Mount and Blade Central Asia

This was also the last gathering place he was going to visit, and at this time, there were only six captives left from the Grey Wolf Village, including Old Snake.

Two of the six men had been frightened mad by Li Rufeng's ruthless execution method. They were talking nonsense all day long and could not take care of themselves. Everyone knew that they would not live long.

After all, Master Li was too lazy to even take care of a wounded soldier with an injured arm, let alone two lunatics.

After the team disbanded and rested, no one spoke. Li Rufeng's personal guards rarely spoke without orders, while Maritan and Reyes had a deep fear of Li Rufeng and didn't know where to start.

Only Old Snake had to say something in order to survive.

"Lord Rufeng, you have also seen that those murders were committed by Gray Wolf and his men. I cannot say that I am innocent, but at least I have never harmed innocent people. I swear to God, I have indeed done a lot of things to kill people for money, but I have never killed people for fun for no reason." The old snake kept on talking and defending himself.

During these few days, he had formed a preliminary impression of Li Rufeng from conversations with other people and his observations of Li Rufeng.

He knew Li Rufeng's name and roughly guessed what kind of behavior Li Rufeng hated.

In order to survive, the old snake could be said to have mobilized 200% of his concentration. He believed that Li Rufeng was a mature lord with a strong sense of purpose and a certain sense of justice, but he already understood what compromise meant.

So he hated aimless evil and people who destroyed the prosperity of his territory, but Lao She couldn't figure out why Li Rufeng always had to carry out executions and kill people himself when he had the best soldiers in the world.

From Li Rufeng's expression every time he swung his knife, Lao She could tell that he was not the kind of noble who hid his bloodthirsty desire deep in his heart, and he had no special hobby for taking lives.

But he still did it. Lao She could only blame this behavior on the other party's religious beliefs. For this reason, he even asked the Mongolian soldiers who escorted him many times what kind of belief the Eternal Heaven belief was.

However, the language barrier made this attempt futile.

"Avid, teach him what it means to shut up." Li Rufeng glanced at the burly man who had just joined the gang and gave him the first order.

Arvid stood up, took out a dagger from his waist and walked towards the old snake. It was obvious that he was going to cut off the old snake.

The prisoner's tongue had the final say.

"Don't shed blood. When I need him to speak, he must still be able to speak." Li Rufeng added, and asked Avid to put the dagger back in. Then he punched Lao She on the side of the face, making him faint.

After doing all this, Arvid sat back in his original position, without saying a word.

"Whoever of you can get him to tell me all about his past before dinner, I'll give him a gold dinar," Li Rufeng said jokingly, looking at the newcomer with a unique personality. He took out a gold coin and said to Maritan and Reyes, "Cash on delivery."

Avid Said stood up with a bang and walked to Li Rufeng. During this time, all his guards stood up almost instantly, but Li Rufeng asked them to sit back down.

The strong man took the gold coin from Li Rufeng and said, "I can tell..."

Chapter 225 The Return of the Lord

The destruction of Gray Wolf's gang was just the beginning. There were still several gangs of half-civilian and half-bandit bandits in the surrounding areas of Alepo. With Lao She, the "big brother in the industry" leading the way, these gangs were naturally all caught.

Then the public trial process was repeated. Li Rufeng had never counted how many heads he had chopped off with his own hands, but it was definitely much more than the number he had let go.

The entire anti-bandit operation lasted for a month. The scorching sun and the blowing night wind made Li Rufeng look darker, but it was worth it.

If we say that the last time Mr. Li brought people to purchase grain, he was demonstrating his kindness, and many old farmers regarded him as a generous fool and did not take him seriously, then now Mr. Li's image has become more three-dimensional.

As Li Rufeng captured one bandit gang after another and beheaded them on the spot in front of all the subjects, these people began to recall the memory of the conqueror Timur's visit here.

The mountains of heads and the desolate land for thousands of miles almost turned the land into a wasteland.

Now the entire Aleppo and surrounding areas clearly understand what Li Rufeng meant. They should work honestly and pay taxes peacefully. This land has a master again, and he is a powerful master. If they don't want to lose their lives, they should not have any bad intentions.

This is also a huge gain for Li Rufeng personally. His two-handed weapon skill proficiency has reached level 42, and his riding skill proficiency has finally crossed the 50 mark. It is now level 52 and he has obtained the second specialty.

Now, Master Li could finally say that he was at least a little better at riding a horse than his little maid.

This time, you have to choose between two specialties: "Excellent Breeding" and "Strong Saddle and Horse" -

[Excellent Breeding: (Personal) Your mount's vitality is increased by 20%. (Tactical Commander) The vitality of your soldiers' mounts is increased by 10%.]

[Saddle and Horse: (Personal) When your mount is at risk of collapsing or lame in battle, there's a 50% chance of immunity. This event can only be triggered once per battle. (Governor) Citizen Loyalty in settlements you personally manage increases by 0.5 per day.]

Li Rufeng had no need to hesitate at all in his choice this time; "a strong saddle and a strong horse" was the inevitable choice.

Not to mention how tempting it would be for someone as fearful of death as Master Li to have the potential immunity from falling off his horse once per battle, the Governor skill bonus alone was enough to force him to choose this skill, because he actually had a city under his control...

Along with the improvement in riding skill proficiency level, archery skill also increases.

Although Master Li couldn't ride his horse and shoot like his personal guards to kill the bandits on the spot, Li Rufeng was a power-hungry man, so he would usually let his horse stand still, then bend his bow and shoot slowly.

His personal guards always found a way to drive the enemy to a place near Li Rufeng, allowing Master Li to shoot them to his heart's content.

Therefore, Li Rufeng's bow and arrow skill proficiency level will also reach level 25. This is only after several executions were carried out, beheading was replaced by bow punishment...

The first two choices for the bow and arrow skill line are quite important, namely "Mastering the Bow" and "Aiming at the Vital Points" -

[Archery Mastery: (Personal) The penalty for your shooting accuracy while moving is reduced by 30%. (Captain) When your soldiers use bows and arrows, the damage caused by bows and arrows increases by 5%.]

[Aiming at the Vital Points: (Individual) When a bow and arrow hits the enemy's head, the chance of penetrating the helmet increases by 30%. (Captain) When the soldiers under his command use bows and arrows, the bow skill proficiency level increases by 20 levels.]

The reason why this choice between the two is so important is because it is basically the first fork in the road for guerrilla archers and snipers in the game.

With Master Li's talent in archery, if there were no system bonus, he probably would never choose to use this weapon in his life. In comparison, the crossbow is more suitable for a rookie and novice like him.

But Li Rufeng's current base is still mainly composed of Mongols, and as one of the strongest schools in Mount and Blade, the bow and arrow skills are really not to be missed.

Therefore, Li Rufeng finally chose "Mastery of Archery" as his first step in archery skills. At least now he can blend in with his personal guards and pretend to be like other people and shoot a hail of arrows.

As for other skills, because he could only fight as a personal guard, Li Rufeng gained 4 levels of tactical skill proficiency, bringing it to level 32, and 4 points of command skill, bringing it to level 38.

This is Li

This is all Rufeng gained from this trip. He was still a young boy when he left, and he had become a warrior when he came back...Okay, this is a bit exaggerated. All we can say is that Master Li went out for guerrilla warfare for a month, and his whole body was tanned.

Li Rufeng's personal guards were blessed by the system to a certain extent, and they did not react much to Li Rufeng's changes, but for Maritan, Reyes and the captive Lao She, they almost witnessed the whole process of how a person went from a novice to an expert in less than a month.

Maritan, who was born as a mercenary, even began to doubt her own faith for a moment and planned to convert to Eternal Heaven.

As for veterans like Reyes and Lao She, after meeting Li Rufeng's personal guards, they were no longer surprised by the various magical qualities of Li Rufeng.

Along the way, Old Snake repeatedly winked at Reyes, hoping that he could say a few good words for him in front of Li Rufeng, but Reyes pretended not to know Old Snake and ignored him.

Seeing that the city of Aleppo was getting closer and closer, Old Snake finally got anxious. Taking advantage of an opportunity to go to the toilet, he quickly threw a small piece of cloth with words written on it in the direction of Reyes.

There was a date written on the cloth strip, but Reyes immediately looked bitter and went to find Li Rufeng.

"Sir, I'm guilty!" Reyes saw Li Rufeng kneeling there without a word, and said with tears in his eyes, "Two years ago, because the village was short of food and salt, I was blinded by my own thoughts and cooperated with Gray Wolf and his gang to rob a caravan..."

"I originally thought this matter would rot in my stomach forever, but seeing you like the sun on the grassland, clearing away the sin that shrouded this land, seeing you tirelessly saving those sinners riddled with sin, my conscience is uneasy, sir!" Reyes knelt on the ground, leaving two marks on his knees. He crawled to Li Rufeng's side and said tearfully, "Sir, I need salvation! Please save me!"

Li Rufeng was standing in front of the fire, looking at his small stew pot with beef jerky and bread crumbs, adding some spices from time to time according to his taste, and looking forward to his dinner that would not only fill his stomach but also satisfy his taste buds. As a result, Reyes told him to add more salt.

"Are you sick?" Li Rufeng frowned and looked at Reyes. After a busy day, being able to eat a hot meal, especially one with soup, was the top priority for Master Li. As a result, half of the food was ruined.

When Li Rufeng frowned, Reyes froze. He didn't even dare to raise his head, just pressed his face to the ground and pleaded, "Please forgive my rashness! I just suddenly had an epiphany. I feel like I've found my life's direction in you... I want to convert, and from now on, walk the world as a follower of Changshengtian."

Li Rufeng frowned even more deeply. He looked at his broth, then looked at the unbeliever who was kneeling on the ground and said he wanted to convert, and sighed.

The Eternal Heaven belief system is based on freedom of movement. In comparison, its organizational framework and hierarchical structure are far less strict than those of Christianity and Islam. This is both its advantage and disadvantage.

The advantage is naturally that there are not so many rules and regulations in daily life, and the shamans live more freely. The disadvantage is that believers like Reyes who converted purely for profit will probably find out in a month or so that Li Rufeng's Changshengtian belief is just a makeshift team.

In fact, Master Li already has a system in his mind that can be considered rigorous and has a complete framework structure, but this requires the cooperation of enough of his own people to set up the most basic framework first before filling it with meat.

For Li Rufeng, finding enough "own people" was even more difficult than rebuilding the city of Aleppo.

He initially considered the scattered shamans in other tribes, but Li Rufeng quickly gave up this idea because some of those shamans were addicted to the psychic feeling brought by opium, taking drugs all day long, with limited time to be sober; some were just the descendants of nobles in the tribe, and their belief in Changshengtian was not as strong as Li Rufeng's.

In comparison, Wusali, who died in the bloody battle of the Taierbahe tribe, was simply an elite shaman. He not only understood the various rituals of the Changshengtian belief, but also knew some herbal medicine and was also half an alchemist.

The most important thing is that these people are not on the same page with Li Rufeng. They represent the interests of various departments, while Li Rufeng needs centralization.

In Li Rufeng's mind, the only person who can be considered one of his own in the shaman profession is probably the old shaman's true disciple, his junior brother, Bater.

Thinking of this, Li Rufeng glanced at the greasy Reyes and said with a smile, "Changshengtian is a very strange existence. It exists in an objective sense. There is no anthropomorphic incarnation, no saint. If you want to believe in it, you don't need my consent. You need to convince yourself."

"He is like the sun, like the moon. Whether you believe in Him or not, He doesn't care." Li Rufeng looked up at the sky and said, "He is the clear sky, and He only accepts the faith of the devout. Do you understand?"

Reyes looked at Li Rufeng blankly and shook his head honestly.

It's right that you don't understand. Li Rufeng smiled gently and said, "Be a good person first. When people say you are a good person, come to me again and I will tell you how to become a believer in Changshengtian."

But I don't think you are a good person. Reyes's small eyes were filled with doubts, but he didn't dare to

Say.

Chapter 226: My house was ransacked?

The King of Aleppo returns to his city, and the first thing that awaits him is...

"Sir, there was a riot at the quarry and we don't know how to deal with it." The Wuerhun chief, who was temporarily arrested and thrown into the city as a human seal because Li Rufeng went out for "travel", was so anxious that he blocked Li Rufeng in the watchtower.

Because it was here that Li Rufeng reached an agreement with various forces inside and outside the city when he first entered the city, so now in addition to being a city defense facility, this place also serves as a part-time administrative function to a certain extent.

For example, Wuerhun likes to work here very much so that he can ride back to the tribe by himself every night. In his words, he can't stand the days when there is no grass under his feet, no sunlight above his head, and no cold wind around him.

"Riot? What's going on?" Li Rufeng was about to dismount when he heard this and immediately rode back on, showing off his increasingly improved riding skills to the old patriarch.

"There was a landslide at the quarry, killing four workers. The small merchants had put all their money into Pepper Horse to develop trade routes, so they couldn't afford compensation." Wuerhun summarized the situation succinctly. "Later, it was discovered that one of the workers who was killed had previously been with Gray Wolf's gang. The merchants heard you were recently cracking down on bandits, so they decided to take advantage of the situation and refuse to pay compensation. A quarrel ensued."

"That won't reach the level of a riot, right?" Li Rufeng has always known that a city must rely on merchants to prosper, but it cannot rely solely on merchants, as they will trample on anything for profit.

"Some of the workers in the quarry were former Mamluk soldiers. They organized a group and occupied the quarry," Wuerhun continued. "I think the Mamluk noble is probably involved in this."

"How many people are there?" Li Rufeng frowned slightly. In the past month, he had gained a bit of fierce aura. Although he couldn't compare with people like Haishaer and Qinggelinayan, he had begun to show a sense of authority without anger. "There's no food in the quarry. Who is bringing them food?"

"There are probably about a hundred or eighty armed men in the quarry right now, and even more just watching the fun." Wuerhun shook his head with a headache. "Women from several nearby settlements go there every day to eat, while their men work in the quarry. People from Aleppo also go there. Their slogan is to severely punish illegal traders, and they're waiting for you to come back and deal with it."

When Li Rufeng heard this, he immediately laughed.

This is not an idea that a group of soldiers could come up with. There must be someone behind the scenes giving advice to the quarry workers, and this person probably has a certain degree of understanding of Li Rufeng.

As a time traveler, Li Rufeng naturally has a much higher "respect" for producers than other rulers of his time, so he has always been thinking about introducing a labor protection law that is in line with the working people to solve the problem of compensation for possible work-related deaths and injuries.

This is not an act that is ahead of its time. Not to mention the situation in the great China, this land has had relatively complete contract laws for the rights and interests of both parties to employment as early as the Roman period.

It can be said that the introduction of the Labor Law is to clarify the basic elements and rules of the employment relationship, protect the rights and interests of both parties to the employment relationship, objectively maintain the stability of the labor market, thereby increasing the mobility of the labor force, providing guarantees for employment, and can steadily promote economic development.

But although Li Rufeng had this intention, he couldn't push forward this matter under pressure. Otherwise, who would remember Li Rufeng's kindness? People would only remember that the person who started the riot forced the powerful to make concessions, and learned the first impression that the riot could benefit them.

The question is, who on earth has such a deep understanding of Li Rufeng and has enough motivation to do something that "harms others and does not benefit oneself"?

For a moment, Azadirim's face, which changed frequently but always had a rotten smell, appeared in Li Rufeng's mind again.

To be fair, Li Rufeng lacked friends who could resonate with him spiritually in this era, especially after the old shaman's death. There were few people around him who could even read, let alone those who were knowledgeable, cultured and far-sighted enough to accommodate Li Rufeng's heart from the future.

So during the period when Azadirim had just surrendered, Li Rufeng did chat with him for several nights in a row, talking about everything under the sun.

In this era, to be called a wizard, no matter whether he is a black wizard or a white wizard, he must first be literate, master multiple languages, have an adventurous spirit, and be full of contempt for the existing order.

In this industry, those who are capable of gaining the attention of the Blue Wind are even rarer. It can be said that Azadirim is the person who can most catch up with Li Rufeng in terms of thoughts after the death of the old shaman.

If it weren't for the fact that the God of the Four Winds was an evil god, and Azadirim was a black wizard who killed people without blinking an eye and had a strong purpose, Li Rufeng might have become friends with Azadirim.

But now, Azadirim obviously intends to become Li Rufeng's "good teacher and helpful friend" from another perspective.

...

"Miaam, don't forget us, you have to avenge us!" Miam woke up from his dream suddenly when he saw Aliche, half of his body was crushed by the boulder, slowly crawling towards him, leaving a trail of blood on the ground.

How many times has this happened? Miyam looked around in shock, making sure she was still in the shed.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I found that there was no bloody Aliche on the floor.

He was the leader of this so-called riot, and although he personally did not want this portrait, his will was not important at all in this riot.

The scene in the dream was not a nightmare, but something Miam saw with his own eyes. He had served in the Sultan before and had seen dead people. He knew that it was impossible for anyone to survive with such injuries, let alone talk to others.

But it still happened, and he was forced to his current position step by step by several dead people.

"Aliche, what should I do? They said that the lord has returned in the afternoon, and those Mongols are coming to attack us..." Miam asked the small amulet that Aliche used to carry on the table in a daze.

Miam and Aliche actually don't have much of a connection. They didn't even know each other before, but when Aliche and several other people were crushed to death, Miam happened to be the one closest to them.

He was the only one who had witnessed those events, and ever since then Aliche's voice had been with Miriam, in her dreams and in the dead of night.

And Aliche did give him a lot of good ideas, which made his riot look more organized and the situation seemed to be getting worse.

But he was facing the Mongols... The double pressure from the mysterious side and the real side almost made the veteran mentally collapse, and this was exactly what Azadirim wanted to see.

After leaving the Gray Wolf Stronghold, Azadim changed two bodies along the way and returned to Aleppo again, but the city now seemed different from before, and he instinctively did not want to get close to it.

This is also what scares Azadirim the most about Li Rufeng. The oriental man carries too many secrets. He can use almost joking rituals to achieve the results he wants, and he succeeds every time.

The Azure Wind was very interested in him, so Azadirim could continue to use witchcraft to maintain his immortal state with the favor of the Azure Wind.

Azadirim did not dare to deviate from the will of the Azure Wind at all, so he floated around Li Rufeng like a parasite and kept testing him, because he knew that Azure Wind's interest in Li Rufeng was his last straw.

The landslide in the quarry was also caused by Azadirim. He didn't need any advanced magic. He just let one of the workers who was transporting the stone slabs see the body he was temporarily living in, a corpse that had begun to rot. The other person was so scared that he lost all his strength on the spot.

Then, he only needed to gently use the power of magic to push where the force should be applied, and everything would fall into place.

"Miyam, don't be afraid. You represent those who are suffering. They are all silently supporting you behind the scenes. Even the lord cannot ignore the voice of our group." Azadirim said to Miyam in Aliche's voice, "As long as we can work together, there will be a good future!"