It was a warm winter afternoon, and the sunlight blanketed the earth. Guo Kang leaned against a large tree in the small garden, feeling increasingly lazy and not wanting to move at all.
The sound of bells rang out; it seemed the Hagia Sophia Cathedral, a landmark of Constantinople, had begun its service again.
The Guo Family’s residence was in the Fourth District, near the Imperial Palace of Constantinople, a place where powerful and wealthy families gathered. From the garden, one could see the Hagia Sophia Cathedral—or as his Mother and others commonly called it, the Niangniang Temple. Her magnificent main building and the four giant suldins surrounding her were very conspicuous, even from here.
Guo Kang had always wondered who designed this layout.
But now, he was not in the mood to think about it. The soreness in his limbs made him just want to keep lying down and do nothing.
It had been a few years since he came to this world, and he still couldn’t quite endure his Mother’s devilish training.
Last night, he had a strange dream: a towering inferno engulfed an unknown city, its intensity like the end of the world described by Greek priests. He wandered aimlessly through the city, not knowing what to do. After waking up, he felt a stuffy ness in his heart, depressed and unhappy.
After breakfast, Guo Kang still hadn’t recovered his spirits and decided to go out for a walk. As soon as he stepped out, he saw his Mother practicing.
He was bare-chested, completely oblivious to the deep winter chill, swinging an iron rod that whistled through the air, a layer of white mist rising from his muscular body. When Guo Kang greeted him, he put down the iron rod, walked over, and asked kindly.
Guo Kang indicated that he was just feeling a bit down. His Mother listened and nodded seriously. Then, he picked up two stone weights and handed them to Guo Kang.
“Kang’er, don’t overthink it. Just exercise for a while, and your troubles will disappear,” his Mother said, laughing heartily.
As a result, Guo Kang was dragged by him to train for more than half an hour, and even now, he didn’t want to move.
As he was lost in thought, a head suddenly popped up over the garden wall, looking left and right.
The moment Guo Kang saw him, he knew there would be no rest today.
Before he could even sit up, a handsome young man skillfully climbed over the wall and jumped into the garden. He was holding a long pole in his hand, and as he strode over, he loudly called out to him: “Don’t lie there, get up! Master Wang is looking for you!”
“If he’s looking for me, can’t he use the main entrance?” Guo Kang said irritably, “My Mother told me last time that if Li Xuanying climbs over the wall again, she’ll kick him out…”
“The main entrance is too roundabout.” Li Xuanying waved his hand, “Why does your house gate open to the east? Every time I come by the main street, I have to go all the way around. Next time I see my Mistress, I’ll apologize to her.”
“If I get caught next time,” he thought for a moment and added.
Guo Kang had a headache dealing with this guy who casually climbed into people’s homes. However, the other party threw out a “I’ll wait for you outside” and turned to leave on his own.
The Guo Family’s wall was not short, but Li Xuanying, holding the long pole, ran a few steps, plunged the pole into the corner of the wall, and leaped over it in one go, even managing to pull the pole over with him.
Guo Kang rolled his eyes. He looked around and, finding no one, also ran to the corner of the wall. He gathered his breath and, using a crack in the wall, jumped onto the top of the wall and climbed out.
“Your skills have improved a lot, kid,” Li Xuanying said, holding the long pole and smiling, “But barehanded is definitely not as good as using a suldin. Do you want to learn from me? Call me Big Brother, and I’ll teach you a few moves passed down from our ancestors.”
“If your ancestors knew that suldin poles were used for climbing walls, they’d probably beat you to death,” Guo Kang said irritably, “What does Wang Da Lama want with me?”
“Probably something about the state letter again,” Li Xuanying said, “Go to the Son Niangniang Temple and ask him yourself, and you’ll know.”
Wang Da Lama was a nickname; his true title, it seemed, should be “Wang the Patriarch.” However, Guo Kang and others had gotten used to calling him by this jocular nickname and couldn’t change it.
In this world, far more people came from the Central Plains to the Northwest than in the world Guo Kang came from. For example, Wang Da Lama was originally a wandering sorcerer who, in his youth, made a living in Transoxiana by pretending to be a god and performing tricks. However, the competition in this profession was too fierce, and there was no future, so he decided to change locations and start anew.
He heard that the Roman Empire was now ruled by the Purple Tent Khanate, and after some thought, he decided that Lamaism should be the most promising religion in this Khanate. So, he packed some scriptures, got himself an outfit, and proclaimed himself a great Lama from the East, ready to set up shop again.
Who knew that by then, the Purple Tent Khanate had officially converted to the Eastern Orthodox Church, and Lamas were no longer popular? Wang Da Lama faced the risk of unemployment again and had to start from scratch once more.
However, while working for the church to make a living, he met Yin Daoren, who had just been appointed Archbishop by the current Emperor. Yin Daoren was also unfamiliar with the place and quite troubled by the environment here. Seeing Wang Da Lama’s intelligence and quick wit, he took him as a disciple, considering him an extra helper.
Fortunately, Wang Da Lama’s basic skills were already solid, and his professional abilities in lecturing and performing miracles were excellent. With Yin Daoren’s guidance and support, he rose rapidly within the church, and after Yin Daoren’s death, he naturally succeeded him as Patriarch.
Of course, this was nothing. The Roman Empire had always had a tradition of emperors interfering with the church. In the past, it was common for emperors to appoint trusted eunuchs as Archbishops. Wang Da Lama was at least a religious person, which was still a bit more “proper” than eunuchs.
Leaving the Guo Family residence, the two walked along the main road towards the Niangniang Temple. Thanks to the previous military victory, the city had been relatively stable for the past few years, and the population had grown, especially with more cunning Shang from Venice.
Venice and the Khanate had always maintained a traditional friendship. When Batu campaigned westward and entered the Black Sea coast, he established contact with Venetian Shang.
The Shang provided detailed intelligence to the Mongol army, and in return, Batu’s army would protect their commercial interests and drive out their competitors. With these Venetians leading the way, the Mongols sometimes knew the local geography better than the local princes themselves, which greatly facilitated their operations. The Venetian Shang naturally made a huge profit.
As the Golden Horde was on the verge of collapse, a force under the Khanate gradually grew stronger on the western coast of the Black Sea—of course, at that time, they did not yet have this name.
Their leader, Boyan Temur, claimed to be a descendant of Batu of the Golden Horde. With the help of his good friend, Guo Gai, the ancestor of the Guo Family, and others, he broke away from the Golden Horde and established a new Khanate. Although Guo Kang had never heard of this force in his original world, and even in this world, Boyan Temur’s identity and lineage were quite questionable, in a chaotic environment, no one bothered to investigate these details.
From then on, due to common interests, the Khanate maintained close ties with Venetian Shang.
Later, after many years of effort, they successfully moved south and took over Constantinople. Because the Khanate considered itself a Roman regime, it even imitated the Romans by using purple as the most distinguished symbol for the Khan. Although the official title still followed the Roman Empire’s system, everyone generally called it the “Purple Tent Khanate.”
To restore their trade position in the area, the Venetians were one of the strongest supporters of this action. And for the Khanate, the Genoese influence here was too strong. To balance them, Venice was undoubtedly the best choice.
Passing through the bustling pedestrians, they quickly arrived at their destination.
Wang Da Lama had several offices. Besides serving as the abbot of the Sophia Niangniang Temple, he also had to double as the Royal Shaman, participating in various necessary diplomatic occasions and religious ceremonies. Usually, it was not easy to find him.
This time was good; there were priests waiting for them at the main entrance. Li Xuanying, however, said he had other matters and told Guo Kang to go in by himself.
Guo Kang immediately noticed something was off.
“If you had something to do, you wouldn’t have come to find me,” he pointed out bluntly, “If it was just to inform me, a servant could have done it. Is it worth the son of the Li Family abandoning other matters to come personally? And now you’re in a hurry to leave… Let me think, you just want to take the opportunity to sneak off to watch a play, don’t you?”
Li Xuanying’s old face flushed, and he stammered, unable to speak.
Guo Kang could understand him, but his excuse was indeed a bit speechless. However, his family was indeed strict, and there was nothing much he could do.
Like the Guo, the Li Family was also a meritorious noble family of the Purple Tent Khanate, holding the high position of Pillar of the State. Li Xuanying’s great-grandfather, Li Tian Ce, won five battles in a row, completely defeating the Hungarian-Polish allied forces and the Holy Roman Empire’s support, ensuring that there was no longer any powerful force from the Northwest that could directly threaten the Khanate’s heartland.
This war was considered one of the Purple Tent Khanate’s two founding wars. After this battle, the Purple Tent Khanate, taking advantage of the internal strife within the Palaiologos Dynasty, easily entered Constantinople with almost no resistance, expelling the Emperors John V and John VI, who were engaged in civil war within the city. Li Tian Ce himself gained immense honor from this.
Constantinople was designated as the Capital of the Purple Tent Khanate and renamed “Dadu.” Li Tian Ce was appointed “Jingzhao Yin” and became the first commander of Dadu.
—In fact, the Khanate had known about this city for a long time. Because it was the capital established by the Roman Khan, it was once called “Khanbaliq”: Khan means Great Khan, and baliq means city. Put together, it means “City of the Great Khan.”
The Ross people under the Khanate also knew this name. They called the Great Khan “Tsar” and the city “grad,” so Khanbaliq in their mouths became “Tsarigrad.”
And those who ruled the Ross back then were Vikings from the north, who still retain a deep cultural influence to this day. These Vikings—also called Ross—called Constantinople “Miklagard.” Mikla means great, and gard refers to the city. So, this name simply means “Great City,” or “Dadu.”
From this perspective, Tsarigrad, Khanbaliq, and Dadu all refer to the same place. Everyone felt that Dadu sounded best and was easiest to remember, so they used it, replacing the original, overly long name.
However, after the war, Li Tian Ce became complacent, indulging in Greek drama and neglecting official duties all day long. Just two years later, while the main force of the Purple Tent was fighting abroad, the two Emperors John actually joined forces, and with the sponsorship of the Holy Roman Empire and Poland, sent trusted confidants to sneak back into Constantinople, inciting the citizens to revolt.
At this critical moment, Li Tian Ce, who was responsible for defending the city, was watching a play and was suddenly besieged by the actors. Caught off guard, Li Tian Ce was severely wounded and only managed to escape the city in a desperate rescue by Cao Meng, another Pillar of the State and an old minister. However, his subordinates suffered heavy losses, and even Cao Meng died from his injuries.
The following year, Li Tian Ce also died from his injuries and depression. Before his death, he gave his son, Li Yinglin, three arrows, asking him to fulfill three last wishes: recapture Constantinople, which they had been driven out of; eliminate the old enemy, the Polish-Hungarian alliance; and abolish the usurping false Holy Roman Empire. These wishes have not yet been fully accomplished. Therefore, the entire Li Family constantly speaks of national and family hatred.
Li Xuanying grew up in this environment from a young age, constantly urged by his family to study military strategy and practice martial arts. His entertainment activities were far fewer than those of other noble youths. Watching plays, in particular, was a sore point for the family and was strictly forbidden.
Guo Kang’s ideas were somewhat more “free,” believing that as long as it didn’t delay important matters, playing was not unacceptable. He waved his hand at Li Xuanying, indicating that he wouldn’t interfere and wouldn’t report him to his family.
Li Xuanying, as if granted a great pardon, grabbed his distinctive pole and ran off in a flash.
