Chapter 4, The Knight from the East Just as Levi said, when their group of people appeared at the intersection, a loud horn sounded from the seaside manor ahead with the flag of the Knights Hospitaller flying.
Immediately afterwards, a gray-haired old knight came out with several cavalrymen.
This is an old man with a majestic appearance, as thin as a rock, but there is always a smile in his gray-blue eyes.
Like other hospital knights, he wears a gray cloak and a chain mail decorated with an octagonal white cross badge on a red background, but he wears gemstone rings on his hands, and a wide-brimmed belt and silver-plated buckle around his waist. , and also wore a string of heavy silver necklaces around her neck, which looked very luxurious.
He is the arrangement of Livy's theoretical uncle in this world, Diderot, the senior knight of the Knights Hospitaller.
Bacon.
As a military monastery that has been fighting on the front line against pagans for a long time, the Knights Hospitallers must rely on a steady stream of manpower and material resources from the European rear in order to gain a foothold in Western Asia where pagans are everywhere and persist in the long and cruel Crusades.
Go down.
For this reason, the Knights Hospitallers have not only been acting as trade agents between West Asia and Europe, trafficking lucrative spices, silks, porcelain and other oriental commodities to Europe to accumulate military expenses, they have also established a huge " The "backup public relations lobby group" tried its best to deceive and deceive, and tried every means to recruit European recruits to fill the human resource gap caused by the long war: the Eastern front of Christendom will always need tall and powerful warriors.
But if you can write and count, you will be more popular.
The literacy rate in Europe at that time was worrying, resulting in the Knights Hospitaller always lacking competent bookkeepers.
Later, even married people could join the Knights Hospitallers, but they had to bring their wives with them.
Don’t you think that the Knights Hospitallers only have male members?
Don’t forget that there are so many hospitals.
Of course, after joining the Knights Hospitaller, the old marriage relationship is equivalent to being dissolved.
The man goes to war and the woman becomes a nun and nurse, and they may never meet again.
Although this kind of thing sounds stupid and masochistic, in that era of extremely religious atmosphere, many Europeans chose to join the Knights just to walk on the road of martyrs.
It is a pity that they only wanted to be martyrs.
As time went on, such pious people soon became fewer and fewer.
When history entered the fourteenth century, after the Holy Land Jerusalem fell again and various Crusader kingdoms were destroyed one after another, the Knights Hospitaller trapped in Rhodes Island had become the last rock in the vast sea of pagans, and the war situation became increasingly tense day by day.
In order to gain more support, the Knights Hospitaller's publicity and public relations activities in Europe have become more active than ever.
Through the lobbying of church members and the spread of various heroic stories, they successfully shaped Rhodes Island into a knight's paradise in the eyes of European people and a garden-like sanctuary where holy warriors went after fierce battles with the pagans. .
Unfortunately, as the enthusiasm for jihad has generally cooled down in Europe, the effects of the above-mentioned propaganda and public relations are still getting worse every year.
Although God helped the Knights of the Hospital at this time, the rival Templars, who had been very helpful for many years, were secretly annihilated by the church and the King of France.
A considerable part of the property that originally belonged to the Knights Templar was transferred to the name of the Knights of the Hospital.
In recent years, The Knights Hospitallers, whose finances were becoming increasingly tight, were a little better off and were finally able to support more churchgoers.
But in medieval Europe, where the commodity economy was underdeveloped, money could not solve all problems.
Without the support of powerful local people, the Knights would not be able to raise enough manpower and material resources even with gold coins.
It is precisely because of this that the Knights Hospitallers have been trying to recruit powerful European aristocrats and have many knights stationed in Europe to actively lobby.
The form is similar to the pyramid scheme in modern China.
Some particularly outstanding "salesmen" can even persuade a noble knight with a family and business to give up all his glory and wealth to join the sacred cause of the Knights Hospitaller, and donate all his property, including his territory, to the order.
Of course, such devout fanatical believer lords and nobles are very rare in the whole of Europe who can join the ranks of rulers.
Most of them are more shrewd and pragmatic, and are not so easy to fool.
Even the Knights Hospitaller themselves, under the impact of the wave of Renaissance ideas, learned from the Roman Church and became more and more "degenerate", or secularized.
The senior leaders of the Knights, who originally prohibited marriage, began to keep mistresses in private. , produced many illegitimate children, and divided up the land and industry of Rhode Island.
In fact, the Hereditary Knights themselves were so crooked and scandalous, how could they coax the well-informed nobles into ruining their families?
What's the effect?
The troops that used force to coerce the Knights were far away on the other side of the Mediterranean, beyond their reach, and generally they could not attack Christians directly.
They are deceiving these warriors whose job is to kill people with swords.
Their deception skills are really comparable to those of the professional magic sticks from various monasteries in Europe.
Therefore, in many cases, senior members of the Knights Hospitallers on the European continent are recruited through interest exchange and other methods.
It is just the wealthy people who wear the skin of the Knights Hospitallers on themselves.
For example, Li Chevalier Wei's uncle in this life, Diderot, a small lord in the Marseille area.
Bacon was nominally inspired by God and donated all his property, including his territory, to the Knights Hospitaller.
In fact, he made a deal with the Knights Hospitaller in exchange for the Knights Hospitaller's "Import and Export Branch in Marseille."
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As a major shareholder, he was able to use the name of the Knights Hospitallers to engage in trade and export of labor services, that is, to "sell piglets" to Rhode Island. , recruiting homeless people to be cannon fodder there, and organizing French pilgrims to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the East to collect protection fees and intermediary fees.
Although the Holy Land has fallen into the hands of the infidels again, the Arabs who are good at business will not refuse European pilgrims came to Jerusalem to send money to revitalize the economy, thereby reaping substantial benefits that far exceeded those of digging in the soil.
Of course, the Knights Hospitaller also expanded their contacts and obtained reliable funding and manpower.
It was not safe to use local people to fight in the East.
According to the setting of the main god, Levi originally worked as his uncle's trade agent in Rhode Island for a long time after the death of his parents.
Of course, he also occasionally had to fight with pagan warriors.
But Diderot.
Seeing that he was old and had no descendants, Bacon took advantage of the opportunity of the Knights Hospitallers to send reinforcements to the King of France.
The Knights Hospitallers themselves could only fight the pagans and could not interfere in the internal fighting of Christendom, so as not to destroy its transcendence. status.
However, since the Knights Hospitallers of Rhode Island have changed from an organization to a country, they can change their name and send secular knights within their territory back to Europe to participate in the war.
Of course, the combat effectiveness is much worse than that of the genuine Knights Hospitallers, but in order to show that In this position, even weak soldiers who had not fought before had to be sent out to call back Li Wei, the younger generation with the closest blood relationship, and prepare him to inherit the family's manor and industry.
Wait, something seems wrong, doesn’t it mean that this lord has donated all his property, including the territory, to the Knights Hospitaller, and everything has become public property?
How can it be passed down hereditary in his family?
Alas, if you take some things too seriously, you will lose.
There are unspoken rules everywhere in this world, and many things cannot be taken seriously.
So, for the safe return of the knight Livy, Diderot.
Bacon expressed his sincere relief.
"I have heard about the Battle of Crecy.
His Majesty the King fought in this battle with great disgrace."
After a few words of greeting outside the manor, Diderot reached out and patted Livy on the shoulder, comforting him and saying, "Don't be too depressed, my son, this defeat is not your fault.
The glory of the Bacon family will not be affected by this."
Defiled.
I'm just happy that you came back safe and sound."
"Thank you for your comfort, uncle, but I'm still sorry that I couldn't gain military merit and bring new glory to the family and the knights."
Levi sighed and said listlessly, "Our army was defeated so miserably in this battle.
It's really unfortunate.
You know what will happen next.”
"Who can know what will happen next except the Almighty God?
Anyway, it is impossible for the British soldiers to cross the entire France and fight all the way to Marseille in the south.
That is enough.
The rest is There’s no need to overthink it.”
Diderot said disapprovingly, "After this battle, we have fulfilled our vassal obligations to His Majesty the King, and we have also repaid the friendship we have had over the years for the Knights.
No matter how the war in the north will turn out, It has nothing to do with us, my child."
Having said this, he looked at the girl held in Li Wei's arms, and a kind smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, "Forget about war and glory.
Now, your most important task is to get married as soon as possible and have more children."
Son, let’s pass on the blood of the family.
I have prepared meals and bath water.
Hurry in and have a hot meal and a hot bath.
You must be exhausted along the way.”
Indeed, because the defeat at the Battle of Crecy was so ugly, and the king took the lead in escaping from the battle, he had no confidence to blame others.
Therefore, after Livy withdrew to Marseille, he was not held accountable by the French royal family and the Knights Hospitaller, and even With the help of his uncle, he took over the position of the disappeared senior captain and climbed to the position of head of the Marseille branch of the Knights Hospitaller, although he had only a few followers.
But on the other hand, after the Battle of Crecy, in which tens of thousands of people were killed in one day, the brutal war still did not extinguish the land of Western Europe.
After winning the great victory at the Battle of Crécy and almost wiping out all the French field forces, the proud Edward III took advantage of the victory and sent his troops to besiege the Port of Calais.
This port is the closest place on the European continent to the island of Great Britain, and is next to it.
The famous Dunkirk during World War II.
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However, the city defense of Calais was strong, and the soldiers and civilians fought to the death.
The British army repeatedly failed to attack, causing heavy casualties and even almost triggering a mutiny.
On the other hand, on the island of Great Britain, King David of Scotland, in accordance with the alliance treaty signed with the King of France, led 12,000 troops from the north to the south and invaded the English mainland.
As a result, the British army was surrounded by enemies from both sides and was in a worrying situation.
But the British army in this era is worthy of being a supernormal existence with a golden finger.
It can be said that it is lucky.
Even though the British king and the main elite troops are trapped in the French battlefield, the small number of miscellaneous troops who stayed in the country still bravely attacked the Scots.
In the Battle of Neville's Cross, 3,000 British troops defeated 12,000 Scottish soldiers and horses until the entire army collapsed, and even captured the King of Scotland, thus completely relieving the worries of the north.
When the good news came, the morale of the British troops on the Calais front became increasingly high.
After the siege, they began to ravage the northern territory of France wantonly, burning, killing, and looting.
The French army, on the other hand, became increasingly demoralized and almost did not dare to resist.
The flower of chivalry, which France would always defeat in every battle, had withered.
During the long offensive and defensive battle, the defenders of the Port of Calais sent envoys several times to risk a breakout and ask for help from King Philip VI of France.
However, the French royal family was frightened by the British army who seemed to be possessed by the God of War and refused to send troops.
Save Calais and watch the northern coast become a hunting ground for the British.
Finally, after holding on for a full eleven months, the Port of Calais was running out of ammunition and food.
The desperate remaining soldiers and civilians finally erected a lowered flag at the top of the city, and then sent six of the most prestigious citizen representatives, bald and barefoot, to He put a hanging rope around his neck and went out of the city to beg for mercy from King Edward III.
These six volunteers succeeded in impressing the King of England and saved the lives of the people of Calais, thus becoming the city heroes of this port.
More than five hundred years later, in 1884, in order to commemorate the deeds of these six volunteers, the then Calais Mayor Lai raised funds to build a monument to the loyal soul, and specially hired the famous sculptor Rodin to create the immortal sculpture of the Burghers of Calais in the history of world art, which still stands in the Place de Riccière in Calais.
So far, in this big game between Britain and France, the French, who have good cards and reliable allies to help them, have completely lost.
Disgraced in front of international observers across Europe.
Moreover, the current situation in France is getting worse and worse: not to mention the occupied lands and cities, even in the rear areas far away from the battlefield, a large number of lords and nobles were killed in battle, which also led to a serious collapse of France's domestic ruling order.
Thousands of soldiers became bandits after being defeated, internal strife broke out in countless noble territories due to inheritance disputes, and countless skilled warriors and cavalry became bandits.
The looting and burning of various villages and towns by these defeated troops and the English invaders created a large number of homeless people who had nothing to lose, wandering and fleeing in the countryside and roads, hitting this turbulent country like a flood one after another. .
Even in the port of Marseille, located in the southernmost part of the country, it was attacked by several groups of defeated troops, and several manors were looted or burned.
Faced with such a chaotic situation, the noble knights in the Marseille Port area immediately united and organized a crusade to suppress them.
After a siege that was no more difficult than hunting, the knights easily defeated these rabble and captured them.
Among the thousands of defeated soldiers who lost their souls, many of them were actually Italians.
However, just as the rich and nobles in Marseille whose property had been damaged stood up angrily, preparing to immediately drag the captured defeated soldiers to the roadside, hang them all on the spot and hang their bodies for public display, they were Diderot.
Old Knight Bacon dissuaded him: “My noble gentlemen, these defeated troops did pose a threat to the city, but their fate also deserves our sympathy.
They were all the simplest common people, never leaving their houses even a league or a mile away, until one day, the lord's call came.
So, wearing tattered shoes and equally tattered clothes, even barefoot, they set out under the splendid banner of the lord.
They often carry no decent weapons, only sickles, open-edged hoes, or simple hammers made of stones tied to sticks with leather ropes.
Brothers, fathers and sons, friends embark on a journey together.
Most of them had heard the songs and stories of the knights and were eager to set out, dreaming of witnessing the wonders and winning wealth and glory.
The war seemed to them to be a great adventure, a wonderful journey that they had never dreamed of.
Then, they had a taste of war.
For some weak-willed people, this taste is enough to break them.
More people continued to hold on reluctantly, day after day, until they could not count how many battles they had participated in.
The younger brother watched his elder brother die, his father lost his son, and when his friend's belly was split open with an axe, he still tried to shed his blood.
Stuff the intestines back.
They saw the lord who had led them into battle be cut down, and another lord loudly declared that they now belonged to him.
Their wounds were only half healed when they were struck with new, more painful wounds.
They never had enough to eat during the war, their shoes gradually disintegrated in the endless march, their clothes were torn into strips of cloth, and many became sick from drinking dirty water, with their excrement and urine in their pants.
More people fell ill after being exposed to the rain, and their foreheads were so hot they could bake bread.
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If they wanted new boots, or a warmer cloak, or a good meal, or money for medical treatment, they had to take it from the corpses, and soon they began to steal from the living as well.
On the land where the army passed, some Common people like them in the past.
They stole these people's things.
At first they were forced to survive and had to steal chickens, dogs, cattle and sheep.
But then they took away the wives and daughters of these civilians, forgetting God's teachings and enjoying the only things the war brought.
A little good.
One day, when they looked around and realized that all their friends and relatives were gone, they were surrounded by strangers, and the flags above their heads were illegible, they were in panic and did not know where they were or how to get home.
They fought for the lord, but the lord did not know their names.
He would only shout majestically, asking them to get into formation, pick up spears, sickles, and pointed hoes, and stand firm.
Then, the knights came, those knights who were covered in iron armor and whose faces could not be seen.
When they charged, the roar of steel filled the whole world.
Then, they finally collapsed and became deserters.
They either turn around and run away on the battlefield, or they pick up dead bodies and run away after the battle, or they sneak out of the camp in the dark night and find a place to hide.
The deserter's life is one where he does not know what will happen tomorrow.
He eats one meal but does not know the next.
He lives like a beast but not like a human being.
Kings, lords and gods are not as good as a piece of rotten meat to them.
At least the meat can help him live one more day; It's not as good as a bag of bad wine, at least the bad wine can temporarily drown his fear.
For those who are not familiar with war, war may mean romance and glory, but in fact, war always means hell."
Looking at the deserters who were kneeling on the ground in a mess, with tattered clothes and numb eyes, like walking corpses, the white-haired old knight took off his helmet and said with emotion, "Indeed" with a sense of seeing through the vicissitudes of the world. , in the current situation, we need to understand Suppress and eliminate these deserters to prevent them from causing more damage, but we should also sympathize with them.
Let’s not care about the murderers with solid evidence.
Let’s spare their lives for those who only robbed a few pieces of bread.
Enough people have died in this damn year."
After Chevalier Diderot finished speaking, a profound silence enveloped everyone present.
In the end, all the knights and lords agreed that Chevalier Diderot would be solely responsible for handling the prisoners.
And Li Wei was even more moved to tears, thinking that his uncle was really a noble man, a great man, a man who had escaped from vulgar taste, and a good man with noble humanitarian feelings.
Then, he was dumbfounded to see that Uncle Diderot turned around and put all these prisoners on slave ships, crossed the sea and sent them to Rhodes Island to serve as coolies and cannon fodder for the Knights Hospitallers.
If the Knights Hospitallers did not accept them, If so, just sell them to the slave market in Alexandria, Egypt.
After all, war always means hell, and even if these captives are slaves to the pagans, it is much better than being hanged on the outskirts of Marseille.
Drinking mellow wine, sitting on the balcony of the seaside villa, looking at the slightly protruding belly of his newlywed wife, Lord Levi couldn't help but be filled with the joy of being a father, and soon he dismissed those deserters who would not regret their death.
They forgot about it.
Soon after, another piece of good news came that the Marseille War was over, and the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of England had reached an armistice and made peace.
A year after the Battle of Crecy and a month after the fall of Calais, Britain and France, who had been exhausted from the fight, finally signed a one-year armistice agreement.
Another half month later, King Edward III of England triumphantly returned to London with rich spoils of war.
No matter how humiliating and embarrassing it was, the dawn of peace finally shone temporarily on the land of France.
The French people, who had suffered so much, finally had a relatively safe environment where they could calmly restore their homes, pastures and farmland that had been burned by the war.
But it is very regrettable that for the Europeans in the Middle Ages, this short period of peace was just the prelude to another unprecedented catastrophe.
Because, an invisible and intangible god of death has quietly come from the east In September 1347, when the Gallic chicken finally lowered its proud head and knelt down to ask for peace from its former courtier John Bull, at the other end of the European continent, in the city of Kaffa on the Crimean Peninsula on the north coast of the Black Sea, twelve merchant ships It is being loaded with various oriental products and sailing out to sea from here.
What no one knows is that these twelve merchant ships loaded with wealth are actually twelve ferocious monsters.
Soon, this fleet will draw a black road of death on the once prosperous and busy Mediterranean.
And the little happiness that the time traveler Levi Knight had will be ruined in an instant oshow7: