At night, Murong Shun led a thousand cavalry to reach the destination smoothly. Two thousand cavalry stayed on the east side to hide. I wonder if the Black Bandits were used to running rampant here. They did not put any scouts on the outside. Later, they went to the valley where the Black Bandits were. Eloquence has scouts.
But for the sake of safety, Murong Shun asked everyone to dismount ten miles away from the small mountain col. Because thousands of cavalry were running wildly, although there were mountains in the middle, they had scouts at the mouth of the canyon and might be heard, so the last ten miles were close to the mountain. Walking at the foot of the mountain on hard pavement can also avoid leaving horse hoof prints.
It was already late at night when we safely entered the canyon. After leaving the sentry behind, everyone immediately dismounted and rested.
The three of them, Xue Wanche, led three cavalry groups to completely surround the Black Mountain bandits from the outside.
The next morning, when the scout reported that the caravan in front had arrived, Murong Shun took off his Mingguang armor and rushed out of the canyon with three hundred cavalry wearing only ragged leather armor.
The person behind Murong Shun also held a flag similar to that of the Black Mountain Bandits.
When Murong Shun and others stopped this large caravan, the other party was not too scared. Although the caravan's guards were also on alert, they were really nervous.
The leader, a man about forty years old, walked out. He first saluted Murong Shun and others with his hands clasped in fists, and then said loudly: "Dear heroes of Montenegro, we are a caravan heading to Loulan and other places, and the tolls have been prepared. alright."
Murong Shun also cupped his hand, and then said directly: "This time the toll will be doubled."
Hearing Murong Shun's words, the caravan manager was immediately stunned. He said in disbelief: "Chief, is this... not in compliance with the rules? The last time we came here, it was still the same number."
"I said, double." Murong Shun looked calm, but the person behind him had already pulled out the scimitar from his waist.
The corner of the shopkeeper's mouth twitched. The opponent had at least three hundred cavalry, but their caravan escort only had a hundred people, and they were still cavalry fighting infantry.
"Okay!" The shopkeeper agreed without pausing.
Murong Shun didn't say anything more, but watched the shopkeeper move the things. After he moved the things he had prepared, Murong Shun signaled the people behind him to move all the things onto the horses.
After doing all this, Murong Shun directly motioned to the people behind him to throw a tattered Montenegrin flag in front of the shopkeeper, "Take this and follow the road ahead as you please."
After saying that, Murong Shun didn't wait for him to speak, and directly greeted him, and the entire cavalry team went directly to the east.
Although this shopkeeper is a little surprised, it seems that he didn't do this before? But he didn't think much about it, mainly because the Black Mountain bandits' influence on this area had already been deeply rooted in people's hearts, and he didn't think about other possibilities at all.
Carrying the flag, which did not look like the flag of the Black Mountain Bandits, the shopkeeper led the caravan and continued on its journey.
Their speed was not fast, but it was not very far from the Black Mountain bandit's scouting area. An hour later, the caravan saw another team of about 200 riders heading in their direction from a distance. Running wildly.
The shopkeeper immediately stopped the caravan.
The team of two hundred riders quickly stopped in front of them. After the leader of the Turks reined in the horses, he clasped his hands and shouted loudly: "The mountains are high, the water is strong, the wind is blowing, where can the sheep on the ground be kept?"
When he heard this sentence, the shopkeeper suddenly realized that something was wrong. The previous group of people didn't seem to say anything about incision? Although not every group of horse thieves talks about incision, the Black Mountain bandits do.
"Chief Muwutu, it's me!" The shopkeeper knew the leader and said loudly.
Muwutu looked at him and knew that he really knew him. The main reason was that he often traveled on this business road and was considered their big... big customer.
"It turns out to be Shopkeeper Bai. I wonder if Shopkeeper Bai is ready for this passing money?" Muwutu asked with a smile.
"Chief Muwutu, your people have been collected just now." The shopkeeper immediately shouted loudly. He had realized that something was wrong, but he absolutely could not tell the truth. To tell the truth at this time was to find it for himself. Not happy.
"What do you mean, shopkeeper Bai?" Muwutu frowned. Recently, the Black Mountain bandits have reduced their space for activities because the Tang Dynasty has eliminated the leader of Tuyuhun. Although their place does not belong to the territory of the Tang Dynasty, it is within a few dozen miles. Outside is Hanyang Pass, and a hundred miles to the northeast is Dunhuang County of the Tang Dynasty.
Although the Black Mountain bandits are powerful, they are not stupid. They will not provoke enemies like Datang. Moreover, their Black Mountain bandit family has a great cause. It is not that they cannot give up their hometown, but if they give up, it will be difficult to establish another one.
"Chief Muwutu is about twenty miles away. When we came just now, there were three hundred riders. They said they were from your Black Mountain country. They collected tolls and gave me this." Shopkeeper Bai directly handed over the horse just now. The put away Montenegrin flag was taken out. The Montenegrin bandits called themselves Montenegro to the outside world.
"And the other party also asked us for double the toll. Chief Muwutu, you can tell by looking at our car that there is a lot of empty space. In the past, the toll we carried each time was enough for one carriage. This But there are two empty carriages." Shopkeeper Bai pointed to the caravan behind him simply.
Looking at the two empty carriages of the caravan, the bald expression on his face was extremely ugly. How dare someone steal food on the territory of their Black Mountain thieves? !
Is it because they have been too low-key recently and these people are desperate? !
"If I say those people are not from our country, Montenegro, can Shopkeeper Bai trust me?" Muwu Tu asked with an ugly expression.
"Ah... this... this is impossible, isn't it? Isn't this the territory of the Black Mountain Kingdom? How can anyone dare to be so bold?" Shopkeeper Bai said with a look of horror. The more he spoke, the uglier Muwubald's face became. At the end, shopkeeper Bai quickly said with a grimace: "Chief Muwutu... This... I'm really sorry. We recognized the wrong person... Mainly because we didn't know..."
"Then let's pay another toll." Shopkeeper Bai said decisively, "It's just that the supplies you need may not be available... Can I use silk instead?"
After taking a serious look at Shopkeeper Bai to make sure that he was not lying, Muwu Tu took a deep breath and said, "No, you will treat the toll as if you have paid it, but I warn you, you'd better not lie to us, otherwise If you do, no one in this Western Region dares to protect you. You should know that we Montenegrins will kill them even if we chase them for thousands of miles. If you enter this Tulunchuan, you will not be able to escape."
"Chief Muwutu, we have been doing business here for so many years, and I don't dare to lend you any more courage." The shopkeeper said with a grimace.
"Okay, I understand. Shopkeeper Bai and your caravan can leave first, but please stay for a while. You just said they have about three hundred horses, right? Hute, go back and call for help!" Muwutu said directly. .
"Yes! Leader!" A horse thief in his twenties behind Mu Wu Tu turned around and rushed into the distance.
Although shopkeeper Bai didn't want to, he also knew that he had no choice. He immediately arranged for the deputy shopkeeper of the caravan to lead the caravan forward first, while he himself stayed behind with a horse.
