Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 281 Egypt Egypt!

Egypt, Egypt...

As soon as the word Egypt was uttered, Richard's attention was drawn to it.

Guy's matter was certainly annoying, but the relationship between Richard and Guy was not that close.

The mob in Tyre certainly needs to be punished, but it seems that there is no rush.

On the contrary, Egypt, Egypt...

Richard naturally did not know the specific situation in Egypt, but he had heard of Egypt's wealth and the fertility of the banks of the Nile River.

It can be said that Egypt supported the prosperity of the Ayyubid dynasty and laid the foundation for Saladin's great achievements.

In the 12th century, Egypt was an important commercial and trade center, located at a hub connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Cairo and Alexandria were important centers of international trade, and luxury goods such as spices, silk, and pottery flowed to Europe and Asia through Egypt.

As for population, it was as high as six million, or even more, at least twice that of England, and most of it was concentrated in the Nile Valley and Delta, making it easier to manage.

Such a rich land has never been good at war and has long been ruled by a minority of foreign factions.

The core of Saladin's army was the Mamluks composed of Turkic and Caucasian slaves, and the main body of the army was heroes from various other Islamic tribes.

As for Egypt’s native population…

Whether it was the Copts or the Arabs who migrated in or converted later, they all behaved quite "docilely".

In other words, no matter who rules Egypt, it seems to be just a castle in the air, a dilapidated house that can be collapsed by just walking up and kicking it lightly.

As long as the previous robber who occupied Egypt could be driven away, another one would naturally be replaced, and the lower-class Egyptians had no objection to this.

Nothing could be more suitable than Egypt. Richard could not help himself when he thought of the great deeds of Alexander the Great.

Just as Anthony said, Saladin's army is now gathering in Palestine, and even the Mamluks, who are the real core of Saladin, have appeared in Jerusalem.

Saladin was like a gambler who had lost all his money and invested all his capital in Jerusalem. For him, losing Jerusalem might mean losing everything.

At this moment, Egypt is completely defenseless...

“Behold, as I have said, there is reserved for you the crown of Alexander; the Lord will set a crown of beauty on your head and give you a diadem of glory.”

As Anthony described, it was as if God had already handed over that ancient country that had existed for thousands of years to Richard.

Richard crossed himself subconsciously.

Conquering Egypt can be said to be his long-cherished ideal. In another timeline, Richard had planned attacks on Egypt many times, but they were all abandoned for some reasons.

There is no better time than now, and if you want to seize Egypt, you will definitely need the cooperation of the Second Kingdom.

Isabella and Gairis launched an attack on Jerusalem from the north of Palestine, tying down Saladin's main force.

He assembled a fleet and broke through the wind and waves to reach the Nile Delta.

……

Balian curled up on his bed. It was not a very luxurious room, but plain and simple in every way.

There was no trace of redness on his pale face, only a look of withered and dead air.

The torture of illness and the festering wounds were strangling this middle-aged man.

"Guy is dead?"

"Yes, the news said he died before he came ashore."

Beside the bed, Gailis held the "old man's" hand, with his palm covering the back of the other's hand.

"If he hadn't left, he wouldn't have died so easily." Balian's voice had become very weak.

"That's true, but he is afraid. He feels that he will die if he stays in Tyre because there are too many people here who want him to suffer."

"Humph... In a panic, he couldn't tell the difference between the important and the unimportant, and he jumped to conclusions. He is just as smart as ever."

Balian was dismissive of Guy's choice.

When it comes to politics, stupid people are often more easily tolerated than capable people.

But a fool is a fool, and he can bring about his own death.

"Those citizens before? You had made arrangements in advance, right?"

“We had a plan, but it was more about going with the flow.”

Given Balian's current condition, Garys would naturally not deliberately hide anything.

For Garys, the citizen riot was naturally not something he had expected.

It can even be said that in the matter of the riot, there was only a coincidence of time.

A year ago, Gérice began to plan to damage Guy's reputation, eliminate his authority, and spread Guy's jokes.

When newspapers appeared, they pointed out Guy's wrong decisions, both overtly and covertly, through columns such as Political Trends.

In this case, all it takes is a spark from an accident to start a big fire.

If there was a lack of spark to ignite the haystack, Garys would provide it himself.

During the riot, those Frank veterans who took the initiative to organize teams and restrain the crowd had naturally received contingency plan drills early on.

Everything is in order amidst chaos; it seems accidental, but in fact it is inevitable.

"What are you going to do with Richard?"

"I offered him Egypt."

"Why? I mean is it necessary?"

For Balian, he had never come into contact with Richard the Lionheart. In his opinion, Richard the Lionheart was essentially just an English prince and a leader of the Crusades.

"It's a similar situation to Eden, but his military strength is much stronger than Eden's."

When Eden was mentioned, Balian actually understood what Garys meant.

This was not the first time they had discussed the future of the kingdom. In past reviews, Gellis had always emphasized one thing.

The Kingdom of Jerusalem was not a normal country, not even in the Middle Ages.

From the outset, the country had no future and the Crusades were doomed to failure.

Because Palestine, this holy land, fell into the hands of Christians, it became a place of war on all sides.

Any sultan with a little ambition would try to retake the holy city, but the surrounding small countries were unable to provide sufficient assistance to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

This country is always in a situation of external expansion or facing threats. There is no hinterland in its small territory, and every town can be a war front.

From 1099 to the present, in the past 90 years, the war has never stopped, the population has only declined, and the economy will eventually decline completely.

For Gellis, being distracted by war is intolerable. If he wants to quickly transform the Kingdom of Jerusalem, he must make corrections in a relatively peaceful situation where he will not be distracted too much by the surrounding areas.

At least, Gellis wanted to ensure that the kingdom's main focus would not be diverted to the military. He was not going to build a Prussian-style military state.

Therefore, in Gellis' plan, both the north and the south need to have relatively stable wings, so that the Palestinian region can be used as the core hinterland, escape from the long-term war, and undergo a transformation centered on the economy and civil affairs.

To the north is Eden, and to the south can naturally be Richard. Without directly ruling more areas, he can reduce his own administrative pressure and avoid direct confrontation with Islamic forces.

Balian continued to gaze at Gellis, and the future of the kingdom seemed promising.

For him, a strong empire is meaningless. He hopes to see the day when the Kingdom of Heaven is no longer a phantom or an empty phrase, just as Baldwin had hoped...

"I can't stay here much longer. Before that, please complete your wedding with Isabella... ahem..."

Gailis did not answer directly, but he knew that this was actually the "old man's" ultimate hope.

He simply nodded, fetched the holy oil, and made the sign of the cross on Balian's palm.

After that, Irakliu pushed the door open and entered the room. When he saw Garys, he didn't say much. Instead, he sat down beside Balian's bed and prayed a few words, looking a little melancholy.

No matter how hostile she was to Balian, she was still of the same generation and had fought side by side.

Iraklius was much older, but it was Balian who went first, which naturally made him feel very sad.

After briefly chatting with Balian, Irakliou once again turned his gaze to Garys, took a few deep breaths, and for a moment he didn't know how to speak.

Compared to a fool like Guy and an outsider like Geoffrey, Iraklius, as a veteran who has led a faction for so many years, how could he not know the real person in charge on Balian's side.

In the long game, he had already lost completely, lost control of various government departments in the kingdom, and was unable to regain control of the land.

At first, he tried to push Humphrey to the ring, but it turned out to be meaningless.

Not only that, as the Patriarch, Iraklius naturally knew about the bits and pieces of information about the Transjordan region and the changes in the Church of Tripoli.

In this situation, it seems unwise to continue to be hostile to Gellis.

Therefore, for nearly a year, Iraklius maintained a rather tacit attitude, trying his best to confine conflicts and contradictions within parliament.

But this was not enough, he was still worried about how Garys would deal with him.

This has nothing to do with whether Gellis is a prophet or not. It is simply a game of power, and the outcome has been decided at this moment.

……

The news of Guy's death made some people happy while others sad. The lower-class Franks naturally applauded, but the top-level Frank nobles looked much more gloomy when they gathered together.

Especially when the news came that Richard the Lionheart chose not to intervene in the matter, the nobles who had originally supported Guy were even more devastated.

Without the Queen Mother of England, they, they really can't even sell out their country!

In the current situation, Iraklius once again convened a meeting of his faction.

Many landless nobles of the Second Kingdom joined Iraklius' faction subconsciously for self-protection.

When they heard that Eraklius had called a meeting, even some nobles who had not been involved in politics in the past came running over.

"My Lord Patriarch, this, this Balian and his men want to kill us all! Guy, His Majesty Guy is gone, how can we have a chance to get our estates back?! I only have such a small estate, how can I survive after losing it!"

The person who spoke was Jocelyn, who, strictly speaking, was a distant relative of Isabella. He was a landless nobleman from the County of Edessa. After coming to Jerusalem, he became the governor of Tyre and even had a manor outside the city.

However, Jocelyn's estate was occupied by Saladin, and now that it has been taken back by the kingdom, the ownership of the estate has become ambiguous.

Iraklius looked at this guy with hatred. When Jocelyn was the steward of Tyre, he had gained a lot of benefits for himself. Not only a few manors outside the city, but also many shops in Tyre, and he had more than thousands of gold and silver in his hands.

There is no question of not being able to survive.

The other nobles who had lost their lands sighed one by one. Their situation was even worse than Jocelyn's. After all, most of their manors or other properties were now located in the area controlled by Saladin.

With the previous experience of Jocelyn, it is clear that the kingdom will not return the recovered manor to them so easily.

Now the kingdom has maintained its attitude, which has made the landless nobles quite crazy. In the past two years, they have tried every possible means.

Don't talk about sending money, sending women, visiting relatives...

Those bumpkins from Transjordan are really stubborn and refuse to give us any information at all.

As for the old-fashioned guy like Balian, he just laughed one after another and didn't mention the manor at all. He just kept emphasizing the annuity of the nobles.

There were also quite a few landless nobles who were absorbed into the royal government because of their culture and rose step by step. However, before they could get in touch with the real core circle, two of them were kicked out.

The reason is simple: they violated departmental rules and regulations and leaked state secrets to unqualified people, so they are not allowed to continue holding their positions.

This immediately confused the group of nobles.

They, are not qualified?!
Is this, this Kingdom of Jerusalem, still the country of their nobles?
If even they are not qualified, then who is qualified!

They could be angry and make a fuss, but they didn't have the courage to take up swords and fight against the kingdom. In the process of war with Saladin, if they did anything out of line, the other side would accuse them of treason without saying a word.

Then they won’t even have the chance to sit here and hold a meeting.

"Everyone here, in my opinion, you may not have a manor in the short term. As for His Majesty Guy, I have discussed the matter with Her Highness Isabella. It was purely an accident... There was absolutely no conspiracy. As for the mob that besieged His Majesty's mansion at that time..."

"I think it's better not to cause trouble for them."

Irak said this with some difficulty.

At one point, many nobles collapsed in their seats, and many of them trembled as they thought about Guy's fate.

(End of this chapter)