People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Jerusalem, the residence of Duke Raymond.

Raymond has been having a headache recently. As a veteran crusader prince and a proper moderate, he is unwilling to fight to the death with heretics.

But the war will not stop because he will or will not.

For Lothar, his attitude has always been complicated.

On the one hand, he is very optimistic about this young man who has made great achievements not long after he arrived, and is now a pillar of the Crusaders surrounded by pagan wolves, who can stand firm.

But on the other hand, he felt a huge threat and pressure from Lothar.

As the largest vassal in the kingdom, apart from Baldwin IV's short two-year personal conquest, the regent who held power for more than ten years was originally based in Jerusalem and had absolute authority.

Even the former Grand Duke of Antioch, Renard of Châtillon, later the Earl of Transjordan, and now the Barons of Callebourg and Montreal, were all under his control in their heyday.

The so-called queen mother's party, Raymond's noble party, and the royal party represented by Baron Godfrey are actually unable to summarize the sharp contradictions in Jerusalem. The contradiction between the Germanic Crusade and the Gallic Crusade is also becoming increasingly acute.

Lothar stacked two buffs on his body. He was born in Germany, the only prince who held a high position in the Holy Land, and the Teutonic Knights, who are not weak, took the initiative to join him; The tendency of the queen mother's party to merge.

But just when the conflict was about to become increasingly acute, he retreated bravely, as if he didn't care about the power of Jerusalem at all, he jumped out of the political vortex and went to work as a mercenary for the Eastern Empire.

"Lothar hasn't come back yet?"

Raymond's voice is a bit hoarse. It may be due to overwork recently. He feels that his physical condition is getting worse. He should donate a sum of money to the Order of St. Lazarus and ask Bishop Ulding to come and have a look. .

Standing like a shadow, Duke Raymond's attendant replied in a low voice: "The person sent to watch the port hasn't heard anything yet, but 'Coors', the head of the holy library directly under Lothar in the Transjordan border region, has already arrived. Start preparing for battle."

"Oh? That Coors who used to be in charge of the armor workshop in Jerusalem and sold Gwent cards?"

Raymond said with great interest.

After getting an affirmative answer, he couldn't help laughing: "That's a shrewd and capable talent. Lothar dared to leave his territory and lead the expedition alone. He has nothing to do with him."

Raymond looked a little envious. Due to the church's monopoly on knowledge, a reliable internal affairs talent is even rarer than a general who can recruit and fight well.

The changes in Lothar's territory are visible to the naked eye. The population has almost doubled, and a large area of ​​desert has been reclaimed as land. Originally, it was only a large area of ​​Trans-Jordan. In a year or two, the volume may really be linked to the territory.

"I heard that Lothar made a lot of noise in Constantinople. Not only did he get the position of general of the Limassol Military Region, but he also forged a deep friendship with the princess in purple?"

The attendant bowed his head and said: "It is true. According to the rumors, he defeated Crown Prince Henry of Swabia in the competition and killed a dragon beast with his own hands. According to rumors, Her Majesty the Queen also favored him very much. Invite him to an audience alone."

Raymond's expression was obviously taken aback.

Bad, when we meet Lothar again, he should already be the emperor of the empire, Barcelius, right?
He knew that Princess Sibila wanted to marry Lothar and had met many times.

Also very easy to understand.

Among the young nobles who have searched the entire Christian world, it is difficult to find someone who can surpass Lothar in terms of appearance or talent, and even fewer have both.

For example, Guy of Lusignan, although he is a handsome guy, has mediocre abilities, and he is still a stunned young man who once assassinated the Grand Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Originally, Lothar's shortcomings were his background and wealth, but now they have been complemented.

Changing places, Raymond lives on his own, and if he were Sibila, he would also be tempted.

Isn't this a hundred times stronger than the William he mentioned before?
But never thought.

In the end, it was Berrian who got engaged to Sibylla. At first, he didn't quite understand it. He thought that this move might be specially released by Lothar, expressing his desire to maintain a neutral signal in the confrontation between him and the Queen Mother's party.

Never thought that this bastard actually wanted to marry the queen?

He couldn't help complaining: "When the Holy Land needed him the most, he actually ran over to praise the empress' stinky feet. Didn't he really think that the empress would take a fancy to him and let him ascend to the sky and become a co-emperor?"

"This kind of whimsical people don't even think about it. Even if the queen is willing, those Greek nobles are willing to put a 'Frank barbarian' on their heads as emperor."

The attendant behind him had no expression on his face, but thought in his heart, that's the queen, not to mention stinky feet, she's a running dog.

Even if the empress is an old woman with half a foot in the coffin, and there is only one percent chance of being picked by her, those who want to be her guest of honor can still be lined up from the gate of Constantinople all the way to Opposite the Golden Horn.

Raymond raised his hand, crossed himself on his chest, and murmured in a low voice, "God, I want to repent for the jealousy I just raised."

He pulled his emotions away from the news just now, and asked: "How is our mobilization status?"

"In your territory, the mobilization order has already been issued to each of your vassals. The head of the Hospital Knights, Roger, made it clear that he will provide you with [-] knights in the war, including [-] lightly armed Support including the rider."

Raymond nodded slightly.

The Knights of the Hospitaller is Raymond's most important ally in the Holy Land. Although the price is that Tripoli leased a large amount of territory to the other party, the support in exchange is definitely worth the money.

"Where's the wizard?"

Raymond said abruptly.

The attendant shook his head and said, "No news yet."

Some time ago, Raymond had sent people to return to the Gaul region, hoping to use his contacts to recruit some wizards as consultants, but there was no news.

"My lord, I must remind you that under the influence of several kings, the lords in Europe realized the importance of spellcasters earlier than us. The wars and troubles they face are not as large as ours here."

The implication is obvious.

Being your consultant is not only a long journey, but also a big risk. There are very few wizards who are willing to "become an official". Who would be willing to come after hearing about your treatment?
Raymond frowned and said, "You mean the conditions I offered were low?"

Although he is rich and has many territories, many of them are left with only titles, land, manors, and castles, all of which have been allocated to vassals or leased to knights, and Tripoli is his core territory.

Coupled with the need to maintain a large-scale standing army, the surplus money in his hand is not particularly large.

You know, the annual salary he offered before is already a huge amount of wealth that can equip an entire company of heavy cavalry.

That's it, the other party is not satisfied?
"Not low, my lord."

The attendant said helplessly: "As the king of the Sasanian world, Saladin is second only to the Sasanian king, and the wealth he controls is far richer than ours, and he has already invited many powerful spellcasters ahead of us. "

Raymond was stunned: "These wizards don't think it's worth fighting against powerful enemies, do they?"

The attendant was silent for a moment, nodded and said, "Yes, they don't want to work for money."

"Ah."

Raymond showed a somewhat helpless smile.

This is what the church calls—all extraordinary powers originate from the Heavenly Father?

Doesn't this mean that Saladin is using God's mighty power to punish the Crusaders?
He shook his head, putting the somewhat profane thought behind him.

Satan's power also comes from God, but he is an evil devil. Perhaps those superhumans who followed Saladin and wanted to destroy and occupy the Holy Land came from Satan?
"Then we can only rely on our dragon-slaying warriors."

Raymond was lying on the chair, with a somewhat helpless and relieved expression on his face: "I hope this kid still has a trace of piety like his father Werner in his heart.

At this time.

There were hurried footsteps outside the door.

The knight whose burqa was full of wind and sand strode into the house.

Raymond got up in a hurry, with an ominous premonition in his heart: "Baroque, why are you in such a hurry?"

"My lord, Saladin's messenger has arrived."

Known as the baroque knight, his tone was a bit hasty: "He claimed that Lothar had violated the armistice agreement and asked him to immediately hand over all the territories occupied by 'extraordinary' after the armistice."

Sure enough, this day has come.

Raymond was silent for a moment.

But the attendant behind him said: "It seems that this condition is not unacceptable."

In his opinion, it seems pretty good that this war can be avoided if you just sell Lothar's interests.

After all, isn't Lothar his master's opponent?

"Absolutely not!"

Raymond looked stern: "Do you really think that selling Lothar's interests will stop Saladin? What kind of thing is Rauf, and he deserves Saladin to claim his own territory for him? This is just an excuse for declaring war. "

There is another reason why he didn't say that, while paying attention to the political correctness of war with the heretics, whoever dares to sell his own interests and make peace with the heretics will lose his reputation and be praised in the entire Christian world. don't start.

It is impossible for Baldwin IV to agree. Once he agrees, the entire Kingdom of Jerusalem will no longer have meaning for existence.