At first, Yakub was quite content to indulge in the dining. And though some of those in his party may have looked askance at the drinking of wine...Yakub himself was an intellectual and worldly young man, to whom extremism did not come naturally. Quite unlike his own brother, Bayezid.
At length however, the conversation turned inevitably to the politics that his father had sent him to discuss. Pausing for a moment to consider his response, Yakub turned a little on his cushion to more fully regard Timur before answering,
"It is difficult to discuss the West without having seen it for themself. In much the same way as your ancestors were amazed at the decadence and prosperity of the Chinese or first encountered the Greek. In Europe, the Latins are a greatly populous and warlike people, fair of skin and tall of stature. They gird even their horses in iron and the greatest among them are sheathed such head to toe. Their religion and culture is almost entirely devoid of learning, but is rather directed towards the most bloodthirsty displays. For all that, they are a proud race, whose numbers extend uncountable to the black seas of the north that our most daring traders have never sailed.
"Their greatest curse is that of disunity, for there is not a single noble among their own that is content with his station or convinced of the magnificence of his lord without desiring that status for himself. Even their most humble kingdom is capable of a far more powerful display then even the Qara Konylu or the Jalaryids can muster. The Christian nations of Castille, Portugal and Aragon that were so instrumental in the subjection of Al-Andalus are only of middling size in the West. All together, they would be dwarfed in square miles by even the Black Sheep Turks. Yet their armed might, if united, could sweep the entire Moslem world. And these are by no means even in the top tier of nations.
"The Sultan's own realm is almost directly adjacent to two of their strongest powers. The Kingdom of Hungary, (hungry it is) and the 'Holy Roman Empire'. Which I assure you, is neither Holy, nor Roman, nor a true Empire. Either of these are incomparably more hostile and of greater threat then even the Golden Horde.
"This of course, brings us to the practice of Devirshmeh. In short, it is the innovation of Sultan Murad to draw this same strength from those Christian lands under our control. They comprise almost half our strength on the field of battle. Once trained and converted, they are quite willing to serve as infantry, unlike their moslem born counterparts, and perform quite ably in that manner. Without them, our presence in Europe would not be sustainable, such is the great hostility of those nations arrayed about us.
After these lengthy words, Yakub fell quiet, reaching for a glass of wine for himself with which to slate his thirst. He realized that all other petty conversation around the Khan and the Sultan's son had grown silent, perhaps waiting for him to continue.
"In regards to Baghdad, Mosul and the Rus...The Sultan is of the opinion that the true strength to resist the Christians cannot be managed until the Islamic states of the East have formed a true League of Muslim unity such as we once enjoyed under the Caliphate long past. Those that would resist such, could be rightly seen as powers more interested in seeing the triumph of our foes then of Islamic arms and should be dealt with accordingly.
