The ninth son of the emperor was demoted at the beginning. I have a famous Chinese general.

"General Huang, are you three sure you want to retire and return home?"

After seeing Fang Xiaolian off, Ning Quan said to Huang Guisheng, Li Huazhang and Deng Zijie.

"Your Highness, I do have this intention."

"I am old and not in good health."

"If I could retire and return home, I could enjoy a few years of peace and quiet."

Huang Guisheng said respectfully.

"So do we, your servants."

Deng Zijie and Li Huazhang echoed.

"Well, in that case, I will not keep you here any longer. You can retire and return home."

Ning Quanlang laughed.

"Thank you, Your Highness, for your help."

Deng Zijie and the other two bowed and saluted.

"General Gao, what are your plans?"

"And all the generals, are you also going to retire and return home?"

Then, Ning Quan looked at Gao Xiang and other generals and said.

"Your Highness, I am willing to serve you."

Gao Xiang said respectfully.

"I am also willing to serve Your Highness at my service."

The other generals also quickly echoed.

They are different from Huang Guisheng. They are in their prime and still want to achieve great things, so of course they have to follow Ning Quan.

"Very good, all the generals are willing to stay. This king is very happy."

"From this moment on, you are under my command."

Hearing this, Ning Quan laughed.

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

"We, the generals, are willing to sacrifice our lives for your Highness, even until our death."

Everyone knelt down and worshiped in unison.

"Okay, everyone, get up."

"As for your arrangements, this king has his own definitions. You don't have to worry."

"Your current mission is to help the king calm the people as quickly as possible."

"I obey your command!" everyone responded.

"Well, General Gao will stay. Everyone else can go down and report to General Li Jing first. He will arrange your specific matters."

"Yes, I will obey the order!"

Everyone bowed and responded.

"General Gao, you're probably aware of the current situation in Daqian. War is raging everywhere."

"You have been stationed on the border between Anxi and Tubo for many years, so you must be familiar with the nature of Tubo."

"With such a great opportunity, Tubo is likely to take advantage of it, so I order you to lead your troops and continue to garrison the border to monitor and defend Tubo."

After everyone left, Ning Quan said to Gao Xiang.

"Thank you for your trust, Your Highness. I will do my duty faithfully and live up to my mission." Gao Xiang said in a strong voice.

"Okay, I believe in General Gao's ability. You can set off tomorrow."

"Before leaving, go to General Li Jing. He has the specific arrangements."

"Don't worry about the food supply, I will arrange it myself." Ning Quan reminded.

"I will finally understand!"

Gao Xiang bowed and accepted the order, then turned and left.

After Gao Xiang left, only Zhuge Liang, Changsun Wuji and other people were left in the villa.

Ning Quan did not hesitate and immediately ordered Zhuge Liang and others to quickly take over all affairs of the Anxi Protectorate.

To capture Anxi, of course, we must digest it as quickly as possible and bring it completely under our control.

After receiving the order, Zhuge Liang and others immediately took action.

"Your Highness, Hassan has sent someone."

Just then, Zhang Fei came in to report.

"Oh, are you here to redeem someone?"

"Please let him in!"

Ning Quan laughed.

Needless to say, Hassan sent people to redeem the captives.

Soon, a man in a white robe walked in.

"The Minister-General of the Eastern Province of the Arab Empire, Nigel, greets His Highness. May Your Highness be blessed with good health!"

The visitor bowed and saluted Ning Quan.

"No need to be polite, please take a seat."

Ning Quan waved his hand.

"Thank you, Your Highness."

"Your Highness, I am here on the orders of Governor Hassan to redeem the soldiers captured by your side."

After sitting down, Nigel clasped his fists and said.

"Haha, you can redeem the soldiers as long as the price is right, but you still have to compensate our country for the losses and apologize to our country."

Ning Quan chuckled.

"Compensation is fine, but apologies are not."

"Your Highness, this is the compensation list I have prepared, including the ransom. You can take a look at it first."

Nigel took out a list from his pocket and handed it to Ning Quandao.

Ning Quan took the list and looked through it carefully.

Hassan was very conscientious. In addition to the ransom, he even listed the compensation on the list.

The ransom was 40 taels of silver for each prisoner of war, and the compensation was 2 million taels of silver.

Ning Quan was very satisfied with this. Buying a Persian warrior only cost twenty taels, and two million taels of compensation was not a small amount.

"These compensations are acceptable, but I still insist on the same conditions as before. You need to apologize."

Although he was very satisfied, Ning Quan did not agree and continued to put forward conditions.

"Your Highness, this may be a bit difficult."

Nigel smiled bitterly.

“Can’t we discuss it?”

"Yes, we can't discuss it. To be honest, Your Highness, Governor Hassan's military action this time was unauthorized and without the approval of His Majesty the King."

"His Majesty the King is already very dissatisfied after the defeat. If he were to make a public apology, I'm afraid Governor Hassan would have a hard time explaining himself to the King."

Nigel shook his head.

"No, you must apologize."

"Or increase the amount of compensation by another two million taels."

"Otherwise, forget it."

Ning Quan said firmly.

"Another two million taels?"

"No, that's too much. One million taels at most."

"To be honest, Your Highness, Governor Hassan can no longer afford any more money."

Nigel said decisively.

"One million and five hundred thousand taels, not a cent less. I will release the person as soon as the money arrives." Ning Quan said forcefully.

Hearing this, Nigel fell silent.

"Okay, let's do as Your Highness wishes. I'll go back and prepare now and come back in about half a month."

After a moment, Nigel gritted his teeth and agreed.

"Okay, I'll wait and see."

Hearing this, Ning Quan smiled and nodded.

"Your Highness, I bid you farewell!"

After he finished speaking, Nigel bowed.

"Goodbye." Ning Quan waved his hand.

After Nigel left, Ning Quan smiled.

Ning Quan was worried about not having enough money, but now he has five million taels in his hands in a blink of an eye.

With this money, there will be money for the development of Beiting and Anxi, as well as military pay.

.........

Daqian capital, the imperial palace.

Ning Yuanxian sat on the dragon throne with a frown on his face.

The civil and military officials below all lowered their heads and dared not breathe.

"The reason we gathered everyone here today is to collect food and fodder."

"The war in Xuanwu is urgent, and we are in urgent need of food and fodder. We must raise 500,000 dan of food and fodder within half a month." Ning Yuanwu said coldly.

"Your Highness, do you need more food?"

“How can this be possible!”

"Where did the imperial court get 500,000 dan of grain?"

As soon as the words fell, the court exploded.

Court officials came forward one after another to express their opposition.

"Nonsense, without food and fodder, are we just waiting for the front lines to lose the battle?"

Ning Yuanwu stood up suddenly and shouted angrily.

"Your Highness, the court really cannot provide so much food and fodder right now." Minister of Works Zhang Guiting stepped forward and said.

"Your Highness, memorials from all over the country are being sent to the Ministry of Revenue like snowflakes, all asking the court for food, but the Ministry of Revenue has no food left." said Zhang Ping, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

"Your Highness, in this year of severe drought, not a single county is free from food shortages. Worse still, in some places, people have starved to death."

"Your Highness, please understand!"

Minister of Personnel Zhao Renhuai said sadly.