Chapter 906 - 30: Emperor of Kara Khitay
"Anyone else want to visit family?"
Losa inquired.
"I’ll pass, it’s only been a little over a year since I left home, I haven’t had time to miss them yet."
Anna shrugged, besides, I’ve got nothing to say to that old man at home, he sleeps for at least a few decades at a stretch, maybe he hasn’t even noticed I’ve been gone for years.
For vampires who could lie in a coffin for a decade or more at a time, indifference between each other was nothing unusual.
"Viviana, do you want to—"
"Me?"
"Forget it."
Viviana hesitated a bit, compared to the strict Elector she seldom met since childhood, she was more inclined to visit the German Emperor given the chance.
" "
Most of them had no ties to the old world, otherwise, Losa wouldn’t have been able to recruit them to another world with just a word.
The Voice of the Tower of Babel wasn’t just for the followers to use for visiting family, it was essentially a tool for Losa to specifically recruit followers from Yesterday’s Giant Ship World, reducing the randomness of his usual selections.
The role it played was indeed significant.
For example, recruiting a Four-Star: was it a combat personnel or a skilled technician specialized in making farming tools? The difference meant a lot to Losa.
The former had become almost useless to Losa now, while the latter could be worth its weight in gold.
At this point, the sky was already turning pale.
The coup in the royal court did not affect a large area, but its impact was significant; nearly half of the mid-to-high-ranking nobles who could stand out in Constantinople died that night.
This was both good and bad.
So many nobles dying meant a decline of the entire noble class.
The military strength of the Empire would surely suffer severe setbacks; those noble officers, despite being wastrels, couldn’t just be replaced by any randomly promoted commoner.
Their Pronia estates, according to the old system, would only be inherited by those less educated nobles who originally had no right of inheritance.
However, the military positions monopolized by the Komnenos Family would also be liberated, if the Empress could take this chance to nationalize large areas of Pronia estates, implement military reforms, and break the noble gatekeepers’ monopoly on key military and political positions, it would be a good thing.
...
Camel bells jingled, green trees lined the path.
Thousands of soldiers drove pack animals along the Silk Road.
They were now headed to Samarkand—the capital of the Kara Khitan State Hezhong Prefecture.
The troops carried the Holy Fire Banner, well-equipped; the bandits rampant across Central Asia were deterred by this military power and dared not show themselves.
At the front of the team, Ivan looked at this riverland fertile soil with a greedy expression, like a hungry wolf with glowing green eyes: "If only I could seize this piece of fertile soil."
"Provided you can single-handedly fend off the Tatar’s army might."
Beside him, Baron Fulk now also wore a Persian-styled full iron chain armor from Elanshahar, over which was a plank armor reminiscent of the Ancient Empire period, and his mount was clad in luxurious scale armor horse armor.
Ivan’s adventure plan succeeded, not only did they seize all the wealth from the delegation for themselves, but they also offered part of it as a gift to the King of Kings and used another part as military funds.
The few spies Saladin had buried were also easily removed and replaced with his own confidants.
"No need to throw cold water on me, I’m just looking forward—look, now we have money and people, even the King of Kings didn’t belittle us and granted us the titles of two cavalry commanders."
"But we still have no time to train these soldiers."
Fulk frowned, according to Ivan’s plan, it would be best to bribe for a territory in Elanshahar to supply, train, and even recruit local soldiers, but the King of Kings clearly did not want another warlord under him and refused this request.
Moreover, he ordered them to leave the territory quickly to support the Kara Khitan State, which had suffered successive defeats and even had its capital, Husi Woreda, occupied by the Tatars.
Ivan’s enthusiasm showed no signs of diminishing: "He also said, didn’t he, that we need to prove our capabilities first, once we win a few battles, the King of Kings will surely recognize our value."
This is what Fulk admired about Ivan; no matter when or where he was, he was always full of enthusiasm for the future: "Let’s hope so."
Ahead, a magnificent city appeared before them.
Ivan shouted excitedly, "Brothers, we’ve arrived; the largest city in Central Asia, Samarkand. I have a feeling this is where the two of us will make it big!"
At this time, in the palace of Samarkand.
The Emperor of Qidan, the Great Khan of Khans, Yelv Zilu was feasting and reveling in the palace, apparently unaffected by the loss of the capital.
"Great Khan, reinforcements from Elanshahar have arrived, their envoy is waiting outside."
Li Siye suppressed his inner disgust as he glanced at the Great Khan above, his ancestors were part of the Loyal Army that remained in the Western Regions since the Tang times, now serving as a general under the Qidan, just with a low status.
There were quite a number of Han people in the Western Liao; besides those Tang people left from the Loyal Army, there were also Northern Dynasty Han people who migrated west with Yelü Dashi when the Great Jin destroyed the Liao Dynasty, altogether numbering over a hundred thousand.
He didn’t expect, at this point, that the Great Khan would be in the mood to revel, not thinking of retaking the capital to reclaim lost land; he, Li Siye, was still thinking of returning to his hometown to reunite with his wife, children, and relatives.
"Let them wait!"
Yelv Zilu said impatiently.
It was the Empress Xiao at his side whose expression changed slightly, hastily reminding him: "Given our precarious national situation, the generals under the Tatar marauders, Jebey and Subotai, have already led twenty thousand troops advancing westward. Although Elanshahar has its differences with our country, at this perilous moment, it would be wise not to slight the guests."
Yelv Zilu paused for a moment, then softened his tone: "Alright, let them come in quickly."
"The Great Khan is waiting for you inside."
This must be the ruler of the Kara Khitan State, Yelv Zilu.
"They sent someone like you from Elanshahar—"
It was the Empress Xiao at his side whose expression changed slightly, hastily reminding him: "Given our precarious national situation, the generals under the Tatar marauders, Jebey and Subotai, have already led twenty thousand troops advancing westward. Although Elanshahar has its differences with our country, at this perilous moment, it would be wise not to slight the guests."
Yelv Zilu paused for a moment, then softened his tone: "Alright, let them come in quickly."
"The Great Khan is waiting for you inside."
This must be the ruler of the Kara Khitan State, Yelv Zilu.
"They sent someone like you from Elanshahar—"