Inside the dormitory.

The chessboard has been laid out.

Baldwin IV, with his short curly brown hair, leisurely pointed to the ceramic cup opposite.

"Have a cup of tea, to your taste, without spices."

Lothar took the teacup and drank it down.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, it was a familiar taste, but it was obviously not a good tea.

"Things are going well, aren't they?"

Lothar sat down in front of the stool opposite, and took the white chess first.

Chess, in contrast to Gwent, tends to have an advantage in that the first move is dominant.

"It went well, more than 1,000 people were recruited in one afternoon, thanks to your help."

Without Baldwin IV's cooperation in all aspects, the recruitment of the consuls might still have gone smoothly, but it would never have progressed so quickly.

"Well, if you have extra land, let's recruit as many people as you can.

Recently, there have been rumors in Jerusalem that there are sea monsters in the coastal area of Alexandria, and the sea grain route has been cut off.

There was also hoarding in the city, which doubled the price of food in just two days. Moreover, there is a tendency to continue to increase, and I am afraid that if this continues, it will cause turmoil. ”

Lothar frowned: "The Jewish merchant did it? ”

The first suspicion of the Jews was right.

"Well, but not only that, there are also big nobles involved, but they are all hidden behind the scenes, and a large amount of grain is stored in their territory, and they can also make a lot of money by raising the price of grain."

Lothar frowned: "Just leave this matter to me." ”

"What are you going to do?"

Lothar drew a cross in front of him: "In the sight of the Father, usury is the ugliest and most abominable crime. ”

Baldwin IV frowned and said, "What I asked you to deal with is hoarding, what does it have to do with usury?" ”

"If they are Jewish merchants, do you believe that they did not lend?"

Jews were restricted from employment, and lending money was one of their only means of earning a living, and the interest rate was generally higher than that of the Templar "banks".

Whether it counts as "usury" or not is all up to the ruler's whims.

For example, when the Knights Templar were captured by the French king, they must have been usury, and in fact, they were, but no one had pursued them before.

Baldwin IV frowned: "You want to dispose of them on such charges?" ”

He was an upright monarch, but he also knew that he had no right to punish the great nobles who followed the trend of hoarding food, so this was the only way to do it.

"Well, with the grain hoarded in their hands, the price of grain will basically be stabilized, and later, the grain ship from Egypt should also arrive."

In a few words, the life and death of a group of people have been decided.

The faces of the two of them did not change significantly, but naturally jumped to the next topic.

"Just do as you say, in the name of the Grand Master of the Royal Knights."

"Hmm."

Lothar bowed slightly, and when Baldwin IV said this, he took the responsibility for dealing with Jewish money lenders on his own shoulders.

Few people would sympathize with Jewish money lenders these days.

But Hebron in Lothar, the city was inhabited by many Jews, most of whom were businessmen and industrialists, and the title of a "Jewish butcher" might have had a bad effect on him.

Baldwin IV rubbed his brow in some distress: "I have been pushing for the marriage of Bailian and Sibylla lately. ”

"Resistance?"

"Hmm."

Lothar was thoughtful.

Even if you exclude the fact that the son of Princess Sibyllah will be the first heir to the throne of Jerusalem, the princess is also a powerful nobleman.

It's normal to have resistance.

In this, it is likely that there is also a credit to Lothar, after all, the speed of his rise is too fast, and the Jue Party and the Queen Mother Party are worried about increasing the power of the Royal Party again.

Seeing Lothar's frowns, Baldwin IV couldn't help but laugh and said, "Don't you think it's good to be a king?" I can't even decide my sister's marriage. ”

Lothar sighed, "It's your condition that is dragging you down. ”

If it weren't for leprosy, it would not have been impossible for Baldwin IV to defeat Saladin's power at the Battle of Mongisa and become the greatest king of Jerusalem.

He sighed softly, "Whatever the reason, it cannot change the fact that under my rule, the country is torn apart, the royal power is in decline, and there is no end to it, and I am afraid that one day, the Holy Land will fall into my hands." ”

Lothar said solemnly: "Your Majesty, I promise you that I will do everything in my power to protect the Holy Land from being occupied by infidels. ”

Baldwin IV smiled, picked up a chess piece, and fell: "Don't underestimate your opponent. ”

"Miss Nishaya once told me that the Eastern Empire had cultivated an army that took potions on a large scale, and the Bulgarians who rebelled in northern Thrace gathered tens of thousands of rebels, all of whom were easily defeated by this army of no more than three hundred men, and only the leader of the rebels, Yin Van Lissen, escaped."

Lothar frowned.

The Bulgarians were very good at fighting, they were a mixture of the Bulgars and the migrating Rus'.

Simeon I was once crowned Caesar, the Tsar, in Constantinople.

Since then he has been called the emperor of the Bulgarians, and since then, has even occupied almost the entire Balkan region.

However, the Bulgarians were not as brave as the Greeks, and in the end it was the Eastern Empire that had the last laugh.

Historically, it was also at this approximate point in time that the Bulgarians rebelled, but in the world of Lothar, the rebellion was ultimately successful.

Of course, it is normal that the two worlds are very different and will have different development trajectories.

Lothar teased: "Even this kind of secret has been revealed by you? ”

Baldwin IV's face stiffened slightly, and then said, "Miss Nisanya is a good girl who is innocent and kind. ”

Lothar pondered: "That is, 'not very smart'?" ”

Baldwin IV "coughed", and his face was a little unbearable: "Geng is straightforward, it is a knightly virtue, how can it be said that it is not smart?" ”

Lothar's expression gradually became serious: "The value of the potion is high, except for the Eastern Empire, I am afraid that the Sassanid Dynasty has the ability to form such an army." ”

This is not an inferior potion like Assasin's that stimulates his potential in a short period of time and dies immediately after drinking.

That kind of potion is impossible for an army of three hundred to defeat tens of thousands of rebels, even if it is a rabble, drowning can drown these three hundred.

At the very least, as far as Lothar is concerned, he feels that even if he has three hundred hussars, Jeanne, and Hans Triple Bonus, he may not be able to achieve the same record.

Moreover, the Bulgarians were known for their fierceness and fearlessness, which was by no means comparable to that of ordinary Saracen conscripts.

Baldwin IV said solemnly: "Not only, at least half more." ”

"Saladin?"

"Well, in addition to this, maybe you have to add a few kings of the European continent, you have to know, the price of potions is high, and in terms of financial resources, maybe only the Eastern Empire and the Sassanid Empire can afford it."

"But Emperor Henry, the first monarch to convene a witch advisory council, King Charles, even married a witch as his wife."

Lothar nodded and said: "I will be careful, in this battle of Ella Harbor, the enemy dispatched a wizard, fortunately the strength is not good, otherwise, we will also suffer heavy losses." ”

Baldwin IV frowned and said, "The casters have entered the world one after another, and I don't know what is going on in this world. ”

After speaking, without waiting for Lothar to answer, he said, "Next, what are your plans?" ”

"Expand the army."

Lothar was succinct and to the point.

Recuperating and recuperating while training an army for the next phase of expansion is Lothar's primary goal at the moment.

Baldwin IV nodded, "Do you need me to fund you some money?" The king still has some spare money in his private treasury, but not much. ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty, but no more."

"Oh, I think so, Al Harbor and Hebron are rich places, if you want to be rich, you should be richer than me now, you should be able to support me."

Lothar smiled bitterly: "It turns out that you are retreating as advancing." ”

"Heh, I'm just kidding you."

Baldwin IV chuckled: "I didn't expect you to get to where you are today, I have time to talk to Baron Goldfrey more, and I will implement your idea of establishing a border as soon as possible." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Lothar said sincerely.

"Go back after playing this game of chess, I haven't seen you for this time, your chess strength hasn't risen at all, it seems that you have never played except with me."

Baldwin IV's face showed a gentle smile.

"I have to thank you for being able to accompany me through this game of chess."