Shen Hao looked at Wang Jian in surprise; he hadn't expected this kid to volunteer himself.
"Did you talk these things over with your family?"
"Xiaoqi—oh, no, Shen Zongqi, I've been with you all the way here. You're short on people, right? How about I come over and help you out?"
Not answering the question. Shen Hao frowned slightly.
"Let me ask you again: Have you talked with your family about wanting to switch to my side?"
Wang Jian wasn't some rootless nobody; he actually had background. For two generations up, his family had been nobles, and they were native to Li City, with a network not to be underestimated. Shen Hao really didn't want to bring that kind of trouble upon himself.
"Not... not yet."
As expected, Shen Hao shook his head and spoke directly: "Wang Jian, you've been with me for so many years, we know each other inside out, so I won't hide anything. I really need people right now, and if you come over I'll give you a Small Banner Officer rank. Don't get ahead of yourself, let me finish. There's one condition: you have to go back and discuss it with your family. Only if they agree can you come to me.
Also, this Black Banner Battalion is not exactly a job that wins you friends, so you'd better think it over.
I'll give you one day, and you must give me a clear answer by this time tomorrow."
Wang Jian wanted to say more, but Shen Hao waved him out. Everything had to wait until he'd discussed things with his family.
Ignoring the impulsive Wang Jian, Shen Hao closed the door and buried himself in writing rapidly at his desk.
Building up a team from scratch was no easy task. Besides money and manpower, detailed systems were needed to hold everything together. If you planned for the long run, you also needed a strategy for training the next crop of people.
Fortunately, none of this stumped Shen Hao. Before he transmigrated, he was a legitimate police academy graduate, and he hadn't forgotten his expertise—setting up some investigation and criminal case training was no big deal for him.
So Shen Hao was now leaning over the desk, drafting the basic rules and regulations for the Black Banner Battalion. Once a group was assembled, he'd fill in the details and follow up on training the newcomers.
...
After noon, a dozen or so people trickled together on the practice grounds behind the Public Office area of the Li City Guard Station.
No matter their height, build or looks, they all shared one thing in common: their brows were knotted with gloom, the very picture of folks with "eternal worries written all over their faces."
Looking at the group, Shen Hao couldn't help nodding inwardly. Gloomy faces—just right. With backgrounds that got them despised and even made cleaning the floors hard for them, who wouldn't look miserable, living such a life?
"Come over here. When your name's called, raise your hand."
Holding the roster, Shen Hao walked in front of the group and called out, then started reading out names.
"Zhang Liao... Shen Guangli... Niu Ben... Wang Yu..."
Every time he called a name, Shen Hao carefully sized up the person. Aside from the chronic gloom, these people also happened to be quite young—the oldest was barely thirty-five, the youngest only nineteen.
Once the names were done, Shen Hao put away the roster and spoke up: "I'm Shen Hao, the newly appointed Black Banner Camp Commander. The Black Banner Battalion has just been set up; our main responsibilities are 'internal security and special incident response'. To be honest, what exactly we'll do is not set yet. But one thing's for sure—these jobs are bound to offend people, and offend 'em hard.
Right now I still need Warriors and School Commanders. All positions are like the regular ranks. New recruits get a one thousand tael onboarding bonus.
Alright, enough nonsense. If you're willing to do the job, stand to my left. If you're not, please leave now."
Shen Hao was sure these people had no other choice anyway. They'd already fallen to the worst state in the Garrison, so if there was even a piece of rope to pull them up, they'd grab it for dear life.
Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, all fifteen stepped to his left, not one missing.
"Good. Now line up yourselves. Go around and introduce yourselves—keep it short, cut the nonsense."
There was suspicion and wariness in the way these people looked at Shen Hao, not particularly friendly—but the founding of the Black Banner Battalion and Shen Hao's role as commander were both public knowledge, so for now no one openly acted up. They followed Shen Hao's instructions and introduced themselves one by one.
The main points were cultivation level and background. This kind of info wasn't always updated in real time, so the Records Room files might not be correct—Shen Hao needed to double check.
Soon enough, all fifteen were accounted for. What surprised Shen Hao was that, rough as their careers had been, their cultivation was anything but weak: the lowest was at the Qi Refining Third Layer, with the strongest already at the Fifth Layer!
No wonder they all had such stubborn tempers—they did have reasons to be proud.
Too bad even pride gets flattened by reality.
"Alright, now come with me to the Records Room to handle your transfer paperwork. If anyone wants to back out, this is your last chance. Once the transfer goes through, nobody is allowed to quit halfway."
Still no one left.
Tang Qingyuan had notified the Records Room ahead of time, so the process went quick. Fifteen special Waist Tokens were handed out to the lot.
The tokens looked pretty much like regular Xuanqing Guard tokens, except that on either side of the big "Xuan" character, there were two crossed Yanji Sabers, giving it a much more intimidating air.
People said that the Commander of Xuanqing Guard, Lord Pang Ban, had personally set the design—maybe there was some special meaning?
Of the fifteen, aside from two with cultivation at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer who were made School Commanders right away, the rest were all Warriors. Shen Hao was very clear with them: right now it was just one banner team, but if they performed well, future new teams would need them to take up backbone positions.
In other words: You all had better work your asses off. Do well and you'll get promoted!
The two School Commanders were the thirty-year-old Zhang Liao and thirty-one-year-old Han Xin. Even though being School Commander was dozens of times better than their previous flunky posts, neither looked especially satisfied—they were clearly eyeing the Small Banner Officer post that Shen Hao hadn't revealed yet.
"Right now we're still short of some Soldiers. Those of you with Warrior Title can each recruit five from the reserve camp in the Garrison—just show your Waist Token, Lord Hundred Households has already notified the other side. Zhang Liao and Han Xin, the two of you come to my office afterwards."
...
Inside the Public Office, Shen Hao handed Zhang Liao and Han Xin the basic draft of the regulations he'd rushed out that morning. He said, "These are the rules and guidelines I've put together for the Black Banner Battalion. You two should get familiar with them and then find a chance tonight to brief all the Warriors.
For the next couple of days, you also need to rearrange and assign the roles of the new Soldiers you'll be recruiting. I'm sure you both know how to handle this—after all, you've both been Small Banner Officers before, right?"
Giving these two School Commander titles wasn't just about their strong cultivation—more importantly, they'd both been Small Banner Officers who'd been demoted after offending the wrong people. Their competence and experience were undeniable. With these two helping out, Shen Hao's job would be much easier.