Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 48: Force is better than hard work

"If you don't want to regret, just keep following. God favors you!"

This sentence made Khalid stop, and also made the townspeople who followed him stop moving forward.

They seek the prophets in order to seek heaven, so that they will not fall into hell when the Day of Judgment comes, and for eternal life in the afterlife.

The only thing is not to seek to resist the tyranny of this world...

After all, they firmly believed that the heaven they came to would come one day, but how could they win against tyranny in this world? Should they believe in this "prophet" who had never been verified?
The fear of the future held them back from following.

Their ignorance of the lords’ greed and tyranny made them feel lucky.

Feeling the paused footsteps behind him, Gailis ignored them and walked alone on the desolate street towards the sun.

Behind him, the houses on both sides were like vicious giants, with their fangs bared and claws bared, as if chasing him and mocking him.

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 make the world his enemy, but no one was willing to follow him. Naturally, he was doomed to fail.

They were somewhat glad that they had made the right choice and stayed among the safe crowd, without having to follow the "prophet" and fight the waves.

But, is there really no one following?

When Gellis was about to leave Alhadi Town completely.

A short-haired boy walked out from the shadow of a nearby house, excitedly followed Garys, and walked side by side with him. From time to time, he raised his head to look at Garys' face and asked something.

A majestic warrior in armor holding a sword, with a resolute face and a firm step, followed behind him. There were several soldiers behind him, their steps were chaotic and their breathing was panic, but they also followed.

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 into the desolate land.

Although small, it is hard to ignore.

……

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:

Woe to Nebo! It will be reduced to ruins.

Kiriathaim was taken in disgrace,

Misgah is put to shame and destroyed,

Moab will no longer be praised.

—Jeremiah 48:1
Karak Castle, located to the east of the Dead Sea, is located in the later Jordan. Today, it belongs to the Transjordanian Territory of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was called "Karak of Moab" by the Crusaders.

Moab was an ancient kingdom in the Levant. It had many conflicts with ancient Israel. It was once conquered by ancient Israel, but then rebelled again and was eventually wiped out by the Romans.

In 1115 AD, King Baldwin I led his army to conquer Transjordan, making it the eastern frontier of the kingdom.

In 1140 AD, the Crusaders built Karak Castle on the ancient land of Moab, replacing the original Fort Montreal and becoming the core of the Transjordan territory.

In 1176 AD, Raynald of Châtillon married Stephanie, the widow of Humphrey III, and thus acquired the castle and the vast territory of Transjordan.

Controlling Karak Castle means controlling multiple trade routes, whether it is from Mecca to Jerusalem, or from Damascus to Mecca, or from Cairo to Damascus, this is the only way. At the same time, due to its special geographical location, Karak Castle has a profound impact on the surrounding Bedouins.

It is not an exaggeration to say that this place is a battleground for military strategists.

But now, this magnificent castle is controlled by a madman. When Reynald got 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 holy city of Muslims.

You can imagine how confused Saladin must have been when he learned that someone was going to attack Mecca.

As a result, the castle was besieged twice by Saladin in the past ten years, but Reynald was able to escape unscathed in the end.

Now, it is the summer of 1186 in the Gregorian calendar. This is a season of revelry for Reynald's faction. They have successfully seized the throne, divided the central power, and put the entire kingdom on the chariot.

After the battle plan for the next year was finalized, Reynald and his entourage returned to their old nest, Castle Karak, from the holy city of Jerusalem.

As the castle gate fell, a group of soldiers who had passed through the city of Karak walked into the castle, ending their tiring journey.

Reynald, who had white hair and eyebrows but was still strong, had just dismounted from his horse and called the steward of the castle over without taking off his armor.

He was so proud of himself that he wanted to inquire about this year's tax collection because it was related to the war next year.

"Sir, the tax collection of each manor and tax-farming area has basically been completed and will be sent to the castle soon. The grain collected from agricultural taxes and land rents has also been safely stored in various granaries."

"But..." The steward hesitated.

Leonard frowned. He could feel that what the butler was going to say next would make him unhappy.

"explain."

"Sir, Ahmed, the tax farmer in Alhadi Town, has not yet submitted this year's tax collection report."

"He has a rebellious heart."

This is not a question, but a statement.

Leonard put an accusation on Ahmed without caring whether there was any hidden secret.

"I'm not sure. Due to the lack of manpower in the castle recently, I haven't sent an envoy to inquire. I will make a decision after you return, sir."

The steward's words seemed to be an attempt to shirk responsibility, but in fact he understood Leonard's thoughts.

For Reynald, he could cooperate with Muslims and appoint them as tax farmers, but this did not mean that he had any good feelings towards Muslims.

In Reynald's view, the Muslim tax farmers under his rule were actually just big fat pigs. It's just that they had not encountered the right time to slaughter them in the past. Now that the time has come, there is naturally no need to hesitate.

The reason why the steward did not send an envoy to inquire about the situation on Ahmed's side was to wait for Reynald to come back so that he could put a hat on that guy.

Once the hat is put on, what awaits the Ahmed family is immediately the fate of having their piggy bank smashed.

All that was needed was to send a few knights with some soldiers, and order Ahmed to open the gate of the courtyard, under the pretext of asking about taxes.

Then those people could rush in, kill all the members of Ahmed's family, and take away the wealth accumulated by Ahmed's family over the years.

As the saying goes, force is better than hard work.

　Second update
　　
　
(End of this chapter)