Mount and Blade Central Asia

"Southeast, one hundred and forty meters, there are archers on the roof." Li Rufeng's will instantly conveyed the specific coordinates of the assassin to the eighty guards present through their mental network.

Half of these personal guards surrounded Li Rufeng, while the other half followed their usual pattern, each leading a team of ten people on the periphery, ready to maneuver at any time.

boom! boom!

Under Li Rufeng's instructions, the cannons in Diobiya's hands finally showed the civilization's ability to invent gunpowder. The cannons loaded with specially formulated gunpowder fired loud blanks into the sky.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the guards who were close enough to the assassins drew their bows and shot arrows, covering the archers with arrows before the assassins could react.

Li Rufeng didn't know who they were loyal to, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that someone would shed blood for his wedding today.

"Northeast, 270 meters. There are ten armed men in the yard, mounting horses. Execute them, and try to keep them alive."

Li Rufeng's will once again descended upon the hearts of his personal guards. Five teams led by his personal guards quickly surrounded the yard. When the salute sounded again, a thunder bomb given to Li Rufeng as a gift by the Ming Dynasty envoys was thrown into the yard.

boom!

The explosion of the thunder bomb in the clay jar was three or four seconds later than the salute and the sound was not as loud, but the people around still thought it was part of the wedding celebration.

But for the people in the yard, the loud noise just now meant the end of the world.

The huge explosion, accompanied by an air wave, scattered the fragments of the pottery jar everywhere. Among the ten people and ten horses, half were stunned by the explosion, while the other half were either unlucky enough to be injured by this ancient version of the grenade, or were knocked to the ground by the frightened war horses.

In the not-so-big yard, ten frightened mad horses were running around recklessly, which was simply a torture.

The guards, who also had a strategic map perspective, waited outside the door for half a minute longer before breaking in. They didn't encounter any resistance at all and captured seven or eight people alive.

"It's really lively today, isn't it?" Li Rufeng turned his head and asked Hulucierjia, who was grinning and laughing foolishly.

The reckless man was completely oblivious to the various accidents happening outside. He simply nodded vigorously and replied loudly, "When I get married, I'll do the same!"

Chapter 678 The Real Master of the City

Li Rufeng didn't count how many waves of assassins he had eliminated along the way. His personal guards were sometimes a little too proactive. The only thing he knew was that before approaching the Al Noor Grand Mosque, at least two hundred people died in various dark corners.

But before Li Rufeng officially entered the mosque, some accidents inevitably occurred. When Li Rufeng's team approached, a group of assassins disguised as pilgrims suddenly attacked and started hacking and killing the surrounding civilians.

They knew that it would be difficult to shake Li Rufeng's guards with their own strength, so they chose to create chaos. If it was considered a stereotype brought by Li Rufeng from the future, this should actually be considered a traditional skill of the locals.

They hacked and killed the believers around them while shouting "Allahu Akbar", and there were people responsible for inciting the emotions of the crowd.

"The Mongols are going to kill us all!"

"That Kafir has finally attacked us! Resist!"

"Kill all the infidels! Kill them!"

Li Rufeng watched as the chaos began to spread from the center of the crowd, growing stronger and stronger like waves.

When this chaos spread to Li Rufeng's team, it turned into a rout. Hundreds of people rushed towards the thin team composed of Li Rufeng's personal guards in panic. There were women and children in the crowd, and of course there were also assassins mixed in the crowd.

The pilgrims' large robes left a deep impression on the US military even in later generations. They could not only hide AK-47s in their robes, but also seven or eight kilograms of plastic bombs if they were determined.

So for this group of people, hiding a few daggers in their robes is just a small matter, and the scimitar is just a fancy trick passed down from their ancestors. The real killer move is that these people also brought in crossbows.

Li Rufeng hesitated for a second between the choice of massacring civilians and protecting his own safety, and this second gave the assassins a favorable window.

I saw with my own eyes a group of assassins disguised as women throwing a black object into the crowd. Almost immediately, thick smoke began to billow out of that object, and people in the smoke began to cough.

Even the war horses were affected, or it should be said that the smoke was aimed at the war horses. The guards in that direction almost all lost control of their war horses at the same time. These horses subconsciously avoided the range of the smoke spread, creating a gap in the airtight defense line around Li Rufeng.

A man in a robe and with his face covered suddenly rushed out of the smoke-covered area, his eyes exposed outside were red. He lifted up his robe, holding a loaded crossbow in his hand, and aimed at Li Rufeng less than ten meters away.

Mr. Li didn't panic at that moment. After all, he had experienced life and death many times. He simply pulled out the spring-loaded gun that Weng Guo had given him as a gift from his waist...

Of course, Weng Guo didn't say that this thing was a spring-loaded gun. He only told Li Rufeng that it was a refined product of Wanggongchang and was only supplied to dignitaries. But Li Rufeng was a time traveler after all, so he knew what this thing was.

However, the assassin who was aiming at Li Rufeng obviously didn't know why his target was pointing a short stick at him so stupidly, and there was even a smile on the corner of his mouth.

The next second, Li Rufeng pulled the trigger. With the blessing of Changshengtian, accompanied by a dull gunshot and a burst of smoke, the bullet accurately hit the crossbow-wielding assassin.

The assassin screamed, then fell to the ground in shock, holding his chest. He groaned a few times and fell silent.

The personal guards around Li Rufeng had already dismounted and formed a new line of defense in front of Li Rufeng. Ignoring Li Rufeng's orders, they shot arrows directly into the smoke to prevent more assassins from appearing.

The warhorse under Li Rufeng's crotch, which had withstood the test of artillery fire, shuddered at the sound of gunfire, but that was all. The horse did not panic any further and carried Li Rufeng steadily along the passage opened by the guards to continue to the Nur Mosque.

The wave of assassins just now should be the last trump card of those opponents, at least that was the case on Li Rufeng's way to the mosque.

Li Rufeng knew that most of these assassins should come from various religious groups. Except for the secular faction represented by Muhaya, no Islamic group was willing to see him join in and become the new heir.

Perhaps in the eyes of these religious groups, Li Rufeng is more harmful than the great conqueror. After all, although the great conqueror curses the Sheikh every day, beats the descendants of the Prophet, violates the ban, and even lets people use his face as a prototype to draw holy images, almost treating the commandments set by God as toilet paper, he is still a Muslim in name.

Li Rufeng is a shaman, the shaman of Changshengtian. The last time a shaman walked so high-profile on this land was during the heyday of the Mongol Empire.

No Muslim wants to recall those days. Those days were probably the most harmonious period between the Muslim world and the Christian world. Both sides thought they were going to be completely finished, but the time sequence was different.

The Christians were just short of launching a crusade to raise funds to protect the existence of the Muslim world. It can only be said that the Mongolian army did a lot of good things and successfully made the two major religions shake hands and make peace, eliminating the spiritual confrontation and ideological struggle between the two sides.

Unfortunately, the Mongols were useless and were dazzled by the colorful world. They were Sinicized in the East, Slavicized in the North, Persianized and Turkicized in Central Asia, and Muslimized in West Asia. In short, they were assimilated wherever they went and had no cultural independence at all...

Princess Parisa was in the mosque listening to the sound of salutes outside, her slender fingers intertwined, her mind full of random thoughts. Sometimes she prayed to God, hoping that Li Rufeng would arrive safely, but sometimes she felt that doing so in a mosque seemed disrespectful, and hesitated whether to change the object of her prayers.

As the person closest to Li Rufeng, Parisa naturally knew how many undercurrents were hidden under Li Rufeng's buttocks, and this wedding was just a fuse.

In addition, Li Rufeng almost deliberately gave these people an opportunity, wanting to give them a hard time and make them quiet for a while, so today was destined not to be peaceful.

The reason why Parisa entered the mosque early was also for safety reasons. Although her personal fighting power was very strong, it was easy to dodge an open attack but difficult to guard against an arrow from the dark. At this time, in the mosque, besides Princess Parisa and her servants, there were only Li Rufeng's twenty personal guards waiting outside the door.

Even Muheya could only wait outside the door, waiting for Li Rufeng to arrive and then enter the auditorium with him.

"Your Highness, Lord Rufeng has arrived at the door of the mosque!" A young girl dressed as a nun poked her head out of the door and shouted softly, then she cried out in pain and disappeared.

Parisa chuckled. The nun was about her age, so they had been getting along well since returning to Mosul.

The reason why the other party screamed in pain was probably because he was hit on the head by Muheya. Muheya was already under a lot of pressure to agree to these nuns entering the mosque, and it would be too much to ask them to enter the auditorium.

The original Imam of the Nur Grand Mosque simply went into seclusion to read the scriptures and did not see any guests, not even Li Rufeng himself. Out of sight, out of mind.

Parisa heard from Li Rufeng that Muheya personally vouched for the imam and ensured the safety of the Nur Mosque, which led to today's wedding.

As an educated princess, Parisa knew that there must be a very fierce exchange of interests behind this. In the religious world, or should I say especially in the religious world, territorial consciousness and interest struggles are far more intense and straightforward than those in the secular world.

This is how the secular sect that Muhaya belonged to started. Going back further, the rise of the Sufi order was also accompanied by the footsteps of mendicants, who conquered one tribe after another, accompanied by countless bloody battles.

And now, based on the special identities of Princess Parisa and Li Rufeng, there is also bound to be blood and gore behind them.

Despite Muhaya's guarantee, Princess Parisa has been eating only the dry food she secretly brought in since she secretly entered the Noor Mosque yesterday.

Even the water had to be drunk by Li Rufeng's personal guards, and only after confirming that it was safe would Parisa drink it.

All of this is to guard against possible assassination attempts on Parisa.

Although most assassins target Li Rufeng, and Parisa's identity is also a deterrent to those opponents, we still have to be wary of those who are desperate.

Facts have proved that Princess Parisa's caution was correct. Sister Wenresa, who has been taking care of her, even caught a nun in the monastery who was trying to spy on Princess Parisa yesterday. After identification, it was discovered that the nun had come in under an imposter's name.

"Your Highness, Lord Rufeng has successfully entered the mosque." A personal guard reported outside the door. They did not need to leave the gate to grasp Li Rufeng's movements through the mental network.

Parisa finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing what the guards said. Then her stomach growled, and she ate the last bit of honey-dipped bread she had brought with her in small bites, just in case she didn't have enough energy to cope with the wedding.

The formal wedding will be held in the square inside the mosque, with nearly a thousand guests attending. In addition to representatives from all parties, some prominent local people in Mosul will also be allowed to attend the wedding. Security issues will be of paramount importance.

The gate of the mosque slammed shut after Li Rufeng's team entered, and then all invited guests had to be checked by the personal guards before they could enter the mosque with their invitation letters to wait for the ceremony.

Some of the invited guests were already beginning to fear the upcoming wedding. The previous conflicts on the street now seemed to have vanished into thin air. The bodies were dragged away, the injured were admitted to hospital, and the bloodstains on the ground were washed away with clean water, as if nothing had happened.

Li Rufeng allowed some people to oppose him, but he also wanted to tell everyone who was the real master of this city.

Chapter 679 Viewing the Ceremony (1)

"Sir, everything has been arranged." Muheya humbly bowed to Li Rufeng. With his identity and status, he could have been more "humble", but the Imam knew very well which forces were behind the people who kept attacking Li Rufeng along the way, so he was trying his best to restore the image of Islam in Li Rufeng's heart.

As a qualified religious figure and politician, Muheya already knew Li Rufeng well enough. He was a very rational ruler. He was like Timur in his youth, with a broad mind that accommodated everyone and was driven by interests rather than personal feelings.

This is the kind of collaborator every politician dreams of, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have any emotional tendencies.

This land and the people living on it have become accustomed to the existence of Islam, and no ruler can avoid it, not even Li Rufeng.

But there are many kinds of cooperation. Muheya is trying to show Li Rufeng how much convenience it will bring to a ruler like Li Rufeng if he has the right to speak on religion.

"The imam of Tehran has sent a distinguished scholar of the Quran to attend the ceremony. The Sheikh of Kashan has also sent gifts to congratulate you on your wedding. Furthermore, the Imams of Mush and Tabriz have also sent their congratulations. Your legal status has been widely recognized." Muheya, demonstrating his influence, bowed slightly to Li Rufeng again. "Although some of these people cannot express their views publicly due to the wishes of their regional rulers, if you intend to liberate these areas again, the Muslims in these areas will be your natural allies."

"This is all thanks to you. I don't have that much face." Li Rufeng smiled. He knew that Muheya had some connections, but he didn't expect that the other party had such great ability.

The Mush and Tabriz regions he mentioned are all the territories of the Black Sheep People. If we strictly divide them according to religious forces, the Sufi order is also Sunni, so before this, the Mush and Tabriz regions were also traditional Sunni missionary sites.

Although the Black Sheep people also believe in Islam, most of them are Shiites.

For a Kafir like Li Rufeng, it is actually a bit difficult to distinguish between the two factions. After all, there are huge differences between the two factions in terms of social leadership, doctrines, and interpretation of scriptures.

But the old shaman had taught Li Rufeng a simple and easy-to-understand distinction. That is, the Sunnis recognized the legitimacy of the four caliphs and the caliphs of several powerful Arab dynasties that followed, while the Shiites insisted that among the four caliphs, only Ali was a blood relative of the Prophet Muhammad and the legitimate heir, and the Muslim world should be led by Ali and his descendants.

Just as has been happening over the years, no matter which religion, people generally believe that heretics are more hateful than pagans. Therefore, under the instigation of Muhaya, the chiefs, sheikhs, and imams in these areas decided to stabilize the country before fighting the enemy.

Compared with the threat posed by Li Rufeng, the threat posed by the Black Sheep Heretics is undoubtedly greater. What's more, this group of people had previously cooperated with black wizards who believed in evil gods. This was simply a way to death!

Of course, due to the Black Sheep people's sharp swords and fast horses, these religious figures who had been repeatedly taught by the Mongols and had become flexible only dared to respond to Muheya's call in private, and implicitly expressed to Li Rufeng their expectation of the "Royal Army's Northern Expedition".

"Your beautiful bride has been waiting inside for a long time. The wedding will officially begin in an hour. You can take a rest in the auditorium." After Muheya finished speaking, he personally opened the door of the auditorium for Li Rufeng, and then stood guard outside the door diligently.

Li Rufeng was very satisfied with Muheya's performance. Before Muheya, Li Rufeng had always been troubled by the relationship between him and these religious figures. The pioneering scholar in his own department was a fool. Apart from sticking his neck out to oppose him, he was of no positive use at all.

Over the years, Li Rufeng didn't kill him with a knife, which was considered a high respect for Islam.

And now Muheya has appeared. With this person as a lubricant, the relationship between Li Rufeng and Islam immediately changed from irreconcilable to harmonious.

In this regard, Li Rufeng could only say that the great conqueror back then did a good job. If he had not trained the secular faction, he would not have been able to get this advantage.

"Parisa!" Li Rufeng walked into the auditorium. The sunlight shone in through the specially structured dome of the auditorium, and combined with the dust in the air, formed a mysterious Tyndall effect inside the auditorium. His beautiful princess stood in the middle of the halo, so beautiful that it was beyond words.

Hearing Li Rufeng's call, Parisa turned around and smiled: "You won another game, right?"

Before Parisa entered the mosque, Li Rufeng had already explained to her all the possible accidents that might happen on the wedding day, including the assassination of the two of them, which was part of Li Rufeng's plan.

Wherever you go, you leave traces.

No matter where the opponents hiding in the dark come from, if they want to do something, they must leave traces. Instead of playing hide-and-seek with them one by one, it is better to simply reveal a huge flaw and lure the fish into the bait.

Many of the assassins were captured alive today, and they always have something useful to say.

The entire city of Mosul was completely blocked from the moment Li Rufeng appeared on the street. No one was allowed to enter or leave. The army responsible for blocking the city gates were either the Mongols under Li Rufeng or the city guards brought by Maritan from Aleppo. They had no contact with the locals.

This blockade will last for two days and two nights, enough time for Sarah Xiaxi to open the mouths of those assassins one by one.

"Yes, I won another round." Li Rufeng said with a smile, "No, I should say we won another round."

"Did you bring any food? I'm starving!" Parisa patted Li Rufeng hard, and the two of them snuggled together, talking and laughing, waiting for the celebration to officially begin.

......

"Karim Ansarifard, you may come in, sir." Outside the mosque, the guards in charge of security checked the invitation letter from the chief of the Hezhong people and politely invited him in.

One invitation letter can bring in up to five people. In addition to Sagrichin, Karim also brought his two sons and two tribal warriors as guards.

But they were all asked not to bring weapons into the mosque. Li Rufeng didn't need to enforce this requirement. The Noor Mosque originally did not allow believers to bring weapons into the mosque. The requirements were just stricter now.

"Father!" Karim's second son had just reached adulthood and was at the most rebellious age. He held the scimitar tightly and looked at Karim. He did not let go until his eldest brother, who was nearly thirty years old, reached out and patted him on the shoulder.

"It's not targeting you. This is all for Lord Rufeng's safety." The guard himself was born in the Hezhongdi tribe, and said apologetically.

Karim quickly expressed his understanding. When he first handed over the warriors of his tribe to Li Rufeng, he also wanted to place his own confidants around Li Rufeng. As a result, all the warriors who were selected to be Li Rufeng's personal guards became his loyal followers.

This result scared Karim so much that he couldn't sleep for several nights. He didn't know how Li Rufeng did it, but it was obviously not normal.

Sagrichin said that this was the power of Changshengtian and it was Tengri who asked them to remain loyal to Li Rufeng.

With such a fanatical believer of Changshengtian fanning the flames, Karim has now become half a believer of Changshengtian. Now is the time for him to show his loyalty to Li Rufeng.

So this time, Karim brought an extra 300 tribal warriors with him, hoping that they could serve and fight for Lord Rufeng.

As the leader of the people of Hezhong, Karim has made up his mind to stand on Li Rufeng's side, so he is trying his best to squeeze out more soldiers and supplies for Li Rufeng in order to gain greater benefits for the people of Hezhong in future wars.

Of the three hundred men he brought, a full fifty met the standards of armored cavalry.

You have to know that back then, Doste only maintained an armored cavalry of less than 20 people in private, but Karim brought out a full 50 people this time.

Including the fifty people who had served under Li Rufeng before, the people of Central River contributed an entire team of armored cavalry of 100 men to Li Rufeng on their own. This was almost the highest requirement that the great conqueror had for the tribes during his rule over Central River.

So this time, Karim walked into the mosque with his head held high. He felt that with his contribution, he must sit in the front row to watch the ceremony.

Coincidentally, Mahmud, a representative of the Mongolian warlords from the Nemrut Mountains, was also watching with a gloomy face as his weapons were confiscated by Li Rufeng's personal guards.

"That's a top-quality Damascus scimitar. The gems inlaid on it are enough to buy twenty strong Circassian slaves!" Mahmu frowned and stared at the guard in front of him, trying to intimidate him with his eyes.

However, the guards on the opposite side didn't react at all, only continuing to look at the four sword-wielding guards behind Mahmu. The meaning in their eyes was very clear: Your master has surrendered his weapons, what are you waiting for? Are you waiting to be slapped?

"Give him the knife!" Mahmu came to meet Li Rufeng this time, on the one hand to make up for the impact of the rebellion of Asleng and Baoledebagen, and on the other hand to show his loyalty to Li Rufeng, so he swallowed his anger in front of this personal guard.