Mount and Blade Central Asia

In the area within ten kilometers outside Batman City, most of the scouts they encountered were Aries people, while the traces of those cunning Mongols passed Batman City and headed further east.

Thanks to the help of those dark wizards, Geraldine was able to contact the Black Sheep King himself every day to exchange existing intelligence.

Therefore, Jalaluddin was very clear about the current situation. The city of Van, which was supposed to provide him with strong support, was now entangled with the Armenians in Erzurum and was unable to split its attention.

Chapter 507 Change your mind

On April 12, 1409, after drifting on the sea for nearly a month, Renzo Piano finally saw the familiar yet unfamiliar port, the Port of Alexandretta.

When he first came here, he traveled by land, crossing the entire Anatolian Plateau, fighting all the way, and changing four or five employers in the middle before finally arriving at this land. It took him a full year and eight months on the road.

If it weren't for the wars going on everywhere in these pagan lands, business was really good, and Renzo Piano's Golden Arrow Mercenaries were quite capable, they would have dispersed long ago.

Especially when he worked for the Mongolian shaman for the last ticket, Renzo Piano even felt that he had become the businessman who dominated the business world again, making a big deal like gambling and finally returning with a lot of money.

It is no exaggeration to say that Aleppo is the place where Renzo Piano's dream begins anew. However, when they left this port attached to Aleppo, it was still desolate and could not accommodate large ships.

They eventually had to take small boats to get themselves onto the big ship that would take them home one by one.

Now, standing on the side of the big ship, Renzo Piano can see the densely packed ships in the port. There are even special transport boats guiding order near the port to prevent collisions.

The bustling crowds at the port make it look even more prosperous. Even by the standards of a Genoese like Piano, this is a very lively port.

Renzo Piano saw on the flags of several merchant ships the ships of the Kingdom of Cyprus, merchants from Cairo, Venetians, and Genoese like himself.

Of course, there were more Saracen merchant ships. Normally, these people would fight each other over a piece of grass or a stone, but now they were sitting together and waiting obediently to enter the port.

What on earth did the shaman do to make even the Cypriots, a loyal ally of the Knights Hospitaller, temporarily give up their arrogance and hatred?

"You're unlucky. It will take at least two days to queue up to enter the port. You either have to spend your own money to find a small boat to transport your people down, or prepare two more days of food expenses." The captain of the ship transporting the Golden Arrow muttered reluctantly.

He had not known that this port was so vibrant, otherwise he would not have foolishly transported several ships of people here.

Unless they are slaves, humans are always the least valuable type of cargo of the same volume. They are not dead objects, they need space to move around, food and fresh water, and they constantly squeeze the cargo capacity in the cabin.

More importantly, people are consumable goods. Anything can happen at sea. A simple cold or fever may cost a person's life.

On the way here, Piano had lost six men. The good news was that the most elite retired navy men were intact because they were accustomed to life at sea all year round. The bad news was that one of the six dead was a doctor he hired at a high salary.

That damn doctor had never been on a boat in his life, so during a not-so-big storm, the doctor fell directly into the sea. When he was rescued, he had drunk at least five kilograms of water and was deader than dead.

"Two days' worth of food? How dare you ask for that? I haven't even held you responsible for not letting me arrive on time!" Piano retorted subconsciously, "My employer is a man of great punctuality. If it's because of your mistake..."

"Hey, look where you are now. According to the contract, I have successfully delivered you to your destination." The captain said with a displeased look, "You know what? I have changed my mind now. Before the sun sets today, you and your damn soldiers must get off my ship."

Obviously, the prosperity of the port of Alexandria has greatly stimulated the captains of these ships, and they are eager to make a fortune from it.

The mercenaries on his ship who did nothing but eat and shit now seemed a bit of an eyesore. After these mercenaries got off the ship, they needed to clean the cabin thoroughly before using it to store other goods.

What’s the saying, time is money, my friend!

"If I can find someone I know who can give priority to our current situation and allow you to dock, and also find someone I know to help you arrange a shipping contract, can you waive my freight for this trip?" Piano knew full well that some people didn't care about expired goods, so he planned to make a killing from him.

The Golden Arrow Mercenary Group has already started making profits before even landing. What a pleasant thing!

"Not a penny less, unless you slap the contract in my face." The captain laughed and pointed at the sun. "You have less than four hours. If I were you, I'd get in the water now while the water's still warm."

However, what Piano said this time was true. He really had acquaintances here. After all, his mercenary group had left here less than a year ago.

So Piano really found someone to let his ships cut in line and dock.

Although this behavior attracted polite greetings from countless sailors in the port, it had nothing to do with Piano.

Chapter 508 Someone Wants to Attack Master Li at Night

Li Rufeng's fantasy was not without reason. The more gold he spent, the more he could feel its purchasing power.

Compared with the stingy favors the system gave him, it was the gold that was more helpful to Li Rufeng's career at this stage. The gold not only allowed Li Rufeng to recruit soldiers without restraint, improve the treatment of soldiers, exempt taxes to buy people's hearts, and expand his business territory at will, but he could also buy whatever he wanted on this basis.

Whether it was Venetian cannons or Genoese armor, Mr. Li always cared only about quality and output, not price.

In contrast, the damn Mount and Blade system has not yet recognized the new territory occupied by Li Rufeng in the system interface. In fact, even the city of Hama is still classified as belonging to the Syrian emirs in the system.

Because he did not get any definite promise or guarantee from those emirs, or to put it simply, according to the Mount & Blade system, the city of Hama was still under wartime occupation. Although Li Rufeng actually occupied the city, he had no management authority before the end of the war and before he exchanged points for ownership of the city.

Even the city of Hama is like this, not to mention the cities of Urfa and Mardin. Li Rufeng estimated that the Black Sheep King had to formally admit that he had lost the war and was willing to cede territory before the damn system would recognize that these lands belonged to him.

Fortunately, the real world is not as rigid as the game system. Although he has not been recognized by the system, Li Rufeng can still make full use of the city he has occupied.

Mardin is a city with a very good location. It occupies a high ground and has a tall tower facing away from the cliff. Those selected soldiers with eagle eyes can easily see the vast plains to the northeast of Mardin.

Except for those unified countries with strong national strength, almost all cities have gradually developed from small villages because of their geographical advantages. If the natural environment has not changed drastically, it must have the best conditions in the surrounding areas, allowing the rulers to reap stable benefits.

This is the case with the city of Mardin. It occupies the best transportation route with the best natural conditions within at least 150 kilometers in the north-south direction. Whether the caravans are heading to Aleppo or directly into the Anatolian Plateau, it is most convenient to take the roads near the city of Mardin.

At the same time, the existence of this city itself is also an important node in the trade process. The not-so-steep slope into the city will not cause much effort for the caravan's cattle, horses, and camels, but it can provide merchants with an additional trading platform, where they can obtain safe shelter, clean food, and water.

As long as Li Rufeng can provide a stable environment for this city, it will naturally recover slowly.

Moreover, this place had previously been under the rule of the Khanate. Li Rufeng's return to the city of Mardin was only to restore the previous order.

Although the Khanate once killed more ruthlessly than the Black Sheep, that was all in the past. Humans will not replace past hatreds with new ones, so for now, the current situation in Mardin is to welcome the return of the royal army...

This made Mirzan, who had just arrived, feel temporarily relieved. He was a newcomer in the tribal business circle, but he didn't know how he got so lucky that he became the lord of a city. This incident made Mirzan feel like he was dreaming until now.

Chapter 509 Ripe Fruit

Just as Li Rufeng had worried, Mrs. Medinatah was waiting for him at his residence. Although Li Rufeng's personal guards were 100% loyal to him, they were still human beings, not programmed robots.

If everyone thought that the woman had some special relationship with him, these guards would naturally think so too.

So when this woman appeared at the door of Li Rufeng's room and said that she had a surprise for the shaman, the guards' first reaction was to report the situation to Li Rufeng while at the same time asking Mrs. Medinatah if she needed them to boil hot water in advance.

Thanks to these personal guards who were willing to watch the fun, Li Rufeng now at least has some buffer time.

To be fair, Mrs. Medinatah is a very attractive woman, with the same mature charm as his maid Satuya and Her Royal Highness Princess Parisa.

It is difficult to say what kind of honor Genghis Khan had in the past, but it is obvious that any family that is crowned as the ruling class, as long as it reproduces long enough, will have the power to allow their descendants to be optimized from generation to generation as their bloodline continues, and ultimately greatly improve the appearance of the entire family.

From this perspective, the statement that Lady Medinatah is of the Golden Family bloodline is actually very likely. After all, although the Taierbahe tribe is also a large tribe, it obviously cannot raise such a noble lady.

Mrs. Medinatah is the kind of woman who can be easily picked out from thousands of people in the tribe at a glance. Her painting style and filters are completely different from those of the tribesmen.

But this woman also represents trouble, and she has never concealed her ambitions.

You know, according to the information Li Rufeng had heard, the peculiarity of the Golden Family's bloodline is not 100% genetically manifested, but a recessive gene expression, so the ritual of the True Gold Trial appears within the Golden Family.

So what kind of mother would let her child undergo the True Gold Trial when the Golden Family bloodline has no benefit to her?

Even if he passed the trial, what purpose did Medina Tahe have? For a small tribe like the Taierbahe, the Son of True Gold was definitely not an opportunity. On the contrary, it was a calamity!

Even for Li Rufeng now, the existence of Hanlusi, the son of true gold, is more trouble than benefit. The reason why he keeps this mother and son is to get an opportunity in the future.

Otherwise, given Master Li's personality, sleeping with a widow, especially a pretty one, would be fine. Besides Changshengtian, who could blame him? According to Mongolian custom, inheriting a brother's property also includes his wife and daughter. Master Li was doing his best to repay the Butubasin brothers!

What he was worried about was what unspeakable secrets were hidden behind Medina Tah. After all, the God of the Four Winds alone was enough to make him anxious and overwhelmed. If he was involved in the internal conflicts of the Golden Family, that would be too much trouble.

After all, strictly speaking, the great conqueror Timur was also the son-in-law of the Golden Family. Although the two heirs currently in conflict are not descendants of the "khanum" (daughter of the Khan or princess), it is obvious that the heirs of the Khanate are not as fond of the bloodline of the Golden Family as the great conqueror.

But since Mrs. Medinatah suddenly chose to appear at this time, she must have her reasons. In Li Rufeng's memory, that lady was not such an unreasonable person.

She was very clear about her strengths and weaknesses, and also understood Li Rufeng's character. He could tolerate her mischief within a certain range, but would never compromise on matters of principle.

If Li Rufeng had the opportunity to compete for the Khan's throne as the son-in-law of the Golden Family, or to gain benefits in other ways, then even if Lady Medinatah wanted to run away, she would be caught by Master Li, cleaned up and thrown into the bed.

The same is true if the opposite is true.

So Li Rufeng planned to meet this lady to see what her purpose was.

Mr. Li walked into his room, and Mrs. Medinatah was just as he had imagined, sitting at the table in a dignified manner, holding a letter in her hand, and there seemed to be a hint of sadness between her brows.

"Mrs. Medinatah, long time no see." Li Rufeng greeted her politely, then sat across the table, waiting for the beauty to speak first.

After being in the army for a long time, it is pleasing to the eyes to look at a beauty like Mrs. Medina Taher a few more times.

"Lord Rufeng, I am guilty!" Lady Medinatah sighed, as if she had finally come to her senses. "I've been hiding something from you. I have a sister here who shares my origins. She married into a Mongolian tribe in the west. We haven't been in touch for a long time, but..."

"Wait a minute!" Li Rufeng frowned, and suddenly several things in his mind connected. He looked up at Medinatah and asked directly, "Those Mongolian warlords now have the Son of Gold in their hands, right?"

Mrs. Medinatah was silent for a few seconds, then finally nodded. "I didn't know this before, but my sister recently wrote me a letter, and I just found out. She gave birth to a son and a daughter, and her son also passed the True Gold Trial."

So, this is why Baoledebagen suddenly rebelled against those heavily Turkified Mongolian tribes, and this is why a Mongolian like Aslen, whose bloodline is not pure at all, suddenly shouted the slogan of rebuilding the Mongol Khanate?

Li Rufeng pressed his temples with a headache, but soon, a pair of much softer hands took over his work.

"Sir, I'm just a woman. I don't know what impact this would have on a great man like you, but I can assure you that my sister and I are different. We don't have such big ambitions. I just want to watch my Hanlusi grow up. If he can grow up to be a great hero like you, I..."

Li Rufeng automatically blocked out Medinatah's chatter. He was thinking about the impact that a true son of gold could bring.

First of all, their speculation that the Mongolian warlords headed by Asleng were just using this method to show their existence was wrong. Now it seems that the Mongolian warlords really intended to do something big.

Li Rufeng knew that his prestige was very high. As the shaman of Changshengtian, the benevolent man who healed diseases, and the rebuilder of Aleppo, his status was just that high. But what if someone raised the flag of the Son of True Gold not far away?

The main force under his command are Chagatai Mongols of pure blood, who are die-hard supporters of the Golden Family... Damn, how many people will call Baoledebagen a traitor by then?

"Why are you telling me this?" Li Rufeng looked up at Medina Taher and asked back.

"Sir, I just want my Hanlus to be alive and well. I don't want anything else. I am just a little woman." Medina Taher replied with a smile.

"Take off your clothes, it doesn't look nice." Master Li patted Medina Taher's hand. The mature woman immediately understood and fell into his arms softly.

Chapter 510 Intelligence System

Medina Taher was a smart woman, even smarter than Li Rufeng thought. Obviously, when she was in the Taierba tribe, she just had no room to display her talents. Moreover, the Great Conqueror was still in its heyday at that time. It was hard to say what would happen to her if she, a branch of the Golden Family with blood, was discovered.

If she was lucky, she would be used as a bargaining chip like her sister. If she was unlucky, her whole family might be wiped out. But the situation is different now.

If it was said that Medina Tahe had just learned about the situation of his sister, it would be a bit too insulting to Li Rufeng. Just look at the reactions of the Mongolian warlords now to know how valuable a son of true gold is in troubled times.

Li Rufeng even felt that Medina Tah might be the only one among all his "own people" who could keep up with him from a political perspective. Of course, it might also be because no one else had considered the overall situation from the perspective of the heir to the Golden Family's bloodline, and Medina Tah might have to think about this issue every day when he opened his eyes.

But even so, Li Rufeng could not ignore the wisdom shown by Medinatah. She even accurately judged Li Rufeng's reaction to the appearance of another true gold son in Aleppo... Of course, another thing that Li Rufeng needed to consider was how she knew about the military affairs in the first place.

Li Rufeng could tolerate Medina Tah's influence in the Taierbahe tribe because she was the mother of Hanlus, and Hanlus was the grandson of Taierbahe. It was acceptable for those generals from the Taierbahe tribe to show some goodwill towards Medina Tah.

But Medina Tah's reaction this time was too quick, which could not be explained by good intentions. It proved that someone in the army put Medina Tah's interests above Li Rufeng's interests.

However, Li Rufeng did not intend to question Medina Taher directly. In fact, he quite enjoyed this kind of "open and secret struggle" between the two sides, especially when he had the initiative and could get what he wanted from this woman at any time.

Unlike the immature Satuya, Medina Taher is a mature fruit, sweet and tempting, and juice can be squeezed out if you squeeze it hard. If you add the attributes of ambition and meticulousness to it, it is a double enjoyment, from body to soul, allowing Li Rufeng to experience a double sense of conquest.

"Go and find out where Medinatah got the news." Li Rufeng casually called over a personal guard and ordered, "Also, check on Dangertai's return and see who in the tribes is secretly inquiring."

Watching the guard leave with his orders, Li Rufeng frowned slightly, once again lamenting the lack of talent under his command. They were all killers. He could already imagine what the guard would do when he returned...

But there was no way. If he really had such meticulous talents under his command, he would have become an official long ago, just like the tax collectors recruited by Muzaffar for the post station system. The worst-performing ones are now doing the same work that Muzaffar did.

Thinking of this, Li Rufeng wondered whether he should cooperate with the Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty. After all, as our ancestors said, professional matters should be left to professionals. He couldn't think of anyone in the world who was more suitable than the Jinyiwei to train people for professions like spies.

Although doing so would put the entire intelligence system under the control of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, to be honest, Li Rufeng was a time traveler from Eastern civilization after all, and he naturally felt a sense of familiarity with the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, the distance between the two sides is so far that there is almost no conflict of interest. On the contrary, they have a very broad basis for cooperation.

Or to put it another way, even if Li Rufeng was on guard, he probably couldn't stop the infiltration of the Jinyiwei. Two years ago, he simply didn't believe that in this era, there was any intelligence organization that could exert its influence across continents.

But the Jinyiwei who appeared before him not only did it, but also gave him a piece of regional intelligence that had been proven to be very accurate.

In comparison, the spies raised by the dark wizards were as crude as the soldiers under his command. They had no other good ideas except disguising themselves as bandits...

The Black Sheep spy who was freed from his restraints by Li Rufeng's exorcism method has been working as a counterintelligence worker under Li Rufeng for a while. Of course, it is only counterintelligence work in name. The spy named Raven is actually just following Li Rufeng's bandit-suppression team to suppress bandits everywhere, and then confirm whether the bandit leader is his former colleague.

Ironically, three out of five of the large-scale bandit gangs near Aleppo are old acquaintances of Raven, so Li Rufeng complained that the black sheep had no other good ideas.

However, the main reason for this is that the Black Sheep King is too poor. Apart from simple weapons and horses, he cannot provide more supplies to support these spies... That's right, the Black Sheep people have no money, at least the Black Sheep King himself has no money.

Although Li Rufeng didn't know why the Black Sheep King had no money, this was undoubtedly good news for him. Every morning when he woke up, he would wake up with a smile just by thinking about the fact that the Black Sheep people still occupied a large number of trade routes, but blocked the borders, forcing a large number of caravans to go south through the "Aleppo Corridor".

"Sir, Mirzan wishes to have lunch with you at noon." A guard approached slowly. Seeing Medinatah emerging from the room, he lowered his voice. "Mirzan wants to know when Mardin will reopen. He also hopes to borrow some of the military rations we seized to serve as grain reserves for the city."

"He got into the role pretty quickly. Tell him that I've approved the food issue. As for the war, that depends on whether the Black Sheep people cooperate. Let him start by restoring order in the city." Li Rufeng said as he gestured for Medina Taher to sit opposite him.

There was a simple sand table on the table in front of him. Looking at the sand table was almost the way all generals of this era used to understand the overall situation. Although the situation on the sand table often needed to be changed, it was always easier than drawing a picture.

"You have to start guarding against those Mongolian warlords, sir. I heard from my sister that those people have been preparing for this for several years." Medina Taher sat down without any hesitation. Her words and actions were no longer as cautious as when they first met last night. Instead, she seemed calm and confident.

This clever woman had already determined her new position from Li Rufeng's reaction last night. She knew that she had now changed from an insignificant chess piece to a crucial chess piece. At least before the shaman could deal with those Mongolian warlords, she was indispensable.

Of course, this is also because Medina Taher understands Li Rufeng's character, so she doesn't have to worry about the possibility that he will kill her and then control Hanlus alone.

Although Medina Taher did not know the Eastern proverb that a gentleman can be deceived by tricks, she had grasped this point with her woman's intuition. Although Li Rufeng was not a gentleman, compared with other rulers of this land, he was definitely worthy of the word "merciful".

Chapter 511 New Employment Contract

The situation in Batman did not get better as the war intensified, especially when those hateful Mongols began to bring the war further east of Batman.

This is the inevitable scene in every war that takes place on this land. The vast plains have nurtured countless nomadic peoples, and the cavalry will always use their more flexible figures to carry the flames of war to farther and wider areas at a speed that is difficult to control.

From the first day of the war, there was no so-called safe rear area. The side with superior military strength would always choose to bypass the enemy's heavily defended fortress.