Mount and Blade Central Asia

And now is the time to give these people a surprise.

Encouraged by Li Rufeng's eyes, Parisa stepped forward, drew her scimitar from her waist and handed it to Bardock.

Such a sudden change obviously made Bardock a little confused. He stared at Li Rufeng and Parisa with wide eyes, not knowing what they were doing.

Giving himself a woman's sword was more like an insult and provocation to Bardock.

But he immediately put this thought behind him, because Parisa stood in front of him and said: "As the daughter of Miransha, I give you this scimitar as a reward for your loyalty to the Khanate and my grandfather."

Parisa's words made Bardock stunned for a moment, and then his eyes turned red in an instant.

This strong man lowered his head deeply, not even daring to look up at Parisa.

To these people, Timur was more like a god walking in the world, the incarnation of Tengri, and his bloodline was naturally not that of an ordinary person.

Not only Bardock, but the soldiers under his command were like this as well. It was as if the pause button was pressed on the crowd. Everyone stood there motionless, as if frozen.

Chapter 363 Balance

"Lord Rufeng, Hama hasn't seen much change in the past two months. I've reorganized the military and established a militia, but the locals still have some resistance to us," Muzaffar reported to Li Rufeng. "Blanche has been very cooperative. He's even more worried than we are about Hama being reoccupied by the Mamluks."

"What's the reaction from Damascus?" Li Rufeng looked at the paper briefing in his hand with satisfaction. Muzaffar was worthy of being a bureaucrat from the tax system. He even summarized the basic situation of Hama City and wrote a written report to Li Rufeng.

"No response...Sir." Muzaffar answered Li Rufeng's question with a puzzled tone.

Because there was indeed no response from Damascus, they seemed to have tacitly accepted the fact that Hama was occupied by Li Rufeng.

"No response?" Li Rufeng frowned. He knew that there was a plague in Damascus and that they would not be able to mobilize enough troops to besiege Hama in a short period of time. However, he did not expect that the people of Damascus would turn a blind eye to what was happening in Hama.

Could the plague in Damascus really be that serious?

"Do you want me to send someone to investigate?" Muzaffar asked. In the past two months, because of Li Rufeng's instructions and the rampant plague, Muzaffar blocked the road from Hama to the east of Damascus and did not allow anyone to travel.

The reason he announced was that a plague had broken out in the direction of Damascus. At the beginning, some merchants heading to Damascus from other directions did complain, but because of the existence of Aleppo, these merchants just complained and did not do anything extreme.

But the refugees fleeing from Damascus to Hama were not so rational, and they almost clashed with the army of Hama.

Fortunately, Muzaffar knew how much Li Rufeng valued the population, and did not forcibly drive away the refugees. Instead, he isolated these people in a remote isolation area in accordance with the epidemic prevention and isolation policy that had been tried out in Aleppo before. Only after ensuring that these people were not sick did he allow them to gather together to form a village near the city of Hama.

Before Muzaffar set off, he had already taken in nearly 1,200 refugees, divided them into four settlements, and temporarily dispersed them around the city of Hama.

"Send someone to check out the situation, but be sure to pay attention to epidemic prevention." Li Rufeng, who had suffered a loss once, warned cautiously.

"Yes, sir." Muzaffar, who was reassured by Li Rufeng, left the lord's mansion. He knew that Li Rufeng would meet many people today.

Among these people, he was the first to be received, which made Muzaffar walk with great vigor.

The second person Li Rufeng met was Centurion Mengge.

He traveled thousands of miles from the Karaman territory and brought back an entire Khanate team of a thousand men. In an instant, he surpassed Qinggelinayan in military strength and became the most powerful person in this land in the true sense.

But the more this happens, the more Li Rufeng needs to pay attention to the psychological changes of his old subordinates and old friends.

For example, Centurion Mengge had a promising future under Qinggelinayan. Now that he has come to me, I cannot neglect him.

Unlike others, Centurion Mengge did not wait in line to see Li Rufeng. He was invited by Li Rufeng.

Take a day off, everyone.

I wrote too late yesterday, so I went to bed early today.

Chapter 364: The Role of Ais

Ais Baker is the real lord of Aleppo in name, but in fact even he himself is embarrassed to call himself that.

What kind of lord wouldn't dare to enter his own city? What kind of lord would flee when his territory is invaded? What kind of lord would be deserted by his followers because he couldn't pay their salaries?

Ais Baker didn't want to say it, but he was such a lord.

"Lord Ais, I know you feel sad, but this is not a reason for you to lose heart. Think about your lofty ambitions when you left Cairo and traveled thousands of miles to this land." Ais's guard Akadullah persuaded him.

At this moment, Ais looked like an eggplant hit by frost, listless.

Ais was confused about his future. He didn't know whether he should come back. His family had always been loyal to the Sultan. His rights and appointment letters all came from Sultan Nasir.

Although he and Li Rufeng deceived the Sultan for their own benefit, Ais never thought of betraying Sultan Nasir.

Ais was a little irritated by the previous siege. He didn't understand why Sultan Nasir would send troops to attack his own city, even if it was only nominally his.

This made Ais wonder if Sultan Nasir had already known about his secret deal with Li Rufeng, and that was why he sent troops to punish him...

So Ais "escaped" before the war started, hiding in a nearby village and refusing to come back until he had almost spent all his money. He had no choice but to return to Aleppo to talk to Li Rufeng.

But he didn't even know what to talk to Li Rufeng. Ais was now penniless, and all his followers had run away, leaving only the loyal guard Akadullah.

And the civilians who followed him have now integrated into the life of this land and have nothing to do with him.

Officially, Sultan Nasir has signed his appointment letter, which is now in Li Rufeng's hands.

What's more, it's unclear whether that thing is useful now. Even if Ais is a political novice, he now understands that Li Rufeng's power has been established, and he doesn't need to hide behind him anymore.

He even captured the city of Hama, and there was no counterattack from Sultan Nasir or Damascus.

It seemed that the basis for cooperation between them had been lost. At least Ais didn't know what value he still had to Li Rufeng. He just didn't want to run back to Cairo like this.

He was afraid that the Sultan would chop him down, and he was also afraid of seeing his family's contemptuous eyes when he returned...

"Now that they are gone, it's all left to you." Ais looked at Akadullah with a desolate feeling in his heart.

He didn't even know whether Li Rufeng would come to see him tonight. After all, he didn't even dare to enter the city of Aleppo. Now, if he wanted to ask someone to do something for him, he had to wait for the real person to come out and see him. Even Ais himself felt guilty.

Fortunately, Li Rufeng was not a heartless person. After hearing what Wuerhun said, he immediately packed up and rode out of the city with his personal guards, and soon met Ais.

"You want to see me?" Li Rufeng certainly didn't come for Ais. He just wanted to give Wuerhun face. He didn't care what benefits Ais had given Wuerhun. If the water is too clear, there will be no fish. But he always had to consider Wuerhun's feelings.

He was the patriarch of Li Rufeng's tribe. If he hadn't been willing to play a supporting role over the years, Li Rufeng's rise would not have been so smooth.

"I wonder if we can return to our previous cooperative relationship. I apologize to you for my cowardice." When Ais said this, his tone was low and hesitant. Obviously, even he himself felt ashamed of what he was saying.

He ran away during the war without taking any responsibility, and ran back after the war, hoping to gain benefits.

All of this was completely contrary to the education he had received since childhood, and Ais felt that he was becoming one of the despicable villains in the stories.

But this is the reality. He has no choice but to look at Li Rufeng expectantly, as if expecting him to find something useful from him.

Ais felt that the only difference between himself and a beggar was that he was still willing to pay the price, but his dignity had been trampled underfoot.

However, Li Rufeng responded to him with a gentle smile. Ais was sure that his father had never smiled at him so kindly when he was alive.

"Ayes, my friend, aren't you being too self-deprecating?" Li Rufeng snapped his fingers. His guards quickly brought over a bottle of wine and enthusiastically filled the two men's glasses. "Don't forget, you're still the lord of Aleppo. We're partners. If I eat, you'll have something to drink."

Hearing Li Rufeng's words, Ais felt even more ashamed. He lowered his head and grumbled for a long time before saying, "But you don't need me to act as a front anymore..."

Li Rufeng's smile widened. He tried to enlighten Ais: "Do you think that just because we fought the army sent by Sultan Nasir, our vassal relationship is over? How can you be sure that those people are really the Sultan's men?"

This is the shortcoming of political novices. They always think that the world is either black or white, and they think that they have to stick to the path they have chosen. That is why Ais feels that he is useless to Li Rufeng.

But for Li Rufeng, on the contrary, Ais is still useful.

They did not fall out with the Sultan. At least they were much better than the Syrian emirs in this regard. Even though they had already had an armed conflict, Li Rufeng still affirmed this.

After all, Li Rufeng had no intention of not paying taxes to Cairo this year. Not only that, he also planned to pay more to express his admiration for Sultan Nasser, and Ais was their indispensable middleman.

Even if Sultan Nasir knew the situation in Aleppo very well, as long as there was Ais as the middleman, their offense to him would not be as presumptuous as that of the Syrian emirs.

What's more, Li Rufeng has ambitions to expand into the southern region. Since he has agreed to cooperate with the Knights Hospitaller in this regard, as long as the Knights Hospitaller are willing to provide money, effort and manpower, Master Li does not mind helping them.

I am afraid that when the war breaks out, Ais will have to step forward in the end to give Sultan Nasir a way out.

Anyway, for the Sultan, no matter who rules the Syrian region, it will not be worse than now. As long as Mr. Li is still willing to pay nominal taxes to Cairo, the Sultan will sit back and relax and give priority to dealing with the problems around him.

The chapter just uploaded was the wrong version.

I used Qidian's Writer Assistant to write this, but when I published it, I copied and pasted it from my phone. The data didn't sync, so I posted an unproofread version. I'll get home and correct the proofread version as soon as I get home... There are quite a few typos in the voice typing, so I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I'll correct them right away...

Chapter 365 The Blacksmiths’ Thoughts

War, war will never change. The entire human history is a history of war. This is especially true for Li Rufeng who traveled through time. In the five thousand years of human history, there have been only one hundred and seven years of true peace.

So while Li Rufeng was developing quietly, the Black Sheep people next door had once again clashed with the Timurid Khanate.

Since the defeat of Grand Prince Miran Shah, several khanates close to the Qara Qara border have come into conflict with Sultan Yusuf. The suddenly rising Qara Qara's desire for land is endless.

Especially after they defeated the Khanate's military forces many times, their self-confidence made them eager to invade the land that once belonged to the Khanate.

Li Rufeng received the news on December 6th. The person who delivered the letter was none other than Knight Johann Hiltberg. This knight who was sent by Sultan Khalil to ask for help had adapted to the life in Aleppo. He looked leisurely every day and seemed to be in no hurry at all.

Li Rufeng, who couldn't stand it any more, simply captured the knight and made him his escort. He even tentatively asked Hilterberg whether he was willing to accept his reward and become a nobleman under his rule, as he was really short of talented people.

Hiltberg is obviously a rare comprehensive talent in this era. He is a master in language alone.

It's a pity that Hiltberg had other plans for his future. He rejected Li Rufeng's kindness, but accepted the job of escort. From that day on, Li Rufeng finally had a talented person who could do any job.

This made Mr. Li's life as a hands-off boss more and more comfortable. He even had time to take a tour of Aleppo with the map drawn by Bell and memorize every corner of the city.

By the way, I also took the opportunity to investigate the people's sentiments. It is obvious that the commercial prosperity during this period has activated the economy of the entire city.

In addition, Mr. Li imported a large amount of grain some time ago, which made the grain prices in Aleppo city tend to be stable. This made the new lord Li Rufeng highly praised by the residents of Aleppo.

The part of the city that Li Rufeng cares about most is the blacksmith district. It is where he has invested the most energy and financial resources, and it is also the place he has the highest expectations for.

The Blacksmith District is located closest to the city gate and main road in Aleppo. Not only that, when rebuilding the old city, Li Rufeng also paid special attention to the water supply problem in the Blacksmith District.

It can be said that in terms of living convenience, Li Rufeng’s lord’s mansion is probably not as convenient as the blacksmiths in the blacksmith district.

With so much policy support, the construction of the blacksmith district was very fast. Before Li Rufeng left Aleppo for Karaman, the entire blacksmith district had already begun to have production capacity.

When Li Rufeng came back, the place was already very lively.

The Mir brothers were the best and most prestigious blacksmiths from the city of Martin, so after Li Rufeng called for the establishment of a blacksmiths' guild, Big Mir naturally became the first president.

But Daming has not been in a very good mood recently because a new blacksmith has come to the blacksmith district in Aleppo City.

He was a man in his fifties with a white beard, who came from Mersin with his family.

Da Mir didn't know who wrote to him and invited him to run a blacksmith shop here, but the other party obviously knew about Aleppo's support policies in this regard, so he owned a blacksmith shop of his own in the blacksmith district without spending almost any money.

Da Mil, the president of the Blacksmith Guild, was naturally "very interested" in this stranger. After all, in that era, the blacksmith profession had very high technical barriers, and even acquaintances would be wary of each other.

Da Mir soon discovered that the old blacksmith named Rokan was really skilled. The scimitars he forged were sharper than those of anyone else in the Blacksmith's Guild, and the armor he forged was stronger than that of anyone else in the Blacksmith's Guild.

Not only that, Da Mier also found that Lao Luo Kan was very cooperative with Li Rufeng's apprentice policy. He really taught the two apprentices he brought with him seriously and had no intention of hiding anything.

This made Da Mir a little unbearable. It was not that these blacksmiths from Martin had already agreed to fight against Li Rufeng, but they did not have the courage.

But they had not originally planned to compromise with Li Rufeng so quickly. They hoped that the whole process would be smoother and they could have more time to adapt.

Before Li Rufeng returned, Da Mier had several conversations with Lao Luo Kan. Of course, nominally, he was providing necessary help to the newcomer and caring about the new members of the guild.

During the talks, Da Mir hinted to Lao Luokan several times to stop being so honest and to take in more apprentices.

But old Luo Kan seemed not to understand his hint and continued to do as he pleased.

Even if he had the courage of Damir, he would not dare to tell the other party directly to disobey Li Rufeng's orders, so when Lao Luokan pretended to be stupid, he had no way to deal with the other party.

The only thing Da Mir could do was to block Old Rokan's supply of iron ore and charcoal, because those things were distributed by the guild.

He didn't dare to do anything too extreme, but he could use the excuse of insufficient supply to give priority to supplying his fellow villagers, and then consider Lao Luokan's blacksmith shop last.

In this way, even if Li Rufeng holds him accountable in the future, he will have an excuse to shirk responsibility and avoid a direct conflict with the lord.

But old Rokan seemed to be unaffected at all. He had his own raw material supply channels in Mersin. In particular, the route from Mersin to Aleppo was very busy recently, which resulted in him sometimes getting goods at a price a little cheaper than the iron price guild here.

This made Da Mier look like a clown. He had originally planned to do some other tricks, but with Li Rufeng's return, Da Mier didn't even dare to do such tricks.

What he has been thinking about recently is whether they should start teaching the apprentices some real skills before old Luo Kan, the catfish, brings them out.

Otherwise, when Li Rufeng plans to inspect the apprentices' learning results one day, he will suddenly find that only the apprentice trained by old Luo Kan is outstanding. Then they will be embarrassed.

This was a very real possibility, as Old Rokan's blacksmithing skills were clearly far superior to those of everyone in their entire guild. Even if they diligently and conscientiously taught their apprentices every day, their ultimate output wouldn't necessarily rival Old Rokan's. Furthermore, they were still half-heartedly focusing on their work...

This contrast once made Da Mier feel that Lao Luo Kan was an opponent specially invited back from outside by Li Rufeng to stimulate them not to play tricks.

Early this morning, Damir saw the lord go to old Rokan's blacksmith shop, which made him even more anxious.

Chapter 366 Blacksmith Master

"Are you the blacksmith from Mersin City?" Li Rufeng looked at everything in the blacksmith shop with interest. As a time traveler, he didn't have much deep understanding of the blacksmiths and metal processing technology of this era.

These blacksmiths sometimes seem much smarter than they are in the movies, but sometimes they don't seem as smart as they are in the movies. They seem to be stuck in the gap between magic and science.

They knew that increasing air flow would make flames hotter, and so they built forges with tall chimneys, but they didn't understand how this worked, and even attributed it to the fact that the larger space made the metal happier, making it easier to shape.

Of course, a large part of these rumors are lies fabricated by old blacksmiths, or real blacksmith masters, to deceive stupid apprentices and less savvy colleagues.

They package the truly technical knowledge in this industry in a way that is more mysterious than witchcraft, and use all kinds of lies and rumors to confuse others, exclude their peers, and consolidate their monopoly position.

This kind of behavior is common in any era, but it is more serious in Li Rufeng's territory.