In the meeting room, at the banquet that greeted Baron Argonne.

Lothar had a great conversation with the baron.

One is intent on wooing, and the other has decided to take a clear stand and devote himself to Lothar, intending to find a way out for himself.

The two hit it off.

Argonne shoved a piece of roast meat into his mouth and said:

"My lord, I understand your desire to abolish the tax system, but without those Saracen heads, I can't even maintain my effective rule over the territory."

He paused slightly, and said, "Not many knights are willing to learn the language of the pagans, and they are not even willing to go to their own estates. ”

"We are not good at domination, we are better at war."

Without the tax collector, Baron Argonne felt that he would have collected less money.

It is also necessary to consider the formation of a special tax collection agency and send guards to protect it.

Only the tax collectors, who have lived here for generations, know every copper and every grain that the people have hidden.

Although they can also profit, and even take the big head, they also have peace of mind!

It's a win-win.

"But it won't be embraced, Baron."

Lothar got serious.

The rule of the Kingdom of Jerusalem over the Levant is more like colonial rule, with nothing on the surface.

Argonne was a little surprised, "My lord, I don't understand why I have the support of these infidels? Do you expect to recruit these cowardly men to fight for you in time of war? ”

He clenched his fists with confidence: "Our knights are enough to destroy everything, let them be cattle, sheep, and livestock, and plow for us, and provide us with grain and meat, and the war should be left to us, noble nobles and knights." ”

Lothar sighed lightly, although Argonne was still loyal, he was not a knight after all, and he could not obey his orders unconditionally.

"Baron Argon, you should have seen my guards in the city, right? What do you think of them? ”

Without waiting for Argonne to reply, Lothar added, "I don't mean my axe-wielding guards, but also the shield-wielding infantry. ”

Argonne thought for a while, and said very sincerely: "Very elite, my lord, they are well equipped and well-trained, I have seen their drills, and they are a good sergeant. ”

"They were once what you call a pagan, and of course they have been converted."

Lothar looked at Argon's face full of disbelief, and in the bottom of her heart, she completely gave up the idea of expanding the "New Deal" in Transjordanian territory.

"I see, sir!"

Argonne suddenly showed an excited expression: "It is simply a noble act of a saint that you have paid such a great price to proclaim the gospel of the Heavenly Father, and you have to convert these heretics to the true faith. ”

"I'm just now getting what you mean, it's stupid."

"It's just that I've tried to convert the heretics in my territory, and they obey on the surface, but in private they still go their own way."

Faced with Argonn's misunderstanding, Lothar nodded helplessly: "That's right, that's it." But don't blame you, many people see pagans as unteachable, but aren't they also creatures of the Father? ”

"In Northern Europe, many clans and on the Baltic coast, many people retain a dual faith, believing in the Father, practicing witchcraft, and offering sacrifices to pagan gods, but no one accuses them of evil heresy – far from the continent, we should be more tolerant of our faith."

"You have a point."

Argonne looked inspired.

Lothar sighed secretly, talking to people in this era, except for Baldwin IV, the estrangement was too serious.

It often causes the situation in front of you, like "chickens and ducks talking".

Hu Liu, who has been transferred through the system, even if he can't figure out the deep meaning of Lothar, at least he will do what he thinks, and he will not be stubborn.

Time is in a hurry, and it is three days in the blink of an eye.

In the past three days, nobles from all over the country have arrived at the port of Ella with their families, knights, and guards.

They were all well received by Lothar.

The banquet was held the next day, and from morning till evening, with unlimited meat, grains, wine, and honey, they could not help but feel the generosity and opulence of the new earl.

This is also a demonstration of its own strength.

If you have money, you will have soldiers, even if you don't count the axe guards and hussars who have made a name for themselves in the Holy Land.

Not counting the fierce and brave veterans who remained on the line, just talking about the conscripted peasant soldiers under Lothar's men, the uniform march and training shocked their hearts.

Accompanied by a grand knightly competition, the whole banquet was pushed to a climax.

Hans won all the way and fulfilled his dream of winning the unfinished knightly competition in Austria.

Lothar sat on the throne and kept receiving the lords and knights who came forward to meet him.

Or reconcile the contradictions between them and arbitrate impartially to avoid turning the contradictions into war.

Lothar also prepared gifts for them in return, including: hardcover Gwent decks, porcelain from the East, silk fabrics, gold and silver ornaments.

The handwriting looks very large, but in fact, many items are sold to the system mall, and the income is extremely limited, and they are all things with large added value.

Lothar is in his own hands, and it is difficult to realize it in a short period of time.

Otto stood in the audience, taking the place of Lothar to receive the less important guests, and the smile on his face froze.

As Lothar's elder brother, he went to receive these people, which would not appear to be sluggish, and could greatly reduce the pressure on Lothar, but where had he seen this kind of battle before?

The largest banquet held by the Count of Werner was attended by less than a third of the people who came to this banquet.

Even in the entire kingdom of Jerusalem, the size of this banquet is not small.

That's how the prestige comes from.

The reason why Countess Stephanie was known as the "knight in a skirt" was to put it bluntly, he was generous with coins.

Fame is a useful thing.

It's useless to say it's useless.

For a prince like Lothar who was interested in expanding his territory, conquering Sinai, and even the granary of Egypt, fame was of course crucial.

With the stroke of his fame, he was able to summon a large number of knights from the kingdom who wanted to serve him for free—and after the battle, he would only have to give them the territory that Lothar had no time to control as a reward.

Fame is also linked to prestige, if fame is not important, where will the monarch come from to participate in the Eastern Crusade?

They spent a lot of money, risked bankruptcy, and traveled thousands of miles to this so-called "holy land", and the territory they conquered could not be included in their rule, and for what?

Isn't it the word "prestige", if you have prestige, the vassals will be more convinced of you, and the more stable your rule will be, you will just change your tricks and extort tyranny, and no one will dare to pull the flag and rebel.

The bards were tossing and dancing and playing the lute, and many of them were even flirting with amorous ladies and, perhaps, on the way to the stables, barns, to have a bodily exchange.

And their husbands didn't care about this, and they were drinking and playing cards with their colleagues.

There are also people who are not keen on the popular entertainment and social mode of GWENT cards, getting together to drink and eat meat, and chat.

"In my territory, some time ago there was a strange man, who hid in his hut every day, living in isolation, only coming out from time to time to buy some food from the villagers."

"He has been seen in the cemetery, picking up human bones, and I'm not sure if it's true or not."

"That's your territory, man!"

"It's just that you're too daring."

"But it could really be an evil wizard, brother, we should all know that there is always a group of people in this world that we can't afford to provoke, such as spellcasters, and also like Lord Earl."

There was silence.

Not everyone likes or respects the new lord on their head, at least not all.

There are many people who think that Lothar is just a shit luck and has been rewarded by a witch.

Speaking of Lothar's "Werewolf Slayer" and "Dragon Slayer" titles, they would smack their lips with disdain and say, "If I have a witch to do it, I can do it too." ”

Just like the legend of King Arthur and the Nymph of the Lake, some people believe that it was King Arthur's heroism that conquered the Lady of the Lake, and some people say that it was the sword given by the fairy of the lake that made Arthur come true.

Of course, even if they think so in their hearts, they will never say it.

(End of chapter)