In the Middle Ages, people drew cards to be promoted to nobility.

ps: The chapter number is wrong, this is Chapter 197.

Lothar carefully looked at the galley in front of him. It was a three-story galley warship. Although it was said to be medium-sized, when you looked up close, it was still scary.

It is about thirty meters long, uses a triangular sail, and can carry at least one hundred and fifty pirates including oarsmen.

On the second level, a row of thin holes was opened, and densely packed rows of oars protruded from it, which gave it great maneuverability even in headwinds.

Except for an eye-catching penetrating wound on the side of the ship, it can be said to be almost intact.

But this penetrating wound was already quite fatal.

He followed Hogg and stepped onto the boarding board.

The deck was covered with traces of cuts by swords and axes. Although it had been simply cleaned, Lothar could still smell a strong smell of blood.

Are you sure this ship belongs to a pirate?

Of course, I followed it underwater for a long time before taking action.

There was a look of asking for credit on Hogg's face: I can assure you that there was no mistake in their identities, and no witnesses saw us.

Lothar nodded slightly: Have all the pirates on the ship been eliminated?

Hogg said proudly: It's all solved. Those idiots thought they could escape by jumping into the sea. They were so naive. However, the captain of this ship was a ruthless character. When I got close, he cast a fire-attribute magic. , burned my whole body to ashes - luckily I was able to come back to life.”

Lothar pinched his eyebrows and looked at the ship, as if he could still think of those desperate cries.

Even if he encounters such a ghost ship on the sea, he will probably feel a sense of despair with no way to escape, right?

Come on, take me to see the treasures hidden by these pirates.

boom--

Hogg kicked open the captain's cabin.

He pointed to the nautical chart hanging on the wall and said to Lothar: Sir, I have read it. This chart records the locations of several ports on the other side of the Gulf of Aden.

In addition, there is also a treasure map. They should have hidden the loot that they have not yet taken away on an island. I will try to take it out after a while.

Lothar came to the back of the captain's chair and gently stroked the rough parchment of the chart with his fingers.

In Hogg's words, the opposite side of the Gulf of Aden refers to the Horn of Africa, which can also be translated as Northeast Africa.

Africa is a huge treasure house no less than that of the New World. Precious metals such as gold and silver, gemstones, luxury goods such as ivory... are all very strong hard currencies.

Pity.

Lothar has no power to develop it now.

First of all, due to insufficient navigation skills, countries such as Abyssinia in Northeast Africa near the Gulf of Aden are not considered indigenous forces. They occupy favorable terrain, have a long civilization, and have many Coptic Christian believers.

The difficulty of attacking them is not much easier than the normal expansion of territory, and it does not occupy a righteous position.

The idea that heretics are more hateful than heretics only became popular after the Thirty Years' War, the religious war that swept across Europe.

Therefore, if you want to carry out smoother colonial expansion, you can only sail further south and pinch those soft persimmons who are still in primitive tribes.

If they were simply trading with Africans, Transjordan lacked key products such as dates, wine, and grain. It would be difficult to make huge profits from these.

Lothar didn't want to get involved in the slave trade.

Coupled with mosquitoes, malaria and other plagues, it was enough for an expeditionary force that was not adapted to the climate there to lose more than half of its strength before it even encountered the enemy.

We must also consider the wizards in African tribes and the animal gods of primitive beliefs.

Therefore, let’s figure it out slowly.

Lothar rolled up the chart, glanced at some gold and silver utensils in the captain's room, touched them with his fingers, and sold them to the system mall.

Sir, come with me. There is also treasure from another sunken pirate ship in the cabin. The boys under my command have picked it up and put it into the cargo hold.

…

After some sweep.

Calculated, the gold coins Lothar finally received amounted to one thousand suludes, which was roughly equivalent to the cost of building the city of New Habsburg.

Of course, this is because the outer city wall, the most expensive part of the New Habsburg, has been built in advance.

In battles at sea, winners take all, and all they earn is huge profits - if Hogg had not killed all the pirates, but sold them into slavery, he would have made a lot of money.

Hogg, I will use half of the money to upgrade you. I hope you will continue to work hard.

Hogg was a little surprised, but he still pretended to decline: Sir, your money is tight now. Is it too much to give me half?

Oh, there's no need to be modest. You earned all this money. Giving you half of it is not very generous.

Lothar patted Hogg on the shoulder and had the idea: You are already a mature follower, and it's time to have the awareness to earn money to upgrade yourself.

Okay, Hogg, I'm very satisfied with your action this time, and I'll do it this way in the future.

Seeing that Hogg's momentum suddenly increased, the green flames on his body suddenly swelled for a moment, and then slowly subsided.

Five hundred Sulades gold coins directly pushed Captain Hogg to level 30, which was as fast as riding a rocket.

But once the limit of level 50 is crossed, the cost of upgrading will increase exponentially.

After becoming elite, the subordinate attributes will remain unchanged and the level will drop back to level one, and the upgrade cost will become normal.

Thank you, sir.

Hogg's face was filled with joy. He clenched his fists and then unclenched them. He could feel the power in his body surged countless times. As a follower of the lord's template, this could make his ship, the Ocean Disaster, and the crew on it All have been greatly improved.

Now if we try it again, the pirate captain will have no chance of sneak attack on him.

Lothar watched as Hogg stood on the side of the ship and jumped into the water with an elegant gesture.

Under the sea, a huge dark shadow slowly emerged, like a giant shark lurking under the water, and then floated away again.

Jeanna came to his side and said with some emotion: It's good if you can make money. How long ago did Hogg reach level 30 after he came under your command?

Lothar said angrily: If you can make money by yourself, all the profits you get will belong to you.

He had planned to help Jeanne build a brewing workshop before, but who knew that this woman only gave up the idea of ​​brewing distilled liquor after only three minutes of enthusiasm.

Instead, he drank tons of expensive wines in his wine cellar every day.

Jeanne rolled her eyes: I want you to make money, and you also want me to work hard. In our time, even the capitalists in the factory didn't dare to think like this.

That's because you have little knowledge.

Lothar recalled the news about paid work that she had heard in her previous life, and silently gave Captain Hogg a thumbs up.

After ordering the galley to be taken to the shipyard for cleaning and repair, Lothar prepared to return to the mansion.

The Ella Port Coast Defense Fleet he is planning to form is not yet in sight, but the first ship is already there.

Hans, today, has begun to lead the Varangian Guards outside the city to preside over the division of fields.

But it is different from Hebron’s drastic and radical methods.

Port Ella's efforts were much smaller. Most of the land was divided between Lothar and Zain and his die-hard followers, which was equivalent to paying for it out of his own pocket.

Because of Zain's perverse behavior in Port Ella.

The port here seemed a bit shabby. The porters waiting for work at the dock squatted aside with sad faces, looking at Lothar's team with fear and vigilance.

The patrolling hussars patrolled back and forth in the port in neat lines.

On the review ground, the peasants and soldiers were conducting intensive training under the leadership of the order knights. They were completely out of work during this period and had been receiving military training.

Because the stall under Lothar's hand is a bit too big.

Many peasants and soldiers whose fields had just been transferred to Alandre had to go to Ella Port to garrison before they even had time to take a look at their new fields.

Pepin, who was temporarily appointed as the Sheriff of Port Ella, proposed: Sir, should we completely transform these peasant soldiers into a detached standing army?

Lothar looked at the empty port without even a merchant ship and sighed.

Although he had newly received five hundred gold coins from Hogg, he still had a lot of gold coins earned from Gwent and the Plate Armor Workshop in his small vault.

But the cost is also very high.

He shook his head: If Port Ella cannot regain its former vitality, maintaining a new standing army of farmers and soldiers will be a completely loss-making business.