People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Chapter 499 Liberating the White Slaves
Outside the city of Damietta, in a copper mining camp that had just been captured.

The Crusaders were cleaning the battlefield, and the guards who stayed here seemed not to know that Damietta had fallen, so they were easily captured.

After getting rid of these people, the Crusaders will live here. The slaves with their feet shackled and their faces covered with mud will be driven to the open space in the middle of the camp.

There stood a knight wearing shining armor and holding a Danish ax in both hands.

There is a striking cross emblem painted on the front of his lapel, and an eagle emblem with open wings and fluttering wings is embroidered on his chest.

"What are they going to do?"

"Should we all be executed?"

"Looking at the cross on him, they don't seem to be Saracens."

"Is it"

The slaves had different expressions, some with hope, others with fear.

Immediately they saw this tall knight walking quickly with a Danish ax in his hand. Under the horrified gaze of a slave at the front, he raised the ax and struck it down hard.

Keng——

The shackles at the slave's feet were broken open.

The frightened slave collapsed on the ground, his face full of joy for surviving the disaster.

The knight held the ax in his hand and said loudly: "The great lord of the Crusaders, the master of Upper Egypt, Transjordan, Limassol and Hebron, and the guardian of the Holy Spear, Duke Lothar, has ordered that from now on, all Believers who believe in Christ will automatically put off their slave status and become free people."

“Listen to me, my Christian brothers, from this day forward you are free!”

Some slaves immediately cheered excitedly.

But many slaves still looked confused.

Seeing this, the knight called his companions who knew various languages ​​and translated what he said again.

At first there was silence.

Then some slaves cried and shouted: "We are free, we are free, praise God, praise Duke Lothar!"

"I knew that the Crusaders would come to save us sooner or later."

Under the guidance of the knights, they interrupted and smashed the shackles on their feet. Some slaves, filled with hatred, used stones and iron picks to smash the corpses of the overseers and guards beyond recognition.

But after the madness.

Some new "free citizens" who still have rationality are beginning to worry again.

A slave who claimed to be from Brandenburg asked cautiously: "Dear Sir Knight, who will own this copper mine next?"

The knight shook his head and said: "I don't know, this is something that the Duke must consider."

The slave asked again: "Can we continue to work here?"

The knight laughed and said, "Have I not made it clear yet? You are now free. Go to Damietta, Jerusalem, and Tripoli. You can now go wherever you want, and no one will stop you."

The slave smiled bitterly and said: "Master Mingjian, as long as we have a little skill, we will not be thrown into a place like a mine. So, even if we run to the city, how can we settle there?"

Even if you have a skill, it is not easy to become a citizen. The guild organizations in many places are extremely exclusive and conservative. They will exclude outsiders to the point where they cannot stay at all.

Otherwise, according to the rules of many cities where one can obtain citizen status as long as they stay in the city for a hundred days, serfs would have long ago become a habit.

His face was full of humility and bitterness: "We only know how to farm and mine, but there is always a shortage of farmers in Coptic. Even if we want to go home, we have to rely on mining to pay for the journey."

After he finished speaking, someone else came forward and said humbly: "Besides, we can't go home. There is no place for us there."

The knight suddenly realized and said: "I see, but forget about mining. The war is not over yet. Who knows when this copper mine will be operational again. I have a good place here. Over there, you just need to With hard work, not only do you have two meals a day, you can also get a piece of land of your own.”

The knight began to describe it vividly.

The slaves were fascinated when they heard this, and some even couldn't believe that such a good thing would happen to them.

"Sir, are you telling the truth?"

The knight looked the slaves up and down at the right time, with a disdainful smile on his lips: "God, if I didn't see you as pitiful, how could I tell you such a good thing? Is there anything else you people deserve to be deceived by me? A place?"

Next to the knight, a knight in full armor immediately stood up and said loudly: "Watch your words, the person standing in front of you is the grand leader of the Royal Knights of Jerusalem, a Han warrior who has been fighting with Duke Lothar for many years. Sir Sir Alex."

The slaves were so despised, but they calmed down and expressed their gratitude to the crusaders.

Wait until the knights send these slaves away.

The blonde female knight who had been watching for a long time came over and said, "I have to say, Hans, your acting skills are too exaggerated."

Hans said helplessly: "I'm not good at this kind of thing. When they arrive in the Sinai Peninsula, the first thing they will do is to call me a liar."

"They'll thank you eventually."

Hans shrugged: "I hope so. Is your Excellency still asleep?"

"Why are you still asleep? This is special training."

Jeanne corrected her and asked again: "Are you so busy with this thing these days?"

"Yes, your Excellency told me before going to bed that I should select a group of trustworthy pilgrims from the liberated white slaves as the first batch of immigrants to be sent to the Sinai Peninsula."

After the Crusaders occupied Damietta, most of the large number of slaves in the city were liberated, especially the white slaves who mostly believed in Christianity. Many of them were pilgrims from the Frankish region and there were also pirates. They raided villages along the coast of Asia Minor and captured Greek and Turkic slaves. In addition, there was also the slave trade prevalent on the Black Sea, including Russian slaves sold by the Cumans.

This group of people are already extremely poor, possessing nothing and having a humble status. If they are left in Damietta, it will be difficult to allocate land for them to cultivate. If they are moved to Sinai, they will face the least resistance.

At the same time, they were far more trustworthy than the Copts, who had been ruled by the Saracens for hundreds of years.

"Thanks a lot."

"To be honest, I originally thought this was just a simple job." Hans smiled bitterly.

But when it really started, Hans discovered that not all slaves were willing to be liberated.

Generally speaking, in Europe, the status of serfs is higher than that of slaves. Legally, their personal freedom is bound to the land, and they are often not qualified to leave the land and make pilgrimages to holy places.

Unless they are willing to pay a specific tax on it.

Many of the pilgrims who were robbed by pirates and Turkic bandits and sold into slavery were actually fugitive serfs from Europe.

Although they were not slaves before, as serfs, they had to respond to the lord's call and obey the lord's corvee for free, cultivate the fields assigned by the lord, and pay high and various taxes.

If there is a cruel lord on the stand, he may even be whipped or even executed by the lord for some minor mistakes - and although this is an act that violates the teachings, there is usually no interference from outsiders.

After being sold into slavery, many of these people were surprised to find that their lives were better than before.

For example, the Mamluks, although they were slaves, were also close retainers of their masters, and their status was many times higher than that of ordinary free people.

Therefore, Damietta's slaves, even Christians, are grateful to their masters.

It’s not that they are deeply servile, but that this is the case in this era. Whether in Europe or Egypt, the contradiction between man and land is very serious. The excess labor force leads to generally low treatment of serfs - which is in line with the saying "If you don't do it, others will do it." ".

A statue of an angel can increase the loyalty of the people in the territory, but it does not happen overnight.

As for the miners, these slaves in front of them are undoubtedly the lowest level among slaves, and their loyalty is guaranteed.

In addition, their physical condition is pretty good, and they have not been broken down by the long and dark underground life. Unlike the previous group of miners Hans liberated, they only have one-third of their lives left, and taking two steps can cause serious injuries. Wheezing and coughing for a while.

"Those who can do more work."

Jean patted Hans on the shoulder and showed an encouraging look: "I think you should take the time to learn the language of Saracens or Coptics. There will always be times when you need to use it. Your Majesty's respect for you Expectations are always high.”

Hans said helplessly: "I would rather be like Veneto and stay in the training camp every day."

Jeanne waved her hand coolly: "It's not up to you."

She took a few steps, stopped again, turned around and said, "I was just chatting with you and almost forgot about the real thing. Do you and Veneto still spar together during this time?"

"Not often, just occasionally."

"Then you guys have a good fight tonight."

Hans looked surprised: "Why?"

"The Tree of Life has advanced. Jeanne brought back a batch of new Tree of Life leaves. Uldin prepared a new 'Lazarus Potion' based on this. He wants to try the effect on you."

Hans: "?"

Jeanne looked at Hans' disbelieving expression and seemed to feel a faint pain in her conscience. She smiled dryly and said: "It's a rare opportunity. It just so happens that you always feel that you can't let go when you compete. This time is also an opportunity. I am I’m very optimistic about you.”

With that said, he walked away quickly.

"I still have to inform Veneto. Remember, you must come at night!"

Hans looked at Jeanne's back, daring to be angry but afraid to speak.

It's a pity that Chelinina, the flower of the wolf clan, who was originally expected to be able to rely on her thigh, directly surrendered to the enemy. He, a five-star little wolf, really didn't stand up well under Lothar's hands.

at the same time.

In the book world.

Time flies so fast, one month is coming to an end in the blink of an eye.

The demon hunters stood on the other end of the suspension bridge, watching the two people's backs gradually retreating as they stepped on the snow, feeling a little emotional.

Eskar's face was full of amazement: "Miss Chelinina is really ridiculously strong. We all see Lothar's progress during this period. We didn't expect that she would still be beaten so badly in the last battle."

Lambert crossed his arms and smiled: "It's a miserable situation, but if you ask me, Nina is still disappointed."

Geralt nodded and said: "Indeed, with her speed, the three of us together may not be her enemy. If we really attack her, it's hard to say that Lothar can go through a few rounds, strength, speed, defense , any aspect taken to the extreme is terrible.”

"Haha, I suddenly remembered the scene when Geralt asked Miss Cellinina for advice. At that time, you two were fighting back and forth. Now that I think about it, it is really ironic."

Lambert mocked with a smirk on his face.

Geralt couldn't help but laugh and said: "Chelinina is a very polite little girl and can't bear to bully an old man like me."

Vesemir added on the side: "Much better than Ciri."

Lambert's tone was as sharp as ever: "We all have to admit this. In Kaer Morhen, Ciri was completely taught to be a wild child by us. Who would have known that she was a lion cub in Cintra before? Where is the princess of a kingdom?”

A group of demon hunters gradually walked back to the castle.

"In this bad weather, you haven't blocked the hole in the hall at all. Now when the wind blows outside, it's like there are a hundred Kikimo screaming in your ears."

"Father Vesemir, asking a demon hunter to do bricklaying work is like asking a goat to blow a trumpet with its butt. This cannot be blamed on our poor craftsmanship. At least the hole is not well ventilated."

"Dad, I have to add that an ant-like monster like Kikimo cannot make the high-pitched scream you mentioned."

"This is a metaphor, do you understand the metaphor?"

Geralt sat back on the chair, looked at the empty wine glass on the table opposite him, and couldn't help but smile: "To be honest, without Lothar and Nina, our place seems a lot more deserted. It's not as good as next year." .”

"Don't, don't think about it!"

"I don't want to see that woman Yennefer."

Lambert sneered and said, "The same goes for Father Vesemir. I can guarantee that if she comes, she will definitely use that condescending tone to boss us around, as if this should be her territory."

He felt that Geralt's taste in looking at women was really not very good - at least far worse than Lothar's.

Look at his female companion!
(End of this chapter)