The Duchy of Austria is the southeastern border region of the Holy Roman Empire, and it was still a county more than half a year ago, but for some strange reason, its lord, the Imperial Count Leopold Babenburg, was suddenly awarded the title of Imperial Duke by the Holy Roman Emperor, and the Duchy of Austria was inexplicably established.

The important thing is that Duke Leopold's wife was the daughter of the previous Roman Emperor, that is, the sister of the current Roman Emperor Henry V, and Henry V had no legal descendants, so Duke Leopold was also one of the candidates for the heir to the Holy Roman Empire.

At the same time, he was a devout follower of the Illuminati, and strongly supported all the preaching of the Illuminati, so that the nobility within the duchy developed the same habits, although many were forced, but at least they were very face-saving.

Zhao Bufan and Viscount Charles were now very grateful to Leopold, because Viscount Charles shouted the slogan of participating in the Crusades and proclaimed that he wanted to spread the glory of the Illuminati when they saw people, so they could naturally seek funding when they passed through the Duchy of Austria.

Although this army of only two people is really a bit shabby, even ridiculous, but Viscount Charles is a legitimate nobleman, and even got permission from the church to go to the East, so their army is a legitimate army recognized by the Holy See of Light, and no one can question its nature.

Their journey alarmed the attention of Duke Leopold himself, who was far away at Babenburg, and the devout Illuminati were so pleased that they dared to embark on the expedition alone, and sent three hundred and sixty gold coins to show his generosity and support.

This also forced more Austrian principality nobles to make representations.

Some give a hundred gold coins, some give fifty gold coins, and some give one hundred and twenty gold coins......

Although the number of individual donations is small, the number of people who can't bear to donate is a lot of money.

Viscount Charles was so happy that when he was about to leave the territory of the Duchy of Austria, he sat down in his carriage and counted the glittering gold coins, and said with a twinkle in his eyes: "I now feel that we have made a great and wise decision, for we have more than two thousand gold coins, which is enough for us to run a good farm, or to arm more than thirty elite soldiers, and of course to do some business in the city." ”

Zhao Bufan expressed helplessness at his gradually revealing nature: "Your Excellency, if you do this now, you will face the wrath of the church and the nobles of the Duchy of Austria, and then you will be removed from the church and burned at the stake, and I will be burned alive with you." ”

These words made Viscount Charlie feel depressed, and he hid the bag containing the gold coins at the bottom of the canopy carriage again, and said dejectedly: "I thought I was brave, but these days I find that I am afraid, war in the Levant can ennoble a man who has nothing, but it can also make a noble man nothing, even life." ”

Zhao Bufan was very surprised, and looked back at him: "Your Excellency, you dare to even try a long voyage, why are you afraid of war?"

"That's because I used to think that the glory of the God of Light has always shrouded me, so I have nothing to fear, but now I find that the God of Light does not favor me, although I am so pious, but he connived at others to take everything from me, leaving me with nothing, and now I can only rely on myself to maintain my dignity and realize the value of life, I don't understand why?"

Viscount Charles seemed puzzled, the ups and downs of his life made him begin to question his past cognition, and the great ocean voyage earlier allowed him to increase his knowledge, enrich his knowledge, and come into contact with different cultures and beliefs, without realizing that his mind was already liberated and gradually freed from spiritual confinement.

Zhao Bufan felt this, and once again urged the horse under his crotch to move forward slowly, and was silent for a long time before saying leisurely: "Faith can make Your Excellency good and strong, it can make Your Excellency's heart strong and know how to be grateful, but to achieve everything, after all, you still have to rely on yourself, the greatest gift given to you by God in your heart is yourself, isn't it?"

Viscount Charles, who was slumped in the carriage, was stunned, seemed to have some understanding, and did not say a word for a long time.

A day later, they left the borders of the Duchy of Austria and entered the Kingdom of Hungary, which, although still a kingdom of the Holy See of Light, was decidedly less generous than the nobility of the nobility, with no support other than to allow them safe passage, and the two-man army was even subjected to extreme ridicule.

Not only the aristocrats, but even the ordinary people were happy to watch, as if they were looking at some strange animal.

Viscount Charlie was so distraught that he could not tolerate this ridicule, and angrily ran to the capital of the kingdom, Booth, to complain to the local church.

In the name of the glorious crusade, he hoped to be treated politely, and even accused the nobles and the populace of insulting the honor of the crusaders and tarnishing the purity of the faith.

Zhao Bufan didn't want to follow him around like this, thinking that this was a farce, but what made him dumbfounded was that the church actually accepted this complaint, and thought that what Viscount Charles said was very reasonable, no matter what the number of troops was, it still represented the glory of the Holy See of Light and should be respected, and even alarmed the archbishop of this diocese.

This is a complete subversion of Zhao Bufan's three views, although he has always thought that Viscount Charlie can speak well, has an incredible ability to break blindly, and can say that white is black, but after all, it will not be so strong to such an incredible extent.

It wasn't until he had been involved in several negotiations that he gradually understood.

The Church didn't care how seriously Viscount Charles said it, but wanted to use every opportunity to establish absolute authority, as long as it was an army approved by the Church of Light, even if it was a person, it must be respected.

This matter is getting bigger and bigger, and even the Hungarian king Stephen Alpad is involved, tossing back and forth for almost half a month, until the idle Zhao Bufan is about to visit all the cities of Booth, Viscount Charles finally won the inquisition of the church.

The archbishop of the diocese then issued an official document forbidding anyone to mock or disrespect the army, and did not know what Viscount Charles had done, so that the archbishop of the diocese had conferred on him the title of Knight of the Holy See of Light and Holiness.

This is canonization in public religious ceremonies.

Not only was it attended by a large number of people, but also witnessed by King Stephen and many nobles.

Thousands of people watched as Viscount Charles knelt on one knee on the grass outside the door of Booth Cathedral and accepted the canonization of the diocesan archbishop.

At this time, Zhao Bufan was still in a state of confusion, completely unable to understand what was happening, and there was only one thought in his mind.

Is that okay too?

No matter how incomprehensible he is, in this day and age, if the Church thinks it is reasonable, then it means legitimacy, at least in the kingdom covered by the Holy See of Light, and this title brings not only glory, but also rights.

In the name of the Church, the Archbishop gave Viscount Charles a golden banner embroidered with a white cross, allowing him to canonize more eligible people as Holy See Knights, and the duty was to follow the guidance of the Holy See and spread the glory of the Holy See.

Originally, Zhao Bufan thought that there was nothing wrong with him, but he just stood by and watched in shock, but he never expected that Viscount Charlie had not forgotten his partner in distress, and had already recommended him to the archbishop, and also told him that he was a nobleman in the East.

Of course, Viscount Charles made up a beautiful story, in which there was no trade with the profiteers of the Chola Kingdom, and there was no dirty twelve dinars, only a nobleman from the West made a great trade, and then he met an Eastern nobleman who longed for light, and under the glory of the God of Light, the Eastern nobleman chose to leave his homeland and follow the Western nobles into the arms of the God of Light with infinite piety.

This great Western aristocrat naturally refers to Viscount Charlie, and as for that strange Eastern nobleman, of course, it refers to Zhao Bufan.

The archbishop, in order to proclaim this great act, motioned to Viscount Charles to speak again on the spot to thousands of people.

Viscount Charles also gave full play to his extraordinary eloquence, expressing his greatness and Zhao Bufan's piety to the fullest, and a heroic epic with a hundred twists and turns made people fascinated, and many people sometimes wept, sometimes laughed, and were deeply moved.

The card-playing incident at sea turned into a pious prayer in his mouth.

The story of the lost island turned into an evil attack in his mouth, full of brave struggle and unwavering faith, and even faced with the plight of being eaten by barbarians, they also shined light on their hearts.

Those romantic things after landing on the shore became in his mouth to spread glory and save the lost girl.

Even the boring mercenary fights turned into a desperate fight for his faith......

Zhao Bufan expressed helplessness in his heart, but the only thing he could do was to remain silent.

Soon, countless admiring eyes gradually fell on him and Viscount Charlie, a large number of flowers spread all over the red carpet where they were canonized, and then Zhao Bufan walked to the end of the red carpet in the solemn papal music to accept the canonization of the archbishop.

"I, the most devout servant of the God of Light, have officially conferred upon Rilo the title of Brave and Holy Knight of the Holy See, may the God of Light always be with you!"

............

After the complicated etiquette, Zhao Bufan inexplicably became a knight, officially becoming a member of the religious aristocracy, and then received the courtesy support of King Stephen with two hundred gold coins, saying that it was for him to build a knight's equipment.

The gold coin was naturally accepted, but he didn't think the equipment was necessary, the current equipment was relatively lighter, and he was not so tired from traveling.

The storm soon passed, and they set out again like heroes, bathed in flowers and applause, and with the addition of a golden banner embroidered with a cross, they did not look the same, but their ability to accumulate wealth became very strong.

Because he carried the knightly title conferred by the church, Viscount Charles would ask for funding every time he walked through a territory, showing the canonization documents issued by the church, and those nobles almost never refused, and unknowingly there were thousands of gold coins.

This made Viscount Charlie sometimes laugh out loud even when he slept.

It's a pity that Zhao Bufan is not happy at all, he knows very well in his heart that he has been forced to walk on a road of no return, he does not dare to stay, he does not dare to run around, he can only move towards the Levant.

If they do not fulfill their promise to the Church and the nobility and do not participate in the crusade, they will face the most terrible punishment......