1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 135 Stirring up the storm
Egypt, Cairo, Muqam Tower, Saladin Citadel.

This magnificent castle was built in the 12th century by the great king Saladin to resist the invasion of the Crusaders from the East. The city defense is strong and easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Since the completion of Saladin Citadel, due to its special political significance and military value, it has always served as the highest power center of the entire Egypt, from the Ayyubid Dynasty to the Mamluk Dynasty.

Mansur, the Sultan of Egypt and Syria and the then monarch of the Mamluk Burji dynasty, stood on the rooftop of the Saladin Citadel and overlooked the huge city to the west.

Cairo, the most populous city in the entire Mediterranean world, still maintained a huge population of 350,000 even though the Black Death kept recurring, far surpassing the cities of Paris, Granada and Fez behind it.

The Nile River runs from south to north, through the entire city, with houses, markets and small plots of farmland along the river.

Zamalek Island is located in the center of the Nile River. It is the largest island in Cairo. It has pleasant scenery and attracts a constant stream of tourists.

Legend has it that the Mamluk Bahri Dynasty originated from here, which means "River Island Legion".

The area west of the Nile is relatively barren and is adjacent to the Giza area. Looking west from the Saladin Citadel, the spires of the Giza Pyramids can be vaguely seen.

To the east of the Nile River is the main urban area of ​​Cairo, which is densely populated and has prosperous trade. It is one of the intersections of the Mediterranean trade circle and the Indian Ocean trade circle, and merchants from all over the world gather here.

In the markets in the center of Cairo, there was a wide variety of goods, including slaves from the Black Sea coast, gems from the Baltic Sea, handicrafts from the European continent, silk and fabrics from Persia, sugar and pepper from India, and frankincense and myrrh from the Arabian Peninsula.

To the northeast of the city center is the famous Al-Azhar University, currently the highest institution of learning in the entire Islamic world.

After the Palace of Wisdom was destroyed by the Mongols, Baghdad lost its former status as the center of Islamic academic studies, and scholars scattered and went their separate ways.

After the rise of the Mamluk dynasty, a puppet caliph was supported in Cairo, establishing its nominal orthodox status. Most scholars went to Cairo, giving this city built in the desert a romantic and humanistic touch.

thump, thump, thump—

Mansur's thoughts were disturbed by the church bells. He frowned and cursed.

Cairo was once an inclusive city. During the heyday of the Mamluk dynasty, wise monarchs would accept with a broad mind all those who were willing to settle or travel there, regardless of religion, culture and skin color, as long as they were willing to accept the city's rules and obey the Sultan's rule.

Here, Sunni citizens will bargain with Catholic merchants, Jews will chat with Copts, and Bedouins who have retained their primitive beliefs in the desert will drive camel caravans and sing rich songs into the city.

Here you can see the minarets of mosques, hear the bells of Coptic churches, and smell the incense wafting from synagogues.

Here, you can meet white people from the Mediterranean world, black people from Ethiopia and the Swahili Coast, and even yellow people from India. They all have their own residential areas. Although they cannot be said to be harmonious, they are stable and well-behaved.

This was Cairo in its heyday, a great city, more like a veritable paradise on earth than the devastated Jerusalem.

However, no matter how grand the feast is, it must come to an end one day.

The Mamluks were a military dynasty founded by emancipated slaves. They had no dominant ethnic group, no stable inheritance system, and no complete political framework. Instead, they had only a group of brave warriors who rose to power through violence and a group of easy-to-rule common people.

This system created a widespread disconnect between the ruling class and the lower classes, with almost all high-ranking Mamluks not being able to speak the local language and not bothering to learn it.

The Mamluks were composed entirely of foreign slaves, who could be Turks, Caucasians, Kurds, Armenians, and even Greeks, but they refused to recruit local people.

In this way, the local people of the country could neither join the army nor enter politics, and their relationship with the Mamluk government became very simple.

Pay money for asylum, that's all.

As a result, the country's ability to resist risks is extremely poor. Apart from force majeure factors, the country's success or failure depends almost entirely on the personal qualities of the monarch.

The Black Death was raging, Timur invaded, the political situation was turbulent, the quality of the Mamluks declined sharply, and internal struggles were frequent...

By now, the entire state machinery of the Sand Empire has become rusty and is moving towards the unknown future step by step relying solely on its huge inertia.

As the situation deteriorated, the previously enlightened and laissez-faire policies quickly became a sharp knife stabbing the Sultanate. As resources decreased, resentment and contradictions gradually deepened, eventually leading to a large-scale persecution of Christians and Jews.

Until now, the impact of the persecution has not completely subsided. Christians are very dissatisfied with the increasingly heavy taxes and have begun to flee on a large scale.

Many Mamluks blamed the decline of their country entirely on Christians at home and abroad and were very hostile to them.

The then Sultan Mansur was one of them.

Although everyone, including his father, thought he was not suitable to be a sultan, Mansur still had confidence in himself. He regarded Saladin and Baibars as his idols and wanted to establish a great cause from the bottom of his heart.

However, the humiliating defeat at the gates of Tobruk a few years ago completely destroyed his already limited prestige, and everyone regarded him as a laughing stock.

Fortunately, the Prime Minister Ashriver, who eventually took over the Tobruk war, also suffered a great defeat, completely cutting off the hope of regaining the Cyrenaica region.

The increasing external threats forced the old Sultan Chakmak to make peace with the prime minister and jointly support the country's crisis.

However, everyone knew that the conflict between Sultan Chakmak, who wanted to pass on his legacy to his descendants, and Prime Minister Ashriver, who was trying to usurp the throne, was irreconcilable, and they could not truly unite.

In this way, the government spent five years in a crooked atmosphere until the old Sultan Chakmak died suddenly in 1453.

With the remaining influence of his father and the backup plan left behind, Mansur finally ascended the throne of the Sultan of Egypt and Syria and walked into the Citadel of Saladin with great pride.

However, when he actually sat on the throne and began to examine the domestic situation, he was shocked to find that his situation was extremely dangerous.

While the old Sultan Chakmak was paving the way for his son, the Prime Minister Ashriver was also busy trying to win over the major emirs and Mamluks in the country, determined to compete for the position of Sultan.

Prime Minister Ashrev also lost face in the war with the Christians and offended the Ulema forces, and his plan to usurp the throne did not go as smoothly as he had imagined.

Mansur took this opportunity to stabilize the morale of his troops, accumulate strength, and prepare to deal with Ashriver's provocation.

The two sides were like two gladiators about to fight, eager to try on the sidelines, testing each other, and staring at each other with hatred.

Whenever Mansur listened to his servants reporting the increasingly tense situation with a confused mind, he would always think of the Christians in the west.

If they hadn't interfered, how could I have ended up in such a situation and lost the support of the people!

I heard that they are preparing to take action against the Hafsid Dynasty entrenched in Tunisia, causing a stir in the city.

If they really succeed, their power and prestige will reach a new level, and my life will become even more difficult.

Mansoor watched the sun gradually setting, and suddenly kicked the railing of the rooftop, his face full of anger.

"Your Majesty the Sultan, according to your instructions, the two mercenary leaders are waiting in the hall."

A young eunuch came over quietly and reported carefully.

"Asshole! Idiot! Pig!"

Mansur was furious and started cursing at him.

After cursing, he was silent for a few seconds, his chest heaving, and it took him a while to recover.

He sighed, straightened his clothes, and walked towards the hall.

"Your Majesty, it's a pleasure to see you again. You must have made up your mind to call us here so late."

Alberto, the leader of the Catalan Mercenaries, said this with a smile and bowed exaggeratedly to Sultan Mansur.

"Yes, Your Majesty the Sultan, I cannot guarantee that those crude members under my command will have enough patience if we cannot get a definite agreement."

"You know, as early as a month ago, your wise and brave Prime Minister Ashriver extended an olive branch to us."

"The contract is quite good." Nerio, leader of the Navarra Mercenary Group, also bowed and looked jokingly at Mansur, whose face was becoming increasingly ugly.

"Thank you for your waiting. I will definitely bid higher than Ashriver and will not let you down."

Mansur forced a smile and signaled the eunuch to present the drafted agreement to the two leaders.

"You should thank our sponsor, Emperor Isaac of the Roman Empire. If it weren't for your Majesty's repeated requests, we would not be willing to interfere in your family affairs."

Nerio said mischievously.

Mansur's face turned blue and red, his fists clenched and then slowly unclenched, and the anger in his eyes turned into dejection.

His guards were right next to him, and with just a single order, they could chop the two greedy Christians into pieces.

But what's the use?
A few weeks ago, Mansur, who had lost the political struggle with Prime Minister Ashriver, received a letter from Bilinchi with the double-headed eagle flying proudly.

The shameless Emperor Isaac first expressed his regret for the death of old Sultan Chakmak, and then began to talk about Mansur's difficult situation and believed that he had no chance of winning the struggle with Ashriver.

"In my opinion, they have ten victories, and you have ten defeats..."

Mansur was so angry when he heard the obscure words coming out of the translator's mouth that he wanted to kill someone.

He finally suppressed his murderous intent and understood what the emperor meant after listening to the letter.

In short, he wanted to support him in his fight against Ashriver and was willing to lend him his two mercenary groups.

Of course, the price will definitely be high.

After listening to the letter, Mansur was silent for a while, ordered the guards to push the translator down and behead him, then summoned his supporters and began to discuss the matter.

Supporters soon concluded that the emperor's true intention was to try to promote civil war among the Mamluks and to harm them.

However, supporters believe that his "good intentions" should be accepted.

You have to know that these are more than a thousand battle-hardened mercenaries, not temporarily recruited tribesmen.

At this critical moment of life and death, any help is worth striving for.

Mansur accepted it and suggested that the two mercenary leaders take some mercenaries to Cairo to see the quality.

He is equipped with bright armor, knows how to advance and retreat, is fearless and brave, and is bloodthirsty and good at fighting.

This is the look of soldiers who have been fighting in wars for many years.

What made Mansur most envious was that they were also equipped with the latest muskets and crossbows.

Unlike most Muslims in the Middle East, Mansur had a strong interest in firearms. A few years ago, he ordered some muskets and tried to establish a standing musketeer force modeled after the Ottoman Empire.

However, almost all Mamluk soldiers were unwilling to use muskets. They turned their heads away in disgust after taking a look at them, as if they were looking at a dead pig.

Mansour immediately decided to sign them as a secret weapon in the possible civil war.

Who would have thought that the very next day, Ashlife got the news from somewhere, left Cairo overnight, and offered a more favorable agreement to the two mercenary groups.

The two regiment leaders immediately took action and demanded a pay raise from Mansur, threatening to defect to Ashriver.

Mansur was very angry and asked them to wait for a few days in a friendly manner. Then he immediately sent people to Venice to try to ask this old acquaintance for help and hire their troops.

Just as he was eagerly waiting, a spy came to report that the Venetian envoy had appeared in Ashriver's territory.

While the two sides were fighting openly and secretly, the domestic situation was also changing.

The intervention of foreign forces intensified the conflict between the emperor and his subjects, and civil war was imminent.

Almost all the emirs who were eager to see the world in chaos stood on the side of Ashriver, trying to disrupt the situation and take advantage of the opportunity to fish in troubled waters.

Mansur, with the help of his father, gained the support of some royal Mamluks and is making every effort to win over the remaining neutral parties.

As for the nomadic tribes in the desert, they have always been staunch fence-sitters who will stab you in the back and cannot be trusted at all.

In terms of military strength, Mansour was at an absolute disadvantage.

In this way, the helpless Mansur once again called the two captains to the Saladin Castle, ready to grit his teeth and accept their unfair terms.

He took a deep breath and stood up solemnly.

"I will remember Emperor Isaac's support and his friendship."

"Your Majesty, let's get down to business."

"The reward you offer this time is enough to move the greedy hearts of my mercenaries. How many people do you plan to hire?"

Alberto read the agreement carefully, then raised his head and asked.

"How many of you are there?"

"The Catalan Mercenary Corps has 900 permanent mercenaries stationed at the headquarters on Aegina Island and branches in Constantinople and Bilinchi."

"If you need us, we can go to Italy, France, or even Iberia to temporarily recruit more people."

Alberto explained.

"The Navarra Mercenaries have 500 men stationed on Kythera Island."

Nerio said briefly.

Mansur thought for a moment.

"I want them all. I'll give you the deposit tomorrow."

"I will hire as many people as you can."

He stood up, waving his arms, with a crazy light flashing in his eyes.

"As you wish, haha."

Nerio smiled.

The servant brought the pen and ink and spread the agreement on the table.

The three of them signed their names one by one. Alberto held up the agreement and blew on the ink that had not yet dried.

"I wish you success, dear Sultan."

Mansoor opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but stopped himself. He just nodded gloomily and waved at the two men, signaling them to leave.

He walked into the bedroom, the setting sun shone on his body, and his shadow was very long.

(End of this chapter)