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

The next day, Xiao Ce got up early.

Looking at Nie Bing, who had fallen asleep exhausted on the bed.

And that striking crimson.

Xiao Ce felt quite accomplished, thinking about everything that had happened the night before.

Nie Bing verbally disagreed, but her body language seemed to cooperate quite readily, which was rather amusing.

I changed my clothes and left the room.

The night owl was dozing outside, but upon hearing the door open, it immediately got up.

"Your Majesty."

"Send two people to protect her," Xiao Ce said.

"What if she doesn't come to you? Should we kidnap her and bring her here?" Night Cat asked.

Xiao Ce waved his hand and said, "No need. If she wants to leave, there's no need to stop her! You just need to ensure her safety if her body becomes uncontrollable."

The night owl nodded.

Xiao Ce went downstairs to pay the bill, and the waiter brought out Tie Dan.

Xiao Ce mounted his horse and rode Tie Dan out of the city.

From a distance, the group could be seen resting on the road a few miles outside the city.

Xiao Ce had just ridden past.

Da Lei was already waiting. "Your Highness, is everything going smoothly?"

Xiao Ce said with great satisfaction, "It went very smoothly. This time, we owe it all to Night Owl!"

"Night Cat?"

Xiao Ce explained, "It's number two, that's the name I gave him."

Da Lei suddenly realized and cupped his hands, saying, "Your Highness, it is our honor to serve you."

Xiao Ce smiled and said, "Nothing happened here, right?"

Da Lei shook his head: "It's because Miss Yin wanted to go find Miss Nie, but we stopped her."

Before Xiao Ce could respond.

Yin Pan'er emerged aggressively from a tent on one side.

"Xiao Ce, where did you take Sister Nie Bing?"

Xiao Ce didn't hide anything: "Your sister Nie Bing is quite a promise-maker! She lost to me yesterday, so she stayed with me all night as agreed!"

Yin Pan'er's surprise was palpable: "This is impossible!"

Xiao Ce looked at Yin Pan'er and said, "Pan'er, you're not jealous, are you? Don't worry, you're my first woman, and you'll always be my wife!"

Yin Pan'er blushed immediately: "Where is Sister Nie Bing?"

Xiao Ce stepped forward: "You only did it once back then, but Nie Bing did it all night. Do you think she could still get up?"

Yin Pan'er's face instantly turned red to the roots of her ears: "You're talking nonsense! Did you force me to..."

Xiao Ce smiled slightly: "When Nie Bing arrives later, you can ask her yourself! She made a bet with me! She looks down on me, and you should know what happens to those who look down on me in the end, right?"

Before Yin Pan'er could react...

Xiao Ce's expression changed, and he said to Da Lei, "Go and summon my Northern Desert Army. I have important matters to discuss!"

Although Da Lei had only been in contact with Xiao Ce for a short time.

However, he discovered that Xiao Ce was a decisive and very organized person.

He is a wise ruler.

Yin Pan'er wanted to say something more, but seeing that Xiao Ce was about to get down to business, she stopped talking.

After all, Xiao Ce was right; Nie Bing was indeed very skilled.

Unless Nie Bing herself is willing, Xiao Ce's frail body really can't do anything to her.

...

Xiao Ce then called Lin Zhong over.

"Uncle Zhong, how much money do we have left?"

Upon hearing Xiao Ce's words, Lin Zhong's face twitched involuntarily. He looked at Xiao Ce warily and said, "Your Highness, what are you doing? All that money of yours is your capital to establish yourself in the Northern Desert!"

Xiao Ce laughed and said, "Uncle Zhong, you're wrong. Money needs to circulate. If it doesn't move, what's the difference between silver and ordinary iron lumps? Besides, capital is never based on money! Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Go and sort it out for me."

"There's no need to sort this out; I know all these accounts in my mind. Your Highness, what do you need the money for? You can at least tell me."

Xiao Ce watched the soldiers march in perfect unison and said, "Uncle Zhong, you'll see soon enough."

Seeing this, Lin Zhong said, "Including the 200,000 taels His Majesty gave to the army, there are still more than 1.5 million taels left!"

Xiao Ce's eyes lit up when he heard this.

"I'm so rich! Hahaha, good! Good! Good!"

Lin Zhong looked at Xiao Ce's expression and immediately sensed something was wrong.

However, he was only a steward after all; he could only offer advice, not make decisions for him.

Moreover, Xiao Ce seems to have spent a lot of money these days.

Actually, not a single expense was unnecessary. It's just that he didn't quite understand the purpose of the things Xiao Ce wanted to buy.

Before leaving, the King of Zhen also instructed Lin Zhong that unless Xiao Ce did something too outrageous.

In general, we cooperate with him.

So Lin Zhong stood aside and stopped talking nonsense.

Han Da and Yan Jia stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, all three thousand Northern Desert soldiers have arrived."

Xiao Ce nodded and cleared his throat.

He then waved to Lin Zhong.

Lin Zhong walked over and leaned close to Xiao Ce.

"Prepare two hundred thousand taels of silver!"

Lin Zhong didn't ask any more questions and nodded.

"Gentlemen, do you remember? I told you that after leaving the capital, I have an important task for you!"

Everyone started shouting.

"Remember!"

Xiao Ce continued, "Very good, you know why you're following me to the northern desert?"

A soldier shouted, "Beat those damned Turks!"

Xiao Ce laughed and said, "That's right, those damned Turks. But three thousand men are far from enough. You've all heard, haven't you? His Majesty has ordered me to conscript one hundred thousand soldiers! But the northern desert is vast and sparsely populated; where are the able-bodied men?"

"I know that you all come from all corners of the country! Therefore, I am sending you to recruit soldiers for me!"

Xiao Ce's words caused an uproar throughout the hall.

Because conscription has always been a matter for the government.

It couldn't have been done by ordinary people like them.

Everyone was discussing it.

Even Lin Zhong was curious when he heard this.

Xiao Ce didn't rush to interrupt them, letting them whisper for a while.

He continued, "I'm sure you're all wondering: how can we let you go on conscription? Isn't that a matter for the government?"

"That's right, the soldiers the steward recruited are officers and soldiers. How much is the monthly salary of an ordinary officer and soldier, including food and lodging?"

"Six hundred coins."

"Seven hundred wen."

"Six hundred and eighty coins!"

...

Everyone reported the prices of military pay in their respective regions.

“That’s right, and the troops I’m recruiting are from the Northern Desert Army, my private army! As long as you bring them here, each person will receive five taels of silver! Food and lodging will also be provided!”

"Not only that, as you all know, there are rewards for meritorious service! Everyone should know that I am not short of money."

Everyone agreed.

Xiao Ce laughed and said, "That's right! I won't let you recruit people for nothing. As long as you recruit five people, I will make you a squad leader."

"If you recruit ten men, I will make you squad leaders!"

"If you gather a hundred men, I will appoint you as centurions!"

"In the same way, if you can bring ten thousand people here, I will appoint you as generals! Your treatment will be the same as what I promised you!"

After Xiao Ce finished speaking, there was a deathly silence in the room.

They were clearly stunned; they had never seen anything like this before.

"Why are you all confused? Besides, I won't let you go empty-handed! If any of you are willing, tell me how many people you can recruit."

"If you say you can recruit five people, I'll give you a month's worth of their military pay first! That's twenty-five taels."

"If you say you can recruit ten people, I'll give you fifty taels."

"But if you say you can pull ten thousand men, hehe, sorry, I won't give you a single penny, and I'll even chop you up! Do you know why? Because you're bragging to me!"

As soon as Xiao Ce said this...

The whole room burst into laughter, and everyone's eyes were shining.

"I was just joking. If any of you dare to say you can pull ten thousand men, I'll give you fifty thousand taels of silver!"

"If you dare to say it, I dare to give it to you!"

Xiao Ce said with an arrogant expression and a serious tone!

"Your Highness, aren't you afraid we'll take the money and run away?"

Xiao Ce laughed and said, "Hehe, I'm really not afraid. If you run away for a mere few dozen taels of silver, frankly, I'll look down on you! Besides, that's your loss."

"My Northern Desert Army is newly established, so the recruitment requirements are relatively low! Once I have filled all the positions, it won't be so easy to join my Northern Desert Army!"

"It's your loss! I promised you, the Northern Desert Army, that you would eat meat every day! Five taels of silver in military pay is just the beginning. If you do well in the future, ten or fifteen taels will not be a problem! Moreover, since you sacrificed for the country, I promise you that I will pay you a pension equal to one year's military pay! As long as your families agree, I will let them come to the Northern Desert, give them land, and exempt them from taxes!"

"These are just the beginning! Like I said, I'm just rich!"

Xiao Ce, spitting as he spoke, painted a rosy picture for everyone.

It wasn't just empty promises; he firmly believed that only generous rewards could attract brave men.

Moreover, he had calculated that if everything went smoothly, maintaining an elite army of 100,000 men would not be difficult.

After saying that, Xiao Ce said, "Alright! Enough with the nonsense! Anyone who's willing to do it, go over there and collect your money, then use that money to recruit soldiers for me! I'll cover everyone's travel expenses back—five taels each!"

"Your Highness, what if I can only pull three people?"

Xiao Ce laughed and said, "You bring three people, and I'll make up the numbers. If I do, I'll make you a squad leader!"

The soldiers burst into laughter.

"Your Highness, what if I'm not sure?"

Xiao Ce said, "Then go to Uncle Zhong's place and get some travel expenses, five taels of silver. Go back and try it out. If it doesn't work, go and make one with your wives! I'm giving you all a holiday!"

Xiao Ce's words immediately caused everyone to burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! Your Highness, I'm going! Uncle Zhong, my name is Li Erniu, and I'm requesting to recruit ten people!"

"Uncle Zhong, my name is Zhang Ergou, and I can recruit at least five!"

"Uncle Zhong, my name is Wu Dabang. I...I'm just taking this travel money to go back and try! If it doesn't work out, I'll go home and have my wife make a baby for the prince!"

Xiao Ce listened and laughed, saying, "You're young, speak clearly! You're asking for a doll to be made for my Northern Army. If I want a doll, I can make one myself!"

Wu Dabang scratched his head sheepishly and said, "Your Highness, I'm not good with words. That's what I meant."

The crowd burst into laughter.

Yin Pan'er watched as Xiao Ce stirred up everyone's emotions with just a few words.

Moreover, Xiao Ce had no airs at all.

This greatly increased everyone's goodwill towards Xiao Ce. Xiao Ce not only offered them the lure of money, but also placed his trust in them.

As Xiao Ce spoke, a strong young man carrying grain walked up to Xiao Ce's side.

She knelt down beside Xiao Ce with a thud, startling him.

Xiao Ce said to him, "What are you doing?"

The strong young man said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, I am a grain transporter, and I would like to work with you!"

With someone taking the lead, more and more people transporting grain said, "Your Highness, I'm strong, I want to work with you too."

"Your Highness, I also want to work for you..."