People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Chapter 50 Status Quo
"30 people?"

Lothar looked at the sergeants with disheveled armor and "dark" skinny faces, and frowned: "There are only 30 defenders in a castle?"

Thirty defenders, all infantry.

At most, they can only hide in the castle to protect themselves, and they have no ability to protect the surrounding villages from being looted by desert robbers.

"It's a bit small, but if there are too many, I can't afford it."

The guard laughed along with him, his face full of guilt.

If such a powerful lord finds out that his fief is so poor and empty, he will definitely be furious.

In case you take your anger out on yourself again...

Although he was a guard in name and considered a retainer of His Majesty the King, he didn't even have a title and was actually a servant.

If he hadn't had to bring taxes to pay tribute every month, His Majesty the King might not even know that there was such a person as himself.

"Isn't there even a church in the castle where the lords can worship?"

The guard forced a smile on his face and said, "There is only one prayer room, which is located on the first floor of your inner castle."

Lothar smiled: "Okay, very good, it's really a poor place."

The guard's heart was pulled into his throat.

Fringila looked at the castle with some dissatisfaction: "This place is too dilapidated, I doubt even mice would like to patronize such a dilapidated place."

"The worst place I've lived in is the castle in Moldavia when I ran away from home. Compared with this place, it looks like a royal palace."

"Sorry ma'am, it's really too simple here."

The guard said cautiously.

This lady speaks so loudly, so she must be a noble princess, right?
Heavenly Father, she wouldn't push poor old Leonard out to be hanged because of the dilapidation here?
"I think it's not bad. There is nothing, and it is convenient for us to tear down and rebuild. For example, this inner castle, I plan to tear down and rebuild it into the lord's hall."

Lothar was in high spirits.

The guard bit the bullet and said: "My lord, if you stay here for a while, you will realize that there is no need for major construction projects here. A year's tax revenue from Jogris may not be enough for you to renovate a lord's hall."

The lord's hall is actually the inner castle in the city or castle where the lord, his family and servants live. Although it is called a "hall" in name, it has at least three floors.

Lothar ignored him, but looked at the "giant" Marles beside him and asked:

"Marles, what do you think of the blacksmith shop here?"

Marles was silent for a moment, and replied: "Barely usable, but the efficiency is very low. I need time and materials to improve the tools and the forge."

"No problem, I will give you a budget of two hundred Suledes gold coins of the best quality, please build me a pair of solid and durable armor as soon as possible."

Mallos nodded and said, "No problem, I promise to satisfy you."

"Soldiers, since Fort Yogryus has been owned by me, from now on, your personal dependence has been transferred from the royal family to my hands."

"Now, in the name of the Father, swear allegiance to me!"

Lothar raised the armed sword in his hand.

The guard officer and thirty soldiers knelt down on the ground after a little hesitation, swearing an oath to Lothar noisily.

After His Majesty the King entrusted this territory to Lothar, the above land, population, servants, including debts and bond relationships, will also be transferred to Lothar's name.

"Hans, kneel down too!"

Hans froze for a moment, then knelt down on one knee without hesitation.

"Guardian, tell me, what is the name of the village to the west?"

The guard knelt on the ground and said without thinking, "It's Sego."

"Then Hans, my loyal servant, to reward you for your bravery and skill in fighting, I will give you Sego as your fief and promote you as a knight!"

"Thank you sir!"

Hans was a little happy that he had finally become an official knight, but at the same time he was a little confused.

He didn't understand why Lothar gave him a fief, but when he saw the almost shining eyes of Ryan and Model, he seemed to understand.

"Get up."

"I, Lothar of the Habsburg family, swear in the name of my heavenly father—as long as I make enough credit, I will promote anyone to a knight regardless of their origin!"

His eyes swept over the faces of these eighty people.

On their faces, Lothar saw longing and anticipation.

And that's exactly what he wanted.

"Model, starting from today, you will re-train the [-] new sergeants. Ryan, you will be in charge of the daily drills of the [-] veterans."

"Hans, you will be the commander of the Yogrysburg cavalry. In the next period of time, you can select those who are good at riding or have outstanding talents to become cavalry. There are only ten people."

Model, Ryan, all took the lead, they are full of energy now, and they can't wait to let Lothar see their efforts immediately.

Hans had a headache. If he wanted to tell who had cavalry talent, it was not so easy. He could only look at his past experience.

"Guardian, tell me your name!"

The guard laughed and said, "My lord, you can call me Leonard."

"You are in charge of purchasing war horses and pack horses during this time. I need ten high-quality Arabian horses. The price doesn't matter—but it is related to my approval of you."

Leonard quickly patted his chest and promised: "I promise, my lord, I will definitely buy a good quality horse at a good price!"

"Okay, let's do what you should do. Today's training is suspended, and you can go and clean up your residence."

Eighty armored sergeants have more than enough defense, but not enough offense, and it is difficult to even maintain the most basic law and order.

After all, this era is the era of cavalry.

In a wilderness area like the Holy Land, if you encounter desert robbers, you can't expect the infantry to use two legs to run past those light cavalry who come and go like the wind.

But training a cavalry takes too much time and effort.

Training cavalry from scratch like now is the most time-consuming and labor-intensive approach.

And recruiting knights is limited by the size of the territory... Without fiefs, why gather a large number of knights to serve him?

From Leonard's mouth, Lothar learned that there are only 6 villages in Jogrisburg, with an average population of about 200 people, and they were born along the Jordan River.

Added up, the population under his rule has thousands of people.

But these are poor people who are struggling to live below the food and clothing line.

According to the mobilization of one out of ten draws, he can pull up hundreds of conscripts—even in Western Europe, where there are small nobles everywhere, this strength is really weak and pitiful.

If all the villages were enfeoffed as fiefs, he could summon six knights in full armor.

But if you rely on tax collection and train your own cavalry, a village's annual tax revenue can't afford a full set of armor for a cavalry.

This is the reason why the feudal fiefdom system prevailed in the world.

Ayub and the Eastern Empire were able to support a standing large cavalry army because their territory was vast enough and they were located at commercial nodes, so they could obtain a large amount of commercial taxes.

As a Chinese, the desire to farm is engraved in instinct.

But Lothar had to admit that Fort Yogryus was not suitable for farming at all, and it was far from meeting the necessary conditions to become a land of dragon prosperity.

No wonder Baldwin IV told himself not to put too much energy on the territory.

Fortunately, Lothar is a cheater.

The system has been activated. Next, he can get a chance to draw a card once a week. If he draws all the subordinates, there will be more than 50 subordinates in a year.

This is his best team, and they can all be used as officers.

Moreover, he can usually complete various milestones to speed up this process. In a few years, he will have a decisive force.

At that time, whether it is going south to attack Egypt or going north to attack Asia Minor will be a way out.

(End of this chapter)