The Royal City of Baghdad is divided into four floors, the outermost layer is the area where shops and ordinary people live. Compared with the other three floors, the outermost layer is not protected by the city wall. The merchants of the Song Dynasty all gathered in the outermost layer, and they bought half of the street here, and the shops in front and the houses in the back formed a relatively closed plot.

There are no city walls, but there will be no roads. Roads are no longer limited by city walls and gates. They are free and even barbaric to expand. You can go wherever you want without any difficulties. This convenience makes the merchants of the Song Dynasty who live here feel safer and more comfortable.

The shops are not always business, and the merchants of the Song Dynasty would walk around each other. Most of the time they gathered in the tea merchants' shops to gather. The group sat in the shaded house to make tea, and watching the arrangements imitating Jiangnan style in the courtyard can also comfort the homesickness.

"When fighting, the Mongolian Khan even searched for women everywhere. He wanted to be the wind soon?" In the fragrance of tea, the merchants of the Song Dynasty made no comments on the Mongolian Khan indifferently.

Since it was a chat, everyone expressed their opinions, and some people held a relatively peaceful view, "Maybe they were prepared to reward meritorious officials after victory."

"Haha. I read the newspaper last time, and it said it was not in the Song Dynasty and only realized the goodness of the Song Dynasty. It really came to my heart. In the past, I always scolded officials for not doing serious business and making trouble every day. I only knew what it means to not doing serious business when I went overseas. They were so messing around, and I wanted to go back."

"You want to go back after you have earned enough." Someone immediately joked.

"It's not that I've made enough money, when can I make enough? I feel like I can't make any money. In the past, I've always wondered why Dashi merchants went to Dasong to do business. Now I understand. They just couldn't make much money locally and had to go outside. I don't want to go back to Dasong, but wanted to go to Mumbai Port to do business. Most of the foreign kings in India have surrendered to the rule of the Lifan tribe, and it should be easier to make money there than Baghdad."

"You last bought out so long, didn't you go to Basra, but to Mumbai?"

"I wanted to go, but I still didn't. It was really hard along the way."

As everyone talked and chatted, the sun gradually turned west. Everyone stood up and left, and the tea merchant did not try to keep him. He ordered people to pack up the tea sets and prepare to open them by themselves. He could not make a lot of money by selling tea, and the store started a variety of operations. A large counter in the street, with hot water in the cabinet, which could be prepared for warm wine at any time. The worker would spend some money when he left in the evening, buying a bowl of wine or a pot of tea. He stood outside the cabinet and drank hotly for a rest. Soon, sweat came out again, but he seemed a little more energetic.

If you are willing to spend more money, you can buy a plate of chickpeas for wine. If you get more, you can buy a meat dish. However, most of the customers who drink at the stand are short clothes, and they are not as generous as this. Only those who wear long gowns walk into the house next to the store, ask for wine and food, and sit and drink slowly.

The local guys ran to the front and back to serve tea and water, and the accountants just checked the bill and transferred the guys. In addition to using money, some people directly took food and paid for the bills with other things, making the already lively scene more lively. The accountants barely responded in stuttering and extremely awkward local dialect, so they almost used words. Those who ate were used to such conversations and didn't care at all.

Maybe they didn't care when they thought the account was so simple that it was not as simple as the children's way of speaking, the dull expression of Surrey, and the confused expression of frowning when the locals were talking normally. Several people said in local dialect: "Finally, there is a true God Army to attack Baghdad. I really want them to arrive early."

"They are not the same as us." Someone immediately questioned.

If there are doubts, there will be replies, "Are the Mongolians the same faction as us?"

"Although the Mongolians are not the same as us, nor are they the same as there, and they will not help oppress us there. It's still different. Do you want to betray Tula?"

"Yes, Tula also said that it cannot be put into power. Even if it wants to attack the Mongolians, Tula must come to power."

"Can't you kill the Mongols first?"

"We are afraid that the Mongols will be beaten away. Tula said that those people will collect heavier taxes on us."

“The Mongolians’ taxes are not low.”

...

Everyone was talking, but the drink was not much, and it was not long before. In addition, it was getting late, so the robe picked up the remaining chickpeas and stuffed them into their mouths. They chewed them with the last bit of wine and swallowed them, and then left. Before leaving, they greeted the late acquaintance. The new robe immediately stood at the counter and shouted loudly the wine or tea they wanted, while the accountant responded in short words.

Before dark, the short-clothed gangs were all gone, and more and more people were wearing robes. At this time, I had to ask the shopkeeper to greet him, and the accountant returned to the inner room to record what I heard. Those people could tell clearly who was the locals and who came from other places. Comparing their origins with their speeches, many things became very interesting. The locals in Baghdad supported or opposed half of the support or opposition to the Indian slave dynasty from afar, but others

Newcomers in the local area support more Mongolians. This is a change from the previous situation. In the past, people from outside oppose Mongolians more, while locals want to maintain the status quo. As for the reason, it seems that part of the Black Eight Banners' flag soldiers came from outside, and although they have to farm on their own, they have owned the land and have the opportunity to dig food from the soil. In contrast, locals who lost the land or locals who saw people from outside obtaining the land were very dissatisfied.

After a brief analysis, the accountant continued to go out to the platform. When it was dark, the last few tables of robe guests left. The shopkeeper directed the goods to pack up and have supper, and asked the local guys to go back to their room to sleep. Then he discussed what he heard with the accountant, "It seems that Mongolia wants to gather flag troops to defeat the slave dynasty in one fell swoop, and did not obey Boyan's plan."

The accountant spoke very fluently in Chinese, which was completely different from his dull performance outside. "This method is good. I wonder if they have any reason to say it?"

"It is said that the slave dynasty has received many believers from the True God Cult along the way, and now there are 500,000 or 600,000 people. The Mongolian court dared not wait, and the slave dynasty continues to accept people like this, but it is afraid that it can hold millions of troops."

The accountant lowered his head and thought, while the shopkeeper brought out some food he had prepared. Baghdad in June of the Western calendar was too hot, so even storage-resistant foods such as wine, chickpeas and bacon were unlikely to stay overnight. Not to mention that some foods were not resistant to storage. The business in the store was so good because everyone could always bring out food without odor. Therefore, the remaining items were the best to stay overnight.

He picked up the wine bowl and took a sip. The accountant said his thoughts, "If the slave dynasty could really capture millions of people, what Boyan said was right. The Mongolian cavalry confronted the slave dynasty army without having to decide the outcome. As long as the Mongolian horses ate all the grassland and left, the slave dynasty would starve to death. Even if the slave dynasty uses its military advantage to drive straight in, the Mongolian flag army cut off the slave dynasty's food route, what should these people eat? Are they gnawing the sand?"

The shopkeeper nodded. Although he had not become a senior officer for ten years, he was familiar with war. After working here, he had a deeper understanding of logistics arrangements because of daily procurement and operation. No matter how fierce people shouted, they would not be able to say anything if they were hungry for a few days. The statement of cutting off the food channel looked mysterious, but it was actually related to the fate of the army and was an extremely realistic problem. He sighed: "But I don't know if the flag army can win."

The accountant sighed: "Boyan will definitely win by commanding these flag troops."

"Boyan cannot come here to command."

"It depends on how much the Mongolian army wants to pay. Although our Song army has never fought a big battle to lure the enemy into depth, the officials have said that the best tactics are to strengthen the walls and clear the fields to lure the enemy into depth. It can fight a very good annihilation war. If you fight such a battle, the slave dynasty will be over."

"Haha!" the shopkeeper laughed and said, "Then I look forward to the slave dynasty being over."

The two chatted for a while before going back to rest. It was cool in hot places like Baghdad at night, and you could sleep well as long as the sun did not rise.

Every half a month, the intelligence is sent to the intelligence station by purchasing from Basra, and then from Basra Intelligence Station to the intelligence station in Mumbai. The information here is summarized and sent back to the Song Dynasty. The shopkeeper stood at the port of Basra, and saw masts standing in the port of Basra, and the ships doing business did not decrease due to the war. After careful observation, he saw that most of the flags on the masts were ships of the Song Dynasty. In the past, the ships from India to Basra were small and fewer, but now the Lifan tribe of the Great Song Dynasty began to conquer many local kings in India, and there are even fewer ships belonging to India. This is not related to this war.

The intelligence station is also a shop. In the room where the business is being discussed, the intelligence personnel exchanged the main content of the intelligence and issued and received the latest orders. The intelligence department of the Song Dynasty never asked for anything like top-secret intelligence. Everyone collected basic information. After summarizing these, you can see the overall situation.

After learning that more and more ordinary people were beginning to talk about the slave dynasty, the intelligence officer was thinking about it. After thinking for a while, he ordered: "You are ready to retreat."

"Are you so dangerous?" The shopkeeper was a little surprised.

The person in charge sighed: "It's hard to say. It's fine if Mongolia wins. If Mongolia loses, will the locals continue to play for the Mongolians?"

The faces of those true gods appeared in my mind, and the shopkeeper didn't know how to evaluate them. Those people would fight for the true gods, fight for Tula, and would never fight for Mongolia no matter how they looked. Thinking of this, the shopkeeper asked: "How do we retreat when we retreat?"
Chapter completed!