Now the situation is such that the brothers Aleppo Ridwan and Damascus Dukaq fully support Muhammad. Tabo became the new master of the Isfahan court, and there may be a mysterious power from Baghdad to help him. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

However, the governor of Mosul, Kobha, because of the previous defeat at Antioch and the bitter hatred of the Tutoshi brothers, expressed his support for Bachiyanuk as the new Seljuk Grand Sultan.

The two sides are now at loggerheads, fighting fiercely with each other, and the Seljuk are further east by the Amu Darya River (Oxus River, Uhu River), and are coveted by foreign enemies such as the Qarakhanid and Ghazni Sultans.

Therefore, many far-sighted people within the Seljuk Empire also understood that they could not continue to tear the country apart, so they strongly called for the two power-fighting factions to shake hands and make peace.

When it was heard that Gawain had led an elite and powerful army, had previously raised his hand to defeat Trabzon and Georgia, and had brought under his command two small Kurdish states that had been Seljuk vassals, and arrived in the city of Taulis, the Seljuk forces were silent, because it was uncertain whether Gawain would take advantage of their internal strife and march all the way to Isfahan.

Unexpectedly, however, Gawain instructed the sleeping officer, Winromina, to write a handwritten letter in her left hand, transcribing several copies in Greek and Persian (the official language of the Seljuk court at that time was Persian), and sending them to Isfahan, Baghdad, Aleppo, Mosul, Damascus, and Borujald, in which Gawain declared:

"The Seljuks, who had managed to coalesce from a loose tribal state decades ago through the efforts of Arp and Malikshah, into a somewhat decent state, are now facing a barren land and a deprived trade route in the vast area from Taulis to the Amu Darya River, from Georgia to Baghdad. This would be very detrimental to all, so I would rather be the arbiter at a disadvantage - the factions could send an envoy to the city of Taulis to negotiate terms to calm things down, and to demarcate the boundaries of my kingdoms of Tarsus and Seljuk as soon as possible, and to resume trade between them. ”

At the same time, Gawain's proposal was first praised by Baldwin, the king of Jerusalem, who was already actively preparing for war, targeting Fatima in Egypt, and of course hoping for a favorable peace treaty with the Seljuk states.

On the other hand, Bohemond also completed the mobilization of 15,000 soldiers, and began to build siege fortresses around the lake behind the city of Antioch, preparing for a general attack on his besieged nephew Tancred after the following spring: whether it was Apulia or the Two Sicilies, Bohemond's uncle Roger and many Norman nobles persuaded Bohemond and Tancred to cease fire and reach a mutually tolerant and benevolent peace, but Bohemond ruthlessly refused. Therefore, Bohemond could not take time off to care about the affairs of Isfahan for the time being, and did not exert his due influence.

The quickest response to the "Taulis Conference", excluding Haddadi and Sylván, had to be counted as Ridwan of Aleppo, and Gawain secretly promised to reduce the amount of compensation, so Ridwan raised his hands in agreement, and sent envoys to the palace of Taulis with his brother Dukak as soon as possible.

Soon, the envoys of Kobha, Bachiyanuk and Tapo also brought their own gifts and credentials.

In early autumn, the city of Taulis is surrounded by beautiful hills, and the mirrored Lake Shagoli is dotted with pearl-like gardens, palaces and mosques, but now it is owned by the Christian tyrant Gawain of Tarsus, who leads his horse around the lake in the early morning and then presides over the assembly in the temple.

At the same time, gifts were handed over one after another, including a leopard with a majestic spot of money from the governor of Mosul, Bachiyanuk, the eldest son of Malikshah, with two large and fierce hounds, and Tabo with ten ceremonial swords cast in the shape of fireworks, fifty blacksmiths, and countless brocades and tapestries.

The gift that interests Gawain the most is Tabo's, who has long been eager for the Saracens' forging skills, and now Tabo has brought him weapons and people in order to curry favor with him, which is exactly what he wants. Therefore, Gawain quickly received the fifty blacksmiths, announced their release as free men, and gave them a very large sum to send to the workshops of Seleucia and Tarsus, and revolutionized the technology of forging weapons for him.

As for the rest of the gifts, especially the beasts, Gawain returned them with "fear that my Sabina will be frightened," and the king of Tarsus was followed by Zhao Zhao in the costume of Emperor Song Confucianism, Prince Sven in the costume of a Frankish warrior, and a large number of Armenian merchants, who demanded that the group gather in a large courtyard of the palace with a porch, fountain, and charming flowers, to consult with the envoys of the nations about the opening of trade, which Gawain seemed so eager that it was well known to the world - The Varyag, who holds a sword in one hand and a shackle in the other, is also a shrewd and practical eight-clawed spider.

Zhao Zhao and Sven preliminarily proposed three trade routes:

One is from Trabzon, passing through Taulis, and then reaching Isfahan, and even further east to the Amu Darya;

The second also starts from Trabzon, then goes south through Amida and Mardin, and then through Mosul, along the Tigris River to Baghdad;

The third route departs from Tarsus, passes through Adana in the Gulf of Issus, and goes around Marash to Aleppo, forming a vertical and horizontal traffic pattern with the second trade route.

These three trade routes, combined with the maritime trade route of Gauvensmana-Atalia-Cyprus-Levant, according to Zhao Zhao's estimates, "did not earn more than 700,000 Byzants."

What is the source of this money?

It's trade.

Gawain and Anna now grant trade concessions to the Italian commercial city-states of Rela, Pisa, Amalfi, etc., allowing them to lease or even build their own commercial ports in various port cities, but they have to pay a considerable fee, the main of which are four types, namely "port toll tax on ships", "import and export commodity (goods) tax", "commodity surtax" (the tax rate for light luxury goods and bulk goods is equal and more flexible) and "port fee" (this has been first implemented in the ports of Cyprus and Samos. That is, the resident commercial port area needs to contribute a fee to the city every year for the maintenance of ports, lighthouses, dockyards, and the cost of escorting ships). Correspondingly, the Italian city-states also had monopoly rights over the whole of Tarsus, such as the golden marble of Afyon, the alum of Smyrna, the saffron of Seleucia and Tarsus, the lake salt of Cappadocia, the lime of Marach, the timber of Philadofiam, the mutton, pork, and butter of Prussia and Ferromelon, the silk of Calleadio, and the woolen fabrics of Melitene and Sebastian, etc., which were sent by the ships of these city-states to the western part of the continent for sale.

But this charter was fundamentally different from the trade charter that Alexios had given Venice.