In the hall of the wooden house, Konstantin sat on a high-backed chair with a gloomy face, his right hand supporting his chin, and his left hand resting on the table, constantly tapping on it.

A stocky middle-aged man sat in front of him, crying silently, wiping tears and snot while cursing a certain "green forest man".

The fat man squatted tremblingly on the chair, with only an old blanket covering his body, clutching tightly in his hands, and his small eyes kept looking at the commander's face, hoping to see a little bit of compassion.

But he quickly gave up, and the fierce face had not moved for almost an hour.

The fireplace in the hall was burning, the black wood was crackling, and the heat was rolling. But the air inside the room was still so cold that people couldn't help but shiver.

The adjutant stood aside, recording every word the fat man said with a blank face, without even raising his eyes, only the water pipe pen in his hand kept swiping.

"So, how can you be sure that those people are highlanders?"

Konstantin suddenly burst out with a sentence that made the fat man overjoyed.

"It's true, my lord!" the fat man cried a handful of snot and tears, and his fat right hand waved back and forth: "I will never forget the appearance of those people in my life! They wore exactly the same clothes as those highlanders! And they all used axes! There were also a few who used javelins, and they wore plaid skirts on their lower bodies, and they were definitely highlanders!"

"And they don't have any patterns on their faces, so they're definitely highlanders!"

Konstantin's face became even more gloomy, and the sound of his fingers tapping became louder and louder.

Although the Misty Mountain and the Highlander both look similar, it is indeed difficult to distinguish between them in a change of clothes. But if they were Misty Mountain people, they would have to paint their faces, and some of them would even have their bodies covered - they believed that this thing would give them liliang, just as the eagle banner would give liliang to the Romans.

As for the highlanders, they may have been in contact with civilization Shijie more, and their habits have changed greatly, and the mineral pigments rich in blue or white are mostly found in the northern mountains, so this habit has completely disappeared from the highlanders a long time ago.

Originally, Konstantin thought that even if the highlanders wanted to rob the merchants, they would at least have to make preparations - such as disguised as the barbarian impostor of the Misty Mountains, but now he even saves this step, and dares to do such a lifeless deed blatantly!

This is a provocation!

"My carriage, my savings, and they have even taken my servants!" the rich merchant wept with a sad face: "Please, please lend a hand of righteous help, or I will go bankrupt!"

"How much have you been robbed of?"

"Forty barrels of haode wine, and twenty sheaves of linen. Tears flowed out like they couldn't be exhausted: "Those are all ordered by the Great Chief of Ryan!"

"What can I do in the future, it's over, it's all over............"

"Shut up!"

With a loud shout, the fat man, who was as timid as a mouse, shrank back at once, stopped crying, and stopped screaming, just squatting on the chair and looking at him pitifully.

"Alright, you go out. Constantine waved his hand at him, and said helplessly: "We will try our best to find a way, it is our responsibility to protect the people of Rome and their property, you can rest assured!"

"Thank you for your kindness!" said the merchant with a smile on his face, and walked out of the door, "May Mercury always bless you, bless you always!"

"It is enough to have the blessing of our lord Neptune. ”

..........................................

"Sir, what do you think?"

"I don't know!" Konstantin said angrily, "Who knows which small tribe will do the good thing?!"

"This shipment is from Grand Chief Ryan, and the fat man is clearly not telling the truth. The adjutant carefully analyzed: "As long as he shouts this sentence, those people can't still have the guts!"

"I don't care if he has it or not!I only know one thing now!" Konstantin said coldly: "That is, there are still some ignorant fools who don't know how powerful the Roman liliang is!"

"We offered an olive branch, but we were returned with a sword. The commander took his sword from the shelf beside him: "What do you think we should do?"

"Please calm down a bit. The adjutant pressed his shoulder: "This is Ryan, not Caesarea!"

"At least until the prestige of Rome spreads here, we must try to maintain a friendly attitude, we only have six hundred soldiers, and we are also tasked with protecting the safety of the caravans!"

"I understand!" Konstantin hung his sword on his body and twisted his neck to look at his adjutant, "I'll try to stay calm." ”

"The priority now is to figure out who did this. The commander put on his coat and helmet, and put a dark cloak on his body: "Then, there is a wrong, and there is a debtor!"

"Your order, sir!" the adjutant smiled and bowed his head.

"Let the horses be ready, wake up the brethren, and call a group of centuriens to follow me. Konstantin commanded: "By the way, bring two more barrels of good wine, I will go out and have a drink with someone!"

"You're going to Ryan?"

"Go meet my good friend. Konstantin replied with a smile: "Since it has been decided to solve this matter, it should be the best choice to comfort the person who lost the thing first." ”

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Ryan, well, like all tribes in history, it's a region first, and a tribe second.

This area is called Ryan, and the largest tribe (or mother tribe) in this area is also called Ryan.

Before the ancient society entered the age of cities, it was probably like this.

As for the reason, it is very simple -- the size and number of human settlements are always limited by the productive capacity of the region, and the food produced in the land and the game in the forest are limited by the size and population of the tribe.

Therefore, in the tribal era, human beings often had this habit -- the younger son stayed to inherit the family business, while the eldest son, who was relatively capable, would follow a certain capable figure of their generation to go out and establish a new sub-tribe somewhere nearby, so that the tribe could multiply and grow.

Of course, this process of creating a foundation is very dangerous and difficult, after all, everything has to start from scratch. This is not only a spirit of courage to pioneer, but also a simple spirit of sacrifice to sacrifice oneself and leave the haode life to relatives who are weaker than oneself.

The smaller tribes that are separated from each other are generally dependent on the mother tribe, which can provide more resources for the mother tribe, and at the same time, the inheritance of knowledge and customs from the mother tribe also helps them not to easily disappear under the liliang of nature.

At this time, the highlanders were in the process of transitioning from this more primitive tribe in a new direction - because they had learned how to raise cattle and could obtain more means of production from trade with the south, so that they could strengthen their liliang.

Ryan is like that.

As the largest tribe in the vicinity and the mother tribe here, Ryan has a population of more than 5,000 households, and there are more than 20 large and small sub-tribes around, and his strength should not be underestimated.

For a tribe, having a population of 5,000 households means that it can summon 5,000 excellent warriors to fight for the tribe at any time, plus its large and small sub-tribes, recruiting 10,000 people is as simple as drinking water. This advantage is simply unimaginable for Shijie, a civilization in the south.

Although it is already a city-level (ancient) settlement with a population of 5,000 households, it still looks no different from the village - high pointed wooden walls, and several buildings shaped like watchtowers enclose the whole "village", and the houses inside are also similar longhouses, as for the road or anything else, there is no such thing as a road, and the only landmark is the chief's hall in the center of the "village".

And here is the only tribe of the highlanders who have a relationship with Rome, according to the season, oh thanks to the great Neptune, the great god of the sea, Lake Valen does not freeze all year round. Roman caravans would come here twice, organize a market here for trade, and then return by boat. The main thing is that you can follow the fleet that sends supplies to the military operation, and the safety factor can be much higher.

Murder and arson. Supporting the bold and starving to the cowardly -- this set of theories can be said to be universal to all shijie, even the best warriors will have times of embarrassment, at this time it depends on what his inner moral bottom line is, and many times it is not as high as people think.

Along the path in the snow, Konstantin rode a horse, followed by eighty heavily armed warriors, escorting a wagon full of goods.

Of course, it couldn't be the original sailors' equipment - unless they were going to freeze to death here. Complete Roman legion-style equipment, and covered with a very thick dark cloak to keep out the wind and cold.

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the snow on both sides.

"All stop!"

The vigilant captain hurriedly gave an order and beckoned the soldiers beside him: "Everyone, line up and protect the carriage!"

"Ha--!!!"

Almost at the same time, the soldiers on both sides surrounded the carriage in the center, shielded them in front of them, and raised their spears flat, waiting for the enemy who might escape.

"Sir, please give the order!"

"My command is---Relax!Brethren, haha. Konstantin waved his hand behind him: "Don't be so nervous, all relax, relax." ”

Hearing this, the soldiers stood there uneasily, not knowing whose order to follow, so they had to raise their spears and hold their shields in front of them.

Konstantin hahadaxiao, raised his right hand, as if to say that he was not in danger, ran around the carriage with his horse, and shouted: "Who is your master?!

"Who is your master?!"

A middle-aged man in a thick coat stood up from the snow, holding a short axe and a small round shield in his hand, and strode up to Constantine's horse, looking like a king proudly.

"Salute you, warriors, I am their leader. The middle-aged man nodded slightly: "Please tell me where you are from, so that I can decide whether to duel with you or be hospitalized." ”

"Ryan Constantine, I'm from Rome, I'm the commander of these soldiers. Konstantin turned over and got off his horse: "Please also make it clear that Weishenme wants to rob my team and hurt our friendship?!"

"You are His Excellency Konstantin?!" the middle-aged man had a surprised expression: "I am Umarat under the command of the Great Chief, and I have heard the Great Chief talk about you!"

Umarat means "warrior" in the common language of the Highlanders, which means that this middle-aged man is the leader of a tribe directly under the command of the Great Chief of Ryan, and he is considered a general.

"So, respected warriors. Konstantin continued: "Please make it clear, it's still the same question just now." ”

"It's an unintentional mistake, but please let me apologize. The simple middle-aged leader bent down deeply: "We didn't mean to hurt our friends. ”

"We are ambushing a squad of robbers, and Zuihou is here about them. The middle-aged man said, "So we decided to wait here and see if we can catch them." ”

"Robbers?"

"Yes, they have taken our tribe's prey and wheat seeds, and if we don't catch them, the children will be hungry this year. Speaking of this, the leader also frowned deeply, and looked worried.

"Looks like we have the same purpose. Konstantin laughed: "We are here for this too." ”

"However, since you have to pass by the door of an old friend's house, it is really not a good idea not to have a drink. Konstantin patted the barrel on the carriage beside him very heroically: "That's why I brought this with me." ”

"So, is there anything I need to do for you?" asked the middle-aged man.

"Go and tell the Great Chief, that his old friend Konstantin has come to see him. The commander said triumphantly: "I also brought the most haode wine!"