People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Chapter 246 Potion Army
Inside the bedroom.

The chessboard has been laid.

Baldwin IV, with short brown curly hair, leisurely pointed to the ceramic cup opposite.

"Have a cup of tea, as you like, unspiced."

Lothar took the teacup and drank it down.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, it was a familiar taste, but it was obviously not a good tea.

"Is everything going well?"

Lothar came to the opposite stool and sat down, holding the white chess first.

Chess is just the opposite of Gwent, where the first player often has an advantage.

"It went very well. More than 1000 people were recruited in one afternoon. Thanks for your help."

Without Baldwin IV's cooperation in all aspects, the recruiting of the people may still proceed smoothly, but the progress will definitely not be so fast.

"Well, if there is spare land, then recruit as many people as possible.

Recently there have been rumors in Jerusalem that there are sea monsters infested in the coastal area of ​​Alexandria, and the sea food road has been cut off.

Hoarding happened in the city, causing the price of food to double in just two days.Moreover, there is a tendency to continue to increase. I am worried that if this continues, it will cause turmoil. "

Lothar frowned: "What did the Jewish businessman do?"

In this kind of thing, the first person to doubt the Jews is right.

"Well, but not only, there are also big nobles involved, but they are all hidden behind the scenes. They store a lot of grain in their territory, and they can make a lot of money by raising the price of grain."

Lothar frowned: "Just leave this matter to me."

"What are you going to do?"

Lothar made a sign of the cross in front of him: "In the eyes of Heavenly Father, usury is the ugliest and most heinous crime."

Baldwin IV frowned and said, "What I asked you to deal with is hoarding. What does it have to do with usury?"

"Since they are Jewish merchants, would you believe it if they said that they did not lend money?"

The Jews were restricted from employment, and lending was one of the only means of livelihood for them, and the interest was generally higher than that of the "bank" of the Knights Templar.

Whether it is counted as a "usury" loan is all in the ruler's mind.

For example, when the Knights Templar were arrested by the King of France, they must have been lending usury, which is actually true, but no one has been held accountable before.

Baldwin IV frowned: "You want to use such charges to get rid of them?"

He is an upright monarch, but he also knows that he has no right to punish those big nobles who followed suit and hoarded food, so this is the only way to do this matter.

"Well, with the grain hoarded in their hands, the price of grain can basically stabilize. After that, the grain transport ship from Egypt should also arrive."

In a few words, the life and death of a group of people has been judged.

There was no obvious change in the expressions of the two of them, but they naturally jumped to the next topic.

"Just do as you say, in the name of the Grand Master of the Royal Knights."

"Ah."

Lothar nodded slightly. Baldwin IV said that he took the responsibility of dealing with Jewish lenders to himself.

Although few people sympathize with Jewish moneylenders these days.

But in Hebron of Lothar, there are many Jews living in the city, most of them are responsible industrial and commercial people, and the title of "Jewish butcher" may have a bad influence on him.

Baldwin IV rubbed his brows in distress: "I've been promoting the marriage between Belian and Sibylah recently."

"There is a lot of resistance?"

"Ah."

Lothar thought about it.

Even excluding the fact that Princess Sibilla's son would be the first heir to the throne of Jerusalem, the princess is still a powerful nobleman.

It is normal to have resistance.

In this, there is likely to be a credit for Lothar. After all, his rise is too fast. Both the Jue Party and the Queen Mother Party are worried about increasing the power of the Royal Party again.

Seeing Lothar's brows furrowed tightly, Baldwin IV couldn't help laughing and said, "Do you think there's nothing good about being a king? You can't even decide on your own sister's marriage."

Lothar sighed: "It's your condition that drags you down."

If it weren't for leprosy, it would not be impossible for Baldwin IV to lead the Battle of Mengisa, defeat Saladin's power, and become the greatest king of Jerusalem.

He sighed softly: "No matter what the reason is, it can't change the fact that under my rule, the country is torn apart, the king's power is declining, and the internal disputes are endless. I am very worried that one day, the Holy Land will be lost in my hands."

Lothar said solemnly: "Your Majesty, I assure you that I will do my best to protect the Holy Land from being occupied by heretics."

Baldwin IV smiled, picked up a chess piece, and dropped it: "Don't underestimate your opponent."

"Miss Nishaya once told me that the Eastern Empire cultivated a large-scale army that took potions. The Bulgarians who rebelled in the north of Thrace gathered tens of thousands of rebels, and they were all killed by this army of less than 300 people. The army was easily defeated, and only the rebel leader Ivan Risen escaped."

Lothar frowned.

The Bulgarians are good at fighting, they are a mix of Bulgars and Migrating Rus.

Simeon I had been crowned Caesar, tsar, in Constantinople.

Since then known as the emperor of the Bulgarians, after that, even occupied almost the entire Balkans.

But the bravery of the Bulgarians was not as good as that of the Greeks, and in the end the Eastern Empire had the last laugh.

In history, at this approximate point in time, the Bulgarians rebelled, but in Lothar's world, the rebellion finally succeeded.

Of course, there are many differences between the two worlds, and there will be different development trajectories, which is nothing more than normal.

Lothar joked: "Even this kind of secret was set out by you?"

Baldwin IV's face froze slightly, and he continued: "Miss Nishaya is a good girl who is innocent and kind."

Lothar was thoughtful: "That is to say 'not very smart'?"

Baldwin IV "coughed" and couldn't hold back his face: "It's a chivalrous virtue to be honest, how can you say it's not smart?"

Lothar's expression gradually became serious: "Potions are expensive. Apart from the Eastern Empire, I am afraid that the Sasanian Dynasty is capable of forming such an army."

This is not referring to Assassin's inferior potion that stimulates the potential in a short period of time and dies immediately after drinking it.

That kind of potion is impossible to make 300 troops defeat tens of thousands of rebels, even if it is a group of mobs, Yan can drown these [-] people.

At least, as far as Lothar is concerned, he felt that even if he brought three hundred hussars, with Jeanne, he and Hans triple bonus, he might not be able to achieve the same record.

What's more, the Bulgarians are famous for their bravery and fearlessness, which is by no means comparable to that of ordinary Saracen recruited old farmers.

Baldwin IV solemnly said: "More than that, at least half of them."

"Saladin?"

"Well, in addition to this, maybe a few kings of the European continent must be added. You have to know that the price of potions is high. In terms of financial resources, perhaps only the Eastern Empire and the Sasanian Dynasty can afford it."

"But Emperor Henry was the first monarch to convene a witch advisory group, and King Charles even married a witch as his wife."

Lothar nodded and said: "I will be careful. The enemy dispatched a wizard in the battle of Ella Port this time. Fortunately, the strength is not enough. Otherwise, we will also suffer heavy losses."

Baldwin IV frowned and said, "Spellcasters have entered the world one after another, and I don't know what's going on in this world."

After finishing speaking, without waiting for Lothar to answer, he said again: "Next, what are your plans?"

"Expanding the army."

Lothar is succinct.

While recuperating, train an army for the next stage of expansion. This is Lothar's primary goal at the moment.

Baldwin IV nodded and said: "Do you need me to subsidize you? There is still some spare money in the king's private treasury, but not much."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, but no need."

"Oh, I think so too. Both Port Ella and Hebron are wealthy places. In terms of wealth, you should be richer than me now, and you should be the one who supports me."

Lothar smiled bitterly: "It turns out that you are advancing by retreating."

"Oh, just kidding you."

Baldwin IV chuckled and said, "It's beyond my expectation that you have come to this point. If you have time to talk to Baron Godfrey, I will implement your idea of ​​establishing a border region as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Lothar said sincerely.

"Go back after playing this game of chess. I haven't seen you for a while. Your chess strength has not improved at all. It seems that you have never played except me."

A gentle smile appeared on Baldwin IV's face.

"I have to thank you for being able to play this game of chess with me patiently."

(End of this chapter)