Mount and Blade Central Asia

But new problems soon arose. As the cavalry sent by the people of Hezhong to track down the Ma Hema tribe returned with a dozen defeated soldiers, Li Rufeng and Karim finally realized that the Black Sheep People had finally taken action.

The defenders of Mosul attacked the Mahometan tribe, a horse-herding tribe of the people of Transoxiana, killing most of their members and stealing the herds of livestock they were escorting.

In Li Rufeng's opinion, the Black Sheep People had given the Mongols enough face by waiting until now before taking action. It seemed that they were really short of manpower on the western border, otherwise they would be lucky if half of the people from Central Asia could run over. How could Karim have the chance to be furious because of the loss of his property?

After they captured the city of Mardin, they were already prepared to go to war with the Black Sheep People, but the people of Transoxiana... perhaps out of arrogance, perhaps out of laziness, they kept delaying until the Black Sheep People sent troops to occupy the city of Mardin before they began to accelerate their migration plan.

Karim looked at Li Rufeng for help, but got no response. Li Rufeng even felt that the people in Hezhong had brought this upon themselves.

Li Rufeng now has no way to deal with the Black Sheep People. They have just defeated the tens of thousands of troops led by Prince Milansha on the front battlefield. Even if they include the Mongols and the people from Transoxiana, they only have 5,000 combatants at most. What can they use to fight the Black Sheep People?

At this stage, Li Rufeng was thankful that the Black Sheep people did not cause him trouble, but he could not remain silent at all. After all, they were a newly annexed force, so he had to make some amends.

"Karim, it's not appropriate to clash with the Black Sheep right now. Firstly, our military is at a disadvantage, and secondly, the women and children are near the river. If a fight breaks out, they'll be vulnerable." Li Rufeng gave Karim a way out. "On behalf of the city of Aleppo, I can help you with some livestock to tide you over this difficult time."

Li Rufeng's words made Karim's expression look much better. They were originally betting on whether they could bring out all their property. Now they only lost the part of the assets controlled by the Mahemati tribe, which was a blessing.

"Thank you for your generosity, Lord Shaman, we...we..." Karim was stuck there, not knowing what to say for a moment. Looking at Li Rufeng's very young face, he could only sigh that as a leader of a local force with tens of thousands of men under his command, why did he first follow Duosite and now follow Li Rufeng?

Am I getting old?

Karim was still lamenting his past, when Li Rufeng had already grasped Karim's hand. "Under the witness of Eternal Heaven, we will join hands in the future and work together for the well-being of all Mongolians!"

"Yes, yes, that's what I mean!" Karim agreed, and then in his personal name, he presented Li Rufeng with twenty Baturu warriors who were well-known among the people of Hezhong as personal guards, and said that from today on, the people of Hezhong would be Li Rufeng's sword and Li Rufeng's shield!

Li Rufeng naturally accepted these soldiers with a smile. He never complained about having too many sword-wielding men under his command.

What really made him feel a little embarrassed was that although Karim no longer wanted his little daughter to marry Li Rufeng, he still wanted her to serve Princess Parisa...

Obviously, the people in Hezhong intend to bet on Li Rufeng. They have begun to try to increase their influence around Li Rufeng. Whether he likes it or not, this is bound to happen.

Chapter 326 Taking the initiative to surrender

Li Rufeng finally took away his entourage and twenty additional guards from the Hezhong people. These guards seemed more or less restrained, but this was understandable. After all, a few months ago, the two groups were fighting on the grassland, and now they were pledging allegiance to the same person.

Karim did not let his daughter leave with Li Rufeng for the time being. What he needed was for his daughter to speak in front of Princess Parisa and provide help to the best of her ability, so that she could bring benefits to the people of Hezhong in the possible future. To achieve this, she could not go to see Princess Parisa alone.

According to Karim, his daughter would go to Aleppo with enough wealth, maids, and guards to provide Princess Parisa with all possible help, including but not limited to financial, material and human resources.

Li Rufeng wasn't a stingy person. He actually liked Karim's outspoken cleverness. At least it was a form of subjective initiative, wasn't it? In comparison, the Kurdish leader, Saladin, was a bit too "introverted."

He has been back with his own troops and Li Rufeng's support troops for more than half a month, but no news of success has been sent back yet. It is indeed a bit inefficient.

If it were Li Rufeng, all the disobedient "old men" in the tribe would have gone to the Eternal Desert and were traveling through the endless sea of ​​sand.

But Li Rufeng could not send anyone to urge Saladin, as that would make him look too greedy and would also make other vassals feel a sense of embarrassment. This matter could only be done by Saladin himself, and Li Rufeng had to play the role of an enlightened monarch who was willing to support the vassal leader at the critical moment.

However, Li Rufeng didn't need to worry about these troubles for the time being. He returned to Aleppo at full speed and handled official business for a few days. Finally, he waited for a merchant ship that was suitable in all aspects - the Laurel.

The Laurel was a "small ship" with a displacement of less than 150 tons, but it was a rare large ship on this coastal trade route that was just beginning to show signs of recovery.

Strictly speaking, the Laurel was a galley, sixteen meters long and about three and a half meters wide, with a shallow draft and only one deck, where cargo and personnel were mixed, because space had to be left in the cabin below for the rowers.

The Laurel had a total of eight pairs of oars, which was quite economical for a galley. Each oar was equipped with three slaves as rowers. In addition, there were two masts equipped with triangular sails on the deck.

As a large ship, the Laurel has relatively high towers at the bow and stern, similar to those of a tower ship, which are convenient for lookouts to observe from a distance. At the same time, it also barely provides a small and narrow "VIP seat" for the captain and potential "guests".

The captain of the Laurel was a bearded Ottoman named Omar Mahmoud. It was said that he had some friendship with Saduddin Fasif in the past, and it was he who acted as the middleman this time.

In the past two months, Omar has made several trips between Mersin and Aleppo and made a lot of profit. So when he heard that a noble person wanted to charter a boat to Mersin, he was very happy to do this favor and gave a big discount on the price.

The distance from the port of Alexandretta to Mersin is neither close nor far, with a straight-line distance of no more than 150 kilometers. If there is a tailwind, you can arrive on the same day. If the wind direction is wrong, it will take two to three days to row slowly along the coastline. Money doesn't matter. If you really want to establish good connections, you can earn them back in the future.

What's more, this group of people looked very extraordinary at first glance. Omar watched with joy as Li Rufeng and his personal guards looked at his ship in the port. He had heard that the new lord of Aleppo was an Oriental, so he recognized him at first sight.

"Your Excellency, I won't even pack a single dinar worth of cargo for you this time!" Omar walked forward enthusiastically and bowed slightly to Li Rufeng. He tactfully did not reveal Li Rufeng's identity and only addressed him as Your Excellency.

At the same time, Omar ignored the guards wearing armor and carrying swords. These days, people who go out without weapons are rarer than those who go out without clothes. But these people are planning to bring war horses with them, which is a bit too conspicuous, especially since they are riding two horses each...

So Omar cautiously reminded that it might be very conspicuous if so many war horses were transported to Mersin together. If you don't mind, he is willing to help contact local horse dealers in Mersin and purchase a batch of horses at a very fair price.

Li Rufeng hesitated for a moment and accepted Omar's suggestion. It would be great if spending some money could avoid some trouble.

Naturally, Parisa and her maids also arrived at the port with Li Rufeng. With the help of these maids from Hama City, she finally looked like a princess. At this time, she had the most luggage.

It's not that Parisa cares about show and pomp. Even if the princess, who had fled thousands of miles, had this problem, she would have cured it on the way.

The main reason is that Li Rufeng might need her to be more formal this time so that he can control those soldiers.

Loading the luggage, settling the women, and having a good chat with the managers of the Port of Alexandretta about future development took Li Rufeng a whole day. When everything was ready, it was almost dark.

To be safe, Omar suggested setting off early the next morning. Although he was familiar with the route, the Mediterranean was calm in August, and Alexandria Port was an excellent port with no reefs nearby, he still did not dare to risk setting sail at night.

Li Rufeng readily agreed to Omar's proposal. He still had some admiration for the sailors of this era. He had been observing Omar and his sailors, and from time to time asked about the cost of building the ship, the maintenance costs, and the wages of sailors in different positions.

He was actually not interested in the Laurel. After all, this galley, which was unique to the Mediterranean, was completely different from the sailing battleships he was familiar with. Subconsciously, he always felt that this kind of ship was the tears of the times.

But in fact, the Mediterranean Sea, which is calm most of the time, is suitable for this type of paddle boat to operate. When there is no wind or a light breeze, they can rely on the oars to maintain their ability to move.

Omar was very happy to show his professional side in front of Li Rufeng. He even generously took out his nautical chart and explained to Li Rufeng in detail which months of the year were the monsoon period and which routes were suitable.

He was desperately trying to showcase his talent, his fundamental purpose naturally being to secure Li Rufeng's investment. If Aleppo hadn't suddenly regained its vitality, Omar might have been bankrupted by the Venetians and Genoese...

Chapter 327 A Short Journey

Sailing these days is definitely not like what is shown in TV dramas like "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Black Sails". There is still a generation gap of one or two hundred years in technology. There has not been a major breakthrough in ocean navigation technology. The navies of various countries are basically based on near-shore fleets, and the self-sustaining capabilities of warships are limited to one to two weeks.

Taking the Laurel as an example, not counting the sailors on the deck, the slave rowers under the deck alone would take up a lot of space and require a large amount of material reserves.

Warships can ignore the slaves' wear and tear limits and exploit their physical strength, but the Laurel cannot. Those slaves are all valuable items bought with money. What they eat every day is basically the same as the sailors, and their rest time is guaranteed. Even most of the slaves are indentured slaves. They can obtain the status of free men after working for a certain number of years, and this time is generally three to five years.

Here's another simple example to illustrate how boring sailing was during this period. If you saw pirates in the area, you would press your thumb on the map at the location where you spotted the pirates. The pirates' lair would definitely be within the area covered by your fingerprint...

So there are basically no free pirates in this era, the conditions are not there.

The pirates currently active in the eastern Mediterranean are either secretly supported by the Ottomans or the Cypriots, but the specific factions behind the scenes are different.

Omar was not worried about these pirates. His Laurel only engaged in short-distance trade, and he had paid protection fees to the leaders on both sides, so he generally did not encounter any trouble.

What really frightened him were his omnipresent Venetian colleagues and his ferocious Genoese colleagues.

Both the former and the latter have strong pirate genes. Not to mention encountering a lone merchant ship, even if they encounter a lone warship, they dare to attack it.

Fortunately, there is no need to worry about this trip. There are not many ships taking this route this month, and the Laurel is not without any ability to fight back, so Omar spent the whole morning chatting with Li Rufeng.

"Lord Rufeng, you don't know that sea transportation has its own advantages. Look, my ship has almost the carrying capacity of a large merchant caravan." Omar introduced his Laurel with some complacency.

His family had been traveling merchants for generations, until his generation was unique and became an apprentice to a merchant. He worked hard for seventeen years, got the hang of all the connections, and then spent all his savings to buy a ship and go out on his own.

The Laurel was his second ship. His first ship was more than half the size of the Laurel. Unfortunately, just as Omar had replaced the big ship, the Ottoman Empire, which was at its peak, was swept back to the east coast by Timur like a whirlwind. The city of Aleppo and Damascus was also taken over. Small merchants like him immediately felt what a trade winter was.

If it weren't for the trade with the Cypriots, Omar would probably have gone bankrupt by now.

But the people in Cyprus were pagans after all, and they had close ties with the Crusader pirates. The cost of doing business was too high. Every time he entered the port, Omar would pray to God that he would not be caught up in a new round of religious conflict.

This kind of thing has happened too much recently. You never know whether you will be caught up in a sudden and spreading religious inquisition because of a thief who stole a candlestick from the bishop's house.

Omar had a friend who died in this way. When Omar saw him, his body was already smelling bad.

Chapter 328 Peninsula Situation

Mersin is a much smaller port city than Aleppo, nominally part of the Ottoman territory, but currently controlled by the Karamanids.

Mersin is not geopolitically peaceful. It is located at the border between the Karaman Bey and Ramazan Bey states. In the past few decades, it has sometimes been controlled by Karaman Bey and sometimes by Ramazan Bey. As of now, Mersin is in the hands of Karaman Bey.

After all, Li Rufeng was a ruler who became a monk halfway through his career, and he had been hanging out in the Mongolian circle for many years. He didn't know much about the aristocratic circle under the Islamic system, but he could still distinguish between Bey and Emir.

The word Amir comes from Arabic and originally means "the one who is given the order" or "the one in power". It is the title of the upper rulers, princes and military commanders in Islamic countries. Its meaning is relatively general and broad.

The word "Bei" comes from the transliteration of Turkic language. According to Li Rufeng's superficial understanding of Turkic, it has basically the same meaning as the "Bai" in the "Bai Lao Ye" spoken by the Uyghur fellow villagers, which is roughly equivalent to the class of Bayan in the Mongolian aristocracy system, meaning "chief", "headman", and "rich person".

But there was a gap in status between Beys. Before the rise of the Ottomans, the Karaman Bey State was already one of the overlords in Anatolia. For the Karaman people, the fact that the Anatolia region was eventually ruled by the Ottomans was like having their home stolen.

The Ramazan Bey State was originally a new Bey State supported by the Mamluk Sultan to contain the Armenian Kingdom and the Turkmen tribes of the Ilkhanate.

Forty years ago, the Turkmen warrior Ramazan took the opportunity to gain independence and established the Ramazan Bey State with its capital in Elbistan. However, within a few years, it was captured by the neighboring Dulkadir Bey State and had to move its capital to Adana. It then relied on annexing the homeland of the Armenian Kingdom to gain a foothold.

However, Ramazan was ambitious. Before his death, he engaged his son Ibrahim to the daughter of Karaman Bey Aladdin. The two sides became allies and jointly resisted the pressure from the Mamluk Sultanate, allowing the small Ramazan to maintain its independent identity.

It is a pity that political marriages between Bey states cannot really bring about long-term alliances. For example, in 1387, Aladdin Bey (at this time Aladdin also called himself Sultan, and his status was not lower than Bayezid. At that time, the prominent regional forces in Anatolia basically called themselves Sultan because of the trend set by Ottoman Sultan Murad I) married Nefesi Sultan, the sister of Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I. As a result, the two sides went to war within a few years.

The peace between Karaman and Ramazan did not last long, and soon a conflict arose over the ownership of Mersin.

In the end, the unruly Karaman people took control of Mersin with their greater strength. Unfortunately, they were soon sanctioned by the then-powerful Ottoman Sultan, Bayezid I.

The Ottomans, who had just won a great victory in Thrace, were eager to obtain a trade route that would make the empire prosperous forever and provide stable financial and tax revenue. They marched south through the states of Germyan and Hamid Bey and advanced all the way to the Mediterranean, with their destination being the port of Antalya, which was the main trade route along with trade with the East.

The Karamans also set their sights on this upper lane, but Bayezid I was accompanied by his vassal, the Serbian King Stefan Lazarević, and the Eastern Roman Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos. Just looking at this lineup, it was clear that the little-known Karamans were no match...

Chapter 329 Mersin

The person currently in charge of Karaman was Muhammad II, son of Aladdin Ali. Counting this Muhammad, Li Rufeng could no longer rely solely on his memory to ensure he wouldn't make diplomatic mistakes. After all, one in every five nobles in this land was named Muhammad, and the remaining four were guaranteed to have a name called Suleiman, a name called Musa, and a name called Ali...

Like the Mamluks who were just in a state of civil strife, Aladdin Ali, the hero in the hearts of the Karaman people, was executed by Brother Lightning in 1398. At that time, the entire Karaman capital was conquered by Brother Lightning, and his iron-fisted rule lasted for five years.

Although five years is not a long time, considering that the Ottoman Empire was on the rise at that time and its national strength was booming, a large number of Karaman people were recruited by Brother Lightning in the name of Ghazi tradition, crossed the Sea of ​​Marmara to the Rumelia region to fight and gain glory, so the Ottoman Empire left a very deep mark on Karaman.

Compared with the former powerful ruler Aladdin, the new Bey Muhammad II had almost no reputation. Before Timur sent troops, he had been imprisoned in the old Ottoman capital of Bursa.

Although Muhammad II received Timur's support after being released by Timur, most of the emirs under him were old warlords who led troops to follow Timur to beat Brother Lightning. Each of them was more arrogant than the other, and no one took him seriously.

However, according to Omar, Muhammad II has been ambitiously preparing his army for war recently, intending to take advantage of the civil unrest in the neighboring country of Germyan Bey to launch an attack.

"The governor of Mersin was appointed by Sultan Bayezid back then. But after Sultan Bayezid was defeated, he paid money to the surrounding emirs and ignored their passing caravans over the years, so no one has ever bothered him." At Omar's house, Li Rufeng drank fermented grape juice and listened to Omar introduce the situation in Mersin.

According to Omar, the governor of Mersin is a Turkmen named Bil Hassan, who is now almost indifferent to worldly affairs and is only interested in making money...

"The largest ship in the port belongs to the governor. He lives on the ship for ten days every month. If there is any sign of trouble, he will set sail immediately and find a place to become a rich man." Omar finally concluded, which roughly explained the current situation in Mersin.

Apparently, the only reason Governor Bill was not hanged at the port was that he behaved well enough, kept his distance from all forces, and never caused trouble.

Li Rufeng's destination, the port of Anamur, is also under the control of Karaman. Omar is actively helping to contact ships to safely transport Li Rufeng and his party across the sea to the port of Anamur.

Omar's enthusiasm and sincerity were overwhelming, and all he wanted was Li Rufeng's friendship.

Li Rufeng knew very well that at this stage, the scale of Aleppo's business had not yet recovered to one-tenth of its former size, and the goods it could provide were limited. What Omar wanted was exactly this share of trade.

Omar said it bluntly, he hopes to obtain priority purchasing rights for Aleppo products in the next six months.

Six months is a very prudent time. Omar is a smart man. He has obviously carefully investigated the commercial damage increase in Aleppo during this period. Of course, it may also be provided to him by Saduddin. In short, six months is just at Li Rufeng's psychological price.

Six months later, the tax-free policy that Li Rufeng had promised was almost over. He planned to intervene in market management with thundering means and officially start micro-managing Aleppo's business activities.

What Omar wanted was this time difference, to establish his position in the Aleppo business circle within these six months and earn the most profit to ensure that he would have a place in Aleppo's future business activities.

Chapter 330 The Angry Blacksmith

If you ignore the fishy smell in the air and the streets under your feet that look like mud but seem more resilient, which makes you not want to think about the composition, then Mersin is still a charming coastal town.

Compared with the solemn and majestic white city of Aleppo, Mersin is more like a beautiful girl hidden in the bay. The buildings here are not planned in a one-size-fits-all manner, but are practical in every way.

Apart from the main artery that serves as a commercial route, there is hardly a single straight road in the entire city. Instead, there are randomly built small shacks everywhere, which serve as both residences and shops.

The sun shines down from the coastline onto the seaside pier, and the winding path carries pedestrians and carriages, connecting the pier and the market.

Shops are lined up along the street with their doors wide open, from which can be heard all kinds of hawking and trivial bargaining. It can be seen that although this place lacks planning, it can still be considered a prosperous commercial area... Li Rufeng even thinks that this place is a little more lively than Aleppo.

It's a bit of an exaggeration to say that the dock was crowded with people and goods piled up like mountains, but at least the large flow of people here made Li Rufeng's personal guards worry that someone might have ulterior motives.

Parisa was wearing a smart hunting suit. The overall style of her clothing was somewhat Castilian, which was more convenient for moving in this environment. But in order not to arouse the disgust of the locals, she put on a cloak on the outside, covering half of her face.

She was now somewhat embarrassed and shy in front of Li Rufeng. As the Sultan's granddaughter, Parisa understood from a very young age that her future marriage would be a bargaining chip for the entire Khanate to exchange interests.

But Li Rufeng gave her some room for fantasy. They met by chance. This small factor beyond fate made Parisa not reject the "olive branch" from Li Rufeng.

But for Li Rufeng, this is actually more like coaxing a child.

Parisa is only seventeen or eighteen years old. Although she has extraordinary fighting skills, her emotions are as pure as a blank sheet of paper.

Well, that's a bit inaccurate. Parisa received a complete bridal education. She was even taught how to use contraception effectively and what sexual positions are more likely to make her pregnant. After all, how to effectively use one's reproductive rights is the most powerful weapon for the daughters of royal families and nobles of this era.

But to Li Rufeng, Parisa is still just an innocent "little girl".

"Is there anything you are interested in?" Li Rufeng walked side by side with Parisa on the street, with four personal guards and one of Parisa's maids following not far behind them.

"Something of interest?" There was a hint of excitement in Parisa's tone. Although this was not the first time she was alone with Li Rufeng, this was not Li Rufeng's territory after all, nor was it her grandfather's territory.

The completely unfamiliar environment made the little princess of pure blood feel a sense of excitement of breaking a taboo.

"I want to see their swords!" After a brief thought, Parisa gave Li Rufeng an answer that was a bit unexpected. She said to Li Rufeng excitedly, "When I was a child, I really didn't like following the teacher's cultural classes, nor did I like the teachings of the palace ladies. They always had stern faces. Only my swordsmanship teacher would allow me to slack off. She allowed me to catch rabbits in the grass and daydream. She even covered for me if anyone saw me..."

Chapter 331: The Wind Rises in Mersin

"The blades of these weapons are too brittle. They are too rigid but not tough enough. I guess they are cooled with water..." Parisa walked around the store and whispered to Li Rufeng. The moment she opened her mouth, Li Rufeng was surprised.

Li Rufeng had long known that Parisa was talented. While she was explaining to Li Rufeng the intricate entanglements of interests among the various Ottoman forces, she was also drawing a rough map with her bare hands. Although the map was not scaled like the one drawn by a trained professional cartographer like Bell, it was definitely enough for simple power analysis.

If we don't have a clear understanding of the surrounding situation, we will never be able to do this.