After listening to Guo Kang's words, everyone agreed. The Queen Mother took the lead in applauding, and for a while, everyone seemed to have been convinced.

"Wait, don't get excited." Theodora also stood up and interrupted them.

"That's a good goal, but how are you going to do it?" She asked.

"It's the one who hits the girl." Tuohuan slapped the table: "Start the 'Alemanni Silver'!" This time, take Naples and Sicily directly and beat them out of the! ”

"Alemanni Silver" is a reserve proposed by Guo Gai when the Khanate had just expanded its territory and was at war with the Shinra.

At that time, the trade routes to the Caucasus and Central Asia through the Black Sea area controlled by the Purple Horde brought large quantities of gold and silver every year. But at that time, the goods demanded by the Purple Horde, except for weapons and agricultural tools, with the completion of industrial and mining areas and manors, the demand for imports became lower and lower, resulting in the inability to spend these money.

Guo Gai believes that too much gold and silver entering the domestic market will disrupt prices and be easily exploited by foreign merchants. At that time, the Khanate happened to be fighting with the intervention forces of the Alemanni Chiefdom, and he took the opportunity to ask for the surplus money to be stored for use in a critical situation.

Since then, the Purple Horde has been saving for war preparedness, and it has only been used twice in a few decades: once during the "Civil War", when it bribed the Venetian parliament and cut off the supply of Hungarian armor and ordnance, which led to a significant delay in the formation of a new army by the Hungarians; The other time was during Basil's expedition to Syria, where he helped the locals make up the ransom money in exchange for Timur's army to leave directly and turn to the holy war against the Ottomans.

Today, this money has accumulated over time, and the amount is very objective. If it is really a big war related to the fortunes of the country, it can indeed be opened, and the legions and mercenaries can be mobilized to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop.

However, Guo Kang thought about it and felt that it was still not necessary.

"I don't think so." He shook his head: "This is not a particularly critical battle situation, and in terms of importance, it may only be worth calling when it ties up with Dongfang in the future." ”

"And what are you going to do with them?" Tuohuan hurriedly asked.

"It's up to them to cooperate." Guo Kang turned his head and asked the "old sea urchin": "Did the emirs tell you what price they can offer?" For example, can you give money to the border mining? ”

"The money must be fine, they told me before I came, as long as I can keep Ceuta, they will give as much as they want." Muhammad affirmed: "As for the fiefdoms, as long as they can be won, it should be fine to negotiate." ”

"The people over there are rich. But their problem is that they are not good at fighting, but they are still very rich. He was a little helpless: "If we can provide a reliable group of fighters to protect the local area from raiding, then they will definitely be happy." Just stop turning around and robbing them. ”

"It's not a big deal." Guo Kang thought about it and said.

"What are you going to do?" Theodora wondered.

"Aren't we going to organize a crusade to rescue the Egyptian caliphate?" Guo Kang replied: "If everything goes well, when the mission is completed, the caliph can call for a holy war to rescue Ceuta." ”

"Is the holy war reliable?" Muhammad, however, felt weak: "In the past few hundred years, we have invited many jihadist troops. If they were not strong enough, they would not be able to defeat the Crusaders; If the force is strong, it will give priority to us. Now when everyone hears about the holy war, their hearts are terrified......"

"That's because you're a whole force of invitation." Guo Kang explained: "They are your neighbors, so they naturally have the idea of taking advantage of the opportunity to expand. ”

"But this time, we can do it a different way."

"On the Egyptian side, it's fighting fiercely right now. The caliph is a gang, the great warlord Hafez of Syria is a gang, and the great warlord Sheikh of Egypt is another gang. In addition, there are many emirs who have already stood in line, or are waiting for the time being. He analysed the situation on the ground.

"Now the caliph has asked us for help, and Hafez wants us to intervene. But the two are equally wary of each other and cannot trust each other. And the sheikh of Egypt wants to become the new sultan, and is even ready to depose the caliphate. In short, everyone is incompatible. ”

"Our main goal on this expedition is to defeat the Sheikh. But even if you defeat him, the follow-up will be troublesome. ”

"You should be aware of the problems in Egypt right now." Guo Kang said: "Every time the Sudan is changed, it is a huge chaos. A large number of direct Mamluks have either been purged or displaced. Of course, these people will not be more willing, and will often cling to other warlords, causing further crises. ”

"Because of the decline of the country, the number of Mamluks is nowhere near as large as it was then. It is said that during the Baibar era, there were as many as 16,000 Mamluks, the Sultan's Praetorian Guard. Thirty years ago, when the Bulgi dynasty was founded, Sultan Balkuk had less than 6,000 Mamluks in his hands. Later, after the chaotic rule of Faraj, it is impossible for the current Mamluks to exceed this number. ”

"But even with that amount, it's not easy to deal with to be honest. And, because of the previous chaos, the lost Mamluks could have been even more. ”

"We can't be enemies of all the emirs and Mamluks, otherwise we won't be able to gain a foothold on the ground with our current strength. On the contrary, our main goal is to mediate between the caliph and the emirs. But in the process of completing mediation and re-establishing order, more Mamluks will certainly lose their identities and fiefdoms. ”

"So, I think, it's better to reserve a new opportunity. It would be a good place to start a jihad and get them to Andalusia. He pondered.

"In addition to recruiting the lost Mamluks, you can also have the caliph call on the unfortunate ones who have failed to take sides. Previously, within the Mamluk dynasty, the treatment of these people was cruel. But we can only hold the culprits accountable, and the rest will let them participate in the Roman Holy War, and if they have merit, they will be given fiefs in the equally rich Spain. ”

"We can give your local emirs the title of governor or taishou according to their sphere of influence. These Mamluks were knighted as Roman knights. Guo Kang said.

"Of course, there is no need to fear them rebelling. One is because these people are just scattered Mamluk ronins, and their lords have long since been destroyed, so they were transferred to fight, unlike the previous Berber tribes, which had a systematic force. ”

"Moreover, the Spaniards on the other side are also a bunch of religious maniacs. Back then, they could talk when they were weak, but now that they are strong, they can't wait to exterminate all the Heavenly Fang Sect believers. Those who are unable to protect themselves go to them, and there is nothing good to do. ”

"On our side, we can send troops to help you watch - but we don't need to send too many people. I think that as long as a combat unit with an engineer brigade as the core, the size of up to half a corps, the task can be accomplished. ”

"What do you think of this idea?" He asked, looking around at the crowd.

(End of chapter)