After the Purple Horde Khanate's first attempt to control Dadu failed, how to modify its strategy became an important matter. At that time, Guo Kang's great-grandfather Guo Gai was the one who made the final decision, so his family also knew about this matter very well.
The move to take over Dadu was initially promoted by the Cao family, one of the founding princes. At that time, Cao Meng, the ancestor of the Cao family, visited the Greek court as an envoy. Cao Meng was good at dancing and knew how to stir things up, and soon he hooked up with the eunuch Michael.
The Greek court at that time had many factions and complicated battles. Not only are officials fighting, but high-ranking officials are also forming cliques. For example, the great financial officer, the great patriarch, the naval archduke and others at that time were all choosing sides while also managing their own power.
The great eunuch Michael was a confidant of the late emperor, so he sided with the late emperor's son John V and opposed the co-emperor John VI, who had been the late emperor's prime minister.
But the problem is that there are many factions here in John V. For example, the Queen Mother regarded herself as the guardian of John V, taking advantage of the situation to monopolize power and exclude other senior ministers. Michael also had many disputes with the Queen Mother. Seeing that the situation was becoming more and more unfavorable, he began to think of other solutions.
Seeing that John VI had begun to hook up with Osman, Michael took the initiative to bring in the Purple Horde as foreign aid, so that he could secure his position because of this contribution. Therefore, he began to help Cao Meng in his activities, and finally decided to accept Cao Meng as his adopted son and let him inherit his political property to show his determination.
This failure dealt a huge blow to Cao. Although the direct reason was that Li Tiance was busy watching the show and was not alert, Cao Meng felt that it was because he had not arranged well and had caused everyone to suffer.
Therefore, after the incident, he has been desperately covering the evacuation of Li Tiance and others. Finally, at the city gate, he was attacked while trying to negotiate with a mob. Although everyone took advantage of the chaos and ran out, Cao Meng was seriously injured and died soon after.
After this incident, the Li family and the Cao family were completely at odds with the Greeks. Others were also furious and demanded revenge. It just so happened that John Khan and Grand Master Ye Xianbuhua led the Northern Tent Army to come to support, so everyone hoped to fight back to the city to punish the thugs. Last but not least, they should set a fire outside the city to show their authority and let the Greeks know that they are not to be trifled with.
At this time, Guo Gai stood up, stopped Li Tiance and others who were about to draw a knife to kill, and tried to appease everyone.
He believed that this was a premeditated attack and that he had not heard any news before. It was likely that the two groups of Greeks cooperated. Otherwise, someone would have come to inform and expose the opponent's conspiracy.
But this kind of cooperation is too rare to last long.
If you rush to attack the city now, you may have to suffer heavy losses. Moreover, the Ottomans and Serbs were still operating nearby, posing significant risks to the operation.
The Art of War says: A king cannot launch a war out of anger, and a general cannot go out to fight out of anger. He knew that everyone felt aggrieved, but as a commander, one should always put whether it is in the interests of the country as the top priority before considering personal emotions.
Launching an attack now is tantamount to forcing other forces to work together. And venting their anger outside the city will not do any harm to the enemies in the city - the outside of the city has long been looted by various forces, and even if there are still some left, it is unclear whether the nobles in the city will pity these villagers. Easy to say.
Therefore, for now, it is better to wait for them to change. This won't be long.
Guo Gai was highly respected among this group of people, so everyone reluctantly followed his advice and withdrew the repairs.
And what happened after that was exactly what he said. Seeing the withdrawal of the purple tent army, the Greeks thought that they were intimidated by the city wall and could only swallow this dumb loss, so they relaxed.
The city soon returned to its old state, with more than two officials fighting among themselves. John V even played Romance of the Three Kingdoms with his two sons. In one city in Dadu, at least four opposing forces suddenly appeared.
After a few years, the Greeks in the city finally couldn't stand it anymore. Some nobles took this opportunity to rebel again. They took control of the city gates, welcomed the purple tent army, and took the initiative to arrest and execute a large number of people who participated in the previous attacks to express their sincerity.
As for the two officials, they were exiled to Crimea by the Purple Horde Khanate.
"The princess was thrown back to Constantinople, but the city has changed hands, and her father has also gone north to hunt for Crimea." Guo Kang said: "That's why I say this situation is actually quite embarrassing. "
"Then Maria Cordon on your side is more embarrassed?" Jeanne asked.
"That's not the case." Guo Kang said: "She never took her family seriously. Later, during the Civil War, her first reaction was to avoid the rebel front and go to Morea in the south to steal the family's last possessions. Territory. I suspect that she is quite happy that her father has fallen."
"Of course, I think only immature Greek nobles will be embarrassed. As for those with deep enough background and rich enough experience, I guess it means that we are embarrassed for them, and they themselves will not be embarrassed."
"The nobles...maybe they really don't care about changing their allegiance." Heroine Jeanne could understand it herself.
"Yes." Guo Kang nodded: "If a noble family wants to continue for a long time, it is not just a question of whether it can fight. Whether it can stand in line in time and change the family may be a more important skill. The Greek nobles are welcoming the new dynasty. In terms of politics, I have always done very well.”
"However, several generations have passed now. The military government has also begun to be implemented in the Greek area, and the remaining family assets of the nobles are constantly being dismantled and digested by the Khan. Especially after the military government reform and the Anda War, they Within the traditional sphere of influence, the ability to intervene in local military affairs no longer exists.”
"This is why Master Wang reminded you just now that Queen Anna is not a direct descendant of the family." Guo Kang finally said: "Because we no longer need to marry the Greeks."
"Actually, only the first generation of the intermarriage in the Purple Horde was really to win over the Greeks here." He explained: "The marriage with Queen Mother Helena was not so much about winning over the Greek aristocrats as it was about restricting the Greek aristocrats. .Because she comes from Trabzon on the south coast of the Black Sea. Behind that country is Georgia, and she is not in the same group as the Greek nobles here."
"Basil III's Kotun is a Serbian. It's already clear at this point."
"By their father's generation, Rome has stabilized. There is no goal that requires marriage to achieve stability, and there are no people outside the system who are worthy of special marriage to win over. In this way, you can actually marry anyone you want. The scope has become much looser.”
"Didn't I just say that the relationship between their parents was okay? Back then, it would have been a luxury." He shook his head and said.
"What about your grandparents' distant relatives?" Heroine Jeanne turned to ask Theodora.
"The Queen Mother actually despises them." Theodora shook her head: "Although each of them is more capable than the other, I really can't tell who has any real ability at the moment."
"Of the current generation of children, only one named Constantine is smart. I don't know if there is any hope of becoming a talent in the future. The rest... let's forget about it."
"A few years ago, I told my adoptive father and mother-in-law that it would be better to let these old Greek nobles go and learn about it." Guo Kang said with a smile: "Anyway, they only know more about the unpopular Greek culture, so why not use their abilities as much as possible to learn more about it?" We went to places like Athens and Crete to excavate ruins. But last year, it seemed that they were really organized.”
"It turned out to be your idea. The queen mother said it was Mrs. Huang who brought it up. I thought it was her or Mr. Huang's idea." Theodora was a little surprised.
"Yes." Guo Kang was also a little proud: "By the way, if anyone performs well, let him go to the Cyclades Islands in the Aegean Sea and try digging there."
"Why?" Theodora asked strangely.
"He is Guo Banxian, just listen to him." Tuohuan waved his hand and said nonchalantly.
(End of chapter)
