Due to the expansion of the Donggong Guards' recruitment scope, the various military states of the country also had different distances from Bianliang Road, so the entire soldier selection process was directly postponed from late spring to early autumn.

  Delayed for nearly half a year, allowing each military state primary election, and allowing the guards who passed the primary election to have ample time to arrive in Bianliang.

  For a time, the enthusiasm of the good people in the imperial court for the selection of the East Palace Guard even surpassed that of the Imperial Examination...

  Both are talents of the country, but the treatment after promotion and future development, it's hard to say who is higher or lower.

  As Su Lin said: "The water tower gets the moon first, and the sunny flowers and trees are easy to become spring."

  He passed the imperial examination and became a jinshi, after experiencing many hardships. The crown prince succeeded to the throne, but nowadays even a first-place jinshi may not necessarily be promoted to an official position.

  And the East Palace Guards, if they have reached a certain level, when the Crown Prince inherits the throne, it is very likely that they will rise to high positions such as Governor of a province, Minister of War or Commander-in-Chief.

  Of course, the instructor of the East Palace Guards is even more... This is a private operation.

  Among the people, it's just among the people. In Shilin, apart from this instructive guesswork, no one pays attention to anything about selecting soldiers.

  Only scholars themselves are aware of the country's affairs, so for the position of teaching, each has a plan in their heart, without the foundation and qualifications, they will not go to make a fool of themselves. Just say: sit back and watch the clouds, then find a few old friends to chat with.

  Zhao Xi didn't know these things, and couldn't be bothered with them. Apart from chatting idly with Pang Ji every day... for Zhao Xi it was idle chatter, but for Pang Ji it was teaching Zhao Xi how to be a wise ruler.

  Unfortunately, Zhao Xi's three views are already solidified and cannot be changed by Pang Jie's indoctrination.

  Zhao Xi has always understood the meaning of "when in Rome, do as the Romans do", and what to say in different situations, let alone a big change in environment.

  Everything has been normal so far, saying what should be said and not saying what shouldn't be said. Got along with Pang Ji just fine.

  Zao Xi found that Pang Ji was a standard scholar-official, with a noble soul, exemplary conduct, and elegant yet straightforward speech. He had a heart that aspired to bring peace to the world, but was powerless to change the flaws of the imperial court, and could only exhaust his thoughts to maintain the operation of the government.

  Good man, good minister, good teacher.

  Pang Ji really wanted to have more exchanges with the Crown Prince, and from his conversations with the Crown Prince, he gained a lot of inspiration, and it was unclear who was teaching whom. What he told the Crown Prince were precedents, while what the Crown Prince guided him on was the infinite breadth of thinking.

  Unfortunately, politics was his main business. He had intended to find a teacher of classics for the crown prince, but he found that there were no scholars on the court who could teach the prince.

  So Zhao Xi had some spare time, which was the spare time for master and apprentice to talk. And Zhao Xi needed to use this spare time to build a good camp as soon as possible.

  Chaotang gave the Donggong Guard Camp, which is a piece of land allocated from the Forbidden Army Camp. It also took care of the East Palace and gave it a camp close to the Imperial City.

  Zhao Xi's impression of the military camp... forget it, never mind. When Zhao Xi saw this campsite, it was completely different from what he had imagined, and it wasn't a military camp at all, but more like a village.

  "Are all barracks like this?"

  Zhao Xi asked, really can't understand it, the agreed-upon military camp, how did it become a residential area.

  "Replying to Your Highness, as far as I know, the military camps of our dynasty are all like this. Whether it's the Imperial Guard or the Vanguard, they all bring their families and households into the camp, which is equivalent to a small village."

  Zhao Xi furrowed his brow, and could only furrow his brow, for this was how things were in the imperial court...

  After measuring the dimensions and simply drawing a layout diagram, Zhao Xi went back without saying a word.

  Wang Zhongzheng and Li Xian found that since Wang Ye became the crown prince, he had obviously gained a sense of dignity, and his every move, whether walking or sitting, seemed completely different from before.

  So, when accompanying him, he was more careful than before. Especially Wang Zhongzheng, he knew the prince too well, and it wasn't the kind of temperament that officials had...

  Zhao Xi was anxious, very anxious. The imperial court allocated the military camp, but did not allocate the funds to renovate the military camp, and in Zhao Xi's view, this rotten place had nothing to do with the military camp at all.

  The imperial court has always been like this, that is to say, one's own guards will eventually come with their families and children. This is not a group of thirty or fifty people, but more than two thousand officers and soldiers, which is the configuration of an enhanced brigade.

  Adding the clerks and logistics personnel, there were almost three thousand people originally. If they bring their families along, it would be at least tens of thousands of people.

  If it were still the usual case, Zhao Xi wouldn't have had to go through the trouble of selecting soldiers. But now...

  "Mother, I need some money and food."

  Zhao Xi didn't know how much money was left in the inner courtyard now, anyway, he often saw Empress Dowager Cai asking for some money due to the renovation of the East Palace.

  He... well, can't tell whether it's public or private. For him, the distinction between public and private doesn't matter; what matters is setting an example.

  "Xī ér..."

  "Your Majesty, the imperial court has allocated a barracks to our son, but without any renovation funds. It's just an empty lot, and in his eyes, it's not even a proper military camp, just a residential area."

  "So the child wants to reform and also make a living for the families of those guards who will be coming soon..."

  The empress didn't want to use the inner court's money for imperial affairs, because the imperial court had never been generous with the inner court's daily expenses. But this time it was Xi'er's guard camp, and the inner court's grain and money were all earned by Xi'er...

  The matter of money and grain has been settled... It's just that Zhao Xi understands how to respect the Empress Dowager, and in a certain sense, those things are his personal private house.

  The rest...

  These days, Zhao Xi led the ceremonial guards, and some of the Imperial City officials were assigned to escort him. He constantly went back and forth between the imperial palace and the construction office, and also ordered Liu Yi to inquire about the items he had listed on the market...

  "Prince Pong Sang, how is your school work?"

  Feng Bo was promoted to the Western Capital due to his success in quelling the rebellion in Bei State. He had heard a lot about the Crown Prince, but now that he saw the Crown Prince's behavior, he felt it was somewhat unusual.

  "Official business? There is no one else who can be entrusted with it, and even in the imperial court, there is only one person who can be entrusted with official business."

  "Your Highness is now in a precarious situation, but is it because of something related to the military camp?"

  "It is indeed! From the basic selection criteria for guards set by Your Highness, it can be seen that there are methods for training soldiers. The original imperial army camp... need not speak of it."

  Pang Ji also knew what it was like there, very helpless.

  "Where does the money for construction come from?"

  As for Zhao Xi and Nei Yuan's affair, it has become an open secret among the officials in the imperial court, but no one dares to mention it openly in front of a child.

  When Pang Ji explained the reason, Wen Yanbo also felt speechless.

  "Nowadays..."

  They exchanged a smile... that's all. The gentlemen thought that the Crown Prince and the Imperial Concubine had been calculated by them again.

  The money and grain accumulated in the inner courtyard should also be taken out for use. It's not good to always be short of money in the front hall, while the inner courtyard is so rich that it's overflowing.

  That's not right!

  It's not reasonable at all. From Zhao Xi's memorial, everyone can see that his selection and training of soldiers are different from the old rules of the country. When it comes to allocating military camps, the gentlemen already know that they need to spend money and grain to reform.

  Deliberately ignored this matter, understood but pretended not to understand.

  Zhao Xi wasn't stupid. The moment he saw the military camp, he understood... It's just some money and food, right? Let's wait for Grandpa to come, then we'll talk.