Mount and Blade Central Asia

The knife-wielding civilians who rushed in with Aziz suffered the heaviest casualties. There were only twenty-one people left alive at the scene, fourteen of whom were injured. They had no armor protection, and most of them were just brave for a moment and lacked the ability to protect themselves in the battle.

However, although not every believer has the courage to rush in and help chop people down in a situation like the one just now, there are many people who dare to stand up and defend their own place of faith from being desecrated by pagans when the situation is stable.

"We want to go in! Let us in! My son is in there! Even if he is dead, I have to collect his body!" Several old men who were pushed out to make a fuss rushed in with their necks stretched out, as if they were not afraid of the scimitars in the hands of the Moghuls at all.

He had already done something like this in Lepo, so this time he gave Gulanchi a complete set of ready-made plans. He just had to follow them. "This is your last chance. If you can't do it well, let Aisha be the governor of Hama in the future."

"I..." Gulanqi felt terrible after hearing Li Rufeng's request. He didn't know how he could manage the daily life of thousands of people in Hama City with just dozens of temporary workers.

In fact, he didn't even know how to inform the whole city of Li Rufeng's request. In the past, Idrissa was the one who did this kind of thing... Gulanqi tried hard to think about how Idrissa usually did it?

He would first gather the influential people in the city and let them carry out his will according to the region... Yes, that's right! That's it!

But how could he gather those important figures? They were either local businessmen, religious leaders, or at worst, gang leaders. And Gulanchi was just a governor appointed by Cairo; he didn't even have loyal soldiers...

"I need to borrow your soldiers." Gulanqi looked at Li Rufeng and sighed. He estimated that after completing this mission, he would be completely doomed.

But for the sake of his dignity as a man, Gulanchi decided to give up his already limited loyalty to Sultan Nasir.

...

"Sir, when we were cleaning up the bodies in the mosque, we found something in the basement." At night, Hulucierjia woke up Li Rufeng who was resting. He slept in the mosque to prevent any accidents from happening here.

Before going to sleep, he ordered his soldiers and the men left behind by Aziz to clean up the bodies in the mosque and the mess on the ground.

This is actually a difficult job. The bodies of the dead in battle are relatively easy to deal with. They just need to be piled up and wait for a fire to burn them. The trouble is those who were massacred by the followers of the Green Wind in the mosque.

Their bodies had already been destroyed by the followers of the Green Wind, and then further destroyed in the melee among hundreds of people.

These soldiers needed to dig sand from the small square inside the mosque and pour it into the auditorium to mix it with the blood. Then they had to put the contaminated sand into buckets and carry it out to fill the deep pits dug in advance. After all this was done, they had to rinse the floor with clean water.

If we didn't consider the believers' thoughts, burning the place down would naturally be the most worry-free way, but this is the only way now.

"What's wrong?" Li Rufeng rubbed his face and asked sleepily. He had not slept for more than four hours in the past few days, and his body had reached its limit.

"Those guys left a big pot in the basement. I don't know what was cooking in it. It's right below the auditorium, and blood is flowing from it. Haishaer asked me to come and call you over." Hulucierjia's tone was a little nervous.

He has recently seen a lot of troubles that cannot be solved by muscles and sabers, and he is not as sharp as before.

The rulers of every Islamic country face the problem of how to balance religious power.

Li Rufeng chose to give Gulanqi a chance, hoping that he could come forward to help him solve this problem, but obviously, Gulanqi was a waste, and he disappointed Li Rufeng again.

He had given Gulanqi clear orders, requiring everyone to maintain a curfew and not move around freely, and also gave him a complete plan, even military power, but Gulanqi couldn't grasp it...

In such a bad mood, Li Rufeng and Huluchirga walked into the basement of the mosque. He was already accustomed to these political and religious masters digging cellars under their own territory. These people always felt that they had to bury their money deep underground to feel safe.

In the basement, Haishaer was guarding the door of one of the basements. Judging from his expression, it was obvious that the things in the basement were very tricky, so much so that even a skilled fighter like Haishaer was concentrating on staring at it.

"What's going on?" Li Rufeng was stimulated by the cold air in the basement and became much more awake.

"Those Green Wind followers were performing a sacrificial ritual, and the final location is inside." Haishar pushed open the door, showing Li Rufeng the contents and saying, "Luckily we got in early, otherwise, if they had given us more time, Hama City would have been finished."

When Haishaer moved his burly body aside, Li Rufeng finally saw what was in the basement.

It was a patch of withered, strange-looking plants. Although they were called plants, branches and fruits shaped like human limbs could be seen everywhere, covering the entire basement area of ​​nearly ten square meters.

Li Rufeng saw a plant as thick as a human thigh in the middle of the basement. It still retained a hint of green and swayed a little when Haishar opened the door.

"I've confirmed that they are no longer a threat. The fruits haven't had time to mature, there are no toxins, and no plague." Haishar explained to Li Rufeng, picked up a spear from the ground, and stabbed the plant hard, but nothing happened except leaving a wound on the rhizome.

Li Rufeng frowned, pointed at the contents and said, "We can only burn it."

"I'm afraid you'll need to purify them before burning them." Haishar looked at the plants worriedly. "I heard that the Green Wind has a large garden in its own world, which breeds the plague of countless worlds..."

"I can try..." Li Rufeng was unsure. There was a watermelon-sized fruit hanging on the top of the plant, about to bloom. If possible, he didn't want to get close to it. God knows what's inside. "For your sake."

After Li Rufeng finished speaking, he went back and took out his demon-killing set. He lighted the yellow paper and burned it with red fire, which looked quite authentic like Maoshan.

But faced with these strange plants, the corpses that had just been cleaned up in the chapel upstairs, and the malicious Four Wind Gods, the eloquent Li Rufeng didn't have any suitable lines to say for a while.

Soon the ignited talisman papers were burned to ashes, and Li Rufeng just stood there without saying a word.

Haishar stood behind Li Rufeng, waiting anxiously. He tried to win over Li Rufeng in the beginning, then asked Li Rufeng for help in times of crisis, and then "surrendered" to Li Rufeng. It was all because Li Rufeng showed incredible resistance and rejection when facing the power of the Four Wind Gods.

And now Haishaer is facing a difficult choice. He needs more motivation and needs Li Rufeng to show more of his abilities to push him forward.

Do something, Li Rufeng... Haishaer thought silently in his heart, holding the spear in his hand tighter.

Hulujirga, who was also guarding the door, was also expecting the shaman to do something. He didn't have any difficult choices to make. He just felt that the plants inside were disgusting, so it would be better to burn them.

Besides, the shaman is so powerful, he should show off his divine might to outsiders. Our Eternal Heaven's mighty power is not limited to any place or time. What about the Four Wind Gods? What about the mosque? Whether it is halal or not, isn't it decided by the Mongol scimitar?

Ever since the last Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, Al-Musta'sim, was rolled into a carpet and trampled to death by the Mongols, the Mongols have always had this kind of confidence in this land, and they regard everyone as second-class.

Li Rufeng looked at those disgusting plants. The plant in the middle suddenly trembled, and the fruit skin opened to both sides, revealing something like an eye that looked at Li Rufeng.

With just one glance, Li Rufeng seemed to see countless worlds destroyed in decay, and countless lives turned into a pool of blood or immortalized in the plague, suffering eternal torment in a state of neither death nor life.

He also saw countless people shouting his name, yet carrying a monster that looked like a puddle of mud on the throne, humbly offering their health, life, and soul, and calling themselves the Immortal God of Plague...

"Get out!" Li Rufeng suddenly woke up, shouted loudly, and swung the magic sword in his hand, directly cutting the plant in half. Then he stabbed the sword into the giant eye and stirred it violently.

Then, Li Rufeng looked at the filth on the floor of the basement and finally said only one sentence: "Get out of this world!"

As Li Rufeng finished speaking, he threw a clay pot filled with Greek fire into the room, lit it with a torch, and watched the

The food was devoured by everyone.

Thick smoke billowed into the corridor through the basement. Li Rufeng and his companions left almost along with the smoke. As they came out, the thick smoke was covered by the smoke from the burning corpses outside, and no one knew what had happened down there.

The author says:

Author's words: There is another chapter after twelve o'clock

Chapter 292 It's All Business

Pepper Mali returned on a rainy day, bringing with him his unsold goods and the wandering knight, Johann Hiltberg.

If he had been given the right opportunity, Marinus would have been a successful businessman, because even if he had failed to open up the market in Mosul, he would have sold two-thirds of the goods on his way back, recovering all his costs and making a large profit.

As for the task assigned by the lord, Pepper Mari had actually completed it. He entered Mosul as an Aleppo merchant without any obstruction, nor did he encounter any other difficulties in the city. All these were enough to prove that the Black Sheep People did not pay much attention to Aleppo.

The only question is what happened in Mosul after the lockdown, and whether they can still come here to do business in the future.

If those black sheep people act like this every day, there will definitely not be many caravans willing to pass through there. Mosul is not Aleppo. Although it is also on a major transportation route, caravans still have many options if they want to take a detour.

"Look, that's Aleppo!" Pepper Mari pointed to the white city in the distance and said to Hiltberg with some pride.

He is now Pepper Marley, but from tomorrow on, people will have to call him Master Marinus, just like Master Saduddin, both of whom are considered big merchants in the city!

Marinus was confident that although he failed to sell all the goods on this trip, he found a business opportunity!

With the war between the Mughals and the Doshis, and the expansion of the Qara Sheep people, almost every gathering point from Aleppo to the northeast was in a state of trade cut off. They lacked everything and wanted to buy everything.

Although most villages and gathering places do not have much money, Marinus's business is to travel back and forth to fill in the gaps.

This village has plenty of grain but lacks salt, while that village has furs but lacks grain. Marinus happens to have salt, so he can make this deal and make a profit from the difference between the two sides.

It's you, big shot! You're rich!"

Although the soldier's face was full of joy, Marinus still turned pale and quickly handed over some more money: "What did they do wrong? Why did this happen so suddenly?"

"Something happened at the quarry you contracted, and people died. Your partners didn't want to pay compensation, so those peasants started a rebellion. Now the lord is displeased and has revoked their contract rights!" The soldier looked around and whispered, "You are now the sole contractor of the quarry, and you are also solely responsible for the construction of the city wall! Marinus, don't forget me when you become rich!"

Me? Now the quarry manager? I'm the only one working on the wall? Marinus was stunned by this unexpected windfall, but he still felt uneasy: "My partners... were they hanged?"

"No, the lord is not so bloodthirsty. He fined those people and they are almost bankrupt. They are just waiting for you to come back and share the money with them." The soldier explained with a laugh.

When it came to money, the small businessman Marinus finally regained his former shrewdness and sighed secretly. It was a pity that those people were not hanged, otherwise he would have been the only one to enjoy the benefits of this trip and would have become a big man in the future.

But on the other hand, he would feel at ease doing business under such a benevolent lord, after all, he was a big shot now... Marinus immediately became optimistic again, and poured all the copper coins in his purse to the soldier, and both of them had smiles on their faces.

The author says:

Author's note: I said I would update last night, but I ended up writing 1,500 words and was so sleepy that I only finished the second half today at work... I'm sorry for my words,

Chapter 293: Figured it out, Master Li wins again!

December 1408, 8

By daybreak, the chaos in Hama had mostly subsided. Although Gulanqi couldn't make those fanatics listen to him, he was at least a qualified tinker. When the plague was temporarily suppressed by Li Rufeng's herbs, he was still able to control the order in the city with the help of the not-so-large number of Mongolian soldiers in his hands.

But as a border city of Mamluks, many people in Hama are still loyal to the name of Mamluks, no matter whether they are loyal to the Sultan in Cairo or the emirs in Syria. In short, Gulanqi received several small notes without names on them that night, and someone sent a confidant to deliver the message.

The contents are actually similar. These people want to know whether these Mongols intend to stay or wait for benefits.

If it's the former, has Gulanqi sold himself for a good price, or is he just playing it safe? If it's the latter, he has to make an offer, right?

Gulanqi naturally had a lot of grievances but could not say them. His political status in Hama City was not high to begin with, and now he was even on the Mongolian bandwagon. Yesterday, he personally led the Mongolian soldiers to maintain order, leaving a lot of handles. Even though these important people now kept saying that they would follow his lead, it was estimated that if the new Emir came, he would be the first one to be killed.

The distressed Gulanqi thought of his concubine who was always spied on by the Mongols, and thought of giving it a try, so he walked into Aisha's room with a serious face.

This was the first time he entered Aisha's room after waking up from his illness.

Gulanqi's feelings for Aisha are not actually that deep. It is probably a story of him being attracted by her beauty and saving the suffering noble girl from danger. It is just a piece of cake for Gulanqi, but for Aisha, it saved her from being sold to a dark chamber to entertain people with her beauty.

Originally, Guranqi just thought that Aisha was a woman with a strong personality. This personality was just right within the range that Guranqi could tolerate, and also added some sense of conquest.

But ever since Aisha took care of Gulanqi without leaving him and even risked her life to stand in front of the Mongols to protect him, this kind of person's feelings for his pet have gradually sublimated. However, coupled with Li Rufeng's repeated use of Aisha to threaten his position, this feeling has become more complicated.

In Gulanqi's eyes, Aisha gradually became a little mysterious. Why didn't she abandon her sick self like everyone else? Everyone else ran away.

How did she have the courage to stop those Mongols? Even the men didn't dare to do that.

Why did that Mongolian officer take her so seriously? Even he couldn't do that...

"Aisha..." Gulanqi walked into the room with a somewhat stiff tone. He had not yet figured out how to get along with Aisha in the future.

Aisha glanced at Gulanqi, then silently stepped forward to help him take off his coat. As before, she was always a man of few words.

"Sir, what are you worried about?" Aisha looked at the silent Gulanqi and finally sighed. "Are you suspecting something is going on between me and that Mongolian leader?"

"No, Aisha, you misunderstood. I'm not that stupid. I've just run into some troubles. I'm standing at a fork in the road, and I have to make a choice, left or right." Gulanqi sat cross-legged on the cushion and said to Aisha in a formal manner, "You've shown extraordinary courage before, and I admire you. That's why I've come here to seek your help."

Aisha was a little surprised by Gulanchi's very formal tone, but she immediately smiled and sat opposite Gulanchi, pretending to listen.

After Gulanqi finished telling her about the troubles he had encountered, Aisha said, "My Lord, it is not the noise of outsiders that troubles you, but your

The loyalty to the Sultan in my heart!"

"What do you mean?" Gulanqi's face looked a little ugly. He felt that Aisha seemed to be mocking him for betraying the Sultan.

"How many years have you been the governor here?" Aisha asked gently, but before Gulanqi could answer, she wanted to continue, "How can the people here still have any respect for the Sultan? You know all this, otherwise you wouldn't have had such a hard time this year..."

Looking at Aisha with a sweet smile, and recalling the difficult situation he had been in over the years, Gulanqi couldn't help but feel a little emotional, and most of the anger in his heart dissipated. It was not that he blamed him for giving up his loyalty, but... it was that this job was really not a job for a human being.

"But if we just surrender to the Mongols, neither Damascus nor Cairo will sit idly by, right?" Gulanqi had already convinced himself in his heart, but still asked Aisha.

"Sir, why did you defect to the Mongols? I think it was the Mongols who turned from darkness to light and defected to you, to Sultan Nasir!" Aisha widened her green eyes, as if she was very surprised that Gulanqi could say such a rebellious thing.

Gulanqi was also stunned. He opened his mouth and looked at Aisha, not knowing what to say.

"I heard that Aleppo recently requested tax exemption from Sultan Nasir, and he agreed." Aisha blinked, a foxy smile flashing across her face. "Now that the people in the city who had been opposing you are dead, you have a lot of potential. As long as you maintain tax collection as before, Cairo will have no reason to hold you accountable. And without Cairo's permission, what reason does Damascus have to attack you?"

"Unless they plan to openly confront Cairo." Gulanqi also laughed at this time. He looked at Aisha, grabbed her hand and stroked it repeatedly in his own. "We didn't communicate much before. I didn't realize how wise you are. Maybe you can't hide your shortcomings anymore."

Aisha just smiled and didn't respond, showing that she knew her limits.

Gulanqi was now completely lost in his own thoughts. He suddenly realized that what Aisha said was right. In fact, he had not violated any taboos in name. There were also Turkic and Mongolian nobles in the Mamluk territory. Who could say for sure that Li Rufeng and others were soldiers of the Timurid Khanate?

When it comes to officials, what they say is not important, what is important is what they do. When the time comes, the cities of Hama and Aleppo pay taxes to Cairo, and Damascus does not, won't it be clear who is the Sultan's loyal subject?

As for that strange army that passed through the border under the banner of the Sultan, they left no paper evidence. Who could prove they were sent by the Sultan? Even if Sultan Nasir himself testified, he would not admit it!

As for whether Damascus will attack Hama, what does that have to do with Gulanqi? Shouldn’t that be a Mongolian matter?

The author says:

Author's words: I expect one chapter tomorrow afternoon and one chapter in the evening. I think there will be two chapters in the near future.

Chapter 294: Conversion

Occupying a city and ruling a city are two completely different concepts.

This is especially true for the Mughals. Timur's foreign policy has always been to conquer and then leave it alone, choosing a local force that he likes as his agent. The only area that Timur truly regarded as his own territory was the Transoxiana region.

Resistance will result in massacre, while surrender will bring honor. This has become Timur's business card and is familiar to the world. This is also the reason why large areas of land surrendered wherever Timur's army went.

But for a newly rising power, what is the style of its ruler? Does he prefer to use his own people, or choose new lords from his own circle? Will he respect local religious beliefs, or is he accustomed to rule by foreign races and religions?

What is his attitude towards Muslims and what is his attitude towards Christians?

All of this is unknown, and for those with small assets and those with considerable assets, the unknown means instability.

Fortunately, although there are debuffs like "Communication -2", the reputation of the Mongols and Timur gives Li Rufeng a positive buff of "Deterrence +3".

A cavalry force of just over 200 people easily took control of this city with a permanent population of thousands.