Jerusalem, the residence of the Duke of Raymond.

Raymond has been having a headache lately, and as a veteran crusader prince and a proper moderate, he is reluctant to fight the infidels.

But the war does not stop because he wants it or not.

His attitude towards Lothar has always been complicated.

On the one hand, I am very optimistic about this young man who has made great achievements not long after he arrived, and now he is like a pillar of the Crusaders surrounded by infidel wolves.

But on the other hand, he felt a huge threat and pressure on Lothar.

As the largest prince in the kingdom, except for Baldwin IV's brief personal expedition for two years, the regent who controlled the court for more than ten years, he was originally in Jerusalem and had absolute authority.

Even the former Archduke of Antioch, Renard of Shatillon, the later Earl of Transjordan, and now the Baron of Calleburg and Montreal, were also suppressed by him in their heyday.

The so-called Queen Mother's party, Raymond's party, and the royal party represented by Baron Gaufrey, in fact, could not summarize the sharp contradictions within Jerusalem, and the contradictions between the Germanic crusaders and the Gallic crusades were also becoming increasingly acute.

Lothar stacked two buffs on his body, both German-born, the only prince in a high position in the Holy Land, and the Teutonic Knights, who were not weak, took the initiative to join him; It seems that there is a tendency to take charge of the royal party and merge with the queen mother's party.

But when the contradiction was about to develop more and more acute, he retreated bravely, as if he didn't care about the power of Jerusalem at all, and jumped out of the political whirlpool directly to become a mercenary for the Eastern Empire.

"Lothar hasn't come back yet?"

Raymond's voice was a little hoarse, and he felt that his health was getting worse and worse lately, perhaps because he had been overworked lately—it was time to donate a sum of money to the Order of St. Lazarus and ask Bishop Uldin to visit him.

The attendant who stood like a shadow in Duke Raymond replied in a low voice: "The person sent to keep an eye on the port has not yet heard the news, but in the outer Jordan border area, the Grand Governor of the Holy Treasury 'Curs' directly under Lothar has begun to prepare for war. ”

"Oh? The same Curs who used to be in charge of the Jerusalem armor workshop and the sale of Gwent cards? ”

Raymond said with interest.

After receiving an affirmative reply, he couldn't help but smile and said: "That's a shrewd and capable talent, Lothar dares to leave his territory and lead an expedition alone, and he has nothing to do with it." ”

Raymond's expression was a little envious, limited by the church's monopoly on knowledge, a reliable internal affairs talent was even rarer than a general who could fight well.

The changes in the territory of Losa are visible to the naked eye, the population has nearly doubled, and large areas of desert have been reclaimed as land, which was originally only a large area of Transjordan, and in a year or two, the size will really be linked to the territory.

"I heard that Lothar made a lot of moves in Constantinople, not only obtained the position of general of the Limassol Military Region, but also formed a deep friendship with the princess in purple?"

The attendant bowed his head and said: "It is true, it is rumored that he defeated Crown Prince Henry of Swabia in the athletic tournament, and also killed a dragon beast with his own hands, according to rumors, Her Majesty the Empress also favored him, and summoned him to meet him alone many times." ”

Raymond's expression was visibly stunned.

Oh no, when you see Lothar again, he won't be the emperor of the empire, Barcelus, right?

He knew that Princess Scipella wanted to marry Lothar, and that he had met many times.

It's also easy to understand.

Among the young nobles who searched the whole of Christendom, it was difficult to find anyone who could surpass Lothar in terms of appearance or talent, and even fewer who had both.

For example, Juyin of Lusignan, although he is a handsome man, his ability is mediocre, and he is still a stunned young man who once assassinated Eleanor, the Grand Duke of Aquitaine.

Originally, Lothar's shortcomings were birth and wealth, but now they have also been filled.

Changing places, Raymond existed on his own, and he would be tempted if he were Sepira.

Isn't this a hundred times stronger than the William he married before?

But I never thought about it.

In the end, it was Berriand who was engaged to Scipera, and he didn't quite understand it at first, thinking that this move might have been deliberately released by Lothar, saying that he wanted to maintain a neutral signal in the confrontation with the Queen Mother.

Never thought that this bastard boy actually wanted to marry the empress?

He couldn't help but complain: "When the Holy Land needed him the most, he actually ran over to pick up the empress's stinky feet, should he really think that the empress would take a fancy to him and let him ascend to the sky to be a co-emperor in one step, right?" ”

"This kind of whimsical person, I don't want to think about it, even if the empress is willing, those Greek nobles are willing to put a 'Frankish barbarian' on their heads to be the emperor."

The attendant behind him was expressionless, but he secretly said in his heart, that is the empress, let alone holding stinky feet and being a lackey.

Even if the Empress was an old woman with half a foot in the coffin, and only one percent of her hopes were favored by her, those who wanted to be her guests could be lined up from the gates of Constantinople to the opposite side of the Golden Horn.

Raymond raised his hand, drew a cross on his chest, and whispered, "Heavenly Father, I will repent of my jealousy that has just arisen." ”

He pulled his emotions away from the news and asked, "How is our mobilization?" ”

"In your domain, the mobilization order has already been issued to each of your vassals, and Grand Master Roger of the Knights Hospitaller has made it clear that he will provide you with three hundred knights, including eight hundred lightly armed riders, in the event of a war."

Raymond nodded slightly.

The Knights Hospitaller is Raymond's most important ally in the Holy Land, and although the price is that Tripoli leases a large amount of territory to the other side, the support in exchange is definitely worth the money.

"What about the wizards?"

Raymond said coldly.

The attendant shook his head and said, "No news yet." ”

Some time ago, Raymond had sent someone to return to Gaul, wanting to use his connections to recruit some wizards as advisors, but there was no news.

"My lord, I must remind you that under the influence of several kings, the lords of the continent realized the importance of spellcasters before us, and the wars and troubles they faced were not as large as ours here."

The implication is obvious.

Not only is it a long way to be a consultant for you, but it is also a big risk, and there are few wizards who are willing to "go out", who is willing to come when they hear your treatment?

Raymond frowned, "You mean the conditions I offered before were low?" ”

Although he was wealthy and had many territories, many of them were only titles, lands, estates, and castles, all of which had been divided into vassals or leased to the Knights, and Tripoli was considered his core domain.

Coupled with the need to maintain a large standing army, he did not have a lot of money in his hands.

You must know that the annual salary he offered before was already a huge fortune that could arm an entire company of heavy cavalry.

That's it, the other party is still not satisfied?

"Not low, sir."

The attendant said a little helplessly: "Saladin, as the king of the Saracen world, second only to the Sassanid king, he controls far more wealth than us, and he has already invited many powerful spellcasters before us. ”

Raymond suddenly thought: "These wizards don't think it's worth it to fight against strong enemies, do they?" ”

The attendant was silent for a moment, then nodded, "Yes, they don't want to work for money. ”

"Huh."

Raymond smiled a little helplessly.

Is this what the Church calls – that all supernatural power comes from the Father?

Isn't this Saladin exercising God's power to punish the Crusaders?

He shook his head, putting the somewhat blasphemous thought behind him.

Satan's power also comes from God, but she is an evil devil, and perhaps those transcendents who follow Saladin and want to destroy and occupy the Holy Land have their power derived from Satan?

"Then we can only rely on our dragon slaying warriors."

Raymond lay on the chair, with a look of helplessness and relief on his face: "I hope this kid still has a trace of piety in his heart like his father Werner."

Then.

Hurried footsteps could be heard outside the door.

The knight, whose robe was covered with wind and sand, strode into the courtyard.

Raymond got up in a hurry, and had an ominous premonition in his heart: "Baroque, why are you in such a hurry?" ”

"My lord, Saladin's messenger has arrived."

The knight, known as the Baroque, spoke in a hurried tone: "He claims that Lothar has violated the armistice and demands that he immediately surrender all the territories that have been occupied by the 'extraordinary' after the armistice."

Sure enough, the day came.

Raymond was silent for a moment.

The attendant behind him spoke: "This condition does not seem to be impossible to agree. ”

In his opinion, it seemed good that this war could be avoided just by selling out the interests of Lothar.

After all, isn't Lothar her master's opponent?

"Absolutely not!"

Raymond's expression grim: "Do you really think that betraying Lothar's interests will stop Saladin?" What is Rauf and deserves Saladin to claim his territory for him? It's just a pretext for a declaration of war. ”

There is another reason why he did not say that in the case of the political correctness of waging war with the infidels, whoever dares to propose to betray the interests of his own people and make peace with the infidels will be discredited and will not be able to raise his head in the whole Christian world.

Baldwin IV could not have agreed, and once he did, the entire kingdom of Jerusalem would no longer have the meaning of existence.