In the dimly lit study of the city of Gabès, only one oil lamp was lit.

Even the most powerful people in the city can't afford a brightly lit night.

In fact, the impoverished city, with the exception of a few gates and patrols, is basically pitch black.

A man is trying to write a letter in the dim light.

Murray Hassan doesn't write quickly, but it's much better than it used to be.

As a nobleman, he rarely wrote on his own, but he had to write a lot of personal letters lately.

After all, when asking for someone, it's better to show a little sincerity.

The sincerity expressed in the autograph letter did allow him to attract some sponsorship, and some old-fashioned characters couldn't help but let go of their hands when they saw the autographed letter, and Songdo gave him a few camels and a few samurai.

Although the additional effects began to fade, he persevered.

Murray Hassan was a tenacious man, and in Wu Xin's plane, he fought hard, then found reinforcements, and finally rebuilt the Sultanate of Tunisia with the help of the Spanish Armada and maintained the independence of his homeland for the rest of his life.

In this world, he is also unswervingly working towards this goal, and although the times are difficult, there is indeed some good news.

"Master, the Knights Hospitaller have indeed conquered Zuwara."

"According to the emissary who sent it, there is a pirate captain in Zuwara who is developing his presence there."

"But he's no longer a threat to us, the Europeans have driven them all away."

The news brought by the intelligence chief made Murray Hassan, who was struggling to write, give a rare smile, and he put down his pen to ask his favorite concubine to pour himself a cup of tea, a good tea with several spices.

Then, he suddenly realized that his tea bricks and spices had been taken by the enemy. Just like his favorite concubine.

"Tell me how powerful the Knights Hospitaller really are." But the news of Wu Xin's capture of Zuwara still lifted Murray-Hassan's spirits, and he collected his mood and told his men. "Is it worth it for me to accept their rule over Zuwara."

His chief said: "A force of about five hundred men, but all of them are elite soldiers, and he reluctantly accepted our terms, except after the fire of Zuwara. He'll definitely want more compensation. ”

"There are only five hundred." Murray-Hassan was a little disappointed, don't look at his bad situation, the army of 5,000 can still be mobilized, but he didn't fall for long, after all, the Tunisians have always faced relatively few European troops, of course, the battle to capture Louis IX was an exception, and the French were always outnumbered. "Five hundred people is okay if it's well organized, if it's too many. Maybe he also had the delusion that he could rule Tunisia. ”

"He's killing himself." The intelligence director hurriedly made amusement.

"Of course, but we join forces to be good for everyone, and I don't want to hurt him." Murray Hassan really thinks so, after the battle of Tunis, he already knows that his troops are not strong, but for Wu Xin's people. He really didn't care. "Of course, our current military appearance is really not good, if people see it. I'm afraid it will doubt our ability to regain our land and drive out the pirates. ”

Murray Hassan has lived in Tunisia for a long time and has always known that there is corruption and depravity in his country, but what country does not?

But it was only when it got to Gabès that he saw the truth about the country.

Although the combat effectiveness of the capital troops is terrible, the level of stocks can always be dealt with. The bureaucracy of the capital is still being targeted.

However, most of the century-old cellars of the Hasf family stored there have fallen into the hands of Hayreddin.

And when Murray Hassan arrived in the city of Gabbes, he found that the official warehouse seemed to have been ransacked.

After a surprise inspection, he found that the accounts had nothing to do with the physical goods.

He executed several warehouse managers. But you can't fix the real big rats, after all, these Hayreddin are too close.

He can now only operate miserably, trying to gather supplies from the nomadic tribes and organize his salvation army.

"He's supposed to be in Gabez in a few days, right? At that time, we will also be prepared, at least get some clothes for my loyal servants, so that no one will underestimate us. ”

……

In fact, Wu Xin is not in a hurry to go to the city of Gabbes, he still has a lot of work to do in Zuwara and the port of Tripoli.

The loot was sorted first, partly back to the port of Tripoli and partly left locally, with Cassano and Colmona taking care of the escorts.

The second was to ensure the occupation of Zuwara, which was not just a defense, after occupying the city, it was natural to radiate the surrounding area, and he again personally went to several surrounding nomadic tribes to demand their submission.

Although these tribes were crushed once when Amin was defeated, Wu Xin did not have the ability to penetrate deep into the Tunisian region at that time.

As Hayreddin takes over the city of Tunisia and fights with the remnants of the Hassf family in central Tunisia.

Wu Xin had become the strongest force in southern Tunisia, and he proved himself to be the natural ruler of the region by defeating Amin in succession and easily sweeping away the victories of the native warlords of Zuwara.

So this time, he wanted not only supplies, but also hostages and a stable tribute.

Most of these jobs did not require any more killing, Wu Xin could use his warlock charm to realize his victory, and most of the nomads wisely handed over what Wu Xin wanted.

The amount of tax proposed by Wu Xin is not small, roughly equivalent to half a thaler per nomad, but because the tax system of the Sultanate of Tunisia has collapsed for some time, they have not paid taxes for a while, and they still have the ability to pay.

And Wu Xin does not emphasize the need to collect silver, but collects everything.

From linen to spell casting materials, or slaves and camels, sheep that are particularly fat enough to make nutrients are good, and so are those that are skinny enough to feed soldiers.

In short, Wu Xin was greedy, but not picky, he was personally responsible for the review of materials, and did not give his subordinates the opportunity to make things difficult for the nomadic tribe.

In fact, the tax burden based on the total population set by the top level is rarely excessive, and generally speaking, it is always bearable, and most of the things that really lead to excessive taxation and then provoke hatred and resistance are the greed of grassroots officials.

Even the bureaucrats of the Order. Except for a few who hate the heretics with all their hearts, there are also more or less selfish desires.

And as a large number of European immigrants entered Wu Xin's rudimentary bureaucracy, corruption and depravity inevitably grew further.

By accepting only a special tribute, or a single precious metal, the tribe could not cope with it, and had to bribe him. And then satisfy their own selfish desires during their tenure.

so as not to use the power and become invalid when it expires.

Even if Wu Xin has just launched the "Grievance Conference", it is impossible to really stop people's **.

An immigrant who had worked as a petty bureaucrat in the Old World, without the slightest fear, took the liberty of changing Wu Xin's policy and forcing nomads to supply precious metals.

The desperate and terrified chief, of course, can only give him personal money and women.

He had no idea that Wu Xin would patrol the small tribe of less than 100 people, and then Wu Xin and the nomadic leader would have a conversation for several hours, and then he would be immediately whipped. Stripped of honor and status.

and patrol all the tribes to set an example.

This action is a bit procedurally imperfect.

However, Wu Xin, as the chief, of course, also has judicial privileges, and if he is sent back to the court for trial first, then how will the local nomads know that he has actually been punished.

Of course, Wu Xin also tried to show that he respected old Deverich, and then the fat cat would be taken to the port of Tripoli, where he would be tried by Old Deverich, and live as a slave for the rest of his life. and impose a hefty fine.

There was a clear disagreement between the monarch and the bureaucracy, but the more powerful the monarch. Often, the farther away from the grassroots, the less able they are to control their own low-level employees.

However, the emerging forces are different, as long as Wu Xin himself works hard, checks the account books day and night, and effectively punishes the officials who are up and down his hands, he can prevent the huge pressure of expanding taxes to dozens of times the original value.

So more than a dozen small tribes eventually paid their taxes. And didn't accumulate much hatred.

Then naturally, he wanted to make full use of the body of the Abyss Demon Ape, and Wu Xin had no time to participate in this work.

Although only one demon came in its own form, its body of more than 1,500 pounds was enough for Kessler to build a pool that was important to the warlock for Wu Xin.

In order to reduce the amount of work and save resources, Wu Xin did not carry out relocation work. The altar in the core was dismantled and converted into his own bathroom.

The renovation was on a similar scale to the renovation, and by the time Master Helsingh arrived, the altar had already been cleaned and dismantled.

In general, the warlock's bathroom must not be too large and must be easy to transport, and only fresh flesh and blood will have great power.

There are all kinds of mud and sand building materials piled up everywhere.

"Huh? This is the feather of Pengyu Angel? This can control the speed at which the demon's blood disintegrates, which is really good. ”

"Although most of the ruins are ordinary stones, there are some noble people's mansions that are indeed considered to be middle-level building materials, and I also brought the first batch of harvests."

"What is this? I really didn't expect that so many materials could be taken out at one time. "Master Helsin, who was temporarily captured from the marble mines, was surprised by the abundance of supplies in front of him." I've been maintaining the pool for His Royal Highness the Regent of Ladislaus for so long, and I've never seen so many materials. ”

"Maintenance and new construction are two different things, and neither the emperor nor the regent's financial resources are comparable to ours." Kessler's first seat is still very modest, and if Sazastan were here, he would definitely blow the conch, "and there are some materials to be purchased from Egypt and Naples." ”

Wu Xin took out a jewel from the Jewish Chamber of Commerce.

Warlocks can gain power by bathing the corpses of powerful creatures, and like mages, they can convert them into spellcasting materials with their own spell slots, which is no less efficient than mages, and even more versatile than mages.

Mages have different understandings of various creatures, and as they process a certain ingredient more often, they will eventually become much more efficient than Warlocks.

However, some ingredients are rare, but they are very valuable, so most mages will not be able to accumulate experience, and warlocks can outperform mages.

It's just that the time window for warlocks to absorb and transform is relatively short, unlike mages who have various means.

How to preserve the corpses of these powerful beings is very troublesome, not to mention that the ice cellar is very expensive, the temperature and the refrigerator of the future generation cannot be handled, and some creatures, such as the corpses of demons, cannot be kept for long by freezing.

Just as a priest or druid needs an altar and a mage needs a laboratory, a warlock may need a pool of relief.

The cheapest of these is the altar.

Like difficult mages, most warlocks can't afford to build such a slow-release pool in their lifetime, naturally because of the high cost of construction.

The cost of more than five thousand thalers, as well as the demon's body, allows the warlock to steadily activate the power in the bloodline.

Helsing took the opportunity to speak, quietly put down the carving knife in his hand, and began to be lazy.

The amount of renovation work is not large, so although the building materials are still piled up everywhere, the project has almost progressed.

Because the soldiers had to escort the slaves, build several new walls, and clean up the corpses, there were not enough people, and Master Helsing had to do some hard work himself.

However, he was in a good mood, and Wu Xin gave a project allowance of one hundred thalers, which was customary.

With the opportunity to make a big deal from the project, he knew he couldn't make his turn, and Kessler's first seat didn't make any money at all.

Not only that, but most of the cost of this bath was paid by Kessler's first seat.

The small, but expensive, materials are the property of the Church of the Lord of Flames.

And Kessler also gave him the position of chief engineer very authentically, so that he would have a hundred thalers to take.

Kessler was also working hard himself, and he was still much stronger than a mage.

"You two, hurry up and move me!" He wasn't reprimanding the mage, but another helper, and it was acceptable for the mage to be a little lazy.

Naturally, those slaves who couldn't be lazy were the slaves, and although there was not enough manpower, there were still five slaves who gave Kessler the first seat, an "elite" priest, and a "backbone" mage, who were more than enough to guard them.

Master Helsin was also very knowledgeable, and he didn't take too long to laze off, so he picked up the carving knife again and began to carve circles in the stone.

It required a certain amount of experience, and Helsing had done it in Vienna, so he took the money as a matter of course.

"His mother always wanted him to be the master of the world using both magic and magic." Kessler was the first to press the packed body of the Abyssal Ape into the bottom of the pool, and then began to trace the intricate arc of the magic circle. "There was a lot more material for him at that time. Many of them have been sold by me, and I need money to rescue His Highness Sazastan. ”

Master Helsing, who didn't know how to answer, was also a believer in the Church of Flames and was disappointed by this.

He could only try to comfort Kessler's head: "Haven't we rebuilt the altar and lighthouse now, this slow-release pool should be enough for our leader to access the fourth layer of the magic net in a short period of time, it is much simpler than us mages, and the warlocks are really enviable." ”

Kessler was the first to respond to Master Helsin's words, and simply went on working. (To be continued......)