Chapter 50: Arriving at Lingxiao City

Chapter 50: Arriving at Lingxiao City

Nie Bing nodded. This time, she held nothing back and told him everything she knew.

After listening, Xiao Ce frowned slightly.

He truly had not expected that the intricate relationships in the Four Northern Desert Prefectures were even more complicated than those in the Capital.

He had originally thought Bao An was the biggest power here, but after hearing Nie Bing’s words, he realized that person was just the one the noble clans had tacitly pushed to the forefront.

The waters of the Four Northern Desert Prefectures were indeed deep.

“Then why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

Nie Bing glanced at Xiao Ce and replied, “Because I never thought you could make it alive to the Northern Desert! But the facts show that I was mistaken!”

“Now that I’ve told you all this, do you still think you can fulfill the three-year agreement from before?”

Xiao Ce smiled, his face full of confidence. “After learning this, I think it might take less than three years!”

Nie Bing looked at Xiao Ce. For the first time ever, she did not refute him.

“Then we’ll wait and see.”

…

The next day, after Xiao Ce got up early as usual, he practiced the Eight Section Brocade exercises and then ran five kilometers.

He also did some strength training.

Immediately after, he trained in some combat techniques with Da Lei.

After more than a month of this training, Xiao Ce clearly felt much stronger in his body.

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

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

“Da Lei, have I improved?”

Da Lei stood by, bowing slightly. “Prince, your progress is remarkable. After training with me for only a month, you can already exchange over a dozen moves with me without falling behind.”

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

“You rascal, why does that sound a bit like an insult!”

Da Lei cupped his hands. “Prince, I speak the truth. I am not flattering you. Your talent is very high. With your current ability, if you found some veterans in the army and fought them bare-handed, three or five men together would not be your match!”

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

“You think, how long would I need to train to beat you?”

Da Lei looked at Xiao Ze and said, “Prince, without external help, in a one-on-one fight, you have absolutely no chance.”

Seeing this, Xiao Ce smiled and said, “Can’t you be a little more modest?”

Da Lei still had no expression on his face as he said to Xiao Ce, “Prince, it was you who said that I must not lie to you and must tell the truth!”

Xiao Ce was speechless for a moment, then smiled and nodded.

Just then, Yan Jia rode over on a horse.

“Your Majesty, my five thousand cavalry have already changed into Bao Family Army uniforms as you instructed, and we have also captured several of Cai Wu’s military advisors!”

Xiao Ce nodded. “Good. This Prince will go ahead first. You depart in one hour! If you encounter anyone, say Cai Wu ordered you to deliver gifts to Bao An!”

“After tricking them into opening the city gates, go and occupy Lingxiao City!”

Yan Jia cupped his hands in agreement. Just then, Shen Hu also walked over.

Shen Hu had arrived with the main force late last night.

Xiao Ce had seen them during his morning run.

“Reporting to the Prince, a total of forty-eight thousand three hundred men have all arrived. As you ordered, the three thousand new captives have been dispersed among the various units! Now, excluding General Yan Jia’s five thousand elites, we have fifty-two thousand men! They are now ready and waiting!”

“What we need now is provisions, weapons, and uniforms! Most importantly, provisions! Calculating normal rations, we need one hundred thousand jin of grain per day, which is nine hundred dan! Our current stockpile is enough to feed them for ten days at most! If no further provisions follow, we should run out of food after ten days!”

Shen Hu reported to Xiao Ce.

Just then, Yin Pan’er and Nie Bing also got up. After hearing their conversation, Yin Pan’er reminded, “According to the plan, the first batch of disaster victims will arrive soon. It’s estimated that several thousand will arrive each day… These disaster victims have a great need for food. And after the first batch arrives, more disaster victims will come every day! Prince, if you cannot obtain grain! When their bellies are empty, these people will surely panic…”

Xiao Ce nodded. “Don’t worry, grain will come soon!”

With that, Xiao Ce said to Yin Pan’er, “Pan’er, Nie Bing, you two stay here for now. I need to trouble you to first plan out this empty city. Settle the arriving commoners, and then distribute the farmland.”

Yin Pan’er listened and nodded. “Prince, how should we distribute the farmland here?”

Xiao Ce then said to Da Lei, “Da Lei, go get the land distribution draft I wrote from my chest.”

Da Lei nodded and soon brought the draft Xiao Ce had written from his room.

Yin Pan’er took the land distribution draft written by Xiao Ce and looked at it. It covered over ten pages.

The first thing that caught her eye was, “Abolish private land ownership; implement the household contract responsibility system.”

Followed by a long, detailed introduction, including how to distribute and implement it, written very meticulously.

After reading it, Yin Pan’er felt her ideas were completely overturned.

Her eyes widened. “Prince, you thought of all this?”

Xiao Ce nodded. “Yes. How to implement it specifically still needs to be adapted to local conditions. Also, based on the current situation, reserve some land for military farms! For the army’s use in farming.”

“Military farms?” Yin Pan’er asked curiously.

Xiao Ce pointed to the detailed rules. “Go read it first. Nie Bing, your father previously held office here, so you must know many truly talented individuals. Use your connections and recruit them all first!”

Nie Bing nodded. “Alright!”

“Alright, I don’t have time to explain in detail. The document I gave you has a broad framework. How to work out the specifics is your own task!” Xiao Ce said.

Yin Pan’er nodded, looking at Xiao Ce. “Prince, then you…”

Xiao Ce said, “I have something important to do.”

“It’s about time. Da Lei, take the Twelve Fiends, we’re leaving!”

Da Lei nodded. “Prince, everything is ready.”

Yin Pan’er was somewhat worried. “Prince, are you going to Lingxiao City? That’s Bao An’s stronghold. Wouldn’t going there be walking right into a trap?”

Xiao Ce laughed. “Stronghold? This Prince is going to take down Bao An’s stronghold today!”

After saying that, Xiao Ce did not explain further.

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

Outside the city, he saw Yan Jia who was already preparing.

“Yan Jia, after nightfall, you must take Lingxiao City at the fastest speed possible! This Prince’s life is in your hands.”

Yan Jia cupped his hands in acknowledgment. “As you command, Prince. We have already scouted. Lingxiao City has a total of five thousand garrison troops, spread across the four city gates. We are wearing the same uniforms as them, so they won’t be able to tell friend from foe then. We will use white cloths on our left arms as markers, so we can distinguish friend from foe!”

Xiao Ce listened to Yan Jia’s plan and nodded. “Very good. Have Shen Hu send ten thousand men over two hours after you to fortify the defense!”

Yan Jia nodded.

Xiao Ce gave simple orders, then left with the Twelve Fiends and a carriage.

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

He planned to deliver wedding congratulations to Bao An in the name of the Qian Clan Trading House. When he left Anhua City, the boss of the Qian Clan Trading House had told Xiao Ce.

Their Qian family had businesses in Lingxiao City, and they also had some connections there.

When he needed to use it, he should take the jade token of Boss Qian, find the manager of the Qian Clan Trading House in Lingxiao City, and they would arrange everything.

It was less than fifty li from Yanmen City to Lingxiao City. Riding at full speed, they arrived in less than two hours. The most striking impression this area gave Xiao Ce was desolation.

Along the way, apart from a few merchant caravan escorts, they saw no ordinary commoners at all.

It was very quiet.

They arrived at the gate of Lingxiao City.

There were many soldiers at the city gate.

Lingxiao City was considered the center of the Four Northern Desert Prefectures, so the city was built very grandly.

Today might be Bao An’s wedding day, so the inspection at the city gate was very strict.

Everyone’s identity was questioned and inspected before they were allowed to enter.

Soon, it was Xiao Ce’s turn.

The leading soldier looked over Xiao Ce and his group. Even though Xiao Ce and the others had changed into clothing common in the Four Northern Desert Prefectures, the leading soldier captain recognized them at a glance. “You’re not locals, are you?”

Xiao Ce had already prepared his story. He cupped his hands. “Esteemed Captain, I came from the Central Plains. I’m the manager of the Qian Clan Trading House in Anhua City. I was ordered to deliver wedding congratulations and gifts for Grand General Bao An…”

With that, Xiao Ce gave Da Lei a meaningful look. “Quickly, open the chests for inspection by the honorable Captains.”

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

The leading soldier captain’s eyes lit up a bit at the sight of the chests filled to the brim with silver.

Xiao Ce then took out a bulging bag of silver from his pocket and pressed it into the leading captain’s hand.

“Honorable Captains, this is a small token of our appreciation. Grand General Bao An is getting married today, you all are working hard.”

The leading captain took the bag of silver, weighed it a few times in his hand, and his smile widened a bit. “As expected from the Central Plains, very generous indeed! Since it’s your kind intention, I’ll accept it graciously.”

Then the leading captain asked Xiao Ce, “You’re not carrying any weapons, are you?”

Xiao Ce quickly said, “No… none… We understand the rules. The chests inside are all gifts to show respect to Grand General Bao An… And the two chests at the very back contain the most popular Tianshan Snow Salt and Tianshan Snow Frost Sugar in noble circles in the Central Plains Region recently!”

Saying this, he again signaled Da Lei to open them.

The leading captain leaned forward to look. “I’ve heard of those! They say they are harvested from immortal mountains. Magical, truly magical! The sugar is so crystal clear! It is indeed an immortal-grade item.”

Xiao Ce said, “Captain, please forgive me. These items are truly precious, tributes for Grand General Bao An. Their weight is measured down to the smallest fraction. If even a tiny amount is missing, it might cost me my life. So, I cannot offer any to you.”

Hearing Xiao Ce’s words, the leading captain smiled and waved his hand. “Manager, you jest. Such immortal-grade items naturally belong to the Grand General. We are not worthy. Alright, go on in.”

Xiao Ce smiled and cupped his hands in acknowledgment!

Then he said to Da Lei and the others, “Hurry up, time is getting late. Get inside quickly. If we delay delivering the gifts, you’ll all be in serious trouble!”

With that, they hurried inside.

Because they had heard the city gate inspection was strict, they had hidden their weapons early on. There was also a special ‘big gift’ Xiao Ce had specifically prepared for Bao An.

Just as it seemed they would smoothly enter the city area, a voice from that captain suddenly came from behind.

“Hold on!”