People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Chapter 18
Lothar sat cross-legged on the bed, wiping the half sword in his hand with a white linen cloth.

The armed sword that Earl Werner bestowed upon him has come to an end.

The half-handed sword in his hand was a trophy obtained after killing Abelardo.

Abelardo is dead, although the ransom has failed.

However, according to the rules, his set of armor and war horse belonged to him.

His Arabian warhorse is no worse than his Nisaan warhorse.

With the whole set of armor, even if the depreciation fee is counted, it can be sold for a high price of nearly a hundred gold coins.

Hannya suddenly asked: "As a champion knight, what reward will Earl Leopold plan to give you?"

Lothar said with a smile: "Leopold originally wanted me to be his vassal—the Baron of Vienna Forest Hills, and he also drew a cake for me to be promoted to the earl in the future."

"It's just that I refused. So in the end, it was replaced by a sum of money and a promise to send us supplies after we gain a firm foothold in the Holy Land."

"This promise is very broad. It may be to provide us with weapons and shields, armor arrows, or food seeds, blacksmiths and craftsmen."

"There is no specific amount, but how much I can get at that time, I am afraid it will depend on my performance, whether it is worth Earl Leopold's investment."

"This is normal."

Hannya nodded and did not comment on this.

"Get ready for bed."

Turning off the lights, Hannya lay flat on the thin blanket on the ground.

Go to sleep as usual.

But this time, perhaps because of the increased intimacy, the atmosphere between the two is not as alienated as usual.

In the dark, Lothar stared at the perfect side face under the moonlight. He didn't fall asleep for a long time, until the other party's eyelashes trembled slightly, and he seemed to be about to open his eyes, and then hurriedly closed his eyes.

Early the next morning, Lothar visited Count Leopold again, and politely declined the luncheon, requesting farewell.

From him, Lothar obtained a heavy bag of florin gold coins issued by the city-state of Genoa in recent years.

Each florin weighs 3.5 grams, which is 1 gram lighter than the newly minted solid gold coins of the Eastern Empire.

The Suledes gold coin is just a general term. It can refer to the Solid gold coin or the Nomisma gold coin. Anyway, they are all gold coins issued by the Eastern Empire.

By regulation, all Soleders gold coins are 4.5 grams.

It's just that Suledes released in different periods have different fineness.

The new solid gold coin issued by Empress Lagaia in the Eastern Empire is pure gold with full gold content, which is similar in quality to the florin gold coin issued by Genoa.

From this point, it can be seen that the empress intends to save the already notorious currency system of the Eastern Empire, rather than a rotten cub who only cares about her own enjoyment.

Otherwise, if it goes on like before, the market of the entire Eastern Empire will be flooded with the currencies of commercial city-states such as Genoa and Venice.

During this period, the gold-silver exchange ratio was twelve to one, that is to say, one fine gold coin could be exchanged for twelve silver coins of equal weight.

However, since silver coins are often only a little over 1 gram, it is reasonable to say that one gold florin can be exchanged for about 40 silver dinars.

Of course, in fact, it is often impossible to exchange in this way.

Due to the widespread use of silver tableware, the fineness of most silver coins is worse than that of gold coins. For example, a king of Gaul once minted black coins containing one-tenth of the silver content.

There were also emperors in the Eastern Empire who issued silver-plated coins with a silver content of less than one-twentieth. Even in some isolated areas, bronze coins with no circulation value are still used.

In this era, due to the fragmentation, there are feudal lords who can mint currency privately everywhere, and the currency system is too chaotic.

Generally speaking, however, a pig was worth about 1.5 florins during this period.

One florin gold coin can buy fifty loaves of good-quality bread that is free from wheat bran and grit.

A high-class war horse, such as Lothar's Nisaan war horse, costs about 60 florin gold coins, which is 6 times that of the grassland war horses ridden by the Magyars.

And a top-notch horse dedicated to the royal family costs about 500 florin gold coins.

As for ordinary pack horses, they are worth five gold florins.

The annual rent of inns in the city is 6 florins.

The cost of a castle is about 2000 florins.

A set of excellent chain mail worn by elite sergeants or junior knights is worth about 30 florins; if it is a custom-made knight's full body armor, it needs 50 florins.

A set of four-wheeled carriages dedicated to the royal family costs about 240 florins.

Of course, this is only an approximation, and specific prices will fluctuate with supply and demand.In later generations, prices will still skyrocket due to plague, closed cities and other factors, not to mention the Middle Ages.

Maybe after a drought, the price of bread has skyrocketed hundreds of times under the driving up of Jewish merchants.

When the Jewish businessman earned enough money, the shrewd local lord would often find another excuse to execute him and confiscate all his property.

This can not only calm the boiling public grievances, but also indirectly take out every copper coin from the fingers of the people for their own enjoyment.

So all of Lothar's current possessions are [-] gold florins, [-] gold suledes, nearly [-] silver dinars, two silver wine glasses that Otto gave him, and two prairie horses. War horses, a Nisaan war horse, an Arabian horse, and two pack horses.

And a spare set of fine chain mail and barrel helmets.

A considerable part of the silver coins was the ransom that Hans obtained from defeating his opponent.

This amount of money can probably arm ten sergeants wearing leather armor, holding iron swords and spears, and hire a small mercenary group of between thirty and fifty people to work for him.

"Sure enough, fighting a war costs money. It's not that easy to make a name for yourself in Jerusalem."

"The battlefield is not comparable to the martial arts arena. The role of personal bravery will never be comparable to that of a well-trained army, at least me and Hans."

Lothar took stock of his small treasury and sighed.

Ban Ruo is a melee and defensive squire, who can protect herself well on the battlefield, but it is somewhat difficult to expect her to be invincible.

When he returned to the hotel, Ryan had already paid the room fee, packed all his luggage, and was waiting outside with his horse.

"My lord, this is your mount. The food and feed for the mount have been prepared. When shall we set off?"

Ryan bowed humbly and said in awe.

Model came to the horse, bent down, and prepared to act as a pedal for Lothar so that he could get on the horse.

Since Lothar defeated Abelardo, the werewolf knight, yesterday, the way he and Model looked at themselves was completely different from before.

It's just like a god.

Hans, on the other hand, was still the same as usual, nothing changed.

In his opinion, Lothar's killing of the werewolf was a matter of course. Even the famous gatekeeper of hell served the lord, and a mere werewolf was nothing at all.

Lothar's face solemnly stopped Model's behavior: "Stand up, Model!"

"If I need a servant, I will buy it with money, but what I need now is a brave warrior, not a humble servant. Never behave so humblely in front of me."

"Lane, you too."

Under the stupefied expressions of the two, Lothar got on his horse and snorted coldly: "Let's set off immediately!"

In fact, a loyal servant can often display impressive power on the battlefield, such as the Mamluk cavalry of the Ayub Empire.

But Lothar couldn't accept this kind of humiliating behavior at all.

He is still a long way from fully integrating into this world, but Lothar would rather never integrate into it.

In the afternoon, Lothar and his party stopped in front of a small town.

This is a town that has been burned by flames. It is devastated and ruins are everywhere. The pungent smoke and burnt smell make the group frown.

The man with his head and body separated fell on the side of the road, and dense swarms of flies crawled in and out of the mouth, nose and wounds of the deceased.

As soon as the sound of horseshoes approached, a black storm suddenly set off.

Predatory wild dogs were biting the rotting corpses in the ruins. Even if they saw people, they didn't show any fear.

The experienced veteran Model said in a deep voice: "These robbers have just left, and there are still embers in the ruins."

Lothar frowned and said, "Does Babenberg's border patrol not care?"

"It should be taken care of. Look at the corpses. There are strangle marks on the body and neck when wearing armor. He should be a sergeant, but the armor has been stripped off."

"Can you find it?"

Lothar's tone was very calm. Such things happen every day. This is the epitome of this era. Not only robbers, but even the battles between nobles often plunder villages.

All men and women were captured as serfs, and the old, weak, sick and disabled were all killed to reduce the burden.

The lives of untouchables have been worthless since ancient times.

Model observed carefully for a while, nodded and said: "No problem, they didn't leave in a hurry, and they also brought prisoners, baggage, and livestock, and the speed was not fast. We will definitely find them along these ruts."

Lothar looked back and said to everyone: "Some people say that in war, the nobles provide weapons and equipment, the rich provide money and food, and the poor provide their children; after the war, the nobles make contributions, and the rich gain more money. And the poor can only look for the graves of their own children."

"The best war is no better than the worst peace."

Lothar's eyes swept across the corpses. An old man was still holding a farm tool that had been cut off by a sharp knife, and there was an arrow piercing wound on his neck.

But the arrow must have been taken back in the end.

The life of such a pariah is not even worth an arrow.

"But war will never go away."

"I can't change this era, but I swear that if I become a lord, I will do my best to protect the people in my territory, wipe out bandits, and keep enemies out."

A look of surprise appeared on the faces of Ryan and Mordel.

In this era, there are not many people who can say the word "people".

Are serfs considered human beings?
"Model leads the way, and we set out immediately to catch these robbers and send them to hell in the name of the heavenly father."

He must admit that a large part of the factor in hunting down the robbers is to complete the milestone.

But there is still a considerable part in the hope of rescuing those who were taken captive.

Kill those cruel robbers, blood for blood, tooth for tooth.

(End of this chapter)