Xuanqing Guard

In Shen Hao’s view, exchanging a Great Nourishing Pill for two pieces of intelligence was still a worthwhile deal.

The first was Wu Kai’s description of the situation among the Garrison Army, where he used the term "utterly rotten." He also incidentally mentioned some things about the atmosphere in the Hai Xia Garrison. There was a bit of humor in Wu Kai sending this intel back, as it actually didn’t directly relate to the mission Shen Hao had given him.

The second piece of intelligence was the transcripted and returned roster record. Though this was a stamped copy, it bore the mark of the Beach Stone Transmission Array, which could be used as evidence and added to the file. The three names specially marked in red were particularly important.

Ma Mountain, Xu Qian, Zhang De.

From the end of November to the end of December, there were only these three records of people from the "Magic Artifact Department" who passed through the Beach Stone Transmission Array, which tallied precisely with the time judged from previous information gathered from various sources.

The first name was "Ma Mountain." Shen Hao believed this was most likely still an alias, just like "Ma San." And it should be the same person.

The other two names, Xu Qian and Zhang De, probably weren’t aliases. Most likely, they were the names on their waist tokens. Unlike Ma San, Xu Qian and Zhang De were indeed members of the Ministry of War, unafraid of scrutiny.

Cross-checking with the information Wang Yiming had gotten through contacts in the Imperial City’s Transmission Array, the two people from the Magic Artifact Department who had gone to Jingxi at that time were also "Xu Qian" and "Zhang De."

The two sides matched up again, which meant that it was basically certain that these two Ministry of War men, Xu Qian and Zhang De, had direct contact with Ma San.

"Have Wu Kai think of a way to get in touch with that Liu Qi. Best if he can use Liu Qi to connect with that Camp Captain from the Garrison Army." Shen Hao set down the copper rod in his hand with satisfaction.

Wang Jian, standing in front of him, just happened to diligently top up some hot water in Shen Hao’s teacup. Hearing Shen Hao’s words, he promptly responded. Now that they had a lead, of course they needed to keep following the trail. But Wang Jian had other ideas.

"Sir, Liu Qi is just a Decurion, his status is far lower than Wu Kai’s. Sending Wu Kai to contact Liu Qi directly might not be proper. I think we can let a few of the soldiers recently put under our control in the Mixed Battalion under Wu Kai try it out instead."

"Mm... You have a point. But are you confident?"

"According to Wu Kai, the culture in the Garrison Army has already rotted to a certain extent. I also have some inside information about the Army at Beach Stone and Hai Xia, none of it good—a total mess, and surely there are lots of loopholes to exploit. Let’s try first; if it doesn’t work, I’ll think of something else."

"Fine, let’s try it this way for now. Also, keep gathering intel on the issues with the atmosphere in the troops at Hai Xia and Beach Stone. Best if we can get real evidence, and control some witnesses if possible."

"That’s no problem. From the outside, Hai Xia and Beach Stone look heavily guarded, but in fact, when I got in touch I found things were loose inside, with almost no oversight. It’s quite easy to recruit people." Wang Jian couldn’t help but beam as he spoke. What was thought to be an impenetrable Border Army turned out to be not nearly as hard to crack upon a little effort. Compared to other places in the realm, the Border Army was actually far laxer and more chaotic.

With business finished, Shen Hao waved for Wang Jian to withdraw. Then, Wang Yiming, who had been waiting outside, came in, mainly to report to Shen Hao on the ongoing effectiveness of the pilot plan in the various Hundred Households Stations.

Wang Yiming spoke steadily, while Shen Hao listened intently as he leaned back in his chair, his face brimming with smiles.

Based on these past days of visits to the four Black Banner Camp Commanders below, Wang Yiming summed up the situation in four words: "on fire with enthusiasm."

Strong resource support, plus the recent "Martial Arts Tournament" stimulation, made the entire Black Banner Battalion energetic from top to bottom, as if injected with chicken blood. Even the usual slackers weren’t slacking off anymore, eyes wide, looking everywhere for cases to handle. All over, the copper cabinets had finally become real hot commodities. Every report letter was treated with care and carefully vetted.

According to Wang Yiming, compared to before the "Martial Arts Tournament," the number of cases opened and filed by the Black Banner Camp had nearly doubled.

Morale was up!

No one mixing about in Xuanqing Guard was a fool; everyone had their own little calculations. Usually, they’d weigh the pros and cons for themselves before picking sides.

Previously, in the Black Banner Battalion, just holding on to a few cases each month was enough to get by at the report meetings, at least avoiding blame. Life really wasn’t that hard. Even if Shen Hao was strict, he couldn’t force people below to investigate more cases, right? There was also a kind of "avoid offending people" mentality, since the Black Banner Battalion’s day-to-day responsibilities mainly targeted internal affairs.

But now it was different. The higher-ups, through the "Martial Arts Tournament," had clearly sent a signal: compare personal abilities, investigative abilities, group combat abilities...in a real contest, and not only were the awards generous, there was official evaluation! That’s the signal!

To put it bluntly: even if you don’t make mistakes, if you want to move up, but have no business skills or impressive achievements, there’s absolutely no way you’ll get an excellent evaluation.

Another key factor in changing people’s mindsets below was also the clear emphasis from above on the Black Banner Battalion.

This was only the second quarter of the year, and Black Banner Battalion had already enjoyed enviable benefits. First the pilot plan, then Lord Commander himself showed up at the "Martial Arts Tournament," personally handed out awards, and gave lots of encouraging words. Those were signals too. It meant: work hard in the Black Banner Battalion, and your prospects are definitely brighter than elsewhere.

Isn’t Lord Shen himself a perfect example? Once just a rootless drifter, he got on board the Black Banner Battalion express and now could be said to have soared to great heights, right? In the entire Fengri City jurisdiction, who dares not show Lord Shen respect? It’s said even the Lord Thousand Households defers to Lord Shen three points.

But Shen Hao stopped smiling as he listened to this last part. "Everything in moderation—whether it’s cultivation or casework, you can’t overdo it. Right now, everyone’s fired up and can’t control themselves. Since you’re in charge here now, you need to be more clear-headed than they are, not swept up in the excitement.

Practicing day and night without rest? Don’t you think that’ll just ruin people?"

And what’s wrong with these guys? Taking any case that comes? Some Local Government Office Chief Officer throws a birthday banquet and gets gifts—what’s it got to do with our Black Banner Battalion? Are they out of their minds?"

The people below have all gotten carried away. Better douse them with some cold water to calm them down.

Wang Yiming was clearly carried away too; infected by the staff’s enthusiasm, he’d lost his basic judgment and was only seeing the excitement, forgetting about excess. Now, Shen Hao’s words brought him to his senses in a cold sweat.

"I have failed in my duty. Please punish me, sir!" he said, dropping to one knee, formally asking for punishment.

"Forget it. It was caught early this time, before trouble happened, so there’s no need for punishment. But Wang Yiming, don’t get carried away so easily in the future. Always keep your head clear—that’s what’s most important."

"Understood."