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

Godfrey stood in the crowd, looking at Lothar, who was dressed in gorgeous armor, and even the horse's horse clothes were made of expensive silk fabrics. He was filled with emotion: If he wears a golden crown, no one will believe that he is not a king.

Balian's face was full of curiosity: Father, is the Marquis really the Holy Son?

He does not doubt that Lothar is a saint who has received God's grace and favor. After all, in his opinion, Lothar's deeds cannot be replicated by ordinary people. But as for what has been circulated in the past two days, Lothar is the Son of God. The rumors are still a bit unbelievable.

After all, Lothar seemed quite approachable to him.

maybe.

Baron Godfrey's expression was a little complicated. He murmured in a low voice: If this is the case, Lothar may not be Werner's child at all.

What did you say?

Berrian didn't hear clearly and asked.

Baron Godfrey did not repeat it, but said thoughtfully:

I was fortunate enough to meet Ms. Elise at a banquet in Provence. She is a very beautiful woman. She attracted the attention of all the men present when she first appeared. Speaking of which, Lothar did not inherit Werner's bad appearance at all. , such as his pair of cross-eyes. If Lothar is really the Son of God, this would make sense.

Because the Virgin Mary was a virgin mother, although she gave birth to Jesus, she remained a virgin until her death. Although the Bible does not explicitly record this, it was generally believed so by both Catholics and Orthodox Christians in this era.

Ms. Elise? Are you talking about Marquis Lothar's mother?

Bellian was a little curious, but didn't ask any more questions.

As the winged cavalry led by Lothar entered the king's tent with him, a group of nobles came forward to salute and greet each other. Many nobles had complicated expressions. For a while, they couldn't accept Lothar's presence in such a short period of time. In a short period of time, he rose from a landless poor knight to the most prominent nobleman in the kingdom, and was even about to be deified.

But there are also Lothar's loyal fans, shouting his name with enthusiasm and feeling extremely honored to kiss the ring on Lothar's finger.

Even Baldwin IV, wearing a sword inlaid with pearls and jade, came outside the tent to greet Lothar.

His Majesty.

Lothar took the lead to step forward, holding the helmet with red feathers in his arms, kneeling on one knee, and held the finger of Baldwin IV.

The little king subconsciously wanted to break away, and the two looked at each other for a moment. In Lothar's eyes, he saw persistence, and he had no choice but to smile helplessly and let Lothar finish the ceremony.

Although it was no longer obvious that he had been a leper, Baldwin IV knew that he only looked normal, and the disease was still like a vicious curse, rooted in his body and even his blood.

Lothar's actions made the onlookers generally heave a sigh of relief.

This means that Lothar has no intention of using the power of victory to proclaim himself the Holy Son in order to gain authority over the king.

If that happens, the situation in the entire kingdom will be reshuffled. For the nobles of the Duke Party and the Queen Mother Party, there will be both risks and opportunities, but the risks will undoubtedly be greater.

Sir Lothar, I have to thank you for bringing me victory again.

This is my duty.

Lothar smiled modestly and said: Winning this battle is all thanks to the blessing of Heavenly Father and your Majesty's wisdom.

Baldwin IV's eyes were still gentle, but there was still a hint of distress on his face: Sir Lothar is too humble. Everyone knows why we can win this battle. Tell me, you What reward do you want?

Lothar felt that Baldwin IV should be quite worried about this matter.

Most of the territory in the kingdom is owned by the owner, and there is no excess territory to be entrusted to him.

Even if there are several good fiefdoms, it is difficult to reward him for his merits.

In the Eastern Dynasty, it is impossible for the relationship between the two to be as harmonious as it is now. Even if Lothar does not plan to rebel, he must be careful to shock the master with his outstanding achievements and become invincible.

Your Majesty, please let me think about it again.

To the surprise of many people, Lothar did not say much, but sat calmly opposite Duke Raymond.

After last night's brief carnival, many questions have been put before the Crusaders again.

The biggest, and most critical issue at the moment, is the distribution of spoils.

On this issue, many nobles in the audience had fierce debates and disputes. After all, this was a defensive war, and the situation of the kingdom was there. Even Lothar, the biggest hero, did not have territory to divide. What they could get The benefits are nothing more than these trophies.

Lothar watched for a moment and suddenly said: Father, why are you arguing over some insignificant trophies? How can the Crusaders fighting for a great cause be like a group of people fighting for carrion? Vulture?”

The two people arguing in the field immediately looked ashamed, but someone still argued: The Marquis has a rich territory and a good way of making money. How can he know the sufferings of little people like us?

Yes, Lord Marquis, the three soldiers under my command can't even find a horse to ride on.

For a time, the tent became a meeting of complaints. Many nobles felt that they should get more of the spoils. Everyone argued hard and refused to give in.

The enemy retreated hastily, but the loot left behind was actually quite abundant. A set of fine scale armor and its lining could even be worth as much as one or even several manors.

In addition, war horses, pack animals, equipment, silk, gold and silver. Even a blanket or an ornament in the enemy's camp are all a huge profit.

For many poor nobles who were reduced to robbing villages, this profit was too important, and naturally they did not care about the appearance.

Within the kingdom, apart from Lothar, Duke Raymond and the two chiefs of the Knights, they did not have that much desire for loot, not even Baldwin IV.

Because the holy treasury has been depleted long ago. If the king has no money, what will he use to reward the heroes? What can be done to maintain the loyalty of close ministers? Once or twice is okay, but over time, the king becomes no different from a rubber stamp.

Everyone, please calm down and listen to me.

Lothar looked solemn. After he spoke, no one was arguing anymore. Some people looked expectant, while others were full of fear. In any case, Lothar's prestige in the Holy Land is unstoppable.

Not just prestige.

He has extraordinary strength, and even his fists are the biggest.

Everyone, do you think that the benefits of this battle are just these trophies left by the enemy?

He paused slightly and then said:

Let's set our sights on Egypt. This is Saladin's most important foundation and the breadbasket of the entire Mediterranean. We only need to occupy half of the Nile Delta to fully double the kingdom's power.

His eyes swept over everyone's faces and said seriously: There are countless Christians there waiting for our liberation. This is a new holy war to liberate our compatriots, regain our homeland, and restore the Alexandria diocese. To this day, we have extended It’s been too long.”

The Christians here refer to the Copts.

After the Arabs conquered Egypt, they called all the indigenous people here Copts, which is now used to refer to those in Egypt who still adhere to the Christian faith.

Many Copts who converted to Zoroastrianism were collectively classified by the Crusaders as Saracens. In fact, they all belonged to the same ethnic group. These people were also those whom Lothar believed he could win over.

They can convert to Zoroastrianism, and naturally they can convert to Christianity again, they are just outsiders.

The real enemies are the Saracens.

Otherwise, if it really fell into the ocean of people's war, Egypt, with a population ten times that of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, would be able to kill the Crusaders even if it were heaped with human lives.

Someone hesitated and said: But although Savoddin (Adil)'s army failed to capture Gaza City, it did not suffer much losses. The Saracens are still powerful in Egypt, and although we won this battle, we suffered no losses. It’s not small either, the most important thing is the consumption of food, grass and military pay.”

Duke Raymond suddenly said: Saladin is newly defeated. I also think this is a great opportunity for us to counterattack, but why do we have to attack Egypt? Instead of directly marching towards Syria, which is very close at hand?

Someone immediately responded: Yes, this is a great opportunity to regain Edessa and Antioch.

The speaker was Georgelin, Count of Edessa. His current territory is near Acre, a barren and small town. He has long been looking forward to taking back his territory so that his title can truly be restored.

Lothar shook his head and said: Aleppo and Damascus are the territories that Saladin values ​​most. Although he was defeated, his elite troops are still alive. We do not have a large number of siege engines, so it is difficult to achieve great results.

Although Egypt is obviously a more fertile land than Syria, and it is also the place where Saladin started his career, it may be because the local forces there are intertwined. The Fatimid dynasty, and even the aristocratic families left over from earlier, firmly control local power.

It is said that Assassin's assassination of Saladin was related to local forces in Egypt.

This caused Saladin to spend most of his time in his territory in Syria, leaving Egypt in charge of his trusted confidants.

As for the nonsense Lothar said, he was actually reminding Raymond that if you want to fight Syria, you can fight it yourself. Without his help, it is not certain whether you can fight it.

Someone wanted to refute the loopholes in Lothar's words, but was stopped by Duke Raymond. He sighed lightly and said: Since Marquis Lothar said so, I also think Egypt is a good target.

Lothar glanced at Duke Raymond with a smile.

Now it's up to him to decide where he wants to fight.

I will form a new cavalry company and welcome every soldier who is interested in liberating the Christian compatriots in Egypt to join. I guarantee that after taking the promised land, everyone will get more than what they paid.

Lothar paused slightly and said solemnly: I never treat meritorious ministers unfairly. I think each of you has heard this.

All the nobles also became excited.

They have seen how powerful Lothar and his spellcasters are.

If we don't fight this kind of battle that is sure of success and has huge benefits, then when will we wait?

…

The court meeting ended quickly.

The excited Crusade nobles all spread the news that Lothar was about to organize a new Crusade.

The entire camp was boiling like a pot of boiling water on the stove.

Many poor knights or sergeants who claimed to have excellent combat skills rushed to Lothar's military camp immediately, wanting to join Lothar's command.

Lothar and Baldwin IV stood side by side. Looking at this scene, Baldwin IV said helplessly: I originally wanted you to be the heir to the throne of Jerusalem. Now, I know what reward you want.

What?

He joked: Unfortunately, the most I can do is make you the Grand Duke of Cairo and the Grand Duchy of Cyrenaica. If you want to be crowned the King of Egypt, you have to have a good relationship with the church. If that doesn't work, the Coptic Church will also It’s not impossible.”

Just like the reason why Saladin suppressed the Shiite Zoroastrianism and supported the Sunni Zoroastrianism after he came to power, if the Pope did not give Lothar face, he could turn around and throw himself into the arms of the Coptic or even the Orthodox Church.

Lothar did not hide his ambition. He blinked and said with a smile: I can't even call it the Overseas Crusader Kingdom.

He and the little king returned to the camp and played a game of chess before leaving.

Hans followed him, wearing a purple-red Royal Knights jersey. He asked with a somewhat complicated expression: Sir, do you still think the Crusade was an unjust war?

The subtext is probably, if you think this is not justice, why do you want to launch a crusade?

Lothar was silent for a moment, nodded and said: In this era, there is no just war at all.

After the rise of the Arabs, they conquered Egypt, the Levant, and North Africa, which were originally part of the empire, and also defeated Iberia occupied by the Visigoths. However, neither the Goths, the Empire, nor the Arabs were local of Aboriginal people.

In this dark and ignorant era, where can we talk about justice?

He patted Hans on the shoulder: What you and I can do is to restrain our subordinates, not to cause massacres after the war, and to help ordinary people recover from the war as soon as possible. This is what we can do Practice the utmost justice.”

Hans nodded and said solemnly: I understand, sir.