Ch.190Anatolia (1)

“They must be quite surprised by now.”

I said this while gazing toward the Sultanate of Rum.

This was because from the Sultan’s perspective, after hearing what my envoy had told him, he couldn’t help but wonder if I truly had divine protection.

This was because he mistakenly believed that only he and Alexios II knew about this matter.

In reality, this was merely the Sultan’s misunderstanding.

The fake Alexios II wasn’t the real one.

This meant he wasn’t the well-mannered young master of impressive lineage.

In fact, with the Sultanate of Rum’s support, he had advanced and occupied Byzantine cities that were in chaos at the time.

Then he revealed his true colors, enslaving the people and plundering grain, showing not the mercy expected of a ruler but the behavior of a barbarian.

Because of this, despite not yet receiving support from Kilij Arslan II, he had been telling his mercenary band about his plans.

This had been recorded in history and passed down to later generations, so the idea that only Kilij Arslan knew about it was just a misconception.

Anyway, separate from this, I knew these facts because I came from the future.

Yet I explained this in detail because people of this era could easily realize I wasn’t truly blessed by God if they just thought about it a little.

“Still, there’s no better threat than claiming divine blessing.”

This was the key point.

Attributing divinity to myself. Since religion held great influence in the medieval period, it was important to use God’s name to demonstrate how chosen I was.

As I’ve mentioned repeatedly, I had proven my worthiness of this divinity through my achievements.

Therefore, even if I cleverly mixed in falsehoods later, fewer people would deny or doubt my divine nature.

“An answer will come soon.”

Personally, I hoped the Sultanate of Rum wouldn’t surrender.

Then I could rule it directly.

But this was just personal greed.

It was absurd to think of directly governing from the Great Capital all the way to here. And I didn’t want my plan to conquer the Byzantine Empire to be disrupted because of that greed.

Just then, the ger door opened and a soldier approached me.

After bowing, he began his report.

“An envoy from the Sultanate of Rum has arrived.”

“They sent an envoy directly. It seems they’re still managing better than I expected.”

The Sultanate of Rum was currently in turmoil.

This was because the aging Sultan had lost his capital to his eldest son.

Of course, according to original history, Ghiyath al-Din had helped him recapture Konya, but he still hadn’t been able to punish his eldest son who was in Aksaray.

Yet the fact that they sent an envoy like this meant they wanted to discuss surrender terms.

“Good. I’ll meet with him.”

When I said this, the soldier bowed.

Then he left.

Soon after, Munglig entered with an interpreter.

“It seems the Rum Sultan bastards want to surrender, Gur Khagan.”

“Yes. However, it appears they want to negotiate something.”

“Negotiate? How preposterous.”

“We’ll decide after hearing them out. Winning without fighting is the best outcome.”

As I’ve mentioned repeatedly, the Ulus didn’t have the ability to directly govern this far.

Even if we dispatched a Darughachi, unlike Baghdad which had a direct land route, this place was truly distant.

To govern this place directly, we would need to extend the steppe road through the Caucasus Mountains all the way here.

Alternatively, we could conquer everything around here and then govern directly.

However, both methods would take too much time.

This might give the Byzantine Empire, currently in chaos, time to regain its senses, or Sicily might come on the pretext of avenging massacred Westerners.

I needed the Byzantine Emperor title and Constantinople.

So I didn’t want anyone interfering with this.

While I was thinking about this, the Sultanate of Rum’s envoy entered with the Kheshig.

The envoy bowed and presented gifts to me.

“We offer these to the great ruler of the Ulus.”

“I accept them graciously.”

In diplomatic custom, such gifts were used as a foundation for building goodwill.

So there was no reason to give anything in return to those who hadn’t even established a tributary relationship.

In other words, I could just accept the gifts and be done with it.

Of course, I had no intention of doing that.

Having received gifts, I should reciprocate.

Diplomatically, that is.

“How fares the Sultan of the Sultanate of Rum?”

“He is well.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Having received gifts from the Sultanate of Rum, I shall reciprocate.”

At my words, an attendant bowed.

Then he brought a small box.

“This is…”

“It’s medicine from a mysterious eastern country called Solongos. It should be good for the elderly Sultan with his heart condition.”

“…We accept with gratitude.”

The envoy said this, but his eyes were trembling greatly.

This was because I, a foreigner, seemed to know the situation in the Sultanate of Rum as if it were the palm of my hand.

Moreover, I mentioned the Sultan’s heart condition while handing over medicine that seemed prepared in advance, which only reinforced this impression.

This naturally terrified the envoy.

I looked at the envoy and smiled.

It seemed my guess had been correct.

The only information I knew about him was that he was elderly.

I didn’t know what specific illness he had since it wasn’t mentioned on the internet.

However, I had read that one of his ancestors died of heart disease.

Since heart disease typically runs in families, there was a probability that the elderly Sultan, a distant descendant, suffered from this disease.

Fortunately, my guess had hit the mark.

“Now, seeing that the Sultanate of Rum has sent an envoy, there must be a reason. State your purpose for coming here.”

At my words, the envoy collected himself.

Then he bowed and began explaining why he had come.

“Great Gur Khagan, we feel deep gratitude and concern regarding your invitation to surrender. These matters…”

Flowery diplomatic rhetoric followed.

In short, despite the lengthy speech, the core message was this:

The responsibilities and obligations are too burdensome.

So please be lenient.

Hearing this, I had no choice but to make them reveal their own weaknesses.

“These obligations are the same responsibilities and duties applied to the Atabegs of Iran, the Darughachis of the steppe, and the Wangyas of the Central Plains. Why do you seek to avoid these responsibilities and obligations?”

The envoy said nothing to this.

Looking at him, I murmured softly.

“So you haven’t subdued Qutb al-Din yet.”

“H-how… n-no… that fact…”

“My eyes are everywhere. The world whispers to me.”

It was a cringe-worthy statement.

Hearing the voices of all creation? It sounded like something from a comic book.

However, as I mentioned earlier, such superhuman abilities gave me divine status.

Whether people believed it or not, I knew their internal affairs. So the envoy had no choice but to believe.

“So don’t think of telling me falsehoods. I am testing you. If what you say differs from what I know, I will completely destroy Konya, which was burned by Crusader looting and arson, and turn it into pastureland.”

I deliberately mentioned the Crusader looting and arson.

Of course, this event was very famous and known to all neighboring countries.

But I was a foreigner. A barbarian from the distant East.

So he couldn’t help but be surprised that I knew this news.

“I apologize, Great One. You who are chosen by God. I dared to test one who has heaven’s blessing.”

“I am generous. So I’ll overlook it this time.”

“Th-thank you.”

The envoy repeatedly expressed gratitude.

Now that I had some control over him, I thought it was time to get to the main point.

“If you become our vassal state, I will resolve your rebellion.”

“The… rebellion, you say?”

“Yes. In exchange, you must hand over the promised soldiers, supplies, and Alexios to me. If you do so, you will become part of the Ulus and receive protection, and your territory will continue as part of the Ulus for generations to come.”

At my words, the envoy fell into deep thought.

It seemed this was what the elderly Sultan wanted.

Suppressing the rebellion.

Although Kilij Arslan was suppressing his son’s rebellion with his son Ghiyath al-Din, as a father, executing his son was never a welcome task.

Nor was it good to make his youngest son bear the unfortunate stigma of being a kinslayer.

So despite being able to suppress the rebellion himself, Kilij Arslan wanted to borrow the hand of the Ulus.

This way, the legitimacy and reputation of his heir Ghiyath al-Din wouldn’t be tarnished by infamy.

If I were to compare it to a game, it was like a player not wanting to give bad traits to their heir.

As a third party, I had no particular issue with this.

It was just suppressing a rebellion in the Sultanate of Rum that had become a vassal state.

In short, it was an agreement beneficial to both sides.

“We accept Gur Khagan’s proposal.”

The envoy accepted my offer.

I nodded with a satisfied smile.

Although I spoke as if I was doing them a favor by suppressing the rebellion, the reality was different.

This too was actually for the benefit of the Ulus.

I wasn’t the type to show mercy to vassal states.

Every action I took was for the Ulus.

I helped vassal states only because it benefited the Ulus.

This way, the Ulus could expand its territory more quickly.

So inwardly, I laughed at their innocence.

These pure souls who thought I would just suppress the rebellion and leave.

Aksaray, where Qutb al-Din was hiding, was a city located between Konya and Kayseri.

Konya was the enemy’s capital, and Kayseri was one of the largest cities in the Sultanate of Rum.

What would happen if Ulus troops were stationed in Aksaray between them under the pretext of suppressing a rebellion?

The result was obvious.

That’s why I almost laughed.

Because the Sultanate of Rum was too naive to see this outcome.