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

“May Heavenly Father forgive their sins in this life, wash away their shame, and ascend to heaven.”

Lothar crossed himself.

He is not a cold person, and he can be merciless when dealing with armed enemies, because showing mercy to the enemy means being irresponsible for the lives of himself and his subordinates.

He could also sentence the robbers who massacred the weak and robbed civilians to death without blinking an eye.

But in all fairness, these people have not committed such unforgivable sins.

When Lothar was a social worker in her previous life, she could not guarantee that she would fish during working hours.

But harsh punishments have been the key to controlling the army since ancient times.

If Lothar had no one in his hands, no soldiers, and no unconditional trust from Baldwin IV, and he dared to do this, he might end up betraying his relatives.

Because these executed knights and attendants all have their own robes and brothers in the knights.

They would hate him for this, and even look for opportunities to assassinate him, uniting their caliber and pushing this matter to the revenge of the Assassin assassins.

But he had his own soldiers. Unless everyone in the Royal Knights united and openly rebelled, there would be nothing he could do to Lothar.

After severe punishment, there must be gentleness.

After all, knights are a quasi-aristocratic class, equivalent to the officer class of an army. They cannot just suppress them, but must pay attention to a combination of kindness and power.

This is much more effective than simply applying pressure or showing favor like Count Philip.

Just a small favor will never make an army appreciate your kindness and be as loyal to you as the fingers of an arm.

Even in the previous life, if the goddess who had a straight face all day suddenly smiled at you, it would be far more flattering than when she usually greeted you with a smile.

Lothar's combination of kindness and power is actually very simple, just giving out money.

No matter how noble your morals are, you must bow your head for money.

A steady stream of knights coming across the sea from the west, isn't their real pursuit of money and fiefdom?

Lothar watched the execution end and turned around to leave.

Earl Philip squeezed through the crowd and gritted his teeth: Baron Lothar, they never expected that someone would attack the crown prince, but you took their lives!

Lothar looked at him condescendingly and said coldly:

Count Philip, you have been acquitted, but you must know that this is a compromise without a trial by the Grand Council and an unfair procedure. I have the right to take you back at any time.

Earl Philip smiled miserably: Oh, even after trial, my result will not be worse than this.

Yeah?

Lothar chuckled and said, Sir Philip, how many people do you have now?

How much use do you still have for the princes or queens who have wooed you? Is this really enough for them to use their influence to save your official title and life?

Philip was stunned for a moment. Nobles were all real people, and he didn't have many brothers-in-law in the Holy Land. How could he speak for him without interests?

Lothar said in a respectful tone: My lord, do you know where you went wrong?

Philip looked stunned.

The Royal Knights only allow the royal party to exist.

Looking at Lothar's back, Earl Philip looked dejected. He said to his servant: Let's go back to the fiefdom of Saxony.

Sir, are we going back like this? We can't bring anything back. The money His Majesty the King gave you has long been squandered.

Yes, just go back penniless and full of humiliation!

He gritted his teeth and said: But sooner or later, I will come back as the uncle of the Duke of Saxony. The Welf family will be like Godfrey of Bouillon and Bohemond of Taranto. Let’s rebuild a new unbreakable country!”

He waved his riding crop and shouted: Drive!

He had to admit that he had just had an evil thought in his mind, that is, Jerusalem was lost in the hands of this group of people, and that he and his nephew, known as the Lion, would take back the city and become the whole of Christ. The savior of the world!

In the main hall of the court meeting.

Count Leonard's penetrating voice echoed in the hall: This is a despicable murder, damn the Saracens, they finally took off their disguise and revealed their ugly true face!

The former Archduke of Antioch, who had an unforgettable relationship with the pagans, clenched his fists: War, we need a war. The weak Greeks have made peace with Saladin, and the kings of the West are still fighting for power in the Apennines. There is no People will come to help us, and no one is a truly reliable reinforcement!”

For the honor of the knights and the will of God, we must take the initiative to go to war with the Saracens. Our army will be like a sacred spear, piercing the heart of the enemy!

Count Leonard's impassioned speech aroused roars of applause.

Saracens are also a general term for Zoroastrians, regardless of Persians, Kurds, and Egyptians.

Just like Franks, it is also a collective name for a series of Western European ethnic groups such as Gauls, Germans, and Angles.

Promoting the evil of pagans and the honor and courage of knights is a politically correct sentence in this era.

Although Lothar felt that no one should walk out of the fortress carefully built by the Crusaders in this scorching sun to fight against the infidel army.

But that doesn't stop them from saying so.

And regarded all those who dared to propose to defend the castle and allow Saladin's army to plunder the villages as cowards and traitors who colluded with the heretics.

This also caused Lothar to swallow back the strong walls and clear fields that Lothar originally wanted to propose.

If you think about it, you will know that it is impossible for these stupid and short-sighted nobles to have the courage to make such a choice.

As a result, Lothar became a clay and wood sculpture in this Grand Council.

He just calculated that Savoddin would lead the army south, which seemed to be beneficial to King Saleh and Abdullah to cause trouble in the north.

At this time, someone rushed into the hall and shouted loudly: Lord Tiberius, the governor of Syria Savoddin, with tens of thousands of troops, has defeated Akkas and Rog Fort, and is heading towards Tripoli. Push forward.”

Earl Raymond's expression changed slightly.

The whole hall was even more noisy.

The northern part of the Kingdom of Jerusalem is almost all the territory of Count Raymond and his vassals.

Without the position of regent, he is still the king of the county of Tripoli, but if he loses the territory of Tripoli, he may not still be the regent.

Not everyone can be as lucky as Count Leonard, who lost his title as Grand Duke of Antioch and still became the Count of Transjordan through marriage.

Many of the Queen Mother's party secretly expected that the Earl of Tripoli would lead his followers north to fight against the enemy's invasion.

Then Jerusalem would be theirs alone.

It was just a feint.

The Saracens' navy is no match for the Knights and the Tripoli fleet. Even if they besiege Tripoli, they will not be able to break through this strong city in a short time.

Regent Raymond's tone was very calm: Saladin's real goal is always Jerusalem. They want to take the Holy Land as their own. There are only two ways to go.

“Egypt and Transjordan, not south.”

In the former case, the first one to bear the brunt is the territory of Baron Godfrey; in the latter, the first one to bear the brunt is the territory of Earl Leonard.

The climate of the Holy Land determines how long an army can spend on an expedition.

If Saladin wanted to attack from the north, there were too many strongholds that needed to be pulled out, which was obviously unreasonable.

Despite this, Lothar still lamented that Count Raymond was by no means a mediocre person. He could still remain calm when his foundation for life was attacked. This was not something ordinary people could do.

Count Leonard shouted: Then we should take advantage of this opportunity to eat up the main force of this enemy. In the north, it is very close to the Acre City of the Knights Hospitaller and the Knights' Castle of the Knights Templar. , we can quickly assemble an elite force composed of 500 heavy cavalry, which will definitely make this group of heathens unable to come back.

Yes, let's start a war!

People chanted.

Even the Jazz Party under Raymond's command, many people think that they should go to war.

Especially the lords of Arcas and Roggeburg clamored to take back their fiefdoms immediately.

Earl Raymond was silent for a moment, and he said: I have to ask for your Majesty's opinion. If he agrees to let us go north to meet the enemy, then we will send troops to attack.