Chapter 27: Khitan Caesar

Chapter 27: Khitan Caesar

The Ottomain soldiers, who had lost their fighting will, were practically lambs waiting to be slaughtered. Under Shu Yichao’s relentless pursuit, their powerful army scattered into many fragments and fled all around in a fluster.

After being encircled for nearly a month, the war concluded with the Eastern Romain Empire’s victory.

The final tally of the war revealed that the Ottomains had suffered over 40,000 casualties, including its Sultana, its number one warrior, its navy admiral, its minister, and a huge number of pasha and emirs.

Momoana and her entourage had been lingering too close to the frontlines that Shu Yichao ended up massacring all of them.

The Ottomains’ barracks contained 3000 pounds of gold, 10,000 pounds of silver, and hundreds of thousands of spears, scimitars, shields, daggers, crossbows, armor, silk, cloth, clothes...

The Ottomains’ defeat here had enriched the Romains.

The spoils of war were shipped into Constantinope, and the city went into a celebratory mood.

When Shu Yichao gathered his troops and returned to the city, all of the civilians walked out of their houses to welcome the ‘Khitan’, who almost single-handedly brought them to victory.

The Church of God’s Holy Wisdom, a massive cathedral that existed for many centuries now, was lit with many candles reminiscent of the stars in the sky. A horn echoed in the cathedral, followed by deafening cheers that shook the sky.

Countless people were gathered here, cheering ‘Love live the Khitans’, ‘Long live the Eastern Romain Empire’.

When Constantin XI stepped forward with an edict and declared Shu Yichao as Romain’s co-emperor, the atmosphere went out of control.

“Caesar!”

“Caesar!”

“Khitan Caesar!”

“Our great Caesar!”

Cheers erupted from the crowd, as they expressed their highest respect toward Shu Yichao.

It went without saying that Shu Yichao didn’t understand their words, so he could only smile politely in response. The radiant smile on his dashing face, amplified by his ‘Empire Bewitcher’ ability, was so potent that it caused hundreds to faint.

However, there were some things that Shu Yichao still understood from the ceremony.

“Hmm, this festive celebration... is the map going to be opened up?”

Shu Yichao tapped into his profile and found an update to his world map.

The original map only shows the national boundaries and each power’s area of influence, but now, I can see their alignment too...

“...Senato, your thoughts are dangerous.” The provincial commander’s frown deepened. “You hope to force the Khitans to the negotiation table to acquire their spices and valuables, perhaps even opening up a supply route.

“I know that you’re doing this for our country, but in my capacity as a military man, I earnestly advise you not to assess this matter from just a politician’s viewpoint. The Khitans are ferocious warriors. Rather than words, they are more inclined to speak through force.

“The Sultana’s head is still hanging on the city wall, and countless Ottomain corpses are stacked like a mountain outside the city!”

The provincial commander looked at the bespectacled woman and spoke emphatically, “Please don’t provoke such a dangerous enemy. Our young Venetians shouldn’t shed their blood for no good reason.”

“Heh, my Provincial Commander,” the woman mischievously blinked her eyes, “don’t be so uptight. Whatever we say here has no significance. The final decision lies in the hands of our Provincial Governor, no?”

“...I hope that’s what you really think,” the provincial commander stared at the Venetian senator before slowly replying.

He knew that Venetian senator had much greater say in Venice than him, a provincial commander who only had a couple of ships under his command. If the latter chose to highlight the pros over the cons in her letter...

Let’s hope our Provincial Governor will make a rational decision, the provincial commander prayed. Money is great, but only if it doesn’t come at the expense of our lives.

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Starve’s Historical Trivia:

The Church of God’s Holy Wisdom is also known as Hagia Sophia in the present day.

It was built in 537 AD, and it has been a cathedral (Eastern Orthodox or Catholic) all the way until the Ottomans conquered Constantinople. The Ottomans renamed it as Hagia Sophia and turned it into a mosque.

Currently, Hagia Sophia is located in Turkiye, Istanbul.

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The Romans had a system of tetrarchy that only lasted 40 years, from AD 284 to 324 (the current era here is AD 1451), where the ruler (augusti/ augustus) and his successor (caesar/ kaiser) would rule in unison, with the caesar to take over the augusti’s position in the future.

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*This saying is basically a meme among Chinese historian buffs.

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (established shortly after Constantinople fell) was an extremely powerful country that once enjoyed significant victories against its two massive neighboring states, Germany and Russia, which is incredible considering its relatively smaller size.

This saying is actually to mock the Commonwealth, as its culture of Sarmatism among its Szlachta (nobles) made them take an arrogant stance toward its neighbors, aka cultural relativism

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Venice is a miracle in the Middle Ages - it is a very small nation (practically a city) with almost no natural resources, but it is strategically located to become a critical middleman between the Middle East and throughout Europe, which made them very wealthy.

They used the money they earned to gain further control over future trade, while also building a powerful navy and bases along different countries. They exploited war to expand their territories (such as the Fourth Crusade), and that helped them to become a powerhouse eventually.