Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 249: Compulsory Class
However, having said that, Saladin did not dare to say that he would definitely be able to maintain the advantage.

Although his army is growing steadily and linearly, the Crusaders' army may double in size.

Compared with His Holiness the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, His Majesty the Caliph living in Baghdad in the Islamic world is indeed quite inferior.

Even though the total number of Sunnis in the world today is in the tens of millions, it may be equivalent to the population of the Southern Song Dynasty and even more than the Catholic world.

However, the authority of the Caliphate has declined greatly. It is nominally recognized, but apart from religious calls, it is unable to directly interfere in every corner of the Islamic world through the administrative system.

In a sense, on a secular level, the Caliph of Baghdad has already reached the status of the lord of Baghdad.

Sometimes, there were even some caliphs who were so disgraced that they were driven out of Baghdad and were not even worthy of being the city lord...

As for His Holiness the Pope, even though he is often driven out of Rome, he still has a certain degree of authority to appoint and dismiss people in the local church system.

Relying on a relatively close-knit transnational bureaucratic organization, in these days, His Holiness the Pope can really mobilize people from various major countries and organize a coalition to go on the Crusades.

At present, there are about 10,000 to 20,000 Crusader troops in the Holy Roman Empire alone.

If we take into account the French and English Crusaders that may arrive next, it is very likely that Saladin's military power limit will be exceeded.

But this is not the limit...

It can be said that the Third Crusade was Saladin's single-handed fight against the Catholic world with the Ayyubid dynasty. As for other Muslim countries... most of them were just fooling around.

Relying on his population of tens of millions, Saladin was able to crush the Kingdom of Jerusalem by taking advantage of his manpower.

But when faced with the mobilized Catholic world, Saladin prayed much more often.

In fact, other Muslim countries are too insect-like!

The idea of ​​striking first and gaining the upper hand kept lingering in Saladin's mind.

Moreover, the progress of artillery has made great progress in the past six months, which gave Saladin considerable confidence.

……

In a slightly luxurious reception room, Balian held the plan in his hand and looked at Garys who was silent beside him.

In Balian's eyes, this real hero, who was not young, seemed a little timid, with a hint of awe towards Garys.

Indeed, Gairis was not a secular monarch in any sense, and Balian had not performed any ceremony of allegiance to Gairis.

In terms of the relationship between the two parties, Balian is also Garys's cheap father-in-law.

His adopted daughter was sitting next to Gailis, holding Gailis's left hand.

But some existences are special after all.

For a human society with a strong worship of prophets, after a prophet favored by the "God" with stone evidence appeared.

In fact, a BUG occurred.

Because people like Balian have been taught since childhood that all kinds of people and all kinds of nations do not listen to the words of the Prophet, and then suffer hardships.

But Garys not only showed his own "miracle", but also made many predictions, and even received a lot of wisdom enlightenment as if he had received divine revelation.

It can be said that for those who recognize Gairis's status as a prophet, Gairis does not need to issue any orders.

Because his every word and action can be recorded into books and passed down as scriptures for hundreds of generations!
It is the embodiment of God’s will on earth.

"18% bond interest..."

"Isn't this a bit high? Such a five-year bond is actually equivalent to doubling your wealth."

"Not high. This is a means and also a reward for loyalty."

"As a means, I need to raise this amount of money to establish an investment company. The newly established company will coordinate the development project of Tyr New City."

"As for what the loyalty reward is, you should also know that those who can lend money to the kingdom at this juncture are, in a sense, the most loyal subjects."

Garys' eyelids drooped slightly, and he didn't finish his words.

The newly established investment company can do much more than just build a new urban area. In fact, it will usher in a new era and is bound to grow into a behemoth.

The reason for using bond financing instead of pre-sale of shares is that Garys needs to personally control the company for a period of time.

Of course, not everyone is confident enough to invest in such a newly established company.

These days, there is no concept of "legal person" and the term "limited liability" does not exist.

The construction of a new city district in Tyre became an urgent matter.

This is urgent, not just for the people of Old Tyre.

But for the Crusaders who flocked in, if they had no place to stay, then a large number of non-combat casualties would be inevitable.

After the effects of the Crusaders' arrival in Cyprus were transmitted to Tyre, the new urban development plan proposed by Gellis was passed in the parliament in an accidental way.

Those nobles did not care whether the lower class had a place to live, and they did not realize how much damage the unplanned urban areas could cause to people's health and safety.

Of course, even if you knew, you might not care.

But they knew that if the Crusaders who came from afar were not properly settled, then recovering the old territory would be in vain.

Since we are already planning to build a camp, we might as well just build a new urban area.

After the Crusaders left, it could also serve as a new city district for Tyre.

The plan submitted by Gellis was submitted to the parliament through the channel of the members of parliament under the Balian family.

Compared with the perfection of this plan, the ideas proposed by others are too thin and lack details.

Because Gellis systematically examined the living conditions of all classes in Tyre, investigated market prices, and had an understanding of the flow of funds.

Therefore, in the new city plan of Gérice, all aspects from the initial fund preparation, construction materials transportation, labor costs, and review and acceptance were mentioned.

It is incredibly complete and extremely feasible at first glance.

Of course, the most crucial point is that the 18% bond interest rate provides the gentlemen in the parliament with an extremely reliable way to share the dividends from the development of the new urban area.

Whether the kingdom will still exist five years later is indeed an unknown, but even if the kingdom is really destroyed, where can they transfer their property?
In those days, there was no convenient way to transfer property as in later generations.

As the nobles of Jerusalem, they truly shared the rise and fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

A limited liability company established with the kingdom as guarantee, mortgaging a large tract of land and raising funds through issuing bonds.

The emergence of this new financial thing always makes many people feel uneasy and difficult to understand.

In this era, perhaps only some Italians can have a certain understanding.

But if such a complicated thing is simplified into borrowing money from the kingdom and the kingdom providing high interest.

Even the most uneducated citizens of the old city of Tyre could understand what was going on.

For the Jerusalem nobles who lack the ability to transfer property, if they can understand the interests involved.

You can understand that this is a gamble without any choice.

Five years later, the Kingdom of Jerusalem still existed and the Third Crusade was a great success, so everyone here benefited.

If the kingdom collapses in five years, then as nobles of Jerusalem, it would be better for everyone to die.

Therefore, Gellis's plan was approved early on, and many Venetian and Italian businessmen subscribed to the bonds.

As for the Ibelin family where Balian belongs, or Isabella herself, they provided great support during this process.

Nowadays, the company's preparatory work has actually been completed.

The reason why Garys showed up at Balian's house was more to clarify some details and communicate with Balian.

After trying our best to reduce misunderstandings, construction officially began.

The new city area of ​​Tyre, relying on the old city area, was initially constructed on the northern land of Tyre.

Of course, for now, this is more like a new military camp than a new urban area.

A considerable number of German Crusaders have followed "Red Beard" Barbarossa to land in Tyre and participated in the construction of their own military camps.

……

The sun was shining brightly, and the sea brought a slightly salty air. Giannis felt a little dizzy as he worked on this piece of land.

Indeed, a person's destiny not only depends on personal struggle, but also on the historical process.

Many times, the turning point in life can appear unexpectedly.

Two months ago, I was still carrying bags at the dock. I got drunk and got into a fight with someone, so I was kicked out by the hotel owner and became homeless.

Two months later, I started a new job as a "squad leader", leading my former co-workers to carry out the log-feeding campaign here.

No, this, who would have thought that the brother who slept in the same room with me was actually a distinguished guest of the Balian family, and now he is personally planning to build a new city area.

I believed what the other party said, took Nisa's money, and used my connections to buy some bonds.

Although the total amount of bonds is not high, only 5 gold dinars, it proves that he is "one of us" in the kingdom anyway.

Because of the binding of interests, he is also considered a reliable target politically.

Even if Garys hadn't shown up, the people in this "Chamber of Commerce" were all very friendly to him.

After all, it seems that in this "Chamber of Commerce", whether it is the accountant, engineer, or armed patrol Paladin, they have all subscribed to a portion of the bonds to a greater or lesser extent.

Originally, he was worried that the money he and Nisa had saved might be wasted.

But as soon as the "Chamber of Commerce" started working, he was asked whether he wanted to come and be a team leader based on the condition of reliability, and he would receive a salary of three gold dinars per month.

This money may not seem like much, but it is a stable job, which means Giannis no longer has to live a life of drunkenness and debauchery, but can actually save money.

It seemed that the future became bright at this moment.

Of course, that doesn’t mean there are no worries.

If Giannis wants to keep his job, he needs to learn to read and do math, just as he apparently drunkenly promised Garris.

There will be assessments every month. If you fail the assessment, you may face the possibility of having your salary deducted. If you fail several times, you may be directly fired.

In order to maintain his lucky life, Giannis has to go to class three times a week.

Learn simplified Latin, understand addition, subtraction, multiplication and division within 100, and review "Christian Doctrine".

These courses were organized by the Levant Investment Company and mainly took up the time after work on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The "Company" did not make clear regulations on whether ordinary workers should take these courses, but as a squad leader, he was a small leader with 9 people working under him.

Giannis was required to take these classes, which made his head especially foggy on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

"Boss, you here, did you go to class yesterday?"

While working, a young man standing nearby saw Giannis' mental state and asked subconsciously, the fear in his words being self-evident.

He himself also attended two days of classes. After all, those with a clear mind knew that this "business" clearly valued those who were literate and knew math.

But after taking two classes, more than half of the people felt that they might not be suited to studying in this life.

They have passed the most appropriate age, and trying to teach them to read and do math is as difficult as trying to pull out a rusty sword.

Therefore, only a small number of people can persist and attend classes for a long time.

"Don't call me boss, call me squad leader!"

"Okay! Monitor!"

The young man next to him smiled and joked.

Then Giannis couldn't help but sigh again.

"Ugh……"

"Actually, I have some basic literacy skills, and I'm not completely incapable of math. But last night, I went to memorize the Bible!"

"what?!"

The young man standing by was horrified.

The vast majority of believers do not actually read the Bible, and even if they do, they would not really memorize it.

This was not only true in the Middle Ages when there was a lack of books, but was also often the case in later times.

Religion seems to be divided into two on this issue.

Lay people are often the purest and most ignorant lambs, being shepherded by priests.

Priests who are shepherds for the Lord naturally need to read various scriptures, while for the lay lambs, it is sufficient for them to recite some relatively simple scriptures and pray daily.

What's more, the Bible these days is still written in Latin, which has already given way to various local ethnic languages ​​in terms of language circulation.

During the church masses on weekdays, the majority of believers actually cannot understand the scriptures read by the priests in Latin.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with the "style" of God's scriptures, as they are written in a language that mortals cannot understand.

It’s no wonder that young people were shocked when they heard that Giannis was going to recite the Bible.

This is undoubtedly a form of torture, absolutely a torment.

These peasants don't dream of becoming priests, so why should they read the Bible?

Compared to religious fanaticism, it seems that filling one's stomach is more important.

"Boss, do you know a lot about the Bible? Come and read a few sentences to us!" The other workers nearby all started to make a noise.

There was a cheerful atmosphere among the team as they headed to the nearby logging camp.

But Giannis finally memorized it.

"The offering of ill-gotten gains is a sacrifice of dishonor; the offering of the wicked will not be accepted by the Lord."

“The Lord is good only to those who hope in Him in the way of truth and justice.”

"He who takes away the food earned by the sweat of his brow is a murderer."

"He who deprives the hired worker of his wages is a bloodthirsty murderer..."

Yannis used common Frankish, so the workers beside him could understand what he said.

For a moment, the original cheerful atmosphere disappeared, replaced by silence.

When they were almost reaching the forest, some of them began to sigh.

"so good……"

"really."

These days in the company are like a dream, and my salary is paid weekly.

The houses that were originally built were reserved for their workers to live in.

Meals are provided every morning, noon and evening.

If you have a wife at home, you can bring her over to do the laundry or cooking, and she can get some money.

If you have children, you can actually go to class with them.

Although most people these days actually think that being literate is useless.

But if you can learn to read and do math without spending any money, why not do it?

Besides, it is his own kid who suffers in his studies, not himself. How practical!

Behind them were two cities.

One is built with volcanic rock, which contains eternal order and has been used to build city walls for hundreds of years.

There are many joys and sorrows, and tens of thousands of people live numb lives.

On the other side, although it is still a construction site, small houses have been built, which are simple and fresh.

After learning arithmetic, Giannis calculated for himself and his classmates. With their wages, they only needed to control their impulse to spend money.

After one or two years of eating, drinking and sleeping at the company’s expense, everyone can buy themselves an apartment.

Whether it’s bondholders like Giannis or the workers themselves, there’s obviously an internal price to the purchase of a home.

In other words, the houses and urban areas that they are renovating now will be their future new homes.

"so good……"

"really."

As these strong young men, armed with axes, entered the forests of northern Palestine, they heard voices from the mountains: "The trees have fallen!"

Indeed, it is a log-falling movement.

……

In the 12th century, the Palestinian region still had relatively rich forest resources.

In fact, in the 12th century, the natural environment in the Levant was far from deteriorating to the extent it did in later generations.

It has quite magnificent natural scenery, which can be seen from north to south, whether it is forests, river valleys, cliffs, Gobi and deserts.

The annual rainfall in the Tyre area can reach 700 mm, which can be considered as abundant rainfall.

A large number of poor people within the walls of Tyre found jobs and moved to construction sites outside the city to work.

The city's appearance seemed to have improved overnight.

Regarding this issue, Gellis often discussed it with the Paladins around him.

"In our time, whether in rural areas or cities, we are actually facing a problem that most people have never thought about - unemployment."

"A farmer is busy from beginning to end of the year, but how much time does he actually spend on farm production? Eight out of 12 months are not devoted to the production of staple food."

"How much money can an urban apprentice get after working so hard for a whole year? If you don't get paid for your work, how different is that from being unemployed?"

"As for those idle city hooligans and beggars, let alone them."

Education is not just about educating workers like Giannis, but also about educating the company's top management.

The main backbone members of this so-called Levant Investment Company are almost all technical personnel from the Transjordan region.

Many of them are Paladins in training or probation.

For these people, Garys naturally has to take on the responsibility of providing them with a deeper level of education, at least to give them a certain level of understanding of social, economic and political issues.

“Work, in our time, is a privilege.”

"A job that allows you to directly earn money is something that most people cannot even dream of."

"That's why, even though we reduced taxes for local farmers and a large number of Crusaders came to Tyre to spend money, most people in Tyre had no way to earn any income because they lacked a clear job position."

“But our company is different.”

"Indeed, the company's money was borrowed, but that borrowed money was circulated in large quantities to the lower classes of Tyre City through our weekly payroll."

Gillis was writing and drawing on the blackboard. What he was teaching was not a rigorous economics course.
He actually named this course social science, and its main purpose was to instill some "common sense" knowledge.

Just like Gellis named another course Natural Science, it is all for the purpose of allowing his followers to have a clearer and more rational perspective to understand the world.

It's not about really becoming an economist or a natural scientist.

What I have talked about today is actually to make these people in the company understand how they have had a positive impact on the city of Tyre.

Let them understand why the company's loans have transformed the lower-class citizens of Tyre.

In later generations, this was actually just a very superficial "infrastructure economy".

Regardless of whether the nobles who invested a large amount of money in bonds would double their wealth afterwards.

These workers who participate in the construction of the new urban area will be able to move from a state of absolute poverty to a state where they can have enough food at home.

If we say that the wealth of the nobles changed from 10 to 20 in this process.

So the workers actually completed the change from 0 to 1.

The worker's 1 is indeed insignificant compared to the noble's 20, but compared to the original 0, it is already infinite.

To understand it from another perspective: as long as I am poor enough, any little progress will be of great significance.

(End of this chapter)