Water Margin people

Chapter 1498 Holy War

"Lord Saladin, there shouldn't be anyone here. My mansion is heavily guarded and outsiders can't get in."

The city lord looked at Saladin and said, this is Nishapur, the strongest fortress within a thousand miles.

“No, it smells different here!”

Saladin looked out the empty window. He smelled danger. Based on his years of fighting experience, there must have been someone here.

"impossible?"

The city lord looked at the empty yard. He had just asked Dafitt to take everyone away.

"Check it out!"

Saladin looked at the city lord and said that he was worried. He came to Nishapur in secret and the news must not leak out.

The city lord immediately called the guards and ordered a city-wide search.

The other governors did not speak, but just looked at Saladin, a figure with extremely high prestige in the Islamic world.

"Saladin, didn't you fight in the Fatimid Empire?"

Everyone looked at Saladin and asked, after Muhammad, Islam was divided into two major sects, Sunni and Shia. Saladin was a devout Sunni Muslim, and he was determined to overthrow the Fatimid dynasty controlled by Shia.

"Everyone here is a Sunni believer, a person who follows the Sunnah and follows the great Muhammad's teachings."

Saladin said as he looked at the crowd, then turned and began to pray.

When everyone saw Saladin start praying, they also quickly started the prayer ceremony.

The ceremony was performed three times, and then Saladin turned around and looked at everyone.

"Do you know where we were worshipping just now?"

Saladin asked, looking at everyone.

“Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem!”

Everyone answered in turn that as devout Muslims they could not possibly not know these three places.

“Jerusalem, our holy city!”

Saladin said, pointing in the direction of Jerusalem.

Everyone had strange looks on their faces. It was true that Jerusalem was their holy city, but it had been conquered by the Crusaders many years ago. Now it had become the Kingdom of Jerusalem and was governed by the Franks. The surrounding Muslims were all fighting on their own, and no one was willing to retake Jerusalem.

"Lord Saladin, are you going to declare war on the Kingdom of Jerusalem?"

Someone asked hesitantly, these people are all governors of a city or a region, and now they are gathered together probably for the holy war.

Everyone began to back off. It was not that they were unwilling to participate in the holy war, but the casualties in the war would be heavy. If they suffered too many casualties in the holy war, it was likely that their cities and tribes would be annexed.

"The Seljuk Turks are corrupt and cannot manage our land. The Crusaders in the north are beginning to stir again. The holy war is about to begin!"

Saladin looked at everyone and spoke.

"Jihad!"

This news rang out like a thunderclap in everyone's mind, and horrific memories surged up again. The last holy war was a war with corpses floating everywhere and blood flowing like a river. Many tribes disappeared because of the war.

"Lord Saladin, where did you get the news about the holy war?"

  One person looked at Saladin and asked, it has only been more than 20 years since the holy war, they have suffered heavy losses, and the Crusaders are not much better off. Now that Jerusalem is in their hands, how can they continue the war?

"I got the news from the Merchant of Venice!"

Saladin said that Venetian merchants were notoriously profit-driven and would sell anything for money.

This time, Saladin paid a huge sum of money to get the information. "How is it possible that they..."

Everyone couldn't believe it. The Venetian merchants actually betrayed the Crusaders?

"The Saracens have confirmed these things. The Venetian merchants have set their sights on the Fatimid Kingdom. This time they want the Crusaders to conquer the Fatimid Kingdom and completely monopolize the Mediterranean trade."

Saladin said that the Saracens were the smartest merchants in the Arab world and had once been able to compete with the Venetian merchants. However, due to poor management over the years, they had been suppressed by the Venetian merchants.

This news made everyone's faces gloomy. At this point in the news, the outbreak of the holy war was already a certainty. The last time the holy war broke out, the Crusaders wanted to conquer the Fatimid Kingdom, but there was no follow-up, so they retreated to Jerusalem.

Everyone understood why Saladin came to them. Saladin now had considerable reputation in the Fatimid Kingdom. With his outstanding military achievements, there were reports that Saladin would be appointed as prime minister.

Faced with another attack by the Crusaders, the Fatimid Kingdom would certainly not be able to resist, and would eventually seek help from surrounding kingdoms and unite the entire Muslim country to fight against it.

"Lord Saladin, have the Crusaders assembled?"

One person asked, the outbreak of the holy war is not a matter of one day or one night. The Holy Roman Empire is too far away from here. It takes more than a year to assemble, and it will take at least one or two years to march here. Think about the holy war. It took the Crusaders three years to reach the holy city of Jerusalem.

"not yet!"

Saladin shook his head and said that currently there was only news that a holy war was going to break out, but the Christian Pope in the north and the kings of various kingdoms had not yet issued an order.

This made everyone breathe a sigh of relief. It was still too early to start a holy war, and they still had enough time to prepare.

"Lord Saladin, you are brave and wise, and a devout believer of the Prophet. We are willing to follow you!"

After exchanging glances, everyone saluted to Saladin and said that ever since Jassar's Seljuk Turks were defeated by Yelu Dashi's Western Liao, the countries that surrendered to the Seljuk Turks began to be dissatisfied, and a weak leader was not qualified to lead them.

"I will soon rule the Kingdom of Fatimid and become the King of Fatimid. When the holy war breaks out, I will lead you to recapture the holy city!"

Saladin looked at everyone and spoke.

……

After Ma Lin returned to the inn, he told Han Shizhong everything he knew.

"Saladin? He seems to be a difficult person."

Han Shizhong's face was gloomy. The situation in the West was much more complicated than he had expected.

"What should we do now? Nishapur has been put under martial law. Shouldn't we leave?"

Ma Lin looked at Han Shizhong and asked.

"I can't leave. It would arouse suspicion if I leave now!"

Han Shizhong shook his head and said, "Leaving as soon as martial law was imposed shows that he has something to hide."

"Then stay in the city for a few days."

Ma Lin nodded. Ensuring safety is the most important thing now. There are hundreds of thousands of people in Nishapur, and people are coming in and out every day. It is not easy to find them.

"I'll go to the city to get more information during these few days."

Han Shizhong nodded. He was still very wary of Saladin. Such a big man must have a wide reputation and he would know the truth with a little inquiry.

"We have so much information, shouldn't we send some back? But we only have a few carrier pigeons."

Ma Lin said that they had been relying on carrier pigeons to transmit information since they left Yumen Pass. These carrier pigeons were precious, but there were only a few left after using them all the way.

"Let's use one first! We don't know if it can be transmitted back from such a long distance!"

Han Shizhong thought for a while and said that this place was too far away from Liangshan, and even birds might not be able to reach it. It was unknown whether the carrier pigeons in front had successfully returned to Liangshan.