[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-nation-of-ten-thousand-nations":3,"chapter-the-nation-of-ten-thousand-nations-the-nation-of-ten-thousand-nations-chapter-69":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Nation of Ten Thousand Nations",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2333037,4562,"Chapter 69: To Egypt! (1) (Thank You for Favorites—Extra Chapter!)","the-nation-of-ten-thousand-nations-chapter-69",69,"\u003Cp>The sea breeze blew in, lifting a corner of the silk tapestry hung at the window; sunlight poured in, waking Baldwin and Cesar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Baldwin sat up, dazed for a moment; only when Cesar on the other bed also awoke did he remember they were no longer in the Holy Cross Castle, but in the Crusader fortress at Gaza Rafah.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the Holy Cross Castle, as the King’s attendants, they had to sleep wrapped in bear hides outside Amalric I’s chamber; but when the King marched, even if rooms were available, the guards would not be them—they were true knights, and they could have their own lodgings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, Heraclius, after examining the Prince’s body, concluded that bear hides and cold stone floors hindered the healing of ulcers and blisters, and would only worsen the condition—Amalric I’s sole remaining heir was still only Baldwin, and though he upheld most knightly and royal principles, he could not help yielding before reality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Freed from night duty, Baldwin’s condition improved greatly; perhaps also because Heraclius had taken over that dangerous task—the Prince sometimes felt shame. He had once deeply admired this teacher, especially when everyone else had left and Heraclius still taught him; yet in his heart, Heraclius’s importance could never rival Cesar’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps because he knew clearly: Heraclius had done it all for his father, Amalric I, while Cesar did it only for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ll fetch some water,” Cesar said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the Holy Cross Castle, such tedious chores could be left to servants; but on campaign, everyone was a cog in the war machine, and adding burdens to others merely for comfort drew glares and resentment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even though Cesar and Baldwin did everything themselves, whispers still spread: Amalric I should not have placed his heir, and another child barely thirteen, in such a vital and sacred campaign.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Baldwin and Cesar both understood: the Byzantine princess’s delivery of a daughter instead of a son had dealt Amalric I a heavy blow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was nearly forty, and the stench of death in war could strike anyone—even a king—at any moment. He felt fear, and worried: if he died before Baldwin came of age, he would have to appoint a regent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he himself had inherited the throne after his elder brother died childless; and if he and Baldwin III had even a sliver of blood relation, the bitter fate of Bohemond III, Prince of Antioch, showed him that a regent would never relinquish power—Bohemond III’s mother, and effectively his stepfather, Renaud of Chatillon, had refused to hand him authority.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bohemond was born in 1144, but at sixteen, his mother and stepfather still refused to give him power; only in 1160, when Renaud was captured by the Seljuk Turks, did Bohemond return to Antioch, gain the support of its knights and Baldwin III, and reclaim what was rightfully his.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With these examples before him, Amalric I dared not test human nature; so he took an action unremarkable among the Franks: he would swiftly elevate Baldwin to a position where, even if someone tried to obstruct him, they could not do so for long or broadly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, though his illness had not healed, Baldwin had received divine blessing and deep royal favor; these past three years, no one could deny he was an outstanding squire and a capable royal attendant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amalric I had decided: during this campaign against Fostat, if Baldwin could lead and win a battle as commander, he would immediately hold a “knighthood ceremony” and enoble him as a knight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His hesitation was whether to knight Cesar at the same time; if so, he wished Cesar to have a surname—but who should grant it? That was another problem, for all could see: if Baldwin ever ascended the throne, his most trusted and relied-upon ally would be this blue-eyed companion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or could he grant Cesar a small fief?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this age, anyone fortunate enough to receive a new land was entitled to adopt its name as a surname—or rather, names were reused endlessly; without a birthplace appended, one’s name would be too common to distinguish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The land should be prosperous enough, yet small: prosperous, because Cesar needed influence in war and court; small, because Amalric I feared he might become another Renaud of Chatillon. Perhaps, if this campaign brought glorious victory, he could bestow upon Cesar a parcel of land far away in Egypt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He would inevitably remain long in Arasal to serve Baldwin, collecting taxes and tribute from the land but unable to govern it directly; and being isolated meant he would have to rely more heavily on Baldwin’s aid and support to secure his lordship…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Baldwin’s suggestion that Cesar be given a female heir or widow, Amalric I dismissed it instantly—women! Hey, women! Sometimes they seized power from their sons, yet before their lovers, they turned soft and pliable—a king never shared power with his queen, but a queen would place the crown upon her husband’s head…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had no doubt: with Cesar’s looks and temperament, what woman could remain unmoved by his smile? If he granted Baldwin’s wish, Cesar could leap at once to the rank of a powerful lord, even master of a county…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty? Your Majesty?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Heraclius called several times before Amalric I returned to himself; he refocused on state affairs—campaigns only multiplied duties, never lessened them. He lowered his head to see the draft letter Heraclius had written for him—to Manuel I.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amalric I grew angry just thinking of it: he had negotiated a marriage alliance with the Byzantine Emperor, wedding his great-niece Princess Maria; as agreed, Manuel I was to provide thirty light warships, ten heavy warships, fully crewed with oarsmen and sailors, and most crucially, Greek fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But all that arrived with Princess Maria were thirty court warriors, thirty heavy cavalry, and a hundred light cavalry—all within the agreement—but not a single warship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Half those warriors were lost during the reception ceremony; as for the cavalry—thankfully, Amalric I had never fully trusted the Byzantines, and only out of curiosity placed them in reserve during his clash with the Templar Walter de Lusignan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The result: had Cesar, ever vigilant, not remembered Walter’s features, and had his knights not been brave enough, Walter’s surprise attack might well have succeeded…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And he, the King, would have become a laughingstock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, he should have known better than to expect anything from the Byzantines; if their cavalry still fought as valiantly and triumphantly as in Justinian’s time, why would their emperor beg the Pope of the Latin Church for aid? And during the First Crusade, even the earliest peasant armies—armed with pitchforks and flails—had defeated Byzantine city garrisons and sacked them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without soldiers or knights, and without a son, the only thing Amalric I could seek from this marriage alliance was the promised warships; fortunately, after delaying over ten months, Manuel I finally fulfilled his promise: thirty light warships, ten heavy warships, fully loaded with weapons and armor, with complete crews of sailors and oarsmen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now they lay anchored at Rafah harbor, alongside Frankish, Castilian, or Hungarian galleys, bringing new Crusader knights, their lords, and high clergy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>White seagulls darted through the clear blue sky, between gray sails and transparent air; the Crusader fortress at Rafah was already vast, sufficient to house thousands of knights.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the number of people there had surpassed ten thousand and kept rising rapidly; endless tents spread like moss after rain in every direction, colorful banners blooming like flowers; all their filth was dumped into the sea, breeding vast algae, which attracted small fish, which drew larger fish and seabirds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Merchants, craftsmen, and courtesans followed; even the residents of Gaza Rafah flocked in, hoping to profit from these foreigners. At the junction of city and port, a new small town had nearly formed, where conflict, shouting, and brawling lasted from dawn to dusk—hostility stretched from region and race to faith itself—heretics were always more hateful than infidels!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus Amalric I had to hasten his actions; he held three or four meetings daily with senior Crusader commanders, desperate to fix the campaign’s steps and rhythm: “Let these young lads direct their energy against the Saracens!” he declared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And this letter, written by Heraclius and signed by Amalric I, sent to Manuel I, contained only one demand—money! More money!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amalric I had given up on relying on Byzantine troops or ships; now the army was gathered at Rafah. True, warriors were expected to supply their own weapons, horses, and food for the Lord’s cause—but come now, if knights were truly so noble, they would never have looted European and Byzantine towns and villages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These men still paid honestly for goods only because Amalric I had begun generously rewarding each of them, and because he dangled before them a sweet bait—Fostat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fostat was the first capital established by the Saracens in Egypt—prosperous, wealthy, and sacred—waiting for their conquest. She was a slender, voluptuous lady draped in gauze, adorned with gold, jewels, and pearls, awaiting a strong knight to seize her and claim her in his arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, storming such a vast ancient city would not be easy; but had these men come here only to hoard their lives?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet daily consumption still left Heraclius, who tracked and calculated everything, dizzy with exhaustion; and his final tally always made Amalric I’s heart race.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Salt, sugar, barley, wheat, oil, wine… wood, stone, cowhide, sheepskin, iron, steel… horses, donkeys, mules… all screamed that he must win this war, or else he’d have to mortgage Arasal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This made him write the letter with even greater audacity; he even brazenly claimed that if the siege failed due to insufficient preparation, he would lead his army to seek aid from Constantinople…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Heraclius checked the King’s grammar and spelling, hoping the not-so-young Manuel I would not be so enraged he suffered an apoplexy (the Greek term for stroke, coined by Hippocrates); but any pity was false—Amalric I had not hidden his plans for Cesar from him, and he was determined to secure a fine future for his student.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He handed the letter to the messenger, leaned against the window, and looked down to see that vexing yet beloved child crossing the noisy square, carrying a stack of linen, followed by a knight without a surcoat—Longinus—carrying two copper pots, one still steaming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew this knight: the King had once wanted him to join the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, but after consideration, he had refused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>——————\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Longinus,” Cesar said, “you really won’t try again?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1754,"2026-06-20T20:58:34.857Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","f0986e4a19b3231775acf8c3fa466dee424432d71247e88d48e9a054e1548181","the-nation-of-ten-thousand-nations-chapter-70","the-nation-of-ten-thousand-nations-chapter-68",168,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-nation-of-ten-thousand-nations-cover.jpg"]