Tianhao had been watching from the side and did not speak.

It's actually very simple, not complicated at all.

He stepped forward, saluted Wu Peng, and said respectfully: "Great Master, Brother Zongguang has just arrived in Black Corner City, maybe he is in a hurry on the road, and he is not very comfortable, I hope that the Great Master will forgive him and give him a little time." ”

No one thought that he would suddenly say such a thing, and Wu Peng was stunned.

Yuan Wei's eyes showed a hint of curiosity.

Zonggu is grateful.

Zong Guang seemed ignorant and didn't know how to deal with it.

Tianhao turned around, bent down to pick up Zong Guang's discarded shirt from the ground, handed it over, and smiled and encouraged: "Don't be afraid, in fact, the brand doesn't hurt as much as you imagined." Bite down your clothes and cross your left hand on your waist to puff up your muscles. ”

Zong Guang hesitated for a moment, then slowly reached out and took the clothes. The expression on his face was a little complicated, and his gratitude was mixed with fear, and he asked expectantly, "...... True...... Is that really the case? ”

Tianhao smiled: "The first time I burned the pattern of ten heads, it hurt the most, and I almost fainted in pain at that time." Later it was much better. It still hurts when I burn the head of a hundred people, but it is not as obvious as the first time. When I got to the head of the brand, I felt better than the last time...... No, now that the city lord's mark is branded, there is no need to be afraid at all. ”

As he spoke, he continued to encourage Zong Guang: "Actually, everyone is the same, as long as you take a breath and think about other things in your head, you won't feel so painful." ”

It's a mental and physical instinct. Tian Hao is a dormant man of the civilized era and an army officer, he has been trained in systematic psychological counseling and knows how to relieve soldiers who have a fear of death on the battlefield. Although Zong Guang has a weak temperament, it is impossible to fake such a thing as identity branding, and it is even more impossible to drink some anesthetic medicine as the national teacher said. The powerful people of this era are not as strong as before, and there are many pairs of eyes staring at them. What's more, the city lord and the wizard are two power systems that supervise each other, even if Zong has the heart to take care of his son and deliberately release water to Zong Guang, the wizards of Mishui City will not cooperate in this kind of matter.

Branding, it must have hurt.

It can be seen from the appearance that Zong Guang's physique is very poor, and it is not difficult to understand that he is afraid of such things as branding.

The most effective treatment method for psychologists is not to prescribe drugs to patients, but to accurately cut into the psychological depression of patients, dig out the inner touching points, and use words to induce them to come out of the self-isolation state.

"You are the son of the Lord of Mishui City, don't disgrace your father for your actions. Think of your family, they all want you to be the lord of the city, to be a man who stands up to the sky. I don't know if you are married, but if so, once the news gets out, your wife will be ridiculed by outsiders. If not, you will be looked down upon by women. This is a lifelong thing, don't ruin yourself and harm others because you are afraid for a while. ”

Tianhao spoke very harshly, and his tone was relatively harsh. Yuan Wei and the others nodded secretly when they heard this, and although Zong Gu's eyes were full of gratitude, they still looked at Zong Guang with a sad brow. The latter clutched his clothes, and could see that a fierce psychological struggle was going on, and his face became redder and redder, as if blood might penetrate his skin at any moment and drip down.

Tianhao slowed down, raised his hand, and gently patted Zong Guang's shoulder: "It's really not as painful as you imagined." You are very happy, you have your father by your side, and there is a great teacher, we are Niu people, brothers of a tribe. Rest assured, we will accompany you through this sacred ceremony. And the beast god, who is watching you all the time and blessing you. ”

These words touched some fragile parts of Zong Guang's heart.

He raised his head, the fear in his eyes subsided a lot, and a heavy mountain of responsibility filled in. He kept licking his lips and gasping for breath, his expression and gaze gradually becoming firm.

Tianhao took half a step forward and seriously encouraged: "Don't be afraid, your father also came here like this back then." ”

Zong Gu nodded hurriedly, quickly took off his shirt, and stretched out his left arm full of scars in front of Zong Guang: "Ah Hao is right, look, this is Daddy's." ”

Yuan Wei and Zong Gu are old friends, and seeing this, he also took off his shirt and stretched out his left arm.

A determined gaze was released from the depths of Zong Guang's eyes. His eyes turned a little red, and he let out a shocking roar.

"Come on! Brand me! As he spoke, his mouth opened wide and he bit down on the clothes in his hand.

The waiter pressed the red-hot iron down his arm, and the strong smell of burnt paste spread again. The muscles and expressions on Zongguang's face were distorted, and the skin on both sides of his nose rose sharply, accumulating countless wrinkles on the edges of his cheeks and lips. The teeth were clenched so tightly that every nerve in the body was trembling violently. He clenched his fists and let out a dull "whine" in the pain and madness.

Zong Gu had been looking at his son worriedly, but he was surprised by the reality in front of him: Zong Guang did not cry, did not shed tears.

The moment the soldering iron was removed from his arm, Zong Guang felt that all the strength in his body had been drained. He felt like a fish without muscles, and he wanted to paralyze weakly, but at this moment, a strong and powerful hand suddenly reached out from behind him, clasped his shoulders tightly, and forcibly grabbed himself, maintaining a barely standing posture.

The words in his ears were very low: "Stand up, don't disgrace your father." ”

These words made Zong Guang instantly gush out of overwhelming power. He turned his head and glanced at Tianhao standing beside him, his eyes full of gratitude.

Zong Gu's high heart finally slowly fell. He walked up to his son, gently held the scarred arm with a slightly trembling hand, and exhaled a long breath: "...... Good...... Good...... You've grown up, and you're now the lord of the city......"

Yuan Wei smiled and put on his clothes.

The national teacher's expression was still indifferent, he was noncommittal about it, and turned to leave.

Tianhao understood the hidden meaning released in the depths of his gaze, and hurriedly put on his shirt and followed out quickly.

Wu Peng turned to the side of the hallway, stepping up the stone steps that led to the high platform to the south.

Tianhao followed suit, followed closely behind, and soon reached the top.

This is a high platform with an area of about 500 square meters, and the terrain is open, which can take in most of the buildings in the direction of the entire Black Corner City. You can see the criss-crossing streets, the densely packed houses lined up next to each other, and the city walls in the distance.

"Why are you helping Zongguang?" The national teacher turned his back to Tianhao.

"He's my brother." Tianhao replied seriously.

"That's it?" The national teacher didn't turn around, and there was a hint of mockery in his voice: "You dare to say that you don't want to take this opportunity to get in touch with them?" ”

"I'll admit that I did, but that's not the main reason." Tianhao is very honest.

"And what's your main reason?" The national teacher asked quickly, and he didn't plan to give Tianhao time to think.

"Everyone has to face the first time in their lives. Zongguang is like this, and I am no exception. Tianhao sighed with emotion: "He is very lucky to have a father who thinks about the future for him and is willing to pave the way." To be honest, I envy him, not everyone can enjoy the love from their father. I used to have, when I was young, Daddy went up to the mountains to hunt in order to give our brothers and sisters a bite to eat so that they wouldn't starve to death......"

The national teacher slowly turned around, and his gaze at Tianhao became slightly softened, not as sharp as before.

"It's human nature for a father to think about his son. Zongguang is actually not as cowardly as he seems, he is just not very comfortable with this kind of thing, I guess it is due to physical reasons. He was very thin and very different from the others. Tianhao replayed the details in his mind.

Wu Peng turned around again and said lightly: "You see it very accurately. Zongguang is Zonggu's only son, and he was born less than a month old, which is a problem brought out of his mother's womb. ”

"So I have to help him with the ritual." Tianhao has his own resoluteness: "Blindly suppressing may not necessarily lead to good results, everyone is a brother of the Niu clan, and we must form a group to live better." What's more, they are all city lords, if this incident has the opposite effect, whether it is Mishui City or Huaiji City, the common people there will be more or less affected. ”

After being silent for a few seconds, the national teacher snorted coldly: "You think a lot." ”

"As a city lord, I have to think about more issues." Tianhao said respectfully: "Actually, why aren't you like this, Great Master? On the surface, it may seem ruthless, but in fact, you also want Zongguang to get through it himself. What you said before was just to scare him, and no one else could hear it...... I...... Hey, hey, hey, hey......"

Wu Peng turned around, the indifference on his face had long since disappeared, he looked a little helpless, shook his head and sighed: "Okay, okay, don't mention this matter." I ask you, what do you have in mind? ”

"I want to interact with other tribes." Tianhao did not hide his intentions: "Only when there is trade can the relationship between them be strengthened." Rock City has salt, and all kinds of seafood can be used for trade. Of course, the price of selling to our brothers of the Niu clan is definitely much cheaper than selling it to other tribes. ”

"What do you want from them?" The national teacher stared at Tianhao: "To be specific, let's talk about Zonggu's father and son!" What benefits do you want from them? ”

"Ore, and peat. That's what I need most right now. Tianhao said very seriously.

"What do you want this for?" The national teacher subconsciously frowned: "There are iron mines near your territory, and there is a lot of peat, why bother to go far?" ”

"We do, but the other tribes don't have these things." Tianhao smiled: "Peat is a good commodity. Since this summer, I have sent caravans to other tribes to specialize in the peat business. They always had to cook on a fire, which used to be firewood and hay, which was much easier to burn than peat, and it was not expensive. As long as they get used to it, it will be difficult to use firewood and hay again in the future. ”

Wu Peng's brow stretched slightly, and he became a little interested in it, but he still had doubts in his heart: "Peat...... That's a good idea. But peat is everywhere, and I expect someone to follow suit soon, and the business should not last long. ”

"Yes, definitely!" Tianhao has strong confidence in this.

"Why?" Wu Peng couldn't understand his thinking.

"Because I have the widest and at the same time the largest supply of peat in the entire northern continent. It's not scary to have competitors, and it's not surprising that someone follows suit. For example, in terms of the forging that our cattle clan is best at, in fact, all tribes will build weapons, and they also have skilled craftsmen, but the number is very small, and it is normal to occasionally make a few fine weapons, but their disadvantage is that they cannot form a scale, and the output is extremely low, and they cannot be expanded. "This is an experience that belongs exclusively to the age of civilization.

The national teacher was an extremely wise man, and he nodded thoughtfully: "Therefore, the high-grade weapons of other tribes are sold very expensive...... Our...... Cheap? ”

"It's the same thing with peat." Tianhao smiled: "As far as I know, the peat production of other tribes is not large, and not all tribes' territories have such a thing as peat. For example, the lion and the tiger do not. As long as we increase the supply, it takes two to three years for them to get used to peat, and they will become dependent on us. When the time comes, they will take the initiative to beg us to maintain trade. ”

This is a kind of ideological misunderstanding. It's like honeycomb coal, which once appeared in the era of civilization, was later replaced by coal gas, and then became natural gas...... Energy is a major issue related to the national economy and people's livelihood, and the tribal leaders of this era cannot see this. If the gas pipelines used by every household are cut off in the era of civilization and the country announces the resumption of the use of honeycomb coal, this terrible policy will have a serious impact on the whole society and lead to an extremely terrible regression.

Wu Peng fell into a long silence.

He was thinking about it.

After all, he didn't have the experience to imagine the details. But his biggest advantage is that he is willing to accept all kinds of new things, so he is not disgusted by Tianhao's statement, but he seems hesitant and cannot judge how feasible this matter is.

After a long time, he asked seriously, "How much peat do you need?" Is there a specific number? ”

"Nope." Tian Hao said frankly: "However, the population of all the tribes on the entire northern continent combined, there are at least tens of millions. My goal is to make peat accessible to everyone for heating and cooking. ”

Wu Peng couldn't help but gasp and was suddenly moved.

Tianhao continued: "In the case of Mishui City and Huaiji City, they can get salt and fish, and Rock City can get a steady supply of peat. As long as this situation continues, even if the Lion King and the Tiger King want to stop the trade, they will have to consider the opposition from the lower classes. When the time comes, we can ask for horses and food, and if they refuse...... Hehe, there will definitely be a mess. ”

Wu Peng was thoroughly convinced.

"Just do what you think, don't worry about it! I will report this matter to His Majesty and try to provide you with some convenience. ”