Mount and Blade Central Asia

Although the place had been abandoned during the reign of the Dark Wizards, Shaw Walad's servants had quickly restored it to its former comfort level.

They even took advantage of Mosul's current predicament and spent money to acquire properties on another half of the street.

"My friend, if you want to borrow my power, you have to be honest with me and tell me what your purpose is in wanting to kill the governor of the Black Sheep in Baghdad?" Li Rufeng looked at Xiao Walad with interest.

He should be a smart man, and a smart man should know that given Li Rufeng's position, he would not allow the Zhashir Dynasty to be restored through the power he has.

Not to mention whether Mr. Li is willing to give up his ambition for Baghdad, those of his former Khanate subordinates who still remain loyal to the great conqueror will not agree.

"Respected Shaman Rufeng, I think you are the real master of Baghdad!" Xiao Walad's words immediately made Li Rufeng laugh.

Xiao Valad is indeed a smart man, not only that, he is also a patient smart man. He is betting that Li Rufeng is just another passer-by who comes and goes on this land, and his rule will not last long.

All he needed to do was to please Li Rufeng, pave a high enough position for himself, and then lie in wait for the opportunity to act.

"But I don't have enough manpower to occupy a new city at the moment." Li Rufeng wanted to know how many cards Xiao Walad had left. If he dared to say that he could help take charge of Baghdad, Li Rufeng would save himself a lot of trouble.

When the food is in hand, Xiao Valad can be killed directly, and everyone will be happy.

If it were in the past, Li Rufeng might have taken action directly, but now his territory is larger and he has more concerns.

Xiao Valad came to me in the name of a businessman to do a deal that was obviously beneficial to me, but after I got the benefits, he killed me. He has a very bad reputation.

What's more, Li Rufeng is now undecided as to who poses a greater threat, Xiao Walad or the current Black Sheep Governor of Baghdad.

"Don't you have a group of mercenaries who came all the way from Genoa under your command? I heard that they are now idle. I wonder if you know about the tax farming system?" Xiao Valard was smart enough to hear Li Rufeng's scrutiny of himself from his undisguised question.

So Shaw Valad came up with a plan that had been prepared long ago, which was the tax farmer system.

"I'm confident I can convince the others to surrender if something unexpected happens to the current governor," Xiao Valad said humbly. "Of course, this will require the help of your reputation and your invincible army."

In his early years, Shaw Valard traveled extensively and was active in both the Iberian Peninsula and the Apennine Peninsula for a period of time, where he witnessed a completely different social order.

Tax farmers, big and small, became a buffer between the rulers and the common people. The rulers could levy exorbitant taxes, and as long as the tax farmers were bold enough, they could always add their own profits to the already precarious high taxes.

They can even achieve a 30-70 split with the lord, with the lord getting 3 and them getting 7.

When public grievances have been accumulating for a long time, the rulers only need to kill the tax farmers or replace them to solve half of the problem and win the hearts of the people.

Xiao Valad did plot to inherit the Jashiri dynasty, but he would not make any big moves until he could win the support of the people.

The Black Sheep were bad, but they weren't bad enough. At least they didn't completely destroy the economic lifeline of Bardock like the Great Conqueror did, leaving half the city's people almost starving to death.

That's why Shaw Walad still needs these outsiders to pour a pot of boiling water in the city of Baghdad, force all the honest people into a corner, and make people start to miss the era of the Jashariid dynasty. That's when he will appear.

It has to be said that Xiao Valad's idea broadened Li Rufeng's thinking.

The Golden Arrow Mercenary Group did not obtain the income they expected throughout the war, at least not as much as last time.

Although Renzo Piano didn't say it, he was still hesitant and was obviously under a lot of pressure.

The last time he came, apart from some veterans, the rest were basically new recruits. But this time, he brought real veterans, and these people came all for the money.

At the very least, burning, killing and looting in the pagan territory can satisfy their appetite.

As a result, Master Li’s military orders were strict this time, and even the Mongols were not allowed to rob at will, let alone the Genoese.

If they hadn't been frightened by the previous battle with the dark wizard, those mercenaries would have started causing trouble by now.

Five hundred people controlling a city, and they also need to defeat the Black Sheep garrison in the city first. This is obviously a high-risk task, but high risk means high rewards.

I believe Renzo Piano would not refuse such a task. He is a man who is willing to die in the pursuit of wealth.

"So, what do you want in return?" Li Rufeng was really tempted this time. Xiao Valad's plan solved his two problems at once.

If the system hadn't determined that the other party's favorability towards him was only 8 points, Li Rufeng would have wanted to try to recruit him.

He lacks such brave, resourceful and independent talents... Just as Li Rufeng was thinking this, he suddenly saw a prompt on the system interface that he had temporarily taken control of Erbil Castle.

Well, sometimes it’s not a good thing when subordinates are too proactive. This was the first time that Li Rufeng realized that he had lost control of the situation. Until now, he had no idea what happened in Erbil Castle.

He only knew that the centurion named Saib seemed to have imitated Zhang Qian of the past and staged a scene of conquering the city alone.

"I want to become the new governor of Baghdad, if you allow me." Shaw Walad finally stated his goal.

But looking at Li Rufeng who was lost in thought, Xiao Valad became a little nervous. He felt that he had considered it carefully enough, but it was obvious that the shaman on the opposite side was still not satisfied.

Do I have to continue to increase my investment?

Chapter 593 Persian Gulf Company?

From a broader perspective, 1409 was just another uneventful transition in Earth's history, but for humanity, several major events occurred that were enough to change the course of civilization.

In this year, the Ming Empire in the East established the Nurgan Regional Military Commission, but it was also this year that General Qiu Fu led 10 troops to attack the Mongolian Tatar tribe. The entire army was annihilated, and Qiu Fu himself died in battle. Emperor Yongle was preparing to lead another expedition in person.

At this time, the navigator Zheng He had already crossed the end point of his last voyage to the West. The total number of the entire treasure fleet exceeded 35,000 people. They were full of martial virtues. Along the way, they had destroyed the insignificant Kingdom of Ceylon, hanged King Arikunayar in his palace, and supported a new king who was more pious to the Ming Dynasty to sit on the throne (Note 1).

In the West, influenced by the Great Schism of Christianity, Charles University in Prague split. In order to show their support for the Pope, many teachers and students of the Holy Roman Empire returned to their hometowns and, with the support of important officials such as Frederick I, Elector of Saxony, established what would later become the University of Leipzig.

Jan Hus, the soon-to-be-famous president of Charles University, also officially resigned and went to work as a missionary in a local monastery. He began to become increasingly dissatisfied with the religion he believed in and its organizational structure in the world.

It was also in this year that he began to formally write his famous book "On the Church".

Later, Jan Jessica, a genius tactician who inherited Jan Hus's ideas, returned to his hometown after many hard battles with the Knights of the Leaping Squats. Looking at the devastated land, he had huge questions in his heart.

A little closer to the area ruled by Li Rufeng, the Medici family in Florence had begun to emerge. The current head of the Medici family, Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, had just become an important member of the Florentine ruling group by bribing others.

The first thing he did after taking office was to empty the Medici Bank, which he controlled. He risked the destruction of his family and made a big bet to support the Pope's return to Rome.

For this reason, Giovanni did not hesitate to collude with pagans and attack the ships of his competitors in the Mediterranean. The Knights Hospitaller became a thorn in Giovanni's heart because they stood firmly on the opposite side of the Pope.

He was collecting all possible useful intelligence, trying to find out which forces he could exploit to counter the Knights Hospitaller in the Mediterranean.

So the pagan force in Aleppo, which had been widely publicized by Renzo Piano before, came into Giovanni's sight. The good news was that it was a very enlightened pagan lord who had connections with many merchants from Venice and Genoa.

The bad news was that the pagans lacked naval power, but Giovanni's spies had already boarded a Venetian merchant ship, and he was happy to negotiate a big deal that would benefit both sides.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Li Rufeng had just finalized a big deal with Xiao Walad. Before he could even have a bite of his hot meal, an old acquaintance from Aleppo came to his door and gave him a surprise.

"I haven't seen you for a few months. You've come quite far." Weng Guo sat in Li Rufeng's restaurant, eating half a bunch of grapes with relish. It was obvious that he had been here for a while.

This place is considered Li Rufeng's private territory, because the current situation in Mosul is still somewhat chaotic, the remnants of the dark wizards have not been completely eliminated, and Princess Parisa also lives here, so there are always heavy guards outside the palace.

But obviously these forces could not stop the visit of the Ming Dynasty's Jinyiwei. It was probably as easy for Weng Guo to come to him as to go back to his own home.

Moreover, the other party has repeatedly demonstrated abilities that are close to miraculous powers in front of Li Rufeng. It is likely that he is also on the mysterious side and is not an ordinary person.

In addition, because the other party was a fellow Ming Dynasty native, Li Rufeng had no way to deal with Weng Guo.

After all, the other party is also a Tianlong person in this era. The last time he suddenly appeared, he brought the information that Li Rufeng needed most. Moreover, he kept using Ming Dynasty's maritime trade with Central Asia as bait, which made Mr. Li's mouth crooked.

"The horses are fast, the men are brave, and the people are on our side, so naturally everything will be successful." Li Rufeng sat calmly in his seat and asked the guards outside the door to stay put.

He had no doubt that Weng Guo's true strength was at the level of Haishar. Even if he wanted to make some response, it would probably not be enough for the other party to deal with.

"Come on, where's the popular support in this shabby place? I finally understand. The people here only care about the little piece of land in front of them. There's no country that can exist stably for a hundred years. These people will become a mess in the future." Weng Guo complained about the local customs and culture without hesitation. Obviously, it was not easy for him to find someone to chat with.

"What do you want to see me about?" Li Rufeng waved his hand and asked someone to remove the previous fruit plate and brought a new one.

Weng Guo was unceremonious. He threw away the remaining bunch of grapes in his hand and picked up a new one. "I do need you for something. It's a good thing. Lord Zheng's fleet is not far away. The initial landing port is Shiraz."

Upon hearing the news, Li Rufeng suddenly became a little excited. He didn't know how much wealth opportunities Zheng He's fleet had brought in history, but it was obvious that in this era, the scale and number of fleets were much larger.

And to be honest, Shiraz is still some distance away from the area he rules, but now he is concerned about Mosul and has his eyes on Badakhshan, which is different from before when he only had Aleppo.

At first, he could only wonder if he could make a profit from this trade, but now he is considering whether to engage in monopoly business.

"I heard you were planning to take over that lousy place called Badak?" Weng Guo's tone was filled with contempt. "That place is even worse than Mosul right now. I think you need to continue south, preferably taking Shiraz directly. If Lord Zheng gets the urge, he might be able to help you take over half of Iran."

"Okay, let's stop talking about irrelevant things. The main reason I came to you this time is to tell you that our ship is coming soon. If you want to get rich, you have to work harder and go south." Weng Guo has been secretly investigating Li Rufeng's identity for some time.

Now he has confirmed that Li Rufeng is not one of the targets he is looking for, so there are many things he can do.

"There's no outsider involved. I'm telling you the truth. When the imperial court built the treasure fleet, it was certainly intended to completely eliminate the threat posed by the remnants of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. Timur was one of their targets." Weng Guo knew that no one here, besides Li Rufeng, could understand his language, so he spoke without restraint. "But when we, the Jinyiwei, arrived, we discovered that with Timur dead, he no longer poses a threat to us."

"But the imperial court has already spent real money to build the treasure ship fleet, and the sailors and soldiers were prepared years ago. The arrow is on the string and must be released." Weng Guo looked at Li Rufeng, a sly smile on his face. "So, we have to recoup the cost one way or another, don't you think? Rather than wasting such a huge fleet and letting it decay in the wind and sun, it's better to..."

Weng Guo said as he made a fierce grabbing motion: "Why not make a fortune from this? When Lord Yongle is happy, we, the people below us, can also share in the profits."

"We've been operating in this area for over two years. Even if we wanted to support a puppet, it would have taken a lot of thought. Time was too tight, and there was simply no time. That's when you showed up." Weng Guo finished his grapes. "You're a good person, persistent, and your money-making skills are exceptional, but your foundation is too shallow, and you don't have anyone on your side."

"But it's just right. Lord Zheng has everything except money. Don't you have a group of mercenaries called the Golden Arrows under your command? When Lord Zheng arrives, we can also provide enough mercenaries. Are 5,000 people enough? If not, we can have 10,000!" Weng Guo's tone was full of arrogance, which made Li Rufeng frown.

Doesn't it sound like Zheng He, Lord Zheng, has an unusually close relationship with these Jinyiwei? Has he become a community of shared interests?

"Don't worry about us getting too big and not leaving. The tens of thousands of soldiers on board are all from respectable families, with families. They'll have to leave after the battle." Weng Guo continued with a look of triumph, "All you have to do is help us find the money. When the time comes, both Lord Zheng and we will be indebted to you."

"What if I want to go back?" Li Rufeng asked. During the period when he first came here, Li Rufeng thought about going back every day. Not in the sense of time, but in the sense of geography.

These days, apart from the Ming Dynasty which is still prosperous and where people can enjoy life well, the city-states on the Apennine Peninsula are also living a pretty good life.

"If you want to go back, that's going to be difficult." Weng Guo shrugged and said bluntly, "Some things can't be explained directly, but if you don't explain the strange power in your body, you can't go back. Unless you want to be sent to the mountains after you go back until those alchemists can fully understand your secret, but I guess you don't want that."

Things that cannot be said openly include the missing Emperor Jianwen and his son, Zhu Wengui.

A big part of the reason why the Jinyiwei traveled so far to establish an intelligence network was because there were clues that Emperor Jianwen had taken his crown prince to seek refuge with Timur. This news was passed back by the detained envoys.

To put it bluntly, although Li Rufeng's age does not match, his appearance here for no reason alone makes him more suspicious. Weng Guo is the one in the open, but there are other secret sentries secretly watching to ensure that Li Rufeng is always under their surveillance.

Well, Li Rufeng had given up the idea of ​​going home this way, and could only change his mind and start thinking about Weng Guo’s previous proposal.

The idea of ​​a Ming mercenary army was a good one, but where would they get the money? Otherwise, could he follow the example of the British and establish the Persian Gulf Company with Zheng He and the Imperial Guards?

Chapter 594: Undercurrents in Erbil Castle

The Ming mercenaries that Mr. Li enjoyed were still a ambition lingering in his mind, but Sayib of Erbil Castle actually turned war into a business.

He cannot directly collude with the Iranians to get rid of Mushtaq, as doing so will make the remaining black sheep feel insecure and may even ruin the current good situation.

Therefore, Sayyib needs to let the Qara ...

Sayyib needed Mushtaq to die quickly and not get in his way in the future. On the one hand, he felt that Mushtaq was a hidden danger, and on the other hand, Sayyib wanted to keep these black sheep people in his own hands.

Perhaps Shaman Rufeng did not want to see this happen, but for Saib, this was obviously the option that maximized his interests.

As for how to impress the Iranians, Sayyib has already figured it out. The wool comes from the sheep. The Iranian brothers who besieged the castle cannot come for nothing. They also need real military merits.

The Black Sheep would inevitably shed some blood, and there were far too many of them inside Erbil Castle. What if they tried to flee in the face of danger? Wouldn't that be a hidden danger?

It would be better to cut the number of people in half. Saib felt that a team of a thousand people would be just the right number.

So after bargaining with Barez, Sayyib returned to Erbil Castle alone again, and this time he offered a way to survive to everyone in the city.

So even Mushtaq could only smile and express his gratitude to Sayyib.

Then, Sayyib made a suggestion in public that Mushtaq could not refuse. This was the second time that Sayyib used such a public occasion to force Mushtaq to make a choice.

What Sayib said to Mushtaq was that after he and the Iranians negotiated, under the majesty of Lord Li Rufeng, the Iranians were willing to return the captured Black Sheep captives to Mushtaq as a gift to end the war.

In addition, in order to show their "respect" to the Black Sheep garrison of the castle, they are willing to allow those Black Sheep who want to go home to leave safely. Of course, the number of places is limited to a maximum of 500 people.

Mushtaq's face turned green when he heard Sayib say that. If any of the Black Sheep soldiers in Erbil Fort returned to their hometown, no matter how many calculations he had made, they would all be in vain, and his identity as a traitor would be confirmed.

Mushtaq is a smart man, but he is not crazy enough to understand the ambitions of a man like Sayyib. eeqbwdkdperdw

During the time he was stationed in Smyrna, his interactions with Christians made him realize that religion was just a rhetoric. Whether one believed in Allah or God, everyone had to eat and drink, and have weddings and funerals.

Pagans are not devils, they are ordinary people with flesh and blood.

When the old Sultan died, the Khanate fell apart in an instant, making him realize that past glory was like smoke and dust, meaningless, and that people can only fight for the present.

Finally, these few years of isolation overseas taught this former centurion how to adapt to the current environment more quickly. Many times, only by daring to take a gamble can one survive.

Badak struggled all the way to keep the thousand-man team from disbanding, while Sayib was very good at maneuvering and mediating the interpersonal relationships within the army, which ultimately allowed them to hold on until now.

These experiences have made Sayib who he is today. He is ambitious, courageous, and adventurous. When he feels that there is an opportunity in front of him, he seizes it without hesitation.

In comparison, Mushtaq seems much more immature. He has background, ambition and potential, but he is ultimately just a fledgling that has just stepped out of the nest.

Just because of the hesitation at the beginning, he fell behind step by step and ultimately lost everything.

When Sayyib began to establish his reputation as a savior among the besieged Qara ...

He could either kill Sayib with one blow, leaving no illusions to the defenders in the city, show the momentum of "the city is still there", fight for survival, and try to win the battle by taking advantage of the situation, or he could accept the soldiers' instinct to grab the glimmer of hope just like him.

It only took Sayib one day to recruit several suitable candidates from the Black Sheep people and have them serve as his guards. He took them to frequently contact the Black Sheep soldiers to select a list of those who wanted to return home.

However, while some people are happy, naturally others are angry.

In this era, every nation that can seize the opportunity to rise again will have loyal people willing to die for it.

The reason why the Black Sheep people united again with the Black Sheep King as the core after seven or eight years was because the king's rule was deeply popular, and also because the Khanate represented by the Mongols oppressed them too much.

There were no more than 20,000 to 30,000 Mughals stationed on the western border of the Khanate. Even if the exiled people from Transoxiana were included, there were only a little over 40,000 people. However, they occupied almost all the high-quality pastures across the Mesopotamian region.

Under their rule, all other nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples lived a life of displacement, and only the Aquarians could barely fill their stomachs and avoid starvation by relying on Diyarbakir.

Jalal Dindani is an example. Almost all of his family members died at the hands of the Mongols, and his former tribe was disbanded due to years of famine, leaving him alone to wander on the grassland like a lone wolf.