The mercenaries know how to lick the blood, and they are not good at stubble. In order to grab business, there are some contradictions between each other. What's more, it's not uncommon to be a mercenary when you have business, and it's not uncommon for you to make a cameo appearance as a robber - the target of the robbery is often the client of other mercenaries.

This time to protect Suye City, it is very profitable, but not every mercenary group has gains. Some mercenary groups win by numbers, but there are not many masters, so the number of candidates is limited. Although some mercenary groups are not large in number, there are many masters, and there are many people who are selected.

In this big team, with Liang Xiao's constraints, there will be nothing to do for the time being, once disbanded, those mercenary groups that are strong in overall strength, but have not received enough oil and water, will not be jealous of other people's gains and grab a handful, it's really hard to say.

There is no need for Liang Xiao to deliberately provoke, the mercenaries have realized the danger, and the sense of teamwork that they have easily cultivated disappeared without a trace in an instant, and they were unexpectedly divided into several small collectives, and their wariness of each other was clearly revealed.

Linghu frowned, looking at Liang Xiao puzzled. Liang Xiao didn't speak, raised his wine glass, said hello to everyone, drank the wine in the glass, walked out of the mercenary's tent, put his hands behind his back, and left by himself.

The snow creaked, monotonous and cold, like a tree full of crystal ice needles, piercing into the depths of people's hearts.

"My lord, why are you reminding them now?" Guo Wenbin was very puzzled.

"The battle is over. With them or without them, it doesn't matter. Liang Xiao said softly as he walked: "However, if you want to twist them into a rope, you must make them aware of the danger first." Only when they feel danger will they follow me closely. ”

"Adults want to keep them in control?"

"There is not enough force to protect. How are we going to get back to Dahan? ”

Guo Wenbin nodded. I was about to speak. Liang Xiao stretched out his hand to stop him. Guo Wenbin was puzzled. But he still kept his mouth shut. After a while, footsteps sounded, and the spirit fox chased after him from behind. "Your Excellency, your Excellency."

Liang Xiao turned around and looked at the spirit fox with a smile. "Something?"

"Aren't adults waiting for me when they walk so slowly?" Linghu walked up, took two breaths, and said with a wry smile: "My lord." You can't do that. As soon as you pick up this fire, the next step is not to pick up the heads of the Huns, and it is difficult to say how many of our own heads can be saved. Maybe tomorrow morning there will be a few more corpses in the valley. ”

"Haha." Liang Xiao smiled. He reached out and took the spirit fox's hand. "Let's go, talk in the tent."

When they came to the big tent, Beta and Xia burned the fire of the big tent vigorously, and were gossiping with Tu Niu'er and Pang Shuo, when they saw Liang Xiao coming back, followed by Linghu, and hurriedly got up. Prepare food and drinks. Liang Xiao pulled the spirit fox into his seat, but did not say what happened just now. Instead, he asked about Linghu's experience.

"Where are you from, and how long have you been a mercenary?"

"I'm a Cypriot and grew up in this area." Linghu stretched out his hand and roasted it on the fire. "However, my master is Han and taught me to read a little bit of books, so I am a little more familiar with the Chinese dialect and Han people than they are. Because of this, my business is doing well. That's three years. ”

"In three years, you can have a place in Suye City, your skills are good. With such a good ability, he is willing to be a mercenary forever? ”

"What if you are unwilling?" Linghu smiled bitterly: "The Dawan people don't pay attention to martial arts, and the Cypriots are barbarians in their eyes." The Huns and Wusun welcomed me, but they fought every day, and most of the gains went to the magnates, and ordinary soldiers could only make ends meet, so it was better to be a mercenary. ”

"Are mercenaries really at ease? I don't think you're at ease. ”

"Mercenaries are not really at ease. Doing a hard-working business, even if it is a momentary glory, it is difficult to keep it for a long time. According to my observation, mercenaries enter the industry, on average, no more than five years, and they are either injured and disabled, or they are directly killed. Those who can do it for more than ten years are only one or two. Once injured or killed, the family can only live on savings and the relief of friends, and it is good to have food and clothing. ”

"Did more die at the hands of bandits, or more at the hands of their peers?"

"Pretty much." Linghu thought for a while, and then said: "If you count some bandits who are originally peers, maybe there are more peers." ”

"In that case, why don't you unite and form a mercenary group to deploy in a unified manner? In this way, you can avoid both price reduction and avoid being stabbed in the back. ”

"It's not that I haven't thought about such a thing." Linghu shook his head. "First, the mercenaries are used to freedom and don't like to be restrained. Second, there is so much business, and it can't support so many people, so they can only compete with each other and share oil and water with fewer people. ”

Liang Xiao smiled. "In my opinion, the first reason is valid, and the second reason, I'm afraid it's just imagination."

"Why do you say that?"

"Have you organized it?"

"No, but everyone knows how many merchants and mercenaries there are in Suye City......

"That's just what you see." Liang Xiao interrupted the spirit fox. "Have you ever thought that if you are strong enough, you can do business that you couldn't do before, and you can do it now? For example, if you help Lord Creon defend the city like this, no one of you dared to take it before. ”

"This ......" Linghu was speechless for a while, rolled his eyes a few times, and clapped his hands in frustration. Your Excellency said, we really didn't think about that. However, if there were no adults to come forward this time, I am afraid that it would still not be able to be organized. The mercenaries think very highly of themselves, one does not obey the other, and no one can bring everyone together. If you want to form us into a mercenary group, unless you ...... your lords"

Liang Xiao smiled. "I don't have such a lot of money, you're too expensive. As you know, I only had enough money to pay your deposit, and the rest of the money was not paid by me, but earned by yourself. ”

Linghu frowned, stared at Liang Xiao for a long time, and suddenly bowed down. "My lord, I see. I will go back and discuss with them, and if I can convince them, please don't dislike us for being rude, and take us to make a fortune together. ”

Liang Xiao smiled but did not say a word, and raised his wine glass. Linghu is a smart man, and it is only fitting for him to test the tone of the mercenaries.

――

Linghu is gone. Liang Xiao asked Li Shuyun and Old Andrew to come over and tell them their plans.

Old Andrew listened. A slap on the thigh. "Your Excellency. Why bother looking for these mercenaries? They don't know how to fight at all. Adults need more manpower. I can recruit more brothers. ”

Liang Xiao smiled. "Your old brothers, of course, recruit. However, you are all too old to charge again. It's better to leave this kind of thing to young people. ”

"Your Excellency, is this looking down on us?" Old Andrew was a little upset.

"Old Andrew, it's not that I look down on you, but there are more important tasks for you than fighting."

"What mission is more important than combat?"

"Escort me to Greece."

Old Andrew was stunned for a moment, staring at Liang Xiao with his eyes. "To Greece?"

"That's right. I want to go to Greece. Liang Xiao smiled. The mercenaries are responsible for protecting the merchants. I would like to take you to Greece to see the homeland of your dreams. I am the emperor's messenger, the emperor's eyes, and if possible, I will travel all over the world. How could I have gone so far without your protection? ”

Old Andrew was already dizzy and didn't know what Liang Xiao was talking about.

Although he had always claimed to be Greek, he had never been to Greece. Having settled in Bactria since his grandparents, Greece is just a legend for them. Even the language is not pure enough, mixed with a lot of local Dawan dialect. All of a sudden. Liang Xiao said that he would take them to Greece, just like the gods of Mount Olympus suddenly descended on the earth, and his mind was blank except for prostrating himself on the ground.

"My lord, if you can really take us to Greece, no matter how many miles we live, we will die unswervingly." Old Ander said, kneeling in front of Liang Xiao, hugging Liang Xiao's legs, and kissing Liang Xiao's knees.

Liang Xiao was startled and hurriedly helped old Andrew up. He heard Alpha say that this ritual came from ancient Persia and was usually used to show surrender to a god or the most honorable of all. After Alexander's conquest of Persia, in order to show that he was the heir to the Persian Empire, he also adopted this ritual known as the prostrate ceremony.

"Old Andrew, I know that this is your dream all along, and I just hope that it will be possible to help you achieve it. Whether it will be finally realized, it is not yet known. How can I afford such a big courtesy? ”

Old Andrew was in tears. "If an adult can have this heart, he should be able to afford it. Originally, I thought that saving adults was just an accident. Now it seems that this was not an accident, but an oracle given to me by the sun god Apollo. Your Excellency, you are our God of Light. ”

Liang Xiao was very embarrassed, and hurriedly persuaded him with good words, and it was easy to calm down old Andrew and let him go back to the tent to rest first. After Old Andrew went out, Li Shuyun, who had not spoken, opened his mouth.

"My lord, are you really going to go to Greece?"

Liang Xiao nodded. "Yes, I'm going to Greece. I do this for three reasons. First, the Empress Dowager is still on the throne, and the Son of Heaven can only sting, and even if we return to the Han Dynasty with great difficulty, it will be difficult to launch a war against the Huns. If Dawan and Yueshi don't get a response for a long time, they will inevitably be indifferent, and all our efforts will be in vain. ”

Li Shuyun and Guo Wenbin nodded in unison.

"Second, the stones of other mountains can attack jade. Greece may be dead, but their stories are instructive for us. How they prospered and why they perished, if we can sum it up, we can benefit a lot from it, and take fewer detours. ”

"Third, Greece is dead, but Rome is rising. We go west, they go east, and sooner or later there will be a day when there will be a collision. I think it is very necessary to take this opportunity to know more about them and be prepared. ”

Li and Guo were a little dazed, they couldn't understand Liang Xiao's intentions for a while. One of them is an ordinary official, and the other is a businessman for profit, where would they care about these big things. However, they all believe in Liang Xiao's vision.

"If your lord is going west, why do you plan to gather mercenaries?"

"I'm going to let Your Majesty know what we're doing." Liang Xiao looked at the two. "Wen Bin, you and Nie Yi discuss how to organize the Han merchants in Suye City as much as possible, buy a batch of goods, and sell them to the Han Dynasty. Shu Yun, you lead these mercenaries to protect them, go back together, and report to the court on my behalf. ”

The two of them were overjoyed and responded violently -

(To be continued......)