As the news of the Crusaders' victory spread across the sea, and the Crusaders returned from the East with countless spoils of war, grand celebrations began all over the Catholic world, cheering for this victory.
There is no doubt that another crusade was ignited. After hearing the various myths about the Holy Land, another wave of crusaders began to form.
The returning Crusaders were enthusiastically pursued, and each jihadist leader gained unprecedented prestige. Wherever they went, there were crowds of people welcoming them.
People all over the Christian world began to wear red crosses for themselves, gathering crowds preparing to go to the Crusades.
They either hope to go to the place of suffering to worship, or simply to escape poverty, or the stragglers of the last Crusade join again... In short, a huge Crusade is gathering.
A small number of impatient people have already set off on their own, but most people decided to continue waiting and wait to move forward with the Grand Crusade.
It will take some time for this storm to form a large army, but its impact is indeed unprecedented. Even in distant Poland, some people are beginning to prepare to join the jihad team. People are attracted by the prospect of the Crusaders' victory.
Inspired by this, they joined the jihad team one after another.
As for the situation in the Near East, the emergence of overseas countries (referring to the Crusader countries) has undoubtedly had an unprecedented impact on the local political form, and a new player has emerged.
For the fragmented world of Russia, the emergence of the Crusaders posed a great threat, but the Turkic warlords were fragmented and the Seljuk Empire was unable to look westward. The two caliphs of Abbasid and Fatimid wanted to
It is impossible to drive out the heretics, but it is completely useless.
The most important thing is that these Islamic warlords have no idea of uniting to fight the Crusaders. There are still very frequent wars among them. Some are even colluding with the pagans to lure wolves into their homes and use the power of the pagans to attack their enemies.
For the Eastern Empire, which had just recovered most of Anatolia, the presence of the Crusaders made its southern affairs very difficult to handle. The Latins would not act according to the instructions of Constantinople, and although the empire had recovered most of
Anatolia, but in fact it is still full of crises internally.
There are also a large number of unruly Turkic tribes in these lands, as well as the aborigines of Asia Minor who have caused chaos, not to mention those bandits and rebels. They are now distributed across the vast land of Anatolia, and they can only be eradicated.
Only with these guys can the recovered interior of the empire be truly transformed into a driving force for the expansion of the empire.
Moreover, Emperor Alexios still has the important task of rebuilding the imperial system. Since 1071, the empire has not been in war and chaos for a year. Alexios is just driving the old machine of the empire forward. Now
Finally, I can rest, and then I will overhaul the machine.
For the Monomach Empire, the emergence of the Crusaders has greatly eased its geographical pressure. The Crusaders will attract a large part of the attention of both, relieving its pressure.
As an upstart in the Transcaucasus, Monomakh was under double pressure from the Byzantine Emperor and the Seljuk Sultan. Although he was still unfavorable in the face of this two-front enemy situation, Monomakh knew very well in his heart that the East
The empire and the Seljuqs have finally recovered, but the days ahead will not be so easy.
For example, in the previous battle with Alexios, if it were not for the sneak attack of Seljuk Sultan, he would not have acted so hastily. In the end, although he obtained Tabriz, a base that allowed further expansion, it was still less powerful than in the west.
There are too few things that can be obtained by persisting.
Monomach is very clear about the nature of his country. If he cannot continue to win and expand to satisfy the greedy people in the country, then his throne will be shaken. Therefore, he must continue to win and expand. War is endless.
avoidable.
As for the Crusade itself, the Crusade lords know very well that although they look extremely beautiful now, the foundation under their feet is very weak.
If reinforcements from all sources are excluded, the military strength of overseas countries will be very pitiful. There are currently no more than 10,000 Latins settled here, and the reliable manpower that can be mobilized is really pitiful.
Moreover, among the castles and towns, except for the villages scattered along the roads, the Crusaders could be said to have no influence at all. It turned out that the Islamic tax collectors in this land even continued to collect taxes, and the Crusaders looked very
Nothing can be done.
All they can do now is expand as much as possible, capture more castles and villages, and expand the buffer zone. Now Bohemond of Antioch and Baldwin of Edessa are moving towards the Emir of Aleppo in an orderly manner.
In terms of expansion, this emir is weak in ability, but he occupies such a fertile land, which is very exciting.
After Raymond of Tripoli consolidated the north-south connections between the Crusader countries, he did not continue to act, or could not act. Several feasible expansion directions of the Tripoli County had considerable geographical obstacles. Raymond
Continue to accumulate some strength before you can continue to do things.
He dismissed the Toulouse Crusaders under his command. They had been fighting with him for a long time. It was time to go home. Those who wanted to go home should go home. Those who didn't want to go home should continue to fight in the Holy Land.
As for the Kingdom of Jerusalem, it is mainly busy cleaning up the Muslim ports on the Palestinian coast. Only by truly controlling these ports can the Catholic regime in Jerusalem be stabilized.
Due to the location of the Holy City, Jerusalem can mobilize a large number of new Crusade troops, because its military strength is the most abundant among overseas countries, but at the same time it faces great pressure.
In the end, for Ross in the distance, everything that happened in the Holy Land in the past few years made Rostislav very satisfied.
First of all, the money earned from sea shipping was more than Rostislav expected. Even if the Russians offered a preferential price (referring to the King of France), the figures reported amazed Rostislav.
Such direct business grabbing will naturally make the Italians who originally contracted these businesses very dissatisfied. This has cost them a lot of money that they should have earned. If it were normal, they would have started fighting with the Russians. You guys
Foreign guys want to fight with us locals? Go ahead and eat shit.
But the establishment of the countries in the Oriental Overseas made the Italians move towards the East. Compared with this shipping capital, the most profitable thing is the Eastern trade. Now that the Crusaders control the Eastern coast, they can reap too many benefits.
Moreover, the Italians who arrived in the East soon discovered that they had to establish relations with the Russians, because the Russians were now an important player in the Eastern market.
Under Rostislav's order, various handicrafts produced by the Russian cities headed by Kiev were no longer sent to Kiev. Instead, they used the Russians' tax-free privileges through the strait to sell these products in the markets of the overseas countries in the East.
Although it is said to be sold in markets in overseas countries, the share of the products that local people will eat is actually very small. In fact, Rostislav planned to pass the idea to other people, namely Italians, from the beginning.
Although the competitiveness of Ross's goods in the imperial capital market is very low, and they are also faced with the suppression of heavy taxes, they are still very competitive in the Western market. It is possible to take advantage of the privilege of crossing the strait for free and hand over the goods to Italians for resale.
The benefits gained are also much greater than before.
As for why they didn't go directly to the West, that's because that's the territory of the Italians, and it's impossible to do business without being exploited by local snakes. Ross doesn't have the ability to fight a naval battle with the Italians in the Mediterranean.
Of course, some people would say that they should take the land route to sell to the West. Now that the chaotic situation in Poland has gradually become clearer, and the originally corrupt public security problems have also improved, it is entirely possible to take the east-west trade route to send goods to the Holy Roman Empire.
Yes, it is good to do this, but it is difficult for Rostislav to do this. He must maintain the strength of his basic base. If the proportion of trade is completely tilted to land, then Ross’s Black Sea caravan will be finished. Ross’s various places rely on
There are many people who can survive on this road, not to mention the rich and powerful in Kiev.
Moreover, faced with the sudden import of a large amount of goods, the local snakes may not know what they will do. The Holy Roman Empire is a place that Russia cannot take care of. It is better to let the Italians change hands.
The so-called rulers are just the representatives of the interests of the ruling class. Although Rostislav worked extremely hard to promote feudalization in Russia, over the years, the industrial and commercial groups in the city still have the upper hand, and they are very close to the prince and have no influence on the prince.
The impact is also the strongest.
Maintaining a strong merchant fleet, in this era when the navy relies entirely on recruiting merchant ships, is actually maintaining a strong navy. For Ross, he wants to gain leverage in negotiations and peaks with the southern empire.
, a powerful fleet is a must, it can even be said to be the only thing that can suppress the Eastern Empire.
Moreover, this fleet can also serve as a deterrent to Rostislav's relatives who have made a successful overseas business. Although the two parties are now doing very well in business and have some unspoken consensus on containing the Eastern Empire,
But Rostislav knew that he had been waiting, why did he take in Bagration's orphan girl and promised her to his grandson.
Monomach also knew this. It could be said that the two people were performing a tacit understanding of the plot, silently guarding each other while taking actions together to safeguard common interests.