Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 754 The Mongols Rush to the Rescue of the Ming Army

With the help of the locals, Zhu Wenkui's Ming army continued eastward along the main road.

They carried a large number of firearms, which slowed their movement. After their previous victory, Zhu Wenkui took advantage of the rest period to replenish his stock with a new batch of firearms from local workshops.

This greatly worried Jeska and his men, who feared it would slow down their march. Moreover, since leaving the Purple Horde, they had not received a supply of gunpowder, and carrying so many cannons would only result in them becoming a burden after a few uses.

However, Zhu Wenkui felt there was no problem. Because now, their strength had greatly increased, they no longer needed to hide, but could instead form a proper battle formation and fight the enemy to the death.

Previously, after defeating the Prague army, the local strategic situation improved significantly. The sudden collapse of the largest enemy force threw the enemy into strategic disarray. The troops that had been scattered to various places due to the strange arrangements of the King of Wu were able to regroup. In the week following the battle, more than twenty Ming troops of 1,000 households from Austria to southwestern Bohemia arrived from various places to join Zhu Wenkui.

These men came from the Alps and their spurs. They were the main force of the Wu Kingdom in the area from Austria to Bohemia, and were already well-known and excellent infantrymen in Europe. In addition, a large number of cavalrymen also came to support them.

The people of this region make a living by herding livestock in the mountains and cultivating some agricultural products. Most areas are relatively barren, and the people live in poverty. Some areas do have mineral deposits, and their economic conditions are slightly better, but these mineral deposits have attracted the attention of powerful nobles, leading to severe exploitation.

With the tacit approval of the nobility, groups of Jewish merchants from the heart of Alemannia established guilds in Innsbruck, monopolizing the region's mining operations. To drive down costs, the merchants went to great lengths, using deception and coercion to force artisans to work for extremely low wages. The lives of ordinary miners were even worse than those of the herders in the mountains.

Therefore, from time to time, some people would give up and want to quit. But the merchants had long been prepared, using various methods to make those who came to work become apprentices or contract workers.

Once a contract is signed, a large debt will be incurred by the merchant for various reasons such as food, lodging, and tool wear and tear. Through the merchant's schemes, the debt can never be repaid and may even accumulate. Therefore, although everyone is nominally a free person hired to work, in reality, they are always at the mercy of others.

To prevent anyone from escaping, the merchants hired mercenaries as guards and bribed nearby lords to jointly capture those trying to flee, under the pretext of preventing debtors from escaping. Even so, some people still managed to escape.

Over time, even the more respectable guild artisans and urban literati could not stand this atmosphere. They felt that the outside world was much more enjoyable, and even envied those who dared to abandon their jobs, debts, and places of shelter. They believed that those who gave up their responsibilities and power and were no longer bound by "civilized society" were closer to the original state of humanity in the Garden of Eden, and were closer to the Father and truly free.

But in reality, the outside world was clearly not a beautiful Eden; in fact, even the local mountain people considered it a terrible place. As people fled the towns, shepherds from the mountains also flocked to the cities. This was because agriculture in the mountains was underdeveloped, livestock farming was unproductive, and, most importantly, their livelihoods were extremely precarious due to the harsh environment and outdated technology. Therefore, when the weather was even slightly unfavorable, these semi-agricultural, semi-pastoral mountain people easily fell into a state of food and clothing shortages.

Moreover, mountainous areas are not exactly "free" places. Like many other poorly governed regions, they are often outside the sphere of state power—or rather, the power of the emperor and the great nobles. However, wherever there are people, there will be organization; and with organization comes power.

In these mountainous regions, there are also many chieftains. They often call themselves nobles and, depending on cultural proximity, adopt titles in the style of the Holy Roman Empire, Hungary, or even Croatia. However, most of them are probably not true nobles whose lineage can be traced back to classical times, but rather strongmen who have risen through struggle. Because in such loosely governed areas, simpler and more direct violence is generally more effective.

Just as city dwellers are oppressed by guilds and merchants, mountain people cannot truly live alone; they are still controlled by various herders and village leaders. Fortunately, the mountainous terrain here isn't particularly extreme, so the mountain people's organization hasn't completely degenerated into a tribal structure. Even so, conflicts frequently erupt among the mountain people over control of pastures and water sources. In the eyes of those below the mountains, they remain a fierce and warlike group.

To be honest, this "fierce and warlike" image might not actually be what the person in question wants. Many mountain dwellers also choose to go to the city because life is too hard or they can't stand the chieftain.

On the other hand, it's not just mountain dwellers and townspeople who are exchanging places here; even the upper-level business owners are doing the same.

Faced with various forms of fraud and threats, the artisans in the town and mines did not simply endure it or only know how to run away. On the contrary, they actually launched several rebellions. And, although they were often suppressed, they did succeed a few times in forcing the lord to change his policies.

More than 20 years ago, locals launched what was possibly the largest riot in the area's history. Prior to this, the iron ore miners had staged several unsuccessful acts of violence, destroying some workshops and killing the Jewish Chamber of Commerce's manager stationed in the mining area.

The merchant guild immediately reported to the then-lord, Count Bernhard, requesting his funds to quickly mobilize mercenaries to suppress the rebellion. The Count took it very seriously and soon dispatched a troop of mercenaries. Although the craftsmen resisted, they were unable to defeat the mercenaries and were quickly suppressed each time.

However, the Jewish Chamber of Commerce turned its attention to the mercenaries. They claimed the suppression operation wasn't intense enough to qualify as "combat" in the contract, and thus withheld the mercenaries' wages, paying them only "peacetime pay" instead of "wartime pay." It's common knowledge that, by today's standards, mercenaries' income depends almost entirely on combat. In peacetime, employers provide negligible "maintenance fees," often even disbanding mercenary groups to save money. This "peacetime pay" isn't even enough to buy a loaf of black bread, let alone compensate for losses incurred in combat.

Mercenary captain Leo went to the merchant guild several times to demand an explanation, but was driven away each time. The guild president, Moshe, even threatened him, saying that if he continued to cause trouble, his mercenary group would be treated as rebels and suppressed along with them.

Leo was seething with anger but dared not lash out. After returning home, he drank with some old friends from the mercenary group. The more they talked, the angrier they became. Finally, someone suddenly said, "Are they being so harsh on us to deliberately force us to rebel so they can settle this debt? The funds the Earl allocated to them should have been more than enough to hire us."

The others suddenly realized what was going on. After some discussion, they decided that since they were already considered enemies to be killed, they might as well rebel. So, Leo and the others returned to their camp, immediately gathered their men, armed them, and released the artisans they had previously captured. With the cooperation of the city gate guards, they stormed in with little effort, capturing all the merchant guild members below Moshe, and those unlucky enough to remain in the city and hadn't escaped. They were all taken out and hanged at the guild's gate. And so, this rebellion, in a rather haphazard way, succeeded once again.

Afterwards, Leo's mercenary group became somewhat frightened, fearing retaliation from their Jewish backers and Count Bernhard, and prepared to flee. The craftsmen, however, all lived there and didn't know where to run. Looking back, they realized they had acted impulsively in a fit of rage, starting a rebellion without considering the consequences...

However, at this time, the count sent a messenger, saying that he had received many petitions during this period and had learned the situation: all of this was caused by the Jewish contractors' sabotage.

Count Bernhard declared that he had ordered all lords and knights within his territory to take action, hunt down and kill all Jews, and completely eradicate these evils. This was his authority as lord to exercise judgment and mediation. He hoped that the artisans and soldiers would also return to their posts and fulfill their duties. While the previous actions were wrong, they were somewhat excusable. If everyone promised not to repeat them, he would not pursue the matter further.

The craftsmen breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it was quite good, as they no longer needed to rack their brains trying to figure out how to escape. The mercenaries generally felt the same way, thinking that this customer was quite nice and it was good to stay.

However, Captain Leo simply didn't believe it. He stated that he had witnessed similar situations when he was employed as a soldier in the Alsace region.

At that time, a group of farmers picked up pitchforks and sickles and began their uprising. The nobles also announced to the rebels that they understood their demands, but asked them not to be too extreme so that everyone could have a proper discussion. In addition, with so many people gathered here, it would be difficult to clarify any issues. Therefore, everyone should go back as soon as possible, leaving only a few leaders who could explain the situation to continue the negotiations.

As requested, most of the farmers obediently returned to their villages, leaving only the few leaders they had elected and some villagers who lived nearby and had easy access to the area, to help organize the meeting and conduct serious negotiations.

However, after the majority of the peasants had left, the nobles immediately mobilized their soldiers, killing all the leaders and those who remained. By the time the other peasants realized what was happening, they were already scattered throughout the villages, their means of communication cut off. As a result, they were quickly cornered in the villages by the nobles' army and defeated one by one.

At the time, Captain Leo was just a recruit, and afterwards, he witnessed similar incidents more than once throughout Europe. Therefore, he was quite certain that the Count would not let them off easily this time.

If he had to say, he didn't actually have any concrete evidence or clear theory to prove that the Earl was plotting a conspiracy. However, he had a premonition that staying would be pointless. As a veteran mercenary who had fought for over a decade, he trusted his intuition.

However, the craftsmen thought his words were too outrageous. Although the lords were always arrogant and rude, they were still high-ranking and respected people, and, to say the least, they were all quite concerned with saving face. After making such a public statement, they wouldn't likely go back on their word, would they? Therefore, only a small number of impoverished craftsmen with no family fortune to rely on listened to the advice and fled with Captain Leo, crossing the mountains to Italy. The rest, including the guild craftsmen who had spearheaded the escape, stayed behind.

Initially, Count Bernhard was friendly, not questioning the fugitives and even having the townspeople help arrest the Jews. However, once the Jews were apprehended, he began to blame the artisans and led his troops in. The miners who had initially rebelled, along with the guild leaders of blacksmiths, stonemasons, and other tradesmen who had wavered during the rebellion and whom he considered out of control, were all massacred in this surprise attack. Only a few artisans with specialized skills were spared and kept as slaves to work for him.

Afterwards, Count Bernhard recruited a group of Venetian merchants to contract the mine.

The local laborers, having suffered heavy casualties in the previous retaliatory massacres, were no longer sufficient for production. However, the Venetians, with their extensive trade routes, acquired the mines in their territory and then transported a large number of Mongol slaves from Crimea through the Purple Horde to mine the deposits.

At that time, the slave trade was at its peak, so thousands of Mongols—or Kipchaks—were brought here, even changing the population distribution of these small towns.

However, a few years later, the Venetians also went too far. That Christmas, taking advantage of the Venetians being drunk and lax in their control, the Mongols in the mines joined forces with the locals to launch a riot.

It turns out that this group of Mongols also had a distinguished background: At that time, the steppes were embroiled in constant warfare. Tokhtamysh, the White Horde Khan, annexed the Blue Horde and challenged his benefactor, Timur. Timur then allied with the Purple Horde Khanate to launch a pincer attack on Tokhtamysh. Later, unwilling to accept defeat, Tokhtamysh allied with Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania, uniting to prepare a counterattack against Moscow and the Purple Horde. However, they were defeated again by Timur Khughrud, the Golden Horde Khan supported by Timur. After Timur Khughrud was assassinated by Tokhtamysh's son, Basil, the Purple Horde Khan, launched a campaign against the remnants of the Green Horde and, with Timur's tacit approval, seized control of the Nogai Khanate's territory, forcing the local khans to submit…

This series of chaotic battles, and the rise and fall of countless steppe khanates with names too numerous to remember, resulted in a large number of Mongol soldiers being taken prisoner after their defeats. The Venetians, who traded slaves, thus made a fortune.

However, as time went on, the Venetians lowered their guard. Many veterans of Tokhtamysh and others had gathered among the mining slaves in Tyrol. After seizing the opportunity to revolt, they established themselves in the area, and even Count Bernhard couldn't drive them away—which is why Zhu Wenkui and his group were still able to encounter the Mongols there.

The only good news for the local lords was that these "Mongols" came from different tribes and were not part of the same group. Therefore, the count and his men immediately turned their attention to the Venetians, expelling their merchant guild and confiscating their property.

These steppe people were poorly educated and even easier to fool than the mercenaries. Although they dared not use knives again for fear of losing control and causing unnecessary losses, Count Bernhard managed to smooth things over by sacrificing the Venetians. He promised to improve working conditions in the town and replace the staff with a group of professional and reliable managers.

Afterward, he went to Krakow and mortgaged his mines to a Jewish merchant group there, using the proceeds to pay off his debts to Sigismund and several Hungarian nobles. So, after all that, he returned to being Jewish...

(End of this chapter)