Mount and Blade Central Asia

Even though the nuns, the teachers sent by her father, kept a very strict watch on her, Parisa still made some hard-earned friends here, and even a guardian knight who was her childhood sweetheart.

It’s a pity that you have to lose some things before you realize their value.

Everything Parisa once had was destroyed without a trace while she was fleeing the city and being hunted by the Black Sheep People.

And now, she has returned to the city once again as a half-hostess.

Although Parisa has not officially confirmed her relationship with Li Rufeng, she has already accepted this fact in her heart. She knows that she will never find a husband more suitable than Li Rufeng.

They met in an encounter that was not beautiful but definitely impressive, and so many stories happened afterwards that may not be romantic but are worth remembering.

For a princess like Parisa, she couldn't ask for more. Such a story, such a bond, was much better than being suddenly announced one day as someone's bride, or even one of the brides.

What's more, even without considering Li Rufeng's identity and the power he currently controls, he is still a very charming man.

He... is different from others. Parisa has had little contact with the opposite sex. Apart from her brothers, Li Rufeng is the man she is most familiar with. The second is Haishar. She was escorted by that meticulous knight on a pilgrimage.

And further down the list are her father and grandfather.

Parisa rode on her horse and looked at Li Rufeng, who was smiling and making faces in the sun, as if he was showing off his new toy and the newly occupied city. She couldn't help but laugh.

"I heard from the locals that you used to live in the Black Palace (Note 1). Fortunately, it was not demolished by those dark wizards." Li Rufeng walked forward and stretched out his hand to hold the reins of Parisa's warhorse.

Parisa, who had received advance notice of an entry ceremony, was dressed up in a white hunting suit with a flaming red cape, and rode a white horse.

In the sunlight, the slightly heavy clothing and the reflection of the shawl made Parisa's cheeks blush.

She was not used to showing her close relationship with Li Rufeng in such a public occasion.

At this time, behind Li Rufeng were two neatly-standing teams of a hundred men, who saluted Li Rufeng and Parisa with the chest-touching salute.

On the city wall, there were soldiers standing in neat rows, watching them, and at the same time looking down at the city inside and outside to prevent any unexpected situations.

A little further away, there were a large number of Mosul people who came to watch. Li Rufeng's soldiers had informed them early that Parisa, the former princess of Mosul, would be returning to her city today.

This is the biggest good news for Mosul in recent times. Although Princess Parisa has been in a semi-confinement state in Mosul, as a member of the royal family living here, she still enjoys considerable reputation.

What's more, Parisa is so beautiful that the occasional glimpse of her has left many urban legend-like rumors in the city of Mosul.

In addition, Parisa brought a large amount of supplies with her team this time. The appearance of Parisa meant that the people of Mosul could temporarily get rid of the kvass prepared by the black wizards.

That thing can really turn cowards into warriors. Li Rufeng estimated that if he let these refugees use kvass, they would have enough courage to pick up sticks and stones and fight him to the death.

"How does it feel to be home?" Li Rufeng turned and asked Parisa.

"I don't know if this can be called home. Almost everyone I knew here is gone." Parisa's tone was a little dazed when she spoke, but she still responded to Li Rufeng with a smile, "Maybe in the future, we can consider this place...home?"

Parisa's answer made Li Rufeng stunned for a moment. The opponent's straight ball attack made him laugh happily, as if he had eaten an ice cream in the hot summer.

However, there is another layer of meaning in Parisa's words, which Li Rufeng has been thinking about recently.

Whether considering commercial or political factors, Mosul's geographical location and size are much better than Aleppo. Apart from anything else, the population dividend alone is enough to crush Aleppo.

In Aleppo, even if Li Rufeng took more money out of his own pocket to subsidize the city, it might take enough time for the city to convert the money into population and other resources.

But Mosul is different. Even though it has become so dilapidated, it still has a population of more than 20,000.

With the right policies and sufficient influx of external materials, the city will soon return to its former prosperity.

Moreover, from the perspective of power distribution, it is impossible for Li Rufeng to enfeoff the city to a certain general. Doing so will undoubtedly lead to the outcome of strong branches and weak trunks.

So, from now on, will the center of power of the "Li Rufeng Group" be moved to Mosul?

Chapter 590: Merchants of Baghdad

The arrival of Princess Parisa has greatly boosted the morale of the people of Mosul. At least more citizens are willing to return to their hometown, clean up the mess and resume normal life.

This finally put Mr. Li's heart at ease, and he began to focus his attention in other directions.

The war between them and the Black Sheep People has not ended yet. The Black Sheep People have not been defeated. Li Rufeng has only temporarily gained the advantage and captured an important city.

In the north, the Black Sheep King was systematically withdrawing his troops and, under tremendous pressure, gave up a considerable portion of the territory bordering the former Khanate.

Of course, in principle, even if the Qara ...

From the information Li Rufeng has received so far, especially the reactions of the Iranian emirs outside the city of Erbil, Li Rufeng can be completely sure that the Iranians have no intention of going to war with the Black Sheep People. They are just here to take advantage of the opportunity.

Now that the Black Sheep King is willing to give up a large amount of land and cities, Li Rufeng estimates that the Iranians will soon stop fighting.

It goes without saying who the Black Sheep will deal with next, but even without the threat from the Iranians, the Black Sheep will not have an easy time.

In addition to Li Rufeng, the Black Sheep people also have to face the counterattack of the White Sheep people and the Armenians further north.

Among these three forces, Li Rufeng is the one who has the most food at the moment, which also means that he poses the smallest threat to the Black Sheep People.

Li Rufeng is now at the point where he has swallowed so many things that he is full. The troops he has at hand are barely enough to defend the land and cities he has already acquired, and he has no spare energy to continue the war with the Black Sheep People.

If the Black Sheep King was willing to sit down and talk with Li Rufeng at this time, and both sides took a step back, Li Rufeng would definitely agree very happily.

Of course, this does not mean that he will not support the Aries, Armenians and Hengyang people in continuing their confrontation. Now he is finally qualified to fight a proxy war.

As long as he is given some time to sort out the existing land on hand and restore the trade routes, the money that Mr. Li has spent on watering during this period will soon be recovered many times over.

In the south, Li Rufeng also faces some potential threats.

Baghdad, more than 300 kilometers away, was the former capital of the Jashariid dynasty. After being stolen by the Black Sheep People, it has been under the high-pressure control of the Black Sheep People.

It can be said that the governor appointed by the Qara Sheep in Baghdad will even make the people of Baghdad miss the days when they were ruled by the Mongols and the Timurid Khan.

Now Li Rufeng has recaptured Mosul and cut off all communication between Baghdad and Tabriz. Just like when the Black Sheep People split the Timurid Empire into two, Baghdad has also become an enclave.

On the third day after Princess Parisa entered Mosul, a group of merchants claiming to be from Baghdad came with a load of goods and hoped to meet Li Rufeng in the name of an audience with the Khanate princess.

Everyone in the city of Mosul knows that the real owner of Mosul, Li Rufeng, is with Her Royal Highness the Princess almost every day. Using the name of the Princess is just a more just procedure. After all, Master Li has always claimed to be the orthodox Khanate.

"Your Excellency, I am Shaw Walad, a humble merchant from Baghdad. I heard that you had liberated the city from the evil Black Sheep, and I immediately brought my caravan here to seek opportunity and wealth."

The person who spoke was a very dignified-looking man with brown eyes, a brown beard, and skin that was fairer than the locals, making it difficult to tell his ethnicity at first glance.

"Mosul is an open city. Anyone can pursue money here." Li Rufeng invited Xiao Walad to sit down with a smile and talk while eating.

Of course, Master Li is not so enthusiastic to everyone, but if someone is willing to give 2,000 kilograms of grain as a gift, just to meet him and have a meal with him, then he can also see such a bright smile on Li Rufeng's face.

"Greed is the biggest weakness of human nature, but for a businessman, it is a good quality, and it makes him a qualified businessman, sir." Xiao Valad looked at the maid pouring milk as a drink for the two of them, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

Islam does have a prohibition on alcohol, but not many people actually abide by it. The custom of drinking among the people is not that widespread. The main reason is that due to years of war and insufficient grain production, there is not enough surplus grain to make wine.

"Tell me why you're here, Xiao Valad, and see if I can satisfy your appetite." Li Rufeng's policy has always been to open the door to do business, so he is quite friendly to the merchant class.

"I hope to become the exclusive supplier of food for Mosul. I guarantee that I can supply large quantities of food at a good price." As soon as Xiao Walad opened his mouth, he really meant to be a big businessman, and he was also greedy enough.

Mosul is a big city, and Li Rufeng is very confident that it will take less than half a year to restore the population to more than 30,000.

How to feed these 30,000 people is definitely the most important responsibility of the entire city. As a result, a businessman now ran up to him and told him that he wanted to take on this business.

Li Rufeng smiled, raised his glass and motioned the other party to drink with him. This was the time to see the guest off.

No ruler would give away such an important business, and Li Rufeng was no exception. The other party's 2,000 kilograms of grain made him not get angry because of this request, even if it was allocated to the place.

"I didn't explain it clearly, sir..." Xiao Valad noticed Li Rufeng's displeasure, but he was just testing the waters. His real purpose was -

"What I mean is that in the next three months, I am willing to help you share your worries and provide Mosul with sufficient food at a favorable price," Xiao Walad continued. "If you agree, my caravan can transport all the necessary food to Mosul within half a month."

Li Rufeng's face instantly became smiling again. If this deal was subject to a time limit, and specified to be within the last three months, then it would be a good deal.

Because Li Rufeng really did not have enough food, he had been buying food at high prices along the way and sending it to Mosul.

This situation will continue until the end of this year. By then, the farmland reclaimed by several reclamation militias should have a good harvest, and Li Rufeng will have temporarily escaped the threat of food shortage.

"The price is negotiable, but I want to know where your food comes from?" Li Rufeng began to be curious about the merchant in front of him.

In this era and in this land, a merchant who controls such a large amount of grain is not an ordinary person, not to mention that he is from Baghdad, which nominally still belongs to the Black Sheep People.

"I'm afraid this is a trade secret, sir," Xiao Valad said cautiously, "but if you're truly interested in the origins of this grain, I'm happy to answer your questions after the transaction is completed."

"Well, it looks like I need to be patient for a while." Li Rufeng shrugged and asked, "Are you willing to accept gold as a bargaining chip?"

"No, sir, that's why I wanted to talk to you privately. I need another way to pay." Xiao Valad let out a long sigh, then said, "I want to hire your army as payment. I only need two thousand men, no, one thousand, and one week's time!"

This time it was finally Li Rufeng's turn to testify, and he began to look at the businessman opposite him seriously again.

After all, his goal was too obvious. The fact that he could transport so much food from Baghdad must have something to do with the governor of the Black Sheep...

Chapter 591 The Jealous Woman

From a geopolitical perspective, Baghdad has a better geographical location than Mosul.

Mosul is located near the Zagros Mountains, and there is only one trade route to the east, which is affected by the mountains.

Baghdad is located in a plain area with convenient transportation and is closer to the Persian Gulf. It is one of the earliest cities to engage in sea trade with the East.

It would be too hypocritical to say that Li Rufeng has now dominated Mosul and squeezed Baghdad into an isolated place, and that he has no thoughts about Baghdad.

But now Master Li really does not have more troops to continue expanding his territory, so he was somewhat tempted by Xiao Valard's proposal.

An ambitious businessman, perhaps with some unknown background, seems to be a very useful chess piece to disrupt the situation.

However, when it comes to this kind of political struggle, Li Rufeng still has to be extremely cautious, so he did not agree to the businessman on the spot. Instead, after sending him away, he found his personal advisor, Princess Parisa, with questions.

At this time, Parisa was painting on the balcony. As a princess who was trained to be a perfect bride since childhood, Parisa was more than just a beauty.

She is proficient in six languages, understands music, is good at dancing, can compose poetry and couplets, and can ride a horse and wield a sword. Her comprehensive abilities are extremely strong.

"Are you used to living here?" Li Rufeng saw that Parisa was painting the street scenes of Mosul. Unlike the more rational miniature painting school in this area, Parisa's painting style was more like oil painting because she was taken care of by Christians since she was a child.

Unlike the real street scene, in Parisa's painting, the city of Mosul does not have those dark wizard towers that look completely out of place in the whole city.

"I should be the one asking you this. I've lived here for more than ten years, so there's nothing I'm not used to." Parisa smiled. She was obviously happy to be back in this city.

"Has everything been handed over in Malikiye?" Li Rufeng also wanted to be romantic, but reality did not allow it. He had to care about the newly annexed cities under his rule.

As a time traveler who inherited the wisdom of five thousand years of ancient civilization, Li Rufeng might not be as meticulous as his contemporaries in some minor details, but in terms of foresight, he absolutely crushed others, even including the great conqueror.

For these cities that have been repeatedly ravaged by war in just a few years, Li Rufeng plans to adopt a hands-off approach for the time being.

The foundations of these cities were too weak, so it was difficult for him to carry out any drastic reforms. In comparison, Aleppo was actually easier to govern because it was almost a blank slate at that time.

For the time being, Master Li only needs these cities to maintain autonomy, stabilize internal order, and be able to execute the orders he issued.

If those nobles were not so stupid, they should be able to see that this was their best chance because Li Rufeng did not fill all the high-level positions with his own people.

In cities that surrendered voluntarily, such as Qamishli and Abu Zaher, Li Rufeng did not even interfere much with the ruling class in the city in order to maintain stability.

"It seems like they're happy that I'm leaving so soon." Parisa replied somewhat helplessly, "At first I thought this would be a long-term job, at least for us..."

"In our what?" Li Rufeng sat down next to Parisa. Although he was a time traveler and theoretically had artistic knowledge far beyond this era, to be honest, he knew nothing about painting.

Li Rufeng's question made Parisa laugh happily. She was not a shy girl. It was she who taught Li Rufeng the swordsmanship.

"The perspective you told me before is very interesting. Where did you hear it from?" Parisa knew that Li Rufeng was a genius, but ever since she saw Li Rufeng's paintings, she was sure that he had no possibility of innovation in painting.

"Of course it's my hometown. This is the application of mathematics in the field of painting." Li Rufeng talked about things he didn't even understand, and fooled Parisa into becoming very interested in the East and mathematics.

"There is a businessman from Baghdad named Shaw Walad who wants to use food in exchange for my support. He wants to kill the current governor of Baghdad." Li Rufeng took Parisa in his arms and told her about the content of the transaction and the potential threats he was worried about.

Parisa did not resist. If she wanted to, she could pin Master Li to the balcony and make him unable to move, but she enjoyed Li Rufeng's respect for her. She had learned so many things, but this was the first time someone had discussed "business" with her seriously in an equal, even consulting, tone.

"Xiao Walad... I don't have any impression of this name, and I'm not sure if he is a member of the royal family of Zashir." Parisa began to recall her memories of Baghdad very seriously.

Until her grandfather's death, during the period when the Khanate was still prosperous, trade between Mosul and Baghdad was active.

Baghdad was a city that even her grandfather was reluctant to leave. After conquering the city, he stayed there for only one night, declared to others that it was a city that would make people weak, and refused to live in the city ever since.

However, in response, the great conqueror also recruited all the craftsmen in the city as usual, and then built a new palace for himself in Samarkand.

Parisa could understand what Li Rufeng was worried about. If given the chance, he would rather control Baghdad in his own hands. Expelling the Black Sheep who occupied Baghdad in the name of liberators was undoubtedly his best reason to move in.

If he accidentally funded the remnants of the Jashiri Dynasty and allowed them to restore their country, Li Rufeng would be an invader when he went there again.

Although there is not much loyalty in this land, a legitimate reason for war can still make the entire conquest process smoother.

"But what you're worried about is very likely to happen. My grandfather purged that city thoroughly. All records related to the Zhashir Dynasty were destroyed, and those nobles are almost extinct," Parisa explained. "If a few important figures from that time are still alive, they could insist that Xiao Valad is a descendant of the royal family, making it easy to establish the truth."

"We really need food from Baghdad." Li Rufeng looked at the busy crowd on the street in the distance. Most of them were pale and thin, in a state of malnutrition, and he couldn't help but sigh.

"The female spy you left in Qamishli, the woman named Sarah Shahi, is very capable. If you want to find out the news about Baghdad, you might as well let her try." Parisa suddenly said, especially when she said the name Sarah Shahi, her tone became a little heavier.

Chapter 592 I Want to Be the Governor

When Li Rufeng met Xiao Valad again, the businessman was still as elegant as ever. A closer look revealed that his nails were flat and smooth, and his beard, although thick, had been carefully groomed.

This is a bit too much to ask of a businessman.

This is not to say that there are no such particular people among merchants, but for a merchant traveling with a caravan, this is a bit too particular.

In terms of status, Li Rufeng was obviously much higher than Xiao Valard, but Li Rufeng had no servants who took care of his beard when he fought all the way here.

This is enough to prove that Shaw Walad's daily life is far more exquisite than that of Master Li, and according to the information from his spies, Shaw Walad has an address in Mosul.