Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 751 Female musicians are a menace!
"So, does Master Daoyan also think that the conflict between the European countries and Rome may have surpassed the conflict between nations? Therefore, it cannot be dealt with entirely in the same way as ordinary diplomacy?" Zhu Wenkui said after thinking for a moment.

“Yes. So His Excellency the Bishop made preparations in advance when he came to find the Royal Court. It is thanks to him that we were able to arrange everything so quickly,” Lebesgue said. “Subsequent developments were pretty much as he predicted. The Poles did indeed choose to advance east and west.”

"According to the information we have gathered, the Polish parliament reached an agreement very quickly and issued a proclamation deciding to wage war against the Purple Horde and its vassal states. However, the ruling party did not immediately reach a consensus on which direction to attack first."

"Compared to the nobles, King Władysław Jagieło preferred to attack eastward, allying with Lithuania, and first send troops to attack the Rus' region. As you know, this so-called King of Poland has never actually gained the common recognition of the nobles. These nobles have always been unruly, and even the powerful 'Louis the Great' could only temporarily get the opposing nobles to accept the status quo after suppressing several rebellions and taking advantage of his victory through various compromises and negotiations. Władysław Jagieło, who came from Lithuania, had an even more unstable foundation."

"The nobles always looked down on him, thinking he was a heretic at heart, no better than the Purple Horde. Therefore, they always opposed him for all sorts of strange reasons and would cause him trouble for no reason. In response, he desperately needed to prove his worth."

"Many nobles are now criticizing him, saying that he cares more about his native Lithuania and doesn't care much about Poland, and that he is not a competent king. Therefore, in order to improve the relationship between the two kingdoms of Poland and Lithuania under his name, it would be best to find an enemy that he can attack and defeat, and Lithuania should contribute more to make it more convincing."

"Therefore, he called on everyone to attack the most loyal henchman of the Purple Horde—the Grand Duchy of Moscow. The Lithuanians had often fought with Moscow and had besieged it several times not long ago, so they were very familiar with the situation and it was the best choice for them."

“I can understand his point of view. But after living in Dadu for so many years, I always feel that Moscow cannot be simply described as ‘loyal.’” Zhu Wenku scratched his head: “You all know Dmitry of the Don, right? He is probably the most famous Grand Duke in Moscow. He is a man who can play both sides, befriend all forces, and also turn against all forces and wage war for his own interests. He is a ruthless and ambitious figure.”

"Dmitri's era saw Moscow expand its territory by a third, completely overshadowing the other grand duchies. The Purple Horde, while not militarily intervening, actually did not want to see this imbalance. After Dmitri's death, his successor Vasily ascended to the throne, and Constantinople began to fund and support Dmitri's other sons."

"Dmitri had many children, more than 12, I heard. The eldest, Daniel, died young, the second, Vasily, inherited the title of Grand Duke, and among Vasily's brothers, the most ambitious was the fourth, Yuri. In Dmitri's will, the city of Zvinigorod was bequeathed to Yuri, to make him his brother's right-hand man. But Yuri didn't quite agree with this, especially recently, when Vasily fell ill, Yuri even publicly expressed his doubts about his son, young Vasily, believing himself to be the most suitable heir."

"And Yuri is said to have the support of the Roman Khanate, which is why he is so unscrupulous, and the Grand Duke can't do anything about him." Zhu Wenku spread his hands: "Actually, Yuri hasn't lived in Zvinigorod for a long time. He's been active in Dadu all year round, and these Rus' nobles in Dadu have even formed their own stable circle. I've attended their gatherings."

"There have always been rumors that this is a strategy of appeasement established during the reign of Empress Dowager Helena; there are also claims that if Grand Duke Vasily cannot hold out, Yuri will definitely take action against his nephew. Therefore, I am rather skeptical about the close relationship between Moscow and the Khanate. I always feel that the Polish and Lithuanian forces have made attacking Moscow a path dependency. This time, I'm afraid it's just another excuse to send troops."

“Slogans and reality are definitely not the same,” Lebesgue laughed. “If you ask me, he might not be heading to Moscow, but rather to Vytautas.”

"Lithuania had previously been under the joint rule of two brothers. The eastern region was ruled by the elder brother, Argidas, who was mainly responsible for dealing with the Rus'; the western region was ruled by the younger brother, Kostutis, who was mainly responsible for dealing with the Empire and Polish forces, especially the Teutonic Knights. Of the two, Argidas was the leader."

"Originally, the eldest duke's designated successor was their younger brother. However, with the help of Costudis, Algidas expelled this man, ascended to the position of grand duke, and then expanded his territory, eventually proclaiming himself king. Because of this relationship, the two had a good relationship and cooperated smoothly."

"But after Algiedas died, his son, this Władysław, disliked his uncle. So he secretly negotiated with the Teutonic Knights, Costudius's sworn enemy, offering to cede land in exchange for their support. Costudius discovered this, led his troops back to Vilnius, and captured Władysław, but he managed to escape."

"The civil war lasted for some time, and other nobles began to mediate between them. Władysław then tricked the Costudius father and son into coming to negotiate, telling them not to bring their troops. Costudius actually believed him and was captured by Władysław, and soon died in a confused state. However, Costudius's son, Vytautas, also managed to escape and continued to fight against his cousin."

"Are all Lithuanians this good at escaping from prison?" Zhu Wenku asked in surprise.

“Perhaps the other nobles didn’t want to offend either side,” Lebeg guessed. “In any case, these two were now sworn enemies. To deal with Władysław, Vytautas also began contacting the Teutonic Knights. Previously, although Władysław had agreed to cede territory, he hadn’t kept his promise afterward. But Vytautas actually carried out the cession. So the Knights switched sides and supported Vytautas, driving Władysław away.”

"The two sides continued in this back-and-forth manner for a long time. Sometimes when the Teutonic Knights were too powerful, the two sides would even cooperate to fight against the Teutonic Knights. Later, Władysław married Jadwiga of Poland, and Wytautas also joined in, announcing that they would join the Kreł Union together. Now they are on another side dealing with the Polish nobles."

"I thought the murder of one's father was a very big deal," Zhu Wenkui sneered.

"Hmm... big, not big." Lebesgue pondered for a moment and concluded, "When it affects one's power, one can make a big deal out of one's father's death, and that's a big deal; if it's the other way around, cooperating with the other party is best, then the old man going to see Brother Tian sooner may not be a bad thing for everyone, and that's a small matter. So, it still depends on the situation."

"..."

“Of course, they couldn’t possibly be truly close and cooperative.” Seeing Zhu Wenkui speechless for a moment, Lebeg said, “Vytautas’s base of operations is in western Lithuania, but before that, he married his daughter to Grand Duke Vasily of Moscow. Their son is the little Vasily I just mentioned.”

"You know, the Władysław faction has been launching a series of heavy attacks on Moscow. For a long time, the Lithuanians have kept Moscow's borders dozens of miles outside the city. It's pretty obvious what they're trying to do."

"Therefore, Władysław's plan, though seemingly illogical, was actually quite well-thought-out. It both participated in the fight against orthodox heretics and appeased radical nobles, while also striking at the power of his political rival, Vytautas."

"Moreover, the Romans don't want to see Moscow continue to grow stronger. Everyone believes that they are unlikely to react much before the two sides decide the outcome. In other words, his military operation will be much easier. This will greatly increase his chances of success and allow him to gain significant political advantages. It can be said that he has secured the most favorable outcome for himself in every aspect. In my opinion, although he hasn't had many opportunities to demonstrate his abilities, he can still be considered a strategist."

“I see. I hadn’t paid any attention to them before, but I heard Guo Kang and the others complaining every day that the Poles were going crazy again…” Zhu Wenku thought for a moment.

“Anyone who can sit firmly on the throne as an outsider in such an absurd political situation is probably no ordinary person,” Lebesgue commented.

"The names are just too long; it's really hard to remember them all," Zhu Wenkui said truthfully.

"Uh……"

Speaking of this, Zhu Wenku recalled that Guo Kang had also mentioned this issue before, and when he was taking notes, he used some strange abbreviations.

Because the same name can be pronounced differently in different languages. Sometimes, different people and different contexts may use different translations. In addition, many people have nicknames, so there are even more ways to call someone.

For example, the name of King Władysław of Poland can also be translated as "Vław". And Sigismund had a nickname of unknown origin: "King Gigi". However, these titles ultimately didn't become widespread. Guo Kang felt that calling them that would be a bit strange. After all, if the leaders were called Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund and King Władysław of Poland, people would easily sense the medieval background and atmosphere; but if they were called King Gigi and Grand Duke Vław, it would just make people wonder, "What kind of nobles are these? Is this world even serious?"

Of course, Zhu Wenkui didn't consider all that. He quickly got back to the main topic and asked, "So, what about our direction?"

“Wytautas managed to win over another group of nobles and persuaded two Hetmans to attack us. For the Polish parliament, anything that can be done to fight heresy, whether it's the Catholic Church, the Hussites, or the Orthodox Church, is acceptable. So, we won't be short of enemies in this direction either,” Lebesgue said. “We have to be prepared to deal with all of these people at the same time.”

"Huh? Old Yang and Master Hans were so confident in telling me that there were quite a few Hussites active in Poland and Lithuania. Many nobles sympathized with them and were even willing to offer them asylum. Vytautas was one of their leaders." Zhu Wenkui was somewhat surprised by this news: "They initially said that if they couldn't win the war and couldn't make it here, they would organize the people in the south to surrender to Rome and the people in the north to surrender to Lithuania. How come they're leading the attack on us now?"

“Hey, you actually believe the statements of a great nobleman?” Lebesgue said dismissively. “Friedrich of Brandenburg was a sympathizer of the Hussites before, and even argued with Sigismund about it. But when it came time for him to take a stand, you see, he sided with Sigismund without hesitation.”

"That's why people always say that priests should remain poor. Only the poor can have pure and devout faith; the rich can't. As for the great nobles, they have too many things to consider; how much room do they have for faith?" Lebesgue said with a wry smile.
"The main reason Władysław was able to form a marriage alliance with Jadwiga of Poland was that the nobles at the time desperately needed to bring in a king to counter the expansion of the Luxembourg family and prevent Sigismund and his forces from swallowing up Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland in one fell swoop. Now that Sigismund was leading his army around and had already claimed several victories, some nobles were naturally worried. Wytautas and his forces seized the opportunity to incite everyone to attack westward, which would certainly garner a lot of support, thus thwarting Władysław's plan to stop after a small victory and also demonstrating his inability to compete with Sigismund. The Polish nobles were very receptive to this kind of thing."

"How did Master Daoyan assess these two options?" Zhu Wenku asked.

“He said he had considered it and thought the Poles would adopt it all,” Lebesgue replied. “After I told him about the Polish political system, he made this prediction. According to him, the Polish nobles couldn’t persuade each other, so the only result would be ‘want it all’—it would obviously be unacceptable for everyone to not fight a single battle. But the two sides’ ideas conflicted, and it was impossible to pass a resolution without persuading the other side. So, there was only one way: everyone had to compromise, you agreed to mine, and I agreed to yours, choosing ‘harmony’ between the two options of going east and going west.”

"The bishop also said that if they don't send their main force south to attack, the Purple Horde will likely only adopt a defensive posture, thus committing their precious field army to the most important direction. On our side, we may have to find a way to deal with it ourselves. Therefore, we must consider the additional pressure we will face after the Polish army also intervenes, and the means to deal with it."

"On the other hand, we also have to win a few battles ourselves. The bishop told us that before the war broke out, we could still hope for peace. But now that the conflict is irreconcilable, the bigger the fight, the better. We also need to prove ourselves to everyone—even our allies."

“I understand.” Zhu Wenku nodded. “When you go back, please thank Master Daoyan for me. Also, after the situation in Egypt improved, Miss Jeanne came over. She just arrived at my army a few days ago and brought a lot of new information.”

“Yesterday, she went out to meet with her informant again, and she should be back by now. When she comes, we will give you a copy of the information we need, and you can take it back for Master Daoyan and my father to refer to.”

Lebesgue thanked him repeatedly and rose to bow in return. Just as the two were about to continue their pleasantries, Jeanne's voice came from the doorway.

"Who is this? Aren't unrelated women not allowed to enter the camp?" she shouted from afar.

“Those are my father’s spoils of war, a full fifteen Italian female musicians. Mr. Bei just sent them over and asked me to give them to them.” Zhu Wenkui also answered loudly, “Don’t make a fuss, come in.”

“There aren’t fifteen.” Lady Jeanne stopped in her tracks. “Aren’t there twelve?”

"Huh?" Zhu Wenkui and Lebeg hadn't thought to check the people carefully. When they heard what she said, they were both surprised and quickly ran out to see what was going on.

"There are twelve of them, aren't there? Where are the other three?" Jeanne asked, hands on her hips, blocking the doorway.

Zhu Wenkui quickly looked at Lebesgue, but the other man was also completely confused.

"Well, you certainly have refined tastes. Not only are you having so much fun with the female rebel, but now you've taken up with the female musician." Jeanne, the heroine, grew increasingly angry as she spoke: "Don't you know what 'female musician' means? And your father gave it to you? King Wu and the two gentlemen Qi and Huang are respectable people, would they really give you something like that?"

"What 'vocal prostitute'? Do you think I'm uncultured and don't understand Seris slang? This is just a whore!" She complained until she finally snapped, "Playing around in the military camp? How dare you be so arrogant? Get out! All of you, get out!"

With that, he drew his sword and began to lash the female musicians with the back of the blade. The musicians screamed and ran in all directions. At this, everyone idle in the camp rushed over to watch the spectacle. In no time, chaos erupted.

Zhu Wenku quickly hid behind the tent and found that Lebesge was also rushing over.

"Oh dear! I think Mr. Huang is right!" he exclaimed breathlessly, "This female musician is really a menace!"

******
"Woman! Bring out the flute!"

In the Wu King's camp, Sir Hans happily embraced two female musicians, and didn't forget to give orders to the third one next to him, personally micromanaging her to quickly change her instrument.

"No, boss, you've detained three members of a band. What will we do if they find out?" a guard said worriedly.

"It's alright, nobody cares. Look, Lebesgue didn't even bother to count the women." Sir Hans said dismissively, "Didn't they say these women are spoils of war? I've done my part this time, what's wrong with enjoying some spoils?"

"Oh, do me a favor and write to Henry. Tell him I've found some good women and that he should focus on fighting. By the time he returns with his achievements, we should be almost done with the war. Then we can all go and have a good bath together!"

"Yes, sir!" the guard said helplessly.

(End of this chapter)