The Rise of the European Emperor

After Marin entered the territory of the Crimean Khanate with 200 men and 500 Lithuanian cavalry, he was soon discovered by the Tatar herdsmen. Then, on the prairie along the Black Sea, a long horn sounded.

After half a day, a large group of Tatar cavalry of about 2,000 people surrounded Marin's team...

Marin looked at it and saw that these Tatar cavalry were obviously composed of local herdsmen, and their weapons and equipment were not good. Everyone is nothing but a machete, a bow and a pot of arrows, and they don't even have armor on their bodies. The officer who was only a fraction of the time wore Mongolian-style armor with oriental characteristics.

"Who are you? What are you doing here in Crimea?" the bearded Tatar cavalry general shouted loudly in Tatar.

However, they can also see that this team is not like an intruder. Because all the troops seem to be protecting a carriage. It seemed that there was something important in the carriage.

But in fact, there was no one in the carriage, just a big box full of gold coins and some sundries.

Of the whole team, only Marin knew Tatar. No way, Marin had no choice but to ride his horse out of the column, came to the bearded Tatar officer, and replied in Tatar:

"We are a mission to visit the Great Khan of Monggojire, from..."

"Crack—" A whip shadow flashed past, and Marin was lucky to be a knight, and he could be considered trained. As soon as he bent down, he would have avoided the whip. Otherwise, if the whip hits his face according to the original trajectory, he would be out of shape.

This time, Marin's 200 men all changed color. With a "swipe", 200 subordinates took out their sabres, or took out their carbines, and aimed at the Tatar officer who was whipping the whip...

The Tatar officer was also taken aback, but instead of retreating, he shouted arrogantly:

"The name of the Great Khan is something you can call it? You want to call it the Great Khan of Kipchak, understand?"

Of course, the bearded man could also see that Marin was an important person, and he stopped swinging the whip. Otherwise, the 200 people who drew their swords would definitely rush over. In addition, there are 500 Lithuanian cavalry on the side.

This bearded Tatar officer named Sadat was the head of a thousand households along the border between the Crimean Khanate and Lithuania. The tribe he belongs to is responsible for grazing in the border area and also guarding the border. If the Crimean Khan went on an expedition, Sadat would lead a thousand young men in the tribe and follow him on the expedition. But when guarding the border, this clan, including the old and the weak, can gather more than 2,000 cavalry. What Marin saw in front of his eyes was all the troops of Sadat's tribe.

In fact, facing the 700 well-equipped cavalry led by Marin, Sadat had no idea. However, the Crimeans are used to being arrogant in Eastern Europe. When facing Marin, they could not even think of whipping them over, which almost caused a conflict.

Although Marin is also very hot, after all, if he hadn't reacted quickly, his face would have been sullen. However, he came this time not to fight against a small officer in Crimea, but to shoulder an important mission.

So, he waved his hand and stopped his subordinates. Anyway, I didn't get drawn, so there's no need to get along with a small officer.

Then, Marin patiently told the bearded man named Sadat that he was an envoy representing the three major forces of the Hanseatic League, Sweden and Lithuania. He heard that the Crimean Khan destroyed the original Kipchak Khan. After becoming the new Kipchak Khan, he traveled thousands of miles and came to congratulate him...

Marin didn't say the real purpose. Anyway, when he got to the capital of the Crimean Khanate and saw Mongogiri Khan, he had time to persuade Mungogiri Khan and start a war bribery plan.

In addition, he did not reveal his true identity. Otherwise, given the characteristics of Crimeans as robbers, I heard that an earl from a wealthy country came over in person, maybe he would drive out the kidnapping and ask East Frisian country to take a ransom to replace him.

So, prudent Marlin,

He didn't reveal his true identity to the Crimeans, and he didn't even tell his origins in East Friesland. However, just representing the two powerful forces of the Hanseatic League and Lithuania is enough to attract the attention of the other party.

Sadat did not allow Marin's team to advance, but first placed them near his tribe and sent people to watch them day and night. Because, Marin's team numbered as many as 700 people, and most of them were elite cavalry.

Such a huge armed force, if it penetrates into the hinterland of Crimea, can also cause huge damage. Therefore, the cautious Sadat left Marin and the others to stay first, while he sent someone to the capital, Bakhchisaray, and delivered Marin's handwritten letter in Tatar asking for the congratulations. Then, wait for a reply from Bakhchisarai.

The Crimean Khanate is indeed relatively poor, there are basically no food crops here, and the business is very underdeveloped. Although Marin brought money, he couldn't buy any delicate food. There is only one thing, which is abundant here, and that is beef and mutton.

After all, the Crimean Khanate is of Mongolian descent, and is very similar to the characteristics of the Mongolian tribes. They usually graze, and when the Khan calls, they will follow the Khan with saber to chop people, rob things, and even rob people...

Therefore, after entering the Crimea, Marin should not think about staying in a good hotel, but rather live in a tent honestly. If you want to live in a house, you have to go to the few big cities such as Bakhchisaray or Kaffa. In other areas, it is better to live in tents honestly. Moreover, you can only eat barbecue, drink some mare's milk or something.

However, the BBQ here is really cheap. A fat roasted whole sheep weighing 50 pounds, the Crimeans sold Marin for 40 pfennigs. On average, a pound of lamb is less than 1 pfennig. Unlike the German region, a pound of lamb costs 3 pfennigs. Even wholesale, the minimum is 2 pfennigs.

This is no wonder, after all, Crimea is a country where the whole people grazing, and the most important thing in the country is beef and mutton. The German region is mainly engaged in agriculture. Although the scale of animal husbandry is not small, it is not the mainstream.

Therefore, whether it is live animals or meat prices, the Crimea side is lower than the German side, and it is much lower.

Not to mention Crimea, the Polish-Lithuanian region, where livestock and meat prices are also lower than in Germany. For example, Marin and Poles buy cows. A strong cow costs only 10 gold coins, which is equivalent to 600 pfennig. The German native cattle cost at least 20 gold coins per head.

It is no wonder that in Eastern Europe, especially Lithuania, many places originally belonged to the Rus region, which were originally influenced by the Golden Horde and popular for grazing. Therefore, in Eastern Europe, the price of cattle and sheep is generally lower.

The price of cattle and sheep in Crimea is even lower. Because Crimea has plundered neighboring countries all the year round, resulting in poor relations between the Crimean Khanate and neighboring countries, and it is difficult to carry out trade.

And Ottoman Turkey, which has the best relationship with the Crimean Khanate, is also a big animal husbandry country, and it is impossible to import Crimea's cattle and sheep.

Not only that, no matter whether it is the Grand Duchy of Moscow or Lithuania, they are also big countries in animal husbandry. There is no shortage of cattle and sheep at all, and they will not import cattle and sheep from the Crimean Khanate.

In desperation, the impoverished Crimean Khanate began to engage in the evil of human trafficking, relying on the trade of slaves to Turkey to maintain its economy.

Therefore, the Crimean Khanate regards plundering and human trafficking as its economic pillar, and to a certain extent, it is also forced. After all, the only economic model of the Crimean Khanate was nomadism.

It is a pity that its surrounding countries are all big countries with animal husbandry, and the Catholic areas in the west with less developed animal husbandry are not willing to import their cattle and sheep because of their opposition and boycott of the Green Church. Therefore, as a last resort, coupled with their own robber attributes, they simply regarded plundering and human trafficking as their main business...

What makes the neighbors of the Crimean Khanate depressed is that this country of poor ghost traffickers is extremely powerful. Even if they wanted to stop it, they didn't have that ability.

You must know that although the Crimean Khanate only has a population of more than 200,000 people, there are as many as 40,000 fully equipped regular cavalry. If the whole people are mobilized, plus the old and the weak, 70,000 or 80,000 cavalry can be mobilized.

Moreover, because they are all light cavalry, they are all good at riding and shooting. These European countries such as Lithuania and the Grand Duchy of Moscow, where these Tatar cavalry came and went without a trace, had no way to deal with them.

Therefore, even Marin felt a headache for such Crimea, and could only choose to buy and win over, rather than turn against it.

Because the Crimeans are too mobile. Even if you send troops to besiege Bakhchisalai, the capital of Crimea, if the Crimeans see that they cannot beat it, they can choose to mount their horses and relocate as a whole to escape. If you want to catch up, you can't catch up. Even if you catch up, you can only catch the old and the weak, and it doesn't make much sense. Because, those Crimean Tatar cavalry who escaped can completely rob women, give birth to more children, and continue.

Later Russia, after annexing the Zaporozhye Cossacks and the Dun and Cossacks, also had a large number of highly mobile light cavalry, and began to not fear the Crimean Tatar cavalry. Even the expansion of Tsarist Russia was carried out by the fierce Cossacks...

Therefore, if you want to deal with a difficult country like the Crimean Khanate, which is full of cavalry, it is the best way to have a large number of cavalry with high mobility.

If there are not enough cavalry to suppress them, then it is the best choice to temporarily choose to befriend them, or even spend money to win over them...