Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 748 Knocking on the Door After the Battle
After the spoils were distributed, the group began to discuss what to do with the prisoners.

In his previous letter, Zhu Wenku suggested that they treat prisoners of war leniently to demonstrate the magnanimity of a king's army. Moreover, during a series of battles, he discovered that the core members of these armies were mostly mercenary groups.

These people may come from the entire Alemanni region, or even wider areas, not limited to their own territory. They fight for their lord simply for money. Some of the more successful ones may aim for wealth and promotion, but the vast majority are simply unable to make a living in their hometowns and hope to earn a living this way.

Therefore, they don't possess a strong sense of loyalty or responsibility towards their employers. Mercenaries are ultimately just a business, and mercenaries can't even be considered "businessmen"; at best, they're just shop assistants in a business, and the kind who are constantly owed wages. Expecting them to work diligently is wishful thinking…

However, these people were very important in Europe. Despite their obvious drawbacks, mercenaries could at least sustain long-term operations compared to conscripted civilians. While their skill levels varied, some mercenaries did possess combat experience.

Moreover, there is an issue that is easily overlooked: conscription is actually more expensive and more troublesome.

Training an army is a more complex task than war itself, and it is a long-term undertaking. It requires the coordinated operation of a range of different functionalities. In Europe, however, these functions are almost entirely absent.

To conduct training, one must at least know who is under their command. However, under the European administrative system, it is very difficult to collect information such as household registration and military registrants. As for who is of age and physical condition suitable for military service, and when they can be trained, everyone is completely clueless.

In wartime, relaying orders and rallying soldiers are extremely complex tasks. Many places don't even have a proper road; how can they function under such circumstances?

Furthermore, conscription seemed cheap because the money was spent in peacetime. To ensure their combat effectiveness, the government needed to provide them with various living necessities on a daily basis. Those who made meritorious contributions were to be rewarded by local officials in accordance with orders; and in the event of casualties, various care and compensation policies had to be implemented.

If all these things are done properly, then the conscripted troops can easily surpass the current makeshift mercenaries in both quantity and quality. However, each step in these matters is extremely complex and requires a mature bureaucratic system to operate. With their current organizational capabilities, they simply cannot learn it.

As a result, in Europe, the conscription of subjects and vassals could not be sustained for too long, because conscription itself would disrupt production and cause even greater losses. Therefore, according to the custom in most regions, the feudal obligations of vassals only included a short period of unpaid service. If the period were too long, whether the peasants were happy or not was a minor matter; even the nobles would be unhappy.

Not only is time limited, but the recruitment process is also very time-consuming, and the combat effectiveness of the recruits cannot be guaranteed. So, naturally, everyone has no choice but to avoid this and choose mercenaries instead.

Therefore, if one can do a good job as a mercenary, one can further reduce the enemy's fighting spirit and reduce the difficulties encountered in battle.

Zhu Wenkui said that before leading his army north, he had spoken with the people of the Qin Kingdom. Guo Kang and others suggested that, if conditions allowed, they should not be too harsh on the mercenaries. They reasoned that everyone was just trying to make a living, there was no real hatred between them, and there was no need to kill them.

Moreover, mercenaries need to constantly find business and take on orders, so they all have channels of communication among themselves.

Mercenaries are, after all, in a dangerous business. The condition of their employers, the ferocity of their enemies, the local fighting situation, and so on are all extremely important to them. Much of this information is even a matter of life and death.

Therefore, their information network is always more efficient, especially among the veterans and managers who travel extensively. They may receive information about the war even faster than the aristocratic court. Soon, the story of a group of mercenaries' ordeal will be known throughout the entire market.

Therefore, Zhu Wenku suggested that they could also cultivate a reputation in this area. Currently, the results on his end are quite good.

Zhu Wenkui explained that after several battles, they had captured a large number of prisoners. In accordance with the consensus reached in Dadu, he decided to release most of the prisoners directly, ordering them to leave the area and forbidding them from looting. Otherwise, they would be treated as bandits and annihilated, and no further leniency would be shown.

The Bohemians in the army complained bitterly, feeling he had broken his promise to "suppress the enemy and pacify the people." This was because most of the mercenaries were German, and there had been ongoing conflicts between the two sides. Furthermore, they believed that releasing them was tantamount to condoning their banditry, and that warnings would be ineffective.

In the past, Hussite militias would execute all prisoners they captured. This was partly due to various forms of hatred, and partly because it was easy to imagine how dangerous it would be for a group of experienced but poorly clothed outsiders to roam the area.

This was a completely unfamiliar place, and their hometowns were extremely far away. Moreover, they had traveled thousands of miles to Bohemia to serve as soldiers for their employers precisely because there was no food to be found back home. In this desperate situation, even if they didn't intend to do anything wrong, it was hard to say what they might do when they were starving—this was more than just a moral issue. The Hussite militia were mostly locals and certainly wouldn't tolerate such danger.

However, Tang Sai'er told them that the situation was not difficult to deal with. Bohemia was in great chaos, and manpower was scarce on all fronts. Therefore, they could organize these prisoners and fight the enemy together.

Although she had won several battles, the problem was that the locals remained skeptical. So Tang Sai'er told the prisoners that as long as they were willing to work for them, they could be fed. If they needed money, they could fight the nobles together and take over the wealthy households. They had close ties with the Roman Khanate, and after the war, she could help them get a piece of land in the East to settle down.

The mercenaries had often heard rumors that these people were actually a force supported by the Purple Horde to cause trouble in the Almani region. Now, hearing her words, it seemed to be true. Therefore, everyone felt relieved, thinking that they finally had a reliable master.

As for what will happen to the Kingdom of Alemanni... that's the noble lords' own business, what does it have to do with them?

Therefore, after several battles, Zhu Wenkui's side has actually grown larger.

Taking advantage of her victory, Tang Sai'er led her people on a tour, coercing the minor lords who had chosen to side with Prague during the previous Hussite split. She had already amassed a large following; her own force alone had swelled to over 20,000 infantry and more than 1,000 knights.

The Hussite soldiers, who had initially complained, were now somewhat bewildered, unsure how things had suddenly turned out this way—and even Zhu Wenkui was a little slow to react. Tang Sai'er didn't have time to explain in detail, and led the group northeast to confront the enemy coming from Poland. Meanwhile, Zhu Wenkui, according to plan, dealt with the group of nobles captured during the previous battle.

Many of them came from wealthy areas near Prague and seemed valuable enough to warrant a special trip. So Zhu Wenkui led his army to their castles and manors one by one, having the nobles knock on the doors and urge the people inside to hand over the ransom.

However, the success rate of this operation was, frankly, not very high. Most of the territories turned their backs on them. In some places, the noble families were even happy, feeling that the old man was finally gone and should never return to avoid vying for their positions. This left Zhu Wenkui quite embarrassed, and he even recorded this situation as a lesson learned.

By referring to his situation, I can find a way to think about many things.

In Brandenburg, the situation was even simpler. Daoyan conducted a preliminary investigation and spoke with some nobles and soldiers, discovering that, as Zhu Wenkui had said, the soldiers were not particularly concerned about who they served.

The nobles preached to them that if they did not fight hard, they would be defeated by the Purple Horde and become slaves of the Mongols. However, the soldiers did not develop the mentality of "expelling the Tartars," nor did they have the high morale they had seen in the Ming army back home when fighting against the Mongols.

The mercenaries generally claimed they were just doing their jobs for money and didn't care about these political slogans. As for the serf soldiers... they were already pretty much slaves to begin with, and becoming slaves to the Mongols, frankly, didn't make much difference...

When the mercenaries expressed their desire to release the prisoners, the mercenaries were generally delighted and expressed their gratitude repeatedly. Conversely, the local lords were alarmed. They said that if all ten thousand men were released, they would surely gather their friends and, along with the mercenaries who had previously fled, wreak havoc in the surrounding areas.

The Duke is now completely broke and out of troops. Moreover, even if he were to boast and borrow money as before, people probably wouldn't believe him immediately. Therefore, he has lost control of this "Brandenburg Army".

For the locals—and even the local nobles—the situation of "mercenaries without a master" was far worse than "the arrival of enemy troops" or "the arrival of a brutal great lord." If a mutinous army of this size were to sweep across the land, even ordinary noble territories would likely be unable to withstand it.

However, the situation of the Wu Prince's army is quite different from that of the Crown Prince's troops. They have Sigismund following them for several days' journey. Their supplies are also limited, and they've been traveling light. In fact, the pressure on their side is currently greater.

Therefore, they couldn't focus on reorganizing their army or even send troops to demand the ransom like the Crown Prince's forces. They couldn't even be a little slower.

The local nobles weren't stupid; they knew that given their current situation, it was unlikely they could take the mercenaries with them—the sudden addition of so many new recruits would definitely slow down their march and even cause chaos. Therefore, they hoped the Ming army could find a way to get rid of these mercenaries, and they were willing to pay even higher prices, or even personally lead troops to help, for this.

However, Master Daoyan was now so astonished by the various outrageous phenomena in Europe that he became numb to it, so he quickly came to his senses and came up with a solution.

Instead of demanding ransom directly from the crowd, he offered to provide wages, supplies, and food to hire the mercenaries.

Everyone was quite surprised by this idea. However, upon closer examination, they realized that it actually made sense.

The nobles liked to call them the "Peasant Army of the Ming Dynasty" or the "Army of the Beggar King," and they spread this around to denigrate the other side, while warning the lesser nobles and lower-ranking clergy who were not usually so well-behaved not to lose face by associating with them just because there was a "king" there.

Therefore, in many people's minds, the King of Wu and his group should be a group of down-on-their-luck adventurers and peasants who couldn't make a living; in short, they should be very poor.

However, after getting to know them, they discovered that the actual situation was not like that.

The Wu king's army didn't carry much gold, silver, or valuables, and even luxurious items were scarce. They were far more frugal than Friedrich, who was already heavily in debt. The largest lump of precious metal in the entire army was the Wu king's seal.

However, the King of Wu was also very wealthy. They never lacked resources. Their financial situation was far better than Sigismund's.

During their half-day rest stop, merchants brought several cartloads of grain, chickens, and ducks along the road. The King of Wu's men didn't pay them; they simply issued them a document and stamped it.

Transporting goods on the battlefield was an extremely dangerous operation; merchants wouldn't risk it unless the profits were very high. Everyone was curious about the purpose of this document. They later learned that it was called a "signature," a certificate authorizing the transport of goods.

Merchants who transported goods to the army would receive a voucher, which could be used to exchange for specific scarce items. These included large ironware items such as iron pots, and more importantly, the right to use roads. Therefore, despite the considerable risks, people flocked to the area, sometimes even having to queue up for their turn.

Even in the north, where nobles were largely unaware of the Wu king's regime, the active Hanseatic merchants continued to interact with them. The fact that these merchants valued these items to such an extent suggests, even to those unfamiliar with the subject, that these items were incredibly important.

In addition, King Wu and his entourage would also write IOUs. According to them, these IOUs could be used to redeem goods or even withdraw cash at several Italian bank branches and even in the markets of Constantinople. However, King Wu himself had no gold coins and spent his days simply eating and drinking with his entourage, without any apparent output. The local nobles racked their brains but couldn't figure out how he managed it, concluding that he must have the backing of the Mongols and probably had a large sum of money deposited in Constantinople.

So when this bishop from the East came to negotiate with them, saying he would provide them with money and supplies to hire them to go east to the territory of the Teutonic Knights to help their allies there, the local nobles and mercenary captains, though initially puzzled, quickly realized that his terms were quite feasible.

(End of this chapter)