Tyranny of Steel

Salan scratched his bearded chin intently as he tried to think of a resolution to the current disputes between his people and the Christian world. He had to admit he completely underestimated Berengar and his aggressive nature during negotiations. The German Emperor held a position of complete control. After all, it was exactly as the man had said. He and his allies combined could take on the entire Muslim world without much difficulty.

It was this confidence that had led the negotiations to be so troublesome until this point. Berengar was unwilling to concede on the Jizya, and Salan was in a precarious position. Personally, he did not care about Muslims being taxed in Byzantium. If he were alone, he would surely not even have mentioned such a thing.

However, his allies in the Mamluk and Jalayirid Sultanate were not so easygoing, and demanded that such taxes be lifted. The problem lied with Berengar, who was absolutely unwilling to concede on the issue. The only way he would convince Vetranis to drop the taxes was if the Muslims reciprocated.

Considering the fact that the Jizya was a legal tenant of the Muslim faith, it was impossible for Salan to get rid of it without some form of rebellion within the Arab world. So there were only two paths forward: concede to Berengar's demands, and risk revolution, or drop the issue and focus on more important matters. Thus, with a heavy sigh, the Timurid Sultan made his decision.

"Very well, since we can't come to terms with this aspect of the treaty, we will leave it as it currently stands."

The moment he said this, the Mamluk Sultan jumped out of his chair in protest.

"Absolutely not. I will not accept any form of peace unless the Byzantine Empire and their allies cease the religious taxes on the Muslim faith. There is no valid reasoning for such a tax by these kafirs!"

Berengar sneered in disdain before speaking to Salan about his ally.

"Do you mind keeping your dog on a leash? It is hard to have a civil discussion when he barks in protest at any form of progress being made."

The Mamluk sultan's face turned red in fury. He was just about to lash out at Berengar verbally for his remarks when Salan raised his hand, signalling for the man to be silent. Afterward, the Timurid Sultan spoke in a stern tone as he glared at his Mamluk counterpart.

"If you can not act with civility, then leave us. There is no point in you being present if you are going to continue such unruly behavior..."

The Mamluk Sultan was practically at the point of explosion, but rather than upset his ally, he tucked his tail and ran out of the room, cursing only when he was certain that Salan was out of earshot. Upon seeing that the most troublesome of the Muslim leaders had been dealt with, Berengar raised his voice as he questioned the motives of the Muslim States.

"You seek peace, and I understand why you would, however so many centuries of hostilities can not easily be buried overnight. Let's cut to the chase and address the actual issue at hand. The fact of the matter is you want the holy land, and that is not something the Christians would ever be willing to concede to you.

Obviously, we could continue to fight over the Holy Land for the next few centuries, and pointlessly shed the blood of millions in the process. However, I think such a thing would be an utter waste of everyone's time. So how about I offer a different solution to this little problem of ours?"

Everyone's eyes shifted to Berengar as he said this. As far as they were aware, there was no viable solution to the question of the Holy Land. Thus, Salan was quick to ask just what the German Emperor had in mind.

"What do you propose?"

Berengar smirked before taking a sip from his wine. After doing so, he spoke about his vision that might solve many of the problems these two religions faced.

"My idea is quite simple. You want the Holy Land, We want the Holy Land. So how about we simply grant the province of Palestine its independence and form a Republic where religious freedom is a core tenant in its constitution? Christians and Muslims alike would be allowed to freely practice the religion of their choice without persecution.

An educated electorate of both faiths will govern the Republic, and the State would act as a protectorate of both the Byzantine and Timurid Empires. Ensuring that mighty Empires protect the interests of Christians and Muslims alike."

The group of leaders gazed at each other with strange expressions. The idea of creating a single state where Christians and Muslims could peacefully co-exist was something none of them had ever thought of.

However, it would be an interesting experiment, and would show that both sides were at least willing to put an end to centuries of hostilities. The question on everyone's mind was whether Vetranis would accept such a suggestion, thus everyone's gaze shifted to the Byzantine Emperor, who was deep in thought.

After several moments of intense contemplation, Vetranis sighed before nodding his head. If it meant bringing a long term, or even permanent peace between his neighbors and himself, it was something he was willing to do.

"Very well. If this is what it takes to achieve peace between our two realms, then I will consider it. I will only agree to Palestines independence once we have drafted a proper constitution that we can all agree upon."

With this said, everyone present sighed heavily in relief. They could not believe that such a crazy idea was agreed to. However, this meant that perhaps the middle east had a chance for peace in this timeline. Berengar was satisfied as well. Truthfully, he did not expect Vetranis to so easily agree to such a condition.

Over the next few hours, the Christian and Muslim delegates would heavily debate other issues, but they were all minor when compared to the establishment of the Free State of Jerusalem. After a while, they concluded their arguments for the time being and dined together.

At the dinner table, Berengar could not help but notice the beautiful woman by Salan's side was heavily reminiscent of his wife Yasmin. Perhaps her bust was a bit smaller, and her features were less desirable, but there was no mistaking the two were similar. Because of this, he voiced his interest in the topic.

"I'm sorry, but you look very similar to my wife, Yasmin Al-Fadl. Are the two of you perhaps related?"

The woman gazed over at the German Emperor and smiled before responding to his question.

"Naturally, she is my cousin from my father's side. I was surprised when I heard she got married to some Christian King in the center of Europe. Though I must say, I now understand why."

Berengar smiled when he heard this, however Salan scowled at his wife. Was she seriously flirting with the German Emperor in front of him? He would need to severely punish her for such a statement later that night. As for the Timurid Emperor, he spoke with Berengar as he cut into his lamb.

"So tell me, Berengar, I hear you have had many wars. It is surprising to hear that you have fought so many wars in so little time. How do you achieve victory so quickly? By my understanding, most of your wars have lasted several months at the most."

Berengar chuckled when he heard this, before responding with a smug tone.

"I simply have superior artillery. In a world where man can not own the skies, artillery is the most important weapon on the battlefield."

The Timurid Emperor reflected on this statement with great curiosity. The reality was that field artillery had not been fully developed yet outside of the regions under Berengar's influence. Most cannons in this era were large, heavy, immobile, and used almost exclusively in sieges. However, Berengar's knowledge of the future had helped him prove the efficiency of artillery on the battlefield.

Despite his superior firepower, news of Berengar's conquests and how he had achieved such rapid results were more of rumor than fact in lands as far east as the Timurid Empire. Few German traders made it that far, and even fewer had actually witnessed the might of Berengar's armies.

Thus, when Salan heard it was through artillery that Berengar had achieved such significant results, he immediately made a mental note of this and decided to invest in the research, development, and manufacture of cannons as a primary focus of his military. As for the rest of the dinner, it went on rather peacefully.

In the coming days, Berengar, Vetranis, Besarion, and the Muslim leaders would go to the great lengths to establish a new Republic in the Holy Land. Whether they would succeed in their endeavors, or devolve to infighting had yet to be seen.