[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-stealing-ming":3,"chapter-stealing-ming-stealing-ming-chapter-11":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Stealing Ming",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1220628,1614,"Chapter 11: Section Ten","stealing-ming-chapter-11",11,"\u003Cp>After hearing Sun Degong's words, the soldiers, though not daring to look directly at Huang Shi, immediately filled their eyes with eager expressions. Each one strained to thrust out his chest and suck in his belly, pulling his legs taut and rigid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi stepped past Sun Degong, walked up and stared blankly for a moment, then turned around and clasped his fist toward Sun Degong behind him in salute, saying loudly: \"Your subordinate was originally a mediocre soldier in the guard system, just a few years ago still begging on the streets to survive. It is entirely because my lord thought highly of me that I have come this far. As for how to select these men, your subordinate is incompetent and truly does not understand. I beg my lord to discern clearly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Degong shook his head as he listened, then said: \"Huang Shi, come inside with me for a moment.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Huang Shi walked into the room with the utmost deference, Sun Degong waved his hand to have someone close the door, then laughed and scolded: \"Muddled, so muddled. Huang Shi, you really are still green. Even if you don't understand, if you have something to ask me, you must ask behind closed doors. How can there be an official who behaves like you do?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your subordinate is muddled. I beg my lord to punish me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I say you're muddled and you really are muddled. Why would I punish you?\" Sun Degong let out a hearty laugh at these words. \"You still don't understand why I said you must ask behind closed doors.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi gave an embarrassed chuckle. \"Your subordinate is indeed muddled, and truly does not understand my lord's meaning.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let me ask you, what did I call you, you little brat, when we were outside?\" Seeing Huang Shi's face full of blank bewilderment, Sun Degong, with the frustration of one wishing iron would turn to steel, explained:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Behind closed doors I call you little brat, I call you Huang Shi. But in front of your subordinates, I naturally call you Company Commander Huang. Those men will be your personal guards, and in the future they will be your squad commanders. When you become an Assistant Regional Commander, they will be your mobile corps commanders and company commanders. Muddled! From now on, you are their heaven — how could you let them think you are incompetent?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although half of Huang Shi's bewilderment was feigned, he truly did not fully grasp what Sun Degong was saying. Having arrived in this era, he could certainly rely on historical knowledge to foresee the broad direction of history, but these specific and subtle details, the various unwritten rules of this age — these he had to learn and comprehend on his own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Thank you, my lord, for your instruction. Your subordinate is endlessly grateful.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don't blame you. Normally, this general's personal guards must train for several years. This general would find an opportunity to send them down as squad commanders, and by the time they rise to company commander, if not ten years then at least eight have passed, and their training is more or less complete. I was already worried about you, boy — rising too fast is not necessarily a good thing. Fortunately, you are humble and haven't let it go to your head. It's not too bad yet. In the future, whenever you are unsure about anything, come ask me first.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, many thanks for my lord's cultivation.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Degong walked to the side window, then gestured for Huang Shi to follow. From their angle they could see the soldiers in the front courtyard in profile, each still standing ramrod straight. Sun Degong pondered for a moment, then pointed out several men to Huang Shi, while explaining the key factors in selecting personal guards — nothing more than looking for alertness, physical strength and vigor, and so on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"When you go out in a moment, casually ask a few questions. Then, whether satisfied or not, nod with authority. Finally, pick out these few. Make sure they know it was you who chose them, so they feel gratitude in their hearts!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, your subordinate understands.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Good.\" Sun Degong closed the window. \"Do you have any acquaintances, friends, or relatives in your guard unit? Now is an excellent opportunity. If you want to promote them, you can bring them in as well.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your subordinate does have a few good friends, but your subordinate fears delaying the Khan's and my lord's affairs.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Degong glanced at Huang Shi with surprise. \"You have no one you trust?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They are your subordinate's life-saving benefactors, not relatives. It is your subordinate who owes them, not they who owe your subordinate. If they are unwilling to pledge allegiance to the Khan, your subordinate truly could not bring himself to act.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So that's how it is.\" Sun Degong nodded in agreement and said with satisfaction: \"You've thought this through very thoroughly. Then let's wait until this matter is accomplished, and see whether they are willing to follow you to wealth and rank. If not, then just give them more money — after all, they saved your life.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Still, having no acquaintances at hand always makes things difficult to handle.\" After this sigh, Sun Degong thought of another matter and asked casually: \"Do you have money on hand?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In reply to my lord, your subordinate does. At present, your subordinate is probably the richest company commander in the Guangning army.\" Huang Shi answered with a smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Not bad, not bad. This general knows that, which is why I asked.\" Sun Degong said with a smile: \"What I want to say is, don't be too generous with your personal guards. Ordinary rewards will suffice.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Huang Shi once again dumbstruck, Sun Degong showed no impatience and gave him a rough introduction to the general tasks and rewards. A single errand run was basically worth a few copper coins; let each personal guard have the chance to embezzle a few taels of silver each month, and so on. The two of them, one asking and one teaching, rambled on for quite a while longer. Then Huang Shi went out, with an air of imposing authority, selected eight soldiers, and led them away as he took his leave of Sun Degong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As far as Wang Huazhen was concerned, Huang Shi had willingly risked extraordinary danger and rendered great merit — moreover, he was a company commander under his trusted confidant Sun Degong. Therefore, he rewarded Huang Shi with a small residence, so that Huang Shi could have a settled dwelling in Guangning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi led his eight personal guards back to the residence. When the guards saw the empty house, they were all startled, then one by one revealed expressions of irrepressible delight, and immediately set to work helping their new commander tidy up the place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Shi imitated the posture of bandit overlords he had once seen on television, lounging lazily back in a chair and enjoying the service of his personal guards bringing tea and water. The excited expressions they revealed — Huang Shi saw them with his eyes and smiled in his heart. As the first batch of personal guards for a rocket-rising cadre, they naturally felt that each of them had brilliant prospects ahead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to the Great Ming's military system, a company commander would theoretically command the troops of a battalion. Although Liaodong was not very prosperous and many guard households had scattered, a battalion would at least provide a hundred soldiers. That meant in the future there would be four or five squad commander vacancies no matter what. Even if one or two were filled by appointments from above, the company commander, who had no trusted aides whatsoever, would still have two or three positions in hand. Huang Shi reckoned that these eight men, who just yesterday were common soldiers, were now thinking they had a chance to become officers within a few months — tonight they would likely be so tormented by excitement they wouldn't sleep a wink.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for which of these eight men were plants sent by Sun Degong, Huang Shi could not even be bothered to observe. Being infiltrated was unavoidable anyway, so today he simply let Sun Degong pick for him — to everyone's delight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Degong would not be so foolish as to send four or five spies at once; that would instead make him need to guard against Huang Shi infiltrating his own ranks, and would greatly overstep the tacit boundary between superior and subordinate — after all, this was Huang Shi's personal guard unit. Huang Shi estimated there were probably two among the eight, since what he was doing for Sun Degong was a beheading offense, and one would still be too few.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That evening, Huang Shi had his personal guards prepare several good dishes and draw extra wine, then pulled the timid and hesitant guards to the table. Raising his cup, he toasted them:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Today, you gentlemen are my personal guards. Tomorrow, you gentlemen will be my squad commanders. The day after, you gentlemen will be my company commanders. My life, my soldiers, my future prospects — everything, absolutely everything, must rely on you gentlemen. In short, for this lifetime, you are my right and left arms. Please, gentlemen, exert yourselves for me — and that is exerting yourselves for your own sake.\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1572,"2026-06-04T07:54:30.907Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","dbc41e5b92fde2b843460b497b732304d9437c8e3a3c52a0f157f3ce512d2cbf","stealing-ming-chapter-12","stealing-ming-chapter-10",323,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstealing-ming-cover.jpg"]