The trade between the Purple Tent Khanate and Java Yuan has been going on for over twenty years, but direct contact has not been frequent.
Now, with the increase in demand, both sides have begun to formally establish diplomatic relations.
In 1405, Timur and Basilius of the Roman Khanate passed away one after another.
The departure of these two powerful rulers gave the defeated nations a rare opportunity.
In particular, the rule of the Timurid Empire was not stable.
After the death of the old Timur, his descendants, like a common Khanate, began to constantly fight among themselves for the right of succession.
Finally, his fourth son, Shah Rukh, gained power.
However, Shah Rukh was more like a scholarly Persian monarch than his father, who was an ambitious, typical steppe conqueror.
He confined his rule to Central Asia and eastern Persia, focusing on stabilizing national order, developing production, and promoting culture, with little interest in military campaigns.
He even changed his title from "Khan" to the Persian "Shah."
Shah Rukh was not very interested in western Persia, the Caucasus, and the Mediterranean coast.
In these areas, the forces previously defeated by Timur swelled again.
Compared to Timur, the Persians preferred Shah Rukh, considering him a more noble and enlightened ruler.
But for the Purple Tent Khanate, the trouble was now great—neither the Ottoman nor the Mamluk, though temporarily weakened, were easy to deal with.
Shah Rukh directly ran away, throwing all the immense pressure onto the Purple Tent Khanate.
In Egypt, although the new Mamluk regime promised to open its ports to the Khanate, it still hoped to earn as much as possible.
As military pressure decreased, the Mamluks began to try to regain control over trade routes and seaports.
The Purple Tent expeditionary force alone was at its limit just holding Northern Syria, so the Khanate urgently needed new allies to support itself.
Although Java Yuan was far away, it was also a major maritime power.
Moreover, both sides had similar requirements for trade routes.
Therefore, there was a basis for cooperation.
Sun Shiwan was a very influential figure within the Purple Tent Khanate.
His visit this time was met with great care and hospitality, all in order to quickly form practical cooperation and reopen trade routes.
At Tuohuan's invitation, Sun Shiwan soon arrived at the Saint Sophia Niangniang Temple.
However, Wang Da Lama pointed out that it was not appropriate to directly ask him for demands and conditions.
He suggested arranging a visit and a banquet first, and then, following the Central Plains tradition, discussing while dining.
Everyone had no objection to this.
Tuohuan asked Guo Kang to help entertain him, so that there would be time to arrange subsequent activities.
Wang Da Lama sent Wu Han to assist Guo Kang, saying that if there were more professional questions, Wu Han could answer them.
Guo Kang felt a bit uneasy about this.
From Wu Han's famous saying, "The Church is for herding sheep," it seemed he might have understood some things, but not that much.
However, the priests here were all under Wang Da Lama's jurisdiction, and Guo Kang couldn't say anything about the person he recommended, so he could only go with him to meet them.
On the way, Guo Kang finally couldn't hold back and proactively asked, "What is your position here, following Master Wang?"
"Your subordinate was sent here for further study," Wu Han replied with a straight face, very seriously.
"Master Wang said that after learning these things, he would recommend your subordinate to the border regions to serve as a local priest."
"To be a Patriarch…" Guo Kang felt that Wang Da Lama might have positioned himself as the benchmark for an "Eastern Orthodox Church expert."
He lived a leisurely life in Dadu because, according to Eastern Rome tradition, the Archbishop was not originally a position for a theological expert.
The organization within the Church was quite mature, with specialized institutions that gathered a large number of theologians, specifically responsible for theological matters, such as explaining scriptures to believers or debating with the Roman Bishop.
Under this structure, it was actually not a problem if the Archbishop himself did not understand theology—the eunuch Archbishops of Eastern Rome in the past couldn't even read, and Wang Da Lama at least knew some characters and could do magic, which was already very impressive.
However, grassroots organizations often lacked these conditions, and the local The person in charge should be more versatile..
The religious situation in the Roman Khanate's territory was very complex, and it was unclear if Wu Han's level was sufficient.
"How has your progress been during this period of study?" Guo Kang felt awkward directly questioning him, so he began to inquire.
"I've gained a lot.
Master Wang taught me many tricks; now I can project images of the Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother onto the wall," Wu Han said proudly.
"Uh…" Guo Kang was speechless for a moment: "Is there anything more practical?"
"Of course there is," Wu Han nodded.
The two happened to walk past a large door, and Wu Han led him out, only to see several training hay bales and a pile of weapons on the platform outside.
He wondered what Wang Da Lama was doing with all that.
Just as he was thinking, Wu Han picked up a flail and swung it at a nearby armor stand.
The stand broke with a bang, and armor plates fell to the ground.
Wu Han picked up one of them, only to see that the iron armor had been deformed by the blow.
"Master said that when proselytizing, this is enough," he said seriously.
"Then I also think it's enough," Guo Kang nodded decisively.
The two continued walking towards the main hall.
Upon reaching the door, they heard a loud voice ask, "Why doesn't your Niangniang Temple have a Niangniang to worship?"