kingdom of nations

Chapter 70: The Three-Way Shawar

"Why not?" Cesar asked curiously, "On Alaska Road, I asked you if you were 'chosen'. You told me that you hadn't even participated in the 'selection ceremony'. At that time, your father could no longer afford it."

Moreover, at that time, Longinus' eldest brother had already taken control of most of the affairs in the castle. He only needed to wait for his father to die so that he could send all his younger brothers away. He would rather use the money that could be used to buy a vineyard on his own sons.

"I'm willing to pay you this money," Cesar said, "and I won't rush to ask you to pay it back. You can pay me back later. I've also asked my teacher, and he'll issue you a charter. Although you're past the age for the 'Choice Ceremony,' it's not without precedent."

There have also been some people who, because they received an unexpected gift or inheritance, decided to eliminate this resentment. Even if they were twenty, thirty, or even sixty years old, they could manage to ask the local bishop for permission and then hold the ceremony as an over-age person - of course, this approach would cost more money and make more concessions.

But in Alasar, Longinus's identity and age were not a problem.

"I know," Longinus replied. "Others may not understand you, but how can I not understand you? You are a man who has compassion and helps common people whom he has never met and probably never will meet again. And I am still your follower? Although I cannot be as noble and outstanding as you, I believe that I have lived up to your trust and completed every task you entrusted to me.

But before I met you, I..."

At this point, he felt a little ashamed. "I work as a broker in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, secretly profiting from the pilgrims' piety. I work for the priests of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. With this convenience, I can bring two to three people into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for pilgrimage every day. This is one of the ways I make money.

My Lord, I have been to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre countless times and have knelt at the feet of Christ to pray countless times, but he has never responded to me, and I have never felt the call of any saint.

I suppose it is precisely because I have committed such blasphemous acts and accumulated so many sins that I have no chance of being chosen. So why waste your money and the Patriarch's favor in vain?"

"But if you say so," Cesar said, walking in front of him without looking back, "what about the priests who take money out of the pilgrims' pockets to allow them to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre?

Since you have been in Alaska for so long, you should know that the favor of the saints never seems to be based on what ordinary people can feel and see.

Who knows?

Maybe Witt is a pious guy too." He felt a little sick when he said this.

Longinus seemed to be comforted by this. "Perhaps you're right," he said, lowering his head and thinking for a moment. "Even that kind of guy can be blessed. At least I'm better than him."

"So you want to try it?"

"My God, I'm already thirty years old, my little master. I believe that everyone who hears about this will laugh their heads off."

"They also said you were a slave of a slave. If you don't care about that, why bother with their sour words? Even if you weren't chosen, you still have a sponsor willing to pay you and a priest willing to pray for you. Do they have that?"

Longinus couldn't help but smile as he thought of the days he spent in the dull and dark tavern and the people who made him swear never to become like that.

They are really a group of good people. Without them, he might have fallen into depravity long ago and would never have met Cesar - a master who can be said to be perfect except that he is a little small.

He stopped at the end of the stairs. He knew that neither Baldwin nor Cesar would allow others to enter their rooms at will. He put down the copper kettle, bowed to Cesar and walked out.

Cesar watched him turn the corner of the corridor before pushing open the door. He first placed the clean linen on the box, then brought in two copper kettles, one of which contained boiling water and the other ordinary river water. He placed the river water in the corner of the room, then brought in the third kettle, which contained purified water.

He heard that the ancient Egyptians had a device or medicine to purify river water, but with the invasion of foreign enemies, it was lost in the long river of history like most inventions. He used the charcoal water purification method. After washing the charcoal clean, he placed it in the water. In two days and one night, he could get clean water.

Unfortunately, this method hasn't been widely publicized. People today don't understand why throwing charcoal into water makes it clean and sweet. They simply think it's witchcraft, and while they might be making a fuss, the real problem is the church and those with ulterior motives who are still watching closely.

While on an expedition, Baldwin couldn't take a bath every day and could only rely on scrubbing to keep his skin dry and clean.

This is a very important step for leprosy patients. Any infection or damage will cause the skin there to ulcerate quickly and be difficult to heal.

He endured the pain and scrubbed himself, and only let Cesar help with invisible places such as his back. Baldwin twisted his body to look at his elbows and back of knees, which are easily overlooked areas, and reminded Cesar to wear gloves, as sheepskin gloves can perfectly protect against possible harm.

Although Cesar said that he was a low-susceptibility person, meaning he was not likely to be infected with leprosy, Baldwin still felt uneasy.

Before his condition worsened, he felt that he was blessed by God. After it worsened, he no longer dared to take his condition lightly.

Fortunately, after Heraclius got the prescription written by Cesar, he roughly prepared all the medicinal ingredients in a few days - except for some plants that could only be found in the Far East.

But he also explained that Alazarus had always been a major city connecting the East and the West, a religious, economic, and commercial center. Since silk and porcelain from the East could be transported here unscathed across vast distances, it didn't make sense that dried flowers and herbs would be such a problem for these merchants.

The only difficulty is keeping these businessmen silent.

"But if your father could conquer Egypt, or at least Fustat or Damascus, those merchants would keep this secret tightly even for the sake of their trade routes and their lives."

"Baldwin?" Cesar reminded in a low voice. Baldwin then realized that the wounds on his back had been applied with medicine. Next were the places he could reach. He hurriedly took the ointment with his left hand.

"How are you feeling now?" Cesar asked.

"Very good." It was precisely because of the immediate effect that he became greedy. If these drugs didn't work, he wouldn't let Cesar try it a second time.

His left hand originally had the most obvious symptoms. When it first started to worsen, he could hardly feel it. Now, when he used this hand, he only felt like he was wearing a thin sheepskin glove. The touch was not so sensitive, but it did not hinder his daily work and martial arts practice, and he had no problem riding a horse to fight.

After applying the ointment and waiting for a while for its smell to dissipate, Baldwin put on his silk shirt.

They don't usually dress like this. After all, as attendants, they have to feed horses, clean helmets, move things and run errands. If they wear silk, it will be torn and dirty in an instant.

Even the Sultan and the Caliph might not be able to afford such an extravagant practice - after all, the war reparations at that time were still in the form of silk robes.

But today is a little different. Today the envoy from Fustat will meet the king and present him with his credentials.

Although he knew that the content would be filled with begging, questioning and intimidation, it was a rare opportunity for the two children and the king had long decided that they should accompany him and gain valuable experience from it.

Before that, Heraclius had given them a special lesson to give them a general understanding of the current situation of the Fatimid dynasty.

Why did Amalric I attack Fustat at this time? Of course, there was a reason. And this reason can be traced back to the time when the current Fatimid Caliph Atid ascended the throne.

Atid was also a second son. When his elder brother succeeded to the throne, he was only a teenager and died soon after. When he succeeded to the throne, he was still a child who knew nothing.

"He's about your age, and to be honest, according to the information we've bribed the merchants, he's a rather ignorant and cowardly child, yet also full of ambition. His former Grand Vizier, or prime minister, was a mature, reliable, and good man. But he died soon after, and his son succeeded him. A cunning and treacherous man named Shawar, who flattered the young caliph, gained his favor and took advantage of the situation to kill the young man and take his place.

But his actions angered some in the Fatimid court, who expelled him and appointed another prime minister."

"Is this Shawar the man who promised to give my father two million gold coins?"

"Yes, that's him. He was Grand Vizier for a short time, but when the people turned against him, he fled to Nur ad-Din of the Seljuk Zengid dynasty.

Nur ad-Din sent his two generals to Fustat, who killed Shawar's opponents. However, Shawar probably didn't expect that his action was like driving a tiger to devour a wolf. Even though the wolf was gone, the tiger refused to leave.

So he sent messengers to ask your father, our king, to send troops to drive out Nur ad-Din's army—what?"

"They are all Saracens, aren't they?" asked Baldwin.

"Both, as I've said before," Heraclius said. "We have the Latin Church and the Orthodox Church, and they also have 'traditionalists' and 'orthodox'. 'Traditionalists' choose a suitable leader through consultation or election, while 'orthodox' prefer to see if the leader has the bloodline of the Prophet Muhammad. The Fatimids were 'orthodox', and the Seljuk Zengids were 'traditional'."

“Is it similar to the relationship between the Roman Council of Elders and Caesar and his descendants?”

Heraclius nodded in agreement. "True, but they are still two fruits on the same vine, so it can be said that they are both our enemies."

He smiled and said, “But Shawar didn’t seem to think so. When Nur ad-Din’s army refused to leave, he turned to the Christians for help, not caring about his own reputation or faith at all.

Your father agreed in exchange for the two million gold coins, and that was in 63."

“He didn’t deliver on his promise.”

"Who could have imagined that the great vizier of the Fatimid dynasty would be as treacherous as the Isaacs? The victor that time was your father.
But Nur ad-Din's general, a Kurd, incited the Egyptians to dig up the Nile dam, and the flood separated us from Nur ad-Din's army.

By then, winter was approaching and supplies were running low, so the king had no choice but to withdraw his troops. Shawar used this as an excuse to refuse to pay the two million gold coins.

Heraclius thought for a moment and added, "It should be said that they even refused to pay the annual tribute that the Fatimid Caliphate paid to Alasar according to the agreement signed with us by the Grand Vizier Luzk during the reign of Caliph Hafez."

"Is the Grand Vizier still Shawar?"

"It was him, even though from a Christian perspective he was a despicable, liar, but on the other hand, he also helped us a lot.

He managed to arouse Nur ad-Din of the Seljuk Zengi's fear of the two Kurds, and what the army had failed to accomplish, he accomplished through a few letters.

Nur ad-Din has recalled the two generals, and they are probably in Damascus now."

"Besides those two," Baldwin asked perceptively, "does the Fatimid Empire have any other capable generals?"

"What do you think?"

"How could he do that?" Baldwin was incredulous. "Even the most stingy hunter knows to feed his dogs."

"Such is the diversity of man. My children, if this battle can achieve the result your father"—he looked at Baldwin—"your king"—he looked at Cesar—"he expected.

It is very likely that he will award you medals on the battlefield and give you a sword belt and golden spurs. This is an honor that no one can question, but if you become a knight, it means that you will have to take on all the responsibilities of an adult in society.

The people you come into contact with will be more numerous and more complex. You must learn how to judge a person's character. It's okay if someone is stupid, and it's okay if someone is bad. You can even take advantage of their stupidity and badness.

But once a person is stupid and bad, as you said, a rotten peach will quickly cause all the peaches around it to rot. For such guys who not only harm themselves but also others, all you have to do is kill them as soon as possible.

Of course, for us, the more people like this we have, the better, standing on the enemy's side."

"What do they want from my father?"

"I think he might promise more gold, hoping your father will withdraw his troops."

"Retreat? My father has already thrown away almost the entire Alasar's worth of money on this. They even refuse to pay two million gold coins. How can they afford such a large compensation? Or are they willing to use Fustat as collateral?"

Baldwin's words made Chirac smile slightly. "After all, he has succeeded before." He said sarcastically without mercy.

Amalric I originally sent troops for the two million gold coins promised by Shawar, but he ended up wasting his energy, manpower and financial resources in vain, and got nothing in return except ridicule and distrust.

So even if Shawar says something nice this time, don't expect Amalric I to change his mind.

After finishing their lessons and as they were about to serve the king, Cesar hurriedly mentioned Longinus to his teacher. "I don't necessarily want him to see a saint, but the war is imminent," and as long as he's in the army, he'll have to fight. "If he can receive a blessing, his chances of survival will be better. This is also my own selfish desire."

Heraclius had no objection to Caesar's request, especially since Caesar had only a few cards in his hand, and Longinus was one of them.

Heraclius always acted decisively. The next day, Longinus was dragged by several monks to bathe, fast, and pray, and then thrown into the Cathedral of John the Baptist late at night on the fifth day.

Like the Monastery of John the Baptist where Cesar once stayed, the deity worshipped here is also John the Baptist. It is said that he baptized Jesus Christ and many more people in the Jordan River, and therefore has an extremely special status among all saints.

But Longinus was not impressed by the building...

Because the base of the building is the Philistine Temple of Dagon. When the Byzantines occupied this place, they built a church on it. When the Saracens captured Gaza Rafa, they built a temple on the ruins of the church...

When the Crusaders took over, the temple became a church.

It's like a nesting doll.

What made Longinus even more uncomfortable was that the accompanying priest proudly told him that the story in the Old Testament where Samson pulled down the temple pillars and died together with his enemies was said to have happened in the Temple of Dagon, which was right under their feet.

He meant that this was also a holy place, but Longinus was not so happy to remember that his young master had once been nicknamed "Little Samson" by the monks because of his great strength.

(End of this chapter)