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

Chapter 280 The largest kingdom in history, the Zhao Shuo Khanate, is united as one!
In the blink of an eye, it was already March of 1238.

Just as newspapers in Zhao Shuohan's country were abuzz with discussions about which country to conquer first, three major events occurred.

Firstly, the Latin Empire and the Romanica Empire were formally incorporated into the imperial territory. Crown Prince Zhao He expanded the empire's territory by another four thousand miles, and these were prosperous and populous regions!

This was a completely unexpected surprise.

Originally, according to Zhao Shuo and Zhao He's original plan, the construction of the Huju Qin Jiushao Canal would likely have resulted in extreme exploitation and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in Egypt, Syria, and the Arab region.

Therefore, it is commendable that Zhao He was able to maintain stability in this vast region, and there is no need to continue waging war against the west.

But didn't Shi Songzhi go to Egypt to assist Zhao He?

This man was not only a peerless prime minister in the Song Dynasty, but also had the strongest desire for fame and fortune. After assisting Zhao He in conquering the Arabian Peninsula, he always wanted to make even greater contributions.

How can one achieve merit without resorting to violence?
Shi Songzhi set his sights on the Latin Empire.

More than thirty years ago, during the Fourth Crusade, the Crusaders, unable to defeat the nations of the Protestant Church, turned their attention to the Eastern Roman Empire, which also adhered to the Roman Catholic Church. They captured Constantinople and established the Latin Empire.

The remnants of the Eastern Roman Empire established the Romanica Empire in the eastern part of the former Eastern Roman Empire, between the Sultanate of Rum and the Latin Empire.

What's this?

The Pope was furious and excommunicated the Latin Empire.

However, the threat from the Mongols later became too great, and the Pope withdrew his decree, pardoning the Latin Empire, which greatly displeased the Romanica Empire.

Instead, they canceled the engagement between their own princess, Maria Raskalina, and the Hungarian prince, and instead married Maria Raskalina to Zhao Shuo as a concubine.

From then on, the Zhao Shuo Khanate supplied weapons to the Romanian Empire to fight against the Latin Empire. The Romanian Empire, in turn, ensured the smooth passage of the Black Sea straits, and the two sides cooperated relatively well.

Besides the Romanica Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire had two other remnants: the Trabison Empire and the Duchy of Epirus, which were located around the Latin Empire, though much weaker than the Romanica Empire.

Under the siege of these three remnants of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Latin Empire declined day by day.

Unfortunately, the last two rulers of the Latin Empire were both mediocre, suffering heavy defeats abroad and having no ability to manage finances domestically, even failing to pay military salaries.

If history had unfolded as it should have, Baldwin II, the ruler of the Latin Empire at this time, would have begun traveling throughout Europe seeking economic aid. It was precisely for this reason that the Latin Empire earned the humiliating title of "the beggar's empire."

Despite the humiliation, Baldwin II eventually obtained some wealth, prolonging the life of the Latin Empire. It wasn't until more than forty years later that the Latin Empire was conquered by the Romanians, and the Eastern Roman Empire was successfully restored.

However, at this time, Europe mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops and fought a stalemate with Guyuk. Money was being spent like water, so why would it be willing to provide financial assistance to the Latin Empire?
Without money, how can you pay the soldiers' salaries and get them to fight for their lives?

The Latin Empire was in dire straits.

Shi Songzhi felt this was an opportunity.

Today, the only thing the Latin Empire could rely on was the world-famous city of Constantinople.

This city is not only surrounded by the sea on three sides, but also protected by two walls. The first wall is eleven li long, and the second wall is nine li long, both built of huge stones, making it extremely easy to defend and difficult to attack.

However, if a direct attack is not feasible, a sneak attack is preferable!
The Latin Empire is currently unable to pay its soldiers, and morale is extremely low, making it the perfect time for a surprise attack!
When Zhao He conquered Egypt, he first sent Hairig to lead troops in a surprise attack on the Egyptian port of Damyat, capturing a large number of Egyptian naval forces and warships. Then, he used these naval forces and warships to transport supplies and troops, ravaging the Nile Delta.

Although these Egyptian naval forces were not strong, at that time, wasn't the navy transporting a large number of immigrants from Jiangnan to Egypt?

The navy, under the banner of the Red Flag, landed at the port of Qusay in western Egypt, near the Red Sea, and joined Zhao He's navy at the port of Damyat in northern Egypt. With them as the backbone, a navy with considerable combat power was formed.

Then, they could disguise themselves as a fleet of Genoese merchants, sail through the Mediterranean, and launch a surprise attack on Constantinople.

The Hu-Qin-Jiu-Shao Canal is still under construction. If the navy's warships, flying the Plain Red Flag, want to attack Constantinople, they must round the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and pass through the Strait of Gibraltar to enter the Mediterranean Sea. This is equivalent to circling the entire continent of Africa and half of Europe. By then, the whole world will know that a surprise attack will be impossible.

The navy, under the red flag, landed on shore, joined the Egyptian local fleet, and sailed directly into the Mediterranean from the port of Damyat, thus perfectly solving the problem.

Zhao He agreed to Shi Songzhi's suggestion.

Thus, the navy, under the standard of red, launched a surprise attack on Constantinople, officially ending the Latin Empire.

The three remnants of the Eastern Roman Empire were originally the Latin Empire to the west, the Sultanate of Rum to the east, the Jochi Khanate across the Black Sea to the north, and the Ayyubid Dynasty across the Mediterranean Sea to the south.

Now, Batu has pacified the Sultanate of Rum, and Zhaohe has occupied the Latin Empire and the Ayyubid Dynasty. These three countries are now surrounded by the Great Mongol Empire.

Even if Zhao Shuo is temporarily unable to deal with them, there is still Batu, who kills without blinking an eye. Batu has erected countless skull towers in the Sultanate of Rum, which truly terrifies them.

Therefore, the question facing the three Eastern Roman states now is not whether to surrender, but which country to surrender to.

Among the three kingdoms, the Romanica Empire was the strongest, and it also had a familial relationship with Zhao Shuo through Princess Maria Rascalina, so it proposed to surrender to Zhao He.

Thus, everything from east of the Antioch River in Asia to the Thracian plain in Europe came under the control of the Zhao Shuo Khanate.

Become!

Since the Tibetan Empire submitted to China, the Chinese region of the Zhao Shuo Khanate has been connected by land with the northern Indian subcontinent, Khorasan, Afghanistan, and Persia.

The Persian region is separated from the Arabian Peninsula by the Persian Gulf.

The Arabian Peninsula connects Syria and Egypt.

Egypt was connected to the Latin Empire and the Nicaean Empire via the Mediterranean Sea.

The Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea are connected.

Around the Black Sea, there were three territories of the Zhao Shuo Khanate: West Rus', Georgia, and the former Latin Empire and Nicaea Empire.

From this moment forward, the Zhao Shuo Khanate is now fully connected by waterways!
When the news spread, the discussions in the newspapers about which country to attack next came to an abrupt halt, and they began to write extensively about the territory of the Zhao Shuo Khanate.

Neither the powerful Han and Tang dynasties of China, nor the Mongol Empire established by Genghis Khan before his death, can compare to it.

Thus, the largest country in history was born!

The news caused a sensation throughout the country.

The people, influenced by the newspapers, felt a sense of pride.

The civil officials took the initiative to submit petitions, requesting to go to the former Latin Empire and the three Eastern Roman Empires to pacify the local areas.

Shi Songzhi's contribution is truly immense, and he will likely be included in the list of thirty-six, which makes them very envious!
The military officers volunteered to lead their own households to the west to relieve the troops.

The reasons are, of course, perfectly legitimate.

The soldiers of the eldest son's western expedition have been fighting in the west for six or seven years. They have worked too hard and deserve to return to the beautiful world of the Central Plains to rest and recuperate.

Let us bear the hardships of expanding our territory on the frontier!
Such noble character! However, a second major event followed immediately.

Crown Prince Zhao He is getting married.

In Egypt, Zhao He and Shi Songzhi worked together happily, and Shi Songzhi took the opportunity to offer his two daughters, Shi Rouqing and Shi Huiqing, to Zhao He.

Zhao He wasn't particularly obsessed with women. Moreover, although he had never married, he had quite a few stunning beauties among them, including Han Chinese, Mongols, Persians, Khitans, Uyghurs, Koreans, Seljuks, and beautiful girls from the West.

However, Shi Songzhi's two daughters, especially Shi Rouqing, still gave Zhao He, who was used to seeing stunning beauties, a strong sense of amazement.

No wonder the Shi sisters were famous in Lin'an, and Zhao Yun repeatedly asked them to enter the palace. However, Shi Songzhi really didn't think highly of Zhao Yun's future and firmly refused.

Faced with such a beautiful woman, it would be hard for Zhao He not to be tempted.

Therefore, Zhao He wrote a letter to Zhao Shuo, requesting that Shi Rouqing be made the Crown Prince's wife and Shi Huiqing the concubine.

Regarding the selection of the Crown Prince's wife, Zhao Shuo had originally considered the Shi sisters and Zhang Rou's daughter.

Since Zhao He was willing to take Shi Rouqing as his heir apparent's wife, Zhao Shuo agreed.

He decreed that Zhao He would temporarily entrust the military and political affairs of the West to Shi Songzhi, Hairige, and Shi Tianze.

Zhao He, Queen Rusudan, and his sixth brother Zhao Mu went to Zhongdu to hold a grand wedding, taking Shi Rouqing as the Crown Prince's wife and Shi Huiqing and Zhang Rou's daughter as the Crown Prince's concubine.

Zhao Mu is the son of Zhao Shuo and Georgian Queen Rusdan.

Although Zhao Shuo sent an official to Georgia to serve as prime minister, he never actually saw this son after he grew up.

Queen Rusdan, it's been a long time since I've seen her.

This is a good opportunity to meet Queen Rusdan and her son. Zhao Shuo plans to let them stay in Zhongdu for five years, to immerse themselves in Chinese culture, before returning to Georgia.

In addition, with Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi falling into Zhao Shuo's hands, Zhao Shuo also established three more Eight Banners households.

Zhao Shuo now commands 32 Han army commanders.

In addition to the troops stationed in the recently pacified Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Syria, as well as the Latin Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire, there were fourteen Semu (Central Asian) households.

Zhao Shuo issued an edict that all the heads of these 460,000 households should come to Zhongdu to attend the Crown Prince's wedding.

After careful consideration, the court can also select a number of key civil officials from various regions to attend the Crown Prince's wedding in Zhongdu.

A grand wedding is about to be held in Zhongdu.

The third major event was that, after two years of preparation, Zhao Shuo's national bank officially opened simultaneously in all the major cities above the prefecture level throughout the region.

This bank differed from banks in later generations, primarily offering two services: currency exchange and remittance.

We will definitely need to develop loan business in the future, but there are too many drawbacks to loans, and Zhao Shuo doesn't have enough talent at the moment. Therefore, Zhao Shuo decided to pilot the loan business gradually over the next few years.

The bank's exchange service is also very simple. You bring real money to the bank, and the bank will exchange it for gold and silver coins.

Gold and silver coins were divided into three types. One type was a silver coin with a value of one mace of silver, which was used by ordinary people for daily use.

The other two are a one-yuan silver coin and a one-yuan gold coin, with a value of one tael of silver and one tael of gold respectively.

However, the exchange rate between silver coins and gold coins was not fixed.

After all, the Zhao Shuo Khanate was vast, and the gold-silver exchange rate varied across different regions. If a fixed currency value were established, merchants could easily engage in arbitrage through banks, which would be counterproductive.

Of course, gold and silver coins can also be exchanged for gold and silver at banks.

This business only earns 10% of the seigniorage, which doesn't sound like much money. However, 10% of all the gold and silver in the entire Zhao Shuo Khanate is still a considerable fortune.

Moreover, gold and silver coins issued by banks are absolutely impossible to counterfeit because of the high-tech anti-counterfeiting technology of gears. Their value is stable, and they can be used to pay taxes without loss, making them very popular among the military and civilians.

A 5% handling fee will be charged for remittances.

In fact, the West already had bills of exchange during this era.

One of the core driving forces was that merchants from the city-states of northern Italy (such as Venice, Genoa, and Florence) were engaged in cross-border trade in the Mediterranean and Europe and urgently needed a safe way to transfer funds.

Another reason was the objective need for long-distance financial remittances during the Crusades.

Lastly, there's interest income.

According to the rules of the Roman Catholic Church, it is illegal for anyone, regardless of whether it is usury or not, to charge interest.

Therefore, the merchants found another way and started the bill of exchange business.

If you deposit gold or silver in one city, you can receive a draft and withdraw it in another city.

The handling fee for this bill of exchange is essentially a form of interest income, yet it circumvents the church's prohibition.

Today, in the West, bills of exchange have become a transferable credit instrument. The agent holding the bill can endorse and transfer it to another creditor to settle their own debts, thus allowing bills of exchange to begin circulating in the market.
In any case, the merchants were very excited about both the exchange of gold and silver coins and the nationwide remittance services offered by the Imperial Bank.

Aside from unscrupulous merchants, who wouldn't want a currency with stable value?

Cities at the state level and above offer remittance services, allowing them to conduct long-distance transactions without carrying physical cash, greatly reducing the risk.

The only concern is whether the imperial court has enough gold and silver. The purity of gold and silver coins is currently very good, but will it deteriorate like the copper coins issued by the Song and Jin dynasties? Or even, will the imperial court suddenly stop the exchange of gold and silver coins for gold and silver?

Just then, the Zhongdu Times, representing the imperial court, reported a shocking piece of news.

Japan has silver mountains!
Japan has a gold mine!
Japan has two gold mountains: Sado Gold Mountain and Fuji Gold Mountain. It also has one silver mountain: Iwami Silver Mountain.

Gold mines also contain a large amount of silver.

Silver Mountain also contains a large amount of gold.

Each mine, converted into silver, was worth over 100 million taels. The three mines together were worth over 300 million taels of silver!
The location and the gold and silver content are marked so clearly, how could it be faked?
With such a large sum of gold and silver about to fall into the hands of the imperial court, is there any need to worry about the bank's credibility?
For a time, soldiers and civilians flocked to the bank to exchange gold and silver coins.

At the same time, public opinion on conquering Japan not only reignited but also reached an unprecedented peak.

Conquer Japan!
Conquer Japan!
By conquering Japan, they acquired reserves worth 300 million taels of silver, laying the foundation for the national bank.

By conquering Fusang, the civil and military officials of Zhao Shuo Khanate will not only gain the merits they desire, but also the wealth that others envy!

After taking Fusang, everything from Fusang Island in the far east of Asia to the Bosphorus Strait in the far west of Asia will belong to the Zhao Shuo Khanate!
(End of this chapter)