paranoianovel Chapter 847 African Character Army
Chapter 847 African Character Army
Chapter 847 African Crusade
During the argument, a scorching heat wave was blown by the wind.
The winged, three-headed dragon, with fierce wind pressure, climbed up the stone wall with its two claws and feet. The peaks and muscles covered with black scales looked like marble sculptures under the sunlight.
Human beings have always been very realistic creatures. When you demonstrate enough strength, even a pagan monarch can be worshipped by Christians.
The Crusader noble who had been claiming to fight Lothar was now shaking in his legs. He was so close to the dragon that he seemed to be able to feel the heat waves from the breathing of the three dragon heads above his head.
This is a feeling of oppression that cannot be felt at all when you are far away.
If St. George had wanted to slay this kind of dragon, he would probably have ended up in regret, right?
Some nobles, knights and soldiers were so frightened that they fled in terror and hid behind the stone walls, screaming.
"Oh God, don't let it eat me!"
However, this dragon, which looked quite ferocious, as if it wanted to eat a hundred people in one meal, now lowered its three heads obediently and placed them on the square.
From the top of the red dragon's head in the middle, the Crusader King, wearing a golden crown and a black double-headed eagle cloak, stepped on the dragon's neck that was covered with bone spurs, rugged and hideous, and slowly came in front of everyone.
Many Crusader nobles opened their mouths in stupor. This scene, like a flame, was forever engraved in their lives and became the most spectacular and shocking miracle.
"The great dragon rider, the God-chosen Crusader King, His Majesty Basilius!"
The Crusader noble who had just stood up to challenge Bella III walked forward with a fanatical look and knelt on one knee: "I am Charles of the Montmorency family. It is an honor to meet you."
It's Charlie again.
Lothar forced a smile and stretched out his finger wearing the double-headed eagle personal ring: "It is an honor to meet you, Sir Charles."
Before Sir Charles could say anything else, the nobles who came forward to meet him had already gathered around him and started talking.
"Your Majesty, I am Henry of Barr. We have met before at a feast in Allgau. My mother is your father's sister. We are brothers of the same blood."
"Sire, I am Hugo of Grissom, your dear neighbor."
"I am Raoul of Clermont."
"Your Majesty, how did you tame this terrible beast? Was it God's will?"
"What a ridiculous! Contemptible! Shameful act!"
Besides Bella III, the only person standing behind the team and watching coldly was Bonifacio, Marquis of Monferrato.
His father, Marquis William, was an important collaborator of the Eastern Empire in the northern Apennines. His brother Conrad of Monferrato also married the Purple Princess of the Komnenos family, but he resigned and went under Lothar.
This Marquis was the biggest supporter of this Crusade besides Bella III and the Doge of Venice. He recruited tens of thousands of Crusaders by himself.
After a brief meeting with the audience, Losa turned his attention to Bella III and the Marquis of Monferrato beside him.
He first nodded slightly as a greeting to the former, and then went straight to the Marquis of Monferrato.
"Are you the Marquis of Monferrato? Your brother Conrad is serving under me. He is an excellent knight with great martial arts and noble character. So I don't understand why you are here."
Monferrato's involvement with the East did not end there.
In addition to Conrad, the Marquis of Bonifacio also had an elder brother, "William the Long Sword" who was quite famous in the Holy Land. He was married to Princess Sibylla and gave birth to a posthumous son, Baldwin the Younger, who was originally going to succeed the Crown Prince of Jerusalem.
Unfortunately, less than a year after their marriage, William the Long Sword died of illness due to acclimatization.
Perhaps it was precisely because of his close relationship with the Eastern Empire that the Marquis of Monferrato knew better what huge benefits he could gain after conquering Constantinople.
After all, one of his brothers married Princess Sibylla and almost became the King of Jerusalem, and the other married a princess of the Komnenos family and became the prince consort of the Eastern Empire. So he was left to guard the County of Monferrato and was forced to participate in the struggle between Emperor Henry and the northern Apennine states.
It's normal to have an unbalanced mentality.
Marquis Bonifacio said coldly: "For the sake of the Eastern Expedition, the Greeks are fickle and block our way to the Eastern Expedition. Only by capturing Constantinople can we have a bridgehead to launch an attack on the pagans in the East."
Lothar smiled and said, "I don't understand what I did wrong to make you hostile to me, but please know that I am not your enemy. On the contrary, I came to Constantinople to redeem you."
Losa's tone was calm, but his words were particularly convincing.
"The overseas territories are unlimited. Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Persia, and even the more distant East are all fertile lands occupied by pagans. Compared to Constantinople, I think Egypt and Jerusalem are undoubtedly more suitable to be the bridgehead."
In the past, when Jerusalem fell, the Crusaders’ claim to use Constantinople as an outpost of the holy war was somewhat plausible, but in this timeline, it is not credible at all.
Bonifacio snorted coldly, "That's easy to say. Are you willing to pay for our ship tickets to Egypt and all the military supplies? If we were not short of funds for the holy war, we would have come to Jerusalem to defend the Holy Land long ago, and we wouldn't have to compromise with the Venetians."
Upon hearing this, a group of Crusader nobles began to complain, hoping to reduce their guilt.
"Yes, the prices of the boat tickets to those Apennine city-states are too high. We sold our ancestral property and came to the port to participate in the holy war, but we couldn't even afford the boat fare. We had to struggle all day to make ends meet."
"Our original intention was not to resort to violence against our Christian brothers, but we simply had no other choice."
Lothar raised a hand, signaling everyone to stop talking for the time being, and then walked briskly to the high platform of the council hall: "Everyone, the culprit of this wrong and sinful war - the Greek tyrant Alexios, has been punished for treating you as lowly mercenaries and blaspheming the sacred cause of the Eastern Expedition."
It is definitely impossible for him to pay for it himself. Although Egypt's financial situation has improved, it cannot be wasted on such things.
"Next, I hope you can follow the example of the previous Crusaders and reach a mutually beneficial agreement with the Empress of the Empire. On the one hand, the Empire should provide you with all the military supplies and ships to transport you to the other side of the strait. On the other hand, you should also take up arms and fight against the pagans in Asia Minor in exchange for this assistance. After the war, you can all be rewarded according to your merits and obtain fiefdoms, but you only need to swear allegiance to the Empress of the Eastern Empire."
These conditions were actually quite generous, but the Crusader nobles were still somewhat hesitant.
"Your Majesty, are the Greeks reliable?"
"What if they break the agreement, cut off our supplies, and throw us to the other side to die?"
Lothar shook his head. “Perhaps the Greeks are not reliable enough, but I guarantee on my honor that they will fulfill this contract, unless they want to see me riding a dragon and flying over their heads one day.”
"Okay, well said!"
"I said His Majesty is on our side!"
"Praise King Lothar!"
Amid the people's praise, Lothar slowly waved his hand and said, "Besides this, if you do not want to fight the pagans in Asia Minor, I have another way out waiting for you."
He is indeed short of manpower now. Not to mention India and Malacca in the distance, just take the East African coast that Captain Hogg once visited. If he could occupy all those Saracen coastal commercial ports, he would not know how much profit he could make.
Gold, ivory, spices, coral, pearls, and even the unspeakable black living gold
Right now in Europe, a castrated and simply trained black slave could be sold at a high price of hundreds of gold coins in the Persian or Greek courts, which was equivalent to ten ordinary pack horses and a full set of armor worn by a middle-class noble.
Even if Lothar did not intend to participate deeply in the slave trade, nor did he intend to go to black Africa to be a slave trader, it did not mean that he would sit idly by and watch the Saracens monopolize this trade route.
Losa took out a sea map and spread it out in front of everyone: "Everyone, this starts from the port of Ella, goes out of the Red Sea, and goes south to Socotra Island. Go along the coast. In a few days, you will see Mogadishu, the 'country of frankincense and myrrh' established by the Saracens overseas."
"Further south are Mombasa and Kilwa. These two states are the land of gems, ivory and gold. It is said that in the Zoroastrian temple in the capital city of Kilwa, gold and gems are piled up into mountains."
"The navies of the states established by these Saracens overseas have all been defeated by my fleet. Now we are just waiting for you brave warriors to go and collect these juicy 'fruits'."
As soon as the words fell, they caused a huge response.
Some people just sneered at this. Looking at the states of "Mogadishu", "Kilwa" and "Mombasa" mentioned by Losa, they can be said to be overseas. If you go there, you may hardly find a few opportunities to return home in your lifetime.
It’s too far!
Some people were quite tempted. They could make money, promote the glory of God, and fight against pagans without much danger. So why hesitate about such a good thing?
At worst, after I make some money, I can buy a few boat tickets and bring all my overseas belongings back to Europe!
Anyway, the Red Sea trade route has been controlled by the Crusaders and is much safer.
As for whether Losa was lying?
What a joke! How could Basileus, the King of the Egyptian Crusaders, who is now regarded as the representative of chivalrous knights and even clothed in a sacred mantle and recognized by the Emperor of the Eastern Empire himself, lie?
Losa did not lie, but his words were a bit exaggerated.
The Saracen trading ports and city-states in East Africa did indeed contain enormous commercial value, but there were also risks, such as natural disasters, diseases, and ferocious beasts - but since the Saracens could overcome these dangers, the Crusaders could naturally do so as well.
If you want to get rich, become the ruler of a country, own vast tracts of fertile land and countless slaves, isn't it right to take some risks?