For these reasons, the relationship between Rome, Java Yuan, and the Ming Dynasty was quite delicate.
On the one hand, the Khanate was not satisfied with the Ming Dynasty's restrictive policies, as this would undoubtedly create trade barriers and affect income.
On the other hand, Java Yuan were not good people either.
They were essentially middlemen by nature; if these people truly controlled the South Seas, the price of any Eastern goods purchased in the future, whether transshipped goods from the Ming Dynasty or locally produced spices, silks, and porcelains from the South Seas, would certainly increase.
However, the Purple Tent Khanate was too far from the East; by sea, one either had to go to Syria and then land, or go to Egypt and then transfer to the Red Sea.
In short, it was impossible to directly reach the Indian Ocean and participate directly in trade.
In the later period of Basilius's rule, the Khanate began to turn some of its attention south, attempting to find a breakthrough via the sea.
At this time, the Mamluk Dynasty of Egypt was embroiled in frequent internal strife, and Timur was rapidly rising in the East.
The decline of the Mamluk was actually to be expected.
Although this state was once militarily powerful, its political system was too crude.
During this period, the core of the Mamluk Dynasty was Qipchak slaves.
These people were trafficked from the South Russian Steppe, meticulously selected and trained, to become the personal guards of the Sultan and various levels of military officers.
Although nominally called slaves, every qualified Mamluk warrior could receive a fiefdom, essentially a form of enfeoffed knight.
Officers, according to their rank, were allowed to possess different numbers of Mamluk, while the Sultan himself controlled the most elite and largest contingent within the Dynasty.
However, the politics of the Mamluk Dynasty were very unstable.
Whenever a new Sultan ascended the throne, he would purge the trusted officers and slaves of his predecessor.
These people, of course, were not resigned to this and would fight back with all their might.
After more than a hundred years, the Mamluk, weakened by long-term internal friction, no longer possessed their former vigor.
The rise of the Purple Tent Khanate also inadvertently dealt a blow to the Mamluk Dynasty.
During Alexius's reign, the Khanate began expanding eastward along the northern coast of the Black Sea, eventually triggering a full-scale war within the Golden Horde between the Purple Tent faction and the Blue Tent and White Tent factions.
The fragmented Golden Horde tribes could not withstand the Purple Tent army; they were either annexed or fled.
No one expected that this outcome would actually be detrimental to the Purple Tent.
It caused an imbalance between the Khanate's South Camp and North Camp armies, which in turn led to Alexius's assassination and the first civil war, known as the "North-South War."
Rome also briefly entered a period where the Khanate was vacant and the Nine Pillars of the State jointly governed, which had a profound impact on subsequent history.
And they were far from the only ones affected.
To maintain its rule, the Mamluk Dynasty's upper echelons generally did not accept local people, only recruiting Qipchak slave soldiers.
However, after the Purple Tent's war on the steppe ended, the Khanate dedicated itself to restoring order, and a large number of steppe people were appeased and incorporated, leading to a significant reduction in the Qipchak slave trade.
This caused the Qipchak Mamluk, whose position was already beginning to waver, to be challenged by the Caucasus Mamluk, further destabilizing the regime internally.
At this time, Timur's rise in the East presented the Purple Tent Khanate with an even better opportunity.
Timur was originally a minor chieftain in the Western Chagatai Khanate, with few followers and little presence.
He only managed to rise during the civil war between the Eastern and Western Chagatai Khanates by skillfully playing both sides.
Although some called his domain the "Timurid Empire," due to his awkward origins, Timur did not even have an impressive title.
As he was not a member of the Golden Family, the Mongol and Turkic tribes of Central Asia did not recognize him as a Khan, leading Timur to use the title of Emir for many years.
Later, Timur defeated another powerful warlord, Husayn, and took over the princess of Western Chagatai from him, after which he began to call himself "Guregen."
This word means "son-in-law" in Mongolian.
In the past, Genghis Khan, through marriage alliances, recruited a group of men from other clans and incorporated them into his forces, which then became one of the titles associated with the Golden Family.
Thus, Guregen became Timur's most recognizable title, so much so that in the Ming Dynasty's historical records, he was directly referred to as "Timur, the Imperial Son-in-law."
Later, Tokhtamysh, the White Tent Khan whom Timur had supported as a proxy, rebelled.
Using the former Golden Horde territory as his base, he frequently plundered Timur's stronghold—the Transoxiana region of Central Asia.
To resolve this menace, Timur personally led a large army on an expedition, while simultaneously seeking allies to curb Tokhtamysh's power.
Coincidentally, the Purple Tent Khanate was also engaged in warfare with various steppe tribes at this time, and the two sides immediately hit it off.
Timur departed from Transoxiana, moved north into the steppe, and advanced from east to west; the Purple Tent's renowned general, Grand Preceptor Commander Tuotuo · Maimaitinikusi, led his army from Crimea, attacking into the heartland of the Golden Horde, the Don River and Volga River regions.
Timur's army was enormous, effectively a Persianized composite army.
Therefore, Tokhtamysh planned to use traditional steppe tactics to exhaust them as much as possible through maneuver, then choose an opportune moment to attack.
However, General Maimaitinikus's army crossed the Sea of Azov, directly threatening Tokhtamysh's rear base.
The Golden Horde nobles remaining behind were unable to break the Purple Tent's main camp, and were even routed in the enemy's counterattack.
This deprived the White Tent army of strategic room for maneuver, and a frustrated Tokhtamysh was forced to engage Timur's army in a decisive battle prematurely, ultimately suffering defeat.
This war established good relations between the two countries.
The Purple Tent Khanate discovered the serious lack of legitimacy in Timur's rule—even now, Timur's theoretical legitimacy still came from his Western Chagatai wife and his puppet Khan father-in-law.
With a state so vast, still bearing the title of a son-in-law was simply unacceptable.
So, the Purple Tent proactively suggested that they had abundant historical records, and that many records in the former Chagatai Khanate territory might have been lost due to prolonged warfare.
They could send professionals to investigate Timur's family lineage and see if he was indeed a member of the Golden Family.
A group of scholars departed from Constantinople with great fanfare, and with the cooperation of Timur's regime, they publicized their mission along the way, finally arriving in Samarkand.
The old scholars brought many Golden Horde archives supposedly from Batu's era.
After an investigation, cross-referencing them with local Central Asian documents, it was indeed discovered that Timur's lineage was also a long-lost member of the Golden Family.
In terms of seniority, he was even an uncle to the Purple Tent Khan.
Thus, everyone immediately urged Timur to take the throne as Khan, to legitimize his position.
Timur's regime finally became the "Timurid Empire" in name and in fact.
Timur was very pleased by this, sending large quantities of gold and silver as a thank-you gift to the Purple Tent, and also sending his fourth son, Shah Rukh, to lead a delegation on a return visit.
However, before both sides could enjoy their victory for long, news arrived that Tokhtamysh had made a comeback.
Tokhtamysh was also a formidable figure with considerable prestige on the steppe; even after his defeat, he still had many followers, and he quickly drove out the puppet noble supported by Timur, reoccupying the old Golden Horde capital—Sarai Berke.
This time, Tokhtamysh also learned his lesson and adopted the victorious strategies of his enemies.
He sent envoys to contact the Ottoman, the hegemon of Asia Minor, and the Mamluk Dynasty, which held sway in Egypt, to unite and cause trouble for Timur.
Timur was forced to contact the Purple Tent again for military assistance, preparing to first deal with the instigator Tokhtamysh, and then turn his army south to eliminate the other enemies.
