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

Xiao Ce returned to his residence, where the seasonal maid had already prepared everything.

After a busy day, it was time for Xiao Ce to relax.

However, it was just a simple bath and massage.

The next morning, Xiao Ce got up early as usual to do his morning exercise.

Yan Jia brought good news: all nine cities had been captured, and troops had been stationed there.

The brothers Shen Hu and Shen Bao have already led an army of 80,000 to garrison outside Lingxiao City, forming a strategic defensive position with Lingxiao City.

Several thousand disaster victims have already arrived in Yanmen City.

Nie Bing and Yin Pan'er left that place, and Wang Quan, one of Bao Cong's subordinates, took over.

According to Yan Jia, the most serious problem now is the shortage of food and fodder.

The cities they captured along the way were inhabited by slaves. Bao An had taken all their food rations, and now they were eating cakes made from tree bark and mud!

After Xiao Ce entered the northern desert, he came directly to Lingxiao City from Yanmen Pass, so he only saw two cities.

The first city inside Yanmen Pass, Yanmen City, does not have many slaves. Even if there are, they are doing hard labor for the army. Although it is hard, they are not so poor that they have to eat dirt.

As the city where Bao An lived, it was for the sake of stability. They might not have enough to eat, but they weren't so poor that they had to eat dirt.

Therefore, Xiao Ce naturally felt that the situation in the northern desert might not be so serious.

Hearing Yan Jia's words, he frowned and asked, "Are there many slaves?"

"Among the nine cities, there are about 50,000 slaves who have starved to death. If we don't provide relief soon, those 50,000 will all starve to death in less than a month."

"Then hurry up and go provide disaster relief. Take some grain from Tiger and Leopard Stronghold first, so that they have something to eat!" Xiao Ce said.

Yan Jia bowed and replied, "Your Highness, our supplies are running low. With more and more refugees arriving... if..."

"Go ahead and do it. There won't be any problem with food supplies for the next few months!"

Yan Jia said with some surprise, "Your Highness, then I will go and do it right away. By the way, Your Highness has one more thing."

"whats the matter?"

"People from various counties have come, seemingly to inquire about the situation. They've all been arrested. I sent people to interrogate them, and they all came from different counties to find out what's going on here. The heads of their families had all agreed to return overnight after the wedding banquet. Now that there's been no word from them, they're getting anxious," Yan Jia said.

Xiao Ce nodded and said, "Alright, same rules as before, everyone can only enter and not leave!"

Yan Jia bowed and agreed.

Watching Yan Jia leave in a hurry.

Xiao Ce changed into a new set of clothes and asked Qian Lai, "Has the Yan Zheng Hall been cleaned up yet?"

Qian Lai nodded.

Xiao Ce said to Xiao Jiu, "Take your men and call the officials over first."

Xiao Jiu nodded.

Xiao Ce said to Qian Lai, "Go and invite Yin Pan'er, Nie Bing, and Zhang Yunqing over."

Qian Lai left with his hands clasped in respect.

After saying that, Xiao Ce narrowed his eyes and said, "It's time to defeat them one by one!"

...

Xiao Jiu led a team of twenty people to the Hall of Rites once again.

The smell in the entire ceremonial hall became even stronger.

As Xiao Jiu approached, the people outside gathered around her.

"Next, all those whose names I call out should line up neatly and follow me."

"Yu Caiming, Mi Di, Wu Youzhi, Teng Faqing, Jian Ji..."

After a cup of tea, more than sixty officials were summoned.

They were so hungry that they were dizzy and lightheaded.

Without uttering a single unnecessary word, Xiao Jiu said, "All of you, follow me. The King of Mobei summons you!"

Seeing this, some merchants smiled ingratiatingly and said, "Mr. Jiu, what about us...?"

"You wait!"

"Mr. Xiao Jiu, could you spare us a bite to eat... We're starving, we won't eat for free!" a merchant said to Xiao Jiu.

With a forced smile, the merchants pulled out some more jewelry: "Mr. Jiu, just exchange it for something edible."

Xiao Jiu waved her hand and said, "I can't make that decision!"

After saying that, he took his people away.

...

At this moment, several heads of powerful families stood at the entrance of the hall, watching Xiao Jiu's departing figure.

"What do you think that good-for-nothing wants to do?" Cai Tianming asked, his face ashen.

Lin Shou said, "They've starved the people here so much that they're now thinking about negotiating terms."

Cai Tianming frowned slightly: "Then why bother looking for those civil officials? Aren't they all at our beck and call? Why don't they come to us?"

Liu Xuan chimed in, "It's just a charade."

As the three people were talking, they watched Kan Zongye sitting to one side, cross-legged and silent.

Cai Tianming said, "Kan Zongye, you still have the mind to sit? If we starve for a few more days, we'll really starve to death here! Aren't you going to think of a solution? Did he see through those fake things you made us write?"

Kan Zongye slowly opened his eyes, his face full of arrogance: "If you want to live a few more days, shut up! Save your energy! Even if he exposes us, what can he do? He wouldn't dare kill us!"

"Why are you so sure? I think there's something wrong with you..." It looked like Cai Tianming was about to start arguing with Kan Zongye.

Liu Xuan and Lin Shou, standing nearby, tried to persuade him: "Tianming, calm down... We have no other choice but to wait! The only thing we can do now is to stick together!"

Cai Tianming glared at Kan Zongye with hatred: "Even if I die, I'll haunt you as a ghost!"

Kan Zongye glanced at him disdainfully and didn't say anything.

He already had a complete plan in mind: not only could he use Xiao Ce, but he could also eliminate the heads of these powerful clans so that Xiao Ce could take over the entire four prefectures of Mobei.

...

At this moment, in the Hall of State Affairs, Xiao Ce sat in the main seat, Yin Pan'er sat to his right, and Nie Bing sat to his left.

Zhang Yunqing stood behind him.

Nie Bing was initially unwilling, after all, there had been rumors circulating in the army about two princesses.

If we sit like this today, wouldn't that confirm the rumors?

However, Xiao Ce followed Nie Bing and asked what Nie Yao's confidants would think if she didn't sit down.

Only if those officials know that Nie Bing is one of Xiao Ce's own people will they serve Xiao Ce.

Nie Bing listened and then agreed.

After they returned, the two of them stayed up all night reading the book Xiao Ce had written about reforming city management.

After watching it, the two of them had a very different opinion of Xiao Ce.

Although some of these methods were unheard of and extremely audacious in their eyes!

However, they also felt that if the plan were to be successfully implemented, the people would be the first to give their approval.

Xiao Ce wrote in that book: "Officials and the people should be like fish and water. Imperial power and the people are even more like a boat and water. The people are the water, and imperial power is the boat. Only when the water rises can the boat rise."

If it could truly be achieved, Xiao Ce's vision of ensuring that the people have stable homes, clothes to cover their bodies, and food to fill their stomachs, and that they would have surplus money every year and meat to eat at every meal, would truly not be a dream.

At this moment, Xiao Ce looked at the Hall of State Affairs.

That Bao'an was built exactly like the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, but this one is just a smaller version.

In fact, not only the Yanzheng Hall, but the entire General's Palace was built as a small imperial palace.

This Bao An really thinks he's some kind of local tyrant.

"Your Majesty, is there anything you need me to do later?" Nie Bing asked.

Xiao Ce said, "Later, name all the officials you trust!"

Nie Bing nodded and said to Xiao Ce, "And then..."

Xiao Ce said to Nie Bing, "Then, you don't need to worry about it!"

Yin Pan'er said, "What about me?"

Xiao Ce said with a smile, "You don't need to do anything. I'm just letting you sit next to me so you can become familiar with my face."

Zhang Yunqing said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, is it inappropriate for me to stand here? Should I go down?"

Xiao Ce said to Zhang Yunqing, "If I say you're suitable, then you're suitable... Just stand there steadily."

Zhang Yunqing said with a grateful expression, "Your Highness, yes!"

As they were talking, Xiao Jiu led a group of people whose legs were trembling as they walked up.

After these people came in and went hungry for several days, they quickly knelt down one by one.

"Greetings to the King of the Northern Desert! Long live the King of the Northern Desert! Long live the King of the Northern Desert! Long live the King of the Northern Desert!"

Xiao Ce sat down, glanced at everyone, and spoke to them.

"My lords, I have read all the letters you have written to me! I wonder if any of you have anything to add?"

The crowd lay prostrate on the ground, looking at each other without answering.

Some of them confessed frankly, while the rest listened to their respective clan heads and all felt that Xiao Ce, like the previous outsiders, would ultimately be the clan heads of the four prefectures who had the last laugh.

Moreover, the heads of powerful families also told them that as long as they listened to them, they would be safe.

Seeing that no one responded, Xiao Ce looked at Nie Bing to the side and nodded to him.

Nie Bing then began calling out names: "Yu Caiming, Mi Di, Wu Youzhi, Teng Faqing, Jian Ji..."

Twenty-six names were called out in a row.

"Everyone whose name is called, stand up!" Xiao Ce said calmly.

Even Nie Bing didn't know what Xiao Ce was going to do next.

Those whose names were called rose to their feet. The remaining officials, kneeling on the ground, felt a vague sense of unease.

Because they knew these officials well; they were all remnants of Nie Yao's faction.

Xiao Ce continued, "Those of you who weren't called out, do you have anything to add?"

These people remained prostrate on the ground, offering no reply.

Xiao Ce asked Qian Lai, who was sitting to one side, "Qian Lai, is the platform I asked you to set up outside the palace ready?"

Qian Lai nodded: "Reporting to Your Highness, everything has been set up."

Xiao Ce said, "Alright, men! Take all those kneeling out and behead them! Display their heads in public, and parade them through the cities! Tell the people that the Northern Desert has changed! As long as I am here, they are the masters of this land! These officials serve the people! Any official who dares to oppress the people will be executed without mercy!"

Xiao Ce spoke each word with force and conviction.

After a moment of stunned silence, everyone saw the soldiers with swords at their sides and rushed forward to arrest them.

They then realized that Xiao Ce was serious.

"Xiao Ce! No...you can't kill me! I am the cousin of the Cai family head. If you kill me, the Cai family head will definitely not let you off!"

"You can't kill me! I'm related to the Lin family head by marriage; my son-in-law is the young master of the Lin family..."

"Xiao Ce, if you kill us, you will surely die! If you spare our lives, we can let you live like Bao An... a carefree and comfortable life as a prince!"

"That's right, Xiao Ce! Don't be too arrogant. You're new to the Northern Desert, you probably don't know what the situation is like here! Here you can offend the emperor, but you can't offend the heads of the powerful families in the four prefectures of the Northern Desert!"

"Xiao Ce, go and find out! If you want to live, listen to us! You can arrest us temporarily, but are you willing to bear the consequences?"

Some of the four county lords revealed their identities; they were all from powerful and noble families, and now they simply stopped pretending and directly threatened Xiao Ce.