Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 737 Why did Baisa Khan retain his surname Liu in his history?
Due to a series of sudden events, Sigismund hasn't paid much attention to their situation these past two days.

The looting of the Prague palace wasn't due to a lack of accommodation or a loss of face; rather, according to European tradition, that "palace" was essentially a fortress. Sigismund had painstakingly collected money there, which was being hoarded.

Such fortresses were quite common in major European cities. On the one hand, many cities developed from markets attached to fortified fortresses. On the other hand, for lords, disobedience from cities was a common problem. Therefore, many chose to build castles in key locations within their cities, deploying troops to ensure their control over the urban areas.

Compared to defending against external enemies, these castles served more to defend against and deter the city's citizens. The chaotic residential and commercial areas, the smoky workshops, and the watchful fortresses that seemed to be watching everything closely—this was a classic layout of a major European city of that era.

Therefore, logically speaking, this place is unlikely to be captured so easily. The Italians rushed in hastily, lacking engineering equipment and heavy weapons; it's possible they could have entered the city amidst the chaos, but it's rather strange that they could have even taken the fortress.

Currently, the exact situation is unclear. Due to the chaos within the city, very little information is surfacing. It's unknown whether some high-ranking officials in Prague are colluding with the Italians, using the city's supplies and equipment to aid their attack; or whether the castle defenders are working with the Italians to abscond with the money. All possibilities exist.

Europe was a chaotic place, after all. Sigismund himself had encountered cases of tax collectors taking the money and running away. If you told Zhu Wenkui that the provincial governor had collected this year's taxes and then disappeared with his men, he'd probably think the man was crazy. But that's just how wild Europe was back then; anything imaginable could happen…

Fortunately, since he was King of Hungary in his youth, Sigismund had encountered many such internal strife and local bullies, and his team was already experienced in dealing with them.

Despite his anger, he couldn't just spread this kind of news. He was still unsure what had happened over there, who was behind it, and besides, there were quite a few mercenaries in the army. They were still obedient because they knew Sigismund had occupied wealthy Bohemia and had just amassed a fortune in partnership with the Papacy under the guise of protecting the Church; their pockets were bulging.

A consistent trait of European nobles was their tendency to squander money, quickly bankrupting themselves and then borrowing more. Of course, this practice wasn't without reason. For the great nobles, money and debt weren't the most important things. Having the ability to rally troops was paramount. With an army, money became a secondary concern.

Therefore, mercenaries and others serving the noble court were especially eager to work for them at this time, because whether out of nature or for show, the nobles would be extremely extravagant, throwing away their money in lavish fashion. This was also the easiest time to make money. And if you arrived late, and they had already spent all their money, collecting your debts would be very troublesome…

If everyone found out that his base had been raided and all his money stolen, it would definitely have a huge impact on the mercenaries and directly affect their morale. Therefore, he could only try to minimize the impact at the moment, and didn't even dare to lose his temper in public.

His situation is also suspicious.

In the past few days, the enemy has been advancing at an unbelievable speed, clearing houses and supplies along the way, making it difficult for them to obtain resupply. In order to catch up, Sigismund has no choice but to order his troops to accelerate continuously.

Fortunately, this time, the Church needed his help, hoping he would quickly eliminate these heretics closely associated with Hussein and then continue to resolve the critical problem of the Church's schism. For this, the Church generously advanced a large sum of military funds for him. The mercenaries, unusually, received a high advance payment, which is why they were willing to go through all this trouble with him. Otherwise, they probably would have been abandoned by others.

The ministers believed this was undoubtedly the work of the French. This strategy of long-distance, rapid marches to maneuver the enemy was likely based on experience from the Anglo-French campaign. Combined with prior intelligence, they were now certain of who was behind it.

"How did you capture those two Frenchmen?" Sigismund considered for a moment, then decided to ask for more information first.

"The rebels are marching too fast. They just eat, sleep, and travel all day. They don't have time for leisure activities. After a few days, some of the Frenchmen couldn't take it anymore." The mercenary general told him, "These two went to a nearby town to look for prostitutes. They got so excited that they forgot about the time and fell behind the group. That's how our vanguard caught them."

"It seems they can't keep up with this speed either. If we persevere a little longer, we should be able to catch up with them," Sigismund judged.

“Both sides are marching rapidly. We are suffering, and the rebels must be suffering just as much. Judging from the previous battles, these people are just ordinary mobs with an extra slogan, which is why they can attract more fools to join them. Although their scale and range of activity have increased, their actual combat strength is not much different.” The nobleman next to him said, “Therefore, I also support His Majesty’s opinion. If we turn back and meddle in the mess of those Prague people, the rebels will continue to grow. It’s better to hold on for a few more days and wipe them out completely.”

“Yes, if even the proper French knights can’t hold on and start to fall behind, then the peasants, who make up the vast majority of the rebels, will have no chance of maintaining their organization. If the pursuit continues any longer, they might collapse on their own,” another advisor agreed.

“But we haven’t found many enemy soldiers,” the mercenary general cautioned. “If the enemy were close to collapse, there would be a large number of soldiers falling behind and deserting before the collapse. These people, disorganized and running around, would be very conspicuous and would definitely be noticed by us in advance. But we haven’t found any such cases yet, so I suspect we might be being too optimistic.”

“It’s unlikely that none of them fell behind. It must have been the villagers from the surrounding area who took them away,” the nobleman analyzed. “Although the rebels aren’t very strong in combat, their inflammatory slogans are very popular with the peasants, so wherever they go, people will come out to support them. The fact that they were able to organize a scorched-earth policy this time shows that their organizational skills are quite good. These peasants who sympathize with them will probably also help shelter and take in the stragglers. We’ve been in a hurry along the way and haven’t thoroughly explored areas further from the road, so it’s difficult to find the people hiding.”

“That makes things even more complicated,” the mercenary general said immediately. “To be able to hide so many soldiers, this place is probably not simple.”

“Indeed, we can’t rush to Prague.” The nobleman realized, “The people here are probably all fanatical Hussites, beyond saving. We need to wipe out all the villages here and kill off the locals before we can turn back.”

“We can talk about that later. Let’s not waste time planning now.” Sigismund interrupted them. “Can we determine the size of these Frenchmen? Could they have deployed troops ahead, like in the Battle of Bouvin, waiting for us to catch up to a suitable position before suddenly appearing and turning around to attack us?”

"The nearby lords say there's no news of a large regular army arriving. Moreover, the French are currently embroiled in internal strife, and I don't think either the Armagnac or the Burgundian faction have the strength or the will to challenge us. So this is rather inexplicable. What exactly are they trying to do?" The advisor shook his head.

“Moreover, the information from the local lords isn’t necessarily reliable. We’ve received word that a high-ranking priest from the East has also arrived nearby, taken over the diplomatic work of the Ming peasant army, and has begun frequently corresponding with the nobles, causing many to hesitate. What they’re telling us may not be the truth.” “Who is this priest?” Sigismund asked quickly.

"He claims his name is Daoyan, and he is the Archbishop of the Ming Empire from the far East," the advisor told him. "Some time ago, he appeared in Constantinople and was treated with courtesy by the Mongols. After that, he came here."

"Is this for real or fake?" the mercenary general asked doubtfully.

“The Great Ming Empire is too distant, and many people are misusing that name. We can’t be sure what the Great Ming actually refers to, or whether it has any connection with the East,” the advisor explained. “However, before, the diplomacy of this ‘King of Wu’ regime was very chaotic, and it offended many lords, which was indeed similar to the usual behavior of our mobs. Now, it has suddenly become much more formal, which is clearly his doing.”

“Unlike the previous mob leader, this person must have received higher education and have a lot of political and diplomatic experience. So, even if he is not really from the East, he must have been sent by the French or the Mongols.”

“That explains it.” The nobleman suddenly realized, “No wonder the French were acting so strangely. They’ve always been in cahoots with the Mongols, and they especially like to hang out with these infidels. These days, anyone with an Eastern background is bound to have connections with the Mongols, and the French just happened to appear at the same time… It seems the conclusion isn’t hard to guess.”

“But that changes the nature of things,” another advisor said. “A peasant rebellion is one thing; but now, with princesses, knights, and priests involved, things are quite different.”

"The presence of high-ranking nobles and clergy here indicates the presence of state power. Otherwise, how could these peasants have mobilized them on their own? This has become a diplomatic incident." He concluded, "I believe that regardless of the military outcome, this matter must be elevated to a higher level and treated with greater care. We should inform all the electors of this news and urge them to prepare."

After thinking about it, everyone agreed.

"Sigh, nothing good ever comes of it when it involves the East," Sigismund couldn't help but complain. "The things over there are numerous and complicated. To this day, I still often can't figure out the relationships between Seris, China, Qin, Han, Yuan, Ming... and all of them."

“Oh, actually, you’ll understand once you’ve been exposed to it more. I encountered these concepts when I was exchanging ideas with the church in Constantinople.” A priestly advisor told him, “Seres and Zhendan are both place names, while Daqin, Dayuan, and Daming are different dynasties. As for Dahan, it should be the name of an ethnic group.”

“Those people who often come here to sell things call themselves ‘the legitimate Yuan Dynasty of the Han people.’ You see, they’re actually quite similar to us here.”

"And what about the Mongols? What category do they fall under?" Sigismund asked.

"The Mongols, like the Han Chinese, are also an ethnic group over there. But things are more chaotic on the grasslands, making the situation of the Mongols more complicated. Because grassland people like to associate with powerful tribes, concepts often expand rapidly." The priest explained, "Many of the 'Mongols' who come to our side to rob are actually Cumans in disguise. Everyone must know this."

"Yes." Everyone had dealt with the Cumans before, and they all nodded in agreement.

“There aren’t many real Mongols, and they’re actually quite easy to recognize,” the priest told everyone. “The names they publicly use are not their real names. For example, Baisa Khan’s Greek name and steppe name were just chosen to facilitate his rule. Their own names follow a different format.”

"These people's surnames are generally single Chinese characters, single syllables. Their given names, like those of the Magyars, are placed after their surnames and are also written in Chinese characters. For example, when Baisai Khan interacts with people from his ancestral homeland in the East and conducts diplomacy, he always refers to himself as 'Liu'. In formal occasions, he does not use his local given name."

"Oh, so you mean all the real Mongols have the surname Liu?" Sigismund was quite surprised: "I've dealt with them for so many years and I didn't even know that."

“Similarly, our ‘Great Ming’ is also a term that attaches itself to the East. This person who calls himself the King of Wu, like the Han people, claims to have the surname ‘Zhu.’ It’s actually the same logic as Baisa Khan’s side,” the priest continued to explain.

"How strange." The nobles all expressed their incomprehension: "They are Mongols, aren't they? Why are they using Chinese characters? Aren't the Han people supposed to be a different group?"

“I believe this is due to their historical circumstances,” the priest said confidently in the face of criticism. “Let me put it this way—the Mongols are like England. These upper-class Mongols were Han Chinese who came to the grasslands, defeated their original tribes, and established their own regimes. Just like the Normans came from France to the islands, defeated the Anglo-Saxons, and established a kingdom. The lower-class Mongols, on the other hand, were not ‘Normans,’ but rather native to the grasslands.”

"Similarly, just as the English and French were always entangled, the Han Chinese who fled to the grasslands and those who remained in their homeland were also fighting each other every day. The grasslands were not as prosperous as the Central Plains, so the Mongol Khan was always thinking about fighting back, just like the King of England. Their war was as long as that between England and France."

"And culturally, it's the same. English nobles speak French every day and take French names, so it's not surprising that Baisai Khan kept his Chinese name. I think it must have been an honor for them—it distinguished them from the lower-class herders, so they would definitely insist on keeping it and using it on formal occasions."

"I see." Everyone suddenly realized, "This analogy makes it much easier to understand."

“Their personal grudges and feuds shouldn’t concern us this far,” Sigismund concluded. “We’re not going to worry about that now. Hans, prepare the seal immediately. The French have made things this far; even if I wanted to hide it, I couldn’t. I’m going to write to the Electors, demanding further support for the Crusades. Let’s continue the pursuit!”

(End of this chapter)