A Day Laborer on the Song Dynasty Frontier

Hao Ping'an is the least noticeable clerk in the Song Dynasty's Border Defense Commission.

His dream is simple: make it through the last three months, collect his pay, return to Bianjing to reunite with his wife and daughter, and say goodbye to the northwestern frontier for good.

But then Emperor Shenzong dies, and the political landscape shifts dramatically.

An imperial decree ceding the frontier garrison to Western Xia throws Hao Ping'an straight into a hopeless situation:

Of everyone in the garrison, only he, an ordinary clerk, is ordered to complete the inventory and handover of all households and assets in Yongning Garrison by himself, within ten days.

No helpers, no procedures, just a pile of botched accounts and a group of colleagues watching coldly from the sidelines.

It's clearly a dead end.

Hao Ping'an finally snaps: Can't I just quit? I don't want my pay anymore. I just want to go back to Bianjing!

That night, he packs his things, planning to sneak out of the garrison town amid the chaos.

But at his own woodshed door, he kicks a corpse that is still warm.

The garrison gates are shut tight. Smoke rises from the watchtowers, and the sound of soldiers searching for suspects comes from every direction.

Forced to hide the body, Hao Ping'an breaks into a cold sweat.

#I just want to earn a living and support my family. Why is that so hard?

#When workers are driven into a corner, of course they'll lose it.

Three days later, everyone in the garrison discovers that the clerk who had been a coward for three years has picked up his account book and started settling scores, one by one.

Notes:

1. A short-to-medium-length historical mystery set on the Northern Song and Western Xia frontier.

2. Ordinary people struggling to survive in turbulent times.

3. There won't be any court politics. Famous officials and emperors of the era will mostly be background figures mentioned from time to time.

Blurb uploaded on January 20, 2026

Theme: Never give up, never forget