Usurpation of Mongolia: My father-in-law is Genghis Khan

Chapter 255 The world is shaken, the emperor of all mankind!
One month later, in Karakorum, the capital of the Great Mongol Empire, at the Wan'an Palace.

"Roland, the messenger of Pope Gregory IX, who is above God and above all people in the world, pays homage to the great and noble Khan of the Great Mongol Empire."

Boom boom boom!
The papal envoy, Laurent, knelt respectfully before Ögedei Khan and kowtowed three times.

Laurent is so sickeningly sweet.

Their entourage of forty-seven messengers came to Karakorum to meet the Great Khan of the Mongols, to deliver a personal letter from the Pope, and to present the Great Khan with four pure and beautiful lambs.

As a result, upon entering the inn in Helin City, they were required to step across the open space between two braziers. Next to each brazier stood a long spear, and between the two spears hung a piece of cloth.

Laurent and others had to bend over to pass under the cloth.

According to the Mongols, this was to cleanse the Western envoys of their impurities, lest their bad luck offend the Great Mongol Khan.

What a foul smell!
The Pope's messenger, all evils flee, what filth can taint him?
Roland and the others felt deeply humiliated, but in order to complete the task given to them by the Pope, they compromised.

Then, they suffered even more humiliation.

The Mongols required them to kowtow three times when meeting Ögedei Khan.

In fact, Mongolian etiquette was rather rough, and there weren't so many rules during Genghis Khan's reign.

However, Ögedei Khan lacked sufficient authority, and on the advice of his Right Chancellor, He Nianchongshan, he established many new rules, one of which was the custom of kowtowing three times when meeting the Great Khan.

Laurent and others represented the Pope.

By paying such a grand salute to Ögedei, didn't they signify that the esteemed Pope of Rome had submitted to Ögedei?
Laurent immediately became anxious and said that there was no such etiquette in the West, and he could not comply.

If he didn't obey, so be it. The Mongols didn't make things difficult for him; they just didn't give him food, only water.

Left with no other option, Laurent compromised. He said he would only kneel down without kowtowing, but as compensation, he could kiss Ögedei's boots.

Ögedei felt disgusted and refused the exchange.

Today, Laurent finally compromised completely and paid homage to Ögedei with the three kowtows.

In truth, Ögedei Khan had been in a bad mood ever since his eldest son's western expedition. Besides his deteriorating health and fear of not living much longer, he felt increasingly incapacitated. Unable to enjoy the company of beautiful women, his drinking became even more unrestrained.

Unfortunately, at this time, a rumor suddenly spread among the Mongol Oirat tribe that Ögedei Khan was preparing to plunder beauties from the grasslands to bring into the palace.

The people of the Oirat tribe, fearing that their sisters and daughters would fall into a pit of fire, hurriedly betrothed their unmarried girls, without even asking for dowries or holding banquets.

Ögedei was furious: "I have already confessed to causing Tolui's death by issuing a decree of self-reproach. How can you pin the blame on me for something I didn't intend to do?"

Oh, this Oirat tribe is under Temuge's command.

When I ascended to the throne, Temuge was jumping around, ostensibly for Tolui, but actually to build momentum for himself.

Now that you think I'm doomed, you're starting to cause trouble again, aren't you?
Therefore, Ögedei dispatched a large army to surround the Oirat tribe, summoning back all the married women and gathering them together with the women over seven years old who had not yet married.

Then, he ordered his army to brutally rape these women, and four beautiful young girls, "as beautiful as the moon," died on the spot.

Ögedei also ordered that the women's fathers and husbands watch from the sidelines and not be allowed to cry!

Not only that, Ögedei's anger had not subsided, so he ordered these women to be sent to the palace, the homes of meritorious officials, or even randomly to passing men, according to their appearance. In the end, all the remaining women were sold into brothels, and those who were too ugly were sold directly to distant places as slaves.

Although Ögedei's anger subsided considerably after this battle, his reputation was now infamous for miles around on the steppe.

How could Ögedei Khan be in a good mood?
These Western envoys argued for several days over whether or not to kowtow to him three times, which infuriated Ögedei Khan.

Now, the Western envoy's statement, "Under God, above all others," has touched a raw nerve!

Of course, Ögedei was, after all, the Great Khan of the Mongols, and there was no reason for him to argue with the envoy. He immediately looked at the Left Chancellor Zhenhai, who was sitting next to him.

Zhenhai understood, stood up, snorted coldly, and said, "What do you mean by 'below God and above all others'? The territory of my Great Mongol Khan stretches from the coast of the sea in the east to the Caspian and Black Seas in the west, from North India in the south to the far north, covering an area of ​​over 40,000 li, and has more than a million armored soldiers under my command!"

"Your Pope, can he possibly rule a land comparable to that of the Great Khan? And how many armies does your Pope command? You are truly like frogs in a well, utterly laughable!"

The papal envoy Laurent spoke Latin, while Zhenhai spoke Mongolian. But that didn't matter; Ögedei Khan had many talented people around him, so naturally there were translators.

After listening to the translator finish speaking, Laurent said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "What you are saying is the principle between people. What I am saying is the principle between God and man. In the past, Almighty God entrusted the authority of the Church of the End Times to St. Peter I and his successors. I, the Pope of Rome, am naturally the first person under God. Now, I have a letter in my hand personally written by the Pope, which I request the Great Khan of the Mongols to read."

"Send it up!"

Two guards stepped forward, carefully examined the letter, and then handed it to the interpreters.

The interpreters translated the Latin text into Mongolian, making twenty-three copies, which were then given to the Mongol Great Khan Ögedei, and to the Mongol officials Zhenhai and Henian Chongshan, who were present at the time.

The letter began exactly as Roland had said: the Pope proclaimed himself "below God, above all others."

In this letter, the Pope first recounted the story of the Son of God atoning for humanity's sins and then ascending to heaven. He then briefly introduced the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church.

Then, he accused the Mongols of excessive killing during their westward conquests, which greatly shocked the Roman Catholic Church. The Pope declared that he represented both the Roman Catholic Church and the nations of Europe, and wished to uphold God's will to build peace. He stated that he was willing to maintain peace with the Mongols as long as they did not slaughter God's people when attacking the countries of the true gods.

Finally, the Pope added a threatening tone: God may occasionally spare the proud, but if such a person does not repent and turn to good, God will not only punish them in this life, but will also inflict even greater punishment in the next.

When Ögedei read this letter, he almost burst out laughing.

Zhenhai burst out laughing, saying, "The Roman Catholic Church loves peace? If I didn't know what the Crusades did during the six Crusades, I almost would have believed it. When you were in power, were you perhaps more merciful to the followers of the True God Church than we Mongols were?"

Laurent did not want to argue with the Mongols on this issue.

The Crusades also dealt a heavy blow to the people of God.

The reason they didn't cause as much bloodshed among the Mongols wasn't because they didn't want to, but simply because they couldn't.

Laurent merely changed the subject, saying, "In short, the Pope sent us to see the Great Khan of the Mongols with his personal letter and presented him with four pure and beautiful lambs. This is enough to show his sincerity. I wonder what the Great Khan intends to do?"

"It should be noted that the Mongol Empire is not united; each of the five factions has its own power. Now that the eldest sons of the five factions are leading an expedition against the countries of the True God Cult, I'm afraid victory is not guaranteed."

Ögedei replied nonchalantly, “How can victory be guaranteed? In the Battle of Baghdad, our Mongol army annihilated the allied forces of the True God religion.”

"But the allied forces of the European nations are also advancing towards the Latin Empire and the Romanian Empire (Eastern Roman Empire). Although the main force of the True God nations has been lost, their territories are vast and their fortified cities are numerous. If we assist the True God nations, the eldest son of the Great Mongol Empire's westward expedition will likely return empty-handed."

"This……"

Ögedei Khan didn't know whether Laurent's words were true or false. Did the European nations truly send a united army, or were they merely making empty threats? If it was false, that would be best.

If true, the eldest son's western expedition has already been divided among his troops.

If the European-Roman coalition were to suddenly intervene in this battle, it would pose a significant problem for the eldest son's westward expedition.

What to do now?

Should they refuse outright, or stall for time and see what happens? Or even feign agreement to the Pope's request for peace, only to break the treaty after destroying the nations of the true God religion?
Ögedei hesitated.

At this moment--

Deng Deng Deng~~
With a series of hurried footsteps, a Kheshig soldier rushed in from outside the palace, bowed deeply, and said, "Reporting to the Great Khan, a letter from the Crown Prince has arrived!"

"Quick! Show it to me."

"Yes."

Ögedei took the letter and read it through, his face revealing neither joy nor anger. He said to Roland, "This letter is a personal letter from my eldest son, Güyük. It contains the latest military intelligence on the western expedition of the Khans' eldest sons. Papal Envoy, do you know the specific details of the western expedition?"

"Uh... I don't know."

"I won't talk about the others, but let's just talk about Zhao Shuohan's eldest son, Zhao He. He was in charge of conquering the Ayyubid dynasty. Now, he has not only taken Syria, the Sinai Desert, and the Nile Delta in Lower Egypt, but also annihilated the main force of the Ayyubid dynasty in the Battle of the Pyramids, and Cairo has surrendered."

"Afterwards, the followers of True God in Cairo rebelled. Zhao He easily quelled the rebellion, and used the 600,000 corpses collected during the suppression to build a pyramid!"

"so……"

After a pause, Ögedei stood up abruptly and said solemnly, "I, the Khan, reject the Pope's proposal for peace!"

"Ah! No way!"

Laurent is now completely panicked.

He certainly knew why Ögedei Khan rejected the Pope's proposal for peace.

Now that Zhao He has advanced into Cairo, he is blocking the way between Upper and Lower Egypt. If necessary, he can completely disregard Upper Egypt and divert troops to support the Mongol army attacking the Sultanate of Rum, thus confronting the European army.

How many people can the European army send in such a short time?

Now that Zhao He has acquired most of the Ayyubid dynasty and joined forces with other Mongol armies, the Western coalition will not only remain inactive, but if they do, they will definitely not fare well!

And, six hundred thousand people!

They just killed him like that?
This shows that Zhao He is extremely powerful and is not afraid of killing too many people and provoking the anger of the local true god's people!
To be honest, Laurent was completely bewildered just hearing the number 600,000.

It's hard to say whether a medium-sized country in Europe even has 600,000 people.

Zhao He just killed him without warning?
This is too cruel!
In the blink of an eye, a fine layer of cold sweat appeared on his forehead, and his previous humble yet arrogant attitude completely vanished.

Boom boom boom!
Laurent kowtowed three times to Ögedei again and said, "I understand the Khan's meaning. However, I am, after all, a lowly messenger. Could you personally write a letter to the Pope expressing your stance?"

"Hmph, the mere Pope of Rome dares to presume to write a letter in my own hand? You're as good as dead!"

"exist!"

"You write a letter to the Pope in Rome on my behalf, and I will use the imperial seal."

"According to the order."

Although Right Chancellor Zhe Nian Chongshan was not as trusted by Ögedei as Left Chancellor Zhenhai, he was quite skilled in writing. Ögedei decided to entrust this task of writing the letter to Zhe Nian Chongshan.

The difficulty in this letter lies in Ögedei's self-designation.

The Pope already calls himself "second only to God and above all others," so if Ögedei Khan were to call himself "Great Mongol Khan," wouldn't that lose a bit of prestige?
After a moment's thought, He Jin Chongshan had already made up his mind.

In the style of Ögedei Khan, he wrote a letter to the Pope in Rome with swift, flowing strokes of his pen.

"The Emperor of all mankind, the master of all the lands on earth, declares to the Pope of Rome: Your messenger arrives with your letter, his words extremely arrogant. He claims our killings have been excessive. Do you not know that we are commanded by the Eternal Heaven to rule over all living beings on earth? Those who dare to resist will be utterly exterminated. Europe and the Roman Catholic Church are no exception. Therefore, I hereby command your Pope to offer up all the lands, people, castles, and wealth of Europe, and to personally come to pay homage. Otherwise, only the Eternal Heaven knows the consequences!"

After reading the letter drafted by Hencheng Chongshan, Ögedei was very satisfied and immediately affixed the seal of the Great Khan of the Mongols.

Then, he ordered someone to write another copy in Latin, which was also sealed.

Both letters were given to Laurent.

"The emperor of all...all mankind, the master of all the lands in the world?"

When Laurent saw Ögedei's self-identification in the letter, a chill ran through him.

This Mongol Khan actually wants to be the emperor of all mankind!
I'm afraid the European countries are in for a rough time.

Whether there will still be European countries in the future, no one can say for sure; perhaps only God knows!
However, Ögedei's feelings were somewhat different from what Laurent had imagined.

Today, he was very satisfied with the title that Henjie Chongshan had given him: "Emperor of all mankind, master of all lands in the world."

It is likely that future historical records will also record this event in great detail.

But how long?

Will his title of "Emperor of all mankind and Master of all lands" be passed down smoothly?
Guyuk and Mu'atugan's attack on the Arabian Peninsula did not go smoothly due to the numerous deserts.

Zhao He, however, was about to conquer all of Egypt. He even used 600,000 human heads to build a pyramid, proclaiming his achievements!

If only Güyük had Zhao He's abilities! After Ögedei's death, Güyük would surely have smoothly taken over the throne of the Mongol Great Khan and become the new "Emperor of all mankind".

It just so happens that Zhao Shuo is so powerful, and his son Zhao He is so outstanding!

This is a big problem.

"Eternal Heaven! The title of Emperor of all mankind must one day fall upon Gyuyou's head. It must never fall upon Zhao Shuo or Zhao He!"

Ögedei prayed silently.

(End of this chapter)