Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

"Tribes frequently attack each other over grasslands and food, and such feuds have continued for hundreds of years."

Qian Mian said, "If he has no money, then get the hell out of here!"

The translator shouted, "The Ming Dynasty is here to do business; they only want gold and silver!"

There was no further response from outside the fortress; they continued cleaning up the battlefield.

They were truly poor; they even stripped the underwear off the corpses, as if they could wash it and wear it again.

The food and weapons they seized were piled up and distributed uniformly.

Chapter 3649 Distribution of Spoils

These Bedouins, from three friendly tribes, distributed the spoils of war with great care.

After distributing the spoils, they wandered around outside the fortress, even approaching the port to observe the Ming Dynasty ships, seemingly wanting to do something but finding it difficult to act.

Qian Mian ordered, "Send them a cannonball, just to appease them like beggars."

The fortress had six cannons, all of which were brought from warships.

"boom!".

A shell was fired, startling the Bedouins who all looked up at the sky, thinking it was thunder.

The shell landed on the sand, bounced and rolled forward, but did not hit any people or animals.

The nearby Bedouin people gathered around, confirmed that the thing was made of iron, and actually carefully picked it up.

Their expressions were quite awe-inspiring. Several leaders bowed towards the fortress, then called for the others to retreat silently, and soon disappeared into the desert.

……

Upon hearing that his troops left behind in the oasis had been attacked, Fulke was furious.

They rushed over and spent the night in the oasis at dusk.

The Grand Master of the Temple QS Regiment, Hugh de Paynes, also led his troops along this time. He is also known as "Pain".

He is the founder of the Temple QS group and is over seventy years old this year!

Paying asked, "How many soldiers are stationed in the fortress?"

"What do you want to do?" Fulke asked.

Pain said, "We have more than two thousand soldiers. If there aren't many troops stationed in the fortress, we can use a strategy to launch a surprise attack."

Fulke said irritably, "The cargo is on the ship. Even if we manage to launch a surprise attack and retake the fortress, those large ships will leave. Are we just going to abandon all that treasure?"

Pain stopped speaking.

The treasures on the Ming Dynasty cargo ships were related to the interests of countless nobles and merchants.

If he dares to sabotage this matter, he will probably die of illness inexplicably soon.

It's quite normal for an old man in his seventies to suddenly die from illness.

The following morning, Fulke led his troops forward, but was stopped by Qian Mian's men a mile away from the fortress.

The translator came to deliver the message: "Those carrying weapons, stop here. Anyone who wants to go aboard the ship must remove their armor and lay down their weapons!"

Pa Ying drew his sword and planted it in the sand, saying, "I'll wait here!"

"I'll go take a look."

Raymond de Pouille, the head of the hospital's QS group, began to remove his armor with a grin.

They fought very little during this phase, mainly serving pilgrims, providing food and healing to Christians, and so on.

The hospital's QS regiment will only take up arms when the king leads an army on a distant expedition or in an emergency.

Of course, as the war intensifies in the future, these guys will eventually become primarily combat-oriented.

Boxes of gold coins were loaded onto the ship, and boxes of goods were carried out.

The QS members surrounded the goods with shining eyes, constantly chanting praises to the Lord.

Fulke, however, went to discuss the ransom with Qian Mian: "I'll offer a maximum of 5 silver coins for this fortress."

“You can sell it to the Egyptians, if they are willing to buy it.”

“You will eventually leave, and then I can take it back from the Egyptians.”

"More than ten years ago, this place belonged to Egypt."

"If we can conquer it once, we can conquer it a second time."

That's utter nonsense. There was no fortress at all when the Crusaders captured this place.

Now that the fortress is in place, even if the Crusaders manage to capture it, they will suffer heavy losses.

Unfortunately, the Egyptian Caliph was incompetent; the Ming envoy had already gone to negotiate.

The Caliph expressed his willingness to buy the fortress and port, but only agreed to pay 3 silver coins—this place was important to the Crusaders, but not really important to Egypt, as it had very few inhabitants.

"Fine, fifty thousand it is." Qian Mian was too lazy to argue any further.

Qian Mian thought it was alright to get 13333 taels of silver for free, since no one died when the fortress was captured, and the artillery fire alone scared the Crusaders away.

Fulke returned to Jerusalem in high spirits with his crusaders and goods.

As for redeeming the fortress, he would wait until the goods were sold to merchants and the money was received before he could come and pay the debt. The fortress would be temporarily occupied by the Ming army.

Several days later, before the Crusaders had come to redeem the castle, the Bedouins actually came to make a deal.

They brought over a hundred Arabian horses, intending to barter them and then resell them at a higher price to make a profit.

The purest Arabian horses are in the hands of the Bedouin.

And not only have they not degenerated, but they have continued to be bred better generation after generation.

Arabian horses are not as precious as you might imagine; their main characteristic is their durability!

If the horse breeds that live in the desert were of high quality, they would have died out long ago.

It only needs a small amount of food and water to maintain its physical strength, and its heat dissipation performance is excellent, making it very suitable for long-distance runs.

To show their sincerity, the Bedouin warriors stopped a long way off and sent only a few men to drive the horses to the fortress.

Commander Zou Tong observed through his binoculars and said, "These are all fine horses; His Majesty will surely like them."

"Last time, we were so focused on preparing for battle that we didn't even think to buy horses from these desert herders."

Chapter 3650 Horse Trade

Qian Mian said, "There are still some goods left, enough to buy all the fine horses in front of us!"

The person in charge of trading horses with Qian Mian was a Bedouin tribal elder named Ahmed.

When asked about the price of the horse, Ahmed pointed to the Arabian horse behind him: "This is the finest warhorse of the Bedouin. The red spots on its shoulders are the blood splattered when the Prophet was wounded."

“We’ve come from three tribes to sell horses, but of all the warhorses in the three tribes, only this one is a true Holy Blood Horse.”

Qian Mian just smiled and didn't refute anything.

Ahmed sighed, "If survival weren't so difficult, we would never have sold the Holy Blood Horse."

"Its coat must be gray, and the red spots must be on its shoulders; otherwise, it cannot be called a Holy Blood Horse."

Then Ahmed began to tell the story of the Prophet's injuries in battle.

The Arab merchant translator told Qian Min, "He is not lying. Sacred Blood Horses are indeed very rare, and Bedouins rarely sell them."

The Ming Dynasty horse-breeding official who was on the ship said in a low voice, "Although this horse is not bad, it is not outstanding among these hundred or so horses."

"If the price is too high, it's better to buy a few more horses."

"After all, what they consider sacred is of no use to us."

Qian Mian said, "A gentleman does not take what belongs to others, so you can keep your Holy Blood Horse."

Ahmed didn't actually want to sell it. Instead, he pointed to a white horse and said, "This kind of white horse is also very rare, and extremely precious among all warhorses."

"Although many warhorses appear white, they are actually gray upon closer inspection, while the one we brought is truly white."

"It has white fur, pink skin, and dark eyes."

It's caused by a gene mutation; it didn't result in any special talents, but it also didn't cause any diseases.

This type of white horse is actually not very useful in desert areas, as its pink skin is easily sunburned.

The high price is simply due to its scarcity.

The official in charge of horse breeding in the Ming Dynasty said, "This white horse is extremely fine and can be kept as a breeder."

Qian Mian nodded and said, "That's right, I'll buy it. We can discuss the price later."

Each horse was inspected slowly, and the horse handler even pried open the horse's mouth to check its teeth, constantly making notes in a small notebook.

Finally, the horse breeder asked, "What are the habits of your horses?"

Ahmed said, "They are too smart and can easily go astray."

"Go astray?" The horse groom didn't understand.

Ahmed explained, "If the training method is wrong, they will develop bad habits and may even learn to be lazy and cheat."

“We Bedouins keep our horses in our own tents and eat and live with them to build a bond.”

"They like to be close to people, and they will feel very lonely if they don't spend much time with people every day."

The Ming Dynasty horse-breeding official: "..."

The horse groom began to carefully choose his words: "I was asking if the horses are not cold-resistant, since it's so hot here?"

"The warhorses of our Great Ming Dynasty are extremely cold-resistant."

Ahmed shook his head and said, "I don't know."

Well, asking a Bedouin who has lived his whole life in a tropical desert about cold is indeed a bit beyond his level.

The horse breeder then asked, "Are they tolerant of roughage? If concentrated feed runs out during a march, how long can these horses maintain their fighting strength?"

Ahmed said, "We don't have enough food, and sometimes the horses eat better than their owners."

"If there's really no food, then we'll just have to let it graze on grass. It should be able to keep up the march for a few days."

"If a warhorse has a deep bond with its master, it can endure hunger with its master until it dies in battle."

It seems like everything has been said, yet it also seems like nothing has been said at all.

Horse breeders can only favor those who can tolerate roughage, since concentrated feed cannot be provided continuously in the desert.

As for whether it could withstand dampness, the horse breeder did not ask.

Because all kinds of warhorses are prone to illness in damp environments.

Unable to understand through simple communication, the horse officer inquired in detail about how the Bedouin people usually raised their warhorses.

Ahmed meticulously recounted all the details, and finally revealed the ultimate method of horse training: "There is a legendary method for training warhorses, and it is said that the prophet only feeds the warhorses a small amount of feed each day."

"After starving them for seven consecutive days, the warhorses are released in groups to compete for food in the troughs, and the discipline of the warhorses is trained in the process."

Starve your warhorse for seven days, and it won't lose weight or get sick?

The horse breeder was quite certain that this kind of horse could withstand roughage.

He asked curiously, "Have you tried this method?"

Ahmed shook his head: "I can't bear to try it. Our warhorses are our most precious asset."

After some haggling, the Arabian horses brought by the Bedouin were all bought by the Ming Dynasty envoy.

Including the so-called Holy Blood Horse, there are a total of 117 horses.

The Bedouin seemed a little reluctant to part with their warhorse, and even held a farewell ceremony for it.

Chapter 3651 Superior Warhorses

The warhorses behaved with remarkable intelligence, neighing and restless incessantly, with some even struggling to follow their original owners.

This is perfectly normal, because Bedouins raise horses, and people and horses have always lived and eaten together.