Samuel Harris had just stepped into the tent and hadn’t yet adjusted to the light inside when he once again heard the raucous shouting from outside: “Where can we find mighty warriors to guard the four corners of the land?!” The corners of his mouth lifted slightly in a smile full of meaning. Shaking his head, he began to survey the furnishings inside the tent. He saw that the tent was piled high with wooden crates and weapon racks. On top of a crate in the front right corner lay several bundles of red cloth—those must be the materials for making his military uniform.

  “Warrior, help this old man bring over a wooden crate to stand on.”

  Following the instructions, Samuel Harris tried to move a wooden crate about 50 centimeters high, but found it rather heavy. However, it was the only crate not neatly stacked, so he had to lift it with effort. As he did, he heard a clattering sound from inside the crate.

  “Truly a mighty man! Even a ‘box house’ full of ‘gold’ can be moved by you!”

  In the Han dynasty, all money—whether made of copper or pure gold—was generally called ‘gold’. The coins still in use included the ‘five fen coin’ from Empress Lü’s era and the ‘four-zhu coin’ (also called banliang) from Emperor Wen’s time, as well as exquisitely crafted pure gold ingots called ‘gold cakes’, each referred to as ‘one gold’. The so-called ‘box house’ generally referred to containers holding copper coins and gold cakes.

  The skinny old man stepped onto the box house, cloth tape in hand, measuring Samuel Harris’s body as he muttered to himself: “A full eight chi and two in height, truly imposing! If all our Han soldiers were like you, how would the Hu barbarians and Wuhuan bandits dare to be so arrogant? How would they dare to repeatedly violate the borders of our great Han?”

  Samuel Harris’s face darkened, the corners of his mouth twitching as he let the old man’s withered hands pinch the sinews of his arms, prod his chest, then squat down to pat the tough muscles of his thighs and calves. Suddenly, he saw those bony hands about to perform the infamous “monkey steals the peach” move, and was shocked…

  “What is this…?” He quickly shielded his groin, his face bitter.

  The old man paused, looked up, and asked, “If I don’t measure your hips, how can I make your robe?”

  Samuel Harris could only endure his embarrassment…

Chapter 11: A National Lament

  After leaving the quartermaster’s tent, the soldiers and civilians cheered again, but that need not be mentioned. Samuel Harris returned to his own squad’s tent, and upon entering, he stood there in a daze. The skinny old man’s greenish gaze was truly terrifying—just like a child in later generations who had found a favorite toy, he had pinched every part of Samuel Harris’s body except the private areas.

  Only now did he have the mind to examine the tent’s furnishings. Inside, apart from the straw mats (like tatami) covered with hemp blankets on the wooden racks to the left and right, and the weapon rack by the entrance, there was nothing else. Since arriving here, he had deeply felt the cold of the northern frontier nights, and seriously doubted whether those thin, chilly hemp blankets and the straw mats woven from bamboo strips and rushes could keep him warm. He wasn’t foolish enough to ask why there was no fire for warmth inside the tent—the tent had no skylight, and the material was flammable. Not to mention that fires were not allowed in the camp, to prevent accidents, it was absolutely forbidden to light a fire inside.

  “Brother, Squad Leader Zhuang just came by. He said you should go see him.” Matthew Cooper had already calmed down from the excitement of putting on military uniform. Having gone two days and a night without sleep, and spent the time in constant fear, he looked utterly exhausted.

  Samuel Harris replied with an “Oh” and walked out of the tent. To be honest, he was still wondering whether he could actually sleep on the straw mat, covered with such a thin hemp blanket. But as he stepped out, he was stumped—he didn’t know where Zhuang Qing’s tent was. He thought about turning back to ask, but didn’t want to disturb Matthew Cooper and the others as they rested.

  So, Samuel Harris wandered through the not-so-large camp. Along the way, every soldier he met greeted him warmly. It seemed the soldiers had recovered from their initial surprise. These garrison soldiers, accustomed to life and death, didn’t have many thoughts—everyone seemed honest and simple. It was just such unassuming men, with few demands, who kept the region safe.

  Samuel Harris liked military life, and liked these honest, dutiful garrison soldiers. He would be living with them from now on, so he smiled and greeted each one. Influenced by later generations, he had originally thought that garrison soldiers were criminals sent to the frontier as punishment, but that wasn’t the case. These soldiers were elite troops from various counties in the interior, transferred to the border by their local commanders to defend the frontier.

  He found it hard to believe that these haggard and thin-looking soldiers were the elite of their counties. By his estimate, if he fought with all his might, he could take on ten at once, and if the terrain allowed, killing twenty wouldn’t be a problem. Compared to the Xiongnu and Wuwan, who grew up eating beef and mutton, the Han soldiers’ physical condition was truly poor—they looked malnourished.

  At this time, people of the Han did not call themselves Han, but referred to themselves as Huaxia. The term “Huaxia” first appeared in the Western Zhou’s “Book of Documents—Book of Zhou—Wu Cheng”: “Huaxia, Man, and Mo, all follow the command.” The “Zuo Zhuan” records: “To serve the various Xia.” “Chu eats Huaxia.” “Shang does not plot against Xia, the Yi do not disturb Hua.” From this, it is clear that since ancient times, the Chinese nation called itself Zhu Xia, Huaxia, or simply Xia or Hua. After the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, Huaxia became the name for the people living in the Central Plains. Other peoples were called Yi, Di, Rong, or Man; nomadic peoples were called Rong.