Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 913 0908 [Capture of the Crusader Fortress]

The Ming fleet that went out to sea this time had 25 transport ships with a displacement between 660 and 825 tons.

In addition to loading supplies, these transport ships are mainly used to store cargo.

In addition, there were merchant ships from the Ming Dynasty, Seljuk and Arabia.

The ports around the Persian Gulf naturally cannot handle so many goods coming from the East.

Half of it continued southward and entered the Red Sea through the Gulf of Aden.

There were two main clients there: one was the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt (the Green Caliphate), and the other was the Kingdom of Jerusalem established by the Crusaders.

The large area of ​​the Middle East is currently in an excellent matching mechanism.

The Crusaders established four states: the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Principality of Antioch, the County of Edessa, and the County of Tripoli.

Nominally, the two counties and one duchy were all loyal to the kingdom.

But this kind of rule has no legal basis and is maintained purely by the king's charm and connections.

A few years ago, the king died and his son-in-law succeeded him.

The son-in-law was short and old, and the princess liked her handsome cousin. But her cousin hooked up with a noble widow, who was only a few years older than the widow's son. The widow's son was unwilling to give up the inheritance rights of the two cities, so he reported it to the new king.

The domestic nobles were also divided into two factions, one supporting the new king (the prince consort) and the other supporting the new queen (the princess).

All this has caused enough chaos, and the other three vassal states are also causing trouble.

The Duke of Antioch also died, leaving behind a widow and a few-year-old daughter. The other two counties joined forces with Antioch to break away from the Kingdom of Jerusalem and become independent.

The Count of Edessa was an idiot, and the widow of Antioch was a troublemaker, so the four Crusader states fell into internal strife.

The Fatimid dynasty in Egypt was equally exciting. The new king took pleasure in killing people, which forced the domestic nobles to rebel.

The young Sultan of the Emirate of Damascus, which was affiliated with the Seljuk Empire, was equally cruel and brutal, even forcing his own mother to join forces with the nobles in a rebellion.

Zengi in the north was badly defeated by the Seljuk Sultan, but Sultan Sanjar was too lazy to make any more trouble and appointed Zengi as the governor there.

Zengi, the defeated general of Sanjar who had his entire army annihilated, turned out to be the only normal person among the many monarchs in the Middle East!
……

Fulk, who succeeded to the throne as a royal consort, was actually very famous in Europe, so the old king married his daughter to him.

He is short and stout, and not good-looking.

He loved his young wife very much, so he chose to forgive, even forgiving his wife's lover, her cousin.

This is how Fulk handled it.

He first challenged his lover to a duel. Life and death are determined by fate, and whoever wins is right.

Although the lover's cousin was tall and handsome, he was a coward. He disappeared after accepting the duel. He was afraid that the king would kill him, so he fled to Egypt and led the Egyptian army to plunder the border areas of Jerusalem.

In order not to make his wife sad, Fulk caught the traitorous lover but only expelled him from the country for three years.

"Your Majesty, there are Eastern merchant ships visiting the port of Hailim (Aqaba)," the court treasurer came to report, "They brought a large amount of silk and porcelain, as well as many other treasures. Even if the local nobles used up all their money, they could only buy a small part of it."

Fulk said: "We are not in Jerusalem to enjoy ourselves. There is no need to waste the national treasury for that little treasure."

The treasurer said, "Perhaps your Majesty could buy some and use them to please the Queen."

Fulk began to think seriously.

He was a rough man, and he inherited the kingdom thanks to his father-in-law. His wife was so young and beautiful, and it was really unfair for her to marry him. He could understand if she had an affair. Even if it was to repay his deceased father-in-law, he should treat his wife well.

Moreover, this is no longer a matter between husband and wife, but concerns the harmony of the entire country.

If they could make their wives happy, the nobles who were divided into two factions could ease their conflicts.

Fulk asked, "Is it a merchant ship from India?"

The treasurer said, "Further east, there is a country called Ming. They have many warships, but I heard that only some of them have arrived. There are more warships and merchant ships, and they are trading with the Seljuks and Fatimids."

"What kind of country is the Ming Dynasty? Is it farther away than India?" Fulk couldn't understand it.

The treasurer said, “I don’t know.”

"I'll go and see for myself," Fulk said.

This king was very courageous. Two years ago, he quelled the rebellion of three countries, bypassed the County of Tripoli, and led a small army by ship to Antioch.

Win in one battle.

However, due to too few soldiers, he could only forgive the rebellious nobles and order the Principality of Antioch to submit again.

The other two rebellious counties also chose to surrender outwardly.

Fulk prepared to march south with only a small number of soldiers.

Unexpectedly, just as they set off, Queen Melisande also rode after them. Facing his beautiful wife, Fulk seemed a little awkward in speaking: "What are you doing here?"

Melisande said, "I heard that there is a caravan in the south, bringing many mysterious treasures. I want to choose some myself."

"Then... let's go together." said Fulk.

There are many desert areas along the way, with occasional oases and valleys.

Just one day after they set out, defeated soldiers from the south came back and said, "Fortress Hailim has fallen! Fort Hailim has fallen!"

Fulk asked in surprise, "But the Fatimid (Egyptian) army?"

"It's the Ming army," said the little noble who escaped. "They have too much treasure and too few troops, but we don't have enough gold and silver coins. So...so we left the fortress and wanted to raid the port camp, but we were defeated and had to flee!"

Fulk asked, "How did you lose?"

The young noble said, "I don't know."

"You don't even know how we lost?" Fulk grew angrier.

The young noble said, "I really don't know. Our soldiers rushed over and heard a loud noise. The camp opposite was still smoking. Then there was a noise from the enemy's ships, just like thunder. But it was a sunny day and there was no thunder at all. Many iron balls fell from the sky. If they hit the knights, both the man and the horse would be killed. The nobles and soldiers were very scared and fled one after another."

Fulk drew his sword in anger: "What pagan myth are you telling?"

The young noble quickly pointed to the other defeated soldiers and said, "What I said is true. If Your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can go ask them."

Fulk carefully questioned every defeated soldier, but he got the same answer every time, which made him feel an inexplicable fear in his heart.

After thinking for a long time, Fulk asked, "Even if we were defeated on the beach, how come the fortress was breached?"

The little noble said: "The enemy brought many strange weapons from the ship and pushed them outside the fortress. They looked like long pieces of wood. Then there was smoke and thunder, and countless iron bullets fell, hitting the fortress walls like an earthquake. The soldiers thought they were the devil's weapons, and they left the fortress and fled regardless of military orders..."

Fulk stood there in silence for a while, completely unsure of what to do.

Unknown enemy, unknown weapon.

Even the wars they went to were without any clear reason. The other side just came to trade, but their own people tried to carry out armed robbery.

After a long period of thinking, the King of Jerusalem, who had just been on the throne for a few years and had barely quelled the rebellions in various countries, had already made a decision: first, return to Jerusalem immediately and call on nobles from all over the country to recruit soldiers to prevent the enemy from continuing to attack; second, send envoys to the seaside to contact and find out the other party's strength and see if the dispute can be resolved through diplomacy.

The messenger had just been sent out, but he returned soon, bringing back some defeated soldiers who were delivering letters, as well as Arab merchants who were temporarily acting as messengers.

This Arab merchant did not belong to Egypt or the Seljuks, but came from the Ibadi sect in the Arabian Peninsula.

"Your Majesty, the respected pagan king, I am an envoy temporarily hired by the Ming Dynasty." The Arab merchant greeted.

Fulk responded politely and had food and water brought to him: "Where did the Ming Dynasty come from?"

The Arab merchant said: "It is the far east, which can be called Peach Blossom Stone or Seres. It is powerful, rich and civilized, and is the origin of silk and porcelain. Their king is called Huangdi (transliteration), which means the son of the sky god. They believe in the sky god, which is different from all the sects here."

Fulk asked, "Is the Ming Kingdom really here to trade?"

The Arab merchants said: "They are here to trade, but also to have diplomacy with other countries. Their main envoys have already gone to the Seljuks."

"What will it take for them to return Fortress Halim?" Fulk asked again.

The Arab merchant said, "The Ming envoy asked me to tell them that they have no intention of going to war with any country, but they are not afraid of going to war with any country. This time, your country was the first to launch the attack. If you want to take back the fortress, you must use gold and silver to redeem it, otherwise they will sell the fortress to the Fatimid dynasty."

"How much does it cost?" Fulk asked.

"Fifty thousand ounces of silver," the Arab merchant said, "if converted into Jerusalem silver coins, it would be about 13 silver coins."

Fulk asked again: "What about the nobles and soldiers they captured? How much does it cost to ransom them?"

The Arab merchant said, "This time, they released dozens of soldiers to bring me here to negotiate with Your Majesty. As for the rest, they have all been executed and their heads are hung on the fortress wall. Of course, they will not kill women and children. The ransom for each woman and child is about 100 to 1000 silver coins, depending on their status."

The Kingdom of Jerusalem was not really rich, and the treasury was empty due to years of war.

Moreover, every city has a lord, and all taxes go into the pockets of the nobles, with only a certain amount being paid to the king every year.

The nobles certainly had money, but they would not use it to redeem the fortress from the king.

Once the ransom of more than 13 silver coins is paid, Fulk will not have much money left. How can he intimidate the domestic nobles and the three vassal states in the future?
Fulk found his wife and explained the situation: "I am going to the Hellim Fortress in person to negotiate with the Eastern pagans there. It is very dangerous. You must return to Jerusalem!"

Melisande rolled her eyes and smiled, "Okay."

Fulk was greatly disappointed by his wife's choice.

He knew what his wife was thinking. She must be hoping that he would never come back, or even be killed by the Orientals. Then, his wife could welcome back her expelled lover and rule the country with him.

It is even possible that the wife will rebel and make it impossible for the wife to go back even if he wants to!

Fulk said, "I've changed my mind. You have to come with me to negotiate."

(End of this chapter)