Usman picked up the dagger and held it tightly. The veins on the back of his hand popped out and he clenched his teeth. Looking at him, it seemed that he would really burst out and hurt someone in the next moment.
But when Li Mu saw him like this, he laughed. People who really want to die will not be so ink. After all, this person is still a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death.
But this is fine, but it will be difficult for people who are too ambitious to use it.
Usman dropped the dagger on the ground, knelt in front of Li Mu, and lowered his head: "Master Marquis, Usman is willing to take refuge with the Marquis, and begs the Marquis to give him a way to survive."
"I have already told Ju Zhisheng that I have killed you. You can go and change your name. You can go to the ends of the world. Don't go back to the Western Regions. There will be no trouble."
Wusman lowered his head and said: "Master Hou, I can't just leave like this. I still have two thousand brothers in Gaochang, please give us a way to survive!"
Li Mu was silent for a while, seeming to be thinking. After a long while, he finally said, "Are you planning to take refuge in me when you say these words?"
"Please have mercy on me, Lord Marquis!"
Li Mu didn't answer, and said: "I know that you are a horse bandit in Longyou, and you are quite powerful, but I have no business in Longyou, so I'm afraid I don't need you for anything. Even if I have business, you must know that I have no business with you.
The relationship between the Dugu clan and the Changsun clan. To put it bluntly, I, Li Mu, am still a bit thin-faced, and I don’t seem to need you. What do you have that I value enough to reward you and your brothers with a way to survive?"
Wusman's anger was dampened by the dagger that Li Mu threw on the ground. At this moment, his heart was so confused and his head was in a mess. He really couldn't think of anything that could be used as a bargaining chip. He just hit the ground with his head and said: "
Usman has nothing but loyalty and is willing to die for the Marquis. Whatever the Marquis says will be whatever the Marquis says. Usman and his brothers will sacrifice their lives without any hesitation!"
Li Mu laughed, stretched out his hand to help him slightly, and Li Chongyi picked up Wu Man and pressed him on the chair opposite Li Mu.
Li Mu did not rush to give Usman an answer, but changed his words and asked: "Why don't you show your loyalty first? Let's get to know each other first. I won't hide it from you. I really want to save your life for me."
But I can’t trust you because I know very little about you. If you really want to take refuge in me, then we might as well have a good talk."
Wusman's eyes rolled, and he seemed to be quite moved, but he quickly denied this idea. Now that he was already a piece of fish on the chopping board, he was at the mercy of the other party, so what conditions could he negotiate.
Wusman thought it was Li Mu's test, and said quickly: "After such an unspeakable thing happened, Ju Zhisheng will hate me to the core. I have no choice but to take refuge with the Marquis. I really mean it sincerely. Please don't test me anymore."
"No, no, no," Li Mu waved his hand and said, "You misunderstood, I'm not testing you, I'm really asking you."
Seeing that Wushu was confused, Li Mu added: "I don't know much about you, but you must have asked about me. Although I am a Marquis of the Tang Dynasty, I don't have the style of a distinguished person.
On the contrary, I am more like a businessman. Although I am looked down upon by noble families, I am very happy and even proud of myself."
"I strive to be fair when doing things. This is one of the principles of my life. If I want to use you, I will give you a satisfactory return and will not use force to pressure others. Because what I care about is that you entrust me to you.
If you are resentful and dissatisfied and mess up the matter, the loss will not be recouped with any amount of money."
"On the other hand, I also want to know how capable you are and whether you are worthy of what I give you. If you are a fool, I will not waste a copper on you. This is a deal! I'm out
Money, you sacrifice your life, are you sure you don’t want to have a good talk with me? In your heart, is your life so worthless?"
After hearing this, Usman was completely stunned.
No one would think that their own life is worthless, let alone the lives of two thousand brothers, all of which are tied to their own bodies. It is absolutely a lie to say that they don't care. Usman did not dare to bargain, but he felt in his heart,
Li Mu will not give him a chance to bargain.
Wouldn't it be even more embarrassing if he talked a lot and was finally rejected by Li Mu? He had already lost all his face today and he didn't want to humiliate himself.
But after listening to Li Mu's words, Usman knew that he had indeed given him a chance to negotiate. At the same time, Usman also understood the meaning of Li Mu's words. If the 'price' is reasonable, then it can be negotiated. If the 'price' is
If it is unreasonable, then the lion will open its mouth. What will happen then is unknown.
Cold sweat broke out on Wu Wu's forehead. He hesitated for a long time before saying, "Master Marquis, I want to talk."
"Just thinking?"
"I want to talk!" Usman's voice became louder and firmer. He looked up into Li Mu's eyes and said, "Usman and his two thousand brothers want to negotiate a deal with the Marquis!"
"Very good!" Li Mu raised his thumb and said, "He is worthy of being one of the three horse bandits. He is very good. I like him very much."
Wusman didn't understand what Li Mu meant by giving a thumbs up, but he didn't dare to ask. He nodded solemnly and said, "I don't know what the Marquis wants to know. I know everything I know."
"Let's talk about the conditions first. What is the purpose of your move to Gaochang? What do you want to get? Let me first see if I can afford it. If I can afford it, let's continue talking. If I can't afford it, there is no point in talking.
."
Li Mu's directness was beyond Wusman's expectations, but this method made him feel very relaxed and the resistance in his heart was much less. After thinking about it for a while, he decided to tell the truth, just like what he just said.
.What happened between him and Ju Zhisheng meant that the road to Gaochang was blocked. If he wanted to gain a foothold in the Western Regions, he had to find another backer, otherwise he would be dead sooner or later!
Wusman said in a deep voice: "I dare not deceive the Marquis. I have taken refuge in Gaochang. It has something to do with the Tang Dynasty."
"Oh?" Li Mu raised his eyebrows and said, "I would like to hear the details."
"The three major horse bandits in Longyou are Zhangjiazhai, Luotuogu, and our Tiansha League. Although the three families all use the word bandit, in fact, this is not the case."
"Zhangjiazhai mainly relied on smuggling to make a living. When the Tang Dynasty was at war with the Turks, the Tang Dynasty needed horses and furs, while the Turks needed food, copper and iron. Zhangjiazhai had both sides, and made an unknown amount of money. According to rumors, there were underground mines in Zhangjiazhai
A big treasury holds thousands of taels of gold and no amount of copper. To them, the dirty work is just a side job, more like a businessman raising a group of thugs."
"The Camel Valley is in the center of the desert leading to the Western Regions from Longyou. There is only this oasis water source within a hundred miles. Merchants traveling between the Tang Dynasty and the Western Regions have to supply supplies here. The camels are in groups, so it is called the Camel Valley.
"
"This Camel Valley is very mysterious. Women are respected in the valley, men have low status and are mostly coolies, and the people in charge are all women. No one has ever seen the owner of the valley. It is said that she is a witch who can control quicksand. Everything
Anyone who intends to do harm to Camel Valley will be cursed and buried in the quicksand."
"Nearby forces tried to occupy Camel Valley many times, but all failed without exception. The one with the largest number of people was a small khan from the Western Turks, who contacted three tribes and more than 5,000 people attacked Camel Valley. It is said that most of them were lost.
, more than a thousand people were buried in the quicksand. From then on, no one dared to provoke them anymore."
"The people in Camel Valley never provoke outside forces, and they don't even go out of the valley. They entertain all passing merchants, exchange water and fodder for what they need, and they don't talk to people too much. Compared with horse bandits,
It's more like they opened an inn in the desert."
Li Mu nodded and motioned for Usman to continue.
"And we, the Tiansha League, are pure horse bandits. We don't do business, and we don't entertain merchants. We only do things like killing people and selling goods! The Tiansha League is not like Luotuo Valley and Zhangjiazhai, where there are men, women, old and young. Tiansha League.
There are only young and strong people in the evil alliance, and they are all first-class ruthless people. They don't care about their origins or seniority, only their ability. We live in no fixed place, wandering around the trade routes, and rob caravans when we see them. To put it bluntly,
On the trade route from Longyou to the Western Region, there is no one who is not afraid of our Tiansha Alliance..."
Li Mu frowned. What he hates most is someone bragging in front of him. This Wusman is also a big-hearted person. Just give him some color and open a dyeing workshop. If you are really as awesome as you say, how can you still be so stupid?
What about being a prisoner for Lao Tzu?
Li Mu coughed displeasedly, waking Usman from his former glory. He seemed to realize this, coughed awkwardly, and said: "Master Hou, what a joke. I really miss the past days, what a joke."
."
"This is not important, keep talking."
Usman calmed down his emotions and continued: "All of this changed after Li Jing destroyed the Turks."
"After the Tang Dynasty wiped out the Turks, Longyou and the Western Regions were directly connected. Except for the Camel Valley, which did not suffer much impact, life in Zhangjiazhai and Tiansha League was not easy. The smuggling business in Zhangjiazhai
Incredibly, not only that, in order to protect their own lives, the county magistrates of the border towns who were originally at odds with Zhangjiazhai have all shown themselves to be honest and self-sufficient, and refused to sell even grain, let alone smuggling."
Li Mu nodded. He had already learned these things from Zhang Tianai. Zhangjiazhai could not buy food in the border town, so he had to come to Chang'an and spend several times the price to buy it. Wusman's words further supported this point.
.
Wusman sighed and said: "Our Tiansha Alliance's life is even worse. The Tang Dynasty set up Dingxiang Zhechong Mansion to recruit refugees and train military horses. The captain of Zhechong Mansion is said to be the son of General Li Ji, named
Li Siwen. This man is really hateful. He seems to be dying of poverty. In order to make money, he will not give us any way to survive. He posted a notice outside the gate of Dingxiang City. Zhechong Mansion will send out a team of troops every three days.
To escort merchants, those who wish to accompany them must pay one guan for a person, two guan for a horse, and three guan for a camel.”
"With just this one move, our way of survival has been cut off!"