Mount and Blade Central Asia

In the end, Li Rufeng and his team found an empty house in the city and set up camp as a resting point. The population of Aleppo was declining, and there were more uninhabited houses than occupied ones.

Moreover, there were some landslides in a corner near the southwest of the city, and few people went there. According to Saduddin, the Mamluks had a small settlement there with a few hundred people.

Due to the Mamluks' unclear attitude, Li Rufeng and his group set up camp at night as if it were a wartime camp. A group of Mughal knights selected several buildings that looked like they were the residences of important figures in the past as their base, and blocked the passages between the houses with freight carts and some sundries, as if they were building a barricade.

The news that the Mughals had arrived in the city again had already made the residents of Aleppo and the Ottomans a little nervous. Now that Li Rufeng and his men were preparing to defend the barricades, they felt even more guilty. Many merchants fled the city with their belongings overnight.

Li Rufeng sent two personal guards out, and one returned to Li Rufeng's unit to inform Habashibuhua to bring people to support him. He had a premonition that he might be able to take Aleppo without bloodshed, but just in case, the more manpower the better.

The other one went outside the city to inform Haishar to enter the city to protect the emperor. The brave general brother was waiting not far outside Aleppo. The reason was that he was a knight of the Eagle of Order and could not rashly intervene in the disputes of secular regimes.

But isn't it just that there is no fight now? Li Rufeng felt that since there was no fight, if someone attacked him at night, it must be the believers of the Four Wind Gods coming to seek revenge. Brother Mengjiang had to take care of this matter. Even if he didn't want to take care of himself, he had to take care of the magic sword, right?

Li Rufeng patted the treasure in his arms and smiled triumphantly. How does the saying go? A gentleman can be deceived by tricks. Knights like Haishaer who are rigidly dogmatic can be considered gentlemen in a sense. Li Rufeng likes to deal with such people.

About an hour later, just as it was getting dark, the personal guard and the brave general came on horseback.

Haishaer's face looked a little unhappy, but he had no way to deal with Li Rufeng's tricks. He could only find a suitable place to ventilate and stare outside without saying a word.

A bonfire was soon lit in the camp. Li Rufeng was a Chinese and had learned the principle of "poor at home but rich on the road" since childhood, so the entire caravan brought a lot of supplies on this trip, including meat, wine and everything else. If it weren't for the need to speed up the journey, they would have planned to drive fifty sheep over to eat and buy things.

But even so, the Mughals were very happy on this trip. With wine and meat, what else do you expect?

When Master Li clapped his hands and said he would tell everyone a story tonight, the atmosphere immediately reached its climax: "I know you have always been curious about where I come from. Today I plan to tell you about my hometown. I come from the East, the most powerful country in the East..."

Haishaer tilted his ear and listened to Li Rufeng's story about the glory of the Ming Dynasty. He knew that Li Rufeng was not speaking to these Mongols, but to him.

Li Rufeng was a shrewd man, so he naturally would not talk about how the old Sultan was pointed at by the Ming envoy and scolded for owing tribute for seven years and being shameless, nor did he talk about the Song-Yuan War, which was likely to cause internal conflicts. He only talked about Zheng He's voyages to the West and made up a background for himself, saying that he was the captain of an advance ship of the Treasure Ship Fleet, who encountered a storm and drifted here.

Although Zheng He is likely still hanging around India at this point, and won't cross the Arabian Sea and approach the Persian Gulf until the end of next year during his third voyage to the West (Note 1), no one can expose Li Rufeng anyway...

Right?

Haishaer pricked up his ears and listened to Li Rufeng's description of how rich the Ming Dynasty was and how huge the fleet of Zheng He was. His heart was filled with the same fear and turmoil as those ordinary Mongols.

What kind of fleet could sail at once, carrying tens of thousands of people across thousands of miles? The Mongol people had never seen or heard of it, and neither had Haishar. He only knew that when the Mongols marched westward, they also fought against that ancient dynasty in the east. Until the end of the western expedition, the Mongols had made no progress in the east.

If the Ming Dynasty in the East was so powerful, could it be used as a strong support to fight against the Four Wind Gods? Could there be other people in the Ming Dynasty who possessed the same purifying power as Li Rufeng? Haishaer's imagination ran wild...

"Who is it!" A terrifying bow and arrow appeared in Haishar's hand in an instant, and the arrow flashing with cold light was aimed at a certain direction in the darkness.

The guard in charge of this direction belatedly looked in that direction and blew the bone whistle on his chest. Everyone in the camp, including Li Rufeng, picked up their weapons. Li Rufeng knew very well that he was taking a risk this time, but he could not resist the temptation.

Secretly sneaking into the city of Mardin and launching a surprise attack on Dosit allowed the Mughals to complete the siege with almost no losses. This made Li Rufeng's personal reputation almost comparable to Qinggelinayan. If he could capture Aleppo without bloodshed, how high would his reputation be?

I'm afraid that not only the Mongols, but other people will also spread Li Rufeng's name. Every legend in history has a series of legendary deeds that spread its name, and Li Rufeng has already embarked on this path.

"I am Ais Baker, the legitimate ruler of Aleppo. I came to my city to visit the new guests. Is there any problem?" A man in a dark robe walked out of the darkness, exposing himself to the firelight of the Mughals, and said angrily.

When Haishaer heard this, he turned around and left. He didn't want to get involved in disputes over secular rights, nor did he want to be considered as Li Rufeng's thug, so he would not get involved in such trouble.

"Stand where you are and don't come any closer." The personal guard warned the other party bluntly. Li Rufeng also heard his warning clearly.

"Please ask him to come in. Since the owner of the city is here, there is no reason for us as guests to be so rude, although... this city doesn't look like it has an owner." Li Rufeng smiled heartily and asked his personal guards to push the carriage aside to make way for the other party.

Li Rufeng's words and laughter made Ais Baker of Aleppo, who claimed to be the legitimate master of Aleppo, look even uglier. He looked around and strode into the Mongol camp: "Let me see what kind of wicked guest is, mocking the master of this place to his face!"

The author says:

Author's Note: Note 1 - There are two versions. One says Zheng He arrived in Brummuz on his third voyage to the West, while another says he arrived on his fourth. This book will adopt the former version, and the Ming Dynasty will have a considerable degree of magical background.

Chapter 186 I heard that everything has a price

The evil guest Li Rufeng was currently struggling with a roasted lamb leg that was golden brown and sprinkled with ground pepper. Combined with the aroma of several vegetables, it smelled very similar to the taste of roasted lamb legs in later generations. Thanks to Master Li's job, the overall quality of the teeth of the herdsmen of Li Rufeng's tribe was much higher than that of other tribes, which to a certain extent also affected the development of the tribe.

Men who can eat meat with big mouthfuls and drink wine with big bowls are always braver than others on the battlefield. Li Rufeng ensured the continuity of this eating habit. At least, his order requiring everyone to clean their teeth was supported by the tribe.

"Sir, please take a seat. We have extra food for you." Li Rufeng pointed to the empty seat across from him and said to the man who called himself the Master of Aleppo, "I don't know. Where are you from? Why do you call yourself the Master of Aleppo?"

Ais Baker walked alone to the center of the camp without any guards, and looked at the "fortress" built by these Mughals openly. Then he pessimistically discovered that he had twice as many people as them, but without the right equipment, it was impossible for him to capture such a "fortress".

"I heard that you Mughals are going to occupy this city. Is this just a rumor, or has your ambition really expanded to the point that you ignore our existence?" Ais Baker asked bluntly after sitting down.

The guards around looked at each other, stopped eating, and put their hands on their weapons.

But Li Rufeng waved his hand, signaling them to calm down, and then said, "Where's the wine? Give this guest some!"

Mirzan personally poured wine for Ais and handed the bowl to him, but Ais Baker knocked the wine over and said, "You are insulting a Muslim! I am a devout believer! You drinking beasts will be condemned by Allah!"

All the guards stood up, and Li Rufeng's face turned cold. This involved a question of faith. If he backed down, as the spokesperson of Changshengtian, these believers would be disappointed.

"I entertained you according to ancient etiquette, serving you fine wine and delicious food. Even though we are enemies, you shouldn't insult me ​​like this." Li Rufeng splashed his drink in Ais Baker's face. "Now we are enemies. You can choose to die here, or drink my wine and get out."

After hearing what Li Rufeng said, Mirzan filled up the wine again and handed it to Aiyi.

At the same time, a personal guard drew out his saber and put it on Ais Baker's neck.

"I am the Lord of Aleppo appointed by Sultan Nasser Faraj himself! If you kill me, it means war!" Ais Baker shouted at the top of his lungs.

But Li Rufeng was busy gnawing on the leg of lamb, not taking the threat from the other side seriously at all. After all, he had occupied the Mamluk city. Unless His Majesty the Sultan had other things to do and could not take care of this side, the two sides would have a war sooner or later. Li Rufeng certainly hoped that this war would drag on as long as possible.

Fortunately, the Nile River has recently flooded again, and the Mamluk Sultan has no food at all and can only defend the border and wait for a good harvest.

Ais Baker looked at the wine in front of him, the knife in front of his throat, and the seemingly calm Li Rufeng, and finally chose to compromise. He could not die, at least not now. He was the last male in their family. His father was the previous Emir stationed in Aleppo and died in this city.

The reason why he was able to come back and inherit Aleppo this time was that his mother sold all the family's properties in Egypt and bribed other emirs to allow him to get the inheritance rights of Aleppo.

Although several old soldiers who had narrowly escaped Aleppo had warned Ais Baker that Aleppo was cursed by Timur's wizards, he thought it was an exaggerated lie and still came here resolutely.

Then Ais regretted his decision. The city was too weird. He brought back two hundred soldiers, but more than seventy of them disappeared in the city in just three months. The remaining soldiers refused to enter the city again. Various horror legends about Aleppo continued to spread in the camp, so that the slaves recruited by Ais would rather live in tents outside the city than enter the city.

For example, now, Ais Bek came to meet the Mughals, and he was accompanied only by two loyal Mamluk warriors, with no other guards.

"You will regret it, pagan!" Ais. Baker finally paid the price for his previous arrogance and rudeness. Under the pressure of sabers, he drank the strong liquor of the Mughals.

The devout Ais. Baker, who had never drunk alcohol before, started coughing violently due to the stimulation of alcohol, which attracted the laughter of the Mughals. Under the influence of alcohol and shame, Ais. Baker's face turned red and looked like a balloon about to explode.

He suddenly pushed away the guard who had just sheathed his sword and pointed at Li Rufeng's nose, but he couldn't say a word because of the effect of alcohol.

Li Rufeng calmly pointed to where he had been sitting and said, "Sit down. If you don't want to leave after all this without gaining anything, you'd better listen to me from now on."

Ais Baker sat back down with an even more aggressive movement than before, while Li Rufeng dispersed the people around him, giving the other party an environment to calm down.

"So, do you have any other purpose in coming to see me besides wanting to humiliate me?" Li Rufeng looked at the Muruk man who was in his early thirties. He wore armor under his robe and was quite tall, but he was obviously not a warrior.

A true warrior wouldn't react like that when a knife is held to his neck.

"I politely ask you to leave this city, my city," Ais Baker gritted his teeth and forced himself to calm down. "I noticed you brought some merchandise with you. Regardless of whether you're truly here for business, I'm willing to buy all of it. All I ask is that you leave early tomorrow morning."

"Hahaha, my friend, my goods are very expensive." Li Rufeng laughed. He hadn't expected the other party to have such a naive idea. If he was really worried about the Mughals taking over the city, he should have repaired the city walls earlier, restored the drawbridge, and refilled the moat with water instead of counting on the enemy's mercy...

"I believe that everything has a price..." Ais Baker said this after feeling like he had used up his last bit of strength.

In Li Rufeng's ears, the subtext of this sentence was, I believe I can offer you a price that satisfies you to give up the idea of ​​occupying Aleppo.

The author says:

Author's Note: The Mamluks were not originally hereditary, but in this era the Mamluks have begun to decline, and many of the rules have become the same.

Chapter 187 The Missing Guard

Ais Baker finally left the Mongol camp with anger and regret. Li Rufeng rejected his proposal, which made Ais feel a little heavy.

But when he walked out of the camp, something even more depressing happened to him. One of the only two Mamluk warriors who had the courage to accompany him into the city of Aleppo was missing.

"My lord, Khalid was hiding in that direction. We exchanged signals almost ten minutes ago, and he was still there then." Akadullah was a devout believer, a brave and fearless warrior, and Ais Beck's most loyal guard. But even now, his voice was still filled with fear. "My lord, this city has been cursed by the devil. It's the City of the Dead! We should leave!"

He couldn't help but be afraid. Khalid was also a fearless warrior, but he just disappeared like that, less than 20 meters away from him, without even making a sound. Al-Kadullah didn't know what kind of experience could make a warrior like Khalid disappear silently. This was beyond the limit of his imagination. In addition to fear, his heart was filled with

There is nothing else.

"Let's go!" Ais Baker was also very nervous. He quickened his pace and hoped to leave the city before anything happened to him.

Haishar listened to their entire conversation in the dark, frowned, turned and disappeared into the darkness, and went to the empty room where the Mamluk disappeared, but found nothing.

He did not find any trace of evil forces here. There were indeed footprints of the Mamluk at the scene. It was obvious that the man had been moving before he disappeared, but his footsteps were not scattered. However, the footprints stopped abruptly after entering an empty room without a door.

Haishar stood there and watched for a long time, and even risked walking in the other's footsteps. Theoretically, Haishar was also a Mamluk. He was born in Cairo and raised by the Knights of the Eagle of Order in Mecca. He eventually became a true Knight of the Eagle of Order... but nothing happened.

...

"Something happened." Haishaer appeared beside Li Rufeng, like a big bat in a cloak, silently.

"What's wrong?" Li Rufeng put down the half-drunk honey yogurt and looked at Brother Mengjiang's serious expression, his heart tightened.

"One of the noble's guards is missing." Haishar glanced at the guards around Li Rufeng, and those guards immediately dispersed according to Li Rufeng's will.

"Missing?" Li Rufeng breathed a sigh of relief. He thought that the people in the city had put aside their grudges and were planning to besiege them.

"It's the curse you heard about before. The guard hid in an empty house nearby and suddenly disappeared." Haishar told Li Rufeng everything he had discovered, then asked, "You are the old shaman's student. Did he tell you about the curse of Aleppo before?"

"No, he never mentioned the curse here once." Li Rufeng said with some regret, "We didn't talk about it at the time. I only heard about the curse after the old shaman died."

Haishaer nodded with some regret: "Come with me and take a look. Maybe your ability can help."

Li Rufeng accepted Haishaer's invitation, comforted the others, let them eat and drink, and then walked out of the barricade with two bodyguards and Haishaer.

The place where Guard Ais Baker disappeared was less than fifteen meters away from the Mughal fortress. If something happened to Ais at that time, the guard's position would have... been too late to do anything.

The footprints had been stepped on by Haishaer, but in the firelight, Li Rufeng could still tell from Haishaer's footprints that the guard had been on guard in another empty room that was closer, and then he suddenly decided to change places.

Following Haishar's footsteps, Li Rufeng seemed to see the guard at that time, for some reason, turned around and left without hesitation, walking towards the room where he eventually disappeared as if taking a walk, pushed open the non-existent door, stepped in... and then disappeared.

Li Rufeng squatted on the ground, looking at the two parallel footprints and fell into deep thought. The empty room in front of him had no door, but the missing person standing at the door still stood there with his feet parallel, which proved that the other party had stood in front of the door for at least a moment instead of stepping in directly.

Either he hesitated here, or he thought there was a door here and made a move to push it.

"Have you ever encountered this situation before?" Li Rufeng turned around and asked, but Haishaer just shook his head silently.

The Eagle of Order had investigated various legends about Aleppo, but had generally returned empty-handed. One Eagle of Order jurist had lived there for six months and had only counted a dozen or so cases of mysterious disappearances of items or residents getting lost, "small matters." Only one disappearance was ultimately proven to be intentional by the person trying to avoid debt.

However, today, a missing case really happened in front of Haishar. A fully armed Mamluk warrior just disappeared.

Haishar felt that it was his responsibility to find out the truth about the curse, but when it came to Timur, many things were difficult to find the truth.

Timur was too powerful, and because of Milansha, the relationship between him and the Eagle of Order was limited to non-interference. The Eagle of Order didn't know where he got the help of extraordinary power, nor did they know what method he used.

Haishar only knew that Timur had many "advisors" in this field, from Christians to shamans, wizards from the Black Continent, and Islamic jurisprudence scholars. Timur welcomed everyone. You could even find Taoist priests from Eastern dynasties in Samarkand...

Li Rufeng and his personal guards made a circle around but ultimately returned empty-handed. It was certain that many people had trouble sleeping that night. Even Li Rufeng felt a little uneasy facing this strange situation.

But fortunately, with the help of that little bit of alcohol, Mr. Li finally had a good sleep.

The next morning, Saduddin Fasif had already dressed up and was waiting outside the barricade for a long time. The night sentry said that he had arrived before dawn and waited until Li Rufeng woke up.

"Sir, the deal you mentioned before..." Saduddin spoke in a hoarse voice after seeing Li Rufeng. It was obvious that he was so busy all night that he didn't even have time to drink water.

"Eat first, then talk business." Li Rufeng interrupted the businessman and pointed at the food on the table. "Don't be polite, I'm a generous man.

A generous ruler."

"Yes, my lord."

Chapter 188 My City!

When a person decides to give in, his bottom line becomes very soft. For example, Saduddin Fasif originally wanted to strengthen the city's defenses and make the Mamluks pretend to defend Aleppo to the death, so that he could sell himself and the city for a good price.

But now, for the profit of the current deal, Saduddin has forgotten his original plan, his Ottoman allies, and his local allies in Aleppo.

What does 3,000 kilograms of wool mean? It could keep the weavers of Florence or any other commercial city busy for an entire season. With this much wool, Saduddin could simply ask the buyer to find a ship to pick it up.

If handled properly, the profit from this transaction would allow Saduddin to recover all his investments in Aleppo.

So, when Ais Baker hired a group of local residents of Aleppo to go to the city gate entrance to dig out the sand and gravel under the drawbridge early in the morning, Saduddin directly paid twice the price to let those laborers go to the city to dig wells.

The Mughals had no intention of leaving the city. They spent the whole day strengthening their barricades. Li Rufeng even had the leisure to take a walk around the old imperial palace in the center of the city under the protection of several personal guards.

It’s a pity that the Mughals were too thorough back then. Except for the walls and floors, everything else was packed up and taken away.

Li Rufeng was too lazy to change his base and planned to continue camping there. His personal guards had already gone out to inform Habashibuhua that he was bringing more people to take advantage of Aleppo's still defenseless state.

Before he came, he didn't expect that this time would be so smooth. It was really a case of plans not keeping up with the speed of change. Although Li Rufeng always knew that Aleppo's defense was empty, he didn't expect the defense to be so empty. If he had known earlier, he would have taken advantage of it long ago!

Li Rufeng spent the entire day wandering around Aleppo, both to gain a more intuitive understanding of the city and to find clues about the curse.

Unfortunately, the surviving indigenous people in the city turned around and ran away when they saw them because of the killings by the Mongols in previous years, making it impossible for Li Rufeng to collect any rumors.

Haishaer followed Li Rufeng closely, which was a kind of protection. Protecting Li Rufeng was also protecting himself, because Haishaer didn't know whether he would suffer the same fate as the previous guard.

But Li Rufeng still collected a lot of information about the curse from other people. For example, sometimes the Ottomans could dig water from a well without any problem, but when it was the turn of the local people in Aleppo to draw water, they would fish out some debris.

As for the cases of being trapped in a wall by a ghost and being possessed by a ghost, there were even more such cases. This even caused the local people of Aleppo to be discriminated against by the Ottomans and others in the city to a certain extent. Over time, these people were unwilling to tell others about their experiences.

Li Rufeng stood on the east side of the city wall and looked at a small hill in the distance. That was where Timur built the Jingguan. If nothing unexpected happened, that should be the reason for the curse in the city.

If Ais Baker had a little courage, he should have dug it up long ago, but he didn't. As a result, his own people were afraid to enter the city, and the people in the city didn't believe that he could bring prosperity to Aleppo. How could he make such a simple thing so complicated?

You came here from afar not to open up new land. You can either charge in head-on without giving anyone face and act like you want to take over Aleppo, or go back to where you came from, admit defeat and go home to drink milk.