Tuohuan wasn't surprised by Guo Kang's assessment.
“You know the level of everyone on my side,” he said, spreading his hands. “With so many people, not a single one is… uh, a literary and virtuous minister. It took a lot of effort for us to write even this much.”
“We can only do this much on our own for now. Don’t worry, I’m not making you do everything.” He added, “I’ve also called in several helpers.”
Seeing that Tuohuan had already given up, Guo Kang could only nod in understanding.
He looked back at the single line of text.
From the wording, Tuohuan and the others had indeed deliberated carefully.
The name “Great Qin Great Rome Ulus” was a formal designation that only began to be used in recent years. Guo Kang felt it was likely modeled after the Yuan Dynasty’s naming convention.
The word “Ulus” is a nomadic term. Roughly speaking, it encompasses both the meaning of a people and a territory.
In the steppes, where land is vast and people are sparse and often nomadic, simply looking at “territory” doesn’t hold much meaning. An Ulus can be simply understood as a group of people and the various pastures they occupy, forming a unit of enfeoffment.
When the Mongol regime was first established, its name was “Yeke Mongol Ulus.” Directly translated, it’s actually very… rustic, meaning “a very large Mongol territory.”
Later, Kublai Khan proclaimed himself emperor and adopted “Great Yuan” as the dynastic title. In documents sent to other Khanates, the full name of the Yuan Dynasty was written as “Great Yuan Great Mongol Ulus.” According to the Yuan Dynasty’s official statement, Great Yuan was Mongol, and Mongol was Great Yuan; they were one and the same. Some documents even simply wrote “the Great Mongol Ulus, referred to as ‘Great Yuan’.”
As for why both terms were included if they meant the same thing… perhaps important things needed to be repeated.
Of course, the above were all the Yuan Dynasty’s own statements. Whether the other Khanates truly regarded the Great Yuan regime as Mongol is hard to say and depends on the specific time and circumstances.
For the current Purple Tent Khanate, this style of writing could be borrowed. “Great Qin” was the ancient Central Plains people’s name for Rome, while “Rome” was the local language, but both expressed the same meaning. Putting them together, it becomes “the Roman country, referred to as ‘Great Qin’,” which should be easier to understand and much more formal.
Baisai Khan is easier to understand. The formal title for the emperor of the Purple Tent Khanate is a greek title called “Basileus.” Even when the Purple Tent was still operating in Bulgaria and was just an ordinary power, this name was already known. To save trouble, it was generally just called “Baisai Khan” colloquially. Over time, it became a customary and exclusive Khan title for the Roman Emperor.
The latter half of the sentence is the designation for the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty actually had many designations, with a plethora of names just within the various Mongol Khanates. The most popular was to simply use the dynastic title, calling it “Great Ming Ulus.” Alternatively, a prefix indicating the ethnic group would be added, calling it “Khitan Great Ming Country.”
In official documents exchanged between the Ming Dynasty and its vassal and tributary garrisons, it was often referred to as “Duotuola Du-Ulus” or “Duotuola Du-Hezha de.” Literally translated, it means “the interior.”
In external documents, the Ming Dynasty’s officially preferred translation was “Dunta Ulus,” meaning “Central Country.” This was an officially designated name and considered the most formal Mongol term. Using this name would indeed make the Ming people happier.
As for the final “Zhu Tianping Qaghan,” that refers to the current Ming Dynasty emperor.
Guo Kang himself was surprised to learn from others that in this world, Zhu Biao, the eldest son of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, did not die young but ascended the throne normally, with the reign title “Tianping.”
Guo Kang realized then that the changes in the world might not be as simple as his adoptive father having “internal energy.”
“Qaghan” is a respectful title above Khan. If a regular Khan is a king, then a Qaghan is an emperor. In the Yuan Dynasty, this word was directly translated as emperor. The title “Zhu Tianping Qaghan” is also a habitual usage.
In short, the good news is that in this short sentence, the crucial and mutually important terms were largely considered by Tuohuan and his team, evidently after careful verification and deliberation.
The bad news is that Tuohuan’s team, after all that deliberation, only managed to write this one sentence…
Of course, there was truly no other way. As Tuohuan himself said, his subordinates were indeed not cut out for this.
To maintain balance and also to win over local nobles, almost all of his personal attendants and close ministers were Bulgarians and Serbians.
The underlying reason was actually the overwhelming power of the Greek Noblewomen in the court.
To gain more support, intermarriage with locals was a common option. From the time the Purple Tent moved south, the legitimate wives of successive Khans were almost all Greeks, with only Tuohuan’s grandfather, Basilius Yerigo Borjigin Nus, a powerful Purple Tent Khan, being an exception.
Daughters from prominent Eastern Rome families had controlled the inner court for generations. The Khanate’s dominion was not small, but princesses and Greek Noblewomen from Bulgaria, Serbia, and the Rus Countries simply couldn’t outmaneuver these cunning Greek Noblewomen. Even the Khan and the Pillars of the State were often put through the wringer.
In the early Khanate, polygamy was still practiced, and these signs were already very evident. Later, as the Khanate became more Romanized and monogamy became the mainstream, the advantage of the Greek Noblewomen became irreversible.
The Khanate needed the support of the Greeks, but it couldn’t allow them to completely control the court. So, as a countermeasure, successive Khans would cultivate a support base for their heirs from a young age, making them familiar with people from other ethnic groups early on, to prevent them from being manipulated by their mothers and maternal relatives. This included Guo Kang and others becoming sworn brothers early on, and also selecting these Serbian followers.
However, these people were good at fighting, but asking them to handle diplomacy with the Ming Dynasty was truly asking too much…
The problem was that relations with the Ming Dynasty were very important to the Khanate. Sooner or later, they would have to take on this work; there was no escaping it.
Commerce was crucial to the Khanate.
Constantinople was prosperous precisely because it controlled the Black Sea outlet; goods from all directions had to transit and converge there. Once trade routes were monopolized or diverted by others, it would quickly suffer huge losses, even becoming a bottomless pit that only took in and didn't give out, in turn devouring the empire's economy.
The Golden Horde had a positive example of this in the past.
During the reign of Oz Beg Khan, the Khanate was at its peak, with territories stretching from the Yuan Dynasty to Bulgaria. The Khanate invested heavily in building and maintaining roads and post stations, and stationed heavy troops along the routes.
Caravans didn't even need to carry food, fodder, or hire guides, because for a fee, post stations and settlements along the way would provide everything needed. There was also no need to worry about robbery, because all the tribes along the route had been subdued by the Khan.
This made trade extremely smooth. Starting from Dadu in the Yuan Dynasty, including time for loading and unloading goods and land-water transfers along the way, it only took 270 days to reach Europe.
And these investments brought huge returns.
The steppe corridor maintained by the Golden Horde, being shorter and more convenient, once replaced the ancient Silk Road that passed through Central Asia and Persia. Goods from the East continuously flowed into the Khanate Capital, Sarai Berke, and then were transferred to various parts of Europe and West Asia.
These goods brought unimaginable wealth to the Khanate. Arab travelers recorded that this city on the steppe was more prosperous than the cities of Persia and Mesopotamia. This also led the entire Rus region into an unprecedented era of prosperity—which, after this, would likely not be seen again for a long time.
Among these goods, silk was initially the most famous. But if you look at trade volume, the largest would be porcelain and ironware. Especially in maritime trade, ironware accounted for the largest proportion by weight.
And whether by sea or land, the main type of ironware exported was large iron pots. The so-called Maritime Silk Road could actually be called the Iron Pot Road.
It could be said that iron pots were the lifeblood of the Khanate.
This can be seen in many places. For example, the last emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, Shun Emperor, was named Toghon Temür, which means “iron pot.”
Even the emperor was directly called “iron pot,” showing how important this item was.
Even Tuohuan himself, his name actually means “pot.”
Friends who are interested can look at the excavation records of the “Nanhai No. 1” shipwreck. That ship carried hundreds of tons of iron.
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