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

Just as Xiao Ce was about to get back into the carriage, his stomach started growling.

I thought I'd ask Da Lei to get me something to eat.

I have to say, as a modern person, the food here really doesn't taste very good.

Moreover, the food here really doesn't taste very good.

Moreover, the coarse salt here has a bitter taste.

It seems the first thing to do when we get to the northern desert is to get seasonings like fine salt and sugar.

For Xiao Ce, every meal was simply a means to fill his stomach.

Just as Xiao Ce was feeling utterly bored,

The sound of horses' hooves came from outside, so I went out to take a look.

Sure enough, Lin Zhong returned with Han Da and Yan Jia.

Xiao Ce estimated that there were probably over a hundred horses.

Now he has solved the problem of manpower.

However, to deal with the Turks, a cavalry force and horses were indispensable.

In fact, the garrison in the four prefectures of northern desert had horse farms.

However, that's in the hands of Xiao Yang's cousin Bao An, so he definitely can't get it himself.

Moreover, Xiao Ce had also asked Lin Zhong if it was possible to purchase a large number of horses.

Lin Zhong said that the Turks had been frequently invading in recent years. Therefore, the imperial court had ordered that large-scale buying and selling of horses was prohibited.

The imperial court directly purchased a large number of horses.

However, there are still horse traders with ten or twenty horses each!

He was thinking of buying some necessities along the way, and after discussing it with Lin Zhong, they decided to go to the cities along the route to purchase the supplies Xiao Ce needed.

Go buy some more horses. Buy a hundred horses for each city, and you can gather several thousand horses along the way.

In this way, a cavalry force of several thousand men would be sufficient to protect themselves.

As the old saying goes, it's better to have what your parents have than what you have yourself.

"Uncle Zhong, how did it go?" Xiao Ce asked Lin Zhong.

Lin Zhong nodded and said, "It went very smoothly. But what's the use of all that brown sugar and coarse salt you bought? Although there is a shortage of supplies in the northern desert, the prices are much lower than here."

"I've only ever heard of bringing things from the northern deserts to sell in Kyoto, never of buying things in Kyoto and then selling them in the northern deserts."

Although Lin Zhong was helping Xiao Ce buy these things, he really racked his brains and still couldn't figure out how to make a profit from them!

Xiao Ce observed the sky all night, and it grew dark.

However, having slept all day, he felt no sleepiness at all.

I thought it was time to show off my skills.

"Uncle Zhong, are you sleepy?" Xiao Ce asked Lin Zhong.

Lin Zhong was bewildered by Xiao Ce's abrupt question and shook his head, saying, "Does Your Highness have any instructions?"

Xiao Ce said to Lin Zhong, "Didn't you say you were going to buy those things for? I'll show you how I can turn lead into gold!"

Upon hearing Xiao Ce's words, Lin Zhong quickly smiled and said, "Your Highness, I'm not sleepy."

Xiao Ce asked, "Alright, Uncle Zhong, how many servants did you bring from the capital? Are they trustworthy?"

Lin Zhong said to Xiao Ce, "Your Majesty, there are thirty people in total. They are all servants of the Prince of Zhenguo's Mansion. Their families are all in the Prince of Zhenguo's Mansion. Moreover, I personally trained them, so they are absolutely trustworthy."

Xiao Ce nodded, then asked, "Do you have brown sugar and coarse salt here?"

Lin Zhong nodded and said, "Your Highness, the goods we purchased, as you requested, will be delivered directly to the Northern Desert by the Chamber of Commerce. However, we have supplies here for our own consumption."

"Bring over 100 catties of coarse salt and 100 catties of brown sugar."

"Go get a few more large pots, charcoal, gauze, and linen. Also, get some yellow mud water."

Lin Zhong nodded repeatedly at first, but when he heard about the muddy water, he asked in surprise, "Muddy water?"

Xiao Ce nodded and said, "That's right, go quickly. Also, have all the servants come over, and I will pass on this Midas touch to you!"

Although he didn't believe there was any Midas touch in this world.

Although he didn't know what Xiao Ce was going to do, Lin Zhong didn't dare to be negligent because of Xiao Ce's serious expression.

It passed by in a hurry!

What Xiao Ce needed to do was very simple: just white sugar and refined salt.

This is the simplest method, which involves using yellow mud water to decolorize sugar.

Then they refine the coarse salt to make refined salt.

As a modern person, I don't think this is difficult, but in this era, it is indeed difficult to do.

Moreover, given the current rate at which money is being spent, Xiao Ce has no choice but to make changes.

He originally planned to do these things after he went to the four prefectures of the northern desert.

However, now that we have someone trustworthy like Lin Zhong, we can make it at night and sell it during the day.

Putting everything else aside, just look at this white sugar.

Ordinary people naturally couldn't afford it. However, the wealthy and powerful would flock to it.

Things are valued because they are rare!

His customers for refined salt and white sugar were also high-ranking officials and nobles.

Before long, Lin Zhong arrived with thirty-two men.

There were twenty men and twelve women in total, all of whom looked to be around thirty years old.

In ancient times, this age was considered to be when one had elderly parents to care for and young children to raise!

The families of these people all worked in the Zhenguo King's Palace, so they were essentially hostages as well.

These people are naturally much more reliable than those recruited in ordinary circumstances.

Lin Zhong walked to Xiao Ce's side, bowed slightly, and said, "Your Highness, everyone has arrived."

Xiao Ce nodded and said to Da Lei, "Don't let anyone get close to me within a hundred meters."

He then said to Han Da and Yan Jia, "You two should also go and cooperate with Da Lei."

The two men bowed in agreement and ordered their men to impose martial law around the area.

Han Da and Yan Jia gathered some registered young men from the grain transport teams and had them form the first line of defense outside.

Meanwhile, Da Lei led his assassins on patrol fifty meters away.

Seeing this display of force, the servants became extremely nervous.

Xiao Ce smiled slightly at everyone and said, "Uncle Zhong told me that you are all people I can absolutely trust!"

"Therefore, this time I need to teach you a skill, a skill that turns lead into gold!"

At this point, everyone's eyes lit up.

"However, since it's a skill that turns stones into gold, I need you to keep it absolutely secret. Once you've learned it, I will give each of you here one hundred taels of silver per month! Of course, the money won't be given away for free! You can only do this job for me for the rest of your lives, and you need to keep it absolutely secret. Once this technology is leaked, not only will you not get the money, but I will also take the lives of your whole family."

When Xiao Ce said this, his voice turned cold.

"So, if you want to withdraw now, you can still do it!"

One by one, the crowd excitedly exclaimed, "Your Highness, ever since we left the capital with you, we've entrusted our lives to you! We'll follow you!"

"Yes, earning a hundred taels of silver a month is practically like picking up money! Your Highness, this is a great favor!"

...

Indeed, only someone with a screw loose would refuse! One hundred taels of silver a month—that's high income in the entire Great Xiao Kingdom.

Xiao Ce thought it was very simple; this thing actually didn't involve much technology.

Once you know the method, anyone can do it.

However, in the early stages, he still needed to make money through these sugars and salts.

He also knew that nothing stays hidden forever, and that when the benefits are great enough, someone will always take the risk.

So, he planned to make his first fortune and then expand production capacity to win by increasing output, but that's a story for another time.

Seeing that everyone readily agreed.

"Alright, from now on, you will automatically split into two groups. One group will follow me to make refined salt, and the other group will follow me to learn how to make frosting sugar!"

Snowflake frosting was a name Xiao Ce came up with on the spur of the moment, since calling it white sugar didn't sound sophisticated enough.

To fool those rich people, you need to have a gimmick.

None of these people took the initiative to form groups; instead, they looked at Lin Zhong.

Seeing this, Xiao Ce said to Lin Zhong, "Uncle Zhong, why don't you make the arrangements? We need to work together, as some tasks require strength, and at some stages, the women need to be more careful."

Seeing this, Lin Zhong quickly divided the group into teams.

Xiao Ce certainly wouldn't do it himself. He first explained the process of refining salt, and then let them do it.

The same method applies to white sugar.

Xiao Ce was giving instructions from the side.

Lin Zhong, standing to the side, asked curiously, "Your Highness, isn't putting this muddy water and sugar water together just a waste of all the sugar?"

"And why put charcoal in salt water...isn't that just wasting the salt too?"

Seeing Lin Zhong's worried expression, Xiao Ce patted Lin Zhong's shoulder and said, "Uncle Zhong, don't worry... I'll show you what science is all about in a bit!"

"You must stir it frequently to prevent it from sticking to the bottom, and you can also turn the heat down a bit."

"You guys who make refined salt, you can use a higher heat, now we need to evaporate the moisture..."

...

Inside Yin Pan'er's carriage, Nie Bing's mood had calmed down considerably.

Besides concealing the transactions between her and Xiao Xiangqing, she also kept quiet about them.

Nie Bing revealed everything else, including her plan to assassinate Xiao Ce, though she claimed it was to help Yin Pan'er get revenge.

She wasn't lying; part of the reason she wanted to kill Xiao Ce was indeed to avenge Nie Bing.

After hearing Nie Bing's words, Yin Pan'er said with a pained expression, "Sister, I never expected him to humiliate you like that! Can you even eat that stuff? He even put that thing on your face! This is humiliation!"

Some, filled with righteous indignation, said, "Sister, if you want to kill him, I won't stop you..."

Nie Bing said, her face pale, "Pan'er, it's all my fault. I underestimated him. You reminded me several times, but I didn't take it seriously! Even if I wanted to kill him, I'm afraid it wouldn't be so easy!"

"He's surrounded by powerful figures; as far as I know, he already has four or five assassins. Each of those assassins is a lone wolf, and I'm no match for them. Moreover, Xiao Ce is far more cautious than I imagined; he's not only cunning but also ruthless..."

"Moreover, he also had those assassins escort me back this time. This shows that he's not afraid of me assassinating him at all!"

Yin Pan'er nodded and asked, "Then, sister, what are you going to do?"