Xuanqing Guard-Chapter 50: Watching and Waiting

In this world, ordinary commoners are typically under the jurisdiction of the Village Chief, who is like a street committee director, able to handle most minor disputes. Above that is the Local Government Office, which basically oversees all aspects of daily life for the people.

But in the eyes of commoners, the Xuanqing Guard is a terrifying and dangerous agency that stands above even the Government Office. Isn’t someone fierce enough to deal with such horrors as Evil?

The mere Government Office already makes the commoners feel so high and mighty, let alone the Xuanqing Guard?

Other places are not so bad, since folks there might not see a single Black Robe from the Xuanqing Guard in an entire year. But for the people of Li City, the Xuanqing Guard is like a gleaming butcher’s knife hanging right by their side.

Just recently, this butcher’s knife chopped off the heads of over a hundred people.

So, when it comes to the Xuanqing Guard, the people of Li City are far more awed and fearful than those elsewhere. For them, the blood on the Xuanqing Guard’s blade is something they’ve literally seen and heard about.

But now, this fearsome Xuanqing Guard actually put Copper Cabinets out on the street to collect "whistleblower letters" from everyone?!

Whether it was the oddly shaped Copper Cabinets, or the completely unheard-of idea of a "whistleblower letter," everyone who saw the notice was utterly shocked.

According to the notice, anyone can put a "whistleblower letter" into the Copper Cabinet, and a "whistleblower letter" is exactly that—a letter to report and expose others. You could report people from the Government Office, or even people from the Xuanqing Guard. It didn’t matter if it was bribery, corruption, or wrongful cases—as long as it was injustice, as long as justice couldn’t be sought through normal channels, you could send a "whistleblower letter" to the Copper Cabinet.

To quote a line from the notice: The whistleblower mailbox is the Dynasty truly listening to the voice of the people.

On the very first day, the ten Copper Cabinets ignited Li City’s conversation box—everyone from the officials and upper-tier classes of Li City, down to the peddlers and porters, talked most about the Copper Cabinets and that notice.

"I’ve lived sixty-one years, and this is the first time I’ve ever heard of a notice encouraging people to challenge their superiors!"

"How is that ’challenging your superiors’? Can’t you read? Whistleblowing and exposing—this is the Dynasty letting us folks get justice!"

"Wake up! Get justice? When a commoner sues an official, the case might be accepted, but first they’ll flog you thirty times. You think ’challenging your superiors’ is just an empty threat?"

"Tsk tsk, didn’t you see the sign-off on the notice? It’s from the Black Banner Battalion! It was the Black Banner Battalion that took down the traitors from the Li Family; do you think the things they post are for fun? Besides, the notice says reporting can be anonymous—so what’s there to be afraid of?"

"Anyway, I still think this isn’t reliable. Anyone who’s not afraid can go try."

"Somebody will definitely try."

...

No one dared try the Copper Cabinets on the first day.

For one thing, they feared the unwritten rule of "challenging your superiors" the old man had just mentioned. For another, there were simply too many onlookers—even if someone wanted to report, it’d be hard to do it in front of all those eyes.

It wasn’t until the third day that the first whistleblower letter appeared.

When the whistleblower letter landed on Shen Hao’s desk, it was already the fourth day after the Copper Cabinets had been set up.

"There is a merchant, Hengshun Wang Family, who has bribed the Chief Officer of the Li City Government Office in excess of five hundred thousand taels of Patterned Silver..."

Shen Hao clicked his tongue as he read through the thousands of words in the whistleblower letter, then looked up and asked Wang Jian, who stood before him, "Who wrote this? The prose is pretty good!" 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Heh, General Flag, this was from Cabinet Number Nine. According to our undercover eyes over there, the person who dropped the letter was a man with face paint. But when they followed him back, they found he was a Guest Elder from the Deputy’s household at the Government Office. Looks like the Deputy himself drafted it and found someone else to write it out."

"Hmph, sure enough, the ugliest, filthiest things jump out first."

The messes inside the Local Government Office were absolutely worse than anything in the Xuanqing Guard. The division of power alone involved all sorts of open and secret struggles. Shen Hao had long known this, which was precisely why he’d kept a respectful distance from local officials over the years—there was just too much trouble.

But now, the first letter to the whistleblower box was just this kind of office filth, and that left Shen Hao both angry and amused.

"It is funny, actually. But sir, judging from some of the intel laid out in this letter, it seems pretty credible. Should we have people look into it?"

"Look into it? Do we even have enough people? Besides, we already know plenty about these petty local affairs. It wouldn’t be proper to get involved—even more so, our Black Banner Battalion shouldn’t be sticking our hands into other people’s Money Bags right now, lest we draw hatred."

"So what cases are we actually supposed to be working on?" Wang Jian had been a bit baffled these past two days; he simply couldn’t figure out his General Flag’s strange decisions.

"No rush, wait a few more days. Once word of the Copper Cabinets spreads, the right cases will definitely appear. For now, your job is to make sure every single person who puts a whistleblower letter in those Copper Cabinets is watched."

"Don’t worry, General Flag. I’ve hired over twenty idle vagrants per your orders—every one of those ten Copper Cabinets is under constant watch. Others won’t notice, and nothing will slip through."

"Mm. As for the vagrants, you can take it one step further and give them some basic training. Stuff like tailing, shadowing, hiding, that sort of thing. You handle this one yourself—make sure it’s secret."

"Yes, General Flag. By the way, the people you set aside before have pretty much finished their separate training. Should we start recruiting outside?"

Shen Hao put down his pen, looked up, and smiled as he asked, "Zhang Liao sent you to ask, didn’t he?"

"Heh, knew I couldn’t fool you—Zhang Liao’s gotten a bit antsy waiting."

Other than Wang Jian, no one else in the Black Banner Battalion dared to sound Shen Hao out on these matters.

Shen Hao laughed. "The recruitment is your responsibility. Do you think it’s time to bring in people?"

"It’s time. Zhang Liao has held posts as a Small Banner Officer before, he’s got experience, and the team I gave him is full of veterans. Bring in new recruits, train them for half a month, and they’ll be ready for action."

"Alright, if you say it’s time, go ahead and put up the recruitment notice. Same old rules: we pick our people from unconnected Loose Cultivators—don’t accept a single Noble Offspring. But leave me seven Warrior slots, and save one for a School Commander."

"Yes, General Flag."

Wang Jian shot a knowing look, then turned to carry out his orders.

This "tact" was what made Wang Jian so much better than the likes of Zhang Liao or Han Xin—quick on the uptake and requiring little clarification from Shen Hao.

...

That same afternoon, Wang Jian delivered Black Banner Battalion’s request to expand by a Little Banner Battalion to Tang Qingyuan’s Public Office, which was immediately approved. The Black Banner Battalion was already severely understaffed; Tang Qingyuan had no reason to refuse.

After that, word spread that Black Banner Battalion would be selecting personnel from the Xuanqing Guard reservists and garrison soldiers in various cities. Unlike the last time, when the Black Banner Battalion was first being formed and recruitment was met with indifference, within half a day Wang Jian had received over a hundred written applications—all self-recommendations.