Tribes seem to give people the impression of barbarism, backwardness and even blood-drinking, but the Ishnir tribal alliance in the gap between the two great powers is not an uncivilized primitive race, nor is it a nomadic group living in the grass, on the contrary, due to the special political and economic environment, it is a paradise for arms dealers, smugglers, gamblers and all kinds of outlaws, thus forming a deformed economic prosperity. Some of the larger tribal settlements are not inferior in any way to the towns of other countries.

As for the Eagle Tribe, whatever the name of its name, its people, as Weiss had seen, did not wear bird feathers or tattoos, but were neatly dressed in Norman-haired overalls. If there is any difference, these people have dark skin, stocky figures, a simple tenacity between their eyebrows, and a unique and brutal character in their eyes.

Blowing the hatch open and freeing the trapped special hired laborers, Weiss pulled the Norman midshipman officer to his side and said in a loud voice: "As I said, this Norman officer has broken the contract with you on behalf of the Norman Empire, and I will hire you for three times the price on behalf of the Free Federation of Ulster until the end of the war." ”

Weiss intended to use these special apolitical hires to tide over the immediate difficulties, and it did not matter whether the federal military would recognize such employment in the future. The price was tripled because they followed the guerrilla advance detachment, and even if they were not directly involved in the battle, they faced the same risk of death. To put it bluntly, this may be the money for them to buy their lives.

The strong men of the tribe did not seem to resent or revere the Norman midshipman, and the relationship between them and the Normans seemed to be only one of hire and employment. Among them came a broad-shouldered, round-shouldered, bearded man, older than Weiss, but who did not yet look to be middle-aged, and called him "Bearded Brother". He asked in Norman: "You captured him, he fired us, and you hired us again, is this the relationship?" ”

This bearded brother's Norman language is neither standard nor fluent, Weiss and him are half a pound and eight taels, and it is a bit difficult to communicate, the key is that this kind of critical communication may be wrong. So, Weiss tried to ask, "Do you know Ulster?" ”

The middle-aged man, staring at him for a few seconds, said in Ulster, "It may be a little lame compared to Norman." ”

"I could hear the Lorraine accent." Weiss laughed.

"Indeed, I have been dealing with a group of Lorraines for a long time, and I learned most of the Ulster language from them."

"Then it'll be easy." Weiss said with a relaxed expression, "For you, the Normans can cooperate, and the Commonwealth are also friends, and in this situation, a little change can earn twice as much as the pay, so why not accept it?" ”

Brother Hu's expression did not become friendly because the other party took the initiative to set up a relationship, and he asked lukewarmly: "You seem to have said before that the purpose of hiring us is to carry goods?" ”

"At present, I will try to let you do the job that suits and likes." Weiss replied in the routine he had just thought of.

Bearded Brother relayed to the tribesmen in their own language that the dark-skinned men were laughing.

Wei Sizheng looked puzzled, and Brother Hu Zi replied to the Ulster language: "We don't mind helping you carry things, but we just think it's unreasonable for you to hire someone to help you carry things with three times the salary of a stoker and maintenance worker." This gentleman, working with the people of our Eagle Tribe, there is no need to hide and say those false and truthful things. Come straight away! You make a request, and I judge whether the cooperation is feasible or not, and then offer a price. Once an agreement has been reached, we will never unilaterally break the agreement due to trouble or hardship unless both parties agree to terminate it. ”

"After the contract with the Normans is broken, if we have a fight with the Normans, will you be enemies of the Normans?" Weiss asked rhetorically.

Brother Hu replied: "The principle of our Eagle Tribe is that we do not fight unless we are old enemies. We won't help the Normans attack you before, and we won't help you attack the Normans. If a mistaken attack occurs because the identity of the other party cannot be identified, we will use force to protect ourselves within a limited scope. ”

Weiss thought about it as he turned his head to see Officer Xi, a young Norman soldier who had a bitter face, and who might have blamed himself a hundred times in his heart - if he stubbornly refused on the bridge before, the worst result would be to be killed by the enemy, and now although he is alive, he is being led by the nose by the enemy, which is even more uncomfortable than death.

"Our federal forces have seized this transport ship and are ready to transfer the available supplies in the hold to our camp, and my request is ...... You help guard the cargo until our large army arrives, and when our large army arrives, you help carry the goods, after which I arrange other work according to your working ability and our actual conditions. ”

Brother Hu Zi clasped his hands on his chest: "Originally, our Eagle Tribe disdained to do this kind of unskilled work, you know, we have a recognized talent in machinery, and the Norman Empire's own stokers and maintenance workers cannot be compared to us." However, you have just saved us, and we have also made a preliminary commitment verbally, so my personal thought is that the cooperation agreement between us will come into effect from now until the arrival of the goods at the destination, and we will pay 3 gold pounds per person per day, and if we have casualties, minor injuries, serious injuries, or deaths, we will compensate each person an additional 120, 240, 300 gold pounds. During this time, if a team is attacked, we will try to protect the cargo and engage in combat if necessary – only for deterrent fire. ”

Hearing the other party's offer, even if he was fully mentally prepared, Weiss couldn't help but feel surprised. The gold pound is a gold coin issued by the Norman Empire, mainly circulated in the Norman Empire and the surrounding areas, because of its long history and stable gold content, it is an international currency with a high degree of credibility, and it is even more popular than the official currency in the Isneil Tribal Alliance, and even has the name of "black market gold coin". In peacetime, a standard Norman gold pound is equivalent to 50-60 crowns, and in wartime, 100 crowns are not exchanged for 1 gold pound. If the employment period was 10 days, even if there were no casualties, Weiss would have to pay the tribal mercenaries more than 600 gold pounds, which was only the same amount that the previous transactions made through the intelligence department were converted into gold pounds. In the event of casualties, the commission can reach a staggering figure.

This, could it be that Brother Hu Zi didn't want to do it and couldn't break his verbal promise, so he deliberately raised the offer?

In front of the Normans and the Eagle Tribe, Weiss did not show his surprise and hesitation, but touched his chin and pondered. Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration and asked Brother Beard: "How did the Normans settle accounts with you before?" Is it settled daily, or after each action? ”

The settlement method of employment is not a secret, and Brother Hu Zi glanced at the midshipman officer and replied: "In the rear activities, the settlement is made at the end of each operation, and in the front activities, the settlement is made every day, and it is paid one day in advance." ”

"Is this the front?" Weiss asked.

Brother Beard replied in a businessman's tone, "Of course! Today's commission, they have already paid yesterday, you don't need to compensate us. ”

Weiss got the answer he wanted, and walked up to the Norman midshipman officer and stared at him with bad intentions: "We have captured this ship, and according to international conventions, all the people and things on this ship are our trophies, except for the non-belligerent personnel on board. ”

The midshipman deliberately avoided his gaze: "So what? ”

Weiss leaned closer and said, "You probably won't leave all your valuables on the bridge." ”

"I don't know where!" The midshipman said angrily.

Having said that, his expression could not hide the fear in his heart. So, Weiss threatened: "So be it! Rather than us go to the trouble of finding and hoisting you out of the bridge, why don't you take us to find it, and let you and your companions leave if we find it? ”

Out of that pitiful pride, the midshipman was reluctant to cooperate. Seeing this, Weiss turned to the group of special mercenaries from the Eagle Tribe and said, "Okay! I accept your offer. From now on, your treaty with the Norman Empire will be dissolved, and our employment relationship will take effect. ”

Brother Hu Zi looked at the Norman midshipman officer, and when he saw that he was silent, he asked in Norman: "Mr. officer, do you dissolve the treaty between us on behalf of the Norman army?" ”

As soon as the midshipman said the word "no", he was punched in the stomach by Weiss, and he couldn't stand up straighter for a long time.

Weiss patted him on the shoulder: "Listen, you can refuse, but you and your companions will die." When you die, even if they don't cooperate with us, they will only leave on their own, not fight for you. ”

For this scene, Brother Hu and his people saw it, but they didn't say a word, or even moved.

Seeing that the Norman midshipman was silent, Weiss pulled out his pistol from his holster, clicked and loaded it, and put the muzzle against the back of his head: "How good it is to be free, but it's a pity...... Say goodbye to the world! Say goodbye to your mother and little love! ”

The midshipman simply closed his eyes. Weiss's gun was always pressed against his head, his breathing became heavy as time went on, his body trembled slightly, and when Weiss began to count down from "three" to one, he threw himself on his knees and couldn't stop crying. When he was almost out of his emotions, Weiss grabbed him by the collar, grabbed him by the collar, and asked, "How good it is to be alive, isn't it?" ”

The broken guy stopped crying and said with a crying voice: "I promised my mother, and my fiancée, that I promised them...... Go back alive! ”

Weiss loosened his collar, withdrew the loaded cartridge, and reloaded the pistol back into its holster.

"You tell them that you can break the treaty with them on behalf of the Norman army, and you can take us to the ship's safe—in the captain's room, right? If I find it, I will let you and your companions go, vouch for your personality, and never break my word! ”

The midshipman lowered his head and said nothing, and Weiss said: "If you feel that this is an insult to your military character, then after you regain your freedom, you can bring your reinforcements to fight with us and try to defeat us, but you must be careful, no one on the battlefield will give you a choice, if you are killed by our bullets, you will still not see your mother, nor your beloved fiancée...... Live well! There will always be an end to war, maybe it will be a long time, maybe it won't be long, who knows? ”

After a fierce and difficult psychological struggle, the young midshipman took a deep breath, hung his head and said to Brother Beard: "I'm sorry, this transport ship has been occupied by our enemy, and since you are not obliged to participate in the battle, and we really can't hire you to work here anymore in our current situation, so ......"

Brother Hu didn't wait for him to say the most difficult words, nodded and said, "I understand." ”

Then he said to Weiss in Ulster: "Now that we have broken the treaty with the Norman army, and you have made terms that we cannot refuse, we accept your employment from now on." ”

The tone of these words is obviously not convincing, Wei Si wanted to communicate with him, but after thinking about it, if he was in the position of the other party, he would probably feel disdain for this kind of coercion of others, but disdain is disdain, transaction is transaction, the more people are in the rivers and lakes, the more they will respect the spirit of the contract. If you say anything superfluous, you simply don't mention it. When the cooperation is over, it is also a good ending to go their separate ways.