After leaving the council hall, Xie Changshi hurried to the house where Guard Qi was. Guard Qi was still awake and was practicing horse stance with his eyes closed in his room. He didn't open his eyes when he heard the knock on the door: "The door is unlocked, come in yourself."

Then Chief Secretary Xie pushed open the door and greeted him with a smile: "Oh, Guard Qi is practicing martial arts."

He slammed the door shut behind him: "Why don't you go to the yard? It's spacious there, and you can dance and play with sticks."

Qi, the guard, felt insulted. He gave Xie, the chief secretary, a deep look, and, too lazy to explain to this martial arts idiot, slowly stood up and pointed to the chair next to him, saying, "Chief Secretary Xie, please pour yourself some tea. I don't have any good tea leaves here, so please make do with this."

Although they came with His Highness, they all brought their own luggage. Xie Changshi's luggage was the most peculiar in their eyes, consisting mostly of tea leaves in addition to books.

He casually wiped his sweat with a handkerchief: "It's so late, does Chief Secretary Xie have something to say?"

"There is something very important." Chief Secretary Xie gestured for Guard Qi to sit down before saying, "His Highness just suggested opening a security escort agency, with Guard Qi as the head escort and the other guards as escorts."

It's unrealistic to send all the guards in the manor to the escort agency; it's definitely better to send some and leave others, ideally in rotation.

Of course, escorts can't just have one job, so they need to recruit more people and expand their escort agency.

If we're going to do it, we'll make it the biggest security escort agency in the northern desert.

As the saying goes, the most dangerous place is the safest place!

Qi Chenglang pointed at himself, his face full of disbelief: "Me? You mean me? Me, becoming a镖头 (bodyguard/escort)?"

Seeing Xie Changshi nod with a smile, Qi Chenglang scoffed with a disdainful look: "Is His Highness crazy? Are you crazy too? You tried to persuade Xu Mama to become a cook before, but Xu Mama didn't agree. Now you're trying to get your hands on me?"

Before Xie Changshi could answer, he continued, "Besides, the Emperor's reward, plus what we stole from the bandits this time, is enough for the household to live on for many years. Why should Your Highness worry about these things?"

Chief Secretary Xie sighed. So these warriors really are simple-minded. They're all grown up, yet they don't have the same sense of crisis about running out of money as a child like His Highness.

He patiently explained, “Your Highness is a prince, and your fief is in Xinliang. You only see that Your Highness doesn’t have to worry about renting a house now, but have you not thought about His Highness’s future? You have seen the desolation of Xinliang with your own eyes. Starting tomorrow, we need to arrange people to go to Xinliang to clear the weeds, figure out how to plan the fields, and plan the roads. Everything has to be done from scratch, which is not something that can be solved with three thousand taels of gold.”

The rise of a city is not something that can be fixed with a few words; it is the result of the hard work of countless people and the financial investment of countless amounts of money.

Qi Chenglang blinked and thought for a while: "So Your Highness has set your sights on me?"

"If he weren't outmatched, Chief Secretary Xie would have definitely stepped in and punched him: 'His Highness is thinking of you. He feels that with your high level of martial arts, it's a waste for you to always be his personal guard. Most importantly…'"

Xie Changshi glared at Qi Chenglang with annoyance: "You were the one who complained to His Highness that you had nowhere to practice martial arts in the Northern Desert and that your belly had gotten bigger. That's when His Highness came up with this method."

Qi Chenglang's eyes lit up, and he crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair: "The way you put it, it actually makes some sense."

Escort agencies definitely have training grounds. Although a single escort trip doesn't necessarily mean you'll encounter robbery, it's always better to travel far and wide than to stay in the palace all the time.

Thinking about it this way, Qi Chenglang became even more tempted.

only……

He glanced at Chief Secretary Xie, sensing that Chief Secretary Xie had ulterior motives, and hesitated before saying, "Chief Secretary Xie came to talk to me about this specifically, surely it wasn't because of what His Highness said, was it?"

“When it’s your turn to be quick-witted, you’re not stupid at all.” Xie Changshi smiled. “That’s right, I’ve thought of a better way. From now on, all communication with the Emperor will be done through the escort agency.”

Upon arriving in the northern desert, Chief Secretary Xie did not uncover any useful clues. Therefore, he could report on the situation here through His Highness's letter to the Emperor. But what if things progressed later?

While carrier pigeons are fast, they are not safe. The Emperor arranged for His Highness to stay here to avoid revealing his true intentions.

He believed that just as the emperor was watching his every move, that person was also keeping a close eye on the emperor's actions, so establishing a connection with the emperor that he would never have imagined was extremely important.

Qi Chenglang was slightly taken aback, clearly not expecting that such a small escort agency would prompt Xie Changshi to think so much. As the saying goes, these civil officials are indeed cunning: "If that's how you put it, then I certainly can't refuse. However, how can His Highness's safety be guaranteed?"

Even if he feels frustrated, he will not forget what he should do most.

Xie Changshi didn't know what was going on, but a thought suddenly popped into his mind: he had to summon the guards.

Putting aside the fact that Qi Chenglang would have to be distracted by the affairs of the镖头 (bodyguard/escort), how could Xinliang's safety be guaranteed once it was established? Could it be guaranteed by these guards alone?

"Okay, let's investigate and see if any security escort agencies are for sale. If not, we'll try to buy some land."

The space required for a security escort agency is quite large. Xie Changshi prefers to directly purchase a well-established security escort agency. If the escorts are reliable, they can continue to be used, which can also alleviate their current shortage of personnel.

Most importantly, once the emperor approves this, it will be equivalent to becoming a half-"royal merchant".

The more Xie Changshi thought about it, the more feasible the plan seemed. He would try to slip a reply into the return gift to the Emperor tomorrow, and he would also need to remind Eunuch Ran about this.

However, the matter of opening a security escort agency had to go through Qi Wenhan.

Chief Secretary Xie tapped the table: "Tomorrow we'll go see Qi Wenhan and check on those bandits. Let's bring Zhang Yuankai along."

In theory, princes should not interfere in local affairs, but these bandits robbed His Highness's reward, so they are the victims. How could Qi Wenhan dare to disagree with the victims' demands?

Guard Qi nodded: "Alright, Chief Secretary Xie can arrange things for tomorrow. As for the escort agency, I can't help much, so Chief Secretary Xie can take care of it himself."

Anyway, Chief Secretary Xie liked to use his brain: "As for the bodyguards, I'll go and talk to the other brothers. If the escort agency opens, we'll take turns, half of us will stay at the Prince's Mansion and the other half will be at the escort agency."

After receiving a positive answer from Guard Qi, Chief Secretary Xie left and returned to his room. He rubbed his slightly sore legs and was about to have someone bring in some hot water when he realized that there were only two palace maids in the mansion, so he had to do everything himself.

We need to hire, we need to hire, we need to hire!

Your Highness is desperately short-staffed; Chief Secretary Xie is so worried he's dreaming about recruiting people…