Xia Miaoyuan opened her eyes wide with curiosity, and with her two chubby little hands, she twisted the Second Prince's face and asked, "What are you going to do, Second Brother?"

"Second brother, it's time to assist in the conscription!" said the second prince with a smile.

"Recruiting soldiers?" The queen was a little confused.

"Yes, mother. Because last year, father formed the Akabane Army, and most of the Akabane Army were selected from the Imperial Guards. Therefore, the number of Imperial Guards has decreased."

"Besides, Father also intends to expand the Imperial Guards, so he is recruiting soldiers nationwide."

The queen nodded.

Daxia's military strength is average, not as strong as other nations. Expanding the Imperial Guards is a wise decision. It seems my Emperor is on the right track!

The queen, her son and her daughter talked and laughed as they walked into the palace and had breakfast together.

"So what did your father assign you to do in this conscription?" The queen served a bowl of porridge and handed it to the second prince.

"My father has appointed Commander Zhou as the conscription envoy and me as his deputy to assist him in his work." The second prince's eyes lit up.

This was the first time he had undertaken such a big task since joining the Imperial Guard.

"That's great! Being in charge of conscription is very training." The corners of the queen's mouth curled up wildly. She was overjoyed to know that her son was about to participate in such an important mission.

As a prince, it is not enough to have talent and ability, but also to have real political achievements.

Only in this way can one improve one's own reputation, and the emperor can naturally assign him an official position with real power in the future.

Otherwise, even if the emperor gave the official position, it would cause dissatisfaction among civil and military officials, and the civil officials might even collectively denounce him.

"Then you must keep your eyes open and carefully examine the new recruits. Don't let go of any suspicious person." The queen put some stir-fried seasonal vegetables on the second prince's plate.

"Yes, mother, I have remembered everything."

[Mom, this is so thoughtful!] Xia Miaoyuan couldn't help but praise her in her heart.

In ancient times, information technology was not as advanced as it is today. It would have been easy for a spy to falsify household registration and pass the conscription.

Therefore, the review of new recruits relies more on experience, vision, and intuition.

[Can a rough guy like my second brother do it? ]

Thinking of this, Xia Miaoyuan looked up and down at the second prince and began to worry.

[It's pointless to just worry in the palace. It would be better for me to go with him and help him check things out.]

When the queen heard her daughter's thoughts, her eyes lit up. Let Miao'er go with Chengnian?

What a good idea!

In fact, I was also secretly worried about the second prince's ability, but I was too embarrassed to say it out loud.

"I want to go too! Go with my second brother!" Xia Miaoyuan suddenly shouted in a baby voice.

"What? Miao'er wants to go too?" The queen pretended to be surprised.

Xia Miaoyuan nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes, yes! Miao'er wants to go with her brother, it will be lively!"

The queen looked at the second prince and motioned him to express his opinion first.

"Miao'er wants to go too!" The Second Prince pretended to consider it. "Okay then! Brother promises you!"

"However, we still have to ask the Queen Mother and get her consent."

Xia Miaoyuan opened her eyes wide with longing, looked at the Queen, and begged, "My dear Queen..."

The queen smiled and nodded: "Since your second brother is willing, then go. But you must listen to your second brother and don't be naughty."

"I know, I won't be naughty!" Xia Miaoyuan's voice was very loud!

…

That afternoon, at the intersection of official roads in the suburbs of Beijing.

A dozen young men dressed as ordinary people were sitting in three tattered flatbed carriages, slowly driving along the official road.

Because of the conscription of the imperial guards, the imperial court had already set up checkpoints on several major official roads in the suburbs of Beijing to check passers-by to prevent spies from taking the opportunity to sneak in.

The soldier guarding the checkpoint stopped them and said coldly, "Give me your pass."

The man walking in front was a dark-faced man, about thirty years old. Strangely, he was wearing a brown scarf that completely covered the lower half of his face. He pulled a booklet from his pocket and handed it over respectfully.

"I'm here with my fellow villagers to enlist. Sir, please see, here are the passes for the fifteen of us."

The soldier opened the pass and took a look. It indeed stated that fifteen good citizens had come to Beijing to apply for new military service, and it was also stamped with the seal of the Jiaxiang Town Pacification Office.

"Go ahead!" The soldier guarding the checkpoint threw the pass into the black-faced man's arms and waved his hand impatiently.

"You are all so skinny, yet you come to apply for recruitment!?" Another soldier guarding the checkpoint glanced at the dozen or so young men and said with disdain.

The soldier who had just been in charge of checking the passes chimed in, "These days, anyone wants to join the Imperial Guard!"

After he finished speaking, the soldiers guarding the checkpoint all burst into laughter.

…

Early the next morning, the second prince sent his trusted aides, Jin Hu and Yin Bao, to pick up Xia Miaoyuan in a carriage.

The queen prepared a lot of food, clothes and toys for her daughter, and asked Li Ma and Sang Qi to follow her, and only then did she let Xia Miaoyuan go out.

Xia Miaoyuan felt very happy when he thought about going to the Imperial Guards camp and seeing people from all over the country who came to apply for the job. He sang songs that no one else could understand along the way.

By the time Xia Miaoyuan and his group arrived at the Imperial Guards camp, conscription had already begun.

I saw five sheds already set up on the open space at the entrance of the military camp.

There are tables and chairs under the shed, and a clerk sits at the table, responsible for registering the applicants' information.

Behind the five sheds were five long queues of young and middle-aged people with different appearances, who were queuing up seriously and waiting for interviews.

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