Chapter 266 [Bad intentions]

This disciple of Lan Hai actually mentioned the matter of the Snowy Mountains for the first time, which made Du Wei's heart move. However, looking at Phillip's appearance, he seemed to be calm and did not seem to be hiding anything.

Maybe... although Lan Hai is from Daxue Mountain, ordinary disciples like Philip really don't know?

Du Wei thought for a moment and said, "What do you mean?"

"The people of the grassland have always regarded the Daxue Mountain as the supreme existence. Under the will of the Witch King, even their grassland king did not dare to disobey." Philip said slowly: "I see that there are many envoys accompanying this Hanmuye this time.

, it seems that there are no people from the Snowy Mountains. Lord Duke...have you forgotten the confession about the Snowy Mountains written by the female assassin we captured?"

Philip was of course aware of the assassination of Elu in the Watt Fortress of the Northwest Army and the arrest of sneaking into Du Wei's station at night.

Later, Ailu was captured by Du Wei and brought back to Loulan City, and was imprisoned in the dungeon of the Duke's Palace. Under Du Wei's "force", he wrote that confession. As Du Wei's chief staff officer, Philip

He has also seen these things.

When Phillip mentioned it, Du Wei was also moved in his heart. The two looked at each other for a while and couldn't help but smile.

Speaking of the Snow Mountain above the grassland, it is indeed a mysterious existence. On the grassland, the wizards trained by the Snow Mountain are respected by all the people on the grassland. And the Snow Mountain is to the grassland what the temple is to the Roland Empire. It’s just that the Snow Mountain is to the grassland.

, in terms of its lofty status and prestige, it far surpasses the status of the temple in the Roland Empire.

At least. In the Roland Empire, the imperial power can still compete with the temple. The power of the empire is still firmly in the hands of the royal family and the empire center. But on the grassland, the majesty of the Snow Mountain is still far higher than that of the grassland king!

The confession written by the female assassin Ellu is indeed detailed enough. On the Snowy Mountains, the Witch King naturally has the highest status. The succession of each Witch King can only be effective if it is designated by the previous Witch King. It is passed down from generation to generation. There are no exceptions.

Even the current Witch King Bai Hechou. Du Wei found the suicide note of the previous Witch King in the underground labyrinth of Gilliat City and knew that Bai Hechou took the throne by force, but it was written clearly in Elu's confession.

Baihechou is extremely majestic on the Snowy Mountains, and his position is very stable.

Just because Elu's confession did not conceal the means by which Bai Hechou came to power. It also shows that Bai Hechou defeated his teacher and became the Witch King. Originally, this kind of rebellious behavior was absolutely unacceptable.

It will not be admitted. But what is puzzling is that after being defeated by his apprentice, the previous Witch King Gu Lanxiu finally chose to leave the snow mountain and disappeared. Although Gu Lanxiu was defeated, before leaving, he also left behind

He made a decree and openly recognized his traitor as the Witch King of the New Earth!

This kind of behavior has to be said to be very strange. It is precisely because of this that Bai Hechou's own extraordinary strength, and even though he was rebellious, he was still recognized by the previous Witch King, and he firmly established himself as the Witch King.

.

There are many weird rules on the snowy mountains, and they were all written down in Ellu's confession. It's just that this female assassin relied on what she said she knew, and wrote wherever she thought, which inevitably seemed messy. But even so,

The rules on the Snowy Mountains, in Du Wei's opinion, also made him very frightened!

Above the Snowy Mountains, the most mysterious thing is naturally the witchcraft of the Snowy Mountains. Is it unusual to be able to faintly compete with the magic of the Empire? And as written in Ellu's confession, above the Snowy Mountains, wizards of all ages have studied witchcraft, but they have a harmonious and harmonious relationship.

Imperial magicians have completely different habits: they value communication!

For example, Du Wei just founded the Magic Society in the Imperial Capital last year. The "sharing spirit" he called for has already existed in the snowy mountains!

On the Snowy Mountains, the division of labor is clear. The overall organizational system is divided into "three rooms". The lowest level is the "Worldly World". There are about two hundred wizards on the Snowy Mountains, and most of them belong to this "Worldly World".

The so-called "entering the world" probably refers to the wizards in the world. They are often ordered to go down the mountain, chant back and forth on the grassland, spread the faith on the grassland, and stop in various tribes. Regardless of the size of the tribe, they are all treated equally, while spreading the faith.

, it will also help treat diseases of passing tribes, teach some backward tribes how to take care of livestock, and even mediate disputes between some tribes.

There are more than a hundred wizards in the world who walk around the grassland all year round. People on the grassland all bow and worship when they see them. However, there is a strict order in the world that any wizard who walks under the mountain is not allowed to collect a single gold from any grassland herders or tribal chiefs.

A reward of one silver. Wherever they go, no matter whether they are chiefs or ordinary herdsmen, they are treated equally, regardless of high or low. In addition to having good witchcraft, these worldly wizards must also know medical skills, astronomy, geography, and arithmetic.

Etc., they often even teach nomadic tribes how to judge the coming of the rainy season based on the weather, how to migrate after water and grass, etc...

The only thing is that the worldly wizards are not allowed to interfere with the politics of the grasslands! Whether it is the change of the throne or a foreign war. These major matters, the worldly wizards are not allowed to raise a finger to interfere and let nature take its course.

When Du Wei knew Lan Hai's identity, he immediately couldn't help but associate Lan Hai with this group of wizards who "entered the world"! Lan Hai indeed looked like a erudite scholar, and seemed to be proficient in astronomy, geography, arithmetic, and medicine. Most likely back then

Lan Hai is also a wizard who "enters the world" on the snow-capped mountains!

In fact, Du Wei's guess was not bad. Lan Hai was indeed born in this world, and was once its leader.

Beyond the world, there is also the "Jiu Jing Jian". The description of this "Jiu Jing Jian" surprised Du Wei even more! There are about seventy or eighty wizards in the "Jiu Jing Jian".

On top of the snow-capped mountains, most of the time, they never even took a step down the mountain! According to the description in the confession, in Du Wei's view, these people are almost a fixed "research organization"! They are responsible for studying the artifacts left by successive generations of wizards on the grassland.

, Regarding the research results of witchcraft, in Ellu's words, these people seem to be lunatics or idiots. Apart from researching every day, they don't care about anything.

In addition, there is a "Caihe Room" on the snow-capped mountains. This "Caihe Room" is mainly responsible for cultivating wizards. Every year, those wizards who "enter the world" walking on the grasslands will choose some of the ones they see.

Children with particularly good qualifications are sent to the mountains. The "Caihejian" is responsible for accepting these children and selecting those with particularly outstanding qualifications to train wizards. In addition to training new wizards, the "Caihejian" is also mainly responsible for matters on the snow-capped mountains.

In terms of status, it is clearly above the other two. However, this one has the smallest number of people. It only has about ten or twenty people all year round. But in terms of strength, it is the strongest one on the snow mountain.

.Most of the wizards in the room are wearing white robes.

The hierarchy of wizards on the snowy mountains is not as complicated as that of magicians in the empire. There are only two types: white clothes and common clothes. Generally speaking, ordinary wizards are clothed in common clothes, and there are no big requirements for the color of their clothes. Some wear black,

Some wear gray. But often when their strength reaches a certain level and they get the approval of the Witch King, they wear white clothes, which is the symbol of a high-level wizard.

Above these three rooms, the Witch King is the supreme existence. However, this existence is also extremely mysterious. According to Eludi's confession, although she is Bai Hechou's disciple, she actually does not see Bai Hechou a few times a year.

It's just that most of them study in the "Coordination Room". Bai Hechou will appear for about ten days a year. At most, it only lasts for a month, and he personally trains the disciples. The rest of the time, he hides in a place on the snow-capped mountains.

Hidden cultivation on the highest snow peak. The Witch King cannot summon him himself, and no one is allowed to disturb him.

People on the grassland regard the snow mountain as a god-like existence, and the grassland king often sends people to worship at the foot of the mountain. Often for some difficult and important matters, the grassland king will personally come to the mountain to seek instructions from the Witch King. The Witch King

It is absolutely missing. At most, one wizard can be sent up to convey the message with a bloody skull flag.

If the Witch King was on the mountain and he wanted to ask the Prairie King to do something important, he would also send someone to the royal court with a bloody skull and crossbones flag.

According to Elu's description, although Bai Hechou is the Witch King, it seems that he has never been to the snowy mountains.

Du Wei and Phillip looked at each other and smiled. Du Wei shook his head and said, "You are not trying to pretend to be a snow mountain wizard to deceive this prairie prince, are you?"

Philip also smiled and said: "It's not my fault. Judging from that confession, the communication between the Snow Mountain Wizard and the Prairie King's Court is almost a one-line connection. The loopholes in this kind of contact are too big. If you want to cause trouble, as long as the Prairie King does not

I went to the snow-capped mountains for verification and found no flaws. However, we have no one here to pretend to be a wizard to deceive Hammuye. I don’t know if the female assassin is willing to obey. If she refuses, don’t do it.

Otherwise, the flaw will be exposed, and it will give others a handle."

"That female assassin..." Du Wei thought for a while: "She should be obedient."

The negotiations on the second day went much more pleasantly. Du Wei had secretly reached a deal with Hammuye, hinting that he could persuade the imperial capital to dismantle the troops stationed on the grassland. However, this guy Hanmuye

They are still insisting on the terms of compensation.

"My Lord Duke, I think some lions in your country are really talking loudly! Eighty thousand war horses? In the first contract you drafted before, you only wrote 30,000 horses!! Even thirty thousand is absolutely not acceptable.

!Not to mention 80,000!!"

Du Wei immediately retorted: "But Sir Hammuye, in the previous terms, there was no statement that our empire would withdraw its troops! We have made concessions, can't you pay more?"

"Eighty thousand... is too many!" Hammuye shook his head repeatedly: "Although there are many horses on our grassland, war horses are not ordinary horses after all. Among the five horses, you may not be able to pick out one war horse.

Come on! I think the number of cattle and sheep is acceptable, but this number of war horses is absolutely unacceptable!"

Du Wei's face darkened, and he immediately shook his head and said: "Absolutely not! Ordinary cattle and sheep are worth nothing! A high-quality sword from our empire can be exchanged for two sheep on the grassland! Ordinary cattle and sheep, what do I get?

usefulness?"

Hammuye sneered twice: "Your Majesty the Duke... Since the two sides have negotiated peace, they will be brothers and friends from now on. Your country asks for so many war horses. Are you preparing for war?"

Du Wei also shouted back: "Then, who are you storing so many war horses to deal with!"

The two sides argued like this all morning. Finally, the number of war horses was set at "30,000."

Seeing that Hamuye finally agreed to this clause, Du Wei didn't know whether he felt happy or heavy!

The grassland people can easily pay for 30,000 horses... So what is their potential? It is said that a large tribe on their grassland can control tens of thousands of horses! A larger tribe can control horses with just one order.

Mobilize no less than 100,000 cavalry!!

So, if the prairie king, who owns the entire prairie, mobilizes for war, how many cavalry can they mobilize?!

Later, when we were talking about other compensation places, Hamuye proposed that he could compensate 10,000 cattle and sheep. Du Wei immediately sneered and said that the value of war horses was much higher than that of cattle and sheep. The war horses already cost 30,000. Do the prairie people even have cattle and sheep?

Do we still care? Or do the prairie people think that cattle and sheep are more valuable than war horses?

After talking for a long time, they finally settled on 20,000 cattle and sheep. Du Wei asked for an additional 10,000 pieces of fine cow hides. Hamuye thought about it and agreed. Of course, these 10,000 pieces of fine cow hides

, not for the empire, but for Du Wei himself.

Hammuye knew the official customs of the Roland Empire very well. It would be strange if the other party did not ask for benefits. Seeing that Du Wei took the initiative to ask for a private gift, he felt relieved.

Ten thousand pieces of good cowhide are really nothing to the grassland people. Even Hamuye himself can afford it.

But in the end, the two sides were deadlocked on two issues.

Du Wei asked for 5,000 slaves. Hamuye refused to agree, and the population of the grassland was not large. Every young and middle-aged man was extremely precious, and even a slave would not be ceded easily. Because the land on the grassland was

It is customary for the king of the prairie to issue orders once a war breaks out, allowing slaves to join the army. Once they have achieved military exploits, they will be free. Therefore, those slaves are often extremely brave in fighting, and the combat effectiveness of the "slave cavalry" on the grassland is also impressive.

The imperial army is very afraid of it.

Count Villa, who was also participating in the negotiations next to him, was very puzzled by Du Wei's insistence on asking for slaves. He found an opportunity in the middle and took Du Wei outside and asked privately: "Your Majesty, Duke, we

The empire does not lack population. Five thousand slaves is just a small number. It is such a small number. There is no need to fight like this."

Du Wei smiled.

Of course he doesn't care about thousands of slaves. Calculated by the price of the empire, the value of five thousand slaves is only a few hundred gold coins.

It’s just that what he values ​​​​is the slaves of the grassland people! The slaves on the grassland are different from those in Nanyang! The slaves in Nanyang can only do some labor work. But the slaves on the grassland are good at raising horses and herding! More importantly, these
To be continued...