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

Bao An looked wary: "Go over there to talk?"

Bao Cong quickly intervened, saying, "Father, you can't go. If they detain you there and use you to threaten us, that would be terrible."

The adjutant and deputy general standing nearby immediately spoke up to stop him: "General, Major General, you're right! The Turks are eyeing us covetously this time. If they want you to go, they definitely don't have any good intentions!"

Bao An looked at the strategist dressed in a gray robe, but said nothing.

"Strategist Gou, what's your opinion?"

General Gou bowed and said, "General, I think it would be fine for you to go. First, it can show our sincerity. Moreover, General Bao and Chief Ashina have a pretty good relationship! This time, all the tribes of the Turkic Kingdom were organized by Chief Ashina!"

"The current situation is that we still have some room to maneuver if we go, to see what they really want and what they want! If we don't go... then we'll have no choice but to fight. And in our current situation, we are no match for the Turkic Kingdom. If we lose the four prefectures of the northern desert, even if we can shift the blame to that good-for-nothing Xiao Ce, General, your position as general will probably be in jeopardy."

"Although the Empress and the Second Prince enjoy great favor, the loss of the four northern prefectures means that the Central Plains will no longer have a protective barrier, which is a major mistake! There are still many princes in the court who are eyeing you, General! They will definitely take this opportunity to impeach you!"

"That good-for-nothing deserves to die, but we can't let him implicate us, General."

"If we talk, there's still a glimmer of hope; if we don't, we're doomed. As long as Ashina Khan agrees not to take the four northern prefectures from us, we can talk about anything! If the four northern prefectures hadn't been lost when the general was in charge, and had fallen into the hands of that good-for-nothing Xiao Ce, I'm sure His Majesty wouldn't just not blame you, but would also send reinforcements and entrust you with important responsibilities!"

Bao Cong retorted, "Military Advisor Gou, we understand these principles too! But who knows if those Turks might harm Father?"

The strategist, Gou Junshi, cupped his hands and said, "Actually, I think that although Ashina Khan is making a big show of it this time, they are definitely not completely united. Otherwise, they would have attacked long ago! They also want to gain the greatest benefit with the least loss."

"And General Bao is undoubtedly the most suitable person! In fact, it would be most advantageous for Ashina to have General Bao guard the four prefectures of the northern desert! They should also have this idea. The reason they are delaying their attack is to threaten us. They want to show off their strength!"

Bao An nodded and said, "You're right. My relationship with Ashina Khan is quite good! It's not unreasonable for me to take the initiative to talk to him!"

"Go prepare some treasures! And some beauties, let's go pay a visit to Chief Ashina."

...

After Bao An finished speaking, he ordered people to make preparations.

Then he led a group of soldiers toward the Turkic army's encampment.

Over the years, Bao An has actually maintained good relations with the Turks by betraying his country.

He would deliberately let the Turks plunder whatever they wanted, and they would not defend themselves.

After the Turks had looted most of what they could, Bao An and his men would pretend to lead troops to attack.

If the Turks benefited, they would also withdraw their troops in a very tacit manner.

This led everyone to say that Bao An and the Turks fought evenly.

Of course, Nie Yao, the governor of Mobei, had also discovered this problem before.

He submitted several memorials to the imperial court. Initially, he did indeed follow Nie Yao's wishes and replaced some generals.

However, whenever those generals led troops, Bao An would go and ally with the Turks.

Attacked from both inside and outside!

Naturally, they would suffer a fierce attack from the Turks and suffer a crushing defeat!

After several attempts, the emperor still found that although Bao An's record was mixed, he always managed to keep the four northern prefectures in the hands of the Great Xiao Kingdom.

Therefore, they still reused Bao An.

The emperor also believed that Nie Yao was at odds with Bao An and deliberately impeached him.

Later, Bao An joined forces with the Turks and killed Nie Yao's entire family!

Therefore, it can be said that Bao An contributed to the rise of the Turks in recent years.

Bao An's ability to maintain his position as the general of the four northern prefectures was also due in part to the contributions of the Turks.

Bao An loaded more than ten carts full of gold and silver treasures, hundreds of carts of grain and fodder, and many beautiful women from Yanbei City and left.

In Yanbei City, there were many emaciated and dying people on both sides of the road.

He held some yellow mud cakes in his hands. His body was emaciated, and his lower abdomen was rounded due to years of eating yellow mud. His whole body was unusually strange!

They watched the grain carts leave with empty eyes. Some starving people tried to go forward to beg for some, but the soldiers escorting them killed them with a single blow.

One of the soldiers snarled, “You bunch of maggots! You all have hands and feet, yet you dare to ask for General Bao’s rations. General Bao is using all that money and rations to save your lives! And what do you do? You just sit here waiting to die! Why don’t you go and work hard on the land? All you do is loaf around and wait to die! Useless trash!”

The people watched them leave with angry expressions, but dared not speak out!

Are they not working hard? Their land has been divided up by the local powerful figures who are on good terms with Bao An.

They worked as tenant farmers for the powerful and wealthy, but the grain they produced was not only given to the powerful and wealthy.

The remaining food rations were either seized by Bao An through various taxes or robbed by the Turks!

They want to leave!

However, the imperial court also had laws that prohibited people from the four northern prefectures from leaving them.

They had nowhere to escape!

...

The Turkic garrison was located more than ten miles outside Yanbei City.

Inside a large tent were the khans of more than ten tribes.

The Turkic Khaganate was a state comprised of more than ten tribes.

Ashina was sitting in the central hall, and his tribe had grown the fastest due to its cooperation with Bao An.

The powerful Ashina tribe quickly became the most influential tribe in the Turkic Khaganate.

“Ashina, we know you and Bao An have a good relationship. You gathered us together this time, agreeing to divide the four northern prefectures. When Bao An arrives, don’t back out again!” one of the Khans said.

Ashina Khan laughed and said, "Gesa! That's right, but if we can take the four northern prefectures without losing a single soldier, why not? Every life of our Turkic warrior is precious!"

Why do you think Bao An agreed to our request?

Ashina continued, "Because we have the most powerful cavalry on the entire continent! Just you wait and see. My main purpose in gathering everyone here is to intimidate them and achieve our objective!"

"I certainly won't let everyone's efforts go to waste. If you trust me, just watch closely! Therefore, my negotiations with Bao An will be conducted in front of everyone! Since you have all elected me as the Great Khan, I will not let you down!"

As they spoke, a Turkic soldier wearing a fur hat and a scimitar at his waist said, "Khan, General Bao An has arrived! He brought with him a great deal of gold and silver, as well as beautiful women and provisions!"

Ashina nodded in satisfaction, then said to the Khans, "Did you all see that? I told you you wouldn't have made a wasted trip! Our Turkic soldiers only need to come once to terrify the Turks so much they'll wriggle their pants and obediently hand over beauties, money, and provisions!"

Ashina's words were met with laughter from the entire audience.

He cupped his hands in a gesture of flattery to Ashina: "Ashina, haha, that's why we recommended you to be the Great Khan! If we can achieve our goals without having to fight, that would be the best."

Ashina nodded and said, "Gentlemen, just follow my lead!"

"Go and invite him in!"

A short while later, Bao An led the military advisor Gou and several other military advisors into the main tent.

Bao An placed one hand on his chest and bowed to the Khan present, performing the Turkic salute.

"Bao An greets all the Khans. Bao An has brought a chest full of treasures from the Great Xiao Kingdom for the Khans and their beauties present, along with ten carefully selected beauties, and..."

Ashina looked at Bao An and said, "General Bao, you're too kind! May I ask what brings you here today?"

Bao An bowed and said, "Reporting to Ashina Khan, I will not beat around the bush. I have come for peace!"

Ashina laughed and said, "General Bao, you must have misunderstood. We're just training our troops here!"

Bao An smiled slightly and said to Ashina, "Khan Ashina, it seems I misunderstood. I knew it! Khan Ashina and I are old friends! I believe everything can be resolved through negotiation! I wonder if there's something about our Great Xiao Kingdom that has made you Khans uncomfortable, or if there's been a misunderstanding!"

Ashina laughed and said, "General Bao, it seems you do know! The reason we are training our troops here is entirely to prevent your Great Xiao Kingdom from attacking us. I've heard that your Great Xiao Kingdom has even sent your Crown Prince Xiao Ce here and appointed a King of the Northern Desert, all to attack us! It is said that your emperor has also ordered him to prepare money and provisions for the army, as well as reinforcements!"

Upon hearing this, Bao An quickly cupped his hands and said, "Khan Ashina, you've misunderstood! You don't know this, but Xiao Ce is a complete waste. They were sent here to kill him! As for the supporting troops, that's utter nonsense—just a force of three thousand death row inmates! So, Khan Ashina, you can rest assured!"

"For the sake of peace between our two nations, I can guarantee my loyalty. As long as I remain in the four northern commanderies, everything within them belongs to you Khans. Whatever you desire, I will give you!"

"As for that deposed crown prince, he can be killed with a flick of a finger. There's no need for you Khans to worry. Ashina Khan, you should be able to trust me. After all, if His Majesty were to find out about our relationship, executing my entire clan would be the least of my worries!"

After listening to Bao An's words, Ashina nodded in satisfaction and said, "That's only natural! General Bao, I'm very satisfied with our cooperation! Since you've come all this way in person, and you've said that the four prefectures of Mobei are ours, we won't make things difficult for you. If you want two prefectures of Mobei, then your troops can withdraw! We'll come and take them!"