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

In fact, the Kingdom of Gaochang knew very well that there was no such thing as a lost caravan; they were just looking for a reason to start a war.

The Kingdom of Gaochang naturally replied that they had not seen those people, so the Kingdom of Uz requested to send troops into the Kingdom of Gaochang to search for them.

Gaochang naturally refused, and the two countries immediately went to war!

Because of the presence of Generals Da Lei and Dan at the front lines.

Therefore, Xiao Ce received the news immediately after the start of the war.

The opportunity that Xiao Ce had been waiting for had finally arrived.

On one hand, he sent someone to inform that the weapons in Nufeng City could be brought in; on the other hand, Xiao Ce ordered Nanxi to begin assembling all the troops.

Nanxi hasn't left this place since the last time.

He summoned all the officials here so that he could obtain firsthand information and data about Xiao Ce.

Seeing Xiao Ce's words, Nan Xi asked him curiously, "Your Highness, King of the Northern Desert, didn't you say before that we wouldn't join this war?"

Xiao Ce smiled at Nan Xi and said, "That's right, I said we wouldn't join the war. But that doesn't mean we won't try to pick up the scraps..."

Nanxi asked with a hint of confusion, "What do you mean?"

Xiao Ce said to Nan Xi, "Let's see how the first battle goes. If they win the first battle, their alliance might last. But if they suffer a crushing defeat in the first battle, their alliance will undoubtedly collapse in an instant... and Gaochang will surely be defeated."

"After the defeat of Gaochang, why don't we seize this excellent opportunity to take over the cities near your Shanshan Kingdom?"

Nan Xi's eyes lit up immediately, and she asked Xiao Ce, "This doesn't count as taking advantage of someone in distress, does it?"

Xiao Ce's lips curled up slightly as he looked at Nan Xi with interest and said, "What? Your Majesty, do you want to reason with us now? When they were dividing up your Shanshan Kingdom's land, did they try to negotiate and reason with you?"

Nan Xi gave an awkward smile and said to Xiao Ce, "Of course not. What I'm thinking is that if we use force, it will inevitably provoke resistance from the people over there..."

Xiao Ce laughed and said, "You're overthinking it. You Western Region people aren't that patriotic! You Western Region people are all of the same origin, and what the people care about more is whether they can live a better life. Just say you're going to help with defense, and then give them a year of tax exemption, and then a five-year tax reduction. See if they support you or not."

Seeing this, Nan Xi nodded: "Then everything will be as Your Majesty the Northern Desert King wishes. I'll go and do it right away..."

Just as Xiao Ce had imagined, the war lasted only one day.

Before the Kingdom of Gaochang had even been defeated, the kingdoms of Khotan and Shule had already retreated.

After these two countries withdrew, the Gaochang Kingdom's battle lines were exposed.

The two main generals of the Uzbek state are Wuwei and Linbang.

They were all genuine warriors, and the Gaochang Kingdom was immediately defeated.

Da Lei and General Dan naturally ran faster than anyone else.

Upon receiving the news, Xiao Ce immediately dispatched Nan Xi to Gaochang Kingdom for defense assistance.

Following Xiao Ce's advice, Nanxi did not attack, but instead went to request assistance in the defense in accordance with the orders of Baird of Gaochang.

The people here had no doubts. After Nanxi entered, she even said that all taxes would be waived as long as she was on duty.

Xiao Ce is right; the effect is naturally very good.

In less than a week, Nanxi occupied half of the country, including twelve cities.

One of the cities was occupied by Generals Da Lei and Dan, whom Xiao Ce ordered to take over.

Xiao Ce told them to meet there first, and General Dan initially thought Xiao Ce was giving random orders.

However, he couldn't resist Da Lei's trust in Xiao Ce.

However, when Xiao Ce and Nan Xi arrived with a large army...

General Dan was truly impressed.

After all, it took Uzbekistan half a month to conquer six of its cities.

Meanwhile, Nan Xi and Xiao Ce quietly captured twelve cities of the Kingdom of Uz, without shedding a drop of blood.

Inside the city lord's mansion where they had gathered, the group was in high spirits.

Nanxi raised his wine glass: "Thank you, Your Highness the King of the Northern Desert. Without Your Highness, we would not have achieved such a great victory."

If Nanxi initially blindly trusted Xiao Ce, it was the civil and military officials here who were suspicious...

However, Xiao Ce won over the people here with his abilities.

Xiao Ce didn't stand on ceremony and said to everyone, "No need to be polite... However, this is just the beginning... The real battle is yet to come. You should be prepared for a fierce fight!"

General Dan nodded: "Your Highness, King of the Northern Desert, rest assured. Those people are now like drowning dogs... Their troops have been scattered, leaving only Baird's personal guards of about ten thousand men. I'm afraid it won't be long before they are completely annihilated!"

Xiao Ce nodded and said, "The enemy I'm referring to is naturally not Bairda of Gaochang Kingdom. Rather, it's Wuwei and Linbang of Uz Kingdom."

General Dan nodded solemnly; she dared not slack off in the slightest at this moment.

She had witnessed the battles between Wuwei and Linbang, and indeed, no matter how you looked at it, they were very methodical.

Nanxi looked at Xiao Ce and said, "Your Highness, King of Mobei, do you have any suggestions for the next step?"

After pondering for a moment, Xiao Ce smiled and said, "Shall we wait a while... and see how the situation develops?"

The group nodded in agreement.

Nanxi continued, "Your Highness, now that we've just conquered those twelve cities, shouldn't we also implement reforms there... and plant our cash crops...?"

Xiao Ce nodded and said, "Of course. Just tell those people that changing the crops will allow them to make dozens of times more profit on the same piece of land, and then they can buy their own food."

This was actually Xiao Ce's open scheme: to get all the people in the Western Regions to convert their land used for food to cash crops.

At that time, they will have to import all their food.

In the northern desert, after Xiao Ce reformed the crops, the yield there increased significantly.

In particular, the first batch of potatoes has already been planted over there, and they will be ready for harvest soon.

Once the entire Western Regions region switches to cultivating cash crops and everyone tastes the benefits, they won't want to go back to farming them.

From now on, if they disobey, Xiao Ce can cut off their food supply.

Then their entire country can only wait to die.

At that time, the Xiao Kingdom won't need their cash crops. But the people of the Western Regions can't go without food...

Which is more important?

Xiao Ce wasn't afraid of them discovering him, but they had no other choice now.

Once everyone discovers the benefits of cash crops, it will be uncontrollable.

Some of Nanxi's ministers had also raised this issue.

Upon hearing this, Nanxi accepted it willingly.

Nanxi's initial statement was: "If we don't give them any leverage over us, why would they do anything for us for free..."

After listening to this, the ministers all agreed that it was indeed true.

They tacitly agreed, since survival was more important for Shanshan at this moment.

...

Meanwhile, news that Nanxi had occupied twelve cities of Uz spread throughout various countries.

Baird and his men took his remaining troops with them.

As several scouts came to report, Baird's expression turned extremely grim.

Not a word.

The princes beside him all spoke up.

"That bitch, how dare he?"

"Father, he was using your name... claiming to be defending the city for us, and tricked us into opening the gates. So, he took all twelve cities without losing a single soldier... What should we do now?"

"I suggest we simply hide... let the Uzbeks fight them, and then we'll seize the opportunity to strike after they've started fighting!"

"That bitch Nan Xi, she has a whole army of women under her command... people we can't even handle, what makes them so special?"

Bairdar was silent for a moment, then said, "Hide? Where can we hide now? Our rations will run out in a few days. Once our food supply is cut off, all ten thousand soldiers will mutini. We have no choice but to go to Nanxi! Didn't he say he'd help us defend? Now, if we go back... they'll have to obediently hand over our territory..."

The princes standing nearby all looked rather uneasy after hearing what Bairdda said.

Did they never expect their father to be so naive?

"Father, are you serious? Do you think that wretched woman would give up the prize that's already in our grasp?"

"Yes, Father, instead of looking for them, you should go to Dawuleti or Hanati in Khotan or Shule."

After listening to the princes' words, Bairdah spat angrily.

"Pah! Don't even mention those two cow dung bums... If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be in such a terrible state... We could have held on."

"Moreover, I have received information that the envoys from both countries secretly met with Wuwei and Linbang! Compared to Nanxi, those two are even more despicable."

“Nanxi at least said that. Let’s go find them… what if? She might let us in? They betrayed us before we were defeated, let alone now that we’ve been defeated. If we go to them, they’ll definitely cut off our heads and hand them over to Wuwei and Linbang to claim credit…” Bairda said.

After hearing Baird's words, those around him spoke up one after another: "Your Majesty, you are right! So you mean to go find Nanxi?"

Byrdah nodded: "That's right...who among you is willing to go...remember, times have changed, we need to have a proper talk with them!"

The group looked at each other, but no one spoke.

Finally, a woman spoke up: "Father, let me go. I still have some dealings with Empress Nanxi of Shanshan, especially with the lady-in-waiting beside her..."

Bairdah glanced at the disheveled, travel-worn woman who walked out from the side.

The woman's name was Gulimiza, and she was one of his favorite youngest daughters.

Bairdah remembered that Nanxi and his youngest daughter had indeed hit it off immediately.

"Okay, Gulimiza, you must remember this. Just give us a place to stay! We'll agree to whatever they ask for!"