People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Chapter 74
In Jerusalem today, many streets are deserted and empty compared to usual.

People gathered in front of the Cathedral of the Holy Sepulchre to watch the departure ceremony of the Crusades.

The dense crowd blocked everything.

When Regent Raymond needed to go north, all the affairs of the Knights of Jerusalem were piled into the hands of Baron Godfrey as the commander.

He rode a war horse side by side with Lothar, patrolling around.

Lothar joked with a smile: "Baron Godfrey, your dark circles are like those eye powders used by Saracen female slaves for decoration. It seems that the position of commander is not so easy to do."

Godfrey said unhappily: "I haven't had a good night's sleep in three days. The Knights of Jerusalem are much bigger than the Royal Knights!"

The total number of members of the Knights of Jerusalem exceeds 3. Of course, this includes many honorary members.

However, those who remained in Jerusalem, who were directly under the leadership of the king and the grand master, also had as many as [-] armed personnel, and this did not include servants and other non-combatants.

Compared with the Royal Knights with a total of only 800 people, the Jerusalem Knights are like a behemoth. Compared with the Hospital Knights and the Knights Templar, the power to stay in Jerusalem is not much weaker.

Lothar joked: "I hope Lord Tiberias (Regent) will not be like Lord Godfrey, leaving a commander in the Knights who wants to throw the Grand Master down."

"Oh? It turns out that Lord Godfrey is the commander, that's all right."

Baron Godfrey said: "This year, I have to stay in my fief for half of the time, and I also took a boat to Provence. The affairs of the Knights had to be handed over to Earl Philip, which made his prestige in the Knights It’s soaring, but I didn’t know that he would openly stand up and challenge your position?”

They were actually in a good mood, after Earl Raymond and other Earl's Party members, as well as some of the Queen Mother's Party nobles who went out with them, left Jerusalem.

The Royal Party has finally gained more power.

The nearly 3000 troops of the Royal Knights and the [-] troops of the Jerusalem Knights are respectively in the hands of Lothar and Baron Godfrey, the two hardcore royalists.

Although the city defense army, the aristocratic private soldiers of the queen mother's party, and the pilgrims newly formed a crusade, they are still in the hands of the queen mother's party and the noble party.

But the balance of power has finally reached a balance.

Lothar bid farewell to Baron Godfrey, joined his personal guard cavalry, and rushed to the Cathedral of the Holy Sepulchre—where a grand expedition ceremony was being staged.

Crowds of soldiers walked past the cathedral to receive blessings from the clergy.

First of all, those elite knights wearing chain mail, burqas, and cloaks. They brought their attendants and held various banners. They held their heads high and accepted the greetings of the onlookers.

There were even quite a few cavalrymen, and even their mounts were covered with burqas and leather armor, which were used to resist the arrows of the Saracen cavalry.

Knights Templar with a red cross on a white background, hospital knights with a white cross on a black background, crosses, eagles, brown bears, standing lions, bobcats, irises... all kinds of coats of arms are engraved on the fronts of those nobles and knights.

There were as many as 500 knights heading north. Counting their attendants, they could gather thousands of armored cavalry, which was less than half of Jerusalem's strength.

This is all thanks to the call-up order issued by Baldwin IV not long ago, and the new round of crusades called by His Majesty the Pope, which caused a large number of scattered knights to travel across the ocean and come to the Holy Land.

Then came a neat line of sergeants.

They marched in the form of a phalanx, also wearing burqas representing the forces they belonged to, colorful but distinct.

In the middle of them, surrounded by a huge chariot.

On the frame of the chariot stands a huge golden cross. This is not the real cross. The real holy relic is stored under the cross. In a box on the chariot, it is guarded by a whole team of combat monks.

Because there was only one piece of wood left, it could not be lifted up where everyone could see it, so this golden cross was cast to show that the holy object was in the army.

In the end it was the crusaders formed by those pilgrims.

Their team is a bit messy and disorderly, and they can barely maintain a relatively neat state.

They couldn't even guarantee a worn-out and deformed iron helmet in their hands, and the spears used by many people had rusty spots on the iron spearheads.

The shabby burqa he was wearing was covered with inferior paint, and it was obvious at a glance that the red cross was made in a hurry.

Fortunately, the shield can still be used as a pair, but most of them have no skin.

The amount of gold donated by Henry II was huge, but even if all the arsenals were collected, it was impossible to arm such a large army in a short period of time.

What's more, the army going north is only half of Jerusalem's army strength, and it can get supplementary troops from various lords along the way.

Therefore, most of the pilgrim crusaders who were barely equipped remained in the holy city and were still in training.

Lothar and his hussars, the royal knights, guarded the front of the church, guarding the empty king's throne behind him.

On the minaret, the bells rang endlessly.

Ordinary people surrounded the street, and even the two-story buildings and windows beside the road were crowded with people watching the excitement.

They held up the portraits of the Holy Son, the Virgin and the saints, and sincerely prayed that the soldiers would return victorious and kill all the pagans who invaded the border.

Archbishop Tyre and many clergy stood in front of the throne and shouted: "May Saint Michael bless you, devout believers, you will also be bathed in holy light when you pass by the Holy Sepulchre, and wish you all invincible on the battlefield , neither arrows nor knives can hurt your bodies!"

"Even if you die in battle, you will be redeemed, and you will ascend to the kingdom of heaven in glory, and all your past sins will be wiped away!"

"In the name of the father!"

"This is God's will!"

People shouted frantically.

On this day, regardless of high or low, it seems that everyone is declaring their piety to the people around them.

At this time, inside the cathedral.

The servants walked out slowly with shoulders on their shoulders, and came to the front of the throne.

Baldwin IV, who hadn't seen his face for a long time, stood up from his shoulders, and with the help of his servants, he came to the throne.

His movements are graceful and slow.

Apart from still wearing a veil and wrapping his body airtightly, he looked almost the same as a normal king.

His Majesty the King is wearing a set of white royal robes, a golden crown on his head, and a golden scepter in his hand. The top of the scepter is curved and has a golden cross, which means natural monarchy.

Namely—the king of Jerusalem is both a secular king and a theological "shepherd".

The gold and white color scheme is the color represented by the coat of arms of the royal family of Jerusalem.

Just as the Gallic royal family preferred blue, the Albion royal family preferred red, and the imperial royal family preferred purple.

A plainly dressed servant stood beside Baldwin IV with a sword in his hand. His posture was as if Prajna always followed Lothar, like a shadow.

He is usually the servant who is responsible for conveying the king's will to Earl Raymond and leading Lothar to meet the king every time.

On weekdays, he is always so inconspicuous, cautious, and taciturn.

But now Lothar understands that this servant is definitely not a simple person, because Lothar observed carefully, he is holding the saber in his hand, and the scabbard is made of magic-resistant gold.

In other words, the servant's imaginary enemy is the mysterious wizard who comes and goes without a trace!

As His Majesty the King raised the golden scepter in his hand, all the nobles, knights, sergeants, commoners and priests shouted Long Live the King.

This was the first time they had seen His Majesty the King in a while.

Although the legend says that the king was an unclean man cursed by leprosy, he was also the celestial monarch who saved Jerusalem from Saladin's iron heel—in the eyes of most people, he is the closest to God exist.

Some knights and nobles began to recite their family motto aloud, implying that their trip would return with honor and not shame the family motto.

His Majesty the King didn't speak, he just held up the scepter and let people admire the brilliance of the scepter.

Baldwin IV didn't stay for long, so he got on the shoulder car again and walked towards the Cathedral of the Holy Sepulchre.

The huge team began to leave the city in an orderly manner. This was a long process. Many of the nobles standing in the stands felt numb in their feet.

But still had to stay here to watch the ceremony.

Lothar took Banjna and Flynn, looked around vigilantly, beware of someone, and planned to take the opportunity to cause chaos.

For this ceremony, all the heretics in the city have been ordered not to go out.

Even the altars and temples of Zoroastrianism were all closed.

Coupled with the fact that the flames of war were about to ignite, the Saracen caravan did not dare to visit Jerusalem easily, for fear of being robbed by Crusader nobles like Earl Leonard who were accustomed to "breaking contracts".

(End of this chapter)