People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Time passed slowly between the undercurrents.

Every day, crusaders returned to Damietta with loads of booty.

The merchants who followed the army were crazy with joy. A large amount of oriental silk fabrics, luxury furniture, spices, porcelain, glassware, and even mummies unearthed from grave excavations were transported to the city and sold to merchants.

Many Crusaders were eager to cash in, so the prices were kept very low. The merchants naturally made a lot of money. As long as they were shipped back to Europe, no, even just shipped back to Jerusalem, they could make a lot of money.

Realizing this, Lothar immediately erected a sign in the military camp saying "Purchasing Trophies". In fact, he exchanged the trophies sold by the soldiers for gold coins with his face printed on them, and then took part of them as losses, leaving the rest , and then return it to the other party.

This was simply a no-cost transaction, which gave Lothar a huge boost of blood in his already shriveled wallet.

The Crusaders also felt benefited, because the purchase price given by Lothar was often more fair than that of the merchants who accompanied the army, and the gold coins given were of high quality and quite fair. Therefore, the soldiers who lined up to sell the trophies were busy from morning to night. It’s an endless stream.

But they would never know that right in the back of the military camp, the respected Duke Lothar was personally handling the small matter of reselling the trophies.

Outside the camp, some Crusaders vividly described how they dealt with monsters like mummies that had resurrected from the dead, bragging about their bravery. Some business-minded ones also took out the cross amulets they were wearing, claiming that it had powerful powers. The exorcism holy power can be obtained with only ten gold coins.

Lothar felt very mysterious after hearing this, and these mummies were really valuable in the trophy shop. Each one could be worth thousands of gold coins, so he specially called a group of followers to study it carefully and see. Is there really a magic of resurrection from the dead?

After all, the gods of ancient Egypt existed, and it is not unusual for the mummies of the pharaohs to see the light of day again.

But in the end, nothing special was discovered, it was just a mummy that had been embalmed using a special secret medicine.

It is worth mentioning that at this time, mummy was already used as a widely used medicinal material, but the word "mummy" still refers to "asphalt". This kind of "bitumen" was produced in the territory of Renard of Chatillon. Drugs", earning him a lot of money every year.

As for how the custom of eating real mummies became popular in Europe later, and regarded them as a miracle cure for all diseases, Lothar did not know.

After being busy until evening, Lothar hurriedly returned to his mansion. After washing himself, he put on Holy Cross plate armor and appeared in the hall.

There, there were already several nobles waiting to swear allegiance to him.

During this period, Crusader nobles came to his manor every day and swore allegiance to him.

Almost all the crusaders from Germany chose to join Lothar.

Their strength is relatively weak, their weapons and equipment, and the eliteness of their soldiers are inferior to those of the richer and more developed Gallic nobles. They need the support of Lothar as their protector, otherwise they may not even be able to keep the territory they have conquered.

On the contrary, the powerful Gallic nobles became restless after learning that Richard the Lion-Hearted had arrived in the Holy Land.

They may not be willing to take refuge with Richard. Although many Gallic nobles regard Richard as the second king of Gaul, the vast majority still only recognize Philip II as the only monarch, and some Gallic nobles, Just don't recognize anyone.

After all, in this era, there was not much difference between the monarch and his vassals. In the eyes of many people, the King of Gaul was nothing more than the owner of the island of Gaul.

But they thought that with Richard's support, they would have a bargaining chip between the two of them and bargain with Lothar.

You, Lothar, can sit on the throne of the Duke of Egypt, but I, so-and-so, cannot sit on the throne of the Duke of Egypt?

Perhaps after Egypt is conquered, everyone can compete for the position of king.

In addition, of course, there are a small number of Gallic nobles such as Baron Godfrey who choose to be closely related to Lothar. In their view, although Lothar is a German noble, he is also a native Jerusalem noble. Representatives, the interests of both parties have long been involved, or they are simply overwhelmed by Lothar's long-term invincible record.

Not everyone takes profit as the criterion. There are also many people who decisively joined his army because of Lothar's charisma.

Just like the Baron Rudolf from Aquitaine in front of him.

"Stand up, Baron Rudolf, I accept your allegiance. From today on, you can join the Order Knight Company or the Armored Cavalry Company to fight for me."

Lothar helped the knight in front of him: "As your monarch, I will guarantee your life, property and honor. Under the witness of Heavenly Father, I swear on the honor of the Habsburg family."

Baron Rudolf didn't know why, but his eyes filled with tears of gratitude.

He raised the cross he wore on his chest and said loudly: "Sir, my sword will serve you from now on. I won't ask why. No matter where your sword points, my soldiers and I will rush to the battlefield immediately. .”

"Okay." Lothar smiled happily.

Although it was only a private allegiance, there was no witness from the clergy.

But they have formed an unbreakable bond, not only the legal constraints of this era, but also the almost instinctive obedience of all system soldiers to Lothar. Everyone who swears allegiance to him will become Lothar who can completely A trusted minister.

You don't have to be like the vast majority of princes in this era, who must treat their vassals with caution, and beware of overt and covert attacks from all sides. A careless move may even cause your vassals to turn to support you, who also has the right to inherit. Brothers, start a title succession war.

By evening, Lothar was getting ready to sleep.

Inside the empty mansion.

The vampire wearing an exquisite dress knocked on his door again.

"Sir, there is a messenger who wants to see you."

"Whose messenger?"

Lothar opened the door, filled with doubts.

Ordinary envoys who want to see him should not choose this kind of time.

If you visit late at night, you definitely don’t want others to know about it.

Coors' deep voice sounded: "He is a Saracen."

Lothar frowned.

"Take me to him."

Come to the hall.

The envoy had been waiting respectfully for a long time. When he saw Lothar, he said bluntly: "My lord, the Duke, I would like to meet you."

"Who is your adult?"

The messenger said in a respectful tone: "According to what you Franks call me, my lord is Adil, the governor of Egypt appointed by His Majesty Saladin."

Lothar's reputation is already well-known in the Saracen world.

He didn't dare take any offense.

Lothar frowned and said, "What's there to talk about?"

The envoy said sternly: "Your Excellency, my lord, I heard that a monarch from Europe has arrived in the Holy Land. Aren't you worried that your position will be insecure and that he will snatch away the fruits of victory that you are about to get?"

"No, how could it be? This is good news for any Christian. It won't be long before tens of thousands of elite crusaders from Albion will arrive in the Holy Land. If your family is smart enough, the best thing to do now is The best thing is to get on the ship and run to Syria with your own army to join Saladin."

The messenger reminded him very quickly: "Your Majesty, please listen to me. My lord - to be precise, King Saladin, hopes that you will rule the Franks in the East, and he will help you to control the Franks in the East." The nickname King is well-deserved.”

Lothar couldn't help but mocked: "Saladin wants to support me as the king of the Eastern Franks? What joke is he kidding?"

The envoy said sincerely: "Your Majesty the Duke, you should also know that after my king's two consecutive defeats, his reputation is no longer what it used to be. Lords from all over the country have had second thoughts about my king. These people can be left to the disposal of your Majesty the Duke."

Lothar was slightly startled.

He couldn't help but sneered: "Similarly, I can also report those Crusader lords who don't listen to my orders and defy my orders and leave them to you for disposal?"

The envoy said seriously: "Yes, this is a win-win cooperation. At that time, the Duke will be the king of the Franks in the East, and my king will be the lord of the Saracens in the East. If the two sides do not invade each other and form a secret alliance, we can The war has been completely eliminated.”