Acquaintances greeted each other, and Bran made an appointment with Leary and Pillay, and the three appeared almost at the same time.

The Order also has dormitories, kitchens, and dining halls, and they can share meals at the same table during training.

It's just time to eat

Walking into the dining room in twos and threes, each table had already placed food, and on each table, there was a basket of cold bread, a kind of local Roman product, and black wild vegetables that could be eaten directly raw and several large pots of water.

"The wild plants are fresh, you see, some of the dirt hasn't been washed." Leary pointed to the root and praised, but had no intention of making a move.

Or it can be said to be "", it is very common for vegetable pickers to water the vegetable garden with their own fertilizer.

Thinking of this, Bran lost his appetite.

He took out his own pork jerky and water bag, took a few simple bites, and drank some water for a meal, which was enough to fill his stomach.

In the dining room, the nobles who have plenty of money can take two bites at most, and then take out the food they have brought.

However, most of the non-commissioned officers and soldiers still ate wild vegetables very happily - after all, they didn't need money.

During the meal, Bran was also introduced to Pillay through Leary, and got to know their squadron and even the knightly officers of the brigade.

The two most important were Squadron Leader Fernando and Group Leader Florelle.

The two are uncles and nephews. The facial features are very similar, and they are all from the East Francian region.

Fernando had been in Rome since he was a child, so his accent was indecipherable, but Florelle's Italian accent was very strong, and his speech was sometimes mixed with the words "Eastern French", which was somewhat difficult to guess.

The common French of the eastern Frankish to Swabian region is called "High French".

Paris and Northern France use the "capital French", which speaks at a slow pace and emphasizes tonal changes. Sounds elegant and romantic.

The central and southern dialects are "lowland French", and the speed of speech is fast.

"Lemondeestsigrand, cen'estpasfaciledu (The world is big, acquaintance is fate).

My grandfather was a student of Highland French, and so was my student Bran, so he used it to talk to Florelle.

Highland French likes to use short sentences to follow the classics, and after Bran asked a few questions, he blurted out a sentence for Floregao to take a look.

"You're speaking more fluently than the 'black bastard' last time."

Fernando, who was beside him, patted Bran on the shoulder and welcomed him in.

Getting so close, Bran suddenly noticed that one of his front teeth was empty. And who's the black bastard?

During the exchange, the bell rang to signal the officers (including the trainees) to the council chamber for a meeting.

The Knights' Chamber is plain. There are no frescoes or tapestries, and the walls are empty, except for the portraits of the chief knights of the past generations.

There is also a biographical account underneath the avatar.

Three round tables are placed in the room, indicating that there is no difference between master and slave among the members, and the positions are different, emulating the equality of the Knights of the Round Table.

This was the tradition in the early days, but now there were more people in the meetings, and only the middle and senior officers had seats, and Bran, along with Pillay and Leary, stood upright in all corners, listening to the events of the regiment.

It has excellent lighting and ventilation, and there are doors on all sides. Outside is a shady tree, and although there are many people inside, there is no stuffy feeling.

Before the meeting began, an officer dressed in the same class dress as Fernando, followed by a black knight with a sword, slowly walked in.

Bran recognized it at a glance as the one who "bought the horse last time".

When he came in, he saw Bran, and the black knight was also surprised, it was actually a companion!

He stood diagonally opposite Bran, and when the two looked at each other, he nodded slightly, and his movements were extremely light.

In less than a minute, two big men entered.

The head of the regiment, "Guispo Deng", was still in Rome, and he naturally presided over the morning meeting.

He was followed by the chief priest "Tenda Bell", forty-three years old, two years younger than Guisper.

But he was older than Guispe, and he joined the Knights at the age of twelve, and if it weren't for the fact that he was not good at commanding battles, and had been captured twice, Guispe and Tenda would have changed places.

"Oath."

Someone took the lead.

"Swear, hear it today, keep your mouth shut, and never spread the ......"

After the crowd took the oath of secrecy, the discussion began.

The first major issue discussed was the question of the use of troops in the East.

The song of heroes has written that where there are people, there is fighting.

As the two top officers sat down, the invisible smell of gunpowder began to emanate.

Although Luyo II claimed to have received the Voice of Christ, he alone saw it, and could not penetrate the armor of heresy or make his opponents surrender. It is still necessary to collect food and grass, cross the sea by boat, and attack the enemy.

Combined, the two Knights have sent 25,000 men to help the lords of Central and Southern Europe and the Mediterranean.

But according to the local Mediterranean dock sailors, many of them were arrogant and unscrupulous.

And three months ago, there was a "cholera" in the East!

Every decade or so, the disease occurs in various regions, and this time it broke out in the Holy City of the East.

If it weren't for the news that the Knights suppressed the local nobles, it would have spread by now, but it couldn't be hidden, and there were many lords and merchant ships traveling to and from Jerusalem. Now that many merchant ships heading to the East have ceased sailing and are heading to the Sinai Peninsula, a decision will be made in the regiment today.

Urging the Holy See to agree to withdraw the troops is the common idea of the top brass of the Knights, and the number of this Knights in the Holy City has exceeded 8,000, and nearly 600 people are showing signs of illness, and it is possible to drag on the group to be wiped out.

And many knights who followed the expedition borrowed money from Roman merchants and gathered equipment, and now they have no land, and if they go back, they will be deeply in debt, and those who are not sick do not want to return, and even want to rob other places.

Caught in a dilemma.

Although Tenda and Guisper wanted to retire from the army, both of them were promoted by Luyo II, so it was not easy to embarrass the Holy Father, so the topic was thrown up by other officers, and the two of them dressed up to be white-faced to appease them, and then asked the Holy See for permission to avoid having the eyes and ears of the Holy See among the people who attended the meeting.

The two had a tacit understanding on this matter, so there was no discussion or opposition.

Ebeha, the chief knight who sat below the two, excitedly rubbed the ring in his hand.

It's almost over, and the fertile fiefdom full of forests and wheat that my mother mentioned since I was a child is about to arrive. As soon as Dongfang withdrew his troops, he would ask for help from within his regiment to claim claims.

Count Ebeja - Whenever Ebeja was drunk, he wrote these words.

With the idea of retaking the territory, Bran's eyes also lingered on Ebeha, but Bran himself was much more difficult.

The second thing is a dispute with the rival and companion "Knights Hospitaller".

Belonging to the two arms of the Pope, the two groups are constantly at odds.

This was caused by a struggle between the Knights Templar and the Knights Templar in the Strait of Otranto, off the coast of southern Italy.

The regiment has de facto control over an island where two cargo ships loaded with olive oil and linen products were forced to stay two months ago during a storm.

Afterwards, the local owner (the knight stationed on the island) asked the cargo ship to hand over half of the cargo as a thank you to the people on the island for helping to protect the ship.

But the ship, showing the flag of the Knights Hospitaller, threatened to "help those who believe," and they only docked at the open sea, relying entirely on their own sailors to escort the ship, without asking for help, but could pay a toll and a supplementary water fee, which was about 12 percent of the value of the cargo.

A stalemate ensued, and a ship was arrested, which is still being held on the Templar prison island, but eight people were wounded and one was killed.

The last discussion was fruitless, and this is the last time, and if there is still no result, the head of the regiment can decide.

There is a good chance that Guisper will settle the matter, because the island was only occupied a year ago, and it will not help the tax revenue of the regiment, and the priest has always been in charge of the flow of money on the island.

Since there is no benefit, there is no need for bloodshed.

But Tonda was unwilling to compromise and even poured some hot oil on top of the already burning flame.

The Strait of Otranto had a great deal of commercial interest, connecting Asia Minor with the Byzantine Sea Route, and with so many cargo ships coming and going, that Tenda was thinking of monopolizing the surrounding islands and then engaging in the smuggling trade.

This place is not far from the Italian mainland, and the army on the island can occupy the surrounding islands in one day by the sea breeze, and Tongda will not give up.

"I'm against it too."

"Ask the Holy See to decide."

"If you go to the Holy See for everything, you will be looked down upon by the Knights, my lord."

A few officers came forward for their superiors first.

Bran was not familiar with the quarrelmaker, but who made eye contact with whom, who helped whom to talk, and wrote them down one by one.

Before Tang Da came, he had bribed the officers who were present and had voters, and after discussion, in the end Gui Shipu won by a tie of votes, but the regimental commander specified the result.

However, in the case of a tie in the number of votes, the relevant regulations of the regiment, the chief priest has "the right to send troops alone".

But only soldiers in Italy could be commanded, and the winner was to be decided within ninety days.

Guispp's cronies ran a vote, so the situation was that Tongda won despite the defeat.

A few hundred men were enough, and they set sail in the morning, and arrived at night, taking advantage of the darkness of the night, and taking advantage of the darkness, they took the torch and slaughtered the other two islands controlled by the Knights Hospitaller.

As for the retaliation, it was probably an attack on the cargo ships and transports of the regiment around Jerusalem, so that the battle would be fought even more - the sword flashed and the gold coins rang out.

Fighting a war was more profitable for some of the Order's higher-ups.