People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Chapter 488 Father and Brother

Burgundy, outside the Jura Mountains, the county of Allgau.

The Eagle Castle stands at the foot of the mountain, overlooking the fields and rivers at the foot of the mountain.

The earl's eldest son, wearing a suede coat, reached out and opened the window. The cold wind from the Alps in late autumn rushed in like it had been for a long time in the morning, making his whole body tremble.

In the distance, there are towering mountains.

The County of Allgäu is located at the junction of the Jura Mountains in the northwest and the Alps in the southeast.

To the south is Lombardy, the anointed land that emperors of all ages have ambitiously wanted to hold in their hands. To the west, beyond the Jura Mountains is Lower Burgundy (i.e. Provence), and to the north is the Hohenstaufen family. The center of rule of the emperors, the Duchy of Swabia.

Therefore, most of the time, Count Werner actually served in the emperor's court, and he was the de facto owner of the Eagle Castle.

The sound of horse hooves sounded in the mountain path.

The cavalryman riding a black horse waved the letter in his hand and shouted: "Open the city gate, I have important news from Lyon to report to the Earl!"

"Important news?"

Otto quickly went downstairs and came to the hall.

Here, Count Werner is already receiving the messenger.

He stood aside for a moment, waiting until Count Werner finished reading the letter. He reached out to take it, but was pressed down by the old Count's backhand.

Otto's expression changed slightly and he whispered: "Has the news about the Holy Land come back?"

The transmission of news in this era was obviously lagging behind. Many remote territories in Europe did not yet know that the Crusaders had defeated the army led by Saladin in the Battle of Galilee.

On the contrary, from time to time, more timely gossip comes from the kings' courts, but it obviously does not spread to the Allgäu countryside surrounded by mountains.

"No."

Werner shook his head: "The news came back from Lyon. There is a merchant fleet coming from the east, loaded with spices, silk, and luxurious oriental plate armor."

Otto was a little confused and asked: "What does this have to do with us?"

He paused slightly, suddenly raised his spirits, and said in disbelief: "Did you promise me to lead an army to the Holy Land to help Lothar?"

Ever since he learned that Saladin's army was dispatched and that the war in the Holy Land was about to resume, Otto had always wanted to lead the Argau army to support Lothar, but Count Werner had never agreed.

Lyon is not close to Eagle Castle, but it is not too far either. From the west via Geneva and out of the Jura Valley, it will not take long to reach Lyon. If he sets off now, he should be able to catch up with the caravan when it leaves. Travel to the Holy Land.

The merchant ships returning will obviously not miss the opportunity to make money by carrying passengers.

Werner shook his head: "That fleet hangs the coat of arms of a black double-headed eagle."

"A Greek fleet?"

The old count nodded and shook his head: "Half and half, they come from Limassol in Cyprus and belong to your brother Lothar."

Otto couldn't help but open his mouth.

He had thought that Lothar was rich, but he never thought that he would be so rich.

The valuables of this entire fleet can be exchanged for at least tens of thousands of Surides gold coins, right?No, maybe it’s much more than that!

"You once wanted me to give you a village as a fief, but I failed to agree."

Count Werner said with a straight face: "Two castles, more than twenty villages, a quarry, and a chalcopyrite mine are already considered a good dowry for an underappreciated second daughter of a duke."

"Now, I am no longer in your eyes."

"Indeed, in Jerusalem, a worthless gangster in the past may suddenly become the lord of a city. Yes, this is indeed very tempting, but have you ever thought about where the others have gone?"

"Or do you think that you grew up with Lothar and are not inferior to him in all aspects, so that you can replicate his miracle?"

The further he went on, the harsher Earl Werner's tone became.

"I didn't think so, Father."

Otto lowered his head: "I just think that the Holy Land is in trouble, and Lothar is in urgent need of our help now."

Werner shook his head and said: "Then you don't need to go to the Holy Land, because I just received a congratulatory letter from His Majesty the Emperor. The Crusaders in the Holy Land have successfully repelled the invading pagan army, and your brother, Marquis Lothar, is preparing to Send your troops to march south and take Egypt."

An incredible feeling suddenly emerged in Otto's heart.

"Losa is the handsome man?" Count Werner, who looked serious, finally showed a smile of relief on his face.

"Yes, that's him. He has been named the Grand Commander of the Crusades by His Majesty the King, commanding [-] Crusaders. He has also been given a series of sacred titles such as Guardian of the Holy Spear and Guardian of the Holy Wood - he is now , although he is still a vassal, he is more majestic than a king."

Who would have thought that this second son, who was almost sent to a monastery because of a single thought, would be able to accomplish such a great deed after arriving in the Holy Land. Every time his father thinks about it, he feels like he is dreaming.

If the person who wrote the letter was not only his old friend Baron Godfrey, but also the young king who had once served him, he would probably still doubt the authenticity of the news.

"Father, are you serious?"

"When did I lie to you?"

Otto's expression changed for a while, ranging from disbelief to envy. His whole figure seemed to be stepping on clouds and mist, with a light and unreal feeling: "God bless, Lothar must have been favored by God."

Werner nodded: "There are indeed such rumors. Many Franks in the Holy Land believe that Lothar is the new Holy Son. Thousands of Crusaders once watched him use the Holy Spear to kill heretics. The driven dragon."

Otto was so shocked by the news one after another that he couldn't close his mouth for a long time.

Is this the same younger brother he grew up with, and who was always slapped on the palm by his tutor because of his playfulness during the Latin course?

"Father, Lothar, is he really the Holy Son?"

Count Werner looked at Otto and did not answer his doubts. He just asked: "Do you think your mother is like the Virgin? Or do you think I am the Holy Father?"

He pinched his eyebrows and said with some distress: "To be honest, sometimes I also doubt that Marquis Lothar, who is praised by people as just and kind, who leads tens of thousands of troops and has many witches working for him, is actually My son?"

"Yes, of course!"

Otto said seriously: "I just met him not long ago: compared with when he left, he has not become taller or fatter - when he proudly showed off to me that he has thousands of miles of fertile land, I didn't It felt like he had become a different person.”

Werner smiled: "So, you should feel relieved now. Next, you have to marry Margarina, the daughter of the Duke of Lower Lorraine, as soon as possible, and then go to the palace of His Majesty the Emperor to serve as a bodyguard."

The surprise in Otto's heart immediately disappeared.

If he goes to Lothar now and follows him to conquer Egypt, how can he get a rich city as a fief? Wouldn't that be more comfortable than staying in Germania and being a rural lord?
In Europe, even the wealthier middle-class nobles had to wear dirty woolen clothes and live in cold wind-swept, poorly furnished stone castles.

How could it compare to the oriental lords who lived with mosaic floors, marble walls, painted ceilings, fountains and gardens?

"Don't think about it. Lothar doesn't need the support of an army of a hundred or ten people now. His opponent is a pagan monarch like His Majesty the Emperor who can easily pull out tens of thousands of troops. So, don't think about returning to the East. It won’t help matters whether you go or not.”

He opened his mouth, and his thoughts were extremely complicated. At this time, his status as the heir of the family, which was supposed to be a blessing for him, had become an invisible fetter.

"Yes, father."

Werner stood up and patted his shoulder: "You are not serving His Majesty in the name of a knight. Since the Zeringen family has close ties with Henry the Lion, they also refused His Majesty the Emperor's recruitment when he attacked Lombardy. Therefore, His Majesty the Emperor deprived their family of their fiefdom of Bern and gave it to me."

"I will now confer it on you, and you will enter the court of His Majesty the Emperor and serve him as Baron of Bern."

Otto was silent for a moment, nodded and said, "Thank you, father."

Watching Otto leave.

Count Werner re-opened the letter and after reading it several times, he sighed softly.

It's not that he doesn't understand Lothar's significance as the commander of the Crusades. This means that once Lothar conquers Egypt, he will have a high probability of being elected as the king of Egypt. This is destined to be a crown with more weight than the crown of Jerusalem.

But the higher you stand, the harder you are likely to fall.

The intrigues in the court were all too familiar to him, as a courtier who had served Baldwin IV and Emperor Henry successively.

He thought for a moment, then wrote a letter, detailing his views on the current situation in the Holy Land, and how Lothar would communicate with those ambitious European monarchs if he conquered Egypt.

But after he finished writing, he couldn't help but smile bitterly, crumpled the letter into a ball, and threw it into the fireplace nearby.

The flames grew stronger.

Amid the crackling of firewood, Count Werner's soft murmur sounded:

"Why does he need the advice of a mediocre country lord now?"

"Both His Majesty and Godfrey can give him more advice and more meaningful advice than I can."

He couldn't help but rub his wrinkled cheeks, looked into the air in front of him with a smile and said, "Elise, you gave birth to a good son."

(End of this chapter)