Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 601: The Crusaders Find the Wrong Person

There seemed to be no end to the mess. Even if Guo Kang hid in a "quiet" monastery, these troubles would come to him. In the end, he had no choice but to give up and go back to work.

Time seemed to pass faster as I was busy with these trivial official duties every day. The ships for the expedition began to gather at the port, and groups of soldiers also gathered outside the city and the military camps across the strait from land and sea.

Guo Kang's men were increasing in number. There were thousands of Russians who responded to the recruitment and came here on their own. Guo Kang could only entrust a few priests to go back and set up a recruitment point in Crimea.

The purpose here was nominally to organize transportation and facilitate centralized transportation, so that everyone would not have to travel at their own expense. In fact, the main purpose was to stop most of the Russians who came here because of the reputation, so that they would not gather in Dadu and cause trouble here before they could join the army. Those who were selected from the previous selection and training were also packed and sent back to Crimea for resettlement.

Even so, the number of people who managed to join the army in Dadu and pass the preliminary assessment has swelled to more than 3,000, far exceeding the size of a battalion. Moreover, they don't miss home much, so they don't care even if they are told to cross the sea for an expedition.

According to Dmitri and others, many of the Russian recruits had no way to survive in their hometowns, and they heard that there was a good man here who could provide them with food, so they came all the way here. Even if they were given travel expenses and asked to go home, they might not be willing to leave. In this case, Guo Kang really had no choice but to divide these people into several teams and train them in different camps, and whoever performed best would be trained first.

In this way, he temporarily dealt with the most troublesome things. However, not long after he was free, Tuohuan informed him that in addition to these internal affairs, he also needed to participate in diplomatic affairs. Guo Kang was helpless and had to leave the monastery and return to the city.

Before the expedition, all parties planned to sign a formal contract. Although everyone knew that many things would have to wait and see how the war would develop before they could be finalized. If the situation went beyond the unexpected, the contract would become waste paper. However, it was still necessary for everyone to have a general direction and let the other parties know about their respective investments and expected goals in advance. Therefore, this procedure still had to be followed.

Of course, the formal negotiations were only the last step. Most of the issues were slowly settled through the repeated negotiations over the past few months. Guo Kang also needed to participate in this step.

This contact was arranged by Luo Guanzhong. Guo Kang was a little surprised by this arrangement, but Luo Guanzhong told him that there was still a large part of the whole plan that had not been announced to the outside world, and it was not suitable for the court to discuss it publicly for the time being. Therefore, it was up to an unofficial person like him to organize it.

The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the situation in Andalusia first. Because the people of Granada had not been idle in the past two months. Through the relationship between the various courts, they had been trying to persuade several local dynasties along the way to provide assistance, or at least provide some supplies when the fleet passed by.

Most of the sultans and emirs were not very interested in launching a jihad and supporting their fellow believers. But the representative of Granada, "Old Sea Urchin" Muhammad, managed to persuade some people to at least send an envoy to talk. Some time ago, several students he sent out to deliver letters also came to Dadu with the envoys of those countries. Tuohuan hoped that Guo Kang and others could meet with them in advance to find out the truth about each other.

Guo Kang reluctantly accepted this, but he still couldn't help but complain a little.

“Everything is thrown at me.” He shook his head and sighed, “I have to be able to be in two or three places at once to handle so many things.”

"The whole Qin government and the public have high hopes for you, young master." Luo Guanzhong advised: "Everyone says that you have the talent to be a prime minister, so it's normal for you to be busy."

"I feel like I'll be exhausted to death sooner or later," Guo Kang complained.

"Since ancient times, all the famous ministers have been tired." Luo Guanzhong pointed out: "The ancients have long said that power and fame must be paid for. How can it be easy to do great things?"

"That's not what I thought..." Guo Kang muttered a few words, but didn't know how to refute, so he just shook his head and said nothing more.

After that, he took the opportunity to ask about Li Xuanying's recent situation. Luo Guanzhong said that Li Xuanying was still staying in the camp outside the city and still didn't dare to go home. There was no movement from his family, and he hadn't been called back yet. However, more than a dozen servants who were close to him had resigned from their master and went to the camp to join him.

Guo Kang estimated that this should be a tacit understanding among everyone. However, Li Xuanying has not recruited anyone, and he does not know what his plan is. After all, it would be more difficult to gain military merits by relying on oneself. However, Guo Kang is not in a position to control such matters.

He thought about it and decided to go back and tell Tuo Huan to see if he knew any additional information. After that, he followed Luo Guanzhong to meet the guests first.

Luo Guanzhong said that this informal meeting was held at the new venue of the Florence Chamber of Commerce. The venue was arranged by his old acquaintance Joanna. Representatives from all parties were also ready.

They came to the trading house and saw Joanna and two maids waiting at the gate. Besides the "old sea urchin", there was also a strange young man wearing a headscarf. When they saw Guo Kang, they greeted him warmly, and invited him to the banquet hall.

Afterwards, the old sea urchin left first, saying that he was going to greet the messengers. The remaining people started to exchange pleasantries.

The young man who had just appeared seemed to be one of the apprentices of Old Sea Urchin. Guo Kang was somewhat interested in him and greeted him politely, wanting to ask about the situation here first. The young man also seemed to be very talkative and soon started to greet him.

"My name is Idris. I just came from Ivrigia with the envoys of the Hafsid Dynasty. I just got here a few days ago." He introduced himself: "The teacher told me to sit in on the meeting and broaden my horizons. Thank you Mr. Guo and Miss Medici for giving us this opportunity."

"You're welcome. You have enough ability to live up to your teacher's trust." Guo Kang replied: "To be honest, based on my previous understanding, I didn't expect so many envoys to arrive. I originally thought that it would be good enough if the various forces along the way could remain neutral and not intercept us."

"It's not my expertise. I just told everyone the benefits of this according to the wording we discussed beforehand," Idris said modestly. "The sultans and emirs along the way really had no interest in supporting jihad. Some even worried that the jihadists would turn around and attack them, so they were somewhat reluctant. But I also told them that there were real benefits here."

"The expedition process itself represents a huge demand for supplies. It is impossible for the expeditionary army to bring all its supplies from the starting point, so they must try to obtain them along the way. As long as you are willing to cooperate, this will be a huge profit."

"And if the expedition is successful, the connection between the Eastern and Western Mediterranean will become closer. From the Black Sea to Egypt and then to the Maghreb, the trade routes along the way will surely be expanded, allowing all ports to gain more benefits. And these ports are the money bags of the emirs. Even if you don't care about your fellow believers, you can't ignore the money, right?"

"It seems so..." Guo Kang felt that it made sense and nodded.

"I took my teacher's letter and found one of his fellow students. He was a financial officer in the Sultan's court," Idris said. "He helped me deliver the document to the Sultan. The Sultan was very interested and decided to send someone to discuss the matter. Then, we came here."

"Why isn't he worried about a stranger suddenly coming towards him?" Guo Kang asked.

"Of course he is worried. He sent an envoy, obviously hoping to discuss the specific situation, understand the risks, and then bargain." Idris replied: "After all, the benefits are too great, it is worth taking a risk." "Besides, we are not strangers. The Mediterranean is very convenient for travel, and the coastal countries are actually very closely connected. They know each other well. Although they often fight each other, they have also worked together to make money. There are many precedents in this regard, so it is not difficult to talk about it."

"That's good." Guo Kang nodded, and he roughly understood.

Soon, the old sea urchin returned to the banquet hall and brought several guests with him. He introduced them to Guo Kang one by one. They were the first group of envoys who arrived, from the Hafsid Dynasty of Tunisia and the Zayanid Dynasty of Tlemcen. The leader was a middle-aged man named Ridwan, who was a clerk under the Hafsid Sultan Aziz II. After another round of greetings, Joanna called the attendants and served the wine and food. Everyone started chatting while tasting the food.

Guo Kang first thanked the host for his hospitality, and then asked the guests: "Do you have any dealings with the Medici Chamber of Commerce? It seems that you are familiar with it."

"This is my first time to negotiate, but we have had dealings with the Italian states for a long time." The envoy Ridwan replied: "When Mahdia was besieged, we contacted the banks in Florence and paid bribes to the Crusaders through their operations. At that time, I happened to be working under the Grand Vizier, helping to settle accounts. I know a little bit about it."

"Why bribe the Crusaders?" Guo Kang didn't react for a moment.

"That's the Barbary Crusade." Joanna remembered and explained to him, "This was an expedition organized by Genoa twenty years ago. They bribed the church and wanted to attract more cheap soldiers to help them fight in the name of the Crusade. The Muslim region in North Africa is called Barbary, so this expedition is called the Barbary Crusade."

"I heard there are a lot of pirates in that place." Luo Guanzhong said curiously.

"Yes, so they are an important competitor of Genoa." Joanna nodded: "So the banner raised by the Genoese is to eliminate the pagan pirates there and destroy their lair."

"Genoa itself is also a pirate den." Guo Kang complained.

"Of course, competitors are enemies. So once the Genoese merchants have the opportunity, they will certainly have enough motivation to attack other pirates." Joanna said.

"It was a truce between England and France. During such times, a large number of idle French knights and mercenaries would wander around, rob, and cause all kinds of trouble. The king wanted them to get out of here as soon as possible, so he immediately supported the organization of the Crusades. Soon, the Duke of Bourbon personally took more than a thousand energetic knights and even more soldiers on a Genoese ship and went to North Africa."

"However, the terrain of Mahdia Port is very conducive to defense. Their city structure is similar to that of Dadu, with three sides surrounded by the sea and only one side facing the land, and a strong city defense was built. The Crusaders besieged for a long time but failed to make any progress. Instead, it gave the locals enough time to organize an army to rescue them. The Crusaders had to temporarily build a long wall outside the siege position to resist the attack of the reinforcements."

"This is imitating the Battle of Alesia..." Guo Kang said in surprise.

"But they don't have Caesar's ability." Joanna shrugged. "So in the end, the two sides can only negotiate. And we are involved in all the communication in between."

"Didn't the locals continue to attack?" Guo Kang asked curiously.

"Our country was still very unstable at that time," Ridwan explained. "The Sultan had just ascended the throne not long ago. Like every new Sultan, his main enemies were not the Crusaders, but the ambitious Emirs in various cities and the tribal chiefs in the south."

"The Crusaders are only after money, but the warlords of the same religion are the real killers. When there are many enemies, it is a diplomatic wisdom to choose to negotiate peace with those who are not necessarily hostile."

"I remember that they didn't have much resistance at that time. I guess their ideas were similar to ours." He thought for a moment and said, "I remember that the Sultan sent people to ask them, saying that we and Genoa are neighbors and it is common for us to have conflicts with each other. As for France, they are in the north of the Mediterranean and we are in the south. We have never had any contact in the past. Why did they attack us?"

"The Crusaders didn't know how to answer, so they accused us, the pagans, of crucifying the Son of God and killing him, so they came to take revenge. The messenger laughed and said, it was the Jews who did it, not us - you have found the wrong person!"

"At that time, the Crusaders could no longer hold out. So not long after, they used this as a stepping stone and decided to withdraw."

"Uh, isn't this what is clearly written in the scriptures? Aren't scriptures a compulsory course taught during the enlightenment stage?" Guo Kang couldn't help but complain: "Are all the Crusaders illiterate? How come they don't understand the scriptures as well as you do?"

"Few of those nobles and knights are well-educated," Joanna pointed out. "In this day and age, only those who don't know the scriptures are the most motivated to join the Crusades..."

Guo Kang was speechless for a moment.

"The Crusaders really don't seem to have much culture, that's what scholars say." Ridwan agreed, "But to be honest, those French knights are really good at fighting. The Sultan is worried that even if we can win a head-on fight with them, we will suffer too much loss, which will make the chiefs have evil thoughts again. So, he asked us to give some money to the Crusaders and send them away quickly."

"From the results, it's not bad. They took the bribe money and went home quickly. I heard that they thought it was a good deal and were very happy."

"This is not a good idea. If they find that there is money to be made, they might come and rob you next time." Guo Kang said, "If we make money this time, they will definitely be more active when we call for a crusade next time."

"We were weak at the time, so there was nothing we could do. The political environment in the Maghreb was like this, and this was the best option." Ridwan explained, "Besides, we are also prepared. As long as we can handle this time, even if they come again, Sudan will have enough time to stabilize the domestic situation and no longer need to be afraid of them. In fact, they did not come again later, probably because they understood the situation here."

"It's hard to say. These Europeans are crazy." Guo Kang shook his head and couldn't help but say, "They don't have a strong sense, so the political idea of ​​both sides competing with each other and seeking the greatest benefit may not be appropriate. It will only be useful if you hurt them. Otherwise, they will just leave temporarily, and sooner or later they will launch a new Crusade to fight you in North Africa."

"Look, after that..." He thought about it, and suddenly realized: "Oh, that's not right. The next Crusaders will be the ones who will fight us... I was wondering why they are so enthusiastic all of a sudden..."

"what……"

Both sides felt a little awkward for a moment.

(End of this chapter)