People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted - Chapter 861: The Battle of Syria

All of these may be true, but Losa felt that Rudolf was by no means "irresponsible" or a "coward without courage" as these people believed.

After all, Christians who are not afraid of death cannot be said to be cowardly.

Rudolf's despair stems from the fact that he is an idealist who tries to launch a wave of reforms within the empire, but lacks both ability and prestige; it stems from the fact that he has to live like a puppet under the authority of his father; it stems from the fact that his free spirit inherited from Princess Sissi has to be trapped in the rigid court life.

Thinking of this, Losa slowly said:

Rudolph looked a little struggling: "I"

“This is the path I chose, and I won’t regret it!”

Baroness Mary shouted firmly: "I don't know who you are, whether you are the Emperor's messenger or the garden's keeper, please respect our choice and leave here."

Lothar sighed and said, "You can call me Lothar, the captain of the giant ship yesterday. I have no intention of separating the two of you. I am only offering you an alternative to the plan. If you wish to put down all the burdens on your shoulders and escape all the sufferings you are facing right now, I have a better place waiting for you two."

Baroness Mary's big eyes were full of confusion. Although she came from a wealthy aristocratic family, compared with the royal family, her status was undoubtedly just that of a country bumpkin, and she had never heard of the legend of the "Tower of Babel".

"Babel!"

Rudolph seemed to have thought of something. He emphasized his tone and asked, "Will you take us away from this world?"

"To be precise, I am recruiting you two as time travelers."

Seeing that Rudolf was still hesitating, Lothar chuckled and said, "Oh, by the way, there is another member of my crew who has a deep connection with Your Highness. She is the eldest daughter of the Hohenzollern royal family, Miss Candle Knight Viviana."

Rudolph's eyes widened in surprise: "Anna has also escaped from the cage? Great, can I talk to her?"

The process went smoother than expected.

Lothar smiled: "Of course, Mr. Rudolf."

...

Without being able to enjoy a few days of leisure in Alexandria, Lothar decided to set off for Jerusalem with the Crusaders.

The reason was simple. King Baldwin was urging Lothar to meet with him again.

It feels like "I don't want to be a king for even a day longer".

But the Kingdom of Jerusalem is indeed Lothar's current "legal territory". By controlling this place, he has the basis to bring Jerusalem, and even the future Aleppo, the already fallen Antioch and Damascus under his rule.

Hundreds of miles away in the Knight's Castle, on the front line of the Northern Crusaders.

At this time, it has become a giant military camp.

The lights in the main hall of the castle's reception room were bright at this time, and the giant chandelier hanging there illuminated the entire reception room as bright as day.

During the march, they also received the participation of many feudal lords and their knights and private soldiers. Many cities also spontaneously dispatched militia to join them. When the troops assembled by Raymond and his vassals are included, the total number has reached an astonishing 30,000.

Opposite is the border fortress heavily guarded by Saracens.

After days of siege, both sides suffered heavy casualties, but Saladin's army, which had lost Egypt's granaries, Alexander's purse, and even the trust of the people under its rule, had fallen completely into a disadvantage.

In the reception room, lords and nobles from all parties who held prominent positions in the Crusaders gathered together. Wine and delicacies were brought out by the servants and delivered into the hall in an endless stream.

Philip on the side couldn't help but laugh and said, "It's so ungraceful to eat like this."

He said, raising his knife and fork, and elegantly divided the food on the plate: "It should be like this."

Richard sneered, "Haha, you learned this from the court of Lothar, it's flashy and useless. I hope he can manage the foundry in his territory well so as to provide more weapons for my army."

At this time, forks were rarely used in Europe. Only some city-state nobles in the Apennine Peninsula used this tableware, but it was often regarded as blasphemous by clergy.

The use of forks has also become a new trend.

Occasionally, some ignorant people would shout "blasphemy", but they would often be stopped by "this is the court custom of His Majesty Lothar".

Duke Raymond coughed lightly to prevent the two kings from arguing again during the meeting: "Now that most people are here, let's get started."

"My friends, the morale of Saladin's minions is getting lower and lower. Victory is within reach. But I have noticed that many of our pious knights and nobles have stopped paying attention to the battlefield lately."

Sir Raymond paused for a moment. As a descendant of the Toulouse family, Count of Tripoli, Prince of Tiberias and Galilee, he had very good relations with the nobles from Gaul and the local nobles. Therefore, his words were sometimes more effective than those of the two kings, especially when the two kings were not getting along with each other.

"In any case, this approach is unacceptable. The longer the war drags on, the more variables there will be. If we keep arguing for a few meager interests, when will we be able to reach Antioch?"

Immediately, a noble who had been instructed in advance shouted, "Your Highness, please set a rule with your Majesties. We will follow it!"

Raymond had already discussed this with Philip and Richard, so he didn't have to worry about anyone in a high position standing up to oppose him. He calmly explained the criteria he had set for judging merit.

"You can't agree to them!"

"The Jews betrayed Jesus Christ and acted as pawns of the pagans. They must pay the price!"

Many Crusaders stood up to express their opposition: "That's right, the war has been going on for such a long time and you are just thinking of surrendering. What have you been doing before?"

In fact, the main reason is that the Jewish community has always been prosperous. With so many Crusaders gathered here, if they were allowed to surrender, wouldn’t that mean one less piece of spoils?

Raymond was very familiar with this scene. He had been the regent in Jerusalem for so many years, and what he saw most often was the nobles arguing in meetings.

Fortunately, the current leaders of the Crusades all belong to the circle of Gallic nobles. Although there are frequent conflicts among them, they can always discuss things.

If another group of German nobles came, the Crusaders would probably really split into two parts.

(End of this chapter)