If Cui An were the sort of individual to have wild dreams, he still wouldn't be a captain in the Yulin Army in any of them. The common folk just had no place amongst the nobility, which made up its ranked positions. Younger or illegitimate sons of high-ranking officials or noblemen, these were the kinds of people that became captain of the guard in the Yulin Army, not people like Cui An. At best, he was expected to be a foot soldier, carrying out the grunt work and listening to better men barking out orders for him to follow.
At worst, he was only good enough for guarding prison.
When Cui An was first brought to the Yulin Army barracks and assigned a small squadron for him to lead, he was fully prepared for this to be an uphill battle. And truth be told, it was. No one wanted to listen to a commander whose father was a nobody, whose entire miserable family was worth less than the subpar vase that served as an opener at the auction the other night.