People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 500 Abbas's Savior

In Baghdad, a large number of Turks rushed into the city and began to kill indiscriminately.

"Kill, grab all the things for me!"

"The deputy khan has ordered that the city should not be massacred, but those who resist will be killed without mercy."

"You are allowed to plunder and kill those who resist, but this is Baghdad, the seat of the Caliphate, and you cannot kill people at will!"

"We warn you again, no one is allowed to approach the dock!"

"Bring it to you."

Various military orders were issued, and the city was in chaos.

At this moment, there were still a large number of people in Baghdad who had not had time to escape and were hiding in their homes with their doors closed.

The streets were full of Turks who were burning, killing and looting everywhere. They robbed, raped, and even killed people when they encountered resistance, causing chaos in the city.

As the situation escalated, the chaos in the city also intensified.

Many Turks are no longer satisfied with just killing and robbing on the streets. Almost all those still on the streets are poor, and there is nothing to rob.

They quickly set their sights on the city's wealthy, storming their homes, burning their gardens, and stealing their treasures.

Many wealthy people gathered at the east wharf of the city. Baghdad, like Bianliang, was well connected, and the most important trading area was near the wharf, which led to the presence of many shops.

Although the residential area for the rich was not here, due to the presence of the Song army envoys, many people had witnessed the power of the Song army's artillery, so many rich people ran here.

Not only the rich, but many ordinary people in the city also ran over, making the dock even more crowded. Many people ran to the dock and knelt down to pray for shelter from the Song army ships.

If the dock was not large enough and the Song Dynasty envoys were all on the ship instead of on the dock, they would probably have been overwhelmed by the surging crowd by now.

"When a country prospers, the people suffer; when a country perishes, the people suffer. This is what Mr. Lu Xun once wrote in the Great Song Periodical."

On the Tigris River, the delegation's fleet was drifting in the river.

The west side of the ship was densely packed with people.

The officials and soldiers of the diplomatic corps were all looking at the dock in the distance. The dock was in great chaos and many people were even pushed into the water.

Countless people who had boats and even those who wanted to rob boats drove their boats to the middle of the river and approached the Song fleet.

They obviously regarded the Song people as their saviors. After all, the city was now full of rebellious Turks, the Daylam people had been defeated, and their caliph had no troops. Only the Song people might still have some hope.

But unfortunately, the Song army has not made any moves so far.

"Do you think that if we had sent troops earlier, would we have been able to save so many innocent people?"

Zhang Youwei asked with pity.

Tan Wenxue shook his head and said, "Remember, the interests of the Song Dynasty are paramount. Why should our soldiers help them fight? Why should we send envoys to the Song Dynasty to pay tribute without any practical benefits? Moreover, you should also understand that even if we defeat the Seljuks after leaving the city, we will have to go back to help the Caliph clear out the Buyids in the city. Do you think this is against morality?"

"Ok."

Zhang Youwei had no choice but to swallow his words.

They are envoys from the Song Dynasty, not saviors sent by their God.

If the Caliph who had promised them at the beginning sent troops to help, they would not only have to face tens of thousands of Seljuk Turks, but also have to go back and deal with the Buyid Kingdom.

The Delamu people were willing to make friends with the Song Dynasty and agreed to send envoys.

Even though theoretically the Daylamites were merely subjects of the Caliph and they accepted the Caliph's request to suppress the rebellious subjects of the Abbasid Caliphate, it is still not morally justifiable.

So it would be better to let the Turks overthrow the Delamites, and then the Song Dynasty would defeat the Turks, thus saving them from fighting with the Buyids again.

What's more, the Song army actually had only 2,000 soldiers, and the artillery was on the ship and difficult to carry. Even if the 2,000 soldiers all had rifles, fighting against tens of thousands of Turks in the wild would inevitably lead to casualties.

It obviously made no sense to let his soldiers risk their lives to fight outside the city in order to help the Caliph, a powerless foreign emperor.

Therefore, the best way is to wait for the Turks to enter the city. Since they do not have cavalry formations, the best option is to play to the strengths of the Song army, engage in small-scale street fighting, or even rely on the fleet to provide artillery coverage along the river.

While the Song army was watching from the sidelines and waiting for the right time to intervene, in the center of the city, after entering through the Vastani Gate, they would reach the Abbasid Palace, a golden domed palace.

At this moment in the palace, the Daylami guards who were originally used to monitor and semi-imprison the Abbasid Caliph had long disappeared, and the Caliph Kaim was naturally freed.

He just stood on the high wall of the palace and looked down at the city below, and said angrily: "How could the Seljuks do this? How could they do this!"

"Respected Caliph, now is not the time to lose your temper, but to think about how to regain our dynasty!"

"Yes, Tughril sent people to pay tribute to the Caliph and said he was willing to send troops to help the Caliph get rid of the control of the Daylamites, but we are afraid that he is not a good person either."

"There is a saying in the Song Dynasty: just out of the wolf's den, you enter the tiger's den. Tugril's ambition is not small. What if he is another Delamu person? What should we do?"

Several trusted ministers of the Abbasid Dynasty said this with worried expressions.

No one is a fool.

Is it because Kaim would rather deal with friendly countries than with domestic slaves that he would rather seek help from the envoys of the Song Dynasty than from the Seljuks who are also Sunnis?

of course not.

But Kaim knew very well that if the Daylamites were jackals, then the Seljuks were tigers.

As the saying goes, it is easier to invite a god than to send him away. If the Seljuks are the same as the Daylamites, then he will be like escaping from a wolf's den and falling into a tiger's den.

So what Kaim hopes most is that the Song Dynasty can help him.

But it was obvious that the Song Dynasty would not give up until it saw the rabbit. Many of the conditions he proposed were empty. They rejected them outright and had no intention of helping him at all.

This made Kaim very uncomfortable.

The key point is that the Seljuks didn't care whether he agreed or not. They just sent people to offer tributes and tell him about the matter, and then they sent troops on their own.

Kaim was very worried by this behavior, which showed that he was not taken seriously at all.

"What should I do? Tuglile didn't take me seriously at all. He just sent someone to inform me. I didn't even call him over, but he came on his own."

Kaim said in despair: "It seems that the Abbasid Palace is going to have a new group of people. Before, it was the Daraims, and now it's the Turks. I just don't know if these Turks will do anything excessive again."

"Your Highness, the Caliph."

At this moment, one of the trusted ministers, Wumu, placed his right hand on his chest, bowed and said, "I have something to tell you."

"what's up?"

Kaim was still looking at the tragic situation in the city, his eyes were a little empty and dull.

Wumu said: "I talked to Saladin before, and he said that the Song people also sympathized with us, but because Abu was very friendly to them, they could not go against morality and send troops to help us."

"Oh?"

Kaim came back to his senses and immediately realized something. He turned his head and looked at him with wide eyes and said, "What do you mean?"

Wumu smiled and said, "Now we don't know whether Abu is alive or dead. He has obviously been defeated by the Seljuks. The Buyid family is finished, and the Buyid Dynasty has also perished. The Song people no longer have such a burden."

"That"

Kaim said quickly: "Then send someone to ask the Song people for help."

"No, Caliph."

Another minister, Barzani, quickly stopped him.

"Why?"

Kaim was puzzled.

Barzani said: "In this case, no one knows the true strength of the Song people. If we fail to defeat the Seljuks, we will anger them and the consequences will be disastrous. Secondly, if Tughril does not want to control us and they retreat after defeating the Buyish family, wouldn't it be a waste of time for us to let the Song people fight them? So I think the Song people are our last resort and we can't rush it."

"Well"

Kaim thought it made sense and nodded, “Not bad.”

"In addition, we still need to have a good talk with the Song people. Our previous request for them to send troops to help was too stingy. How could they help us without even a penny?" Barzani said, "I think in addition to the previous conditions, we should also promise benefits to the Song people, at least give them a large amount of gold and silver, so that they will agree to send troops."

"Send troops directly?"

"Of course not. We still have to wait and see how the Seljuks react."

"How do you see their reaction?"

"They will definitely send someone to contact us. Once we are sure that the Seljuks, like the Buyeh family, just want to control us, we will immediately ask the Song people to send troops. This period of time is just right for us to negotiate with the Song people."

"Ah."

Kaim agreed that this was a foolproof plan and said, "Let's do this. Find a way to contact the Song people immediately."

"I'll go."

Wumu said, "I will go around the west of the city. There are fewer Turks there."

"it is good."

Kaim nodded. "If the Seljuks have evil intentions, I will have them raise a black flag on top of the tower. It should be visible in the direction of the port."

"clear."

Umm knew that the Abbasid Palace had the tallest building in the city, a minaret.

Since the Caliph was the leader of the Sunni Muslim sect, the palace was filled with commonly used Islamic buildings, including several minarets, the tallest of which could be seen throughout the city.

Soon, while the Turks had just entered the city and the west gate had not yet fallen, Umm was protected by more than a dozen Abbasid palace guards and left the palace.

Less than a quarter of an hour later, someone came in and said, "Your Highness, the Great Khan of the Seljuks, Tughril, wants to see you."

"Let him in."

Kaim took a deep breath. He knew that this was a critical moment that would determine whether he could regain control of the dynasty.

Even the once huge Abbasid Dynasty was left with only the territory of the Mesopotamian region.

But this fertile land once nurtured many ancient civilizations. If it is carefully governed, given its prestige in the Islamic world, it may be able to make a comeback.

So he calmed himself down, hurried back to the palace, sat on the throne surrounded by his ministers, and waited for Tughril to come in.

After a moment, the sound of hard boots stepping on the floor was particularly harsh. Many guards suddenly rushed in and surrounded the entire palace in three layers. Even the few remaining palace guards of Abbas were forced to retreat by them.

Tughril strode in and walked to the center of the hall. He first looked around, then looked at the middle-aged man sitting on the throne. He smiled slightly, put his right hand on his chest and bowed, saying: "Tughril, I meet the respected Caliph!"

Kaim said calmly, "No need for courtesy, Great Khan."

"Thank you, Caliph!"

Tughril straightened up and looked at Kaim with sharp eyes.

Kaim was intimidated by him and thought of the Song people, so he said again: "I am very happy that the Khan can lead the army to eliminate the heresy of the Buyish family. I will grant you the title of Seljuk Sultan and make you the King of the East!"

King of the East?

Tughril glanced at Kaim with amusement.

The reason he came here this time was, first of all, to communicate with the Caliph Kaim and confirm that he was summoned by the Caliph to attack Baghdad.

Otherwise, without any just cause or cause, the Islamic world would surely rise up against him.

The second reason was to negotiate with the Song people, hoping that the Song would not interfere in their internal affairs in the Middle East.

However, the Song Dynasty was a dangerous place, so he certainly could not go there in person. Therefore, he first went to the Abbasid Palace to meet Kaim, and the Song Dynasty would send an envoy.

If the State of Song agrees to negotiate with them, he will let the people of Song send an envoy to discuss with them. As for the conditions of the Song people, he will agree to them and may even place a trade order.

What Tugliler didn't expect was that he originally thought the second one was the most difficult, but he encountered problems with the first task.

From what Kaim said, it was obvious that he wanted him to withdraw his troops after capturing Baghdad.

Because in the Middle East, people used to call the east of the Mesopotamian River Basin, which later became Iran, Afghanistan, etc., the East, and the west of the Mesopotamian River Basin, which later became Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, etc., the West.

Therefore, conferring the title of King of the East is to tell Tughril that the eastern regions such as Khorasan and Persia that you have conquered can be given to you, but you have to leave the West to me.

After Kaim finished speaking, he did not wait for Tughril to respond and continued: "You are now the greatest Sultan of the empire, the savior and protector of the Abbasid Dynasty. The people of Baghdad are all Abbasids. I hope you can immediately restrain your troops and not harm them."

Tughril grinned, showing his white teeth, and said, "Respected Caliph, I'm sorry I can't obey your command."

"why?"

Kaim felt uneasy.

really.

Tughril said disdainfully: "Because these are all Buyid people, they are all Shia heretics, I must wipe them out and revive our Sunnis!"

"Tugrel!"

Kaim stood up suddenly, pointed at him and shouted angrily: "Do you know what you are doing? Most of the people in the city are Sunnis. How can you kill even your own people?"

"hehe."

Tugril sneered and said, "Respected Caliph, I think you are tired. You can't even distinguish between heretics and your own followers. You have lost your mind after being imprisoned by the Delamites for too long. You should take a rest."

After he finished speaking, he waved his hand and said to the guards behind him: "Help the Caliph return to his bedroom to rest!"

"you"

Kaim clenched his fists.

He knew that his prediction had unfortunately come true. Tughril was not there to save him, but was acting as another member of the Bouveshi family.

Abbas's guards nearby looked at each other and did not dare to stop him.

Seeing the Turks approaching.

Minister Barzani quickly stepped forward to support Kaim and said, "Caliph, you are indeed tired."

He winked at Kaim.

Kaim barely suppressed his anger, and surrounded by several trusted ministers and under the supervision of Turkish guards, he had no choice but to go towards the bedroom.

This can barely be considered to have preserved the Caliph's remaining dignity.

Tugril sneered, looked around, and waved his hand to signal his guards to leave first.

The Abbasid Palace is divided into three layers: inner, middle and outer. The innermost layer is the Kaim's palace and bedroom, as well as some religious buildings such as churches and minarets.

There were still some Abbasid guards in the palace, but not many, only about one or two hundred people.

Tughril knew that one or two hundred people could not cause much trouble, but he still took over both the inner and outer palaces as he had done in the previous Buyid Dynasty and ordered the guards to keep them under control.

In this way, the Abbasid Dynasty would be limited to the inner palace, and all the people outside would be his. He would still only retain the religious status of Kaim, and as for real power, he would forget about it.

What Tughril didn't know was that he had just left the inner palace and arrived at the outer palace, taking control of the palace that was originally from the Buyid Dynasty and waiting for the report from the people sent to the dock.

On the minaret at the highest point of the palace, a black flag was hung at some point, and it was extremely dazzling in the wind.

And after about half an hour.

Wum, who had already arrived at the dock, glanced in the direction of the palace, and then ordered the boatman to row quickly towards the fleet of the Song Dynasty envoys.

He never expected that the Caliph would raise the black flag shortly after he left the palace. It was obvious that the Turks directly controlled the palace and forced the Caliph, which made Umm extremely anxious.

He looked at the dragon flag of the Song Dynasty floating on the Tigris River, gritted his teeth and whispered: "I can only rely on you, Song people, don't let the Caliph down."

The Song Dynasty envoys.

He has become the savior of the Abbasid Dynasty!

(End of this chapter)