The Kuritai Congress is the theoretical highest meeting of Mongolia. The Great Khan of Temujin, the Great Khan of Ogedei, and the Great Khan of Möngke were all elected by the Kuritai Assembly. Compared to such a great reputation, the Kuritai conference itself looks much more modest.

A golden tent was erected on a beautiful grassy field, and the red carpet was laid out from the inside to the outside, starting in front of the table inside the golden tent. On either side of the red carpet outside the Golden Tent are rows of tables, each of which sits a Mongol king. The closer you are to the red carpet, the more noble the bloodline of the King of the Sect becomes.

Kublai Khan walked on the soft red carpet with his hands behind his back. At this time, there was no meeting yet, and the back of the table was empty. Kublai Khan looked at those tables condescendingly, and was very proud in his heart. More than 20 years ago, after the return of Möngke Khan, Kublai Khan tried to convene the Kuritai Assembly, and only the Ilkhanate sent people to come. Time flies, and now Tokhtomunke of the Golden Horde has sent envoys on the road, although there are a large number of various forces in the Golden Horde, but Kublai Khan did not really want to have an election, he just wanted these people to submit to his feet. There is no difference at all between more and less sect kings. The key is to convene the Kuritai Conference as soon as possible.

Walking through the venue, someone next to him reported the latest news in the court to Kublai Khan.

"Great Khan, the sixth group of people is going fast, and they will arrive in Baghdad in half a month."

"Hmm. Let them speed up. ”

"It's just that the Ilkhanate feels that the food along the way is too much."

"Give them more Zhongtong ingots to hand over money." Kublai Khan replied calmly.

"Great Khan, we don't have many ingots to hand over banknotes, and the paper needed for printing is insufficient."

"Let those Hanchens hurry up and report the countermeasures."

"Great Khan, Hao Ren has reached the borders of the Golden Horde. He wrote a recital and asked the Great Khan to order him to go on a campaign. ”

Kublai Khan stopped and said with interest: "I didn't expect Hao Ren to walk quite fast. ”

Hao Ren is indeed moving fast, this guy has completed thousands of miles in the past few years. If it was in the early years of Mongolia's westward expedition, he must have been among the famous Mongolian generals. Now Kublai Khan mentioned Hao Ren, and he felt a little uncomfortable in his heart. He didn't expect Hao Ren to grow into such a field.

"Great Khan, you also canonized Hao Ren as the prince. Do you want him to come to the Kuritai conference as well? ”

"No, you don't." Kublai Khan replied categorically, "Let him stay where he is, maybe there will be any changes in the Golden Horde." When the time comes, he will need to send troops. ”

"Yes."

After reporting the matter, Kublai Khan casually found a table and sat down, and the attendant next to him immediately handed over the cigar. Taking a puff and exhaling fragrant smoke, Kublai Khan felt a little more comfortable in his heart. The Kuritai Conference in front of us is the success of the implementation of sinicization in the past few years. Kublai Khan was determined to turn the Kuritai Assembly into a system where various princes came to meet the new Mongol Great Khan, rather than a system for electing the Mongol Great Khan. Only the current Great Khan, not the Mongol kings, decided who would be the next Great Khan.

Compared with a few successful sinicizations,More sinicization systems have failed。 For example, Kublai Khan once hoped to establish a system in which the Great Khan had the power of the Han emperor, who commanded the world to dare not obey. In reality, this system completely contradicted the Mongolian system and finally failed.

If you succeed, you can keep it, and if you fail, you need to abandon it, and Kublai Khan has always solved the problem in this way. Hao Ren has become the strange fruit of those failed systems. In addition to a Mongolian surname, Kublai Khan also didn't feel that Hao Ren had any Mongolian characteristics left. Because he felt that Hao Ren was an eyesore, Kublai Khan even wondered if Hao Ren felt that his surname was 'Hao', rather than a young man.

Forget it, just let Hao Ren stay so quietly. Kublai Khan thought to himself. He didn't know what to do with Hao Ren now, so he decided to make a decision after the Kuritai conference was over.

Letting go of the unpleasant Hao Ren, Kublai Khan couldn't help but think of Boyan who made him happy. According to the news, Princess Maria of the Ilkhanate said goodbye to the Crusaders of the Ilkhanate and left the Ilkhanate only a few days ago under the escort of Boyan. Kublai Khan didn't have much affection or dislike for Princess Maria personally, but once Princess Maria left, the old upper echelons of the Ilkhanate changed dramatically, and Kublai Khan himself could do many things in it. The Great Khan was not prepared to do anything to the current Ilkhan Aruhun, but Kublai Khan was not opposed to having a greater say in the nearby Ilkhanate.

I hope Boyan can come back soon. Kublai Khan looked forward to it. Since the Golden Horde is already sending people to the Kuritai Conference, it means that these guys will bow their heads and submit. In that case, the role of the Eastern Romans would only be to attack Mamluk in the south.

There is no need for Kublai Khan to say it himself, and the Marshal Boyan knows what the Khan thinks. But the marshal didn't care at all, he took his errand seriously, escorting Princess Maria back to Constantinople, and at the same time accompanying Princess Maria to do something she loved to do. In addition to doing some of the things he loves to do, he will also accompany the princess to see the scenery and tell stories. And Princess Maria was especially eager to hear Hao Ren tell about what she had experienced in the days since the separation.

"The Song Kingdom is very beautiful, and the walls of the royal capital are twice as tall as those of Tabriz. They also had very strong armies, especially their commanders, and the current Emperor of the Song State, Zhao Jiaren, was a great commander. "Boyan's Greek skills began to recover, and although he did not return to the level he had twenty years ago, he was able to make Mary understand what Boyan meant.

"You've ever defeated such a powerful country!" As Princess Mary spoke, little stars twinkled in her eyes.

Marshal Boyan shook his head slightly, "I defeated the previous Song State, and the emperor of the Song State surrendered at that time. After that, Zhao Jiaren inherited the throne and immediately launched a counterattack. ”

Princess Maria nodded slightly, she understood this completely. The last dynasty of the Eastern Romans had also fallen for a short time, and Princess Maria's father, Michael VIII, was the son of a Byzantine official (megas domestikos), and his mother was the granddaughter of the Byzantine Emperor Alexei III. Michael VIII had at least 11 emperors among his ancestors, so he was of noble birth. In the practice of the brief fall of the Eastern Roman Empire, Michael VIII was known for his magical diplomacy and was known as the omnipotent spider. The Eastern Roman Empire was eventually restored.

From the introduction of the Marshal of Boyan, this Great Song Emperor Zhao Jiaren is like this. The Great Song Dynasty was restored at the time of the collapse of the country. It should be a very amazing hero.

At the mention of this, Boyan probe stroked Princess Maria's skin and asked, "What kind of person is your brother?" I don't have much of an impression of him. ”

Feeling the itch, Princess Maria burst out laughing, she smiled and pressed the salty pig hand of the handsome Boyan, "I only remember what he looked like when he was old, and I don't know what kind of person he is now." Why, are you worried that he will not be easy to deal with? ”

"I haven't seen it, and I don't know." Boyan said indifferently. Ever since he had experienced the cowardly battle of not being defeated, Boyan knew how terrible lies and untruthful words were. Panic is harmful, is harmful. The experience of life and death has created Boyan's character that is admired, but Boyan did not become such a person for the sake of admiration. In his daily prayers, Boyan would tell himself that he did not want to repeat the mistakes of the past, that he did not want to see the destruction of the army again.

"You...... Will not stay in Constantinople. Princess Mary said.

"Yes."

"That'...... Will you come to see me? At least write to me. ”

"Now that I'm back here, I'll probably end up at a manor in Jerusalem to retire."

“…… Do you want me to wait for you? Princess Maria's voice was expectant and worried.

"Yes. I want you to wait for me. Boyan replied decisively. Even if he will get a negative result in the end, Boyan will not lie. Twenty-three years ago, the then 27-year-old Boyan became a general under Hülegü. Hulagu Khan, who had destroyed the Arab Empire and killed Syria, was preparing to take advantage of the victory and join the Western Knights to settle Mamluk entrenched in Egypt. Upon learning of the death of Möngke Khan, Hülegü had to return to the East to participate in the struggle between his half-brother Kublai Khan and Ali Buge for the throne.

As soon as Hülegü left, the knights of the Western Cross Sect did not want to continue to fight with the Mamluks without spending more than 10,000 people. At that time, Boyan was in charge of liaising with the Western Knights, and every time he remembered his luck at that time, Boyan would feel ashamed. If he had told the truth earlier, perhaps the cowardly General Buhua would not have been so reckless as to continue fighting the Mamluks. Instead, they chose to retreat to Syria for repairs.

Marshal Boyan knew that he could not leave Kublai Khan's side for the time being, and Marshal Boyan also hoped to have Princess Maria, so he frankly expressed his thoughts, "You stay in Constantinople first, and when Syria is recaptured, I will buy a manor in Syria." Someone will be sent to pick you up after that. ”

Princess Mary was silent for a moment. Of course, she wanted to be with Boyan, but what Maria couldn't say now was that she wanted to be able to be with Boyan as husband and wife, and that she wanted to be able to marry in the Orthodox model in the divine blessings.

However, in such a time of intense change, this seemingly prosaic desire is the hardest to obtain. When the princess was sent to the Ilkhanate, she was to marry Hülegü, who was older than her father Michael VIII, and when she arrived in the Ilkhanate, Hulegu had already died, and the princess married Hülegü's son Abaha. At that time, Abaha already had several wives.

So, apart from silence, Princess Mary could not say anything. Silence, silence, silence seems to go on endlessly.