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

Nie Bing nodded, and this time she spoke frankly, telling him everything she knew.

After listening, Xiao Ce frowned slightly.

He truly hadn't expected that the intricate relationships among the four prefectures of the northern desert were even more complex than those in the capital.

They thought Bao An was the most powerful force here, but after listening to Nie Bing's words, they realized that the noble families had tacitly pushed him to the forefront.

The waters in the four prefectures of northern desert are very deep.

"Then why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Nie Bing glanced at Xiao Ce and replied, "Because I never thought you could make it to the Northern Desert alive! But as it turns out, I was right!"

"Now that I've told you all this, do you still think the three-year agreement can be fulfilled?"

Xiao Ce smiled and said confidently, "After learning all this, I think it might not even take three years!"

Nie Bing looked at Xiao Ce, and this time, for the first time ever, she didn't argue with him.

"Then let's wait and see."

...

The next day, Xiao Ce got up early and, as always, practiced the Eightfold Vajra Skill before running five kilometers.

In addition, I did some strength training.

He then began training in some fighting techniques under Da Lei's guidance.

After more than a month of training, Xiao Ce clearly felt that his body had become much stronger.

Then, Xiao Ce was knocked to the ground by Da Lei once again.

Xiao Ce lay on the ground, panting and laughing loudly.

"Da Lei, have I made any progress?"

Da Lei, standing to the side, bowed and said, "Your Highness, your progress is astounding. You've only been training with me for a month, and you can already hold your own against me for more than a dozen moves."

Hearing Da Lei's words, Xiao Ce got up from the ground and wiped the sweat from his face.

"Hey kid, that sounds like you're swearing!"

Da Lei cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness, I am telling the truth. I am not flattering you. Your talent is very high. With your current strength, if you were to find those veterans in the army and engage in hand-to-hand combat, three or five of them would not be a match for you!"

Xiao Ce did not doubt Da Lei's words. He could feel that his physical perception had greatly improved under the training of Da Lei and the others.

"How long do you think I need to train before I can beat you?"

Da Lei looked at Xiao Ce and said, "Your Highness, without external help, in a one-on-one situation, you have absolutely no chance!"

Seeing this, Xiao Ce laughed and said, "Can't you be a little more humble?"

Da Lei remained expressionless as he said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, you said it yourself: I cannot lie to you; I must tell the truth!"

Xiao Ce was momentarily speechless, then smiled and nodded.

Just then, Yan Jia rode over on a horse.

"Your Majesty, my five thousand cavalry regiments have already changed into the uniforms of the Bao family army as you said, and we have also captured several of Cai Wu's aides!"

Xiao Ce nodded and said, "Alright, I will go ahead first. You may depart in an hour! If you encounter anyone, tell them that Cai Wu ordered you to deliver gifts to Bao An!"

"After we trick our way through the city gates, we'll go and occupy Lingxiao City!"

Yan Jia bowed and agreed. Just then, Shen Hu also came over.

Shen Hu arrived with a large group of troops late last night.

Xiao Ce saw them when he went for his morning run.

"Reporting to Your Highness, all 48,300 men have arrived. As you instructed, the additional 3,000 prisoners have been distributed among the various units! Now, excluding General Yan Jia's 5,000 elite troops, we have 52,000 men! We are now ready for battle!"

"What we need right now is food, weapons, and uniforms! The most important thing is food! Including regular grain, we need 100,000 catties of grain a day, which is 900 shi of grain! Our grain reserves are only enough to feed them for ten days at most! If we don't receive more food, we will run out of food in ten days!"

Shen Hu reported to Xiao Ce.

At this moment, Yin Pan'er and Nie Bing also got up and heard what they were saying.

Yin Pan'er reminded him, "According to the plan, the first batch of disaster victims will arrive soon, with an estimated several thousand arriving every day... These victims have a huge need for food. And with the arrival of the first batch, more will arrive every day! Your Highness, if you can't procure food, these people will definitely panic when they go hungry..."

Xiao Ce nodded and said, "Don't worry, the grain will be here soon!"

As he spoke, Xiao Ce said to Yin Pan'er, "Pan'er, Nie Bing, you two stay here for now. I need to trouble you to plan out this empty city first. Settle the people who have arrived first, and then distribute the land."

Yin Pan'er nodded as she listened: "Your Highness, how should the land here be divided?"

As Xiao Ce spoke, he said to Da Lei, "Da Lei, go and get the land allocation draft I wrote in my box."

Da Lei nodded, and soon after, he took out the land allocation draft written by Xiao Ce from his room.

Yin Pan'er took the land allocation draft written by Xiao Ce and glanced at it. It was a long, scribbled document with more than ten pages of writing on it.

What comes into view is "the abolition of private land ownership and the adoption of the household contract responsibility system."

This was followed by a lengthy and detailed introduction, including how to allocate resources and how to implement them.

After reading it, Yin Pan'er felt that it was very subversive to his ideas.

With wide eyes, he said, "Your Highness, is this all what you thought?"

Xiao Ce nodded and said, "That's right. The specific implementation will depend on local conditions. Also, based on the current situation, we should reserve some land for military farming! It will be used for military farming."

"Hoarding land?" Yin Pan'er asked curiously.

Xiao Ce pointed to the detailed rules and said, "Go and take a look first. Nie Bing, your father used to work here, so he must know many truly talented people. Use your connections to recruit them all!"

Nie Bing nodded and said, "Okay!"

"Alright, I don't have time to go into details with you. The document I gave you contains a general framework; how you break it down into specific parts is up to you!" Xiao Ce said.

Yin Pan'er nodded and looked at Xiao Ce, saying, "Your Highness, then you..."

Xiao Ce said, "I have something important to do."

"It's almost time. Da Lei, lead the Twelve Fiends, let's set off!"

Da Lei nodded and said, "Your Highness, everything is ready."

Yin Pan'er said with some concern, "Your Highness, are you going to Lingxiao City? That's Bao An's stronghold. If you go there, won't you be walking into a trap?"

Xiao Ce said with a smile, "The lair, today I'm going to wipe out Bao An's lair!"

After saying that, Xiao Ce didn't explain much more.

He led the Twelve Fiends, headed by Da Lei, and rode away on horseback.

While outside the city, I saw the swallow armor that was already being repaired.

"Yan Jia, after dark, you must take Lingxiao City as quickly as possible! My life is in your hands."

Yan Jia bowed and replied, "Yes, Your Highness. We have already scouted the area. There are a total of five thousand garrison troops in Lingxiao, scattered across the four city gates. We are dressed in the same clothes as them, so they won't be able to tell friend from foe. We can use the white cloth on our left arm as a marker to distinguish friend from foe!"

Xiao Ce nodded in agreement with Yan Jia's plan: "Very good. Have Shen Hu send 10,000 men over to reinforce the defenses two hours after you!"

Yan Jia nodded.

Xiao Ce gave a brief order and then took the Twelve Fiends and a carriage with him.

The carriage was loaded with some silver, as well as some white sugar and refined salt.

He planned to send a wedding gift to Bao An in the name of Qian's Trading Company. When he left Anhua City, the owner of Qian's Trading Company had told Xiao Ce about it.

The Qian family owns businesses in Lingxiao City and has some connections there.

When the time comes, if you want to use it, just take Boss Qian's jade token to the manager of Qian's Trading Company in Lingxiao City, and they will make arrangements.

The journey from Yanmen City to Lingxiao City was less than fifty li, and they traveled at high speed.

They arrived in less than two hours. The most striking impression Xiao Ce had of this place was its desolation.

Apart from a few escorts from the chamber of commerce, we didn't see any ordinary people along the way.

It was very deserted.

We arrived at the gate of Lingxiao City.

There were many soldiers at the city gate.

Lingxiao City is considered the center of the four prefectures of Mobei, so the city was built in a very grand manner.

Today might be Bao An's wedding day, so the city gates are under very strict security.

Everyone had to be asked for their identity and checked before they were allowed to pass.

Soon, it was Xiao Ce's turn.

The leading soldier sized up Xiao Ce and his group, even though they had changed into the clothing of the four northern prefectures.

The leader of the soldiers recognized them at a glance and said, "You're not locals, are you?"

Xiao Ce had already prepared his explanation. He cupped his hands and said, "Sir, I come from the Central Plains. I am the manager of the Qian Family Trading Company in Anhua City. I have been ordered to deliver wedding gifts to General Bao An..."

As he spoke, Xiao Ce gave Da Lei a wink: "Hurry up, open all the boxes and let the officers check them."

Da Lei understood immediately and opened the carriage, then opened several boxes of silver.

The captain of the leading soldiers' eyes lit up as he looked at the pile of silver.

As Xiao Ce spoke, he took out a bulging bag of silver from his pocket and stuffed it into the hand of the leading soldier.

"Gentlemen, this is a small token of our appreciation. It's General Bao An's wedding day, thank you for your hard work."

The captain took the bag of silver, weighed it in his hand, and smiled more broadly: "As expected of the people of the Central Plains, you are so generous! Since it is your kind gesture, I will accept it."

The captain then asked Xiao Ce, "You didn't bring any weapons, did you?"

Xiao Ce quickly said, "No...we didn't bring any...we know the rules. The boxes inside are all gifts for General Bao An...and the two boxes at the very back contain Tianshan snow salt and Tianshan snow sugar, which are currently very popular among the elites in the Central Plains!"

As he spoke, he gestured for Da Lei to open it.

The captain stepped forward and took a look, saying, "I've heard of it! It's said to be harvested from a sacred mountain. It's amazing, truly amazing! It's such a crystal-clear candy! It really is a divine product."

Xiao Ce said, "Captain, please forgive me. These things are truly precious. They are tribute to General Bao An, and their weight is measured to the millimeter. Losing even a fraction of them could cost me my life. Therefore, I cannot present them to you."

After hearing Xiao Ce's words, the captain smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Shopkeeper, you're joking. Such a fine delicacy is naturally reserved for the general; we're not qualified. Alright, let's go in."

Xiao Ce smiled and clasped his hands in agreement!

Then, he said to Da Lei and the others, "Hurry up, it's getting late. Go inside quickly, or you'll all be in big trouble if you're late delivering the gifts!"

As they spoke, they hurriedly went inside.

Because they had learned that the checks at the city gates were strict, they had hidden their weapons well in advance. Also, there was a special 'gift' that Xiao Ce had prepared for Bao An.

It looks like we'll be able to open the scenic area smoothly soon.

Suddenly, the captain's voice came from behind.

"Wait!"