Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 269: As the saying goes, it is a coincidence...

Mount Tabor is indeed in a dangerous position. When more than 2,000 Turks surrounded the monastery, they hesitated for a long time in the face of so few monks and did not launch a direct attack.

Now that the Brotherhood occupies this dangerous place, it will be easier to defend than to attack for the Turks.

In this way, both sides can live in peace.

As for Saladin?
The Turks would never tell Saladin that they had troublemakers who they could not deal with.

After all, wouldn't it be embarrassing to tell Saladin that their tribe alone couldn't handle a group of bandits?

Under the tax-farming system, the right to levy taxes was distributed layer by layer, and relatively speaking, the obligation to suppress taxes was also shared layer by layer.

As long as the peasants do not reject the authority of the highest-level lords and are willing to accept their rule, then if the peasants cannot be controlled, it can be seen that the lower-level lords are too useless.

After Alex showed that he was willing to be recruited, he joined the feudal system and expanded his influence in his own tax-farming area.

Today, the Brotherhood's genuine fighters are still the guys who served in the army in Transjordan.

But those families who joined the Brotherhood, in addition to agriculture, began to participate in militia training, just like the system in Transjordan.

One village can gather about twenty young and strong people, and ten villages can gather at least two hundred people.

Although the total number is not large and is far from enough to compete with a hegemon like Saladin, it is enough to attack Nazareth, or expand outward and swallow other tax-farming areas.

In order to develop such a plan, Charles would need to take Alex back to Mount Tabor to communicate with other officers or veterans.

After all, it takes three to make a good man. More people to check for deficiencies and listen to others' suggestions can help avoid unexpected problems during implementation.

However, just when Paladin, the company commander and some men from Bandi village were planning to rush back to the monastery overnight.

At dusk, we suddenly came across many Turks who were also camping at the foot of the mountain.

Alex thought to himself that this was not good and was worried that the Turks were planning a sneak attack. Just when they were planning to change their route to avoid this group of Turks.

The monastery's watchtower on the mountain noticed their arrival and quickly raised a flag to indicate that they were not in danger.

Just when Alex and others were confused about the situation, a young man ran down the mountain and came to them.

While panting, he informed the current situation.

"What? You said that group of Turks were driven out of Nazareth by the Kingdom and came to us for help?!"

For a moment, Alex and Charles looked at each other in silence.

……

Turks are a very peculiar concept. In a sense, Turks cannot refer to a specific ethnic group, but rather a clan system...

It can even refer to all people who use Turkic letters, speak Turkic language, and are influenced by Turkic culture.

The Turks are a nationality, not a Turkic ethnic group.

The Turkic peoples are believed to have originated in the present-day Mongolian Plateau and its surrounding Altai Mountains and Orkhon River basin.

They are representatives of nomadic culture, make grasslands their home, and are good at horse training and archery.

When the Turkic Khanate was divided into Eastern and Western Turkic Khanates, it reached China's northern border in the east and the Caspian Sea in the west.

This also made the westward migration of the Turkic peoples an inevitable trend.

When the Abbasid Dynasty was at its peak, a large number of Islamized Turks were recruited as mercenaries.

In the following 11th century, the Seljuk Turks defeated the Byzantine Empire, took control of Anatolia and Persia, and established the Seljuk Empire.

As a result, the Eastern Empire was forced to ask the Pope for reinforcements due to the loss of large tracts of territory, which led to the outbreak of the Crusades.

It can be said that the Turks in history were initially active in Central Asia. When their religion changed from shamanism to Islam, they began to penetrate into West Asia and the Middle East, and were recruited as Mamluks by Saladin as slaves.

Of course, if you look at Islamic history from a national perspective, it can actually be very interesting.

In a sense, while the Islamic religion changed the Turks, the Abbasid Caliphate also began to become a plaything of the Turks.

As for Egypt, this ancient country with thousands of years of history, after being Islamized and influenced by Arabs, it has long been in a situation of being ruled by a minority.

First, the Shia Fatimid dynasty ruled Egypt, and now the Kurdish Saladin has come to rule Egypt, and the military faction is controlled by the Turkish Emir. As for the Mamluk era that followed, let alone...

Under such circumstances, Saladin was actually very familiar with the Turks, and would naturally use the power of the Turks to rule, suppress, and collect taxes.

As for the Arabs?

Do the Arabs still have any martial virtues at all today?
Probably not.

Fawaz was the chief of a Turkic tribe who relied on his relatives serving in Saladin's army.

Upon hearing that Sultan Saladin had made a big fortune in Palestine, he was overjoyed and migrated with his entire family, intending to settle down in the relatively fertile land of Palestine.

But who would have thought that the Sultan would lose one battle after another just two years after conquering the holy city?
Logically speaking, if you can win, fight; if you can't win, run away. This has been the truth of the Turks since ancient times.

But the situation now is different from the past. The young and strong men in the tribe have certainly been evacuated from Nazareth.

But the women, children and the elderly in the tribe were settled in Jerusalem by Saladin after the defeat in the Battle of Acre not long ago.

They have high emotional intelligence, and their wives and children are all in the rear, avoiding the fighting on the front lines, enjoying the prosperity and wealth of big cities, and living a better life than ever before.

Low emotional intelligence. After the failure of the Battle of Acre, Saladin did not trust the Turks and simply held their tribes hostage.

The news of their abandonment of the land and their escape had just reached Jerusalem not long ago, and Master Saladin sent a messenger on a fast horse, who delivered the order to them within two days, ordering them to recapture Nazareth at all costs.

if not……

Although it was not clearly stated in the letter, Fawaz switched roles, put himself in Saladin's position, and thought about the problem.

Then the answer came.

Otherwise, there would be no need for their Fawaz tribe to sit at the table and eat.

After all, the number of Second Kingdom troops advancing towards Nazareth was only about 300 people at most.

Those with a smaller number could be counted easily by simply pointing at them. The Fawaz tribe wanted to conceal the fact, but they could not resist the military supervisors sent by Saladin who witnessed their battle process with their own eyes.

Their tribe of nearly a thousand people was driven out by the other side's 300 people. What a shame and humiliation!
Knowing that he was in the wrong, Fawaz could only think of ways to get more manpower. He first went to the next door to get some reinforcements, and then came to Tashan in person to pay a visit.

I hope that Alex, considering their friendship over the past two years, can lend a hand to his brother. If nothing else, he can get a few dozen brothers to come over to strengthen our forces and give them a favorable fight.

Of course, to be honest, Fawaz and Alex were not really that familiar with each other.

Therefore, when Charles and Alex suddenly encountered the Turks, they subconsciously wanted to change the route.

Fawaz didn't dare to take his men up the mountain without permission. What if the other party misunderstood and shot arrows at them? Wouldn't that be a big loss?
As a result, the two sides were stuck there, relying on the inefficient exchange of information through the back and forth of messengers.

Things didn't turn around until Alex and Charles, the two people in charge, returned to the foot of Mount Talbot.

Fawaz received the news that Alex had returned to the mountain and was willing to meet him, even though it was late at night.
He climbed up under the stars and the moon, leading his followers.

As for whether Alex would turn against him, he was not worried.

After all, he had hundreds of people at the foot of the mountain, and Alex had to think carefully.

Besides, if Alex wanted to turn against me, what would he want?
As an Orthodox Christian, could he possibly switch sides and join the Catholic Church?

Although it is risky, Fawaz still wants to let Alex see his sincerity in order to gain his conscience.

As we walked up the mountain, we saw many terraced fields.

A lot of grains and vegetables are also planted on these terraces. It can be seen that this group of bandits on Mount Tabor, the so-called Greek Brotherhood, really regards this place as their base. They are a real local force, and all of them are of peasant origin.

It's not uncommon to see farmers working part-time as bandits these days. In troubled times, if you don't master some skills of being a human being, you'll starve to death.

This in turn proves that this group of Greek brotherhoods in the mountains are probably really local bandits.

After all, in those days, no Crusaders were seen farming in peace, let alone a nomadic people like them.

The higher he went, the more terraces he saw, and the more at peace Fawaz felt.

When he reached the top of the mountain, he saw the "grand" monastery complex.

And Alex, who came out personally to greet others at the gate of the monastery.

"Please come in, please come in... You came all the way here, why didn't you inform me in advance? If you knew, why would you come in person?"

Alex was very moved by all the polite words he had learned from doing business in the past two years. He thought that they were brothers on the Tower Mountain and had a close relationship with each other.

When the neighboring Turkic tribes heard that he had lost Nazareth, they all looked displeased, as if they wanted to control him.

He is not as friendly as Alex, the leader of the fraternity.

Alex personally took Fawaz and his group to visit the monastery.

During this process, Fawaz and his companions saw with their own eyes that Alex was ordering the monks in the monastery around like slaves, making these Catholic monks run around and prepare the banquet.

Only when he saw this scene did Fawaz feel truly relieved.

After all, Alex treated the Catholic monks like this, so he would never sell him to the Crusaders just for the sake of Christian sentiment.

After everyone was seated, the big boss Alex sat in the first seat, with the second boss Charles on his left, and the third boss sat on the right of the big boss.

Fawaz sat side by side with Alex, although this was somewhat inappropriate given their status.

But Fawaz is not a person who pays attention to red tape, so he naturally will not delve into this matter too deeply. After all, he is the one who needs help now.

Alex clapped his hands, and sumptuous dishes were passed up by the Catholic monks with bitter faces.

It was during this drinking and chatting that Fawaz made his request in person. After hearing it, Alex looked embarrassed.

"grown ups……"

"Don't call me sir. I'm a few years older than you. Just call me buddy."

Fawaz seemed particularly easy to talk to.

Alex naturally followed the other party's words and shouted, "Brother, do you want me to help you fight the Crusade?"

"Yes, that's it."

"But, I am more or less a Christian, so this is not appropriate."

Hearing Alex's words, Fawaz frowned and thought to himself that it was true.

Although I heard that the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church were not on good terms, I also heard that Lord Saladin had formed an alliance with the Roman Emperor.

But they all believe in some Messiah, which makes them enemies to some extent.

"Then what do you think we should do? I have nowhere to go. Saladin has issued strict orders. You don't know how fiercely those Crusaders fought."

"Don't think that the Crusaders only brought 300 people, but somehow they were able to make a thunderous sound. Although someone told me that it was called artillery and it was no big deal, I just couldn't do anything for the time being!"

Alex quietly extracted information from Fawaz. In recent times, their contact with Tyre had been severely cut off, and they had not received any orders from Tyre for a long time.

Apart from knowing that the kingdom had recaptured Acre, many details are unclear.

Although Fawaz is not Saladin's confidant, as a tribal chief, the level of information he can access is higher than his.

After all this chatter, Alex and Charles finally understood the current situation.

No matter how loud Fawaz's boasting is, in the opinion of Alex and the others, the simple answer is that the rabbit's tail cannot grow long!
But they were still a little hesitant about whether to take down Fawaz directly.

It was not until Favaz said that he planned to borrow a few hundred soldiers from the neighboring tribe, and add a few hundred people from the Greek Brotherhood to gather two thousand troops to wipe out the "pagan Crusaders" that Alex and Charles made a decision in their hearts - this man must be kept!

"Brother, don't look down on our Brotherhood. We have occupied this holy mountain of Catholicism and used Catholic monks as slaves. But this holy mountain is also the holy mountain of our Orthodox Church!"

"Brother, the reason why I have some influence among the Greeks and can recruit hundreds of people from various villages is because of the reputation of the Holy Mountain, right?"

"But the Orthodox Church, even if it has gone astray, is still a brother of the same clan, this..."

After hearing this, Fawaz nodded repeatedly.

He had also heard about the status of Mount Tabor in Christianity. Even in Islam, it actually has some status.

After all, this Jesus is also the prophet Isa of Islam. How could the place where Isa performed miracles be uncommon?

As a religious holy place, even if there are few pilgrims these days, it is easy to establish prestige among believers and thus expand its influence.

In Fawaz's opinion, the reason why Alex emphasized this point was that he wanted to shirk responsibility. After all, bullying Catholic monks is one thing, but rashly participating in a holy war against fellow monks would somewhat damage his reputation.

"so……"

Alex stretched out his voice at the end, leaving the audience in suspense.

"So what?"

"You have to pay more!"

Alex answered decisively.

"Hey, no problem!"

Fawaz couldn't help but sneer at Alex's attitude. Why did he say so much?

After all, it's all about money.

"Look, there are two tax districts nearby, totaling thirteen villages. After this is done, they will all belong to you!"

Alex didn't hesitate and spoke righteously.

"How can this be possible! They are Crusaders!"

"Then, from now on, I will reduce your tax by 20%?"

Alex looked a little kinder, but still emphasized the various objective difficulties.

After such a back-and-forth, both sides finally decided on a plan to send troops.

According to the agreement between the two parties, the Greek Brotherhood must at least send out 500 people to assist the Turks in defeating the Frankish pagans.

Moreover, Fawaz also promised that after Nazareth was recaptured, he would help Alex to gain credit, and when he met Master Saladin again, he would say a few good words to him. It was possible that he would be granted the title of Lord of Iqta in the future!

In response, Alex and Charles naturally laughed in agreement, and then started eating and drinking together.

……

On the other hand, Garys and others who led their troops into Nazareth, in addition to stabilizing the place, had to perform many religious shows.

In the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Gellis acted as the head of Cyprus and the lord of Tripoli.

But even so, there is still a lot that people don't know about Garys.

Therefore, Gellis needed to demonstrate his piety and show that he was a brother of the Christian faith in the city of Nazareth.

Then there are certain small "miracles" that suggest to the Nazarene dignitaries who accompany Gérice on his visit to the Church of the Annunciation that Gérice is trustworthy.

In the Christian world, many churches have a special status, and those related to Christ the Messiah are even more important.

The Church of the Annunciation is one of them. This church is closely related to the Annunciation event in the Bible. It is a holy place for Catholics and Orthodox Christians, attracting pilgrims from all over the world.

According to the New Testament, Luke (1:26-38), the angel Gabriel came to Mary on God's orders to tell her that she would be conceived by the Holy Spirit and give birth to the Savior Jesus Christ. This event is called "Annunciation."

Tradition holds that it was in Nazareth that the angel gave Mary this message.

To commemorate this event, the Church of the Annunciation was built.

Every year on March 3th, the Feast of the Annunciation, the church holds a grand mass and celebration.

It is necessary to point out that there are multiple churches of the Annunciation in Nazareth.

If you travel to Nazareth in the 21st century, you will see dozens of monasteries and churches, including 18 churches of the Annunciation, which are recognized holy places by various Christian denominations.

Among them, it is worth mentioning that the Catholic Church of the Annunciation occupies the position mentioned in the four orthodox gospels, while the Eastern Orthodox Church of the Annunciation occupies the position mentioned in the apocryphal Gospel of James.

[She took her jar and went out to draw water. Then a voice said to her, "Hello, you who are blessed! The Lord is with you; you are blessed among women."]

——The Gospel of James

At the end of the 12th century, there were naturally not that many churches in Nazareth, but Gellis still needed to visit them one by one.

In fact, the first church that Garys visited was not a Catholic one, but he went directly to the Orthodox Church of the Annunciation.

In later times, 99.8% of the city of Nazareth was populated by Arabs.

But in this era, nearly half of the population in Nazareth were Greek-speaking Orthodox Christians.

Gellis, along with Mono and the Paladins, accompanied by representatives from the city of Nazareth, left the town and walked a distance to the northeast.

There they saw a small fountain, and behind the fountain was a small underground church.

Everyone made the sign of the cross, because this was said to be the place where Jesus, the heavenly brother, often drew water.

The morning sun shone on everyone's faces, and the flat ground outside the hall was shrouded in warm light.

The wind blew gently, raising the fine sand on the ground, and the earth was listening quietly.

A Frank with light blond hair stood on the stone steps, the sunlight stretched his figure slender, his face illuminated by the morning light with the glory of heaven.

He raised his hands and his voice pierced the silent air:
"Brothers and sisters, today we stand in this holy place to remember that Our Lady accepted God's call here. Her words, 'May it be done to me according to your word,' became the starting point for the liberation of our lives."

"Our Lady's obedience was not a submission to oppression, but a response to God's justice. It was in this land that God revealed his will - to free the prisoners and heal the brokenhearted."

The wind picked up again, bringing with it the scent of distant fields, and murmurings of “Amen” were heard from the crowd.

The Paladins and Orthodox believers were either enthusiastic or silent in the face of Gairis's preaching.

Gellis' voice gradually became louder:
"We come here not only to pray, but also to respond to God's call! Like the Virgin Mary, we want to make God's will come true: no more hungry people, no more trampled people, no more crying people!"

"God became man not for the rich and powerful, but for the poor, the oppressed and the lonely. His Gospel is for all who are lost, for the liberation of those who suffer!"

"As Our Lady said to God here: 'May it be done to me according to your word', we too must respond to God's call. Let us pray together for the renewal of this land and for the freedom of all the oppressed."

The crowd gradually turned from silence to a murmur of prayer. Gailis led the crowd in shouting: "Lord, may your justice come like the morning sun, and may your mercy fall like rain on this dry land!"

The Paladins responded: "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth!"

Just at this moment, several white pigeons flew across the sky and then landed on the eaves of the church. Many of them pecked at the eaves and then turned their heads to look at everyone.

It was at this moment that Gailis's figure became slightly illusory, and a sound of thunder was heard in the darkness behind him.

“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

“This is my Son, the one I have chosen; listen to him!”

For a moment, the Paladins were still fine, but the other Nazarenes who came with them looked at each other in panic.

This should have been just a pure show, how could this happen!

(End of this chapter)