Chapter 29: The Mongol Pirate King (Part II)

Novgorod faced enemies not only from the land but also from the sea. Long before, they had been locked in frequent conflicts with the Norsemen.

After the major Nordic power of Sweden converted to Catholicism, it began to launch a series of crusades toward the East. They constructed the fortress of Vyborg across the gulf and destroyed Novgorod settlements around the Neva River, attempting to sever Novgorod's access to the North Sea commercial sphere.

Faced with these challenges, Novgorod, having repelled several Swedish offensives, began to take the initiative. By the early 14th century, the Novgorod army had pushed as far as central Finland, dismantling Swedish fortifications along the way in retaliation. For hundreds of years, the two sides skirmished endlessly over the vital waterway of Lake Ladoga and the Neva River, as well as the suzerainty over the local Karelian people, with no decisive result.

Though there were moments of wanting a peaceful resolution, and treaties were signed, the conflicts of interest were impossible to bridge.

The King of Sweden once proposed that since both sides were believers in God, they should resolve the issue through theological debate. He claimed he could send several philosophers—as theology and philosophy were often intertwined at the time—to debate with the Novgorod Church. The loser would convert to the winner's sect, thus sparing everyone from further war.

However, the Bishop and the Mayor of Novgorod rejected this demand, pointing out that they were merely a local church and suggesting that if the Swedes truly wished to debate, they should send their philosophers to Constantinople to argue with the Greeks there. If they could win against them, Novgorod would accept the wager; it was just a matter of whether the King of Sweden dared to take that bet.

Naturally, the wager never came to pass. The King of Sweden was no fool; his philosophers might have been able to bamboozle the Rus, but going to debate the Greeks was simply asking for trouble.

Consequently, the agreement fell through, and the two sides returned to decades of back-and-forth warfare.

Unlike the people of Novgorod, who primarily conducted trade among inland rivers, lakes, and marshes, the Swedes were a legitimate maritime power. Over the centuries, they landed repeatedly on the coasts of Novgorod, placing the Republic in a highly passive position. Now, there was finally a chance to attempt to reverse this trend.

With the aid of the Purple Tent army, the Novgorodians finally secured a foothold on the Neva River. The head of the Guo clan at the time, Guo Di, provided them with a group of engineers who utilized their fortification techniques to establish the naval fortress of "Guo's Castle" at a vital estuary. Because Guo Di’s Greek name, "Peter," was easier to remember, the locals called the place Petrograd.

The fortress was remarkably sturdy. The Swedes and their Karelian auxiliary troops failed to take it several times and could only stare in frustration, eventually withdrawing from the estuary region for the time being.

Of course, the ambitions of both sides extended far beyond this.

If one broadens the scope of view, it becomes clear that the current situation of the Hanseatic League, to which Novgorod belonged, was becoming increasingly perilous.

In the past, because the control of various kingdoms over their territories was loose, cities often sought autonomy and formed commercial leagues with one another. But now, throughout Europe, royal power was constantly strengthening.

Sweden and Denmark in the north, England in the west, Moscow in the east, and the various princes of the Holy Roman Empire in the south were all coveting this immense wealth. As state institutions matured and dynasties tightened their grip on their territories, the golden age of the free cities was nearing its end.

Merchants were well aware of this. They constantly attempted to intervene in inheritance issues and territorial disputes between nations, dancing on a knife's edge to maintain their independence. But the tide of the era was ultimately impossible to stop; in the face of increasingly powerful states, traditional free commercial cities could hardly stand their ground. All they could do was struggle as best they could.

Therefore, Novgorod proposed that everyone should recognize the Purple Tent Khanate as their suzerain and bring in the Roman army to maintain a balance of power against the various kingdoms of Europe.

Although nomadic nations tend to give the impression of having been built on war, for a Great Khan, the skills of conducting business and building relationships were often the most important. The Purple Tent Khanate possessed a strong commercial character, was a powerful state hostile to Poland, Lithuania, and the Holy Roman Empire, and was sufficiently distant that it had no motive to annex their territories. It was highly valuable not only to Novgorod but to the other allied cities as well.

Naturally, if this plan succeeded, the status of the Novgorod city-state within the alliance would undoubtedly rise significantly, granting them greater influence. By any measure, it was a profitable venture.

Thus, on the other side, in order to persuade the Purple Tent Khanate to expand its military, Novgorod decided to increase its tribute to bolster their argument.

These tributes were delivered directly to the Roman government; in reality, they were protection money paid to the Purple Tent Khanate, or the primary component of military funding. Besides furs, this included the famous gyrfalcons.

Novgorod, Tver, Moscow, and other states all had large numbers of falconers, and they had even developed transnational management organizations—it was a highly developed industry. From Ireland to Khitan, the upper echelons of countries across the entire Eurasian continent favored these animals; they were almost a form of hard currency and highly valuable.

In the Ming Dynasty, this bird of prey had a name perhaps more familiar to many: the "Haidongqing." When Shah Rukh reconciled with the Ming Dynasty and resumed paying tribute, he received one as a return gift. This serves as a testament to its popularity.

Because several layers of resale were eliminated, the efficiency of getting things done with money was much higher than hiring mercenaries. The merchants were convinced this was a more favorable transaction. They were more enthusiastic about this matter than the Khanate itself.

Other vassal states would rather pay more money than have the Purple Tent send troops. But the merchants of Novgorod, after paying their dues, would come every day to urge the "Governor" to send more troops quickly, especially to expand the navy, which appeared quite incongruous.

However, the naval strength of the Purple Tent Khanate was also limited.

Today, the Black Sea has become an internal sea of Rome. Following the rise of Timur, with their assistance, the Purple Tent Khanate also successfully entered the eastern Mediterranean, establishing several strongholds in Asia Minor and Syria.

Navigation was the primary tool for troop transport and trade. In fact, it could be said that in these regions, the Purple Tent Khanate expanded along maritime routes, which led to the distribution of territory that appeared scattered but was actually quite stable.

To maintain the empire, maritime power was, of course, indispensable.

When the Purple Tent Khanate was first established, it knew nothing about naval forces. The founding emperor, Bayan Temür, was himself famously afraid of the water. To enter the Balkans, he decided to heed the advice of the Eastern Roman Church and led his people to convert to Orthodoxy. The Church was overjoyed and decided to imitate the baptismal ritual of the ancient Rus, having everyone wade into the river to complete the ceremony.

Who would have thought that when the Great Khan Bayan Temür led the way into the water, he would start to drown? The ministers, including Guo Gai, scrambled to fish him out and spent a long time resuscitating him, eventually preventing him from drowning. Fearing excessive casualties, the group politely declined the collective baptismal ceremony. To this day, the collective conversion ritual has never been completed.

This incident became an ancestral joke of the Purple Tent Khanate, which remains popular even now. According to Li Xuanying, there are several Greek comedies based on this story.

This also resulted in the fact that even after the "Anda War," the nobles of the Khanate were unable to purge the Greek influence from the palace, as the Khanate’s navy relied heavily on their participation.