Xuanqing Guard

Chapter 358: Chapter 358: Event

Shen Hao had always followed the principle of "not being greedy for credit, not concealing one’s achievements," never bragging, nor playing any pretentious game of "hiding one’s merits and fame."

He displayed everything he did openly, relying on undeniable achievements to break through all restraints and climb upwards.

If not for the fact that Shen Hao’s visible accomplishments were great enough, Jiang Cheng would never have been able to promote him so quickly.

So, with this pilot plan’s assignment, Shen Hao didn’t intend to play dead but to dig out every facet of it, making sure that every achievement could be seen directly by others.

Only in this way could he maximize the conversion of results into credit, so that no one would have anything to say.

"Did you understand me?" Shen Hao held his teacup, blowing on the tea foam, while looking at Wang Yiming, who stood before him. Just now, he had more or less explained his idea of thoroughly mining the pilot plan’s results to Wang Yiming, hoping Wang could refine it further and offer suggestions.

But judging from Wang Yiming’s expression, he seemed a bit lost.

Indeed, Wang Yiming felt he could hardly keep up with Lord Shen’s train of thought.

"Sir, this ’Grand Tournament’ you’re talking about, is it the same as a ring match?" To Wang Yiming, what Lord Shen just described matched only his idea of a ring competition, but to hold ring matches inside the Xuanqing Guard? That just sounded off, no matter how he thought about it.

Shen Hao took a sip of tea, set the cup down, and said, "You’re not wrong, but that’s too one-sided. The ’Grand Tournament’ isn’t just about ring matches; there are plenty of other categories."

"For example, our Xuanqing Guard at the basic level mainly deals with Evil and bizarre cases. We can set up a hypothetical crime scene and background, letting the people below compete to see who can solve the case fastest, or most accurately, within a set time."

"We could also simulate some special scenarios, say, encirclement and annihilation in the wild, surprise encounters, close-quarters combat in alleyways—multiplayer group fights under special circumstances."

"Or we could compete on survival in the wild, on tracking skills, on hiding and stealth tactics, and so on."

"We could even divide it into individual and Garrison competitions."

"Of course, losers get nothing. Winners could receive material and honorary rewards as appropriate—the exact arrangements we can discuss further."

"Well, that’s about it. What do you think?"

Shen Hao dumped out all his thoughts in one go, leaving Wang Yiming dizzy once again. There was a lot of information at once—not that Wang couldn’t understand, just that he couldn’t digest it all at once.

For instance, Shen Hao’s "solving cases as a competition": scenarios, backgrounds—all that stuff Wang Yiming needed to process in his own head to really visualize. After all, no one had ever mentioned anything like this before; he’d never even heard of such a thing.

The rest, such as those alley fights, he also had to mentally picture for himself before he could grasp them.

After a long moment, Wang Yiming stared at Shen Hao, stunned, voice a little hoarse: "S-sir, you... you really are an ideas man! I have no opinions for now. But... may I think it over?"

Shen Hao had actually underestimated the novelty of what he was proposing. "Grand Tournaments" were perfectly ordinary in another world. Even not counting organizations like Xuanqing Guard, many Military Series schools would hold "Grand Tournaments" or "Big Drills," with programs that varied, but were all practical. Now he was just repackaging the same thing, bringing out a "Grand Tournament" to make people truly experience the Black Banner Battalion’s rapid development in the pilot plan.

Besides, this kind of event was highly entertaining for superiors and made them feel respected.

Just imagine standing on a high platform, waving, while below neatly arranged formations march past, shouting slogans like "Unmatched in Old Pacification," "Long live Your Majesty," "XX Sir is mighty"... Wouldn’t that move anyone to tears?

Shen Hao himself found it funny just thinking about it. Still, he valued Wang Yiming’s input; the guy was capable and meticulous, and all the nitty-gritty of the "Grand Tournament" would end up on his plate in the end.

"Of course. Write down everything I just said, add your own thoughts, and draft the operational details. How soon can you give me a reply?"

"The day after tomorrow, sir. I think that shouldn’t be a problem."

Wang Yiming was confident he could digest what Shen Hao had said within two days. Actually, it wasn’t that hard, just new to him.

"Fine, go on then. Oh, is Wang Jian at the Thousand Households Station today?"

"He is. I saw him just before I came in."

"Call him over."

"Of course, sir."

Wang Yiming hurried off. Shen Hao had just assigned another task down. Honestly, it felt great to move things forward just by running your mouth. No wonder everyone wanted to climb up.

Roughly half a stick of incense later, Wang Jian knocked and came in.

"Sir, you wanted to see me?"

"Yes. Did you distribute the stuff?"

"Distributed. Zhang Liao was completely elated, pulled me for drinks yesterday, saying he was right to come to Fengri City, that with these resources the Impermanence Department is promising, blah blah. I don’t hold my liquor so I didn’t humor him much."

"Heh, your drinking capacity is garbage, it’s right not to drink. Since you’ve handed Impermanence Department over to Zhang Liao, best not stick your nose in—understand what I mean?"

"Don’t worry, sir, I understand. Now everything in Impermanence Department is run by Zhang Liao, I haven’t got a finger in."

Shen Hao nodded. He’d only meant to remind Wang Jian, not bring him here just for that. So he changed the subject: "Investigate this person." As he spoke, he handed over a Copper Rod from the drawer.

Wang Jian knew it was a new assignment, so he quickly took it and, unrolling it, saw a detailed résumé and a portrait.

"This is in Records Room filing format." Wang Jian recognized the Copper Rod’s source at a glance. But it wasn’t the original—this was stamped. Also, it hadn’t been stamped from the Xuanqing Guard’s own Records Room; subtle differences he could tell. A bit of experience he picked up through osmosis.

He looked at the top—a portrait of a scar-faced man, upper body, in a Military Deputy General’s Martial Robe.

"This man’s name is Wu Kai, a Deputy General under Hai Xia. You’re to dig up dirt on him—the more the better, the faster the better."

Wang Jian quickly read everything on the Copper Rod, then frowned: "Sir, we’re still not in a position to touch the Military..."

Shen Hao waved to interrupt: "I know. But this is an opportunity."

"I don’t need you to infiltrate Wu Kai, or win over some big shot in the Military, I just need you to dig up this guy’s dirt."

"Start from ordinary soldiers, hide the Xuanqing Guard insignia, use the angle of ’rival colleagues.’ I figure that places like Hai Xia, long controlled by the Military, have way more problems than Local Government Offices. Wu Kai isn’t from a privileged family, if he wants to get by in Hai Xia, he’s bound to have dabbled in plenty. It shouldn’t be hard to dig something up."