kingdom of nations

Chapter 342 Departure (Part 1)
July is harvest season, and also the best time for expeditions.

From here, following the original route of the conquest of Damascus, heading north, the expeditionary force passed through Saracen villages and towns. Even without aid from Byzantium, Armenia, Cyprus, and Arrasaro, this method of sustaining the war through war ensured that the expeditionary force did not have to worry about insufficient supplies.

For the people of Yalasaroo, the disappearance of these sprawling camps surrounding the city of Yalasaroo brought them a sense of relief.

The Saracens often said, "The Franks are barbaric," which was both a sarcastic remark and a statement of fact: the Franks were perfectly capable of plundering their allies without receiving what they wanted in return.

Leaving aside Constantinople not long ago, Rome itself has also suffered several calamities—for example, Frederick I, who was personally invited by the Pope to Rome to quell a rebellion, ended up trying to seize Rome for himself and using this as a pretext to attack Italy several times.

Such a large crowd could not possibly be crammed together in one place, marching in a mighty procession toward one destination.

Thus, Frederick I established his own regime, while King Philip II of France appealed to Richard I. Richard I was a valiant and skilled knight, and Philip II knew very well that his experience, age, and strength were no match for Richard's. He promised to hand over his knights to Richard and swore that he would not interfere with Richard's decisions, which made Richard reluctantly accept.

Richard certainly hoped to fight alongside Baldwin and Cesar once again.

But César dissuaded him, because it was unnecessary. Their goal this time was not Damascus—to be precise, if it weren't for Count Raymond of Tripoli losing Damascus, Damascus should have been their starting point.

Next, they would continue north, to Holmes, Hama, and even Apollo… but whether they could achieve these goals depended on the willingness of the Crusader knights who had been summoned.

Whether they were after honor, money, or land.

Speaking of this, before setting off, they held a grand banquet under the pretext of celebrating Princess Isabella's birthday—of course, Isabella's name wasn't born this month, but so what? It was just an excuse.

Each knight received a gift, a truly extravagant gesture. Even Frederick I joked that the King of Arrassal might be trying to bribe his knights to stay and serve him.

This was of course impossible. At that time, only a lord who was too poor to afford the expenses of a knight would allow his knight to "work" elsewhere.

Baldwin made a suggestion—in fact, it should be considered a default rule that was not originally made public.

Just like the First Crusade, some knights came and never left, becoming lords or kings; others came and left, returning to their castles with honor and wealth—generally, they all had assets to inherit.

With this achievement and reward, they could obtain a position in the king's court, or repair their own castles and recruit more knights. Their needs were different, and the results were naturally different as well.

At this time, Baldwin, King of Arrassa, intended to sign a written treaty with Philip II of France, Richard I of England, and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor. In this treaty, he was willing to cede a portion of his spoils in exchange for the cities and territories they would acquire.

This practice is not uncommon in Europe.

Sometimes, when the king's nobles coveted a territory, they would offer to exchange it for another of their own territories, or simply buy it outright.

Frederick I handed the contract to the priest beside him, listening to him carefully analyze the meaning of each word. After thinking for a long time, he solemnly signed his name. Of course, he would not stay in the Holy Land. He had such a large territory to rule, as well as Italy, which he had always been concerned about and could not give up.

However, he also demanded that he be the first to choose the relics obtained during the expedition, and that he take one-third of them to enshrine in his own church or to show off in Rome.

In addition, he demanded three fragments of the True Cross, as well as other relics kept in various churches, such as the veil of the Virgin Mary, the finger of Saint Anna, or the hair of Saint Peter. He even wanted to break two stones from the tomb of Jesus Christ and take them back with him.

Of course, this request was rejected; it would have been utterly blasphemous.

At this point, Baldwin could only marvel at his teacher's foresight in telling them to keep the news of the shroud a secret for the time being; otherwise, the shroud would certainly not have been kept.

King Philip II of France had a simple request. He had come only to accumulate merit. Although following Richard meant that the initiative on the battlefield would inevitably fall into the hands of this arrogant lion, he could still learn a lot by observing. Moreover, his knights—he had gathered many young and unsuccessful knights who were loyal but lacked combat experience—would be a threat if they could win the battle against the Saracens. He wouldn't have to worry about them being no match for the soldiers of those princes.

The other thing is money.

Although it is somewhat embarrassing for a king to utter this word, he was indeed short of money. His territory was too small to provide him with enough military funds. While it was enough to support his own luxurious lifestyle, how could a young man with even a little ambition endure being held hostage every day?

However, he had another request that took the knights by surprise.

“No wonder his saint is Mardin,” Walter said, turning to Geoffroy. “Just like Cesare’s saint is Saint Jerome; they were both scholars.”

Yes, Philip II's demands overlapped with those of Cesare; they wanted all the books in the library of every city they conquered to belong to them.

This request drew criticism from many clergy members.

During the first capture of Arazari, all the books in the city were burned without exception, because Christians considered these to be pagan scriptures and there was no need to preserve them.

But it's impossible that discerning people didn't realize how valuable these books were—they burned down the library on Arrassa Road, and as a result, Cesar had to travel thousands of miles to the libraries in Damascus and Aleppo to search for information in order to understand the knowledge and research on leprosy in this era.

During the attack on Damascus, the library was preserved at César's insistence, but its current status is unknown.

Hopefully, they can still achieve something in Holmes and Apollo.

Upon hearing that César had proposed preserving the library, Philip II's face lit up with delight. For this somewhat frail king, who was not skilled in martial arts, finding a like-minded knight was truly a rare privilege, and a hint of regret crept onto his face once again.

Seeing his expression, Li couldn't help but burst into laughter.

“You don’t know, do you?” he said. “I also feel it’s a pity. I even planned to take him back so my mother could see him.”

This "take a look" is truly meaningful.

Philip II looked helplessly at his subject, ally—and possibly future enemy—and remained silent. But if things were truly as Richard said, Eleanor of Aquitaine might not have cared about the gossip.

In fact, the Empress Dowager's dealings with powerful ministers were always secretive and ambiguous, but as long as they didn't have children or get married in secret, people didn't care, and Richard didn't care at all.

He came here to fight, to fight, and to fight. All he needed was to gallop across the battlefield, to let his sword drink the blood of his enemies, and to let his horse's hooves trample the crumbling city walls.

But outside of war, he was actually a very easygoing, even tolerant person.

He only enjoyed fighting, not killing. After a war, if his prisoners were willing to kneel before him, beg for mercy, and say a few kind words, he would laugh and release them, without even asking for a ransom.

He was incredibly generous to his two very compatible friends, Cesar and Baldwin, and he didn't care about himself as long as his knights received their due rewards.

If he had any other request, it would probably be that he glanced at Baldwin's armor and said, "Give me one of those too."

Baldwin had no choice but to agree, but the promised spoils would still be plentiful.

Finally, Baldwin and Cesar each summoned their ministers and nobles and discussed in detail the distribution of the spoils of this expedition.

While ostensibly an inquiry into whether they wished to remain in the Holy Land, return to their homelands, or stay in newly occupied territories like Cyprus, Bethlehem, or Damascus, it was, in effect, a way of telling the other knights and their masters that their favor was not intended to embarrass the majority of the people there.

They've made the same mistake once already; they can't afford to make it a second time.

Why did the previous plot against Cesar and Baldwin succeed?
This is the main reason why many people, though not involved, remained silent – ​​Cesar distributed his war spoils to his knights, and Baldwin followed suit. This was certainly a good thing, otherwise generosity would not be the main word to praise a knight. But this directly affected other lords and nobles, and their knights would naturally compare themselves with other knights – they would wonder why they did not receive as much money.

Is it that you're not brave enough, or not loyal enough? They'd say you're not even as good as a ten-year-old child.

This cannot be blamed on Cesar, nor on the lords, nor on the knights. It is mainly because their ways of thinking are different, which is something their teacher, Heraclius, discovered after communicating with them in detail.

The world Cesare lived in had been under feudal rule for thousands of years. During those thousands of years, the emperor's power and authority far surpassed that of anyone else. Unless things reached an irreversible point, a traitor was always a terrifying word, "worthy of being condemned by all under heaven," and fundamentally lost any possibility of establishing a foothold.

Therefore, it was not difficult for him to treat his subjects generously, because no matter how much power, land and wealth a subject possessed, he would not dare to defy the emperor's will, let alone rebel—that would be an unforgivable crime. Moreover, there would not be many people willing to obey him, and even the people would refuse to continue following him.

But this doesn't exist in Europe. As we've already mentioned, the many emperors and kings of Europe were merely leaders of an alliance, elected by the people. Even if they intended to pass on power through bloodline, the power transfer hadn't lasted long enough to form a deeply ingrained concept in people's minds.

Their ancestors were barbarians without any culture or morality. They followed the savage law of the jungle, where the weak were inevitably abandoned or even devoured, regardless of their status, past contributions, or future prospects.

You can't say they're short-sighted. After all, in their original tradition, not to mention an individual, an entire tribe might not survive the next winter. How could they possibly think about things decades or centuries from now?
Therefore, if a lord does not hold all the wealth, people, and land tightly in his own hands, but shares them with his vassals and knights, just look at the current King Philip II of France. Does he willingly remain the lord of the Île-de-France? Of course not.

With this precedent set, other lords and kings will naturally take it as a warning.

But Cesar wanted Baldwin to be the king he could be, and himself to be the “despotic monarch” he was, to be an Eastern-style emperor. So he either distributed all the spoils of war to his knights, or generously granted them land, workshops, and even taught them technology—because they were his or Baldwin’s subjects, in the name of “benefiting the people.”

Whether you look at his world or the former Byzantine Empire, you can draw the same conclusion: to make people fight to the death against foreign enemies, you must give them their own property and land, especially land. Property can be taken away, but land cannot.

But when the Knights Templar wanted to carve out a portion of their territory, they refused to give up an inch—because it was another regime—how could they allow another to sleep soundly beside their own bed?
This is due to the difference in the concepts of master and subject between the East and the West. Even Heraclius had to repeatedly compare the ancient Greek and Roman texts he had read to understand the huge gap. "You want Baldwin to be a Caliph, or at least a Sultan." He smiled bitterly: "Not even Caesar. Caesar had the Senate to restrain him."

Sultan? Cesar was skeptical. This practice of treating everyone except oneself as slaves had proven unworkable, both here and in another world—no one could be wise or strong forever.

When he spoke with Portia's grandfather Dandolo, he mentioned his wish for "the law to be above men," which drew great admiration from the old man. However, he also knew that this "law above men" was not the "law" of another world, but rather a rule under a civilized state. He did not expect to see the kind of great man he admired in this era, but at least it could reduce some war, backwardness, and bloodshed.

Heraclius selectively disseminated these remarks, and the opposition among the lords and nobles gradually subsided—the knights finally understood that any gain comes with hard work, and while King Baldwin IV of Arrassal and Lord Cesar of Cyprus were generous, their knights had to abide by their laws or, in other words, follow their preferences.

Some knights, being kind-hearted, felt that such constraints, and being with like-minded people, were a blessing. However, other knights felt that they had lost many privileges and were more likely to be punished by their lord—perhaps even having to give back what they had previously gained…

After this, most people felt relieved.

The many minor lords of the Holy Land, such as the lords of Galilee, Arabia, and Nal'azar, are being won over by the new territories they will receive, including at least the Valley of Hurrah—a place they are certain to gain.

This land was previously unused because it was covered with swamps, thorns, and lakes of all sizes, but if it could be renovated and cultivated, it would become a fertile land "flowing with milk and honey".

After taking Damascus, they could rebuild the walls and fortresses along the right bank of the Jordan River to defend against the Saracen siege.

Of course, some people also mentioned Edessa, which was once the largest of the four Christian kingdoms. It bordered Armenia and the Seljuk Sultanate to the left, and to the right, part of it was part of the Turkic Seljuk Empire (which looked like a bent barbell), and another part was the Turkic Khanate.

It can be said that apart from the Principality of Antioch, it is almost impossible for it to get help from the other two major Christian kingdoms, and it is also located north of Apole. At this time, none of them know whether they will eventually be able to actually reach Apole.

But if they could actually win and still have the strength, they looked to Cesar, the young heir. Both Josephine II and Josephine III had wanted to reclaim Edessa, even though the former was old and the latter had been imprisoned since childhood. They never gave up their desire to restore their country, but it was also not an easy thing to do.

Neither the remnants of Nur ad-Din's forces, the Turks, nor other Saracen alliances and tribes would stand idly by and allow them to devour such a large territory again.

But for the Count of Edessa, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Frederick I did so because he was getting old and unsure whether he could participate in the fourth expedition, or whether he could once again seize this chance to cleanse his sins and reclaim glory.

He even brought his eldest son, Henry the Younger, with his intentions quite obvious (the Holy Roman Emperor was elected).

Having given away nearly half of the spoils and numerous sacred artifacts, all they could ask of these outright "barbarians" was for them to accept the control of the inspection team, lest they become a group of undisciplined beasts and bandits roaming about.

If they still want to borrow the armies of the Holy Roman Empire, France, and Britain to attack the Saracens and Turks, it will probably not be so easy.

Frederick I hid his smile beneath his signature red beard, and beneath his thick eyebrows were a pair of fierce and cunning eyes.

He was pondering how he should respond if Count Edessa actually made this request.

If it were Frederick I and his army, no amount of gold could buy them, considering he would later face challenges from other princes and the possibility of conquering Italy. However, the other side did possess something of great value: Cyprus.

Everyone knows that if Cyprus was originally made of silver, it is now made of gold.

This young lord spared no effort in managing Cyprus, and his governor's palace was constantly filled with merchants. From Roman cement to rock sugar, and from rock sugar to coffee, they demanded licenses to operate at least one of these products. As a result, a great deal of money flowed into the young count's hands, to the point that he directly exempted Cypriot farmers from three years of exorbitant taxes, yet he still lived quite comfortably and even had the means to support Arrasa Road.

Not to mention that Cyprus also has many ports and prosperous cities, making it a must-pass for pilgrims.

Now that Cyprus belongs to the Crusaders, pilgrims passing through here can travel much faster and safer than before, whether by boat along the coast or by crossing the entire island and then by boat to Acre or Jaffa.

He did not have only one son—one of his sons could inherit Cyprus. Thus, although Cyprus was isolated in the Mediterranean, it was precisely because of this that it needed the strong support of the Holy Roman Empire to consolidate its royal power. The output of Cyprus could then provide his future children and grandchildren with economic and trade supplies, which was perfect.

He wouldn't bring it up now; he wanted to wait for the young man to ask him for help. Frederick I took a big gulp of wine. Today's wine came from Cyprus and was a fine wine that had been praised by the Byzantine emperors. If everything went smoothly, he would be able to enjoy it in his palace in the future.

Baldwin and César did not take Frederick I's unusual silence to heart; they were not in a hurry, after all, they were still young. Because of David and Raymond's loss of Damascus, even if they captured other cities, they would not hand them over to him.

Grand Duke Bohemond of Antioch was ruthlessly excluded from these new territories by Baldwin. Even though he was one of the generals of the Eastern Expedition, Baldwin had decided that even if he had made great contributions, he would rather buy back the territory with gold and silk than hand it over to him.

These places will inevitably be handed over to Cesar. No matter where they conquer, he believes that with Cesar's governing ability shown in Cyprus, he can govern these newly occupied territories well. At that time, he can use this area as a backing and foundation to launch a war to retake Edessa in five or ten years.

Baldwin touched his left hand almost imperceptibly, and when he confirmed that its condition had not worsened and had even shown slight improvement, he felt relieved. Perhaps he could have such a wishful thought.

The king's gaze fell upon Princess Joan of England.

Although Princess Joan's attitude displeased him, the thought of a young woman—even if she had been married before—being forced to marry a leper was indeed hard to accept with joy.

The British ministers and their Queen Mother Eleanor only saw the clashes and games between nations; a girl's happiness was insignificant to them. But it must be said, it was indeed a good marriage.

If this expedition were to succeed, Richard probably wouldn't have come—wait, if this expedition were to fail, he would be even more enthusiastic, since he would definitely be shouting about washing away the shame or something.

When a king is fighting a war alone, his allies become crucial. Moreover, it would be a good thing if the bloodline of the Plantagenet dynasty could flow through this sacred place, the holiest place in the hearts of all Christians.

After all, England, being a land outside of Europe, did not have a very harmonious relationship with Rome. There was also a problem that Richard had already discovered—the number of young knights in England who could now see saints was decreasing year by year.

Some British people even sent their children to Frankish churches, and the proportion of children blessed in Frankish churches increased significantly.

Richard's trip to the Holy Land was also accompanied by an important mission: to bring back more relics. However, Frederick I had already made the first request, so Richard was too embarrassed to ask for more. He could only hope to obtain enough relics on the battlefield, which would be a way of giving back to the ministers and lords who supported him.

However, if the king of Arrassal has the blood of the Plantagenet dynasty, then even if he were to give it away directly, no one would say anything. No one could doubt that the number of sacred objects Arrassal possesses might far exceed the total number in all of Europe.

Joan could indeed sense King Alassa's gaze. She was both apprehensive and secretly pleased. She was indeed afraid of a leper, but what girl could remain unmoved by the gaze of a king?

She remembered that when she first arrived at Arrasa Road, Baldwin wasn't wearing a mask. His face wasn't grotesque; in fact, it was quite handsome. Apart from the ominous red spots, his nose wasn't rotting, and his lips weren't missing. Like his brother, he ate and drank heartily, jousted on horseback, and even defeated several knights who were considered brave and fearless.

Moreover, he treated ladies with respect and courtesy during dances and hunts, unlike other knights who would roughly pull or harass them. It could be said that, had it not been for that terrible illness, even with Adonis (a famously handsome man in Roman legend) by his side, she would have willingly become his wife and borne him children.

Her brother Richard had already told her that if she didn't want to, no one could force her; he would take her back to England. But who could she marry?

Philip II? Impossible. The French had had enough of Eleanor and would never allow her daughter to claim the throne of France again. Sicily? That bastard son who usurped her husband's throne and wanted her dowry? The thought sent chills down Joan's spine. So who else could it be? A woman as heir to the Duchy of Brittany, or the Holy Roman Empire? No, Frederick I would never allow his sons to choose Joan.

As a princess, Joan was somewhat strapped for cash in terms of dowry, unless Richard was willing to give her a fiefdom as part of her dowry, but she knew that was impossible, and even if Richard were willing, her mother would refuse.

Now it seems that the King of Alaska is indeed the most suitable for her. So when Richard asked her whether he would send a troop of knights to escort her back to England, or stay in Alaska to await his triumphant return.

After much hesitation, Joan chose the latter.

(End of this chapter)