Chapter 309 Various chats with Arslan
For Garys, simply achieving military victory is no longer an urgent need.
With the current integration of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, it is not difficult to win.
Even without Gerris, it was only a matter of time before the fall of the Egyptian Kingdom, which had severe internal conflicts.
The Crusaders Egypt did not establish a clear centralized government. The lords of various places divided and ruled them. The national conflicts under their leadership were even more serious than the original Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Not any more tricky enemy than Saladin.
Geris's focus is on his own sect cause and his desire to build a harmonious and mutually supportive regional international order based on the sect.
The Near East, including the Middle East, complex ethnic situations and unique geographical conditions make the regime here often fragmented.
In this land, territorial expansion based on the state is often quickly entered a state of rapid decline in marginal benefits.
Once the energy consumed in dealing with internal problems is higher than the benefits that can be obtained from territorial expansion, then for a country, it is actually a fat man.
Due to internal contradictions and complex natural environment.
In the Middle East, countries that cannot effectively mobilize human resources in their territory, no matter how large the population or the rich the resources, will be difficult to efficiently deal with external problems.
Saladin actually encountered this problem. He was a big country with a population of tens of millions and surrounded the crusad countries on three sides, but the main force that could be mobilized quickly rarely exceeded 30,000.
You should know that during the Chu-Han battle for hegemony, the total population of both sides should not exceed 20 million, but the total number of troops invested in the battlefield one after another was the order of hundreds of thousands.
Comparing the two, this shows the special situation in the Middle East.
With such mobilization ability, it is actually normal that it is difficult to effectively resist when facing the nomadic migration westward.
Not to mention that if the historical line did not change significantly, it is possible that an unprecedented monster is being born on the Mongolian Plateau today.
Geris has begun to try to learn about the Far East through the Arab trade network, but it may take another year or two, or longer to get feedback on the exact information.
If the possible Mongolian expedition to the West is used as an imaginary enemy, then Gerris needs to find a way to really quickly mobilize resources in the Middle East.
The Kingdom of Jerusalem is just one step in the plan. What the kingdom needs to do is to launch a war of liberation against Egypt with Jerusalem as the center. This is a consensus reached by the top leaders of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Egypt has a concentrated population and clear beliefs, which is relatively single. It is not far from the land of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and has the possibility of coordination.
Antaria region, to be precise, north of Antioch, is as far away as possible as possible, and aims to support new friendly countries as buffer countries.
If the plan is completed, it will be almost equivalent to the territory of Mamluk in the later 15th century.
To complete this plan, at the kingdom level, it is necessary to invest national strength into competition with the Crusader Egypt, border friction, and spread of faith...
Anatolia region requires Gerris came here in person.
The Fourth Crusade just happened to provide Gerris with an opportunity.
An opportunity to raise the Roman flag, rebuild the identity and build a new country with Rome as the center.
When the Eastern Empire still existed, it would naturally be half the result with twice the effort, but once the Eastern Empire perished, it would be much more convenient.
After all, Gerris is also Duce of Cyprus. As a former Roman province, it seems normal to participate in the upcoming Battle Royale in Anatolia.
However, before deducting specific manpower to go north, Gerris continued to choose to go alone as always.
Before truly building a society, Gerris needs to understand this broken land and measure the road with his own steps.
Only by getting close to the masses, living with them, understanding what they need, giving them direction, and allowing them to change their predicament that they could not have changed before.
Then nail a nail to make preliminary preparations for the support of subsequent personnel.
…
The blood-colored sunset splashed on the rugged ridges, and the wind-eroded rock columns stabbed towards the iron-gray clouds like broken spears.
The earth and sky of Anatolia are also like this, and the political situation is always smelling of iron.
The camel caravan stepped across the dry riverbed, and from time to time, there were a few horse sounds mixed with it.
Yusof's caravan has grown in size. Arslan chose to join if he couldn't beat it in the face of Gerris's boxing power.
Although he has not yet recognized Gerris's religious prophet.
But he admits that the strong is the unquestionable strong.
In this era, in this era where nationalism has not yet been born and has not become a consensus, it is natural to serve the strong men of foreign races.
Even when the Roman Sultanate was established, Alexus took the initiative to support this sultan country established on Roman land, so as to use it as a place between the Seljuk Empire The buffer country is better to oppose Seljuk's westward advance.
Rome can cooperate with Rom, so what if a group of Turks serve Gerris?
Just happens, Gerry, who is new to the house, needs a guide. After asking Arslan for several questions, he left the other party by his side.
One of the questions is: "Do you think looting is a noble act of warriors?"
Faced with this question, the young man, Arslan, did not answer immediately, but hesitated for a long time.
Obviously, Arslan had ideas in the face of Garys's problem, but he could not convince himself that kind of ideas.
In this era, many nations naturally regard looting as an important means of survival.
The warriors in early Turkic society took pride in robbery, believing that this was a way to prove courage, accumulate wealth, and win glory.
If you want to become a successful warrior, you must not only be brave and fearless on the battlefield, but also be able to bring back spoils. This is their definition of successful people.
In the end, Arslan gave his own answer: "If I were a Sultan, I would definitely criticize the plunder of the territory, but I am not a Sultan. Among my tribesmen, There is no Sultan. In any case, we will always survive."
Geris was a little surprised that Arslan would give this answer. Perhaps this is why heroes have been young since ancient times, after all, young people are always Be able to think about the world more unrestrainedly.
Robbery will lead to a decrease in rural population and affect agricultural taxation and food supply.
The excessive raid of caravans will reduce the willingness of merchants to enter the region and affect economic development.
These problems are actually obvious.
But many people deliberately ignore it, or even deny it, to whitewash the glory of boasting about robbery.
For the nomadic lifestyle, it is difficult to obtain materials, livestock and slaves without robbing.
Indeed, compared with farming, the value of herders' property increases is quite fast, and it can even be said to be able to achieve exponential growth every year.
But as long as there is one disaster, the herdsmen's livestock herds will disappear and everything will start over.
Faced with disease and disasters, nomads are more vulnerable than settled farmers. In this case, looting is taken for granted by too many nomads, and even should be an act that should be praised.
Arslan is more ambitious than his tribe members without rashly affirming it.
In his understanding, robbery is part of a difficult life, not something worth bragging about.
The other questions are insignificant, but they are enough for Gerris to accept them.
For example, "If you were allowed to farm, you would live, would you plant it?"
Arslan's answer was: "I can't plant a little."
"Why? "
"Farming is too tiring, and by that time, it will be my turn to be robbed."
...
Drought and hunger, the scorching sun makes the rock walls of the canyon white.
As a local, Arslan walked in front of the team and led the way for Gerris.
No mistakes, one poem, one post, one content, one in 6, one book, one bar, one read!
The next place they are going to is where the Arslan tribe is located, which is where the Arslan and others come from
For Yousuf, this is actually nothing. It would be great if we could just use Arslan's relationship to do a business.
Camel bells startle vultures and ravens from time to time. Gerrys and his group walked on the saline-alkali land. Most of the things they saw on the road were particularly deserted.
Along the way, Gerris also had a brief chat with Arslan and the others.
For example, ask the other party where he was going before.
After all, their Turkic team did not appear in front of the Yousuf caravan because of coincidence. "It was His Majesty Suleiman who summoned our tribe and said he wanted to fight against the Armenians, or the Georgians..."
This Suleiman is naturally not the Ottoman Suleiman of later generations, but the son of Kilij Arslan, another powerful sultan that unified the sultanate of Roma.
But the period he ruled happened to overlap with the Golden Age of the Kingdom of Georgia. Under the rule of Queen Tamara, Georgia won victory over small surrounding Muslim countries again and again, and supported the Armenians to seize territory.
"His Majesty Suleiman wants to curb the greedy Georgians, so he is mobilizing the entire country."
When he heard this, Yusuf's face was quite uncomfortable, and he subconsciously Looking at Garys.
He didn't know about this news before, why did he crash into the quagmire?
In this chaotic season, merchants and merchants are the most likely to be attacked by chaotic soldiers. "Your Majesty also said that if Queen Tamara is willing to convert to Islam, he can marry the other party, otherwise she will become his concubine."
When he said this, Arslan had a slight smile that even a man could understand.
You can hear that it won’t be long before another war will break out on the land of Anatolia.
And that war will determine who is the real overlord of this land.
It's Rom or Georgia.
…
When Arslan brought the caravan back to his tribe, it was already the third day after the two sides met.
Geris stood on the ridge, with a wet morning mist behind him, looking in the direction of Arslan's finger, not far away where the grassland and hills junction.
Some fragmented settlements were scattered there.
Some were simple wool felt tents, and some were temporary houses made of adobe and wood.
In general, the number is not very large, and perhaps only less than a hundred households.
The word Anatolia originated from ancient Greek, meaning the east or the place where sunrise is located, while Asia Minor can be simply understood as Asia Minor.
The two overlap quite geographically.
The Eastern Anatolia region where Geris is located today corresponds to the eastern frontier of Türkiye in later generations.
Due to the movement of the mainland plate, the terrain of this area is particularly diverse, with mountains, plateaus, river valleys and other landforms, and forests and grasslands are intersected.
In history, it can be used as a farming area, or rely on grazing to make a living.
So, after a large number of Islamized Turkic tribes moved westward, they still retained the nomadic tradition for a long time.
Of course, it can also be said that with the establishment of the Roma Sultanate, many tribes began to gradually turn to settlement.
The tribe where Arslan is located is in such a transition.
"We no longer migrate for a long distance, but instead, according to summer and winter, there are still households who have set up grasslands to drive the herds to revolve around here."
"In the spring and autumn, people here were There will be many, one is to facilitate the sale of livestock, and the other is to be able to sow and harvest. "
"Allslan's tone has been opened up from farmland by our tribe." , there is no question of joy or dissatisfaction.
Geris was a little surprised when he heard this.
"If you all are grazing, how can you take care of the fields here?"
Arslan's response was: "Some people cannot stand the pain of grazing and are willing to suffer the hardship of farming, so they keep taking care of the fields here. Apart from the Spring and Autumn Period, they actually can't get many people."
"Are all the food grown in you land considered tribes?"
"Yes."
In such a chat, the caravan began to approach the settlements, and from those By the field in Arslan's mouth.
Then Gerris realized that the fields in Arslan's mouth were actually no different from those in the Celestial Empire and in the Birthland.
Although it is not a question of slashing and fire, it is just a gift from God to sprinkle some seeds.
There is such a simple and primitive farming model that naturally does not require much manpower most of the time.
This production model will inevitably fail to achieve land privatization.
Compared with the more developed agriculture in the Palestinian region, the stage in which the Arslan tribes are in is really too primitive.
But no matter how primitive it is, as the land can produce grain stably, their tribe will become more and more transformed.
In this process, tribes gradually became more dependent on agricultural production, began to farm regularly, store food, and establish a more stable social structure.
(This chapter ends)