The majestic Duke's Guard slowly marched down the street.

The hussars who opened the way, armed swords unsheathed in their hands, shouted and ordered pedestrians to avoid a road.

The inhabitants of the city did not react much to Lothar's journey.

These days, the crusader nobles who are proud of their prowess in Damietta, they have seen a lot.

After realizing that these Franks were not as legendary and killed people on sight, it was not surprising that the arrival of the Crusaders was nothing more than a change of lord on their heads, and other than that, it seemed to be no different from before.

Rather, some crusaders and pilgrims who recognized the double-headed eagle banner and the hussar costume gathered in the procession, holding crosses or flags in their hands, and excitedly calling for the nickname and title of Lothar.

"To the greatest prince of all, Lothar!"

"Victor, brave, dragon slayer, great guardian of the holy lance, please grant me your blessings."

"Holy Son bless me, I will not be defeated in a hundred battles!"

Some idle Copts also had the courage to come forward to join in the fun.

"Is this the legendary Guardian of the Holy Lance?"

"St. Margaret's on it, is he riding a heavenly horse? It looks taller and bigger than my camel! ”

"I have to admit that seeing this lord, those unbelievable legends on his body seem to have some credibility, this is definitely not a mortal lord!"

They marveled, their eyes fixed on Lothar and his guards.

In my heart, there was a rare idea that it was really possible for the other party to defeat the Saracens, who had occupied Egypt for more than 500 years.

The site of today's military meeting was set up in the camp of the Crusaders on the outskirts of the city, where there was an open field, with lush banyan trees and palms, and under the shade of the trees, more than a dozen noble lords had already arrived in advance.

King Lionheart looked at the smoke-filled and dusty guards with fluttering flags from afar, and couldn't help but smile and said, "What a big show." ”

The head of his guard, a Normandy earl, sneered: "The nobles of the East are so fond of extravagance, no wonder they have lost their prowess, and have lost Antioch and Edessa one after another." ”

His tone was a little sour. In order to make up for the military expenses of the Eastern Crusade, the Lionheart King almost drained the treasury of his own territory, and also imposed a large additional "Saladin Tax", which made the entire Albion nobility not very happy.

When he finally arrived at the Holy Land, he found that the armor of his family heirloom was not as good as the armor of a random guard on the other side, and the other party was only a Swabian mountain citizen half a year ago, which made him feel a strong injustice.

"He only called himself a duke, and if he really let him take the whole of Egypt, wouldn't there be thousands of servants when he traveled?"

Richard frowned, although he didn't care about money and other things outside of his body, he also knew how important money was to an army.

"Alright, don't be emotional, my knight, we didn't come to the East to amass wealth."

King Lionheart chuckled, he had come this time, risking being usurped by his restless brother, not for the wealth and power of the East, but for a hearty battle and supreme prestige.

"Don't look down on him, a Swabian mountain dweller can't do that. These days, too, you see, the soldiers love him, the nobles fear him, the Saracens fear him, and even I have to admit that he is an absolutely worthy crusader commander. ”

"That's because you didn't come."

The captain of the Earl Guard sneered with some disdain: "Any so-called dazzling achievements of his, in exchange for you will only accomplish better." ”

"You're too arrogant, Fuller."

Although he said this, Richard didn't think there was anything wrong with what the captain of the Earl Guard he relied on.

"Alright, Fuller, it's time for us to meet our Marquis. Remember, put away the disdain on your face, I've heard that when the Duke was a baron, he was fond of throwing gloves in other people's faces. And you are no match for him. ”

The captain of the Earl Guard was a little unconvinced, but when he saw the figure on the back of the giant horse, he swallowed back what he was about to say.

This guy, whether it is a mount, horse armor, or armor, is full of extraordinary, which makes people subconsciously give birth to a kind of awe.

Richard greeted Lothar warmly, exchanged a few pleasantries, and as more and more of the Crusader nobles arrived, the two looked at each other and smiled, and returned to their respective camps.

Inside, hundreds of crusader nobles, large and small, as well as their attendants, gathered in groups of three or five, and if you look down from the sky, you can see that these nobles are divided into two circles that are not so distinct.

The core figures of the circle are Lothar and Richard.

Li looked at Lothar, who was surrounded by the crowd, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, this guy is simply a little young.

In fact, in his heart, he still admires Lothar very much.

But the two are destined to stand in opposition to each other.

In this military discussion, what he wanted was to win more followers, and at the same time seek the position of commander as much as possible, although Lothar was the Crusader Marshal of Baldwin IV, but this position was by no means irreplaceable.

It was customary for a crusader to be commanded by the most noble of titles, or by lords of similar rank, who formed a temporary council of military councils, who worked together to formulate military strategies.

Such an unspoken rule is obviously beneficial to Richard, and a noble monarch like him, even if he cannot achieve the position of commander, should be similar to Lothar's status and jointly formulate military strategies.

On the other side, Lothar, who was chatting and laughing with Baron Goffrey, seemed to inadvertently sweep his eyes over Richard the Lionheart, and saw that the king from the continent was talking enthusiastically with Cardinal Sebastian, and couldn't help frowning slightly.

Although Sebastian was only a Patriarch of Alexandria in name only, he was also one of the five most revered people in the Catholic world.

The Patriarch of Jerusalem, who has the same status as the Patriarch of Alexandria, has not even paid much attention to the Pope's orders over the years, and the Pope has nothing to do with him, which is evident in the respect of the Patriarch's status.

There is no secular power to support the theocracy, like a castle in the sky, but now, Sebastian has the support of Lionheart.

Lothar got up and came to the makeshift platform, with his sword at his waist, and he swaggered majestically, and without seeing him say anything, the noisy and chaotic crusader nobles below quickly fell silent.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in less than a week we have taken almost the entire province of Damietta, and have won a great victory that will go down in history, and it is a miracle that all those who occupy the castles and villages will swear allegiance to me, and I will canonize you with the corresponding titles in the name of the following Duke of Egypt."

As the words fell, the Crusader nobles cheered.

Many of them were the second sons of unfavored families, who would either become monks of a monastery or be willing to live in poverty and inherit a remote, barren territory.

For a piece of territory, they used to have to pay for most of their lives, making several outstanding feats, and narrowly dying—but now, they have only fought a few small battles without much effort.

"Praise the Duke!"

"Long live the Duke!"

They cheered.

Even the nobles, who had been loyal to Lothar in private, did not spare their cheers and joy.

Lothar stretched out his hand and pressed it, and said, "The second thing is that we have welcomed a truly pious and brave crusader; A great king who did not hesitate to put aside the complicated affairs of an entire kingdom for the sake of the safety of the Holy Land and the great cause of the Crusades to visit the Holy Land in person - the monarch of Albion, the duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, the count of Anjou and Mann, His Majesty Richard the Lionheart! ”

The crowd cheered again.

On the bright side, the visit of King Richard the Lionheart to the Holy Land is definitely a good thing.

"Praise the Lionheart, praise Richard!"

"Praise be to the Father, the cause of the Crusaders will be victorious!"

Richard the Lionheart stepped forward and said with a smile: "Everything is God's will, Damietta is just the beginning, and next, Cairo, Alexandria, Edessa, Antioch and even Aleppo will return to the arms of Christians." ”

"Marquis of Lothar, I have something I want to deal with before I continue the military discussion."

Lothar smiled and nodded, "Your Majesty, please." ”

I saw a somewhat familiar man, caught between two Lionheart's guards, and brought to the front of the stage.

Richard the Lionheart looked coldly at the man who was brought up, and said, "Lord Lothar, this Jew is buying the hard-earned booty of the soldiers in the camp, inducing and even defrauding them at extremely low prices!" ”

As the words fell, a group of nobles and attendants began to clamor.

Many of them suffered this loss.

In fact, many people are doing this kind of thing.

Genoese, Venetian, Greek merchant

But the reputation of the Jews is simply too bad.

Among other things, the mere fact that they killed Christ was a deep enmity with all Christians.

"Could it be that the soldiers, in order to protect the safety of the Holy Land, fearless of life and death, fought bloody battles against the infidels, were knocked out of the bones and marrow by such swindlers, stole the last copper in their bags, and ended up destitute?"

The atmosphere around is even more lively.

In fact, far less serious than Richard suggests, many crusaders fell into destitute conditions because they squandered their money on wine and women.

But there is nothing wrong with killing Jews.

Many grumpy knights and nobles raised their hands and waved their fists: "Kill him, damned Jew!" ”

"Hang him on the gallows and let the crows peck at his eyeballs, that's what happens to the Jews."

"Lord Duke, your kindness should not be given to such people!"

"What do you think, Lord Marquis? After all, you are regarded as a protector by the Jews, and when my men questioned him, he claimed that the purpose of this frenzy was to donate a protection money to you. ”

Riskan asked Lothar with a smile.

Lothar's expression did not change in the slightest, and he said in a deep voice: "Do you think that I instructed the Jews to deceive the Crusaders? ”

"It's ridiculous. These days, who doesn't know that I have opened a trophy purchase in the camp for a much higher price than the market prices, and if this Jew is really serving me, will I tear down my own platform? ”

King Richard the Lionheart hurriedly said: "Lord Marquis, I didn't mean that, on the contrary, I am complaining about a noble person like you. The slander of such a despicable man must not tarnish your honor in the slightest. ”

"Yes, this despicable villain dares to slander the Duke."

"Kill this damn Jew!"

Lothar sneered, he had already recognized, this Jew was Maimondni, a Jewish merchant from Iberia who had served as the governor of Ibn and the leader of the Jewish community in the city of Damietta.

If this man had died, the Jewish community would have thought that he had broken the agreement between the two sides, and although they would not have had the courage to start a rebellion, they would certainly not have been as enthusiastic about donating money and goods as before.

"Your Excellency, please save me."

The Jew knelt on the ground, his lips trembling, and whispered a plea for Lothar to open the net: "Please." ”

Lothar frowned.

He originally planned to attack Sebastian at this military meeting, after all, this guy violated military regulations many times, looted villages, and openly slaughtered prisoners of war, at least he had to hang a few of his knights on the gallows, which could be regarded as a shock.

But that doesn't seem to be going to work now.

On the one hand, King Lionheart is angry with "his own people", while he is executing "his own people" for the heretics or heretical Copts.

"Pull it down and be punished with caning."

Lothar waved her hand.

He took a deep look at King Lionheart, and then said, "Ladies and gentlemen, early this morning, I received a surprising news—a newborn sacred tree has appeared in the domain of Knight Jeanne, which must be the reward of the Heavenly Father for the pious, for us who have fought bravely against the enemy, how vast is the territory of Egypt, and what a land of opportunity it will be if the infinite desert can be turned into fertile soil by the sacred tree in the future?" ”

This news immediately swept through the entire military conference like a storm.

(End of chapter)