Xuanqing Guard

Chapter 351: Chapter 351: Visiting in Person

After the distribution plan was issued, Shen Hao’s workload eased; his main concern now was still the official evaluation.

Last month saw the conclusion of official evaluations in various regions. In truth, the Senior Seventh Grade to Junior Sixth Grade officials under his jurisdiction were not many, yet he still had to complete the final step in their evaluation: the written appraisals.

Once the appraisal comment was written, it was neither sent back nor reported further up, but rather filed directly into the Records Room and attached to each person’s dossier.

This essentially served as a performance rating for that year—whether it was "excellent," "average," or "poor"—all would be on record, visible to anyone who needed to check in the future, directly affecting the prospects of these people’s official careers. No one would promote someone who routinely received "average" or "poor" appraisals.

It was precisely because of the official evaluation that the Copper Cabinet in the Black Banner Battalion always saw the highest number of "gift-bribery complaint letters" by year-end. Aside from those borne of false accusations, the rest—if true—were all about maneuvering for a favorable evaluation.

In such cases, Shen Hao also received Copper Rods from his subordinates, asking for instructions on how to handle matters.

How to handle it? Apprehend a handful as examples and deal with them impartially; as for the rest, focus on intimidation and deterrence. If every bit of year-end "social exchange" were to be swept clean, wouldn’t the whole local officialdom be in tears? Even in the Xuanqing Guard, it was impossible to eradicate such practices.

Shen Hao accepted gifts too. Wang Jian, Wang Yiming, Zhang Liao, Chen Tianwen... every subordinate official in his district had come bearing gifts, and even Flying Dragon and Zhu Shou delivered lavish presents through roundabout means.

Shen Hao accepted them all without exception, but he didn’t just take without reciprocating: for every gift he received, he had Hu Tian send back its equivalent value in silver coins as a return present. Refusal was not an option; Master Shen’s face must be saved.

Thus, Shen Hao felt no burden in accepting gifts. Social decorum was maintained, and he was never compromised by obligation. On the contrary, those bearing gifts never knew how to segue into the real business after the gift-giving, ending up tongue-tied—the whole affair truly became "gift-giving" and nothing more; backdoor deals were out of the question.

As for those who ordinarily had no chance to interact with Shen Hao but tried to approach Master Shen through connections—it was even harder. Not one could so much as cross the threshold. Should anyone loiter repeatedly, ignoring warnings by the door, the Black Banner Battalion’s guards saw to it that they were "enlightened."

As the snubs piled up, with Shen Hao’s Evil Star reputation attached, the upper-tier circles in Fengri City developed a tacit agreement to exclude Shen Hao—no one so much as mentioned his name in casual conversation.

Yet just because no one mentioned him didn’t mean no one cared; it was merely a matter of saving face—not worth shamelessly putting themselves forward. But whenever lucrative business cropped up, those who normally strutted about arrogantly, or kept strictly to their own affairs, could hardly maintain such niceties.

As soon as Shen Hao returned from an errand, he saw Hu Tian holding a thick stack of invitations, looking both amused and exasperated.

"What’s all that?"

"It’s all invitations from Fengri City’s notables, Master Shen. Would you like to look them over?"

Shen Hao, unconcerned, began changing out of his black robe with the help of three Fox Women and asked offhandedly, "Are there more?"

"Plenty, but I’ve filtered these out. Besides, every invitation came with a gift list, which I’ve already returned. Only these invitations could not be refused, so they’re left."

Hu Tian was in a real dilemma. He was just a steward, after all. Facing invitations from the grand households of Fengri City was not easy. If he refused, he feared causing trouble for his master; if he accepted, he worried about being chastised by his master. It was truly difficult.

"Let me see." Shen Hao changed clothes, sat on a chair in the main hall, reached for the pile of invitations from Hu Tian, sifted through them quickly.

"All right, send them all back."

Even though he’d anticipated this, Hu Tian was still a bit stunned to see Shen Hao toss all the invitations on the floor like so much garbage: "Master Shen, you’re not responding to any of them?"

"Why bother? Each thinks a few connections or a little family wealth makes them ’upper-tier,’ but that’s about all. No dealings usually, and now they play friendly—obviously seeking a favor. Why bother running to become someone else’s lackey?"

Hu Tian thought this wasn’t wise—he was snubbing a lot of big figures at once, which would surely offend. But he knew his own opinion didn’t matter; if Master Shen was set on this, that was how it would be.

So, dutifully, Hu Tian scooped up the invitations from the floor and, right in front of Shen Hao, tossed them into the hearth to be burned to ash. "So I’ll reply to them as you instructed, Master Shen?"

"Mm."

Just as Hu Tian left, there was a knock at the door outside.

Not long after, Xiaoma hurried in to report: "Master Shen, Wang Xiaoqi is here—he says he has urgent news to report."

Shen Hao paid little mind, nodded, and asked Xiaoma to guide him to the study. He then turned and told Xia Nu to keep the dishes hot, but not bring them out yet; the weather had turned cold quickly.

After a short while, Wang Jian was personally led in by Hu Tian. Hu Tian then shut the door and retreated to a distance.

"My lord, Tan Bin’s side just sent a message." Wang Jian’s breath was still steaming; he’d clearly rushed here.

"Oh? Let’s hear it."

"The message came from one of Tan Bin’s companions, going by the alias ’Fourth Brother’ this time, sent from fifteen li south of Bamboo Path..."

Shen Hao raised his hand, frowning and interrupting, "Bamboo Path? So they haven’t returned yet?"

"Yes, my lord. According to the report, they’ve split into two groups. One is returning toward Bamboo Path, drawing close enough to Thousand-Mile Sound to relay messages; the other has continued deeper southeast into Barbarian Race territory, currently pushing toward White Head Gorge."

Shen Hao said no more, gesturing for Wang Jian to continue.

"The message says that at noon on January 30th, Tan Bin and two others used the slave caravan’s guide as bait to lure and capture three Wolf Race wolf cavalry eighty li east of Wu Lake. After fleeing far to interrogate them, they obtained some information.

First, regarding the Wolf Race: the Red-eyed Wolf Race has already planted the Frost Moon Banner at Sangbi Hill, establishing it as the ’Land of the Flag.’ At present, over twenty tribes have gathered at Sangbi Hill—including the Long-toothed Elephant Race and the Snake Race. The total number is not definite, but a conservative estimate puts it at no fewer than half a million."

With over twenty tribes gathered and the "Land of the Flag" established, five hundred thousand was likely an understatement.

Wang Jian continued, "Moreover, according to the three Wolf Race prisoners, the Red-eyed Wolf Race alone has three roaming raider bands, each ten thousand strong, targeting all scattered tribes north of White Head Gorge and south of Wu Lake. Both population and resources will be swept clean."

As Wang Jian made his report, Shen Hao took a map from a drawer—roughly marked with Barbarian regions, not quite military level, but adequate for the task.

After mapping out the relationships to understand the geography, Shen Hao said: "If I recall, Wu Lake is the transfer point for the slave caravans, right? Their usual operation limit is White Head Gorge. So the Barbarian Race is no longer even pretending at collusion with the slave caravans?"