In Xiyu, the city of Suyeb.
Guan Yin, holding a foreign woman, sat on the city lord's seat and looked at a Turkic envoy below.
The Great Khan orders me to deliver an ultimatum to you! If you do not surrender, we will surely bring our great army to attack!
The envoy spoke to Guan Yin with arrogance.
Guan Yin smiled and looked at a pillar to the side.
Battalion Commander Yi, what do you say?
Zhuzi also chuckled, drew his saber, and walked forward. Seeing this, the envoy shivered, but then thought that he was an envoy representing the Great Khan of the steppe, and mustered his courage to say.
"What do you want to do! The Great Khan's warriors are peerless in the world! Not long ago, even the capital of the Li Tang was breached, you are seeking your own destruction!
Suyeb City is too far from Chang'an, and they know almost nothing about what's happening in the country.
Therefore, upon hearing the envoy's words, Guan Yin, Zhuzi, Ma Chao, and others laughed even harder.
You, based on what? We've heard that the Great Tang's Marquis of Liaodong's firearms are incredibly powerful. Can you reach the Great Tang's capital? Aren't you afraid the strong winds of Xiyu will blow your tongue away!
Heh heh, I knew you wouldn't believe me. Look at this!
The envoy took out an iron lump from his chest.
Zhuzi was stunned. Although he hadn't seen this thing before, he was certain it came from Fang Family Village!
There was a pull ring on that round object!
Only Fang Family Village could make this pull ring!
Tell me, how did you get this thing!
Zhuzi instantly put his saber on the envoy's neck. With a slight force, he cut his neck, and blood flowed down his collar.
The envoy was bewildered. How dare they!
But Zhuzi's eyes told him that if he didn't speak, he would die!
This was brought back to the steppe by the Great Khan after he took Chang'an. That Marquis of Liaodong's family was also destroyed by the Great Khan.
Zhuzi, Ma Chao, and Guan Yin exchanged glances.
In each other's eyes, there was only anger and surprise.
Fang Family Village was destroyed?
Chang'an was breached by Jie Li?
Have we, these people, lost our homes?
Zhuzi felt like he was about to explode. With a surge of strength, his saber directly severed the envoy's head!
Thud.
The envoy's head rolled on the ground a few times, his eyes wide open, not knowing why even in death.
Battalion Commander Er! You take some men back! I'll take the others to the steppe!
Zhuzi said to Ma Chao with hatred.
Guan Yin reached out to stop him. After being the city lord for a while, he had become much more stable.
Brother Zhuzi, don't be in a hurry. There are two problems now. First, we have too few men. If we go to the steppe, we won't be able to achieve anything.
Also, the snow on the steppe now makes it impossible for cavalry.
Why don't we recruit soldiers first, and then go when the ice and snow melt in the spring?
Zhuzi glared at Guan Yin with red eyes: Have you become addicted to being the city lord! Have you forgotten how you got this city lord position!
Hearing this, Guan Yin instantly felt wronged.
He threw the golden crown representing the city lord off his head onto the ground.
Battalion Commander Yi! I didn't expect you to see me, Guan Yin, like this!
Since that's the case, I don't need to be the city lord anymore! Today, I will lead men to the steppe!
With that, he actually walked out of the city lord's mansion.
Ma Chao grabbed him.
Brother, don't blame him. Zhuzi is blinded by his haste.
After persuading Guan Yin, he shouted at Zhuzi: What kind of words are you speaking? Are we not brothers anymore?
What Guan Yin said is the truth. Are your ears stuffed with donkey hair, or are you blinded by hatred?
Zhuzi was stunned and stood there for a long time. Thinking about what Guan Yin had just said, it seemed to make sense.
So, he walked up to Guan Yin with a flushed face: I'm sorry, brother, I spoke out of line.
Guan Yin raised his fist and punched Zhuzi in the chest.
I forgive you! But there must not be a next time!
His tone was very serious, and his fist was heavy. Zhuzi took it head-on.
He knew that no matter how heavy this punch was, it couldn't hurt Guan Yin as much as his own words just now.
Alright, let's recruit soldiers, and when the snow melts, we'll attack the steppe!
Seeing that the two had resolved their differences, Ma Chao said from the side.
Recruit soldiers!
Zhuzi repeated his words, then turned and walked out of the city lord's mansion.
Recruiting soldiers here will certainly be different from recruiting soldiers at home.
Here, the form of recruitment can only be mercenaries.
He never expected that he came to Xiyu as a mercenary at that time, and now he had to recruit others as mercenaries.
The next day, a notice was posted in Suyeb City, and at the same time, another document was sent by the soldiers of Battalion Yi to Julan City and Taluosi City.
These two cities were captured by Zhuzi and Ma Chao successively in the past six months, and managed by their subordinates.
Zhuzi and Ma Chao had also considered continuing to fight their way forward, but their manpower was limited. They could capture them, but they had no one to manage them, so they stopped their conquest.
Not long after, Julan City and Taluosi City also posted recruitment notices.
The content of the three cities was the same.
Recruiting soldiers: Skilled warriors, five hundred Tang coins per month per person.
This price was simply sky-high in Xiyu!
Furthermore, as this was a necessary passage on the Silk Road, the merchants passing through brought the news to the surrounding cities.
My goodness!
All those who couldn't get enough to eat ran over in droves.
In less than a month, the team expanded from over a thousand people to five thousand.
More people continued to arrive, but Zhuzi stopped Ma Chao, who wanted to continue recruiting.
That's enough. If we recruit more, we won't be able to manage them. Too many people are hard to control.
Ma Chao thought about it and agreed.
After all, all the recruits were from Xiyu, from various ethnic groups, and there were language communication problems.
If they really formed a team of tens of thousands, there might be unforeseen chaos.
Currently, one soldier from the Skyfire Army commanding five mercenaries was barely enough.
After stopping recruitment, they began to teach the recruits some simple Chinese.
Ah O'e from Fang Family Village made its debut in Xiyu!
The young and strong men of various ethnic groups, who originally thought they would just get enough to eat and drink and then wait to swing their swords and kill people, finally experienced the nightmare of being dominated by a foreign language!
ps: Third update.