Chapter 48: Violence is better than hard work
"If you don't want to regret, just follow me. God favors you!"
This sentence made Khalid stop in his tracks, and also caused the small town people who were following him to stop moving forward.
They pursue the prophet in order to seek heaven, to avoid falling into hell when the Day of Judgment arrives, and to seek eternal life in the next life.
Only if you are not seeking to resist the tyranny of this world...
After all, they have no doubt that heaven will come one day, but how can they win against tyranny in this world? Do you believe in this "prophet" who has never been verified to be true or false?
Fear of the future choked them from following.
Their ignorance of the greed and tyranny of their lords made them happy.
Feeling the halting footsteps behind him, Garris ignored them and walked alone on this desolate street, heading towards the sun.
Behind him, the houses on both sides were like vicious giants, baring their teeth and claws, seeming to be chasing or mocking.
The sky is high, the earth is deep, and he is alone.
In the eyes of everyone in Alhadi Town, this "prophet" seemed to be on a lonely and helpless expedition. He wanted to be the enemy of the world, but no one was willing to follow him, so he was bound to fail.
They were somewhat thankful that they had made the right decision, staying among the safe crowd and not having to follow the "prophet" to fight against the tide.
But, is there really no one to follow?
When Garris was about to leave Alhadi Town completely.
A young man with short hair walked out of the shadow of a nearby house and followed Garris with great joy, walking side by side with him. From time to time he would raise his head to look up at Garris's face and ask something.
A majestic sword-wielding and armor-clad warrior with a resolute face and an unwavering stride. Behind him were several more soldiers. Their steps were chaotic and their breaths were flustered, but they followed him.
In the eyes of everyone in Alhadi Town, these seven or eight people were gathered into a speck as they went away, like a stone thrown to the desolate land.
Although small, it is hard to ignore.
……
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
Woe to you, Nebo! It will be reduced to ruins.
Kiriathim was humiliated and captured,
Miscah was disgraced and destroyed,
Moab was no longer praised.
——Jeremiah 48:1
Karak Castle, located east of the Dead Sea, is located in the later Kingdom of Jordan. Now it belongs to the Transjordan Territory of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was called "Karak of Moab" by the Crusaders.
Moab was an ancient kingdom in the Levant region. It had many conflicts with ancient Israel. It was once surrendered by ancient Israel, and then rebelled again, and was eventually wiped out of culture by the Romans.
In 1115 AD, the late King Baldwin I led his army to conquer the land of Transjordan and made it the eastern border of the kingdom.
In 1140 AD, the Crusaders built Karak Castle on the ancient land of Moab and Kiel, replacing the original Fort Montreal and becoming the core of the Transjordan territory.
In 1176 AD, Leonard of Chatillon married Stephanie, the widow of Humphrey III, and thus obtained the castle and the vast territory of Transjordan.
Controlling Karak Castle means controlling multiple levels of trade routes. Whether you are going from Mecca to Jerusalem, or from Damascus to Mecca, or from Cairo to Damascus, this is the only way to go. At the same time, due to the special geographical location, Karak Castle has a profound impact on the surrounding Bedouin people.
It is actually not an exaggeration to say that this place is a battleground for military strategists.
Now, this majestic castle is controlled by a madman. When Leonard obtained the castle through marriage, he immediately began to attack passing caravans and planned to use this place as a springboard to attack Mecca, the first holiest place for Muslims. plan of attack.
You can imagine how big Saladin's head would be when he learned that someone was going to attack Mecca.
For this reason, the castle was besieged by Saladin twice in the past ten years, but Leonard was fine in the end.
Now, time has come to the summer of 1186 in the Christian calendar. This is a season of carnival for the Reynard faction. They successfully seized the throne, divided the central power, and brought the entire kingdom onto the chariot.
After the battle plan for the coming year was finalized, Leonard took his entourage from the Holy City of Jerusalem back to his home base of Fort Karak.
As the castle gate fell, a group of soldiers who passed through Karak City entered the castle, ending the tiring journey.
Leonard, who had white eyebrows but was still strong and strong, called the steward of the castle over as soon as he got off his horse and without taking off his armor.
He was so proud that he wanted to ask about this year's taxation situation, because it was related to the war in the coming year.
"Sir, now the various manors and tax concession areas have basically completed the collection of taxes and will soon send them to the castle. The grain collected from agricultural taxes and field rents has also been safely stored in various barns."
"But..." The manager hesitated.
Leonard frowned, he could feel that what the manager was going to say next would make him unhappy.
"Say."
"Your Excellency, Ahmed, the tax collector from Alhadi Town, has not submitted this year's tax report yet,"
"He is rebellious."
This is not a question, but a statement.
Leonard opened his mouth and slapped a hat on Ahmed, not caring whether there was any hidden secret.
"I don't know. Due to the recent shortage of manpower in the castle, I have not sent an envoy to inquire. I will make a decision after your return."
The manager's words seemed to be shirking responsibility, but in fact he understood Leonard's thoughts.
For Leonard, he can cooperate with Muslims and appoint Muslims as tax collectors, but this does not mean that he has a favorable impression of Muslims.
In Leonard's view, the Muslim tax collectors under his rule are actually just big fat pigs. It's just that they never had the opportunity to slaughter them in the past, but now that the opportunity has come, there is no need to hesitate.
The reason why the general manager didn't send an envoy to inquire about Ahmed's situation was that he was waiting for Leonard to come back so that he could put a hat on that guy.
When the hat is on, what awaits the Ahmed family is the fate of a smashed piggy bank.
It was only necessary to send a few knights with some soldiers to ask for the reason for the tax and order Ahmed to open the gate of the courtyard.
Then those people can rush in, kill all the Ahmed family members, kill all the chickens and dogs, and then take away the wealth that the Ahmed family has accumulated over the years.
As the saying goes, force is better than hard work. This is true.
Second update
(End of chapter)