People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Chapter 259 Notorious
The sky is clear.

The sun was fierce.

Camel bells jingle.

After Lothar and his party entered Yanbu, by chance, they traveled with a group of Kurdish caravans.

The leader of the caravan was talking with Lothar in Kurdish at this time. His Kurdish has been practiced very purely, and the communication between the two can be said to be unimpeded.

Strong mental strength, strong learning ability.

Coupled with the good teacher Prajna, Lothar is now proficient in Arabic, Latin, Gaul, and Germanic, except for Greek.

"Old Hassan, you are a majestic chief, how did you become a caravan leader?"

Old Hassan's dark face showed a trace of helplessness: "Rauf wants us to hand over fifty pack horses and fifty camels this year, and thirty young men equipped with bows and arrows."

"Our tribe is too small, how can we afford such a heavy tax, we can only hope that this trip will earn enough money to buy slaves and pack animals."

Lothar frowned and said, "Why don't you want to move out?"

For nomadic tribes, if they can't bear heavy taxes, they can simply move their family. Why continue to be Raouf's dog?

"We want to go, but where can we go?"

Old Hassan's face was gloomy: "In the north, we have to pass through the Hur Desert, which is called the land of death. We finally came from there. The slightly fatter pastures in the east are also owned by the Lord; in the west, there are Crusaders. Devil...I'm not talking about you, there are good and bad Franks, but that butcher Lothar is definitely a villain."

"Lothar the butcher?"

Lothar's expression changed slightly.

Jeanne could hardly help laughing.

Lothar explained: "Where did you hear about Lothar the butcher? As far as I know, Earl Lothar is a benevolent lord who treats the low-level civilians very well. Even pagans can get good treatment, which is better than you are now. That's much stronger."

Old Hassan showed suspicion on his face: "I heard it from the imam. He is a highly respected elder. A saint who can communicate with the holy fire will definitely not deceive us."

"It is said that any Zoroastrians who survive under his command must convert to Christianity in order to survive."

"Ok."

Imam is a Persian name for the priests of Zoroastrianism.

Lothar didn't say anything more, but said: "Old Hassan, since you are going to take the caravan to do business in the territory of the Crusaders, you might as well go and see it with your own eyes. See if I am lying or your imam is deceiving you." about you."

Old Hassan was silent for a moment, then said, "I will go and have a look."

He said so, but he looked at Lothar with obvious vigilance.

Lothar knew that it was inconvenient for the two groups of people to go together anymore, so he greeted Old Hassan and parted at the fork in front of him.

...

Old Hassan watched Lothar's back go away, and suddenly said: "Let's change to the path."

He didn't lie, the salt, cheese, and cured meat transported in the caravan were the most important goods in their tribe.

If they failed to sell for a good price and did not gather enough slaves and pack animals, they could only send more young men from the tribe to serve under the brutal lord of Rauf.

For the tribe.

He must be cautious.

Even the incomparably precious goods in his eyes are not even comparable to a set of specially-made high-quality plate armor in Lothar's eyes.

...

Lothar and his party continued on the road.

As if realizing that he was in a bad mood, Celinina took out a chocolate bar and handed it to Lothar.

"Thank you."

"It's nothing...My lord, do you need me to deal with the leader of the enemy for you?"

Celinina hesitated, but still said.

Lothar was slightly taken aback, and immediately shook his head.

"No need."

"Once Rauf dies, his territory will immediately be torn apart, and he will fall into a leaderless state. At that time, he will only be eaten by the surrounding neighbors."

Rang Na rode that bloody horse, frowned and said, "Keeping him is equivalent to a piece of fat around your mouth, right?"

"Correct."

Seeing that Rangna's face was not very good-looking.

Lothar knew that she was recalling the border residents who died of being stabbed when they were on the border.

Even if she seems out of tune at ordinary times, she is still a person who hates evil in her bones.

"Don't worry, I won't let him go."

"Zane can forgive."

"But Rauf must die. Just not now."

Via Wojh, Tabuk, just two days.

Lothar could already see into the distance, the Crusader flag flying over Ma'anburg, and Baron Isaac's coat of arms with a golden lion on a black background.

Fringira let out a long breath: "Finally we're going home."

This back and forth journey is really boring.

Lothar sat on the horseback and suddenly said:

"Celinina, if you were asked to lead troops to attack the enemy, what would you do?"

"I?"

Celinina was a little puzzled.

"During this journey, you should have a certain understanding of the terrain and climate here."

"Faced with drought, thirst, scorching sun, poisonous snakes and scorpions, poor logistics supplies, and the enemy has a geographical advantage, what will you do?"

Celinina was silent for a moment, feeling that being a general commanding troops was still too difficult for her now.

Especially with Na Zhuyu in front.

She tentatively said: "I will try to assassinate the enemy's leader, and use the sword to coerce them to provide supplies, hostages, and soldiers for our army."

"Rauf's rule is far from being as stable as it seems. Taking Old Hassan as an example, the leaders of many tribal chiefdoms may not be willing to submit to him."

"I think that using this method to divide and disintegrate them may work."

After all, she looked at Lothar with some trepidation.

"not bad."

Lothar held back his smile and looked at Jeanna: "Tell me what you think."

Jeanna said: "Miss Cellinina's approach is actually very reasonable, but she didn't take into account the most important point, that is, the reputation of adults."

"Rauf is very smart about this. He stood with the priests of the Zoroastrianism, avoiding the important and taking the light, and easily messed up the reputation of the adults."

"Perhaps, the rule of Rauf has not collapsed until now, and there is also the credit of the adults."

Lothar said helplessly: "Celinina, do you understand your problem? As a military officer, you need to consider the problem more comprehensively."

Celinina said thoughtfully: "I understand."

"Speaking of which, I thought my reputation wasn't that bad. At least, in the eyes of low-level Saracen commoners, it should be pretty good."

Lothar laughed at himself.

But how can the low-level civilians he bought have any right to speak?
The massacres of pagans by the Crusaders in the Holy Land made the image of the devil wearing the cross mark already deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Even if someone knows the truth, people are more willing to believe his words, or the imam in the Zoroastrian Church?

He offended the nobles of Saracens by dividing the land, and offended the priests of Zoroastrianism by leading people to convert. He offended two groups of powerful factions at once.

"My lord, do you regret it?"

"Regret what?"

Lothar was a little puzzled, and then he reacted: "Are you talking about breaking the deep-rooted tax subsidy system? Or is it a way to wipe out all the Saracen leaders?"

"Both."

"Of course I don't regret it."

"Those pagan local leaders, although they have the right to speak, don't steal things from them. Are they going to steal money from serfs and free people who don't have much money?"

Lothar snorted coldly: "And those priests, you don't know how much land and money a temple has. I even want to suppress the Catholic Church, let alone them."

Normally speaking, it is most appropriate to pull one faction and fight another faction. This will make the enemy more willing to communicate with Lothar secretly, hoping to be reused by Lothar after the war.

It can also divide the enemy better and reduce Lothar's resistance when attacking.

There was a smile on Jeanna's face: "My lord, you have chosen a more difficult path."

Lothar's face showed a trace of rebelliousness: "If you want to pursue the right and willing to compromise, I am now the regent of Jerusalem, or a barbarian general in the Eastern Empire, constantly expanding my power, trying to be as good as the queen. Kiss Fangze, you have reached the sky in one step."

It's still the same sentence, I'm already hanging up, is it possible that I still have to kneel and beg for food?

Besides, it's just that this little notoriety is nothing, not even a siege net.

No one pointed at my nose and scolded me: your notoriety is known to everyone from Ireland to Khitan.

But a piece of cake.

(End of this chapter)