Deposed Crown Prince: After three years of service on the frontier, the entire court knelt and begge

Xiao Ce was taken aback upon hearing this.

"What I confessed to? When did I confess anything to you?"

Upon hearing Xiao Ce's words, Lin Zhong immediately asked nervously, "Your Highness, wasn't that encrypted raven letter you sent earlier?"

Upon seeing this, Xiao Ce slapped his forehead: "You mean this? That's definitely what I said! I forgot about it."

Lin Zhong nodded: "Your Highness, you are truly wise. When this granary was built, you dug underground tunnels and set up traps. Now, I have ordered people to be on standby for twelve hours a day. If there is any abnormality, we can activate the traps and let all the grain enter the underground passages."

Xiao Ce nodded with a smile: "Hey, it's nothing. Anyone with a brain knows to destroy the grain first. It's not a good idea to keep hiding it. Since someone wants to destroy it, let's let them destroy it! That way they'll be done with it and won't bother with our grain anymore."

"Your Highness, you are truly a man of brilliant wisdom."

Seeing that Lin Zhong was still boasting about himself, Xiao Ce waved his hand and said, "Uncle Zhong, let's not do this."

Lin Zhong said to Xiao Ce with great certainty, "Your Highness, I am not flattering you... If you become the ruler of Xiao Kingdom, it will truly be a blessing for Xiao Kingdom. I had no idea that you had so many ingenious ideas."

As he spoke, Lin Zhong pulled Xiao Ce upstairs.

Xiao Ce was pulled up, while Xiao Jiu, Da Lei, and Fu Niu were kept outside.

Seeing this, Xiao Ce asked, "Uncle Zhong, I trust all these people. Do they comply with the rules? If they do, bring them up. If they don't, don't bring them up."

Lin Zhong said, "Your Highness, upholding a rule is difficult... but breaking a rule is only a matter of a day or two. Only Shen Hu, you, and I are allowed to come and go here... If any problem arises here, it will be our problem... so..."

Xiao Ce understood Lin Zhong's meaning, but didn't wait for him to finish speaking.

"You can just wait down there..."

The group nodded, but Da Lei was somewhat worried about Xiao Ce's safety.

Xiao Ce said, "Don't worry. Uncle Zhong cares about my safety more than you do..."

As they spoke, Xiao Ce followed Lin Zhong, winding his way up to Tiger and Leopard Stronghold.

The routes they took to Tiger and Leopard Stronghold were completely altered, and numerous sentries, both visible and hidden, were added to them.

Furthermore, they also set up something similar to a beacon tower.

If any problems arise, a cigarette can be lit as a warning.

Their security system was built entirely according to Xiao Ce's suggestions.

The original complicated route has been changed.

This path may seem simple now, but climbing up the mountain is not easy.

After Xiao Ce went up the mountain, lights were lit in the stone houses of Tiger and Leopard Village.

Wisps of smoke rose from the chimney.

Shen Hu was already waiting at the entrance of the village.

Upon seeing Xiao Ce, he also gave a deep bow.

"Your Highness, a banquet has been prepared for you..."

Before Shen Hu could finish speaking, Xiao Ce waved his hand: "No rush to eat. I didn't come here to eat... Show me around. Tell me about this place."

Shen Hu nodded, glancing at Lin Zhong instinctively.

Lin Zhong said to Shen Hu, "Chief Shen, you speak."

Shen Hu gave an awkward smile: "Master Zhong, then let me explain."

As he spoke, Shen Hu followed Xiao Ce's lead and made a gesture of invitation.

Then they began to give a detailed introduction.

"Your Highness, we have now brought in a total of 20,000 people, comprising more than 3,000 households."

"They were mainly brought in according to your conditions, totaling more than 3,000 craftsmen. The rest were their respective family members, such as wives, children, and parents."

"Now the craftsmen are mainly responsible for making repeating crossbows and composite bows."

"Before you left, we arranged for more than 300 craftsmen to work on the explosive you were supposed to develop."

"The remaining children and women were all assigned to sugar refining, salt refining, and brewing. These workshops are already very well-established! They are all producing steadily."

Xiao Ce toured around under their guidance and was very satisfied.

Whether it was weapons workshops, explosives manufacturing workshops, sugar refining workshops, salt refining workshops, or even brewing workshops, all of these operated in three shifts.

After reading it, Xiao Ce asked, "How much explosives have you stored here?"

"We already have ten tons in stock, but the people at the front say it's too dangerous and they don't know how to use it, so they're not taking it anymore. Besides, we get these things from outside merchants—charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter. They just need to mix them in the right proportions; it's not difficult. We don't dare store too much; if we don't store it properly, we're afraid we'll raze this place to the ground..."

"So, we moved these things down the mountain!"

Xiao Ce nodded and said, "Then go and give the order to have all this explosives transported to Lingxiao City."

They nodded.

Lin Zhong said to Xiao Ce, "Oh, right, there's also refined salt and fine white sugar. Your Highness, do you think we should slow down? Because our merchants have already accumulated quite a bit of refined salt and white sugar through the exchange of raw materials. But these things are extremely expensive, and ordinary people simply can't afford them. And they can't get to the Central Plains... If they keep producing, these merchants will want to lower the prices!"

Xiao Ce waved his hand and said, "No need! Not only can we not slow down, but you need to speed up! The Turks are like grasshoppers after autumn, they won't be able to jump around for much longer. Their allied forces have less than 80,000 men left! At most, we can take over the four prefectures and thirty-nine cities in the northern desert in a month! At that time, these things will be in short supply."

"Those merchants want to drive down prices, so we'll just hoard them ourselves! Once the four prefectures of the northern desert are taken, I'll have some free time! My cheap old man in the capital has been giving me a hard time, trying to kill me. I didn't have time to deal with them before, but now that I'm free, I'll have to teach them a lesson."

"Who are the garrison troops in Maoming City, inside the pass?"

Lin Zhong cupped his hands and replied, "Your Highness, it is Xing Daorong! He is a famous general from the Second Prince's maternal clan. It is said that he is a brilliant strategist. He is leading 20,000 troops to defend Maoming City."

Xiao Ce scoffed, "Twenty thousand garrison troops? They're not even enough to fill my teeth..."

Then, Xiao Ce asked Lin Zhong, "By the way, has there been any news from the capital recently? They've been eyeing me covetously. I'm still alive, they must be worried sick."

Lin Zhong smiled and said, "Your Highness, you've guessed wrong this time."