Chapter 269 Active Raise
At night, Li Ang's troops marched from north to south and arrived at Madan Village.
The Inquisition, which had just fought a battle with the troops of Madan Village and suffered heavy losses on both sides, naturally did not dare to block the direction of the army's march. Inquisitor Rasmus directly fled westward with his wounded troops.
There were countless casualties in Madan Village, with half of the villagers killed and houses and various facilities destroyed, but it seemed that they had "won" the battle - the Inquisition left nearly 700 corpses, but did not gain any benefits in Madan Village.
Most of the bodies of the Inquisition's troops were carrying a lot of gold and silver. These spoils belonged to the villagers of Madan. Leon's army did not stop the villagers of Madan from collecting the spoils.
According to the logic that 'only the victors have the right to clean up the battlefield', Madan Village is indeed the victorious party, even though they suffered more than twice as many casualties as the Inquisition.
Li Ang showed a very friendly attitude towards the villagers of Madan Village. He treated them as if they were allies and ordered his troops to exercise restraint towards the villagers of Madan.
In order to avoid misunderstanding, he did not even let the main force enter the village, but only camped outside the village.
The caravan then officially began its business, and many merchants moved into the village that was sorting out the corpses, setting up the scene as if it were a large-scale commodity fair.
The spoils of war always have to be sold, and the money obtained from cleaning up the battlefield always has to be spent. The arrival of the merchants is in line with the wishes of the villagers of Madan.
The Fierce Lion Realm army stationed outside the village did not harass the villagers, but instead seemed to be providing protection for the village.
In fact, it was true, but they were providing protection for the merchants - the troops would get a share of the caravan's profits, and by protecting the caravan, they could get a part of the caravan's profits. This was Leon's promise to the Fierce Lion Territory army.
Changhe Express is only responsible for logistics transportation, but once the goods arrive at the destination, Changhe Express’s mission is equivalent to being completed. The merchants naturally have to bear the security risks themselves, that is, pay a certain profit to seek protection from the army.
This may sound like protection money, but in fact, it is a business tax.
The profit of this business is high enough, and Lord Li Ang's commercial taxes are not heavy, so the merchants are very cooperative.
Besides, Eric has been maintaining order and calming emotions among the merchants.
In other words, as the merchants did business along the way, they would pay the commercial taxes to Le Ang, and then Le Ang would distribute the money to the small lords and knights in the army group.
This made the entire army willing to obey orders, and no one engaged in any factional struggles during the expedition - even if the lords had some opinions about Leon, at least the knights and soldiers under them would not have a hard time with Dinar.
The one who pays is the boss of Party A. This is a very basic principle that any soldier understands... So the army group actually follows the caravan all the time. As long as the caravan obeys Li Ang's command, the army group will definitely obey the command...
Now the army has not harmed Madan, which is actually the power of Dinar - everyone knows that since the caravan is stationed in Madan, Madan Village will bring a lot of benefits to everyone, so it is natural that it cannot be harmed and must not be harmed...
The new marshal, my lord, is much more generous than King Ulrich . The small lords who joined the army group somewhat regretted not bringing out all their elite troops - Leon distributed profits to them based on the number of armored soldiers, that is, the more elite soldiers they had, the more they got.
Many small lords began to consider whether they should go to Singal to buy some equipment and equip some armored soldiers on the spot...
…
Soon after, Bahaman, the lord of Ashkoman, also came to Madan Village.
Bahaman is already fifty-nine years old this year. In another six months, he will reach the age that the Desha people call "even the god Wata cannot take care of him."
Life in the desert can accelerate aging. Normally, at this age, the Desha lords no longer have much ambition, and the most important thing is to figure out how to let the younger generation inherit the family business.
But Bahaman did not do so.
He was still strong and powerful, still often took his 'Ghazi Raiders' around 'hunting', and still longed for more power and dinars.
In the eyes of Desha lords like Bahaman, plundering other countries is their daily work - in their view, this is also a contribution to Desha, and they can also get slaves and wealth for themselves.
But the risk of this kind of daily work is indeed higher.
In fact, Bahaman was defeated more than once while leading his troops to loot. In the past few decades, Bahaman had suffered at least ten defeats.
But each time he managed to escape successfully and regroup.
Bahaman usually gives people the impression of being rude and irritable, always acting like a pure reckless man. But only his wife and son know that he has never been a reckless person.
His irritability and temper are just masks he wears to show others.
Anyone who can sit on the high position of caliph will have his own mask.
He is actually a person who is very good at making decisions and weighing things, otherwise he would not have lived to this age.
Now Bahaman did not look irritable at all, he was patient and polite.
He is making a difficult and dangerous decision - whether to cooperate with Li Ang.
"Mr. Bahaman, you should understand the root cause of all this suffering... I think you should also understand that now only I can help you out of your predicament if you don't want to sit and wait for death."
Leon sat under an awning with a coconut in his hand. There were many coconut trees in Desha.
This season is the best in Desha. The climate is cool but not cold, and there are no sandstorms in early spring, which is very suitable for picnics.
"I understand your intention, Lord Leon... You want me to join you in dealing with Bahad Khan Kadan. But this would be a betrayal on my part, and I would become the enemy of the entire Desha..."
Bahaman was actually very clear-headed. He knew that Leon showed him goodwill in order to support a rebel regime in Desha to deal with Cardan together.
The root of all suffering actually comes from the title of "Bahad Khan", from Kadan - at least that's what Bahaman thinks.
Leon asked Ramon to deliberately invite the Inquisition to create this situation, and asked Sarah to persuade and educate both Qawan Khan and Bahaman, hoping to make Bahaman have such an idea.
In fact, the whole thing had nothing to do with Cardan. Cardan was busy reorganizing the army in Toba City and had no idea what was going on.
But now Bahaman, who is surrounded by enemies on all sides, has no way to verify it, and he dare not bet on Cardin's character. Just like Leon said, he really can't just sit there and wait for death.
However, he probably had concerns... a lot of concerns.
“Being the enemy of Desha? Humph, Bahaman, wasn’t everything Kadan did after he became Bahadur an enemy of the entire Desha? …But he still sat on the throne of Bahadur Khan for more than 20 years!”
Li Ang laughed and raised the bet for Bahaman again.
"you mean……"
Bahaman's eyes widened.
"What I mean is, as long as you replace Kadan as Bahad Khan, you will be the wise leader who saves Desha in times of crisis. Who would be your enemy? Besides... Kadan has so many enemies, and you will have countless allies and supporters, including me."
Li Ang turned the coconut in his hand, cut a hole with a knife, and handed the coconut juice to Bahaman: "You only need to open a hole for Desha, and you will naturally be able to taste the deliciousness."
"But the D'Shar people will not respect an illegitimate Bahad Khan... Count Leon, just like you have a formidable army but do not intend to rule on your own, the D'Shar people will not obey mere power. After all, Kadan is the legitimate Bahad Khan. Even if I defeat Kadan, I cannot become the real Bahad Khan."
Bahaman was actually very clear-headed. He knew why Leon did not conquer cities and establish his rule on his own. The Bacchus Empire had occupied Ashcoman before, but was driven away in just half a year due to endless resistance and uprisings.
The Desha people will not recognize the rule that is "not in line with the wishes of the god Wata", just as places with other beliefs will not recognize the rule of the Desha people.
This is what a country with a unified church and state is like; everything must conform to God's laws.
"But you are the legitimate caliph, Bahaman. As long as you raise the banner of 'restoring traditions' and declare the restoration of the tribal election system, countless tribes will be willing to elect you as Bahad Khan! This is the most legitimate Bahad, the true tradition of Desha..."
Li Ang's words were obviously bewitching: "In order to achieve the final victory in the election, you should have sought more supporters. You can completely copy what Cardan did back then, or let your son Ikram copy it... You must have thought about it more than once, but you were just not sure, right? But now, I have given you confidence..."
Bahaman was silent for a while.
But now Li Ang, who had sharp eyes and ears, could hear that his breathing had become noticeably heavier.
"Okay, that's all I can do... but... what do you want? Your army has come from thousands of miles away just to defeat Cardan?"
Bahaman made up his mind.
But he still had doubts and asked Li Ang about his purpose.
"Ha, I am a merchant, Bahaman. As you can see, I have a caravan with me... I need wealth. As you said, I cannot rule D'Shar, so I don't need to occupy any city. But I can let someone who is willing to give me benefits rule D'Shar - I might as well say it directly, Bahaman, whoever gives me the most benefits will be the one I support to become Bahad Khan... You are not the only one who is willing to show me kindness."
Leon has officially started the big business he and Ramon agreed upon - auctioning the position of city lord, and auctioning the throne.
Bahaman was silent again.
Of course he knew that Leon had many choices. In fact, Caliph Tahir, the lord of Sinjar, Emir Xerxes, Kadan's brother, and even Sharafan Sheikh, the rebel in southern Xinjiang, were better choices than him.
Tahir's military force was quite strong, and his reputation was higher than Bahaman's. Moreover, he did not want to be the Lord of Singal. The Singalians, who came from many different backgrounds, were not easy to manage. In fact, no D'Shar lord could truly rule Singal. It was no secret that Tahir had been considering other options.
Emil Xerxes is Cardan's younger brother, so he has a natural advantage in status, and many young D'Shar people are already following him. Besides... Emil Xerxes has been promoting the "divide D'Shar" slogan for several years, which is probably more in line with Leon's wishes...
As for the rebel Sharafan in the southern border, he had won over many Desha tribes who were determined to restore their nomadic traditions in the Holy War Castle and had been fighting against Kadan for twenty years. If he got the news, I'm afraid he would be willing to give up everything to seek the help of Leon's army.
So Bahaman understood that if he wanted to ensure his own safety, he would probably have to pay something.
Otherwise, Li Ang could have turned around and supported a few other people, and used himself as cannon fodder.
"Count Leon, I have a daughter, Luha, who is eighteen years old..."
Bahaman suddenly mentioned his daughter.
"Sorry, I already have too many girls around me, and I dare not get involved with any daughter of a D'Shar lord at this time... I am the Marshal of the Kingdom of Sarleon after all!"
Indeed, Leon can implement the strategy of driving the tiger to devour the wolf, can control the 'Deshar puppet army' to serve him, and can also make deals and negotiate terms with the Deshar lord, but he must never have any marriage relationship with the Deshar lord.
Otherwise, even without the Sarleon Kingdom making any response, the petty lords in his army would probably suspect him of treason...
The status of marshal can bring many conveniences, but it will also bring many sensitive issues, and the red lines cannot be crossed easily.
"Oh... In that case, Count Leon, perhaps you can help me find a better home for her? Count Leon, I will give the entire Ashcombe as Luha's dowry!"
Seeing that Leon refused so directly, Bahaman changed his tone.
Perhaps Bahaman and Shahrafan Sheikh have something in common. They will definitely have the troops and horses in their hands, but their daughters can be used as gifts...
This is Bahaman trying to find a way out for himself. Bahaman wants to tie Leon to the chariot - whoever Luha marries will get the legal right to rule Ashcoman in name.
Bahaman felt that Leon would definitely not give up this opportunity. Even if he did not marry her himself, he could marry Luha to one of his subordinates and gain the right to rule Ashcoman.
And Bahaman himself can still maintain actual control over Eshkoman in this way.
This is undoubtedly a good bargaining chip.
"In that case, I'll take this job... I'll hold a grand matchmaking ceremony for Luha in Singar - I promise it will be the most spectacular event in the entire continent and will not humiliate your daughter."
Li Ang did agree with a smile.
However, this may not be what Bahaman expected...
Leon really had no need for Eichcoman's rule - he had already promised Emperor Marius about Eichcoman's ownership.
But Bahaman took the initiative to increase the stakes, and as the banker, Li Ang had to accept it.
