Water Margin people

Chapter 1691 Recovering the Holy City
The Arab army was delighted to see the gold, silver and treasures. These things were very important to them. They had suffered heavy losses in this war and needed a lot of money to replenish them.

"You can get out!"

The Arab army, having received the money, roared at the pagans, but did not kill them.

Because Saladin said that Allah is merciful and anyone willing to pay the ransom can survive, but surviving does not mean they can continue to stay in the holy city. This is the holy city of their Arab religion and pagans are not allowed to exist.

The Christians and Jews wanted to pack up and flee, but the Arabs did not agree and drove away the pagans.

The desert is the most deadly. They may not kill these people, but the desert will punish these pagans with blood on their hands on their behalf.

In this land, there is a kind of punishment that drives sinners into the desert without giving them any supplies. If Allah forgives them, they can walk out of the desert alive. If Allah does not forgive them, they can only live with the yellow sand.

All the people in Jerusalem were driven out of the city. The Arabs deliberately blocked the road to the west that was close to the sea. They could not let these people escape to the west. They wanted to force these pagans to go east. If they did not die in the desert, they would let them harm the people of Qi.

"Sir, the Holy City has been completely taken!"

A group of generals looked at Saladin excitedly and said that at this moment they were completely conquered by Saladin's kingly spirit. He captured the holy city without bloodshed. Who among them in the Arab Church could achieve such an achievement?
"Let's go to the city!"

Saladin just smiled slightly and did not show too much excitement, as if he had just done a small thing.

This attitude made everyone think that Saladin was unfathomable, and they all followed Saladin with their heads down, expressing their absolute submission.

"It seems that there are no one from our side in the city."

Saladin looked at the empty streets. Apart from their soldiers, there were no civilians.

"My lord, those Crusaders deserve to die!"

A group of generals gnashed their teeth and said that the Crusaders killed all the infidels they saw, and the Arabs here had all died long ago.

"Kill all those Crusaders!"

Saladin told the crowd of believers that he could forgive the pagan civilians but could not forgive the Crusaders whose hands were stained with blood.

"Yes, my lord."

The generals received the order excitedly, saying that they had wanted to kill the prisoners for a long time.

Saladin ignored these things and went to the castle in the city, which was once the royal palace of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

"We finally took this place, but it's a pity that this is just an empty city."

Saladin looked at the palace and sighed slightly. What he wanted was a head-on confrontation with Baldwin IV. He was the sword of truth and what he wanted was conquest. But now Jerusalem was just an empty city and there would be no feeling of victory if he took it.

Saladin stood on the terrace of the castle and overlooked the whole of Jerusalem. He had fulfilled his oath and also confirmed his position in the Caliphate.

"My lord, there is nothing in the palace!"

After a long time, someone finally came forward to report.

"Nothing at all?"

Saladin frowned. This was not good news. They were in urgent need of supplies.

"Yes, the storehouses are empty, there is no food or money, and not much food was found in the city."

The general will report.

"What an empty city! You've thought of this long ago! It's amazing!"

Saladin whispered as he looked into the distance.

Jerusalem is not an ordinary city. They have been eyeing it for so long. With Baldwin IV's knowledge, he should have started stockpiling food and preparing for a siege long ago.

Even if the Crusaders came, they would not have used up all the money and food so quickly. If they went to the expedition, they did not take all the money and food with them, which clearly meant they would never come back.

Saladin found that he had underestimated Baldwin IV. This young man was much smarter than he thought, and he was very decisive. As the King of Jerusalem, he could decisively give up the kingdom, which was not something that ordinary people could do. "Go tell the others that we have recovered the holy city, they can come to make a pilgrimage, and move our men here to live!"

Saladin said that Jerusalem had been captured, and he needed to tell this good news to all the Arabs so that they could vent the frustration they had been feeling for more than a year. They had not won a victory for too long.

"Yes!"

A group of generals received the order and went to make arrangements. They wanted to publicize this victory widely to enhance their prestige in the church.

Persian Gulf.

Lin Chong frowned as he looked at the various pieces of information in his hands.

"General, the rebellion is over, and more than 3,000 traitors have been killed!"

A general came in and reported to Lin Chong.

"Well, what about the other villages? Still unwilling to gather in the city?"

Lin Chong looked at the general and asked, there are many tribes and villages scattered across the two rivers, and after the war, these people want to return to their original places and continue living.

But how could Lin Chong let these people get away with it? He knew very well their little thoughts. If they were scattered here, they could not be managed in a unified way. These people could collude with the Arabs in private.

Another reason is that these people coveted the vacant land. After the war, many tribes and villages disappeared, and their land and pastures became vacant. Now they are ownerless and belong to whoever arrives first.

"From now on, anyone who leaves while causing trouble will be killed on the spot without mercy!"

Lin Chong gave orders to the generals, saying that they only had more than 10,000 people here, while the local people were as many as one million. If they wanted to manage them well, they must use bloody means to intimidate them.

"General, we know all this, but...some locals want to join the army, and we don't know how to deal with them!"

The general reported the new situation to Lin Chong.

"So fast?"

Lin Chong was a little surprised. The emperor had analyzed these things with them before leaving, but it was expected to take a long time.

"How many people are there?"

Lin Chong looked at the general and asked.

"There are several thousand of them! All of them are young and strong!"

The general will report.

"This is really troublesome!"

Lin Chong rubbed his forehead and spoke. He was now very sure that these people who came to surrender had ulterior motives. They might be planning to infiltrate the interior and then rebel. They resorted to these conspiracies and tricks when they could not defeat them head-on.

However, this tactic is really hard to crack. If you accept it, you will sow the seeds of disaster that may erupt at any time. If you don't accept it, it will be a blow to the locals, which will easily make them feel divided and refuse to surrender.

"Since they are willing, then accept them, organize the city's foreign troops, manage them separately, and tell everyone that these people cannot be trusted completely, and let them go on dangerous tasks."

Lin Chong looked at the general and gave orders. If he wanted to completely control this land, he would have to accept these foreign races in the end. But he had to be careful in the process, or he would be backlashed if he was not careful.

"Yes, Governor!"

The general took the order and went out.

Lin Chong walked out of the military tent and looked at the yellow sand all over the ground. He couldn't help but miss the Central Plains.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

A horn sounded, and several ships were approaching slowly on the sea.