A Shenzhou forward base located on the border of the empire did not attract any attention in this world, as if it did not exist at all.
The wide-area optical invisibility field made the base completely disappear from people's sight. Even if one got closer, all one could see was a desolate scene.
However, not everyone is completely unaware of the existence of this base.
At least in the small village dozens of kilometers away, all the villagers, including the village chief, knew that a "noble castle" that looked like a palace in the sky seemed to have appeared overnight in that remote and deserted place that was originally ignored - but strangely, the castle suddenly disappeared one day.
Every guard there looked incomparably powerful, but they never bullied the good people like the guards of other nobles. On the contrary, when someone occasionally went out to the village to buy things, they would pay in a very harmonious and friendly manner.
They actually paid!
This thing, which should have been natural, was completely unbelievable to the simple villagers in the village.
What made them even more confused and even happy was that the guards in the castle had recently raided several robber camps in the surrounding area, so that their small village would no longer have to face those vicious bandits from now on.
The more this happened, the more uneasy the villagers became.
Until one day when a soldier of the Longyan Army went out from the barracks, the village chief found them, tremblingly offered the tribute collected by the entire village, knelt on the ground, buried his forehead deeply in the ground, and requested to meet the mysterious nobleman.
Then, Ning Qingxuan arrived here in person with the general and the Son of God.
Yang Xingshu also came along.
"Ah! It's your Excellency!"
At the entrance of the village, Ning Qingxuan saw the village chief who came with a lot of people to kneel and greet him, and also saw Tatsumi and Iyeas in the crowd.
Although these two people were taken to the Shenzhou Empire by Ning Qingxuan, they were arranged to stay in the room for several days to teach the Son of God how to learn their language and never went out.
Therefore, the two children had no idea that they had already crossed the world once, and they only thought that Ning Qingxuan was a super noble from the imperial capital.
Seeing Ning Qingxuan again, Tatsumi and Iyeas, who had already returned to the village, were extremely excited. Tatsumi even plucked up the courage to wave to Ning Qingxuan.
Beside him, a girl named Sau stretched out her hand with a pale face and tried to pull Tatsumi hard. She looked at Ning Qingxuan in horror, but found that the overly beautiful noble gave them a kind smile and even nodded slightly.
"You don't have to be afraid."
Ning Qingxuan activated the simultaneous translator hanging on her ear and then began to speak.
"I and my soldiers will not cause any harm to you. On the contrary, if you need any help, you can ask us."
Ning Qingxuan walked straight into the crowd and even gently pulled up the village chief who was kneeling on the ground. While holding his hand, she motioned to others to stand up.
People looked up at Ning Qingxuan. They had never seen such a noble before, and had never even thought about it. Just looking at her, it was as if the warm sunshine was shining on them, and their whole bodies were filled with a reassuring warmth.
"Look, look, Sau, I told you this gentleman is a good man! He is completely different from those annoying nobles!"
Tatsumi proudly puffed out his chest and spoke to his childhood sweetheart, while Iyeas, who was standing beside him, had a look of longing on his face, his eyes always fixed on Long Yanjun and Lan Yingci behind Ning Qingxuan.
"I really hope I can become that adult's bodyguard..."
As soon as these words were spoken, they were actually agreed upon by many young and middle-aged people in the surrounding villages.
Ning Qingxuan, who had sharp ears, naturally heard these words. He glanced at Yang Xingshu out of the corner of his eye.
I guess this guy has already started thinking about how to gather an "Imperial Auxiliary Army" in his mind, right?
Such auxiliary troops do not necessarily need to play any combat role, and they do not even need to help the empire fight. It is enough for them to prove to the people of this world the various benefits that can be obtained by submitting to the empire and serving Shenzhou.
If, on this basis, this small village in front of us is also developed, then people's hearts will be divided and disintegrated in an instant.
On the other side, Ning Qingxuan walked in the village holding the hand of the old village chief, patiently and gently asking about their living conditions. As the crown prince of the empire, he had done political showmanship countless times.
A scumbag like the Son of God could naturally see through Ning Qingxuan's deliberate attitude at a glance, but these villagers who had never seen the world were all captivated by Ning Qingxuan, and their eyes towards him gradually became fanatical.
"Pick out a group of people and let them live a good life with the help of the Empire. Then let them attract wolves and tigers from all around. Finally, let the Empire defeat the enemy with thunder and lightning, proving that we can protect their hard-earned happiness."
"This way, we can win the hearts and minds of the people."
"After all, Your Highness wants a kingly rule that wins the hearts of the people, not a simple tyrannical conquest, so we have to put in some effort."
This is what Yang Xingshu said before leaving.
After a brief inspection - look at this word, it was as if this place had already become the territory of Daxia - Ning Qingxuan asked the accompanying Long Yan Army to leave a large amount of daily necessities and promised to send people to help them repair the damaged houses in the village, level and build new roads, and so on.
As expected, such a promise made everyone in the village crazy, and when Ning Qingxuan left, Tatsumi and Iyeas even bravely ran up to Ning Qingxuan.
"Sir! Please let me follow you!"
Tatsumi originally wanted to get closer, but stopped when he saw the alert soldiers around Ning Qingxuan.
He took a deep breath and continued, "Sir! I originally wanted to go to the imperial capital to join the army and make a name for myself so that I could save our village. But now I want to follow you and be your bodyguard!"
"Please, my Lord!"
At the end, Tatsumi even pulled Iyeas to kneel on the ground together.
After waiting for a long time, Tatsumi and Iyeas finally heard Ning Qingxuan's gentle voice.
"Little guy, the conscription here is quite strict."
There are more than one billion people in the country to choose from, so it is naturally impossible for Ning Qingxuan to really allow Tatsumi to join the imperial army.
"Sir, I'm not afraid! I'm very powerful! Please give me a chance!"
Seeing that Tatsumi insisted on doing so, Ning Qingxuan knew that it was time to let Yang Xingshu, the guy with bad intentions, take action next.
"In that case, then...Yihong."
"I am here."
Yang Xingshu immediately bowed respectfully to Ning Qingxuan.
"How about letting these two children follow you for a while?"
"Don't worry, Your Highness." Yang Xingshu narrowed his eyes and raised the corners of his mouth, "I will definitely live up to Your Highness's trust."
Standing up and looking at Tatsumi and Iyeas, Yang Xingshu touched his chin and smiled like the warm breeze in March.
The benchmark of the Imperial Auxiliary Army is here...