kingdom of nations

Chapter 232 The Second Marriage (Part 2)

People generally believe that tea was introduced to Europe in the 15th or 16th century or even later. This is both true and false, because it was indeed not until several centuries later that tea was introduced in large quantities. However, during the Crusades, tea was already known to some people as a novel trophy.

However, at this time, people's understanding of tea was still very superficial. In many records—from the earliest eighth century to the present—it was mostly regarded as a medicine. Dandolo read the records of the famous Persian scholar Biruni in "Medicine" and found that even in the place of origin, tea cost one dirham (the currency of the Saracens, which was about three grams of silver) for thirty packets.

Once they were transported thousands of miles and through great hardship to Tibet, they became expensive items that could only be obtained by exchanging musk.

They were brought here from Tibet or other places... and the price...

"Would you like some nutmeg, walnuts, cloves, and cinnamon?" an old knight asked curiously as he approached. This was a question many people had asked before, and Cesar had to explain time and again that it wasn't out of a desire for simplicity or piety; he simply didn't like putting unnecessary things in his tea.

Some knights were inexplicably moved, thinking that he was only doing this because he was short of money.

They even said it was fine, they could drink water or light wine, and they didn't necessarily have to drink such expensive beverages every day, which made Cesar both amused and exasperated, but it was also a helpless situation.

The military camp outside the city had been abandoned for several years, and he intended to transform these knights from "landless knights" to "landed knights" after they had worked with him for a few years. Now Cyprus was equivalent to his territory, instead of the previous governor who only had the right to use it but not the right to dispose of it.

The decline of the Byzantine army from a powerful force to a weak one was closely related to this—it's human nature; who would risk their life for something that doesn't belong to them? Of course, you could use gold to buy their loyalty, but that would be another form of mercenary force—there was an instance in the Franks where a knight served several lords… This shows that this type of force can only serve as an auxiliary force, not a main force.

After all, in Frankish territory it was just a territorial war, but in the Holy Land and the surrounding areas it was a life-or-death battle.

But he later realized that this decision was somewhat of a mistake, partly because he originally thought that not many knights would come to him for refuge. Fortunately, two of the three marriage proposal teams left, otherwise he would have had to find a place to rent in the city to prepare a place for the knights to stay.

The long-quiet Governor's Palace suddenly became lively, but with it came a multitude of problems.

Besides renovating the toilets, the thing César paid the most attention to was their food. As for the food, Cyprus is rich in resources, and it is not difficult to get fresh meat, fruit and vegetables, which is much better than when they were in Fort Sainte-Croix.

But the people here also don't drink water heated to boiling—the poor drink from streams, rivers, and lakes, and in winter they eat frozen ice or snow, or drink from puddles. The rich don't have this concept either, but they know that drinking polluted water can make them sick, so they drink alcohol.

César had been putting up with the situation at Castel Sainte-Croix for several years, during which time he had not yet had the right to refuse the light wine that had replaced the drinking water.

But no matter how low the alcohol content of the light wine is at this moment, over time, coupled with excessive intake, it will still accumulate and affect human organs. He did not want to test whether God's grace or the harm of alcohol was more powerful.

So after Baldwin ascended to the throne, he changed the water he used for Baldwin and himself to boiled clean water. This is why people always wondered why he was sometimes too frugal and sometimes too extravagant.

In this day and age, it's not easy to get boiled water anytime, anywhere.

No matter how scorching the sun is, it cannot boil water. Only fuel can boil water, and if fuel is readily available, it will not be done: it is considered a benevolent act for a lord to allow his people to gather twigs and leaves from his forests for firewood in winter.

The knights rarely paid attention to this because they were often out fighting. When they were fighting, it was already good enough to have water to drink, let alone heat it to a boil... Was it because they were afraid that the enemy would not find an opportunity to attack?

After a grueling strength training session that leaves them exhausted and drenched in sweat, they naturally crave cool groundwater or a glass of light wine with ice.

César didn't want any of them to contract dysentery or other diseases, but if it were just boiled clean water—no one would drink it—until he added tea leaves—no one could remain indifferent to this precious beverage. In their simple minds, light wine was more expensive than water, so it must be better; wine was more expensive than light wine, so it must be better; and tea leaves, a beverage made from a precious "spice" that some of them had never even heard of, were more expensive than wine—so the former must be better.

Some people are using this as a way to win people's hearts. Well, let them win people over, Cesar thought helplessly. Besides, he had already begun to cultivate tea trees.

As for rock sugar, it is one of the things that a medical student must know. After all, when his world was still very difficult, rock sugar was also used as a medicine. It can indeed play a different role than ordinary sugar and is more valuable.

However, although this knowledge was stored in the center of Cesar's brain, he could not access it until he truly became a lord.

Even setting aside tea leaves, the preparation of rock sugar requires a large amount of sugar and eggs.

You can imagine that while Amalric I was still subsisting on dry bread and cheese, a little servant of the prince ran to the kitchen to ask for precious sugar and eggs—not for food, but to make some damn rock sugar.

But with enough power and money, making rock candy was no longer a difficult task. He entrusted this task to his sister, Natia.

At first, he did it simply because he didn't have many trustworthy people around him—he didn't care about gender either—but when they watched together as a string of rock candy was brought out, Natia's eyes, filled with excitement and fervor, made Cesar realize that he had unintentionally done the right thing.

The time Natia spent in the Sultan's harem had an indelible impact on her. Although she still remembered her surname, her parents, and her brother, clinging tightly to that obsession as if holding onto the last thread of her life, preventing her from completely collapsing and becoming one of those submissive female slaves, she feared she would never be cheerful again.

When Natia was in the Castle of Sainte-Croix, she always kept to herself and was a man of few words. She would either occasionally chat with Queen Mary the Queen Mother, do needlework, or return to her room to pray and read.

When Cesar arrived in Cyprus to betroth Princess Anna, according to the tradition of the Byzantine Empire, Natia should have been the most senior woman in the groom's family to guide the bride's every move. However, precisely because of this, the Crusaders, apart from Baldwin and Cesar, did not recommend that she appear in Cyprus.

Before César spoke up for her, Natia also stated that she was not prepared to participate in the wedding—which was not just a wedding, but also involved one of the most important Crusader territories in the Mediterranean, the foundation upon which she and her brother had built their careers. If anything happened to her, she might commit suicide out of guilt.

But when Anna got into trouble, she immediately put aside all her worries and rushed over to her brother's side to comfort him, protect him, and do things for him.

Although she still harbored doubts and fears, her subsequent performance was impeccable.

Even though she would later have to face a princess of the Byzantine Empire, the "niece" of the Pope, and a noblewoman chosen by a deeply entrenched family, she still perfectly did what Cesare needed her to do at that time.

But César could tell that these were not things she liked; she preferred to take care of César's daily needs like an ordinary older sister would take care of her younger brother.

Instead of getting involved in the political and power struggles—she had witnessed too much infighting in the Sultan's harem and knew that she had neither outstanding talent nor a cruel heart, and that she could not only not help her brother, but might even cause bad consequences.

Needless to say, César was not a mediocre man who needed others to point him out and guide him to figure out where he should go—in fact, he had always done very well.

During the days when Cesar had to return to Arrasaro, Natia ruled in his stead. Although she made no mistakes, the psychological and physical burdens were immense. She often vomited and suffered from insomnia, and even fell seriously ill a few times when Cesar returned.

After César finally decided on his second wife, Natia breathed a sigh of relief. However, her maid told César that his sister intended to enter a convent and vow to become a nun.

Becoming a nun is indeed a common choice for noblewomen, an alternative to marriage. In the first few years after arriving, César might have agreed, but now—he has realized that the monastery is not a pure land.

Natia's desire to become a nun stemmed more from her desperation than from any particular piety. While the Sultan's harem did not forbid female slaves from maintaining their faith, and even concubines could continue their Christian faith, the female slaves were already exhausted by the arduous labor, leaving them with little energy for prayer, let alone the means to attend Mass. All they possessed was a small cross, which they had to carefully guard against being stolen or destroyed.

For a woman who cannot truly regard Jesus Christ as her husband, that is, her future physical and spiritual refuge, entering a convent is instead a form of permanent confinement and torment.

The problem is, in another world, he could keep Natia by his side and let her do whatever she wanted.

But people in this era did not allow it—women were required to marry once they reached a certain age, whether it was to marry a knight or to Jesus Christ.

If an unmarried woman, especially if she is older, remains with her father and brothers, unpleasant rumors often circulate. This is true of Princess Anna and several of Constantine VIII's daughters.

If it were another younger brother, he would likely simply choose a suitable person for his sister, provide a dowry, and marry her off directly—perhaps a family lord he believed should be allied with, or a knight he respected.

But Cesar did not want the marriage to happen so hastily and hastily.

At this time, the marriage was not so easy to dissolve, and the Roman Catholic Church was always eyeing him covetously. Getting a pardon was harder than going to hell to fetch water.

As for knights today, it goes without saying that even if they are incredibly brave on the battlefield and thrive in the court, they might still beat their wives in the castle. A knight who doesn't beat his wife might even be considered to have no manliness.

This behavior is even supported by the church; in fact, theological manuals sometimes allow men to "punish and beat their wives as a form of correction..."

It is indeed hard to imagine that a castle's mistress, who might be regarded as an incarnation of the Virgin Mary by her revered knights, could also be beaten black and blue by her own husband, but...

(End of this chapter)