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

The vast Gobi desert, the vast wilderness.

A team of more than ten winged cavalry and Varangian guards was marching slowly.

They are all recruits who have recently been transferred from Fort Yogurt and need to serve in Port Ella.

A bearded hussar took out a handful of dates from his saddle bag, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it, and said vaguely: There will be a fierce battle soon, and the Saracens can't do it. If we sit back and watch Port Ella being recaptured by us, they will definitely counterattack us.

What, are you scared?

How is that possible! We are winged cavalry, victorious winged cavalry.

The Varangian Guards, who was leading the pack horse, had a look of contempt on their faces: Oh, it's like no one is invincible in every battle. Moreover, all of our Ax Guards have been incorporated into the Earl's Praetorian Guard. You have This honor?

There was pride on their faces.

Those are the Imperial Guards, which means that the count's most trusted people are always these axe-wielding soldiers!

The bearded man retorted: Oh, how can it mean anything? At best, you are just my lord's walking guards. If we really want to fight, will you use your legs to follow my lord and charge?

The Varangian Guards were about to say something.

what sound?

Ahead, there were roars.

A hussar exploring the road stood on the high ground and looked into the distance. A pillar of burning flames streaked across the surface of the earth like a plow.

He opened his mouth slightly.

Father, what is that?

…

Lothar coughed slightly, and two lines of black smoke with a faint sulfur smell spurted out of his nasal cavity.

He is testing his newly acquired Dragon's Breath ability.

The dragon's breath plowed out a semicircular wall of fire on the ground. The air became distorted under the scorching heat, and the mount not far away paced back and forth restlessly.

If it were an ordinary pack horse, it would probably have been frightened and dispersed by now.

The flame without fuel quickly extinguished.

Lothar came closer and found that the gravel on the ground had crystallized to a certain extent due to the high temperature.

It can be seen that the temperature of this dragon's breath is very high.

Hans, I heard you tell me that the fusion monster only needs to pause for a while before it can breathe out the dragon's breath again?

Witnessing the power of the dragon's breath at close range, Hans was a little frightened: Yes, sir, if it weren't for Kurs, I would have been burned to ashes.

Lothar rubbed his somewhat red and swollen mouth, and after breathing out the dragon's breath only once, he felt that he was reaching his limit.

Dragon's Breath not only gave him the ability to breathe out dragon's breath, but also seemed to have transformed his body, making him more able to withstand high temperatures. At the very least, he would not suffer the ridiculous death of being burned to death by himself.

Jeanne speculated: Most likely it's because of the giant material on the fusion monster. The troll material gives it strong vitality, and the giant gives it almost no exhaustion of physical strength - a perfect match.

She paused slightly and teased: My lord is going to go further and further down the path of the little dragon people. When you can transform into a giant dragon, you must ride for me.

You want to be a dragon knight, and I still want to be one.

Lothar was too lazy to talk to her and asked Prajna: What do you think of the power?

It's okay, but it doesn't have enough penetrating power, and it doesn't have the characteristics of the Holy Lance to lock onto enemies and cause higher damage to dark creatures.

Prajna paused slightly and then said: The advantage is that the attack range is relatively wide. If the two armies are fighting, if the ground is plowed, the ground will be full of innocent souls.

Lothar sighed softly: In Eastern dialect, is this called harming Tianhe?

Um.

While chewing the chocolate bar, Fringilla's lips bulged: Hey, sir, you won't leave such a sharp tool without using it, will you?

of course not.

Lothar looked like a fool and touched her head: Either the enemy dies or my soldiers die - I will definitely choose them to die.

…

grown ups!

In the distance, the sound of horse hooves was getting closer and closer, and the hussars were running towards the group of people at high speed.

They shouted excitedly: Sir, I didn't expect to see you here.

The noise just now is that you and your advisory team are testing new spells?

Please allow us to escort you back.

Lothar looked at the young faces, most of them were acquaintances, some were soldiers who had made meritorious deeds, and some were the defenders of Fort Jorge.

It's a pleasure to meet you, my most loyal hussars, and I will be happy to return to Port Ella under your escort.

A wing cavalry reminded: Sir, there are your infantry guards behind us.

As a result, the number of people in the group increased several times.

Jeanne activated Grape, ran to the front of the team, followed Lothar and said, Sir, everyone supports you.

Lothar shook his head and said: This is not my credit.

The loyalty of soldiers transferred through the system is constant and has nothing to do with him.

Don't belittle yourself, sir. Loyalty does not mean support. I can feel that they love you from the bottom of their hearts.

Jeanne reached out her hand quickly and patted Lothar on the shoulder: No matter what era you are in, you can be considered a wise ruler.

Lothar couldn't help but smile and said: Jean, you can also say compliments, but I am indeed standing on the shoulders of giants, and I am stronger than some feudal monarchs.

Others dare not say it, but he feels that he is always much better than the Huiqin Second Sect, which is likely to have died at this time.

Lothar looked back at the hussars and Varangian Guards who were following behind them with their heads held high: They love me, and I love them too. I always believe that they are my greatest wealth. Even if I lose all my territory, I still have With them here, I still have a chance to make a comeback.

Jeanne raised an eyebrow: It's just them?

Lothar said helplessly: Of course, you are more important.

For a ruler, loyalty is of course crucial.

Ghulam turned against his master and destroyed the Samanid dynasty (probably in northern Persia), the overlord of Central Asia who had suppressed Sasanian Persia.

The Imperial Guards of the Empire even developed the so-called Succession Law of the Praetorian Guards, in which the Imperial Guards controlled the emperor's succession and even dethroned the monarch at will.

A large part of the reason why the Varangian Guards chose the Rus and Normans from Northern Europe was to prevent the original Guards from colluding with internal officials to cause chaos.

People's hearts are unpredictable, and so-called loyalty is often difficult to withstand the test.

Therefore, the Hussars, the Varangian Guards, as well as the remaining veterans and the Knights of the Order, such an army can be loyal to the monarch without reservation.

Lothar believed that any monarch in the world would be salivating.

Because this not only means that they are loyal to Lothar without reservation, but Lothar also knows their loyalty and can trust them without reservation.

The first time back to Port Ella.

Model, who stayed here, went to Lothar and said, Sir, there is an Armenian mountain people leader in Cilicia who hopes to be hired by you. He has one hundred light cavalry and three hundred unarmored light infantry. , I think it’s a great addition to our military.”

Isn't Silesia a vassal of Bohemia and Poland?

Lothar felt a little baffled as to what it had to do with the Armenian mountain people.

My lord, it is Cilicia.

Model emphasized his tone.

Lothar couldn't help but be surprised.

Cilicia is a region north of Cyprus and Antioch, on the coast of Asia Minor, and once belonged to the Eastern Empire.

It is now under the control of Armenians and Turks.

In this era, there are too many places that have very similar pronunciations, or even simply have the same name.

For example, there is a Tripoli in the Holy Land, and there is also a Tripoli in North Africa.

Lothar can build a Lothar Fort in the future, and the rest of the continent called Lothar can also build a Lothar Fort.

What's worse is that the same place name has different names in different languages. The Franks call Dahab Firhorn.

The Turks will call Constantinople Constantinople or Istanbul in the future.

Is this Armenian leader the leader of their group of mercenaries? How much commission do they need?

Model said: Five hundred Sulades gold coins, if you can provide food and accommodation, they will serve you for a month.

No, it's too expensive. Tell their leader that as a light infantry with a low loss rate, their asking price is too high. Coors, this kind of thing should be what you are best at, so I'll leave it to you.

Lothar was a little worried and said: Don't lower the price too low, I'm afraid they won't be able to work hard by then.

Coors bowed politely and said: Leave this matter to me, please don't worry.

In the afternoon.

In the port.

On the training ship that has undergone overhaul, the sailors are busy manning the sails, cleaning the deck, and practicing gang fighting under the command of the captain.

Lothar's first merchant fleet has been formed with the support of Muller.

To be precise, it was Mueller's original fleet that was annexed by Lothar.

They will follow Muller's original trade route, starting from the Port of Ella, going to Gojam of the Abyssinians, and then passing through the Gulf of Aden to Gujrat in India.

Along the way, goods such as wine, gold, ivory, slaves, precious metals, fabrics, and porcelain were traded.

It can be called a medieval triangular route and extremely profitable.

The sailors on the training ships are specially used to deal with pirates.

Captain Hogg and his ghost ship need to cruise around the Gulf of Aden to eliminate pirates.

It is impossible to undertake the escort mission. On the contrary, if Captain Hogg is a gangster and robs a pirate ship that has just been robbed, it will be equivalent to a cycle of triangular trade.

Muller said with some emotion: Sir, you don't know how wealthy the Abyssinians are. Their royal tent is moving to Gojam. It is said that there are 50,000 donkeys pulling carts for them, and the accompanying craftsmen are , officials, clergy, royal guards, lions, countless.”

Lothar smiled and said: This is such a grand occasion.

Baldwin IV and Saladin of Ayyubid were both relatively frugal monarchs, and the pomp they traveled with was grand enough in Lothar's opinion.

The result was nothing like the king of Abyssinia.

Sir, the Abyssinians do not have a capital. They only move their royal tents every ten years or more. Such a grand occasion is rarely seen.

Mueller paused slightly and said, Sir, I take the liberty of making a request to you.

The Eastern trade belongs to the Saracens. There are fleets flying the Holy Fire flag everywhere here, so I'm afraid I can't fly your double-headed eagle flag.

It doesn't matter, none of this is important.

Lothar understood.

The only port the Crusaders had in the east was the Port of Ella in his hands. The ocean here was extremely unfamiliar to Christians except Coptic Christians.

Land trade routes were better. It is said that Venetian and Genoese caravans often visited Ctesiphon in Sasanian Persia.

Thinking of this, Lothar couldn't help but recall the Song caravan he saw when he first arrived in the Holy Land. It was said that they had already gone to Constantinople.

Muller, have you heard of the Song people?

Of course, in the past few years, there were people from the Song Dynasty who took a special kind of ship and crossed the sea of ​​storms to the shore at Port Ella. Unfortunately, since then, no people from the Song Dynasty have come by boat. They would rather choose to leave. Overland.”

Lothar looked at the calm sea in the distance: Storms, pirates, and sea beasts are all obstacles to ocean trade.

Even Captain Hogg, a weird at sea, said that he had encountered several smells in the sea that he did not dare to provoke. The sea in this world is more dangerous than the land.

Mueller, the world is very big, bigger than you think. Do you know that there are two continents in the westernmost part of Europe?