Early morning. Outside Jerusalem.

Several houses in a row, clustered around a church, stretch along the west bank of the river.

The fields are full of greenery.

Under the towering windmill, Father Edmund, carrying a bag of rye and wearing a shabby robe, walked into the mill.

"I need to borrow a mill."

He pointed to the top of his bare head—a testament to his status as a Catholic clergyman.

The warden of the mill looked at him, squeezed a "hmm" out of his nose, and ignored the poor sour, who could not receive the mill royalties to the head of a clergyman.

As for whether this person is a liar or not?

Jerusalem is the last thing to do is this kind of ascetic, and the guards are no longer strange.

Half a day.

Edmund carried the milled flour on his shoulders and walked out of the mill.

He was once an ascetic from Saxony and is now a member of the Order of St. Lazarus.

His situation had not improved by joining the Order, and he was still very poor, which was why he was willing to join the Order of St. Lazarus.

It is not that the Order has not received donations, but almost every donation has not been in the hands of the Order for long.

Jesus said, "Feed my Lamb."

So Edmund, and the clergy of the Order, thought they should give food to the hungry.

Combined with the cost of healing pilgrims free of charge, the entire Order was living in great difficulty.

At this moment, he heard dense footsteps.

Immediately after, a Black Eagle banner rose from the hillside, and gradually revealed the burly sergeant in full chain mail behind it.

The flag-bearer holding the flagpole walked proudly at the front of the team with regular steps.

A group of knights, men and horses, dressed in bright plate armor, followed the peasant army he led.

Edmund glanced at a heavily armored infantry with a two-handed axe on his shoulder, almost frightened by the murderous look in his eyes.

At the back of the line, there was a dense sound of horses' hooves.

The Teutonic knights, dressed in black crosses on a white background, surrounded by their squires, proudly accepted the inspection of passers-by along the way.

They now have a horse and armor, and they are looking forward to a war to prove their worth.

Immediately after, Edmund saw the familiar coat of arms again—the Guardian Knight of his own church.

The mill warden walked out of the mill and said in a loud voice, "This is the army of the Count of Lothar, and there is another war?" With whom is it this time, Saladin? Or the Persians? ”

"Lord Earl!"

The miller looked at Edmund, the poor priest, in astonishment, and ran to the procession with anticipation, and muttered, "Heaven, is he trying to make a fortune with the Earl's army?" ”

"What a daring guy."

Subsequently.

He saw the young man on horseback, surrounded by knights in the center, who looked extremely noble, muttered something helplessly, and then took out his money bag to Edmund.

Edmund walked happily towards the mill with his purse in his hand, waving his arms at the line and greeting the Order's brethren whom he might not have met.

in the team.

Lothar complained helplessly to one of the knight cathars, "Can I know what Ulding has taught you?" When you see me, you're going to run up and hug my horse's neck and beg for money? ”

The Guardian Knight's face showed a look of embarrassment.

"Your Excellency, you know, the Order's finances have been strained, the poor are everywhere, and we cannot refuse help to them."

Hearing this, Heberland's face stiffened slightly.

In other words, their destitute Teutonic Knights will merge with another Redemption Order of St. Lazarus, who is also destitute and even begs for their lords in the streets?

From the beginning of the establishment of the Knights, Heberland, who was worried about money, couldn't help but show a trace of sadness on his face.

…

A court council in Jerusalem.

The attendant muttered in Raymond's ear for a while, and although Raymond's face did not change, his heart still muttered.

This Losa, whose territory is deep inland, how could he lead such a huge armoured army to conquer Cyprus?

What is the use of him getting Mazotos?

Do you instead collect commercial taxes from merchant ships that are berthed?

Ha, this idiot, there are so many ports in Cyprus, who would go out of his way to Mazotos to anchor.

He cleared the distractions in his heart and stared at the debate of the nobles on the field with a serious face.

The conquest of Cyprus was unanimously approved by the Crusader princes.

Regardless of this, Isaac, who occupied the port of Cyprus and entered into a cooperative agreement with Saladin, posed a great threat to all Crusader merchant ships.

Isaac's misdeeds on the island of Cyprus alone, including the killing of clergy and the robbery of nuns, were enough for Christendom to condemn them.

You know, Isaac didn't just attack the Orthodox Church.

It's just that these people again disagree on what to do with the island.

Many of the Crusader nobles intended to take advantage of this opportunity to take possession of the island and claim the island for themselves, which must be supported by the kingdom.

Otherwise, even if they captured some land on the island of Cyprus, they would not be able to defend it.

"You have been so reckless, the island of Cyprus is a friend of the kingdom, an important territory of the empire, and the queen regent, who has paid for her and promised to pay for the military expenses of this trip, should not ask for more. Greed is one of the seven original sins! ”

"Hmph, she threw out a bone, and she wants us to fight like mad dogs?"

"Listen to me, Saladin has been easing relations with the Eastern Empire since he broke off his support for the Turkic tribes, and we can't push the Eastern Empire to the enemy's side."

"Then we won't send troops."

"If you don't come out, you won't come out!"

In the hall, there are swords, and a group of people are fighting each other, how can there be any so-called aristocratic manners.

Hans was also in the main hall, listening to the arguments of the crowd, and could not help but be a little annoyed.

Things are clear.

It's the landless knights who have just arrived in the Holy Land, and they can't wait to expand their territory and acquire fiefdoms.

This group of people is the source of turmoil in the Holy Land, but they are now important supporters of the Lothar faction, and the convergence of the Queen Mother's Party and the Royal Party also means that they will be drawn into these disputes.

Baron Goldfrey, for example, did not attend the meeting at all.

"That's enough."

A majestic male voice sounded at the palace gate.

The young prince, dressed in a black dragon-headed cloak, strode into the hall.

The crusader nobles didn't dare to look at him for a while.

During this time, Lothar received the service of the Teutonic Knights, although this group of knights was often ridiculed by their peers as a beggar order, but Lothar had nearly a hundred more knights to serve, which was a great event.

In the minds of many nobles, Lothar is not only equal to Raymond in status, but also has to catch up with hard power.

"Your Majesty has not forcibly recruited any lord to participate in this battle, since it is all voluntary, why quarrel?"

Lothar's tone was not high.

But everyone present had to listen intently.

"In this battle, I will send a thousand armored soldiers and four hundred armored cavalry to fight against the tyrant who has made himself king on the island of Cyprus."

After speaking.

Lothar ignored anyone present and walked straight out of the palace.

Leaving behind a burst of whispering aristocrats.

"Count Lothar has a relationship with the Empire again? How long has he been in the Holy Land? ”

Someone complained: "The Count of Lothar is really imposing, and it is said that he has won the allegiance of those poor acid knights, which even Lord Raymond does not care." ”

Raymond sneered: "He hasn't gone far yet, he has the ability to catch up, say it in front of him?" ”

The man was speechless and did not dare to speak again.

Outside, an army uniformly equipped with a black eagle robe on a white background and a black cross robe on a white background was already in full array.

The trip to the city was both a demonstration and a demonstration of his support for the king.

His footsteps paused slightly, as if he sensed a certain line of sight, and subconsciously raised his head.

Baldwin IV was standing by the window, smiling softly at him.

The corners of Lothar's mouth curled.

Waved his hand upward.

It's not that he doesn't know that he is standing on the opposite side of those radicals.

But he didn't care.

(End of chapter)