Mount and Blade Central Asia

At the same time, Sarah Shahi, who was also in Mosul, was recruiting people.

As a casual move by Li Rufeng, he did not have high expectations for this intelligence agency that did not even have a prototype, but he obviously underestimated the strength of the Muciyi faction.

Although Sarah Xiaxi was a traitorous venomous snake, she was brave and careful enough. Not only did she achieve great success in her first action, she also persuaded the scabbard to rebel.

Scabbard's real name is Badrani, and he has no surname.

The main reason why this operation had such a big mistake was that he was injured on the way to Mosul and then fell ill.

When he woke up from his coma, he had already been captured by a woman named Sarah Shahi, and Naseedin Baihara had already become a prisoner.

After Badrani knew Sarah Shahi's background, he wisely chose to cooperate. As a Dagger, he knew too much, so he was more aware of the methods of people like Sarah Shahi.

Originally, he had at least three ways to commit suicide, but none of them could be hidden from Sarah Xia Xi's eyes, and he didn't even have the chance to end his own life.

On the other hand, the Muciyi faction has been on a downward trend over the years. With the death of the previous generation of elders in the mountains, no new leader has been elected in two years. This is also the main reason why defectors like Sarah Xiaxi can still live freely until now.

They had a deep cooperative relationship with the great conqueror Timur in the past. Now with Timur's death, the protection brought by this relationship is being torn apart layer by layer. Too many people regard them as thorns in their eyes.

Badrani had already boarded Sarah Shahi's, or to be more precise, Li Rufeng's, ship as soon as he mentioned the first Mulai sect stronghold hidden in the city of Malikiya.

So while Sarah Shahi was busy recruiting people, Badrani was also expanding his voice in the new "unit". He planned to help incite Dagger Naseedin Baihara to rebel.

Of course, in theory, such a thing is impossible to succeed. After all, the way the Muqiyi sect trained Nasidin Baihara was too extreme. But as the one who knew the sheaths of these daggers best, Badrani naturally had his own special methods.

Chapter 622: Cheating a Fool

Badrani had no intention of letting Naseedin Baihara "apostatize". That was almost impossible. Naseedin was a fanatic who was raised as a tool since childhood.

The only thing he expected in this life was to die in the "holy war" and then enter heaven to enjoy eternal happiness.

Every second of living in this world is a torment for Naseedin Baihalla. In this situation, no one can incite him to rebel, but... you can deceive him.

To Badrani, Naseedin Baihara was undoubtedly the easiest "fool" to deceive, because Naseedin trusted him, and he had been taught since childhood to trust a scabbard like Naseedin.

After leaving the secret castle in the mountains, Badrani arranged everything for Naseedin Baihara's food, clothing, housing and transportation, and Naseedin obeyed his orders.

So Badrani just used a little trick, pretending to "rescue" Nasidin from the prison, and directly snatched the sharp dagger from the hands of the Muqiyi faction into his own hands.

"Have you found our target?" Naseedin wolfed down his food. Sarah Shahi, the woman, didn't waste any time torturing him. She just broke both of his legs and left him in the cell to die.

"You need to recover first, Naseedin," Badrani advised. "You can't do anything in your current physical condition."

"Find a way to get me to my target. I have a hundred ways to kill him!" Nasidin looked at his legs with some resentment, as if he were looking at an enemy. "Don't even think about evacuating. This is my chance to return to heaven!"

"You are wasting your life. This goal is not worth sacrificing a holy warrior like you, Nasidin. Didn't the goddess teach you that you should cherish your life?" Badrani said slowly. He knew how to appease the dagger.

Including Naseedin, he has carried three daggers.

"Our target has noticed our actions. The assassination mission has failed. We must prioritize transfer and hiding." Badrani said seriously.

The Mulai sect may have once been extremely powerful, intimidating kings and sultans, and even daring to challenge the Mongol Empire.

But the current Muqiyi sect has declined after all. After experiencing the incident of the sect being destroyed, the Muqiyi sect has redeveloped by relying on two means: secret traces and terrorist deterrence.

The secret traces are to prevent people from easily discovering their location and background, and the terrifying deterrent is to maintain the only "legacy" left by the sect.

Anyone who has heard of the name of the Muqiyi sect will subconsciously fear this sect and the assassins they send out.

Therefore, within the new Muciyi sect, there is an excommunication that is unimaginable to ordinary people for daggers that fail to complete their mission.

Hearing Badrani say this, Nasidin turned pale immediately, because the first rule of excommunication is that the loser cannot and has no face to enter heaven.

"Badlani, I can't give up... I can't just go back like this!" Naseedin looked at Badlani like a child and begged, "Please give me one more chance. I will definitely kill my target!"

"Nasidin, you are so young and should not have suffered such a failure. It's my fault that I fell when I shouldn't have, which led to such a disaster." Badrani closed his eyes in grief.

Hearing Badrani say this, Nasidin looked at him eagerly, and felt even more grateful to him.

Although Badrani was still ill, he still found help and rescued him as soon as he regained consciousness.

"We still have a chance to make amends, but we can't return to the castle for now, Nasidin." Badrani had Nasidin firmly in his grasp with just a few words. He continued to explain, "We must temporarily abandon this goal and hide. Remember, the first article of the creed?"

"We are invisible, formless, and traceless." Nasidin repeated the creed in a low voice. His already weak brain began to work furiously, but he could not find a perfect solution. "But..."

"But we can try to save your fate next, Naseedin," Badrani continued. "I will use my own channels to find some of the sect's enemies. Once you have fully recovered, we will eliminate them."

"Will this earn me forgiveness from the sect?" Nasidin had never experienced anything like this before, and he looked at Badrani with anticipation.

"It's not that simple, Nasidin. We still have to wait for an opportunity to kill your failed target before we are qualified to go back and seek forgiveness from the sect." Badrani continued to raise Nasidin's expectations and set an ultimate goal.

In Badrani's plan, Naseedin is still a sharp but easily broken dagger after all, and it will be useless after being used a few times.

If he is really lucky and the dagger has not been broken, we can use the goal of this mission to set a trap and kill him.

It took too long, and Badrani was afraid that Naseedin would react.

Even though the Muciyi sect has declined compared to before, it is still one of the top assassin sects in the world, and the daggers they cultivate are still at the top of human history.

As the sheath, Badrani knew better than anyone how much damage this simple tool of Naseedin could cause.

He is not afraid of death or injury. He has been receiving inhuman training since he was a child. Usually only one out of five children can grow up.

Years of guided training had distorted Naseedin's pain reactions into a kind of pleasure, which made him completely incapable of normal pain reactions during close combat.

This change made the assassins of the Muciyi sect particularly adept at exchanging injuries for lives, or even lives for lives. Few people could escape this life-or-death fight.

In this way, Badrani has an extra very useful card over that woman Sarah Shahi. Compared with that woman, his status in the Muqiyi sect is much higher, so he is more worried about the sect's revenge.

In order to counter this retaliation, Badrani needs this new institution to become stronger.

In addition, Badrani, who was forced to get on the car, also realized Li Rufeng's potential. He hoped to gain a higher position in this new institution, and it would be best if he could bypass that woman and contact Li Rufeng directly.

Of course, Badrani also considered the possible physical relationship between Sarah Xiaxi and Li Rufeng, so he decided to take the risk and contact the princess and go the lady route.

Unfortunately, his time was too tight to judge whether Li Rufeng was a more rational or emotional ruler...

Chapter 623: Anger

Takri was wearing plain clothes and squeezed into the crowd with several of his neighbors. He followed the people in front of him into the military camp with a nervous mood.

Although this place is called a military camp, it is actually more like a huge construction site. Some tower builders who have remained awake since the "Wizard Rule" era are busy doing similar work.

Because of the black wizards' discriminatory treatment and the use of kvass to feed the "useless population", most of the surviving Mosul people suffered from gastrointestinal diseases and malnutrition. Only the tower builders and the lackeys who voluntarily surrendered to the black wizards remained healthy.

The latter two are actually difficult to distinguish, which has led to the Mosul people being artificially divided into two different classes based on their health status.

Patients whose skin has become pale due to long periods of lack of sunlight are naturally wary and hostile towards those who do not spend their desperate dreams in the dreamland because they eat normal food.

This is not only evident in the city of Mosul, but is even more blatantly demonstrated in this military camp under construction.

Takri looked warily at the sturdy workers standing together with his neighbors. The two sides were clearly separated by an invisible wall and remained silent with each other.

"See? It's Becker, that scoundrel." Takri's neighbor poked him on the shoulder, pointed at one of the workers, and whispered, "I haven't seen him since I woke up. People say he's joined those witches."

Takri didn't say anything, but just stared with wide eyes, looking for Becker, the person his neighbor mentioned, in the crowd opposite.

They had known each other since they were very young, and Takri even thought at one point that he would marry his sister...if she were still alive.

Not everyone was lucky enough to survive the period of wizard rule. The dark wizards were the most inhumane group. They would not hesitate to abandon any useless individual who could not produce any value.

Before the wizard's rule began, there were six people in Takri's family, but when he woke up, only half of them were left. His father, sister, and a younger brother all died during that period.

What makes Takri most sad is that he doesn't even know how they died.

It is said that some sleepers were choked to death simply because they fell asleep face down on the ground when it rained.

When Takri thought about the possibility that his father, sister, and little brother might die so... so meaninglessly, he felt a fire in his chest.

And if Becker had not fallen into a deep sleep, he could have taken care of his family while he was unconscious. He used to find excuses to come home for dinner, but he didn't come during that period?

Takri found Becker in the crowd. His gaze was like a knife, and when it touched Becker, he felt a little pain.

He saw Becker tremble. The strong young man who had just been working hard seemed to lose his energy suddenly. He wilted and lowered his head, not daring to respond to his gaze. Instead, he tried to hide himself behind other workers.

"Coward!" Takri spat on the ground and flattened it with his foot, as if he was crushing Becker's face.

Takri knew that doing this would not change anything, but he still couldn't control the anger in his heart.

"An acquaintance?" A worker who was a little stronger than Becker saw this scene, blocked Takri's sight with his body, and asked Becker.

Although these tower builders were actually spared from using kvass and had been eating relatively normal food during the construction of the Wushi Tower, their lives were not as easy as these sleepers imagined.

Many times, the food they were given every day was only enough to make ends meet. Even on days when supplies were scarce, they had to rely on kvass to fill their stomachs while they were awake.

What's more, those wizards are not kind people. They have very high requirements for the wizard tower, and most of these workers are not newcomers to this industry. They are just selected from the crowd by those lackeys because of their strong bodies to work for the dark wizards.

During the entire construction process, workers died almost every day from the punishment of the wizards because they did not understand the wizards' meaning or made some small mistakes.

They were also living in dire straits, and even these workers themselves did not have the chance to go back to their homes to see how their family members were doing.

"That's my neighbor. Their house collapsed and someone died." Becker's tone was a little low, and he didn't want to tell anyone more.

The girl's death was a huge blow to him. Just like Takri thought, Becker also thought that he would marry the girl on a sunny day.

But things went against our wishes, and no one could have predicted that so many accidents would happen later.

In this tense atmosphere, Li Rufeng and his personal guards entered the military camp.

If you want to completely control an army, it is best to let them know who pays their salaries and who keeps them fed.

This is very important, especially for these newly formed armies and these recruits who have never even been on the battlefield. In their eyes, military pay is far more important than spoils of war.

Li Rufeng was not giving a speech. He had already said everything he needed to say in Mosul. Now these people were not here to be soldiers, but to be paid.

Therefore, Li Rufeng used the simplest and most touching way to prove to the first and second thousand-man teams of Mosul how much he valued them.

Master Li clapped his hands, and outside the military camp, ten carriages were pulled in by horses. The heavy carriages left deep ruts on the ground.

Li Rufeng's personal guards stepped forward and kicked open the barriers of the carriages one by one, letting the mountains of copper and silver coins spill out. This was a full year's salary for all the soldiers and officers of the first and second thousand-man teams of Mosul in the military camp.

"I know you've been through a tough time, as have I. I was the one who defeated those dark wizards, and I know how cruel and difficult they are to deal with." Li Rufeng stepped forward and stood on the pile of money, facing the new recruits who weren't even soldiers yet. "Many people lost their loved ones in the previous disaster, and for others, their lives were completely changed."

When Li Rufeng said this, Takri and Becker subconsciously looked at each other. When their eyes met, they both lowered their heads and stopped talking.

"I hope you will remember the suffering you've endured, and also remember the enemies who brought it upon you," Li Rufeng continued, "because I promise you that one day I will lead you to revenge!"

"Revenge!" Someone shouted first, and the crowd was quickly ignited by this word.

These people of Mosul are angry.

Chapter 624: A Small Problem in Aleppo

It has been more than five months since Li Rufeng left Aleppo. Except for a few necessary positions that Li Rufeng appointed his personal guards to manage, the entire city is under trusteeship.

This was a test for the city and also a test for his own management ability. He really wanted to know whether the rough ruling system he had established could continue to function normally after he left.

Mustafa was more like an insurance policy he left in Aleppo, to ensure that someone would put it back on track if things went wrong.

However, for now, it seems that the management system left by Li Rufeng is still effective. However, with the overall development of Aleppo, the process that was simplified to solve the problem of whether there is any problem first has become insufficient.

The most obvious example is that as the commercial tax reduction policy promised by Li Rufeng expired, a large number of businessmen began to take risks and try to evade taxes.

Among the many acts of tax evasion, the most harmful to Aleppo is that many merchants have begun to choose to deliver bulk goods directly at the port of Alexandretta.

Half a year ago, the port of Alexandretta was just a small village with a port, and Li Rufeng had not set up a complete management agency and tax system there.

Mustafa is now overwhelmed just trying to put Aleppo in order, and the contract management agency left by Li Rufeng is also in a mess.

Murad Vieri, the oldest of the three people who were temporarily promoted by Li Rufeng, has been arrested by Mustafa for bribery by businessmen.

People corrupt very quickly. With the rise of Aleppo in business, Murad was also greatly impacted. At the beginning, it was just some petty profits, and he turned a blind eye to some small problems on the edge of the contract agreed upon by both parties.

Then came the blatant corruption and abuse of power. The most bizarre thing was that Murad was dealt with because he was reported by a businessman who gave Murad a cow but did not get a satisfactory result.

Because the contract management agency hadn't done enough publicity, the businessman had always believed that as long as you paid money and gave gifts, you could get things done as part of the official process...

This incident caused the entire contract management structure to fall into a situation of lack of credibility. Of course, in this era, this thing basically did not exist, and it was completely forced through relying on Li Rufeng's personal prestige.

Now that Li Rufeng is fighting outside, he cannot return to Aleppo to handle official business for a long time. Naturally, the credibility of this strongman political system has begun to decline.

Of course, such public opinion is also beneficial. At least the businessmen have expressed a certain degree of understanding of this level of corruption. At least until now, Aleppo has not collected city gate tax.

The only commercial tax is collected only when transactions occur within the large market.

The other two members of the contract management agency, Miam and Tomaran, one lacked personal ability and the other was too young, which was also the main reason for the poor operation of the entire agency.

According to Mustafa's report, Saduddin Fasif and the somewhat lonely Ibrahim (the leader of the locals when Li Rufeng first occupied Aleppo) are seeking positions in this contract management agency. They both see the potential of this agency.

Saduddin also told Li Rufeng through Mustafa that the existing trading market in Aleppo City was seriously lacking in supervision. If he was allowed to move into the contract management agency, he could guarantee that the commercial tax collected each year would at least triple.

And on this basis, Saduddin also promised that he would never destroy the existing business atmosphere in Aleppo.

At least he has persuaded Mustafa to support him, so Li Rufeng must also take this advice seriously. The rulers of this era cannot do without the support of nobles and big businessmen in management.

Li Rufeng might be able to break this shackle, but not now, and he might not even see that day in his lifetime.

So he had no choice but to compromise, because at least people like Saduddin could support and keep the contract management structure in Li Rufeng's concept running.