In the year 340 AD, as long as Jin people had the means, they would tie up their hair. They also believed in the principle that “one’s body, hair, and skin are received from one’s parents and must not be damaged lightly.” Even if their hair was disheveled, they would never cut it short, so the people on the high slope could never be Jin.

His name was Henry Clark, and he was indeed not a Jin person—or rather, he didn’t originally belong to this era. His crew cut was the result of repeated grooming; otherwise, his hair would have reached his shoulders.

Henry Clark came from the year 2016 AD. He had retired from the Marine Corps and spent half a year at home. In May, he received a conscription order, and on his way back to report to his unit, an accident occurred. When he woke up again, it was already the year 339 AD. It’s been nearly eight months since he crossed over, and now it is 340 AD.

The year 340 AD is not well known; perhaps not one in a hundred people would know what era it was. In fact, starting from 317 AD, the land of China had entered the historical period of the Eastern Jin and Sixteen Kingdoms, also commonly known as the era of the Five Barbarians’ Invasion of China.

The Five Barbarians’ Invasion! That was a time when northern Han people… no, the Han dynasty had long since perished, and the valor that belonged to the mighty Han had been swept into the dust of history. They were no longer the strong and brave Han people; they had become the weak and self-abasing Jin people. The Five Barbarians’ Invasion was an era when northern Jin people were at the very bottom of society, and it was possible that they might be nearly exterminated.

All those heroic stories of the Three Kingdoms were nothing more than struggles for power and profit, which destroyed the situation where the four barbarians paid tribute, and further exhausted the nation’s essence and population. Those so-called heroes fought desperately, but in the end, all the rights and wrongs, successes and failures, turned to nothing, and only the Sima family benefited.

If the stories of the Three Kingdoms still have some heroic spirit and tragic song, Cao Wei had the Jian’an literary style and pressed north against the Wuhuan and Xiongnu; Sun Wu had a prosperous economy and intimidated the Baiyue; Liu Shu had loyalty, righteousness, and subdued the southern tribes. But what did the Sima family, who unified the Three Kingdoms, have?

The Sima family had nine sons, all heroes. But what did they bring? Almost nothing beneficial; instead, they staged the War of the Eight Princes, lured the barbarians south, and became the first dynasty in Chinese history to be destroyed by the barbarians: the Western Jin!

The so-called “migration of the gentry to the south” sounds rather artistic, but in fact, it was nothing more than a pack of homeless dogs abandoning almost everything and everyone they could, a complete and utter rout in the midst of failure!

What did the Jin court’s southward migration bring? It allowed the Jin dynasty to survive in ignominy, while countless subjects were left to be wantonly abused and slaughtered by the barbarians. Not only were they killed, but the barbarians even feasted on them, so that for Jin people in the north and central plains, even finding a patch of yellow earth to rest in after death was difficult—they were eaten by the barbarians, digested, and excreted as feces!

Henry Clark had crossed over, but fortunately, he was not abandoned by Heaven, gods, demons, or aliens. He obtained a system—a system called “Age of Empires II: The Conquerors.” At least it gave him a “golden finger,” allowing him to establish himself and also giving him the foundation to fight for survival in this era.

Henry Clark was not alone on the high slope. Behind him was the strength he had accumulated over a long period, including military units produced by the system, as well as Jin people he had gradually gathered and rescued.

Ten cavalrymen, thirty swordsmen, fifty archers, and one hundred fifty spearmen—these were the troops Henry Clark had produced using the system.

In addition, there were nearly a hundred people with all kinds of weapons, Jin people whom Henry Clark had taken in and trained over time. In order to train them, or perhaps to build up his strength, even with his golden finger, Henry Clark had spent a full six months before taking any action!

“Sire, the scouts have searched ten li in all directions and found no other barbarian cavalry.”

“Hmm!”

The one speaking to Henry Clark was a middle-aged man dressed as a scholar. Samuel Grant was someone Henry Clark had taken in a month ago, formerly a county deputy serving the Later Zhao regime.

The barbarians had gone mad, launching another massacre against the Jin people. Samuel Grant—for reasons even he didn’t understand—actually took the lead in urging the Jin people under his rule to flee. He had the courage, but not the organizational ability. Leading more than three hundred people in flight, in less than half a month, most were lost or killed, and by the time they met Henry Clark, fewer than a hundred remained, barely surviving.

Henry Clark could issue orders to the system-produced military units in his mind, but he still raised his hand high, put his helmet on his head, fastened the strap, and shouted loudly, “All soldiers, follow me to kill the barbarians!”

As soon as he finished shouting, Henry Clark was already charging forward on horseback. Behind him, the system soldiers followed in silence, while the trained Jin people also shouted “Kill the barbarians!” before starting to move.

Thousands of people fleeing for their lives saw the army appear on the high slope. They seemed to think they had fallen into an ambush, and each let out a miserable wail and collapsed to the ground.

Henry Clark could not understand why people of the same blood and common ancestors—Han people, once known for their bravery and martial prowess—could become so weak just by being called Jin. He ignored the desperate fugitives who had collapsed to the ground and charged straight at the barbarians, who were frantically dropping half-cooked human body parts and scrambling to remount their horses.

“Kill the barbarians!!!”

Chapter 2: Calling Themselves the Han Division

The “golden finger” Henry Clark gained from crossing over was extremely important to him. Not only could it develop the people’s livelihood and military, but it also provided him with an unexpected benefit: it could enhance his combat power!