Ch.169Crusader (2)

# The Legend of Prester John

The legend of Prester John, or Prester Johannes, went as follows.

In the East, there was a devout Christian who ruled over vast lands.

He governed a great empire and received the loyalty of as many as 72 kings.

John was responsible not only for these kings but also for the livelihood of their people.

This was possible because the land the king ruled was said to be a land flowing with milk and honey, where all kinds of beasts lived, and no one ever went hungry.

Prester John, who ruled this land, lived in a palace sealed with gold, known as an impregnable fortress.

This fortress was guarded by 7 knight-kings, 60 dukes, and 360 counts who protected John, while numerous servants and maids attended to the priest-king’s needs.

John’s commands were absolute, and the army he commanded was so valiant that they toppled nations wherever they went.

It was said that tens of thousands of brave knights on horseback, fire-breathing dragons, and elephants large enough to crumble mountains followed John.

Of course, the tens of thousands of knights, fire-breathing dragons, and large elephants could be considered embellishments added to the legend.

In any case, the legend of Prester John was truly extraordinary.

When told that this legend was true and that the baptismal name of the ruler of this vast empire was indeed John, Androun couldn’t help but get excited.

“I must meet His Majesty the Priest-King immediately. If he is such a devout Christian, he will surely accept our request to defeat the wicked heathens and save Jerusalem.”

Androun prepared to set out. As he did so, the bishop who had welcomed him asked with a puzzled expression.

“Where are you trying to go now?”

“I’m going to the fortress in the center of this city.”

Androun thought this city was where Prester John resided. It made sense, as the city was bustling with merchants, and the fortress built in its center gleamed with golden light.

Of course, this golden light was actually just gilding rather than real gold, but Androun believed it to be real gold.

“Then you must head to the Great Capital where Gurkhan resides, not this city.”

“What do you mean? Are you saying Prester John doesn’t reside here?”

“That’s correct. This is where His Highness Temujin, his son, resides.”

“Huh.”

Androun stuck out his tongue in surprise.

If the son was given such a wealthy city, he couldn’t even imagine how large and magnificent the place where Prester John, or Gurkhan as they called him here, resided.

“Where is the Great Capital?”

“It’s quite far from here. Think of it as roughly the distance from Nicaea to Alexander.”

“That’s extremely far.”

Androun stuck out his tongue at the bishop’s explanation.

While it would be quick to arrive using the Mediterranean, it was truly a long distance if traveling by land.

By land, it would take approximately 3-4 months.

“Fortunately, the roads are well-paved, so you should arrive in a month.”

“A… a month, you say?”

“Yes. I’ve never been to Rome, but like the roads during the Roman Empire, all regions within the Ulus are connected by roads.”

“To think the legend was true…”

Building roads was an extremely expensive endeavor.

This made the legend of Prester John being incredibly wealthy seem true.

Of course, Yesugei hadn’t built these roads alone.

They were roads built through gifts from the Jin Dynasty and political concessions to local merchants.

However, unaware of these details, Androun mistakenly believed they were roads built with the priest-king’s personal funds.

“I want to meet His Majesty immediately. What should I do?”

“Then take this token.”

“This token…”

Androun tilted his head as he looked at the token with a horse engraved on it.

The bishop continued with additional explanation.

“It’s a token to borrow horses at postal relay stations. Monks and religious people can use this token for free with Gurkhan’s help.”

“Ah! Truly a priest-king indeed.”

Androun admired and praised Yesugei.

This was because in Europe, there was no support when sending monks.

They were simply sent there.

As a result, priests often had to find the necessary travel expenses themselves.

But Prester John was showing mercy to religious people.

This was why Androun couldn’t help but praise Yesugei.

Of course, this too arose from his misunderstanding.

In fact, Gurkhan distributed horse tokens for free not only to religious people but also to merchants, craftsmen, and people from various fields.

The reason was simple: the more these people used the postal relay stations, the more active they became.

When the postal relay stations were active and used by many people, the maintenance costs decreased.

If few people used them, the stations wouldn’t be properly maintained, and it would cost more to maintain stations that people didn’t visit.

Anyway, for this reason, Gurkhan distributed horse tokens to those who held certain positions in various fields.

In this era, religious people were clearly intellectuals, which was why they could use horse tokens for free.

Unaware of this fact, Androun simply praised the priest-king, calling it God’s providence.

* * *

“Achoo.”

I unconsciously scratched my nose.

This was because I felt like someone was talking about me.

As I’ve mentioned before, in Mongolia, there’s a saying that your nose itches when someone talks about you, not your ears.

Having been possessed in Yesugei’s body, I had become completely accustomed to this culture.

“By the way, the population replacement is progressing better than expected.”

It wasn’t quite at the level of the Soviet forced population relocation, but I was implementing a somewhat similar policy.

So I expected some resistance, but there was less than anticipated.

This was because the Han people, who had experienced long periods of war, desired stability in their lives more than their identity as Han.

For this reason, despite the arrival of new rulers, they didn’t resist much.

Rather, they were adapting quickly.

Instead, the Jurchen people who had been ruling them showed stronger resistance.

As a result, some Jurchen left for Kaifeng, where Jin Emperor Shizong was located.

The empty spaces created were filled by the people of the Ulus.

By showing them mercy while simultaneously instilling the culture of the Ulus, they quickly accepted Mongol culture and transformed into Mongols.

“Additionally, the marriage policy is also showing effects.”

For any country wanting to properly implement a multicultural policy, nothing works better than marriage.

So, in the name of Gurkhan, I promoted marriages between Ulus men and Han women.

Most Han women were widows who had lost their husbands in war.

Mongol men accepted them as either primary wives or concubines.

This was possible because in Mongol culture, there was no stigma against marrying women who had been married before.

In a nation where, when a father died, his sons inherited his concubines (except for their birth mother), this was, in a way, natural.

Anyway, the cultural fusion between Mongols and Han was progressing rapidly.

In this process, due to various mechanisms I had put in place, the rate at which Han people became Mongolized was higher than the rate at which Mongols became Sinicized.

This wasn’t just because of the reform in weights and measures.

It was the result of various inhumane cultural integration policies, mass migration policies, and cultural eradication policies that I couldn’t mention for humanitarian reasons.

If modern people were to discover the policies I haven’t mentioned, they would surely label me as a tyrant of the world.

“Let the future handle future matters. I’m concerned with the present.”

Whether Chinese culture was absorbed or Mongol culture was absorbed didn’t matter to me.

As long as my rule was smooth, that was all that mattered.

In that process, if the culture I was born into became the established culture, governance would be easier, so that’s why I did it.

So I hoped future people wouldn’t insert ideas like cultural supremacy when evaluating me.

“Anyway, I should start getting some bites soon.”

From what I knew, there was about to be a large-scale war in Europe and the Middle East.

It was the Third Crusade, known for having the strongest military power among the Crusades.

Famous monarchs like Frederick I Barbarossa, Richard the Lionheart, and Philip II Augustus, along with many other renowned rulers, participated in this war.

Facing these Christian monarchs was Salah al-Din, revered as one of the greatest heroes of the time.

With such prominent figures participating, I thought I might soon get some interest.

This was because the Pope was calling for the unification of the Christian world and sending out requests for support in all directions.

According to a popular belief, the Pope had also requested help from Prester John of the East.

Since I happened to believe in Nestorianism, if the Pope had heard this rumor, he might have sent someone to me.

“If they ask for help right now, I could devour the Transoxiana region and the Persian region in the name of a holy war.”

This area was in a situation where the Ghaznavid Dynasty was declining due to the revival of the Seljuk Dynasty.

So this land was in chaos due to the conflict, and with just a justification, I could conquer it immediately.

But the current Ulus had no justification to attack this place.

So I could only hope that the Pope would give me a justification.

While I was thinking about this, Elunka opened the ger door and entered.

After bowing, he began to report to me.

“Gurkhan, a Semu person has been waiting outside for three days, making the sign of the cross and saying he must see Gurkhan. Should we drive him away…”

“What does he look like?”

“His appearance? Judging by his attire, he appeared to be a priest or monk.”

“And he’s wearing black clothes?”

“How did you know?”

At this, I slapped my knee.

Then I stood up and immediately spoke to Elunka.

“I will meet him.”

“We don’t know where he’s from. There’s no reason for Gurkhan to meet such a dangerous person, is there?”

“He is a messenger sent by God.”

“A messenger… you say?”

“Yes. A messenger sent to allow me to rule the four seas.”

I calmly said this to Elunka.

At this, Elunka’s eyes began to fill with confusion.