Shi Sanlang, a farmer from Shandong, faced the background of poverty, weakness and frequent border troubles in the Northern Song Dynasty. From a Xiang soldier who was forcibly recruited, he went through the harsh selection of the Forbidden Army and the baptism of blood on the battlefields of Liao and Xia. He struggled between the constraints of the system that favored civility and suppressed military force and the ideal of protecting his family and country. He eventually grew into a veteran who saw clearly the limitations of the times but still adhered to his original intention. This reflects the survival and struggle of soldiers in the Northern Song Dynasty under the shadow of "emphasis on civility and depreciation of military affairs".
