Chapter 106: Black Clouds Pressing on the City

It was not just Mire.

Reheman, listening from the side, was also incredibly shocked.

Did this Young Master Liu mean that this Mire, besides being a slave trader, was actually an extraordinary big shot?

He did not know that in the history of Islam, those who could stand alone to preach would never have low status or standing.

Liu Zheng looked at Mire quietly and smiled: "Brother Mire, I am your friend. How about it?"

He believed Mire would not refuse.

Followers of Islam were relatively fanatical; faced with the huge temptation of being able to drive away the Temple and preach in Loulan, no one could refuse. But Mire was not a reckless person, and he gritted his teeth hard: "Young Master, are you not just painting a big picture for Mire?"

Liu Zheng laughed out loud; he liked this Arab who was proficient in Chinese more and more.

"What if Liu Zheng could also gather all the merchants trading in Loulan to help?"

Liu Zheng said the final sentence.

Mire stood up abruptly: "Impossible, absolutely impossible! Young Master, do you know how complicated the merchants within Loulan are? Arab, African, Persian, Nanyang, Western Ocean—hehe, every caravan has different goals, different beliefs, they fight each other, even kill each other; no one has ever been able to unite them!"

Every caravan had its own guard force; if this power were gathered together, the combat strength would not be underestimated.

Liu Zheng smiled confidently: "Liu Zheng has his own Method!"

Mire's eyelids twitched; he was wondering, who exactly was this Young Master Liu before him? But every one of his firm, confident smiles made people unable to help but believe.

He also knew.

If one wanted to scheme for something big, one had to take risks!

He suddenly laughed out loud: "Young Master Liu, you have a silver tongue! Hahaha, good, Mire is now trapped in prison, what else is there to fear? My brothers have long been restless, just waiting to raid the prison; rather than letting them die in vain, we might as well have a good fight!"

Liu Zheng was overjoyed.

Borrowing the power of the Arabs to strike at the Persians! Distant alliance and close attack; he had not expected that such a Mire would bring him such a big surprise. Otherwise, facing such a situation in Loulan, he feared even a clever housewife could not cook without rice.

Now it was different.

If Mire's camel caravan could be mobilized, the situation would be different. With internal and external cooperation, the Temple would surely be defeated!

Liu Zheng then laid out his entire plan. Upon hearing about Refined Salt, even Mire's eyes lit up, and he was quite tempted. His heart trusted Liu Zheng a few points more. After Liu Zheng finished speaking, Mire gave a bitter smile: "It is hard to imagine that Young Master has only been in Loulan for a mere few days. If this matter can succeed, Mire hopes to be friends with Young Master forever, not enemies!"

Liu Zheng laughed out loud, of course he was willing.

He also did not want any religion to enter his own territory.

Mire gritted his teeth, and then, under the shocked gazes of the two, endured the pain to dig out an exquisite, yet blood-soaked key from his thigh.

Liu Zheng and Reheman were both stunned.

What a ruthless man!

Mire laughed out loud: "Young Master, if war breaks out, you take this key to a Persian firm and find the manager; he will give you an Iron Cage with a Falcon inside. Young Master, remember, you must never feed it; release it into the air, and someone will naturally know what it means!"

Liu Zheng and Reheman clicked their tongues in wonder; with such a Method, no wonder the Temple could not get it out of him.

This Mire had deliberately placed the Falcon at a Persian firm; it was the saying that the most dangerous place is the safest. Moreover, playing with Falcons was also a habit of the Arabs, which the Persians naturally did not understand. Who would have thought that Mire's camel army could be summoned with a single Falcon.

"Brother Mire, Liu Zheng will definitely not let you down!"

Liu Zheng grabbed the key, which still had flesh and blood on it, tightly in his hand.

Mire laughed out loud, feeling extremely gratified.

At this time, Nareke came over again and told the two that the time was almost up.

……

The next morning.

Before Liu Zheng had even gotten up, Queen Reguli and the Third Prince Halike had actually arrived at the Rongxiang Post House. It was lively early in the morning, and when Liu Zheng came out, Reguli's gaze was simply hard to handle. This made Zheng Yueru look over suspiciously, scrutinizing Liu Zheng for a while.

Could this person be walking gold?

Had even the Queen been attracted by him?

"This is..."

Liu Zheng smiled bitterly as he went to meet them.

Reguli said happily: "Young Master Xiang is the nephew of Manager Xiang, Loulan must come to thank Manager Xiang in person!"

Xiang Chenglin smiled bitterly at the side.

Liu Zheng knew that this was Reguli and Halike desperately wanting to cling to his thigh. Speaking of which, they were also a pair of pitiful mother and son; in the midst of a storm, finally having someone they could trust and who could turn the tide, they naturally did not want him to leave.

He walked over, and seeing there were no outsiders around, whispered: "Queen, you must be careful of the Temple suddenly making a move recently!"

Upon hearing this, Reguli snorted: "I naturally know this matter; that Temple Envoy is already mobilizing troops! Indeed, this Hemuti has evil intentions!"

Liu Zheng nodded.

Although this Reguli was a bit of a fan, she was the Queen after all and certainly had her own skills and intelligence network. Liu Zheng's sudden appearance yesterday not only allowed Huang Yantai to return to a high position but also united the pro-Han civil and military officials in Loulan. The Temple must be on edge, and the personality of the Seventh Prince Hemuti, who would start a fight at the slightest disagreement, was something that could be imagined. In fact—with Liu Zheng's arrival, the Temple and the Seventh Prince only had this one path left to take.

How could the Temple, which had operated in Loulan for so many years, be willing to fail?

The Seventh Prince also knew that once his struggle for power failed, only death awaited him.

"Young Master Xiang, rest assured, our Loulan royal family's forty thousand Guard Army are not to be trifled with!"

Reguli said proudly.

Liu Zheng nodded with a bitter smile, not daring to meet her eyes.

The Third Prince Halike asked excitedly: "I heard that there is a Refined Salt auction at Young Master Xiang's firm today? Can we participate?"

Liu Zheng naturally could not ask for more.

He also knew that this was a benefit Reguli was giving to the Rongxiang Firm; after all, with her and Halike coming to preside, it was equivalent to official support.

At noon.

The weather was hot.

The Rongxiang Firm had specially rented a large restaurant, and as time passed, people wearing different clothes and of different skin colors arrived one after another.

"That is the manager of the Persian firm!"

"That belongs to the Arab merchant house!"

"That belongs to the Nanyang merchant house."

Xiang Chenglin stood by, tirelessly introducing them to Liu Zheng. Liu Zheng smiled without a word, though he was shocked inside. Although Loulan's national strength was not great, its current inclusivity far exceeded that of the Longyan Dynasty. If the Longyan Dynasty were also this inclusive and traded with the whole world, it should be able to resolve many of the Longyan Dynasty's internal problems at this historical stage, and could make the Longyan Dynasty more powerful and more stable.

Pity...

The Longyan Dynasty could not do it.

One after another, the managers of the more than one hundred merchant houses that had long operated within Loulan finally all arrived.

Liu Zheng took a deep breath.

He could foresee that if the Refined Salt caused a sensation here today, the first to be unable to sit still would be the Temple and the Seventh Prince. He had long since prepared for this matter; early in the morning, Reheman had begun assembling the Kucheng Guard Army to strengthen the defenses.

Currently, within Kucheng, there were still twenty thousand Temple Army soldiers, while the other eighty thousand Temple Army soldiers were distributed across other cities in Loulan.

What Liu Zheng worried about was that once the Temple Army launched an attack, with internal and external pincers, the forty thousand Guard Army soldiers would still feel quite inadequate. Therefore, if he could win over all these merchants today, the city could be stabilized! For the Temple Army outside the city, wanting to break through Kucheng would still be quite difficult.

Under such circumstances, if that Arab camel caravan, which did not know where it was hiding, harassed the Temple Army from the outside again, with internal and external coordination, although it would surely be a bitter battle, Loulan would not necessarily lose!

Kucheng at this moment.

The wind and rain were about to come, and black clouds pressed down on the city.

Yet here, it was exceptionally lively, full of laughter and cheer.

The conflict between the two atmospheres made Liu Zheng's heart boil with excitement.

"Since everyone has arrived, then let us..."

Xiang Chenglin was just about to speak.

At this moment, the Seventh Prince Hemuti rode his horse to this restaurant, brought a group of fierce followers, and barged in without a word, laughing loudly: "Young Master Xiang's merchant house has a grand event, yet you did not invite Hemuti; are you not putting me, this Seventh Prince, in your eyes?"

The crowd was greatly shocked.

Queen Reguli said indifferently: "Hemuti is not a merchant, what are you doing here?"

Hemuti had always been fearful and trembling before Reguli, but today he was somewhat dissolute, staring at Reguli with lecherous eyes, even licking his lips, and laughed arrogantly: "Aunt Queen, you are not a merchant either, so why are you here? Could it be that my father the King has just died, and you have truly become this Young Master Xiang's mistress?"

"Bold!"

"Presumptuous!"

"Shut your mouth!"

The crowd was furious and drew their blades against him.

Reguli was also trembling with rage.

The merchants from other countries were watching the joke from the sidelines.

Hemuti was completely unafraid and mocked: "Enough nonsense, what is it? Since it is an auction, are you afraid that I, Hemuti, cannot afford the money? Let it begin!"

Xiang Chenglin looked at Liu Zheng.

Liu Zheng smiled slightly, noncommittal, and only gave Reheman a wink; Reheman naturally knew what this meant! This Hemuti was in the rhythm of turning hostile today; a great battle was destined to be unavoidable. Liu Zheng had already given the key to Reheman in the morning to release the Falcon, and the Arab camel caravan would surely come surging in.

Seeing Hemuti's attitude, this matter could no longer be delayed.

Reheman nodded and quietly left.

"Good, then let us begin!"

Xiang Chenglin received Liu Zheng's instruction, looked around, and laughed: "Everyone, the Xiang family has just opened up a channel in the Longyan Dynasty that can provide a large amount of Refined Salt! I know that the Western Ocean lands are short of salt all year round, so today I have brought it out for an auction!"

The crowd laughed.

"Short of salt? Is it only the Western Ocean?"

"We are short of it too!"

"Where is it not short? I am even short of gold!"

A dark-skinned merchant in brocade stood up and asked with a smile: "It is just that, Manager Xiang, going to such great lengths, what kind of Refined Salt is it? Let us see it; I haven't been able to sleep for three days!"

The scene was once again filled with happy laughter.

Xiang Chenglin smiled slightly: "That is only natural."

With a wave of his hand, a large bag of salt was carried up.

Opening the bag, the crowd looked over.

The cheerful scene suddenly became silent.