A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

"Ah... Absolutely not!" An old man nearby stood up immediately.

This person is an Imam, the religious leader of the Star and Crescent followers in the city.

The Star and Crescent believers in the city, especially the devout believers, suffered heavy losses in the last battle, with six to seven out of ten killed.

If faced with this kind of tax again... I'm afraid they'll rebel!

"Of course," Timur Tash said, making a calming gesture. "God's followers have already served the Sultan with concrete actions, so I don't think we need to demonstrate our loyalty again this time."

Chapter 123 Before the War 3

The Imam sat down, content.

The pagans nearby, mainly representatives of Christians, were dumbfounded.

I had originally thought that everyone in the city would unite to fight against this unreasonable exploitation, but I didn't expect them to use this trick.

"Lord Timur Tash," after a long time, a middle-aged man finally spoke.

Although they live in the same city, different people are divided into different circles.

For example, this middle-aged man is obviously a boss in a business circle.

To be the boss in a circle, you have to step up at critical moments. If you don't step up and don't speak up, people will lose their confidence and the circle will no longer be able to survive.

"During the last battle, we actually provided great assistance to His Majesty the Sultan," the middle-aged man carefully selected the right words. "Whether it was weapons and equipment, fortifications, or even those pirates..."

"It's the volunteers!" Timur Tash interrupted him.

"My lord, I'm sorry, but we provided the equipment and supplies for the volunteers. We are also serving His Majesty the Sultan..."

"But that is your duty, isn't it?" Timur Tash's words were filled with impatience.

He didn't want to drag out the negotiations here.

"But this is not fair!" several people protested.

Timur Tash's face immediately darkened.

"Is it fair or unfair, do you have the final say on it?!" Timur Tash looked very unhappy.

Asking you pagans to pay money is to give you a way out, but you are still complaining here. You are the one who talks too much!

At this moment, several servants passed by the door dragging some things.

However, the reception room in the City Lord's Mansion was not big enough to accommodate so many guests. As a last resort, they had to open the door and let a small number of guests sit outside, occupying part of the aisle.

The servants were not very skilled and carried the object roughly. Although it was covered with cloth, anyone with eyes could see that it was a corpse.

A body was carried away.

As everyone was looking at him in shock and confusion, another corpse was carried over. When passing through the aisle, a servant accidentally slipped his hand and part of the covering cloth fell off, revealing the face of the deceased.

It was the face of a young woman.

Some people gasped, and the Christian businessman who had been leading the group widened his eyes.

"Daughter!" he roared, then turned to look at Timur Tash, furious.

"Master Timur Tash, my daughter...how did she become like this?"

"What your daughter? She's just a slave girl I brought with me!" Timur Tash's face was gloomy, as if he would explode at any time.

Under normal circumstances, everyone knows that they cannot anger these Star-Moon Cult lords, but the merchants at the moment don't care about that.

He sent his daughter here with the idea of ​​climbing up the social ladder. If it succeeds, that's great. If it fails... well, people don't care that much about chastity these days, do they?

But if my daughter died inexplicably, that would be a different matter.

No one can sever blood ties at will.

"Last night, a servant from the City Lord's Mansion came to my door and asked one of my daughters to sleep with him..." The merchant could not contain himself and complained loudly.

"Enough!" His voice was interrupted by someone next to him.

It was none other than the Imam from before.

He can be regarded as the representative of public opinion of the Star and Crescent believers in the city.

The new city lord had previously announced that the Star-Moon Cultists did not need to pay additional taxes, so he naturally sat aside and watched the situation unfold.

But now, he jumped out.

"You godless dogs, allowing you to survive is the greatest favor of His Majesty the Sultan. You don't even think about repaying the favor, but are resisting His Majesty's will! You even dare to slander and accuse a believer in God at will!" The imam pointed at the merchant's nose and cursed.

"The pagans are accusing the believers of God," Timur Tash asked coldly. "What is the crime?"

“Sir, it’s the same as everywhere else, it’s a capital offense,” the Imam replied respectfully.

The next second, Timur Tash had drawn his own knife.

The businessman tried to retreat in panic.

Unfortunately, although Timur Tash was older, he was a professional warrior after all, while he was a civilian with no martial arts skills.

With a flash of the knife, a head fell to the ground.

The smell of blood filled the entire room.

"This pagan dared to falsely accuse a servant of God. His sin cannot be atonemented with death," Timurtash shouted. "Guards!"

Several guards came in.

"This pagan dared to falsely accuse a believer in God, so I executed him on the spot," Timur Tash said casually. "I will arrest his entire family, enslave all men, women, and children, and confiscate their property! If anyone resists, I will kill them without mercy!"

He glanced at the Imam, who returned his gaze in kind.

After all, he is old and experienced, and has figured out the taste.

At this moment, whoever jumps out will die!

Because of the last battle, the Star and Moon believers in the city suffered heavy casualties.

There is no way. On the battlefield, swords and knives are blind and cannot tell whether you are a soldier or a civilian.

For armed civilians who lack discipline and training, as well as weapons and armor, casualties are bound to be much greater than those of soldiers.

Moreover, those who dare to go to the battlefield are all young and middle-aged people.

So, although they won the battle, they suffered heavy losses. Looking back, they found that the power of the pagans in the city had already surpassed that of the Star-Moon Cult.

If you want to change this situation, you have to severely suppress the pagans.

And what Timur Tash said just now was very particular.

He did not mean to collect taxes based on the number of people, but to collect taxes based on the proportion of property.

Collecting taxes per head, for example, ten florins per person...there is not much room for maneuver.

However, based on the proportion of property, there is a lot of room for maneuver.

So who was specifically responsible for this operation? Undoubtedly, it was the city's officials, both large and small, and among these officials, the vast majority were members of the Star-Moon Cult.

The Star-Moon Cult can make a fortune.

The pagans lost everything they had, and a large number of them were forced to leave the city.

In this way, the situation before the war was restored.

He made a fortune, which allowed him to carry out the Sultan's orders, provide compensation to the fallen, repair the city's defenses, and restore the city's power structure to its original state. He could also improve the favorability of the Star-Moon Cultists while doing so.

Of course, the money that ends up in your own pocket will definitely not be less.

This is Timur Tash's real purpose.

He looks like a rough soldier, but in fact he has his own unique qualities.

As for those pagans... well, they deserved it. They were conquered by the sword of God's servants. They were just fattened pigs, destined to be slaughtered and eaten sooner or later.

Only when everyone has figured it out will the Imam firmly support Timur Tash.

Chapter 124 Before the War 4

After killing a blind man and destroying his family, things went smoothly afterwards.

Those pagans became silent one by one and dared not speak out against it.

After a few moves, it was decided that all pagans in the city had to pay 30% of their wealth as a special tax.

Of course, during this period the city was temporarily blocked to prevent these pagans from transferring their property.

Everyone had to hand over all the money, not a penny less, before being allowed to leave.

The officials and clerks below will certainly take advantage of this situation and squeeze every last drop of money out of these pagans.

But this is Timur Tash's purpose.

After the meeting, everyone left and Timur Tash sat alone on the upper seat, looking at the bloody corpse on the ground.

Several servants came over without being told and wanted to clean up the blood.

Just when Timur Tash was thinking about finding something fun for himself today, someone rushed over in a hurry.

A man dressed as a messenger.

"My Lord, Timur Tash-sama...an urgent message from the Sultan!"

A letter was presented to him, and Timur Tash opened it and burst into laughter within a few minutes.

"So it's the Knights of Rhodes... Didn't they follow the Byzantines last time and get defeated by us? How dare they come again?"

"Sir, there are no Byzantines this time. The Knights are attacking with all their might. The Sultan has ordered you not to underestimate the enemy!"

"I know, I know... I knew this before I came. The only ones who could attack Izmir now are the Knights!" Timur Tash was unconcerned. "When will they arrive?"

"Judging from the time, it will probably be within three days!"

"Within three days." Timur Tash thought about it and decided it didn't matter.

"To be honest, I really want to see the legendary bloody cross flag." Timur Tash said with a smile. "To see if it's really as powerful as the legend says!"

"Sir, the Sultan asks you to..."

"I know, so I'm prepared." Timur Tash said carelessly. "This time, let His Majesty the Sultan see what I can do!"

As they were talking, the Imam who had left suddenly came back.

But when he saw the messenger, he felt a little uneasy, so he turned back.

"Lord," the Imam said, "the Knights are about to invade... so why don't we delay the tax increase for a few days?"

Although he had no objection to robbing pagans and even supported it, he also knew that once the tax increase was implemented, the city would be in turmoil.

When the Knights came to attack, it would be difficult to defend the city because the pagans would surely sabotage and resist.

"No, no need!" Timur Tash didn't hesitate at all.

"But, my lord..."

"We only have three days. It is impossible to effectively repair the three huge gaps in the city wall within three days. So there is no such thing as defending the city. We must go out of the city to meet the enemy." Timur Tash said.

"Not only will I win, but I will win beautifully!"

Destroy all the Knights' land forces in one fell swoop, and completely defeat this paper tiger whose claws had long been plucked out.

Then, soon after, when the navy was complete, he would immediately march his army against Rhodes and completely remove this annoying thorn in the side of Christians.

……

"That Timur Tash seems to be from Central Asia, and for some reason he joined the Rum Sultanate. It's said... he's a very experienced veteran."

Muzaffar stood on the top of the seashore and looked at the scene in the distance through a telescope.

This is truly a perfect observation point, far enough away from the battlefield and safe enough, yet with a good view so that the entire battle situation can be seen at a glance.

Around him were several men from the Star-Moon Sword Order and several intelligence officers.

Maintaining an intelligence network is very expensive, and the Knights of Rhodes' intelligence capabilities are not strong because they cannot afford to maintain an independent intelligence organization. In this regard, the Knights rely primarily on the Church - their main method of obtaining intelligence is to share it with Rome.

But the situation of the Star-Moon Sword Cult is completely different.

The Order has money and connections, and has deep intelligence penetration into many Mediterranean forces.

"A very experienced veteran? He certainly looks like one." Muzaffar watched the troops moving around the city, which indeed seemed to be in good order. "Any other explanation?"