Chapter 145 Lothar’s Will

After the war.

Jerusalem regains its former prosperity

On the streets, there were crusaders wearing cross robes everywhere. They turned in their weapons in groups and wandered around the city all day long.

They were all Crusaders in the Northern Expedition.

But compared with the great momentum when he went there, the achievements achieved by Regent Raymond were really lackluster.

Although there was no effective annihilation battle, and they suffered several small defeats, they finally recovered all the land occupied by the enemy.

On the surface, it can also be claimed that this is a great victory.

After the regent Raymond returned to Jerusalem, the ownership of the Knights of Jerusalem also returned to his hands.

But after Baron Godfrey's hand, this knighthood will more or less bear his mark.

In addition, Lothar was named Count of Transjordan.

The royal party, which was originally weak, seemed to be able to keep pace with the Queen Mother's party when Renard of Chatillon settled in Chateau Carré.

In this era, the king and local vassals both struggled and cooperated.

The vassals needed a king who could eliminate conflicts among lords, command the army, and defeat the enemy when facing foreign enemies.

But no one wants a strong, iron-fisted king sitting above their head is the consensus.

This is also the reason why Baldwin IV still has not announced that he has basically recovered and returned to power.

In the main hall of the palace.

Raymond sat in a chair next to the king's throne.

Below, dozens of noble lords were present.

Raymond raised his hand and signaled everyone to be silent: "Today's topic is how to arrange the pilgrim army returning to Jerusalem."

After the words fell, Palace Minister Amalric immediately said: "How else can we arrange it? Just put the weapons and equipment back into the warehouse, send everyone away on the spot, and let them fend for themselves."

Someone immediately answered: "Yes, it is the duty of all Christians to protect the Holy Land. Do we still need to pay them a severance package?"

The pilgrims were recruited to join the army, using the wealth that Henry II, the father of King Richard the Lionheart, had deposited in the "Holy Treasury" to support the military expenses of the next Eastern expedition.

The money has apparently been spent long ago.

Maintaining such a large standing army was very unrealistic, and even Saladin couldn't do it.

Guy of Lusignan, the new baron of Mengisa, said: "I am short of manpower in my territory. I can accept a group of pilgrims as my subjects."

Several more lords expressed their willingness to accept pilgrims as their people.

Godfrey said: "Although he has concluded a peace treaty with Saladin this time, he will not give up on regaining Jerusalem. Looking around, there are pagan territories everywhere. We are outnumbered and we are isolated and helpless. Could it be that Hasn't this war made you realize the fact that the enemy is strong and we are weak?"

There was total silence in the hall.

Raymond coughed slightly and continued: "In this war, we discovered many brave warriors, and they should not die in the fields. Your Majesty, I, and Baron Godfrey all think that they should be The best of this pilgrim army were selected to form a new standing army directly under the kingdom."

After learning the true core of today's "issue", the nobles started shouting.

"In other words, His Majesty the King wants to impose a new vassal tax on us?"

"This dispatch of troops happens to be at a time when the fields are harvesting. We have already made a lot of efforts to defend the Holy Land."

"Yes, the armistice agreement lasts for three years. We can write another letter to His Majesty the Pope after three years, asking him to order the kings to launch a new crusade."

A new crusade?

In the crowd, Guy felt a little ridiculous.

In the past, he would have thought so.

But this time, when Jerusalem was threatened, how long did the European kings delay setting off?

If those kings had not truly fallen, why would they be willing to travel thousands of miles to Jerusalem to fight for them?

Baron Godfrey said: "There will be two new standing armies. Your Majesty means that you hope that these two armies will be commanded by Guy, the lord of Mengisa, and Reginald, the lord of Sidon. "

The implication is that the Jue Party and the Queen Mother Party are required to maintain a standing army respectively.

This is diametrically opposed to the dangerous "king's desire to centralize power."

The originally unanimous opposition in the field immediately began to be divided.

For example, the palace minister Amalric, although his younger brother was granted the title of Mengisa and became his powerful assistant, Mengisa was only a small place after all.

It would be a great thing for him if he could be appointed as the commander of a new standing army.

Especially now, the former undisputed leader of the Queen Mother Party, Count Leonard of Transjordan, has been deposed and his influence has been greatly reduced.

If he takes this opportunity to continuously expand his influence in the kingdom, he may very well become a figurehead promoted by the Queen Mother's Party to compete with the Regent Raymond.

Of course, this is just his own imagination.

In fact, in the eyes of many people, he was just a fool who relied on nepotism to rise to power. He had neither a rich fiefdom nor the ability to lead an army.

He was not qualified to be compared with Regent Raymond simply by playing tricks.

As for Raymond, his thoughts are actually very pure - to defend the safety of the kingdom. After this battle, he had a clearer understanding of the gap between the two forces.

Although the County of Tripoli is relatively independent, it is actually closely interdependent with the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The County of Edessa and the Principality of Antioch, which have been conquered by the pagans, are examples of this.

Not to mention that as the regent, he is already half the king of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The existence of the kingdom is also closely related to his personal power.

However, the objections of the nobles only paused for a moment before they started to sound again.

The so-called two "parties" are just trying to keep each other warm by their interests, and they are not really close at all.

They have no shortage of conflicts with each other.

For example, between two neighboring lords, today you occupy my manor, and tomorrow I rob your caravan. It is simply a common occurrence.

If they were on the European continent and there was no external enemy threat like the Saracens, it would be common for them to fight several low-intensity wars for this purpose.

"I don't think it's necessary. The heroic Crusaders are never afraid of the challenges of the pagans. Moreover, with the blessing of Heavenly Father, we have won again, haven't we?"

Count Thirier from Flanders said: "I agree to the formation of a standing army, but the leader should be changed. Guy, the lord of Mengisa, was unlucky and burned Saladin's food and grass, but that It doesn’t mean that he has any ability to lead troops.”

Guy's face turned red with anger: "What the hell are you talking about!"

Count Tirier's face remained normal and he snorted: "That's the fact. You two brothers are just taking advantage of Count Lothar. Burning the enemy's food and grass is not only your credit. Without you, there would be other knights." ."

He still remembered Guy's insult to him, and this time the Northern Expedition returned in vain. He participated in the Eastern Expedition and gained almost no benefits.

He didn't want to offend the powerful knight party, so he naturally wanted to take advantage of Guy.

At this time, the guards of the Royal Knights standing outside the hall shouted: "Count Lothar, the lord of Transjordan, Hebron and Yogurtsburg, and the Grand Master of the Royal Knights, has arrived!"

The guard's tone was trembling with excitement.

Lothar's legendary experience has become a household legend in Jerusalem.

According to the bard, he received the blessing of his heavenly father through prayer, which enabled the Crusader knights to see at night, adding a bit of a divine aura to him.

The faces of many lords in the hall also changed slightly at this time, secretly wondering why the newly appointed earl ran back to Jerusalem so quickly?

Is there any other plan?

Compared with before, Lothar has finally become a more important role in this city.

Outside the hall, a young lord wearing a black cloak with a double-headed eagle emblem and bright plate armor strode into the hall.

As soon as he arrived, he attracted everyone's attention, and some people were secretly thinking whether his trip had any profound meaning.

Godfrey smiled heartily and said: "Ha, Lothar, you came just in time. I heard that you led people to complete the feat of slaying a dragon. Please tell me quickly and carefully!"

Lothar smiled and said: "It's not a feat worth mentioning, it's just an earth-moving dragon without wings and unable to breathe fire."

No one paid much attention to Lothar's little actions in his territory these days.

Firstly, he acted so fast that the news hadn't spread yet; secondly, even if it spread, no one would care.

Hussein and Adnan are equivalent to larger village tyrants. It is true that they cover the sky with one hand in the local area, but to put it bluntly, they have no front at all.

The Kingdom of Jerusalem is, after all, a Christian kingdom.

The vassals who directly belonged to Lothar, that is, Transjordan, stepped forward to salute Lothar. A considerable number of them were members of the Queen Mother's party.

But now, the Queen Mother Party is already weak.

Many people hope that Lothar can jump to their side and become a new leader.

There were also people who wanted to follow Lothar and join the Royal Party. They originally thought that there was no future for the Royal Party. After all, Baldwin IV was already terminally ill.

But Lothar, the "lucky man" who rose from a landless knight to the earl of Transjordan like a rocket, proved that their initial idea was completely wrong.

The centralization of power of the Kingdom of Jerusalem is stronger than that of most kings on the continent. On the one hand, it is affected by the influence of foreign enemies, and on the other hand, it is also because the previous monarchs of the Kingdom of Jerusalem can almost be called divine kings for generations. This makes the king of this kingdom naturally cast a sacred halo.

A king is a king after all!

As long as he survives for a day, he will still be the most prominent and authoritative feudal lord in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Seeing Lothar showing off on the sidelines, Amalric was a little annoyed, but he didn't dare to say anything.

There were many people present who disliked Lothar even more than he did.

But similarly, Lothar's habit of throwing his gloves off at every turn has also become widespread following Amalric's humiliating experience.

They were afraid that a word would offend him and throw the gloves in their face. Who would have the guts to duel with a legendary knight who could first kill a werewolf and then a dragon?

In this regard, even Regent Raymond cannot compare with Lothar.

At this time, they saw that Raymond actually stood up and walked towards Lothar to chat, and they were even more shocked. They thought Lothar was just a lucky man who got the title of empty earl through bad luck. , have a deeper understanding.

"Losa, you performed very well in Kaleburg. To be honest, when I knew that you had achieved such great results, even I felt a little bit envious."

Lothar smiled and said humbly: "Sir, if you hadn't withstood the Saracens' offensive from the north, even if we had some small victories, it wouldn't be worth mentioning. If you say you are envious, there is really no need, because The results you achieved are obviously better than mine."

Raymond laughed and said: "When I say envy, I don't envy you, but I envy your father Werner. Even if I am better than him in every aspect, there is only one thing that I cannot compare with him. That’s giving birth to such an outstanding son.”

The two exchanged business blows, which made some people who were unclear realize Lothar's prestige in the kingdom.

"If you have any difficulties, just come to me. As a lord, the difficulties you have to face are not just the pagan enemies. The hidden arrows from your back are the most deadly."

Lothar was slightly startled.

Regarding Raymond's beautiful words that were obviously intended to win over, he felt an unusual aura.

Could it be that Raymond knew that the powerful locals in the territory were preparing to attack him?

This is fast enough!

"Sir, thank you for your warning, but I don't think those bed bugs hiding in the gutters or the rats that only dare to shuttle in the sewers can pose any threat to me."

Raymond nodded and said: "It seems that I have worried too much. An outstanding commander should take these things into consideration."

He paused slightly and then said: "Count Lothar, do you have any opinion on the kingdom's plan to form two new standing armies?"

As the great lord in the kingdom, nominally second only to Earl Raymond, Lothar's will also plays a decisive role at this moment.

Lothar glanced at Baron Godfrey and did not communicate with him or the king when he came, so he did not know what role these two men played.

Seeing Godfrey nodded slightly.

Lothar said: "I thought this matter should be very clear. In this war, haven't you seen the gap between the enemy and us?"

"We tried our best to gather 50,000 troops, because the total population of the kingdom does not exceed one million, and half of them are heretics who do not need to perform military service."

"And Saladin just easily summoned an army of 60,000 to attack us from both sides."

Lothar looked at everyone, with a hint of sarcasm in his tone: "I know that many people still have the idea that the Crusader Knights can easily defeat the slave cavalry, but the Saracens are not static, they will also learn. ."

"Presumably this time, you also realized that their Mamluk cavalry are very different from the previous Gulams, right?"

Raymond was convinced of this: "Yes, I never expected that the cavalry formed by the pagans using slaves could actually compete with our noble knights."

"Yes, sir, they were born slaves, but they have been influenced by the scriptures of Zoroastrianism since childhood. They have been trained in martial arts since childhood, just like the knights. There is no reason why they are weaker than our knights."

The two of them sang together and made peace with each other, which meant that the two largest lords in the kingdom had decided to join forces to implement the decision to form a standing army.

Plus Baron Godfrey and the King behind the scenes.

There is no suspense in this court meeting.

After the meeting dispersed.

Lothar ordered one of his hussars: "Send someone to deliver a set of refined plate armor to Count Raymond."

The other set he planned to give to Baron Godfrey.

It's a gift, not a sale.

On the one hand, it was a show of goodwill, and on the other hand, the two most prominent lords in Jerusalem were wearing exquisite plate armor produced by Hebron. There was no better advertising position than this.

Baron Godfrey punched Lothar on the chest and made a dull sound: "Okay, even Raymond wants to win over you, how do you feel?"

"How does it feel?"

Lothar asked knowingly.

"How does it feel to be the Count of Transjordan, of course?"

"Being flattered by others, listening to flattery every day, and countless people trying to please me - tsk, to be honest, if you say this feeling is not good, that's bullshit."

Lothar smiled and said: "But Lord Godfrey, I always remember your instructions to me before we parted. Don't worry that I will get lost."

"If you can say that, I feel relieved."

"Let's go, let's go to see His Majesty together."

After Baron Godfrey finished speaking, he nodded to Prajna, Fringilla and Jeanne respectively, and then took Lothar into the long corridor leading to the king's palace.