Tumeng: I am a national advisor in the Golden Family

For a whole day and night, Rukreddin completely controlled the entire Assassin, and carried out a bloody process, killing thousands of the old man's confidants in the mountains, as well as those who were unwilling to obey him.

With more than a day left before the deadline for the Daqian Empire's Western Expedition Army's ultimatum, Rukledin summoned all the assassin elders, assassin masters, and some ministers such as the chief steward of internal affairs.

"Everyone, I think you should be aware of the current situation. We no longer have any way to retreat. There is only one way left for us, and that is to surrender to the Mongolian army on its westward expedition." Rukledin looked at everyone and spoke.

When he had just gathered the entire Assassin force, he was indeed ambitious and even fantasized about relying on this extremely strong fortress and partially self-sufficient food for defense.

Wait for the Mongolian army to retreat, but this idea was soon rejected as it was too crazy.

If he failed, he would be in a life-and-death battle with the Mongol army that had invaded the West, and the Mongol commander who had tolerated him twice.

He would definitely choose to kill himself, so Rukreddin had no way out.

"Prince Rukreddin, this castle and this land have been controlled by your family for hundreds of years.

It is like your property. You have no choice but to lead us to surrender. We are willing to accept your leadership and believe in you. "An assassin elder stood up and said.

The Mongolian army came with such a fierce momentum, and the number of troops in the westward expedition was no less than that of Genghis Khan's westward expedition more than 30 years ago.

This is a force that the Assassins cannot resist.

"I'm relieved that you all understand my approach." Rukreddin nodded with satisfaction.

“But Prince Rukreddin, or the new leader of our Assassins, the new Old Man of the Mountain, you have to guarantee our rights and protect all our property. We can surrender to the Mongol army in name only.

But we must have self-control, we must retain our own strength and our own army." An assassin elder said.

This is what they care about. Other things don’t matter, but this matter must be discussed in advance.

Their respective properties cannot be infringed upon, and the army of their Assassin organization must be retained. They must submit to the Daqian Empire and pay it a 10% tax.

"I will send an envoy to talk to the Mongols, but don't hold out too much hope.

Although we surrender, according to Mongolian rules, all of us must give more than half of our property to the Mongolian army." Ruklaidin said.

This is no joke. The Mongols will not make too many demands on you. When Genghis Khan made his first westward expedition, the entire Central Asian region was flooded with blood, and the Khwarezmian Empire was destroyed.

Even for surrendered cities, all residents had to be sent out of the city, and then the Mongolian soldiers would begin to plunder. After the looting, these people would not be able to live in peace, and all men would be captured by the Mongols to serve as soldiers.

It is precisely because of this that the people of Khwarezmah were so disgusted with Mongolia that they immediately launched a rebellion after Genghis Khan's army retreated from the westward expedition, although it was eventually suppressed.

As long as you let the people of this land believe in the previous religion and as long as they can live a decent life, they will basically not resist the Western Liao and Later Liao that rule here.

But facing the Mongols, the people of this land are disgusted. Even if they pretend to submit because the Mongols are strong now, they will definitely rebel afterwards. There is no doubt about it. (The Ilkhanate can be said to be the first of the four Mongol khanates to perish. Even if the monarch converted to Islam and changed his title from Khan to Sultan, it did not change anything.)
"I agree with Elder Hatiti. We must guarantee our rights. We can pay money to the Mongols, we can provide food and taxes, but we must at least retain our autonomy." Another assassin elder nodded and spoke.

This is what most of the assassin elders meant. Their Assassin organization has a great say in this land. In addition to this fortress, they also have many territories.

"I understand. I will tell the Mongols our demands, but don't hold too high hopes." Rukledin nodded and said.

Soon, a group of messengers left the Assassin Eagle's Nest and headed towards the camp of Zhang Dingxia's Western Expedition Army.

These envoys were soon received by Zhang Dingxia.

"Your Honorable Eastern Monarch, I am here to convey the intentions of the new old man in the mountains!" The messenger bowed to Zhang Dingxia and spoke.

"A new old man in the mountains. Are there still old men in the mountains now?" A Mongolian captain snorted coldly and spoke.

After they occupied this place, they would set up a Mongolian governor to manage this place. Of course, as a surrendered area, the governor here could be a local.

But the title of Old Man in the Mountain will no longer exist, nor will it appear again in the future. This title has become a thing of the past.

"Prince Rukreddin intends to surrender to you, but please generously agree to a few conditions for us.

Our Assassin organization must retain its autonomy, and our prince will call you his spokesperson to rule this land, and all the nobles in our Assassin organization must retain their property. "The messenger bowed to Zhang Dingxia and spoke.

"My ultimatum only lasts one night. If Rukledin doesn't bring his men down the mountain to surrender to me tomorrow morning, I will lose all my patience," Zhang Dingxia said.

At this time, you still dare to send someone to negotiate with me, and even drag it on until the night before my deadline.

At this moment, Zhang Dingxia was almost losing all his patience. If you really want to surrender to me, then act quickly!
Rukreddin, do you really think I don't know the specific situation on the mountain? You have completely controlled the Eagle's Nest, but you did not surrender to me immediately as agreed, but chose to negotiate with me.

Among the 5,000 people who were released before, there were actually quite a number of assassin troops.

They look and act like the locals because they are Central Asian Arabs or Persians secretly adopted by Zhang Yong.

These people were also raised by Zhang Yong since childhood and were instilled with the belief of loyalty to Zhang Yong.

This group of ragtag troops that were let go had no organization. How could we justify ourselves if we didn't let some spies in?
So Zhang Dingxia arranged a team of more than one hundred assassins to infiltrate.

In this team, the assassins have been sending messages down the mountain these days, so Zhang Dingxia knows exactly what is going on on the mountain.

It's not that I'm blind and know nothing.

"If your Prince Rukreddin is not sincere in surrendering to me, then I will kill everyone here and raze your city to the ground." Zhang Dingxia directly drew out his sword, pointed it at the envoy kneeling below, snorted coldly, and spoke.

Hearing this, the messenger was so frightened that he trembled and even his legs began to shake.

"Great Eastern monarch, please don't blame me. I am just a messenger. If you have any orders, please tell me and I will convey them to Prince Rukledin." The messenger knelt on the ground and spoke with a trembling voice.

“Go back and tell Rukreddin that, as we agreed, he has no right to negotiate with me and I have given him the highest tolerance.

If he still refuses to surrender, then only destruction awaits them. "Zhang Dingxia said.

When the messenger heard this, he felt as if he had been pardoned. He kowtowed to Zhang Dingxia, then immediately turned around and left the military camp, mounted his horse, and headed towards the Eagle's Nest without looking back.

“Second Prince! I think this man named Rukreddin is just trying to play tricks, and we have already believed him twice.

I helped him deal with those assassins and released his men, but now he wants to go back on his word." A Han army general said.

It's already this late, and you still dare to negotiate with us? Tomorrow is the deadline, and by then no one can save you.

"You have also seen this castle, standing on such a huge cliff. It is too difficult to capture it. It has been managed for hundreds of years, and I want to use it as a stronghold.

Otherwise, why would I communicate with that Ruklaidin! All of you go and get ready, if Ruklaidin does not come down the mountain to surrender to us tomorrow morning within the agreed time.

Then I will prepare to completely destroy their fortress, bring all the mountain artillery and field artillery to me, I want to do some exercises. "Zhang Dingxia said. "I obey the commander's order!"

The Mongolian and Han generals in the tent nodded and said.

Soon the messenger returned to the Eagle's Nest and was quickly taken by the guards to meet Rukreddin himself.

"How is it? Did the Mongols agree to our conditions and keep our property? Let us have autonomy and keep our army." An assassin elder asked anxiously.

If you lose all your wealth and status, you might as well die! There is no point in living like this.

"Prince Lukreddin, and all the elders and masters, the Mongol commander of the Western Expedition Army did not agree to our conditions. He said that we have no conditions to negotiate and that surrendering immediately is our only way out.

He even refused to acknowledge the identity of the Mountain Old Man Hassan, and said that there would be no such title in the future. "The messenger knelt on the ground and told everyone exactly what Zhang Dingxia said.

"How could this happen? We surrendered voluntarily. Logically, they should agree to our terms!"

“If he doesn’t agree to our terms, then let them see the power of our Assassin organization.

Now we have a new leader, and there is enough food on this mountain, enough for us to hold out for more than a year, so let's fight them for a while." An assassin elder said.

"That's right. The Mongols definitely don't want to waste time here when they launch this westward expedition.

They only have two options: either the main force besieges us here and gives up attacking other areas, or they send a detachment to attack us." An assassin elder said.

“We have fought against the Mongolian army before, and we have also heard some rumors that this time, in addition to the Mongolians, there are also a considerable number of Han troops in the Western Expedition.

They carried the most advanced artillery weapons, the attack range of which was more than twice that of the catapult, and its destructive power was also enormous.

Your Majesty Rukreddin, the great Old Man of the Mountain, our new Hassan, you must make a decision.

Should we resist or surrender unconditionally to the enemy?" An assassin master looked at Rukreddin and asked.

"Great Old Man of the Mountains, don't be scared by the Mongols. They are not as scary as you think. It's just because your father made the wrong decision before." Another master assassin said.

The old man in the mountain’s plan had failed before, but if they were to defend themselves now, they should be able to hold off the Mongolian army for a while.

By that time, when the Mongolian army failed to capture the city after a long siege, it would be more reasonable for them to propose negotiation conditions.

This would force the Mongols to sit down at the negotiation table and negotiate with them.

"No, we can't wait any longer. The Mongols have power that we can't imagine. Since we have chosen to surrender, we should abide by the agreement. We can't let the Mongols use it as an excuse to massacre us."

"But are we going to give up our property and everything we deserve?" The two assassin elders started arguing.

The scene in the palace was somewhat chaotic. Countless assassin masters, assassin elders, and even some high-ranking officials were divided into two factions.

Some factions advocated immediate surrender to avoid being captured by the Mongols and used as an excuse to massacre them.

Another part believed that they should hold out for a while and only surrender as a last resort, and they would put forward more harsh conditions to the Mongols.

Obviously, neither side could convince the other and they were stuck in a stalemate. Even Rukledin didn't know what to do and he was more inclined to surrender.

But if I surrender like this, everything I have worked so hard to gain by killing my father will be handed over to someone else!

Just as everyone was arguing, suddenly an ordinary assassin ran in in a panic, with sweat on his forehead.

"It's bad, it's bad, Lord Rukledin, the Mongols have pushed dozens of giant cannons to the foot of the mountain.

A large number of artillery units are ready, and it looks like they are about to launch a strong attack on us." The young assassin said in panic.

"What! How could this be? There is still one day left before the deadline, and they have already decided to attack?" Rukledin's expression changed, and he said in disbelief.

"Great old man of the mountains, please don't be anxious. This may be an enemy strategy. Let's send someone out to take a look. Maybe the Mongols are just putting pressure on us." An assassin elder said.

"That's right, we, boom! boom! boom!"

Before he could finish his words, there was a sudden loud roar.

"What happened? Did the Mongols enter the palace? They were the first to violate the agreement. The agreed time was tomorrow morning, but there is still some time before dawn!" Hearing the huge sound of artillery fire, Rukledin's hands and feet suddenly turned cold.

The Mongolian army had been using this weapon for a long time, so they naturally knew about it. This type of artillery had a very long range, enormous power, and was more convenient to carry than a catapult.

Rukreddin brought a group of assassin masters and assassin elders to the highest point of the Eagle's Nest, which is the best lookout point. From here, you can see the entire picture below.

At this time, the Mongolian army did fire artillery, but the direction of the artillery fire was not towards them, but towards a mountain on the side.

The Western Expedition Army seemed to want to show them something, so it bombarded another hill.

Rocks kept falling from the hilltop that was bombarded by the Mongol army's westward expedition. The entire mountain was blown to pieces, and even some huge rocks were blown away.

The entire hill seemed to have been blown off, with craters and flames everywhere. The hillside was not high and could not be compared to their Eagle's Nest.

But if the Mongols used this thing to bombard them, the consequences can be imagined.

"Lu, Prince Rukreddin, I think we'd better surrender to the Mongolian army as soon as possible." The elder who had just proposed to gather together for a while and put forward more stringent conditions to the Mongols said after swallowing hard.

At this moment, his hands and feet were cold.

"It looks like we have no choice. Let's go! Everyone follow me, let's go down the mountain and surrender." said Rukledin.

"A wise decision, Lord Rukreddin."

An hour later, Rukreddin came to the foot of the hill with a large amount of gold, silver and jewelry collected by the Assassins, and even ten young and beautiful girls, as well as all the assassin masters and assassin elders.

"I thought you would come to see me tomorrow morning!" Zhang Dingxia came in front of Rukleding and said with a sneer.

“Son of the Great Prophet, how dare I keep you waiting?

I postponed it for a while so that I could search for some treasures for you and select some beautiful girls for you." Rukreddin said with a smile.

"Hahaha! Really? I'll take these things. Did the sound of the artillery fire just now scare you?
I asked the artillery to conduct some exercises. Don't worry! It's not aimed at you. "Zhang Dingxia patted Ruklaiding on the shoulder and said with a smile. (End of this chapter)