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

Xiao Ce said to Yun Qing Urgen, "Let's not even talk about whether this Princess Eva can persuade those Slavs."

"Even if Eva manages to convince those Slavs, they'll only give us a one- to two-year window of opportunity. We can't keep hoping they won't attack us, can we?"

Yunqing Urgen nodded and followed Xiao Ce into the military tent.

At this moment, Xiao Ce took out a map.

"Yunqing. Urgen, next, I want you to build a Great Wall here!"

As he spoke, Xiao Ce drew a line on the map.

Yunqing Urgen stepped forward and went to take a look.

After watching for a while, his expression didn't look good.

Because Xiao Ce's drawing on it wasn't very long, but when he looked at it closely, he couldn't help but gasp.

"The Great Wall? Is it just a city wall?"

Xiao Ce nodded, then said, "That's right, it's the city wall..."

"Your Highness, I'm afraid this won't be of any use. Besides, we're actually hundreds of miles away from their border... If we wanted to build a Great Wall, it would take three to five years to complete. Moreover, they have very powerful cannons; even if we built a Great Wall, it wouldn't withstand their bombardment!"

"I did consider it at first... but this thing just doesn't offer any value for money!"

After hearing Yun Qing and Urgen's words, both Yan Jia and Wei Wuji were deeply moved!

They all nodded in agreement.

This situation is also rare.

After all, once Xiao Ce has given them a choice and a plan, no matter how difficult it is for them to understand, it is still possible.

They will all support Xiao Ce!

However, they are not very optimistic about Xiao Ce's plan now.

Looking at their expressions, Xiao Ce asked them, "Gentlemen, so what is your attitude? Do you all disagree?"

Yan Jia spoke first: "Your Highness, if you have any brilliant ideas, just pretend I didn't say anything!"

Yan Jia first prepared a way out for himself.

Xiao Ce smiled and said, "Just say it. What, do you think I'm the kind of person who won't listen to other people's advice?"

Yan Jia shook his head repeatedly, "Of course not...of course not!"

As he spoke, Xiao Ce told him to stop talking nonsense and just say what he had to say.

Yan Jia said, "In the long run, the Great Wall is necessary. However, building it now is definitely not a wise choice. After all, building a Great Wall is a waste of manpower and resources."

"This project either succeeds or fails... If it fails, they'll send troops, and we simply can't stop them. All our previous efforts will have been in vain. We'll also be easily manipulated by them..."

"Most importantly, things are different now... Swords, spears, and halberds were useless against the city walls. But now we have cannons... With these cannons, even the strongest city walls might not be able to hold up."

"Therefore, if we want to resist them... there are definitely other ways!"

Hearing Yan Jia's words, Wei Wuji nodded.

Xiao Ce then asked Wei Wuji to express his opinion.

Without further ado, Wei Wuji continued, "General Yan is absolutely right... The Great Wall can't stop them! I've had contact with them; their artillery is terrifying! The city walls simply can't hold them off! Times have changed!"

Wei Wuji said with some confusion, "Your Highness, don't you have some backup plan? With your intelligence, how could you come up with such a terrible idea..."

After hearing Wei Wuji's words, the faces of the others twitched.

Yun Qing and Urgen turned pale with fright and kept winking at Wei Wuji.

Xiao Ce laughed and said, "Haha, you're right. I really shouldn't come up with such a bad idea. I just said I wanted to build a Great Wall, but I didn't tell you what kind of Great Wall I wanted to build."

After hearing Xiao Ce's words, everyone's expressions became even more puzzled and confused.

"Isn't the Great Wall just a longer, taller wall? Like the dragon wall of the Northern Desert King's Palace!"

Xiao Ce shook his head and said, "Of course it's different. I told you to build the Great Wall underground..."

"Underground construction?"

Xiao Ce nodded, then said, "That's right. I need you to use this as a base, and make sure he can fully understand and apply it to the area ten kilometers inwards..."

With that, Xiao Ce asked them to take out a picture, and then he started drawing.

He drew and explained at the same time.

It's called an underground Great Wall, but you could also call it a tunnel.

Once all these underground tunnels are successfully constructed, they will be completely helpless against us...

When everyone saw this, their expressions became very complicated.

Xiao Ce addressed the crowd, saying, "Gentlemen, as I mentioned before, once we enter the era of firearms, it will be hot war. And in hot war, the superiority of weapons will naturally become important."

"However, even if our weapons are inferior, we must make up for it with tactics, which is to play to our strengths and avoid our weaknesses!"

"As long as our underground network remains connected, and in conjunction with our intelligence, we can appear behind them anytime, anywhere..."

"Furthermore, this tunnel doesn't need to be too big, just enough for two people to walk side by side! Then it can be built with wooden planks and concrete... I'll give you some blueprints later..."

Xiao Ce majored in civil engineering in college in his previous life, and he earned his first pot of gold through real estate.

Rather than focusing on weapons, he was quite professional in civil engineering.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Yunqing Urgen said, "Your Highness, this is feasible! Does that mean we should dig throughout our entire Turkic territory...?"

Xiao Ce waved his hand and said, "Of course not... but we must set up checkpoints and key points... If they dare to come over, we will definitely catch them off guard."

Yunqing Urgen nodded and began to take notes.

Yan Jia then asked Xiao Ce respectfully, "Your Highness, does the Northern Desert Prince's Mansion need that?"

Xiao Ce shook his head: "No need... If the Slavic people can still break through the tunnel warfare attack, then it means that this tactic has failed. If it's a failed tactic, then there's no need to get it from the Northern Desert Royal Palace."

"Of course, if this tactic succeeds, they won't be able to reach the Northern Desert King's Palace, and I'll have even less need for it..."

Yan Jia nodded.

Xiao Ce said to Yun Qing.Urgen, "You go ahead and get busy! Besides, you still have internal matters to handle."

Yun Qing.Urgen nodded and said, "Your Highness, I've almost fully differentiated... Next..."

Xiao Ce pointed at Wei Wuji and said, "Your military and political affairs should be separated. Now that you've taken charge of the area, military matters should be handled separately. Didn't you say you thought highly of Wei Wuji? Then let him be in charge of military affairs, and you can each perform your own duties. What do you think?"

Yun Qing.Urgen nodded and said, "Your Highness, that's exactly what I'm thinking... Let the professionals handle the professional matters!"

Xiao Ce said to him, "Aren't you heartbroken?"

Yunqing Urgen waved his hand with a smile and said, "Your Highness, of course I won't feel bad! What's there to feel bad about... I actually had no experience with military affairs before, which almost caused a disaster! Now that I'm here, it's naturally even better."

Xiao Ce nodded and looked at Wei Wuji.

He felt somewhat uneasy and anxious.

Xiao Ce then said to Wei Wuji, "So? Do you dare to take on this responsibility?"

After a brief hesitation, Xiao Ce could see that Wei Wuji's eyes hardened in an instant.

"Your Highness, I can!"

Xiao Ce had originally thought that he should at least exchange a few polite words with this kid, regardless of his status.

However, he was not disappointed.

The kid agreed immediately.

"Alright! I knew I wasn't wrong about you, kid..."

Seeing that Wei Wuji looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated, Xiao Ce said, "If you have something to say, just say it while I'm still here."

Wei Wuji said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, I've heard that you possess a very powerful military treatise. General Han Da of the Northern Desert Prince's Palace, as well as the Yan Jia generals, have all read it... I wonder..."

Hearing his words, Xiao Ce gave a wry smile: "You want to see it, don't you?"

Wei Wuji nodded: "Is it alright if I don't know?"

Xiao Ce nodded and said, "Of course! However, I've actually heard quite a bit about your battle tactics... You have a great talent for combat, but if I showed them to you, I'm afraid it would limit your thinking..."

Wei Wuji waved his hand and said, "Your Highness, rest assured... I will play to my strengths and avoid my weaknesses. I just want to see... I think he won't restrict me..."

"Okay, since you're so sure, I'll definitely agree!"

Then he said to Wei Wuji, "Anyway, you're just idling around these days, and Yan Jia is here too. Let Yan Jia go with you. When you go to reorganize the army, he might be able to help you!"

"You can also take this opportunity to have another chat."

Wei Wuji nodded and said okay.

At this moment, Yun Qing Urgen looked at Xiao Ce with a pitiful expression: "Your Highness! Then...then can you come back with me?"

Xiao Ce replied almost without thinking, "That's exactly what I was thinking!"

Yunqing Urgen nodded happily.

Xiao Ce then said to Yan Jia, "Organize the weapons left behind by their 30,000 men! Leave half of them here and send the other half to the Dragon Tiger Stronghold of the Northern Desert King's Mansion for them to study!"

Yan Jia nodded: "Your Highness, no problem."

At this moment, Wei Wuji asked Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, what should we do with those prisoners?"

Xiao Ce pondered for a moment: "Take them all back."

Then, Xiao Ce asked Yun Qing.Urgen, "You guys can still imprison people, right?"

Yunqing Urgen nodded.

"Your Highness! I've set up plenty of prisons over there... more than enough!"

Xiao Ce said to Wei Wuji, "Take all those Slavs you just selected to your capital! The rest, your army can divide them up equally..."

“Each squad will bring one of those Slavic prisoners! Firstly, to give them a good training session, and secondly, to let all of us learn the Slavic language from them!”

Wei Wuji nodded and agreed.

After giving his instructions, Xiao Ce stopped talking.

With that, Xiao Ce rode Tie Dan and followed Yun Qing and Urgen back to their capital city.

The feeling of galloping across the grasslands truly dispelled Xiao Ce's gloom...

...

They sped all the way to the capital of the Turkic Kingdom.

This seemingly simple and unadorned cement fortress has some human heads hanging on its exterior.

Once inside the city, it was very lively.

Surprisingly, the majority of the people I saw were from India.

Seeing this, Xiao Ce asked Yun Qing.Urgen, "Yun Qing, there are quite a few Indians here."

Yunqing Urgen nodded and said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, our relationship with these people from Tianzhu is quite good. After we started trading, our business has become even better! Our goods are particularly popular with them and can fetch high prices. Especially the gadgets invented by Longhu Village, their business is even better..."

Yunqing Urgen said that these Indian merchants were able to make money through him.

Therefore, the entire Kingdom of India and the Turks had a very good relationship.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ce asked, "By the way, do they have firearms over there?"

Yunqing Urgen shook his head and said, "India doesn't have that. Their emperor regards those firearms as a monstrous threat, and they have strict prohibitions against possessing them! I only learned about the weapons of the Slavic people after I learned about them that the people of India had actually been in contact with those firearms long ago!"

Xiao Ce found this strange and asked Yun Qing Urgen, "Why is that? Aren't they afraid of being invaded?"

Yunqing Urgen said, "India is a theological country! They don't believe in weapons; they prefer to believe their gods will protect them... They consider arming themselves with firearms to be blasphemy against their gods..."

Xiao Ce was both amused and exasperated after hearing this: "What a bizarre country! Well, let's hope no one invades them."

Yunqing Urgen said, "I was very curious at first, but after inquiring, I learned that they had been almost completely invaded by foreigners."

Xiao Ce immediately became interested and walked into the palace while listening to Yun Qing Urgen speak.

Yunqing Urgen said to Xiao Ce, "They were not invaded by force, but by foreigners who were merchants. Most of the Indians' trade in clothing, food, housing and transportation was controlled by foreigners! Since those foreigners were from various countries, they did not send troops over for their own benefit."

"Although these foreign merchants controlled the economic lifeline of India, they also paid a lot of money to the royal family. So, strangely enough, they formed a win-win-win situation that everyone wanted to see!"