During the night, Leon's troops marched from north to south to the village of Madan.

The Inquisition, which had just fought a defeat with the troops of Madan, naturally did not dare to stand in the direction of the army's march, and the Holy Inquisitor Rasmus fled directly to the west with his scarred team.

There were many casualties in the village of Madan, half of the people in the village were killed, and houses and facilities were destroyed, but it seemed to have been 'won' - the Inquisition left nearly 700 corpses, but it did not make any gains in the village.

Most of the corpses of the Inquisition's troops were covered with a lot of gold and silver, and the spoils belonged to the villagers of Madan, and Leon's army did not stop the villagers of Madan's from collecting the spoils.

Based on the logic of 'the victor is entitled to clean up the battlefield', the village of Madan is indeed the victorious side, even if they pay more than twice as many casualties as the Inquisition.

Leon showed a friendly attitude towards the villagers of Madan, and as if he were an ally, he ordered his troops to exercise restraint towards the villagers of Madan.

In order not to cause misunderstanding, he did not even let the large army enter the village, and only relied on the village to camp on the periphery.

Then the caravan began to open for business, and many merchants settled in the village, where they were collecting corpses, and set up a large-scale trade fair.

The spoils of war were always sold, and the money obtained from cleaning the battlefield was always spent, and the arrival of the merchants was in line with the wishes of the villagers of Madan.

The Lion Realm army stationed outside the village did not harass the villagers, but seemed to provide protection for the village.

In fact, it is true, but they are providing protection for the merchants - the troops are to share from the profits of the caravan, and if they protect the caravan, they can get a part of the profits of the caravan, which is the promise that Leon made to the army of the Lion Realm.

The Long River Express is only responsible for logistics and transportation, but after arriving at the ground, the task of the Long River Express has been completed, and the merchants naturally have to bear their own security risks, that is, pay a certain profit to seek protection from the army.

It may sound like a protection fee, but in fact, it's a commercial tax.

The profit of this business was high enough, and Lord Leon's business tax was not heavy, so the merchants were very cooperative.

Moreover, Eric has been maintaining order and calming the mood among the merchants.

In other words, the merchants would pay the business taxes to Li Ang as they traded along the way, and then Li Ang would distribute the money to the small lords and knights in the group army.

This made the army group all willing to obey the command, and no one engaged in any factional struggle on the way out - even if the lords had any opinions about Leon, at least the knights and soldiers below would not have trouble with the dinars.

It is the boss of Party A who gives the money, this is a very basic truth, and any soldier understands it...... Therefore, the group army has actually been following the caravan all the time, and as long as the caravan obeys the command of Li Ang, the group army will definitely obey the command......

Now the group army has not committed any crimes against Ma Danqiu, and in fact it is also the power of the dinar - everyone knows that since the caravan is stationed in Ma Dan, then Ma Dan Village will bring a lot of benefits to everyone, so naturally it cannot be harmed, and it must be done without ......

The new marshal of the lord is much more generous than King Ulrik, and the small lords who joined the army group somewhat regretted not bringing out all the elite family wealth - Leon distributed the profits to them according to the number of armored soldiers, that is, the more elite soldiers, the more they shared.

Many small lords began to wonder if they should go to Singal to buy some equipment and arm some armored soldiers on the spot......

……

Soon after, Bahaman, the lord of Eichkoman, also arrived in the village of Madan.

Bahaman is fifty-nine years old this year, and in half a year, he will enter the age that the Desha people call 'the god Wata cannot take care of'.

Life in the desert is more likely to make people old, and usually, the lord of Dexia at this age has no ambitions, and the most important thing is to figure out how to let the younger generations inherit the family business.

But this is not the case with Bahaman.

He is still strong and powerful, still often 'hunting' with his 'Ghazi Marauders', still hungry for more power and dinars.

In the eyes of Descha lords like Bahaman, raiding other countries was their daily job—in their view, it was a contribution to Descha and a way to get slaves and wealth for themselves.

It's just that the risks of this kind of daily work are really high.

In fact, Bahaman was defeated more than once in the course of leading his troops to plunder, and in the past few decades, Bahaman has suffered at least ten defeats.

But each time he managed to escape without a hitch and then regrouped.

Bahaman usually gives the impression of being rough and irritable, and always acts like a pure and reckless man. But only his wife and son know that he has never been a reckless man.

Irritable and irritable are just masks that he shows to outsiders.

Anyone who can sit in the high position of the caliph will have his own mask.

He is actually a person who is very good at making choices and trade-offs, otherwise he would not have lived to his current age.

Now Bahaman does not look irritable at all, he behaves patiently and politely.

He's making a difficult and dangerous decision about whether or not to work with Leon.

"Your Excellency, Bahaman, you should understand what is the root cause of all this suffering...... I think you know that I am the only one who can help you out of this difficult situation these days, if you don't want to sit still. ”

Leon sat under an awning with a coconut in his hand, and Dexia also had many coconut trees.

This is the best season in Dexia, the climate is cool but not cold, and there are no sandstorms in early spring, which is very suitable for picnics.

"I can see your intentions, Count Leon...... You want me to join you against Bahad Khan Kadan. But this is treachery for me, and I will be the enemy of the whole Descha......"

Bahaman was actually very sober, and he knew that Leon's kindness to him was actually aimed at establishing a rebel regime in Dexia to jointly deal with Cardin.

The root of all suffering actually comes from the honorific title 'Bahad Khan', from Cardin, at least in Bahaman's view.

Leon asked Ramon to deliberately attract the Inquisition to create this situation, and also asked Sarah to persuade and educate both Gawan Khan and Bahaman, hoping that Bahaman would have such thoughts.

In fact, the whole thing had nothing to do with Cardin, who was busy reorganizing his army in Toba City, and had no idea what was going on.

But now the embattled Bahaman can't verify it, and he doesn't dare to bet on Cardin's character, as Leon said, he really can't sit still.

However, he probably had concerns...... Lots of concerns.

"Enemy of Descha? Hmph, Bahaman, isn't everything Cardin did after becoming Bahad, also because the whole of Dexia is the enemy? …… But he still sits on the throne of Bahad Khan for more than 20 years! ”

Leon laughed and raised again for Bahaman.

"What do you mean......"

Bahaman's eyes widened.

"I mean, as long as you replace Cardin as Bahad Khan, then you are the master who saves Dexia in a crisis, and who will be your enemy? And...... Cardin has so many enemies, and you can get countless allies and supporters, including me. ”

Leon turned the coconut in his hand, cut it with a knife, and handed the coconut water to Bahaman: "You only need to make an opening for Dexia, and you will naturally be able to taste the deliciousness." ”

"But the Desha people will not honor an illegitimate Bahad Khan...... Count Leon, just as you have a feared army with no intention of ruling yourself, the Dexia will not submit to mere power—Cardin is the legitimate Bahad Khan after all. And I, even if I defeat Cardin, I can't become a real Bahad Khan. ”

Bahaman was actually very sober, and he knew why Leon didn't conquer the city himself and rule - the Bacchus Empire had occupied Eichkoman before, but it was only half a year before it was driven away by endless revolts and uprisings.

The Dexia people will not agree to rule 'according to the will of the god Vata', just as places with other faiths will not agree with the rule of the Dexia people.

This is the case in a theocratic state, where everything must conform to God's law.

"But you are the rightful caliph, Bahaman. As long as you raise the banner of 'restoring traditions' and declare the restoration of the tribal election system, countless tribes will be willing to elect you as Bahad Khan!" This is the most legitimate Bahad, the true tradition of Dexia......"

There was obvious demagogy in Leon's words: "And in order to achieve the ultimate victory in the election, you should have sought more supporters - what Cardin did back then, you can completely copy it, or let your son Ikram copy it...... You've thought about it more than once, but you're just not sure, right? But now, I've got you assured ......"

Bahaman was silent for a moment.

But now Leon, who was deaf and clear-sighted, could hear it, and his breathing was noticeably heavier.

"Well, that's really all I can do...... But...... What do you want? Have your armies come thousands of miles just to defeat Cardin? ”

Bahaman made up his mind.

It's just that he still had doubts and asked about Leon's purpose.

"Ha, I'm a merchant, Bahaman. As you can see, I have a caravan with me...... What I need is wealth. As you said, I can't rule in Dexia, so I don't need to occupy any cities. But I can let a man who is willing to give me benefits rule Dexia - I might as well say it bluntly, Bahaman, whoever gives me more benefits will support him to become Bahad Khan...... You're not the only one willing to show me kindness. ”

Leon has officially started the big business he agreed with Ramon - the auction of the throne of the city lord, as well as the auction of the throne.

Bahaman was silent again.

Of course, he knew that Leon had many options, and in fact the city lord of Singar, Caliph Tahir, as well as Kadan's younger brother Emirxerxes, and even the rebel Shalafan Sheikh in the south, were better choices than him.

Tahir had a strong military and a higher prestige than Bahaman. And he didn't want to be the lord of Singar in the first place - the Singar people from all kinds of sources are not easy to manage, in fact, no Dexia lord can exercise real rule in Singar, and Tahir has been thinking of other ways out, this is no secret at all.

Emilexerxes is Cardin's younger brother, and he has a natural advantage in status, and there are many younger Descha people who are already following him. Again...... It has been several years since Emirxerxes played the banner of 'equal division of Dexia', which is probably more in line with Leon's wishes......

The rebel Shalafan in southern Xinjiang, who encircled many Dexia tribes who were bent on restoring nomadic traditions in the Holy War Fort, fought against Cardin for twenty years. If he is allowed to get the news, I am afraid that he is willing to give everything to seek the help of Leon's army.

So Bahaman understands that if he wants to keep himself safe, he probably needs to pay something.

Otherwise, Li Ang could indeed turn his head to support a few other people, and then use himself as cannon fodder.

"Count Leon, I have a daughter, Luha, who is eighteen years old this year......"

Bahaman suddenly brought up his daughter.

"I'm sorry, but there are already too many girls around me, and I don't dare to get involved with any of the daughters of Lord Dexia at this time...... After all, I am the marshal of the Lion Kingdom! ”

Indeed, Leon can drive the tiger and devour the wolf, control the 'Dexia puppet army' to serve him, and negotiate terms with the Dexia Lord, but he must not have any in-law relationship with the Dexia Lord.

Otherwise, there was no need for any reaction from the Lion Kingdom, and the small lords in the army he led would have to suspect him of treason......

The marshal status can bring a lot of convenience, but it also brings a lot of sensitive issues, and the red line cannot be touched casually.

"Oh...... In that case, Count Leon, may you help me find a better home for her? Count Leon, I will give the whole of Echkoman as Luha's dowry! ”

Seeing that Leon refused so directly, Bahaman changed his tune.

Perhaps Bahaman and Shalafan Sheikh have a common language, and they will definitely hold the troops and horses in their hands, but their daughters can be used as gifts......

This is Bahaman looking for a way out for himself, Bahaman wants to tie Leon to the chariot - whoever Luha marries, whoever will nominally get the rule of Eichkoman, legally.

Bahaman felt that Leon would not give up this opportunity, and even if he did not marry himself, he could marry Luha to one of his subordinates in order to gain Eichkoman's rule.

Bahaman himself was able to retain de facto control of Eichkoman in this way.

That's undoubtedly a good bargaining chip.

"In that case, I took over the job...... I'm going to hold a grand wedding meeting for Luha in Singar - I promise it's a grand occasion like no other on the continent, and I won't humiliate your daughter. ”

Leon did smile and agreed.

It's just that this is probably not what Bahaman expected......

Leon really didn't have much demand for Echkoman's right to rule - he had promised Emperor Marius that he would belong.

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But Bahaman himself took the initiative to increase the ante, and Leon certainly had to accept it as a bookmaker.