Hans was a little puzzled:

"My lord, I don't quite understand why you ask them to forbid the occupation of pagan houses? There are simply no ready-made camps here for them to rest. ”

"An unrestrained army can quickly turn into a mob and a bunch of robbers."

Lothar's tone paused slightly, and he added: "Moreover, the pagan commoners of Montreal are already living in great difficulty because of the 'Saladin tax' and 'unbelievers' tax. ”

"If this continues, I'm afraid that Saladin will send spies to incite a riot."

Saladin's tax refers to a tax levied against Saladin, regardless of whether he is a pagan or not.

The unbeliever tax, on the other hand, refers to the heavy taxes paid to allow them to remain unconverted and maintain their old faith, often accounting for about half of their personal income.

"Hans, you see, the Kingdom of Jerusalem has a population of nearly one million, and only one-fifth of them are Christians. Zoroastrians living in Jerusalem do not resist the rule of the kingdom, this is the effort of successive Jerusalem kings, and I do not want to be ruined by a bunch of fools. ”

The Zoroastrians were citizens of the second class in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

But in the vast majority of rural areas, they are still able to live according to their old way of life, legally owning their own land and temples.

In many villages, the tax collector has not even changed, but the boss behind the tax collector, the lord of Saracen, has become a Frank.

This makes the low-level Saracen commoners actually have a noncommittal attitude towards the existence of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

It doesn't matter who rules here.

In the past, when this place was still ruled by the Saracens, the chiefs, did not treat them much better than they do now.

Moreover, Zoroastrianism is also divided into factions, and the Fatimids before the Ayyubid dynasty believed in the new Zoroastrians, and the hostility of the new Zoroastrians to the old Zoroastrians was deeper than that of the pagans.

There's a saying that fits in here: heretics are more hateful than heretics.

When I got back to my room.

Prajna was still reading a badly faded old book.

Lothar glanced at the cover, which presumably contained religious books written in Latin, which Lothar did not understand and was not interested in.

Prajna is undoubtedly a very learned person.

As a character in the Eastern context, she is fluent not only in Chinese, Japanese, but also in Gaul, Germanic, East Slavic and Greek.

Even the obscure Celtic language, she dabbled in it.

Holding the double-headed eagle emblem, Frigila was on the phone with Anna the witch, and the two had a heated discussion on how to counter spatial spells.

This kind of sound transmission magic, if properly applied, is very helpful in implementing a bureaucratic system of appointments similar to the "county system", and can effectively strengthen the central government's control over the local governments.

I just don't know how much it costs.

Lothar was thoughtful.

"It's late, you two go wash up and get ready to rest now, although Journey to the West is finished, I still have a lot of new and strange stories here."

Fringira hurriedly "hung up".

Prajna also put down the old book in his hand.

Time flies, and a full three days have passed in a blink of an eye.

In these three days, batch after group, the dusty crusaders arrived in Montreal.

The city, which had been built to transport supplies and support the Crusaders' crusades, quickly regained its original appearance and became a huge military camp.

But despite the large number of crusaders, Lothar was still a little worried.

Although the number of the crusaders was large, close to 30,000 men, the fighting force was only 10,000 at most, and most of the rest were civilians and conscripts with little combat effectiveness.

These conscripted militias are often crushed on the battlefield, and even with the blessing of the power of faith, their performance may not be much better.

After welcoming the king, Lothar met the king in the castle of Montreal.

Outside the hall.

Lothar saw a familiar figure, carrying a sword and holding a spear with a square flag tied to the top.

"Barion?"

A hint of joy appeared on Bailian's face: "Good day, Lord Lothar, long time no see. ”

Lothar patted the other party's shoulder: "Yes, I have become a knight of the flag in front of the king." With you to protect Your Majesty's safety, I am much more relieved. ”

According to Baron Goldfrey, Baron Baron drank a potion called "Dragon's Blood".

His strength is no longer comparable to ordinary people.

"My lord, I'm still far from you. Come in, Your Majesty has been waiting for you for a long time. ”

"Okay, then I'll talk about it when I come out."

Lothar walked into the hall.

The original mess here has been cleaned up.

The ruins of the wall were also repaired by masons.

Baldwin IV sat on the throne, he still wore a silver-gray mask, but the feeling of twilight on his body had dissipated.

"Sit down."

Lothar found a seat at the front and sat down.

"I heard that you defeated a Mamluk?"

"Yes."

"How do you feel about these slave cavalry?"

"Very powerful, they are divided into two kinds of cavalry, light and heavy, the former only wear leather armor or no armor at all, and the latter are shock cavalry equipped with men and horses."

"They can fight with bows and spears, and they have mastered even the spear charge, which the Frankish knights are best at."

"Moreover, they are far more accustomed to the climate here than we are, and there are plenty of camels suitable for marching and carrying baggage. ”

Baldwin IV bowed slightly: "How did you defeat them?" ”

"Your Majesty, I must admit that I won this battle by luck."

"Their commander, Prince Zahir, is an arrogant man who tries in vain to hold back the infantry sergeants of the Royal Knights with light cavalry, and crush our cavalry head-on with his mounted cavalry."

Baldwin IV said thoughtfully: "But he didn't accomplish a single goal, did he?" ”

"That's right, if they choose to harass us incessantly with light cavalry, destroying water sources along the way, and then attacking us when we are exhausted, it may be our turn to taste the bitter fruits of defeat."

"You're right, but there's no way he could do it."

Baldwin IV pointed to his feet: "This is the land of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and he has gone deep alone, proving that he has limited supplies to carry with him, and he does not dare and cannot use such tactics." ”

"You fought a good battle, and you, like your father, have extraordinary military talents."

"Your Majesty, you have a good reputation."

Lothar is not modest, he really thinks that he can win, it all depends on hard power to be strong enough, if he has a choice, he is not willing to fight this kind of hard battle even if he wins, the losses are extremely heavy.

Baldwin IV shook his head and said, "If you have the power of Count Renard and operate here for several years, I believe that the eastern border of the kingdom will be an iron bucket. ”

The two looked at each other and smiled wryly.

Baldwin IV's face showed a hint of melancholy: "Under Saladin's command, there are three thousand elite Mamluk cavalry, and we can only muster up a maximum of eight hundred armored cavalry. ”

Lothar nodded: "There is indeed a gap in strength between the two sides, so I have always thought that it is more suitable for us to rely on the walls of Jerusalem to defend it." ”

Baldwin IV shook his head and said, "The monarch represents not only power, but also duty, and if I cannot even guarantee the fulfillment of my duty to protect my vassals, Jerusalem will fall apart in an instant." ”

Lothar was silent.

He knows that too.

"If Saladin had gone out with an army of 300,000, he would have won the battle, but he had only 30,000 men with him."

Baldwin IV sighed lightly: "Let's not talk about that, let's talk about you—I heard that Humphrey, the son of Count Renard, died at your hands." ”

His tone paused slightly, and he added, "Is it really demonically possessed?" ”

"It's true!"

Baldwin IV smiled: "Oh, old fellow Renard, if he knew about this, I don't know whether to thank you or hate you." ”

Count Renard was happy, probably because of the absence of an heir who looked forward to his death every day.

hate because he and Lady Stephanie, no heirs, and now the only heir is dead, if he and Stephanie have an accident, the royal family will be eligible to take back the territory of Transjordan.

"Stay here and play a game of chess with me, perhaps, this is the last game between our monarchs and ministers."

The atmosphere in the main hall was a little dreary.

This time, Lothar won the king in a rare way, and he looked at the young king sitting opposite him with some surprise.

The other party's eyes were full of worry: "Lothar, if the battle is defeated, I hope that you will not be bound by the world's eyes, immediately gather your subordinates, return to Jerusalem, and organize the defense of the city." ”

Lothar nodded, "I will, Your Majesty." ”

"Then I'll be relieved."

Baldwin IV smiled and said, "Let's go to the next game, the top is for you, and if you can still win, I will make you the lord of Transjordan." ”

(End of chapter)