Early morning.

Lothar woke up from meditation and felt that her mind was very active, without the dullness she felt when she first woke up.

Look up.

Pranya, who was holding an ancient book with a shabby cover and reading, looked at the right time: "Good morning." ”

Lothar replied, "Good morning."

I was a little curious: "What book are you reading?" ”

"Gallic Wars."

Lothar let out an "oh" and said, "Are you going to start learning how to lead troops into battle?" ”

The Gallic Wars are a military book written by Gaius Julius Caesar about his experiences in the conquest of Gaul.

Prajna pointed to the two old books on the table: "Well, there are also the Civil War and the Long March, I have finished reading these two books." You can also read it at your leisure. ”

Lothar said: "When I finish dealing with the trivial matters at hand, I will carefully calm down and read." ”

Maybe it's been wandering outside the door for a long time, or maybe it's really a coincidence.

As a top assassin, Cellinina's footsteps were heard at the right time.

Then, there was a knock on the door: "My lord, are you awake?" ”

"Come in, the door is unlocked."

Cellina walked into the room.

Today, she wears a jacket that resembles a hooded trench coat of later generations, as well as an underneath a linen shirt, which is very much in line with the characteristics of this era.

Although there was no emotion on her face, Lothar could still tell that she was a little nervous.

Frigila, who had just opened her eyes from the quilt in a daze, stuck out her head and asked, "Nina, are you going shopping?" I slept a little late last night and would like to sleep a little longer. ”

"Go back to sleep, Flynn, I can't play with you today."

Cellinina finished reassuring Frigila and looked at Lothar again.

Her voice was a little restrained: "My lord, I heard Jeanne say last night, you plan to entrust me with the task of resettling the displaced people?" ”

"Yes, that's the idea, I wanted to tell you last night."

Lothar's tone paused slightly, and asked, "Is there any difficulty for you to come to me so early?" ”

Cellina nodded slightly: "Yes, my lord, I haven't done anything like this, I'm worried that I'll mess things up." ”

"Just because you haven't done it doesn't mean you can't do it."

"I never thought that one day I would lead troops to war."

Lothar pointed to the chair opposite and motioned for Cellinina to sit down: "How is your level of education?" In addition to Chinese, what other languages and scripts are you proficient in? ”

Cellinina was slightly stunned and uttered a string of words that sounded hot, but were pleasant.

"Is this Italian?"

Lothar was a little dazed.

He came to the Holy Land via the Veneto sea route, not by the traditional Messina route, and by way of the southern Apennine Peninsula, which he had never visited in person.

His impression of the Italian language is still in the North Apennines.

Cellinina's face was slightly red, her hands were folded, and she said softly, "Sorry, my accent is a bit heavy. ”

Lothar teased, "It's good you didn't make that gesture with five fingers together?" ”

Otherwise, it will remind Lothar of Lord Corleone from the movie "The Godfather".

"Is that so?"

Cellinina gestured and said seriously: "This is really useful, sometimes when we can't tell each other's dialects, we will use gestures to communicate. ”

Lothar quipped, "So sign language is the real language of the Apennines, right?" ”

Probably because his attitude was really reassuring, and Cellinina, who was sitting tightly, gradually relaxed.

She continued, "I also know some Austrian and Gascogne, where I was trained as an Assassin. ”

Lothar pondered: "That means that there are some Germanic and Gallic languages, and that is enough." ”

"The people who have been handed over to you for resettlement this time are all Franks, and they know these three languages, so they can communicate with most people."

Charlemagne's Frankish Empire, which encompassed North Apennine, Gaul, and all of Germania, happened to correspond to each of these three languages.

Lothar continued: "Can you write Latin? ”

Cellina nodded, "Well, many of the family's books are written in Latin. ”

Italian has an inheritance relationship with Latin, but this inheritance is further than the inheritance between Old Chinese and Chinese Simplified.

In general, mastery of Italian does not mean being able to read and write Latin.

In this way, Prajna is the most knowledgeable and talented of all people.

She speaks almost any language and can read any text.

"Resettlement of the people is actually the same as the resettlement of immigrants in the New World, your family is rooted in the New World, you should be familiar with this kind of thing."

Cellina was slightly stunned: "I'm sorry, my lord, I returned to the Two Sicilies when I was very young to receive traditional training. Afterward... And the family perished. ”

Lothar's face stiffened slightly, and she said softly, "I'm sorry to mention this - but Miss Cellinina, you have to have faith in your talent, it's not a very difficult thing to do. ”

He said bluntly: "What do you think is the most important thing in the resettlement of the people? ”

Cellina pondered for a moment, then said tentatively, "Divide the field?" ”

"Yes, the land of the new Habsburgs is more fertile, and if it is divided here, it should be divided less. If you are in a remote place, you should divide more. ”

"In addition, the new residents are all homesteaders, and with the tax exemption policy and the free rental of farm tools in the border areas, the tax they can collect is far less than the income in the initial stage."

"Therefore, it is not permissible to give them too much land because of the kindness of a thought, because they may not be able to cultivate it all, but if they are abandoned, it will increase their burden."

Taxes are levied on the basis of the share of land.

Cellina frowned and nodded, "I see, is there anything else you want to remind me of?" ”

Lothar raised her hand, subconsciously wanting to pat her on the shoulder, but halfway up felt a little abrupt, so she stopped.

"I know, you're worried that you'll mess things up, but it's not easy to do a good job in the matter of resettlement of the people, and it's hard to mess up if you want to, so don't worry about it."

After Lothar finished speaking, she raised her tone again: "Jeanne, don't eavesdrop outside, you can come in too." ”

Jeanne walked through the door in embarrassment.

Lothar said to her: "I said last night that since the expansion of the army is entrusted to you, in addition to training, it is also your duty to recruit soldiers. ”

"You have to communicate with Cellinina about this."

"You can select some experienced veterans from the new people as the backbone, but the number should not be too much, because as young and strong laborers, they will need to contribute to the reclamation of wasteland and the construction of houses."

"In addition, the three cities of Hebron, Alandler, and Philorn need to train the city militia, who will maintain law and order in peacetime and assist in defending the city in wartime."

"Because the townspeople tend to be wealthier and can bring their own weapons and equipment."

"Of course, it is also possible to pay money in exchange for exemption from military service, which is equivalent to the shield tax paid by knightly nobles. In this way, we will be able to save some of our expenses for the training of the standing army. ”

Every freeman who settles in the territory of Lothar is obliged to serve.

Serfs and heretics were exempt from military service, but mere dependents, but this was not to be envied, since they were customarily heavily taxed.

"There are also peasant soldiers trained under the knights of the Imperial Order, and you can also draw some of the outstanding ones as the backbone."

"In a month's time, I will see a new standing army fully manned—three hundred light infantry, one hundred light cavalry, and five hundred heavy infantry."

Light infantry refers to projectile arms that include slingers, archers, javelinmen, etc.

Heavy infantry refers to the type of troops that form a frontal formation and maintain a line.

"Weight" refers to the distinction based on occupation, not according to the weight of equipment.

Jeanne exclaimed: "What a big deal, expanding the army by nearly a thousand people in one go, where did you get rich?" ”

Lothar said angrily: "You don't have to worry about money, there are so many old weapons and armor stored in the arsenal, and if you don't use them well, they will rust." ”

That being said, Lothar does have a lot of money on hand, but the resettlement of the people and the reclamation of wasteland are net investments at this stage, and they can be called money like water.

The number of direct fiefdoms has increased, but it has become a burden.

Sometimes, Lothar also had to admit that although the feudal system was not conducive to centralization, it was absolutely worry-free!

Jeanne said: "Since you have said so, then this matter will be covered with me, give me a month, and I promise to return you a decent army." ”

For a month, it's good to be presentable.

Lothar nodded, then at Cellinina.

She no longer refused, and said seriously: "I will do my best." ”

Lothar waved his hand and said: "Don't try too hard, the number of people recruited should not be too much, too much will be too heavy for the current burden in the territory, so it should be limited to less than five thousand people." ”

That is, the Eastern Crusaders are still troubled by overpopulation.

If it were placed in the Northern Crusaders, a bunch of border lords would have empty vast tracts of land, and it was the yeoman farmers who were in short supply to cultivate it.

Unfortunately, compared to the Iberian Crusaders and the Eastern Crusaders, the participants of the Northern Crusades were too small, limited to the three Scandinavian countries and the North Germanic region.

The best of Germania is in the south in Swabia and Bavaria.

…

In the afternoon.

Outside a humble mansion.

With Lothar's order, a group of heavily armed crusader sergeants smashed open the door of the mansion and rushed in like wolves.

Some knights who are nervous about money have long been gearing up and want to take this opportunity to make a small windfall.

Hans hesitated and whispered, "I'll go in and look at it." ”

Lothar frowned, he knew Hans was kind.

"No, just let them play freely, the owner of this mansion is a Jewish businessman named Fredeman, who has a very bad reputation, not only engaged in human trafficking, usury, opening casinos and other industries, but also is the businessman who hoards the most food, and it is most suitable to kill him as an example."

"Moreover, if you don't feed the people under your hands with their money, who will be willing to do their best for you in the future?"

Hans was slightly stunned, hesitated, but still said: "I want to save those women and children, there are always innocent people in this mansion." ”

Lothar frowned and said, "Yes, with you watching, don't let them be too nonsense." ”

Speaking of which, the Jewish businessman was also unlucky.

Human trafficking, the sale of black slaves and prisoners of war.

Loan sharking and the opening of casinos are not crimes that lead to death – at least, not the death of the whole family.

However, although they are all hoarders and speculators, everyone has a backstage, but these Jews don't have it, at least not on the surface, so who is not looking for trouble with these people?

Bad luck is bad luck.

But is it wronged?

Nor is it wronged.

In this era, ten lenders lined up and hung on the gallows one by one, and at most half of them were wronged.

The first, as Lothar puts it, was simply to pick a notorious Jewish businessman to make an example of him.

The second one is much more honest.

In front of the sword, he quickly and obediently handed over the grain, but no matter how Hans asked, he refused to say the mastermind behind it.

"Forget it, there's no need to dwell on who instigated it, even if this kind of thing involves the church, I won't be surprised."

Lothar frowned, his brother could not be treated as violently as he did with a heathen, and his core interests were not in Jerusalem.

The forces here are intertwined, and in Lothar's opinion, it is more comfortable to deal with the infidels than with a sword.

He glanced at the man who was tied up by the soldiers: "Mr. Keitel, since you have voluntarily handed over the stored grain and donations, a virtuous person like you will certainly not engage in usury, and we will leave." ”

The bald Jewish merchant named Keitel suddenly had an expression on his face that he had survived the catastrophe: "That's right, I volunteered to donate food to alleviate the famine in the city. ”

"Thank you, Lord Earl, for your kindness."

When you go out.

Lothar paused slightly: "Mr. Keitel, if you want to live longer, it is better not to engage in such dangerous business again. ”

A wry smile appeared on Keitel's face: "Lord Earl, once a person like us gets on the boat, will there be a chance to come down again?" ”

Lothar was silent for a moment.

"Then I can only pray that next time, you can still take out the 'wealth' to avoid disaster."

Keep going out the door.

He really didn't have a choice, and as long as he Keitel could no longer provide them with enough benefits, he would end badly.

The great nobles and the clergy, these great men had to cherish their feathers to have the value of these Jewish merchants.

Then.

A knight in a blue burqa ran towards him: "Get out of the way, I want to see the Count." ”

Lothar recognized the other party's identity at a glance: "Long time no see, Kevin Knight, why are you here?" ”

Knight Kevin took off his helmet very respectfully, and after saluting, he said in a low voice: "Lord Earl, my lord has invited you to the manor to discuss the matter of tomorrow's court meeting. ”

"Okay, I see, please wait."

Lothar looked at Hans and asked, "Do you see how I did it?" ”

Hans nodded: "I understand, we are not here to seek justice for the sake of those victims, but to stop the 'food shortage' problem in the city. ”

"Yes, don't expand, the current situation in the Holy Land is to seek stability."

Lothar patted him on the shoulder: "The next thing will be left to you to deal with, and this will also be a test for you." ”

Hans let out an "um" and said solemnly, "I'll do it well." ”

After doing this, Lothar turned over and mounted his mount, and said to Kevin Knight, "Let's go, I haven't seen Baron Gofrey for a long time, is he okay?" ”

Lothar didn't see Baron Gofrey at the witch-knight tournament yesterday, which was obviously abnormal.

Kevin Knight's face was a little heavy: "It's not good, my family has an old injury again, these days at home, my legs hurt so badly that I can't even ride a horse." ”

Lothar tightened her eyebrows.

Even excluding his friendship with Baron Gofrey, this old baron is his most important political ally at the moment, and before Barian has grown up, this one will have some mistakes

"Have you asked Bishop Uldin, from the Order of St. Lazarus?"

"No, my lord has been recuperating in a country manor some time ago, and he just came to the city in a carriage today."

Lothar breathed a sigh of relief: "Then it's okay, Bishop Uldin's medical skills are obvious to all in Jerusalem." ”

Kevin Knight's face was a little calmer: "If you say the same, I will be much more relieved." ”

Lothar reacted: "Why, this is because I am afraid that the reputation of Bishop Ulding is all touted by me?" ”

Kevin smiled awkwardly and said, "Don't dare." ”