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

The person behind the screen still says the same thing.

"They don't deserve it. If you don't want to, then leave."

Nie Bing's face darkened: "You're sending Xiao Hao to his death by making him do this?"

"Just because you can't do it doesn't mean your brother can't. Besides, this is our business, it has nothing to do with you! Please leave." The person behind the screen said in a still icy voice.

"If I agree, does that mean he won't need to do it?" Nie Bing's gaze was firm, as if she had made up her mind.

The person behind the screen said, "Of course."

“Then I promise you. But you also need to promise me that you won’t arrange for him to do anything dangerous again,” Nie Bing said through gritted teeth.

The person behind the screen did not answer directly: "What right do you think you have to tell me what to do! Just do your job! Show him out."

The young pageboy quickly stepped forward and gestured for him to enter.

Nie Bing was about to say something when the young page stopped her: "Miss Nie, please stop! If you continue, you'll upset the master and harm your brother. Please leave."

Nie Bing glanced behind the screen, but ultimately said nothing more.

...

After finishing their meal, Yin Pan'er and Xiao Ce went about their business.

Xiao Ce's new policies have just been implemented, and everything needs to be rebuilt, so there is still a lot to be done.

After Yin Pan'er left, she saw Lin Zhong pacing around the door.

Yesterday, Xiao Ce noticed that Lin Zhong was acting strangely.

After all, Qian Lai, the former head manager of the Qian family, did an excellent job as Xiao Ce's chief steward.

They handled Xiao Ce's later work very well.

Xiao Dingshan brought Lin Zhong over to be Xiao Ce's chief steward.

Now that his position as head butler has been taken, he always feels somewhat uneasy.

Although Xiao Ce had other uses for Lin Zhong, Lin Zhong was unaware of this.

"Uncle Zhong, come here for a moment."

Xiao Ce walked to the door and spoke to Lin Zhong, who was wandering around aimlessly there.

Lin Zhong followed with a hint of doubt.

Upon arriving at Xiao Ce's study, Xiao Ce had just sat down when he gestured for Lin Zhong to sit as well.

Lin Zhong waved his hand: "Your Highness, I won't sit down. Do you have any orders?"

Xiao Ce said to Lin Zhong, "Uncle Zhong, you've dealt with Qian Lai before, haven't you?"

Lin Zhong nodded.

"What do you think of him?" Xiao Ce asked.

Lin Zhong glanced at Xiao Ce: "He's quite capable. He transformed Bao An's former palace into the Northern Desert King's Mansion and managed everyone very well."

He paused for a moment as he spoke.

Xiao Ce asked Lin Zhong, "Uncle Zhong, you can just say whatever you want to say about our relationship."

Lin Zhong nodded: "I just don't know if I can trust him! After all, what you need is an absolutely loyal person, ability is secondary."

Xiao Ce smiled and said, "Uncle Zhong, don't worry about that. I can truly trust him, and to show his sincerity, he has already brought his entire family over. Uncle Zhong, what do you think about making him my head steward from now on?"

Lin Zhong looked slightly embarrassed, but he didn't try to be coy: "Your Highness, what about me?"

Xiao Ce was quite satisfied with Lin Zhong's words.

The fact that he can speak frankly shows that he is considered one of their own.

Seeing Lin Zhong's somewhat jealous expression, Xiao Ce deliberately said, "Uncle Zhong, you're getting old. You can just stay here and enjoy your retirement. You don't need to worry about those things anymore."

Lin Zhong immediately objected, his expression turning sinister: "Your Highness, I didn't come here for recuperation. Even the King of Zhen didn't mind that I'm old, but you do? If you think I'm useless, then I can go back... The King of Zhen needs my help..."

Looking at Lin Zhong, this little old man, he seemed quite anxious.

Xiao Ce stopped joking: "Uncle Zhong, I was just joking with you... Why are you getting so worked up! To be honest, you were personally appointed by the Eighth Imperial Uncle, so you're the person I trust the most. I'm keeping you around for a very important purpose! Frankly speaking, it would be a waste of your talents to have you as a steward. I'm keeping you around for other purposes!"

Lin Zhong looked at Xiao Ce suspiciously: "Your Highness, you're not lying to me?"

Xiao Ce smiled and said, "Of course!"

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Uncle Zhong, what do you think of the industries of refining fine salt and white sugar?"

Lin Zhong's face lit up with excitement: "Of course it's great! If it weren't for the two properties owned by Your Highness, we'd probably still be struggling to make ends meet. How could we possibly recruit soldiers and build such a large force?"

Xiao Ce said to Da Lei, "Da Lei, go and get me a copy of Tiangong Kaiwu that I wrote."

Da Lei bowed.

Then, he took out a book written by Xiao Ce himself from a locked box on the side.

This book not only records the methods of making salt and sugar, but also the production of soy sauce, distilled liquor, and a series of other products that are not available here.

Any one of those items, if taken out and sold, would surely fetch a good price.

Not only that, it also contains methods for making gunpowder, as well as some firearms.

In any case, many things from later generations that could be recreated in this era were written by Xiao Ce in this book.

This is something Xiao Ce came up with after constantly thinking and summarizing along the way.

This is why Xiao Ce was confident he could utterly defeat the Turks.

Da Lei handed the book to Lin Zhong.

Lin Zhong took it with a hint of doubt and looked at Xiao Ce questioningly.

After obtaining Xiao Ce's permission, Lin Zhong opened it.

The text in this book was written by Xiao Ce using annotations that only he could understand.

Although Lin Zhong couldn't understand the words, he could tell from the pictures.

"Is this the method for making white sugar and fine salt?"

Xiao Ce nodded: "White sugar and fine salt are just the simplest things. Next, I have a few more things to do."

"First and foremost is distilled spirits. Winter is just around the corner. The weather in the northern deserts is cold, and this high-proof distilled spirit will help keep you warm. It's sure to sell like hotcakes throughout the four northern prefectures, and might even be exported as far as the Turkic Khaganate..."

Lin Zhong listened with some confusion: "Distilled spirits, but what's the difference between them and ordinary liquor!"

Xiao Ce took out a leather water bottle from the side and then opened it.

Immediately, a fragrant aroma of wine spread throughout the air.

"It smells so good!"

Xiao Ce poured a cup into a teapot on the side.

Lin Zhong didn't stand on ceremony, accepted the drink, and downed it in one gulp.

He drank the distilled liquor like he would drink water, and it made him very uncomfortable.

As soon as it entered my throat, I felt a burning sensation in my throat, which then traveled down my esophagus into my stomach. After a short while, my whole body felt warm and refreshed.

Lin Zhong's eyes immediately lit up.

"Fine wine! Although it's spicy and pungent, it has a smooth and mellow flavor when you savor it carefully! Most importantly, after swallowing this wine, it feels like your whole body is on fire! Your Highness, is this the distilled spirit you were talking about?"

Xiao Ce nodded and said, "That's right. If this thing is mass-produced, do you think it will be a bestseller?"

Lin Zhong nodded repeatedly: "Of course! Absolutely! In fact, not only in the four prefectures of the northern desert, but also in the Central Plains, this wine will definitely be a hot seller... If we follow your example and make up a story about it, just like we do with selling sugar, it will definitely fetch a high price!"

"Uncle Zhong, I didn't expect you to learn so quickly. You even know about packaging and marketing. Not bad. Here's what I'm thinking about this distilled spirit: sir, our product is a high-quality, high-proof spirit, around 52 degrees. Let's first target the wealthy. Once production capacity catches up, we can also make some lower-proof everyday spirits so that ordinary people can afford it!"

Xiao Ce followed Lin Zhong's introduction.

"Diopters? What are diopters?"

Xiao Ce didn't know how to explain it for a moment: "It's a standard for judging the quality of winemaking techniques."

Lin Zhong nodded: "So, Your Highness wants me to manage these things?"

Xiao Ce continued, "That's right. Before you came, we also made some composite bows and repeating crossbows..."

As Xiao Ce spoke, he had Da Lei let Lin Zhong test the composite bow and the repeating crossbow.

“These things all need to be produced. And as you can see, Uncle Zhong, these things need to be produced in a strictly confidential place. And I need a person in charge to manage it, although I have arranged for Shen Hu to go there.”

"However, he is ultimately a warrior, and I need someone to oversee the overall situation there... I really can't think of anyone else but you..."

Lin Zhong heard Xiao Ce say, "Your Highness, you chose me for more than just that, didn't you? Don't you also want to protect me?"

Xiao Ce did indeed have this idea.

After all, the reason this place is safe right now is entirely because those powerful and prestigious families are all in his hands.

Once they are released, there will definitely be undercurrents.

Going to Tiger and Leopard Stronghold is indeed the safest option for Lin Zhong!

Xiao Ce did not deny it: "I do have that idea, but the most important thing is that I need you to manage it."

"Actually, those money-making things aren't the main thing. I'm sending you there because there are two more important things that I need you to produce as soon as possible."

Lin Zhong asked with some confusion, "What is it?"

"First, gunpowder; second, cement!"

He could understand the two things Xiao Ce mentioned just by hearing their names.

However, when these words were put together, Lin Zhong had some doubts.

"Gunpowder? What kind of medicinal material is that? I've never heard of it before. And the cement you mentioned, is it just mud from the river?"

"Gunpowder is not a medicine for human use. Rather, as the name suggests, it is a substance that can be ignited by sparks, flames, etc., and can cause sufficient damage if the amount is sufficient."

Xiao Ce's desire to produce gunpowder was not about developing firearms. His idea was to use gunpowder to create explosives, which could then be used for coal mining.

It's important to understand that in this era, most of the coal used was charcoal, with very little coal. Even if some coal was available, it was all found on the surface of the earth, and its production was extremely limited. With the help of explosives, underground coal mines could be mined.

On the other hand, with explosives available, another thing he needed, cement, became easier to produce.

Cement is actually made through continuous high-temperature calcination.

Cement has even more uses. In civilian applications, it can be used to reinforce city walls, build cement roads, and repair houses.

Most of the houses here are made of wood, which doesn't last long. If they were replaced with cement, they could last for generations without breaking down.

It can truly achieve the effect of leaving the house even after the person leaves.

If all the roads here were paved with cement, the efficiency of transportation would be greatly improved. Moreover, cement would be of great use during wartime.

Cement is easy to carry and can be used to quickly build defensive fortifications during wartime.

In particular, using cement to build 'cement barricades' would be a powerful weapon against the Turks.

...

Xiao Ce explained what needed to be done.

"These are all of utmost importance right now, and none of them can be neglected! But I'm missing one thing: someone I can trust! Uncle Zhong, are you willing to help me?"

Although Lin Zhong was confused, he knew that supervising the manufacture of weapons, the production of sugar, salt, and liquor, the research on gunpowder and explosives, and the mass production of cement were all very important to Xiao Ce.

Seeing that Xiao Ce had entrusted him with such an important matter, the jealousy he felt at first vanished instantly.

"Your Highness, this is such an important matter. Who else but me could handle it? But are you sure you trust me with these important matters? These things are practically your lifeline!"

Xiao Ce smiled slightly: "It is precisely because it is my lifeline that I am entrusting it to you!"