wasn’t just one or two people like this—it was the majority, spread throughout Wuzhai Fort. There were also women and children on the street, all barely clothed, and with the low, dilapidated houses nearby, this was no military fortress—it was clearly a den of beggars.

When people on the street saw Samuel Howard and his two companions riding by, they all hurriedly stepped aside, whispering, “Leo Howard is coming, everyone get out of the way, or you’ll get whipped.” The women also hurriedly pulled their children aside, their eyes full of fear as they looked at Samuel Howard.

A horse’s length behind Samuel Howard, David James and Little William swaggered along, shouting from time to time, “Move aside, move aside, young master is coming through! If you don’t move, you’ll get whipped!” The two looked very pleased with themselves, as if every outing with Samuel Howard had always been like this—they were already quite practiced at it.

But Samuel Howard felt heavy-hearted. He hadn’t expected Wuzhai Fort to be so impoverished, and that he was about to take over such a mess. This did not bode well for his prospects. He had read about the tragic experiences of Ming soldiers in historical records, but seeing it with his own eyes was even more unbearable.

With such an army, it was easy to imagine how they could fight. No wonder that after the mid-Ming period, the hereditary military household system was gradually replaced by the recruitment-based camp system. And as the leader of such a military household force, he could forget about any development—he’d just have to wait out his days in Wuzhai Fort. This was a serious blow to his newly kindled ambitions.

In fact, of the 1,120 soldiers officially assigned to Wuzhai Fort, after accounting for deserters and those drawing pay without serving, there were fewer than 800 left. Subtracting nearly half who were old or weak, there were only about four hundred able-bodied men, and the only ones with real combat power were the sixty retainers of the thousand-household Henry Howard.

Samuel Howard let out a long sigh: “I never thought the military officers of Wuzhai Fort would be so destitute!”

David James and Little William were quite used to this situation. David Walker, who was behind them, heard Samuel Howard's words and called out loudly, “Young master, it’s not your first day in Wuzhai Fort—it's been like this for years. And it’s not just Wuzhai Fort; I’ve heard that many garrison military households are the same. Otherwise, why do people call us poor soldiers?”

Samuel Howard's face darkened. David James was about to say something, but Little William gave him a look, and David James immediately fell silent.

Samuel Howard rode on in silence. In fact, what Samuel Howard saw was very common among border troops and garrisons everywhere at the time—it wasn’t unique to Wuzhai Fort.

Ming dynasty military households had very low status, even lower than civilian households, but they were one of the country’s main sources of soldiers, so the Ming government kept strict control over them. Ordinary military households had to serve for life. Only those who rose to the rank of Minister could be exempted from military registration. Such people were very few, so exemptions were rare.

The treatment of military households was also extremely poor. Each household, besides sending one extra male to the garrison as a soldier, had to send another to do labor for the army. In some places, each household was required to send two or three extra males to perform all kinds of heavy labor for the army.

When a soldier went to serve at a garrison, all expenses for his uniform and travel had to be borne by his family. While serving, the soldier had to provide his own clothing, and his rations did not increase even if his family grew. As a result, the wives and children of soldiers were often in rags and went hungry. Military households were not exempt from other corvée labor just because they provided soldiers, so their living conditions were worse than those of civilian households. Not only their families, but the soldiers themselves were not much better off. Soldiers were exploited by officers at every level, and their rations were often withheld or delayed. Some garrisons went years without paying soldiers, and some soldiers survived by begging.

During their service, soldiers were also forced by the government and powerful officials to do hard labor. Major projects, such as building palaces, imperial tombs, or dredging rivers, were often completed by soldiers.

In some garrisons, the land allotted to soldiers for farming was seized by powerful landlords and officers, who made the soldiers farm for them, or even forced them to fish, cut timber, or smuggle goods. Soldiers had become tools and laborers in their hands.