Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1256 Epilogue : Ask the Ming Dynasty to help us build a navy for Hungary

Anna followed her brother in and passed by five noble ladies from Cuman.

She is under a lot of competitive pressure.

These Cumans were plundering people by nature. They had been stealing wealth and beautiful women everywhere for hundreds of years, and the genes of the East and the West had been intermixed from generation to generation.

Those who were not adapted to the environment had long been eliminated, and the genetic "hybrid depression" was negligible. Especially among the Cuman nobles, there were many handsome men and beautiful women.

Women from the five largest Kuman tribes were carefully selected to be presented to the Ming Emperor. How could they not be beautiful?

Princess Anna was brought into the hall and saw a mother and son sitting in front of her from afar.

This room is so big!

Princess Anna felt that she had become insignificant, as humble as a country woman. The mother and son in front of her, although they were too far away to see clearly, still looked so noble.

The brother and sister came forward to pay their respects.

He was given a seat about ten meters away from Empress Dowager Ye.

"You claim to be descendants of the Huns?" asked Empress Dowager Ye.

Prince Laszlo said: "Decades ago, an Eastern Roman scholar read documents from the Ming Dynasty. This scholar was convinced that we are descendants of the Huns in the far east."

The Byzantines were still very fond of studying history. The earliest record of Hungarians came from a Byzantine history book in the 9th century.

The Ministry of Rites had already done its homework. Before the envoys from the Three Kingdoms arrived in Gaochang, Luoyang had already received a telegram, and there were scholars specifically looking through historical materials to study Hungary.

Empress Dowager Ye had already communicated with the Ministry of Rites, and now she said: "During the Tang Dynasty in China, the Turkic Khan divided the country into ten tribes, which were called the Ten Surnames. He also established a yamen in Shuanghe, Anxi Province of the Ming Dynasty today, to manage the ten Turkic tribes. You Magyars are actually the descendants of the Ten Surnames Turks."

Laszlo was stunned.

This is a beautiful legend based on history and epic.

The tribes from Xinjiang to Hungary, the Seljuks a hundred years ago, and the Turkic nobles of the Mamluk dynasty at this time, all claimed in their legends that they were descendants of the Ten Turkic Surnames.

The real history is that Su Dingfang wiped out the Western Turks. Most of the Ten-surname Turks stayed and submitted to the Tang Dynasty, but some fled westward.

These Turks who escaped conquered various places and assimilated the local nomadic peoples. Thus, the legend of the Ten Arrows Alliance and the Ten Surnames of the Turks spread among the nomadic peoples.

It even spread to the steppes of Eastern and Central Europe!
The name of the Kingdom of Hungary is the Turkic pronunciation of the Ten Arrows Alliance, bridged with the Magyar language.

The Magyars who founded the Kingdom of Hungary believed that the Ten Arrows Alliance was very noble, so they created ten tribes to curry favor with the powerful and called themselves the Ten Arrows Alliance, that is, the Ten-surname Turks.

Because the Karakhanid Khanate established by the Uighurs in Central Asia was once very powerful, the Uighurs became synonymous with the Turks. Therefore, in some places, the Ten Arrows Alliance and the Ten Surnames of the Turks were also called "Ten Arrows and Ten Uighurs".

Hungary actively embraced Europe, successively forming alliances with the Holy Roman Empire and France, and actively introducing French literature. They have forgotten their ancestors' attempts to curry favor with the rich and powerful before the founding of the country, and have lost sight of where they came from.

Their language was also very chaotic, first absorbing the Turkic language, then the Eastern Roman language, and then the Slavic language, and also introducing a lot of French and German words.

Up to now, they don’t even know the true meaning of the “Ten Arrows Alliance”.

The name of their country comes from this, which represents the most noble Turkic royal legend in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and West Asia!
An official from the Honglu Temple walked up to Prince Laszlo and handed him text excerpts from the New Book of Tang and the research results of Ming Dynasty scholars on the westward-migrated Turks over the past decades.

In another time and space, the same research results had to wait another hundred years, from the Persian historical masterpiece "Samir al-Tawarikh".

The historians of the Ming Dynasty were not there to do any work. They had already studied the history of the Turks thoroughly.

"Read it to him." said Empress Dowager Ye.

The officials of the Honglu Temple first read the New Book of Tang, explaining the origin of the Ten Turkic Surnames, and then briefly described the heritage of the Turkic people in Central Asia, West Asia, and Eastern Europe.

Finally, the Honglu Temple official said: "The founder of your country should be the Ten-surname Turks who migrated further west. Half of your country's name comes from the pronunciation of the Ten-surname Turks."

Prince Laszlo was stunned.

Queen Mother Ye smiled and said, "Han people and Turkic people all originated from the Huaxia ethnic group. We are one family. It's just that you have been away from home for too long and have forgotten your ancestors."

I have indeed forgotten, but what I forgot is how our ancestors tried to curry favor with powerful people.

Laszlo stood up and saluted, saying, "Thank you Daming for telling me these things."

Queen Mother Ye said: "I will have them translated into Turkish. You can take them back to your country and ask the nearby Turks. Their tribal legends can verify it."

Laszlo thanked him again.

Princess Anna was not interested in these and kept secretly looking at the little emperor ten meters away.

Prince Laszlo took the opportunity to say: "Since our country and the Ming Dynasty have the same ancestors, then marriage between the two countries is a better choice."

"Do you know the marriage system of the Ming Dynasty?" asked Empress Dowager Ye.

Prince Laszlo said: "A man can marry many wives."

Empress Dowager Ye said: "The Queen of the Ming Dynasty has been chosen. Your sister can only be a concubine."

The translator relayed the message and translated the concubine into "vice queen".

Laszlo was quite satisfied with this, because the vice queen was also the queen.

Queen Mother Ye then asked, "You want firearms technology?"

Laszlo said: "Yes. Hungary will be the most loyal ally of Ming Dynasty in the West!"

Queen Mother Ye said: "The craftsman can't give it to you. But I can give you some muskets and ammunition."

Of course, it is impossible to give away rifled flintlock rifles and paper shell ammunition.

What the Ming Dynasty was about to send out were old-fashioned smoothbore matchlock rifles, lead bullets without paper shells, and ungranulated black powder formulas.

Some European countries already have these things, so there is no need to worry about the spread of technology.

Queen Mother Ye added, "If it's just a marriage alliance, I can give you at most ten muskets as a betrothal gift. Do you want a thousand muskets?"

One thousand? Laszlo was pleasantly surprised and said quickly, "Please ask the honorable Queen Mother to propose the conditions."

Queen Mother Ye smiled and said, "The king of your country has converted to Nestorianism."

Laszlo found it difficult to answer.

He had seen what Nestorianism was on the way. Heresy among heresies!
If Hungary were to change from Catholicism to Nestorianism, it would probably immediately bring about endless diplomatic troubles.

Fortunately, Kievan Rus had been shattered, and the Holy Roman Empire was on the verge of civil strife. Otherwise, Hungary would have been beaten by its neighbors just by converting to Nestorianism.

After thinking for a long time, Laszlo said, "This matter is too big for me to decide. I need to go back and ask the king for instructions."

Queen Mother Ye nodded and said, "Yes. I will soon send an envoy to enthrone the King of Kuman. The envoys will bring a thousand muskets with them. If your country agrees, they will be delivered in Kuman."

Laszlo said: "If it's just one thousand muskets, His Majesty will definitely not agree to it."

"What else do you want?" asked Empress Dowager Ye.

Laszlo said: "Your country has sent a group of craftsmen to help us build a Mediterranean navy!"

You heard it right, the Hungarian Navy.

At that time, Hungary had a very large territory. It had a port on the Mediterranean and a coastline of six or seven hundred miles.

But most of the outer islands along the coastline are occupied by Venice.

With the Venetian navy blocking their way, Hungarian merchant ships could not go out to sea at all. They could only sell high-quality shipbuilding timber from nearby mountains to Venetian merchants at low prices.

The Venetian merchants bought the timber and resold it to the desert religious countries at high prices as strategic materials.

All the money went to the Venetians!
"Okay. As long as you are willing to convert to Nestorianism, the Ming Dynasty will send craftsmen to help you build a navy." Empress Dowager Ye agreed immediately.

Just like giving away muskets, advanced shipbuilding technology will definitely not be given.

Laszlo added: "If our country is invaded by other countries because of our conversion to Nestorianism, the Ming Dynasty must order the two vassal states of Cuman and Kipchak to send reinforcements."

Queen Mother Ye said: "You need to provide food and fodder, and pay them some money."

"Of course," Laszlo said.

The two parties have reached a cooperation intention.

But whether it can be accomplished depends on the ideas and means of the Hungarian king.

Although Hungary had converted to Catholicism for more than 200 years, there were still a large number of pagans. Relatively speaking, its religious policy was relatively tolerant.

In addition, from the Hungarian king to the nobles, due to the inheritance system, there have always been huge conflicts with the clergy.

Because the majority of Hungarians are nomadic people, even though many have turned to farming, there is still a strong inheritance tradition.

In particular, the nobles in the nomadic areas still practiced polygamy in secret, and habitually let their adult offspring (regardless of legitimate or illegitimate children) inherit the titles and territories.

This is about survival.

It is difficult for a young eldest son who inherits a territory to cope with an environment surrounded by wolves.

However, the priests insisted on arranging a succession order, which resulted in illegitimate kings and nobles having to bribe the priests before they could inherit.

This kind of bribery often takes the form of gifts of castles, territories and privileges!

When the king and the nobles met the priests, they had to kneel down to eat.

Two consecutive Hungarian kings have been relying on the support of the Holy Roman Emperor to continuously attack and weaken the domestic clergy.

It depends on whether the king dares to accept Nestorianism.

If they don't dare, the Ming Dynasty will not suffer any loss.

Empress Dowager Ye glanced at the world map on the table and couldn't help but smile.

She had lived in the Seven Rivers Protectorate since she was a child and knew the power of religion. She must never let it expand eastward.

No matter what choice Hungary makes, at least this time the Cumans are willing to accept the Ming Dynasty's missionary work.

The Cumans were still very brutal.

When Zhu Ming first traveled through time, the Cumans were still very weak and ran to provoke the powerful Kievan Rus. At that time, Kievan Rus had already essentially split, but it still beat the Cumans and forced them to flee to the Caucasus.

Just over a hundred years later, the Cumans came back again, and took advantage of the shattered Kievan Rus to madly invade its territory.

If we give the Cumans a little support, they might be able to spread Buddhism and Nestorianism to Kiev.

The brother and sister were led out of the hall.

Princess Anna looked back from time to time, wanting to have a few words with the little emperor.

Unfortunately, the little emperor was just like her, sitting there without saying a word the whole time.

After leaving the palace, Anna asked, "Will my father really convert to the Nestorian Church?"

Laszlo shook his head:
"I don't know. The conflict between the nobles and commoners in the country and the clergy is already very intense. The Holy Roman Empire is divided into many factions and is being eroded by the power of the Pope. Sooner or later, the Pope will extend his hand to Hungary."

"Moreover, we need firearms and a navy, otherwise we will not be able to resist the surrounding forces. The Cumans have always had a good relationship with us, but they have expanded too fast in recent years, and now they have become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty."

"If we don't have enough strength, the Cumans might invade Hungary. Father sent you to Ming for marriage because he saw the threat from the Cumans."

"We converted to Catholicism in order to consolidate our rule, and the West is indeed more powerful. Now it is the East that is truly powerful. If we can gain more benefits, perhaps Father will agree to convert to Nestorianism."

"I'm afraid those nobles would be happy to accept it. They don't have to secretly marry several wives, nor do they have to bribe the priests for the succession issue."

(End of this chapter)