Xuanqing Guard

May 1st.

Just as he was about to go for lunch, the door of Shen Hao’s Office was knocked open in haste. Wang Yiming came in quickly, holding a stamped document.

"Sir, the latest news from the south has arrived!"

"Oh? Bring it here."

Shen Hao reached out to take the document Wang Yiming handed over. He skimmed through it quickly, and his brows furrowed.

This was actually a brief express report, signed by the South Military Road Chief Office— that is, the border army institution under Chief Officer Zuo Yuliang. It bore Zuo Yuliang’s signature and was formally reported to the Ministry of War, then distributed to the various departments within the Jingjiu Dynasty system after centralized review by the Ministry.

The report stated:

Jing Old Calendar, Year Twenty-nine, March Twenty-one, in the morning, we received a report from the Hongli Trading Company. The company’s affiliated slave hunting team discovered a large-scale Barbarian Race army assembling raiding parties causing havoc within Southern Barbarian Territory, and also found regular military camps of the barbarians near White Head Gorge, Jianchuan, and Hu Zhu Yuan.

In order to verify the Hongli Trading Company’s report, three Vanguard Battalions were dispatched southward from Zhuo Huo Pass, heading respectively to White Head Gorge, Jianchuan, and Hu Zhu Yuan to investigate.

On April 5th and 6th, the Vanguard Battalions heading to Jianchuan and Hu Zhu Yuan encountered Barbarian wolf cavalry after passing Wu Lake. In battle, they killed over a thousand of the enemy while losing more than five hundred themselves. Afterward, these two battalions were unable to advance eastward and set up camp southeast of Wu Lake, awaiting support.

Only the central Vanguard Battalion heading to White Head Gorge managed to approach smoothly and discovered, sixty li from White Head Gorge, a large-scale military camp that could accommodate up to a hundred thousand troops.

On April 9th, three mixed battalions totaling fifteen thousand men were dispatched in three routes for reinforcement, while a Supply Battalion resumed operations of supply posts along the way.

On April 21st, three defensive lines—upper, middle, lower—were established seventy li east of Wu Lake. The present situation is focused on defense, blocking the barbarians’ route of western advance, holding their incomplete pincer movement at bay.

During this period, there have been more than ten minor skirmishes between both sides, mostly reconnaissance probes and tests by vanguards. In total, over 1,500 enemies have been killed, with our side suffering more than 800 casualties.

Currently, the southern situation grows ever tenser. The intent of the barbarian reconstruction of the Royal Court is now clear. The Southern Border Army is high in morale; we will surely keep the enemy beyond our borders...

A simple and formulaic document. It gave a rough overview of the southern situation and cited several early battle examples, implying that their own side still holds an absolute advantage. Finally, it declared determination to destroy the stubborn enemy.

Shen Hao believed that what was contained in this document was definitely not the original version Zuo Yuliang sent to the Ministry of War— maybe not even the second or third version. Too many things were left unsaid; it merely served as a means to "set the tone."

What does it mean to "set the tone"?

It means telling everyone in the Jingjiu Dynasty bureaucracy: "Attention! A war might be imminent. Stay alert— any slip-up now would be a huge problem."

Therefore, a real military report would never contain just these few details. Also, from early April to now, it’s been a month. There’s no way Zuo Yuliang only did this little in such a long span— otherwise he wouldn’t deserve his reputation as an "excellent military commander."

"What about our internal information? Any news?"

"Not yet."

What Wang Yiming meant were the updates from the Inspectors within the Border Army. Except for an initial report, the rest were scattered, useless fragments. Compared to the "Military Supervisors" from the Ministry of War and the Civil Servant Group, the presence of the Xuanqing Guard inside the military truly seemed laughably weak.

"Has Lord Kuang seen this? Any comments?"

"At the moment, Lord Kuang is still discussing with a few Deputy Thousand Households. It should follow the usual protocol— the Xuanqing Guard will immediately switch to a wartime stance."

You’re discussing but not calling me in? Shen Hao thought to himself. By rights, as the Chief Officer of the Black Banner Battalion with a Junior Fifth Grade rank, equal to a Deputy Thousand Households in the Thousand Households Station, he ought to be included. Yet Kuang Shengyuan deliberately left him out.

Is this a play at opposition? Shen Hao didn’t think so— Kuang Shengyuan wasn’t so stupid as to follow Wu Changhe’s old mistakes. More likely this was a tactic of "isolation." Put simply, "You mind your own business, I’ll mind mine"— forcibly separating the Black Banner Battalion from the Xuanqing Guard, though they were nominally a collective.

After all, I never spell it out, nor do I outright oppose you. But I’ll make everyone gradually feel that "the Black Banner Battalion and the Xuanqing Guard are not the same thing."

The upside for Kuang Shengyuan is that he can tighten his control over his subordinates while also dampening the Black Banner Battalion’s recent momentum.

Other than finding it amusing, what else could Shen Hao do? If they won’t work with you, you can’t go groveling, right? At least it’s still better than Wu Changhe— as long as it didn’t trip him up, that was already good enough.

"Go give our garrison brothers a heads-up too. Read this document to them and get all preparations done early. Don’t be caught scrambling at the last minute."

"Oh, and draft an order right away. Have the Black Banner Camp Commanders under your jurisdiction immediately begin monitoring all material flows in their assigned areas— follow... hmm... follow the same standards as in the last Jingxi Action. If anything irregular is found, investigate at once and absolutely do not slack off."

"Yes, sir. I’ll get right on it."

Soon after Wang Yiming left, someone unseen for days— Wang Jian— knocked on Shen Hao’s office door again.

"Just about to look for you, and here you are right on time. Sit."

"Sir, you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, I wanted to ask how things are proceeding in the south."

"As it happens, sir, I came precisely to report on this. Didn’t you ask me previously to look for any leverage on Wu Kai? So I arranged for several Secret Agents to pose as peddlers in the Hai Xia garrison’s farming detachments. Through soldiers who’d settled around Hai Xia, they got close to Wu Kai. However, we found very little on him— to be honest, among the commanders at Hai Xia, Wu Kai is actually one of the few upright ones."

"Doesn’t embezzle army funds or glory, treats his men generously, eats and resides with his soldiers without any special privileges, and maintains strict training. He hasn’t relaxed at all despite being stationed there for years."

"If he has any flaw, it’s that Wu Kai seems to frequently buy stolen goods from a Supply Battalion stationed at Hai Xia."

"Stolen goods?" Shen Hao was a little surprised. Based on Wu Kai’s usual style, he’d assumed the man was even worse in private— yet he turned out to be a diligent, honest sort?

"Yes, military supplies embezzled by the Supply Battalion and then openly sold at marked prices within the army. Wu Kai has bought stolen goods more than once in the past year. This is also a serious crime under military law."

"A serious crime, my ass!" Shen Hao shook his head, dissatisfied with Wang Jian’s findings. "Register this matter as a file for now and keep digging. Be careful not to let Wu Kai catch on, but make sure he always feels we’ve got people around him, so he stays tense. Understand?"

"Yes, sir! Understood." Wasn’t it just scaring the guy so he’d slip up when nervous, and then nabbing him for a minor infraction? Wang Jian grasped the point immediately.

"Go on." Shen Hao leaned back in his chair, signaling for Wang Jian to continue. There was news from the south beyond Wu Kai’s matter, after all.

"Sir, what’s more— we’ve also made contact with that Liu Qi."