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

Xiao Ce waved his hand and said, "It's no use talking about it. Just tell me whether what they gave you was soldiers or not."

"That damned emperor is capable of sending me to my death row. Let alone the scoundrels he's giving you. Even if they are, at least they were named and documented. Tell me, and you'll get those with ulterior motives to impeach you!"

Xiao Yang said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, are we just going to swallow this loss? If we don't fight for our interests, and we suffer a defeat, their impeachment of me will be even worse!"

Xiao Ce smiled but did not answer Xiao Yang. Instead, he turned to Jiang Nan and asked, "Do all these people know their own situation?"

Jiang Nan nodded and said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, they are naturally aware of this. That's why they are not very interested... and their morale is low."

Xiao Ce smiled and said, "That's the kind of person who's easy to win over!"

Jiangnan looked at Xiao Ce with some curiosity.

Xiao Yang seemed to have thought of something and looked at Xiao Ce...

Xiao Ce then said to Xiao Yang, "Go, prepare the brush and ink..."

Xiao Yang knew that Xiao Ce was going to help him, so he immediately summoned his men.

Just then, a soldier, looking travel-worn, came over.

The soldier had a buzz cut, making it easy to tell that he was from Xiao Ce's Northern Army.

After all, in the northern desert, only those who are recognized and pass the test are allowed to shave their heads.

Moreover, there is a law in the northern desert that ordinary people cannot shave their heads. You can be bald, but you can't have a buzz cut.

A buzz cut is a symbol of honor.

The soldier rushed over, first saluting Jiang Nan, and then saluting Xiao Yang as well.

When he finally saw Xiao Ce, he subconsciously rubbed his eyes.

He immediately began to tremble, and due to his excitement, he knelt down on the ground with a thud.

"Your Highness...King of the Northern Desert!"

Seeing his excited expression, Xiao Ce waved his hand.

"you know me?"

The soldier nodded excitedly to Xiao Ce and said, "That's right, Your Highness the King of Mobei, I had the honor of meeting you once before."

Xiao Ce nodded: "Alright! You must have had a long journey."

The soldier shook his head, his face resolute, and said, "Serving the Prince is our honor..."

Xiao Ce said to the soldiers, "Let's get down to business. What do you say?"

The soldiers only came to their senses after hearing Xiao Ce's words.

"Your Highness, we have already communicated with their garrison at the Nushan Pass. However, they have explicitly refused this time. They said that their newly arrived general has made it clear that they currently need this territory to ensure the security of their Western Regions, so it cannot be handed over to us for the time being!"

Xiao Ce asked the soldiers, "Did you tell them about the peace treaty...?"

The soldier nodded: "They said they would acknowledge it... but the peace treaty didn't specify a withdrawal time! They can't withdraw now."

"Moreover, they said they wouldn't stop our normal caravans from entering."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yang's face darkened, and he said, "Isn't this blatant shamelessness?"

As he spoke, Xiao Yang looked at Xiao Ce with an embarrassed expression.

"Your Highness, I really have a jinx... What do we do now?"

Xiao Ce also found it strange and said to Xiao Yang, "You really don't have a better way right now... After all, even if you wanted to hit him, you don't have the ability!"

Xiao Yang nodded: "Should we go and report this to them?"

Xiao Ce smiled and nodded at Xiao Yang: "Of course! Make sure they don't get too comfortable in the capital. You must explain the difficulties here, and then have them send a few more princes to check on things... so they can prove you're not lying..."

Xiao Yang nodded: "They won't come, will they?"

Xiao Ce nodded: "Of course they won't come... It's precisely because they won't come that you had to say something..."

Xiao Yang nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Just then, Xiao Ce saw his subordinates, whom he had just sent out, return with pen and ink.

Xiao Ce then told the soldiers who were delivering the order to go and rest.

Xiao Ce then picked up his brush and ink and began to write.

Xiao Yang stood aside, looking at the poem written by Xiao Ce, and roughly understood Xiao Ce's intention.

Only after Xiao Ce finished writing did Xiao Yang ask him in confusion, "Your Highness, do those ugly and deformed things really require so much effort from you?"

Xiao Ce said to Xiao Yang, "Everyone has their strengths!"

As he spoke, Xiao Ce turned to Jiang Nan and asked, "Among those people, there are no disabled people or anything, right?"

Jiang Nan smiled and nodded: "Of course not, it's just that his abilities are a bit lacking... and his physical fitness and military skills are also relatively weak..."

Xiao Ce nodded and asked Xiao Yang, "What do you think of our Northern Desert Army?"

Xiao Yang gave Xiao Ce a thumbs up: "Of course they're great! Even setting aside their advanced equipment, their military skills alone make them one of the elite troops in the Xiao Kingdom!"

Xiao Ce said to Xiao Yang, "That's right, but before they were all disaster victims whom no one looked down upon. There were also local slaves who were half-starved... Although I did screen them... what I want to say is that there are no useless soldiers, only useless generals..."

"There is only the saying that an incompetent general can cause the death of an entire army. There is no such thing as an incompetent soldier causing the death of an entire army."

Xiao Yang nodded.

Jiangnan stood to one side, nodding vigorously, his eyes shining.

Xiao Ce said to Jiang Nan, "What's wrong? Have you had some kind of realization...?"

Jiangnan said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, the soldiers' weakness isn't their fault. It's because the generals don't know how to train them! We will definitely find a way..."

Xiao Ce smiled and nodded first, then shook his head: "You're right and wrong... On one hand, it's about the general, and on the other hand, it's about motivation."

"The reason why the Northern Desert Army is now all howling wolves is entirely because I have given them sufficient military pay and resolved the worries of their families... They have no worries, and if they fail the assessment and lose their qualification, they will lose these generous benefits... So, do you think they won't fight to the death?"

Jiang Nan nodded, then said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, I understand... but... we need money... but the imperial court won't give it to us..."

Before Xiao Ce could speak, Xiao Yang chuckled and said, "You don't know this, but my imperial brother has no shortage of money!"

Xiao Ce smiled and nodded when he heard Xiao Yang say that.

"That's right, that's exactly it!"

As he spoke, Xiao Ce instructed Hu Yidao to summon a general from the Northern Desert Army.

Hu Yidao nodded and went to do it.

Jiangnan said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, aren't you losing out by doing this? A force of 100,000, if you were to subsidize it, it wouldn't be a small sum."

Xiao Ce nodded to Jiang Nan: "You're right... This is indeed not a small sum... But what if you train this army to be our own?"

Jiangnan nodded, understanding.

Xiao Yang nodded and said to Xiao Ce, "Brother, don't worry. I will definitely recite the line you gave me carefully..."

Xiao Ce had no doubt about Xiao Yang's performance, and Xiao Yang had accompanied Xiao Ce all the way.

At this point, he can be considered a qualified 'veteran actor'.

After Xiao Ce dismissed Xiao Yang, he said to Jiang Nan, "Jiang Nan, you should also follow his lead and do well... You know that Xiao Yang can't stay here as the commander-in-chief of the three armies forever, and ultimately, that position will be yours!"

Jiangnan looked terrified and said, "Your Highness...I...I'm afraid I'm not up to the task."

Xiao Ce laughed and said, "Why are you already denying yourself before you've even started?"

Jiang Nan looked embarrassed: "It's not that... it's just that the most I've ever commanded is three thousand men..."

Xiao Ce said with a smile, "One of my great generals in the Northern Desert was just a centurion before, but now he commands hundreds of thousands of troops... People are forced to their limits! Besides, if I set my sights on someone, he won't be incapable!"

Jiangnan looked at Xiao Ce gratefully: "Your Highness, I will definitely not let you down!"

Xiao Ce patted Jiang Nan on the shoulder, preventing him from leaving.

A short while later, Hu Yidao came over with a man who had a buzz cut.

The man looked at Xiao Ce with equal excitement; most of them had only seen Xiao Ce from afar.

However, I've never been able to get up close...

In their eyes, Xiao Ce was always high above, like a god.

The general approached Xiao Ce and said, "Greetings, Your Highness."

Xiao Ce nodded: "I called you here to ask you what the welfare benefits are like for the general Mobei Army now?"

The general was taken aback at first, then began to speak: "First of all, each of our ordinary soldiers receives a monthly allowance..."

The general spoke about some of the benefits enjoyed by the troops in the northern desert region.

This left Jiang Nan speechless, his eyes filled with envy.

He even regretted it, after all, when Xiao Ce went to the northern desert, he recruited soldiers along the way, and his momentum was huge.

However, at that time, 99% of the people of Xiao Kingdom regarded this matter as a joke.

Unexpectedly, in less than a year, this army has developed so rapidly.

An ordinary soldier earns more than some small merchants.

He finally understood what Xiao Ce meant. With such motivation, the soldiers were training like their lives depended on it.

After listening, Jiangnan asked Xiao Ce in a questioning tone, "Your Highness, will our troops also receive the same benefits?"

Xiao Ce nodded: "That's right. If you want the horse to run, you have to feed it more grass! Tomorrow, you will work with Xiao Yang to talk to these soldiers... Of course, you also need to tell them that there are rewards, and there are also punishments! An assessment system will be introduced in the future."

Jiangnan nodded.

Xiao Ce continued to Jiang Nan, "Of course, you must instill in them the idea that they must be loyal to you!"

Jiangnan naturally understood Xiao Ce's unspoken meaning: "Your Highness, please rest assured!"

After exchanging a few words, Xiao Ce dismissed Jiang Nan.

After they left, Hu Yidao asked Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, aren't you essentially doing all this for someone else? What if Xiao Yang turns against you later...?"

Xiao Ce shook his head with a smile: "Don't worry, these benefits of mine... If Xiao Yang ever turns against me, he'll have to pay for these 100,000 soldiers himself... They can only afford to pay for a few months at most; it's simply unsustainable in the long run..."

Hu Yidao scratched his head as he listened: "Your Highness, you're right... I really didn't expect this. But what's going on in the Western Regions? Didn't the news from there say that the Uzbek army had been taken control by the instructor and his men? Why are they still occupying the Western Regions?"

Xiao Ce shook his head and said, "Perhaps they have other ideas. After all, the Nushan Pass is a natural barrier. With the Nushan Pass and the Yumen Pass, the Western Regions would be as solid as a rock."

“Wuwei and Linbang, including the instructor, have been working here for many years and naturally understand this principle... Clearly, they don't want to give up this place!”

"Or perhaps they have other ideas."

Hu Yidao, increasingly puzzled, asked Xiao Ce, "Other ideas?"

Xiao Ce smiled and nodded: "Not bad! Other ideas, like trapping the dog behind closed doors?"

Hu Yidao said, "They want to take this opportunity to deal with the other countries, to prevent the Xiao Kingdom from taking advantage of the situation..."

Then Hu Yidao asked in confusion, "That's not right...these people aren't our people either, are they? Who are they guarding against? Besides, you're their leader. If it were something this important, why wouldn't you tell me?"

After a moment of silence, Xiao Ce smiled and said, "We're over there too... No rush, we'll find out when we get back tomorrow!"

With that, Xiao Ce prepared to rest.

The next day, Xiao Ce got up early.

Xiao Yang has already come to see Xiao Ce, and he says that he has memorized the manuscript that Xiao Ce gave him.

Xiao Ce asked them if they had assembled the three armies.

Jiangnan, who came from the side, said that everything was ready, and Xiao Ce should let Xiao Yang go.

Xiao Yang knew that Xiao Ce liked to keep a low profile, so he didn't call him Xiao Ce.

Xiao Ce changed into ordinary clothes and followed along.

By this time, the army of 100,000 had assembled, a dark, imposing mass stretching as far as the eye could see...

However, they looked at their loosely lined up, and many of them were whispering to each other.

No wonder Jiangnan looks down on them; they can't even wear their military uniforms properly, they're all sloppy and untidy.

Most importantly, they were all different heights, weights, and builds, and Xiao Ce certainly looked like a misshapen man.

Hu Yidao asked Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, is this all the guys we have?"