Usman picked up the dagger and held it tightly. The blue veins on the back of his hand swelled up, gritting his teeth. Judging from his appearance, it seemed that he would really hurt people in the next moment.

But when Li Mu saw him like this, he laughed. The person who really wanted to die would not be so stupid. After all, this person is still a greedy person who fears death.

But this is also good. People with too high spirits are not easy to use.

Usman threw the dagger on the ground, knelt in front of Li Mu, and lowered his head: "Marquis, Usman is willing to surrender to the Marquis and ask the Marquis to give him a way out."

"I have told Ju Zhisheng that I have killed you. You can go, change your name and surname, and you can go to the ends of the world. Don't go back to the Western Regions again, there will be no trouble."

Usman lowered his head and said, "Marty, I can't just leave like this. In Gaochang, I still have two thousand brothers, so I would like to give us a way out!"

Li Mu was silent for a while, as if thinking, and after a long time, he said, "Are you planning to defect to me when you say these words?"

"Please mercy from the marquis!"

Li Mu refused to answer and said, "I know you are a horse bandit in Longyou and have a great power, but this marquis has no business in Longyou, so I am afraid you don't need anything. Even if you have business, I must also know my relationship with Dugu family and Changsun. To be honest, I, Li Mu, are still a little bit thin, and it seems that I don't need you. What do you deserve to be valued by me? I would like to give you and your brothers a way to live?"

Usman's spirit was destroyed by the dagger that Li Mu threw on the ground. At this time, his heart was irritated and his head was covered in a mess. He really couldn't think of anything to use as a bargaining chip. He just said with his head, "Usman has nothing else, he can only be loyal to die for the Marquis. Whatever the Marquis says is what. Usman and his brothers will sacrifice their lives and will not refuse!"

Li Mu laughed and reached out to help him. Li Chongyi picked up Usman and pressed it on the Hu chair opposite Li Mu.

Li Mu did not rush to give Usman a reply, but instead asked: "Don't be busy showing your loyalty, let's get to know each other first. I don't hide it from you. I do have the intention to save your life for my use. But I can't trust you because I know very little about you. If you really want to defect to me, then we might as well have a good talk."

Usman's eyes turned for a moment, as if he was quite moved, but he quickly denied this thought. Now he was already fish on the chopping board and was left to the other party to slaughter, what conditions could he discuss?

Usman just thought it was Li Mu's temptation and quickly said, "After such an unspeakable thing happened, Ju Zhisheng will hate me to the core. He is already desperate. He is really sincere in his favor. Please don't test it again."

"No, no, no," Li Mu waved his hand and said, "You misunderstood. I'm not testing you, I'm also asking you sincerely."

Seeing Usman's doubts, Li Mu said again: "I don't know you, but you must have inquired about me. Although I am a marquis of the Tang Dynasty, I don't have the style of nobles. On the contrary, I am more like a businessman. Although I am despised by noble families, I am very happy and even proud of it."

"I strive for fairness in my work. This is one of my principles of being a human being. If I want to use you, I will give you satisfactory rewards and will not suppress others with power. Because what I care about is that you will do what I have assigned you well. If you are resentful and missed and do things, the loss will not be exchanged for much money."

"On the other hand, I also need to know how capable you are. I am worthy of what I give you. If you are a fool, I will not waste a piece of copper on you. This is a business! I pay and you work hard. Are you sure you don't want to have a good talk with me? In your heart, is your life so worthless?"

After hearing this, Usman was completely stunned.

Who would think that their lives are worthless, let alone that the lives of two thousand brothers are all tied to them. It is definitely a lie to say that they don’t care. Usman dared not bargain, but just felt in his heart that Li Mu would not give him a chance to bargain.

If he said a lot of things and was rejected by Li Mu in the end, wouldn’t it be even more embarrassing? Today, he has lost all his face and he doesn’t want to humiliate himself.

But after hearing Li Mu's words, Usman knew that he had indeed given him a chance to talk. At the same time, Usman also heard the meaning of Li Mu's words. If the "price" is reasonable, then you can talk. If the "price" is unreasonable, it means that the lion speaks loudly. What will happen then is an unknown number.

Cold sweat broke out from Usman's forehead. After hesitating for a long time, he said, "Marty, I want to talk about it."

"Just want to?"

"I'm going to talk about it next!" Usman's voice became a little louder and firmer. He looked up at Li Mu's eyes and said, "Usman and two thousand brothers are going to have a deal with the Marquis!"

"Very good!" Li Mu took a thumbs up and said, "I am worthy of being one of the three major Malaysian bandits. I am very good at it, and I like it very much."

Usman didn't understand what Li Mu meant to raise his thumb, but he didn't dare to ask. He nodded timidly and said, "I don't know what the marquis wants to know, so I will tell you everything."

"First talk about the conditions, what is your purpose in joining Gaochang, and what you want to get. Let's see if I can't afford the 'price', I can afford it. Let's continue to talk. If I can't afford it, it's meaningless."

Li Mu's directness was beyond Usman's expectations, but this method made him feel very happy and he felt much less resistant. After thinking about it for a while, he decided to tell the truth, just as he said just now. This road between him and Ju Zhisheng was blocked. If he wanted to gain a foothold in the Western Regions, he had to find another backer, otherwise it would be a word of death sooner or later!

Usman said in a deep voice: "I dare not deceive the Marquis and surrender to Gaochang. It is not unrelated to the Tang Dynasty."

"Oh?" Li Mu raised his eyebrows and said, "I hope to hear it clearly."

"The three major Malaysian bandits in Longyou are Zhangjiazhai, Luotuo Valley, and our Tiansha Alliance. Although the three families have called the word "Bie", in fact, this is not the case."

"Zhangjiazhai mainly relies on smuggling. When the Tang Dynasty fought against the Turks, the Tang Dynasty needed horses and furs, while the Turks needed food, copper and iron. Zhangjiazhai was very good at everything and made countless money. It is rumored that there is a large treasury underground in Zhangjiazhai, which contains tens of thousands of taels of gold and coins. The matter of black food and black food is just a side job for them, and it is more like a group of thugs."

"Camel Valley is in the center of the desert leading to the Western Regions, and there is only one oasis water source within a radius of hundreds of miles. The merchants who traveled to and from the Tang Dynasty and the Western Regions all had to replenish supplies here, and camels were in groups, so they were called Camel Valley."

"This Camel Valley is very mysterious. Women are respected in the valley. Men have low status. Most of them are coolies. All the people in charge of affairs are women. No one has seen the Valley Master. It is said that he is a witch who can control the quicksand. Anyone who intends to be unfavorable to the Camel Valley will be cursed and buried in the quicksand."

"The nearby forces tried to occupy the Camel Valley many times, but without exception they all failed. The largest number of people was a small khan from the Western Turks. He contacted three tribes and more than 5,000 people attacked the Camel Valley. It is said that most of them were lost, and more than 1,000 people were buried in the quicksand. Since then, no one dared to provoke them again."

"The people in Camel Valley never provoke outside forces, and they don't even leave the valley. They entertain all the merchants passing by, exchange water and forage for what they need, and do not talk to people too much. Compared with horse bandits, they are more like opening an inn in the desert."

Li Mu nodded and signaled Usman to continue.

"And our Tiansha Alliance is a pure horse bandit. We do not do business or entertain merchants. We only do things like killing and robbing people! Tiansha Alliance is not like Luotuogu and Zhangjiazhai, both men, women, and young and old. Tiansha Alliance is only young and strong, and they are all first-class ruthless people. They do not care about their background, qualifications, and skills. We live without a fixed place, wander around the commercial roads, and rob when we see the caravan. To be honest, there is no one who is not afraid of my Tiansha Alliance on the commercial roads from Longyou to the Western Regions..."

Li Mu frowned. What he hated the most was that someone bragged in front of him. Usman also had a big face and opened a dyeing shop if he gave him some color. If you were really as awesome as you said, why did you become a prisoner of me?

Li Mu coughed unhappily, awakening Usman from his former glory. He seemed to realize this, coughed awkwardly, and said, "Marty, I laughed. I really missed the past days, I laughed."

"This doesn't matter, keep talking."

Usman sorted out his emotions and continued: "All this changed after Li Jing destroyed the Turks."

"After the Tang Dynasty destroyed the Turks, Longyou and the Western Regions were directly connected. Except for the fact that Camel Valley did not suffer much impact, Zhangjiazhai and Tiansha Alliance were not having a good life. The smuggling business in Zhangjiazhai was extremely difficult. Not only that, in order to protect themselves, the border county magistrates who had been with Zhangjiazhai were all pretending to be honest and self-disciplined. Not to mention smuggling, they refused to sell food."

Li Mu nodded. He had already learned about these things from Zhang Tianai that Zhangjiazhai could not buy food in the border town, so he had to come to Chang'an and spend several times the price. Usman's words further proved this.

Usman sighed and said, "Our Tiansha Alliance is even worse. The Tang Dynasty set up Dingxiang Zhechong Mansion to recruit refugees and train military horses. The captain of the Zhechong Mansion is said to be the son of General Li Ji, named Li Siwen. This person is really hateful. He seems to be dying of poverty. In order to make money, he does not give us a way out. He posted a list outside the gate of Dingxiang City. Zhechong Mansion will send a team of people to escort merchants every three days. If you want to accompany him, people will pay a one-man fee, horses will pay two-man fee, and camels will pay three-man fee."
Chapter completed!