In the Middle Ages, people drew cards to be promoted to nobility.

Early the next morning.

Lothar held a grand entrance ceremony. Hundreds of elite armored cavalry, with the most arrogant attitude, surrounded Lothar, a Crusader prince who was famous even in Baghdad, and inspected the entire Semennu. Decheng.

The citizens looked at him with fear and caution, not daring anyone to look at him.

Soldiers like Abdullah who knew Coptic and Saracen shouted loudly along the street: "All Christians and pagans, please listen, from today onwards, the city of Semanud will return to the In the arms of our Lord Christ, all Christians will only need to pay half of the usual taxes for the next year. Pagans do not need to worry. Our Lord allows you to remain the same as you are. No one will be slaughtered and no one will force you. Convert, and as long as you do not violate the laws established by the Duke, you will be protected by the Crusaders."

"Christian brothers in the city who still adhere to the old faith, we are not enemies, but compatriots. We are here to liberate you, not to enslave you!"

It is often said that it depends on what a person does, not how he says it. This sentence is true in itself, but it can become a wise saying precisely because people are used to listening with their ears, rather than seeing their hearts over time.

Propaganda agents inspired by Lothar, protected by guards, came to the streets to preach to ordinary people like missionaries.

After the city entry ceremony, Lothar returned to the Governor's Mansion.

After this incident, the situation in Semanud City can basically be said to have stabilized temporarily.

In fact, as long as there is no large-scale riot on the first night, the Semanud people will basically no longer rebel easily.

It's not that he is overly optimistic, but Semanud City is dominated by the citizen class. As we all know, the citizen class is naturally compromising.

People who are barefoot are the most vulnerable to oppression, but they are also the easiest to risk everything to resist, because they have nothing to lose. On the other hand, those in the civil class who wear shoes will find it difficult to make up their mind to rebel even if their interests are harmed. .

…

Lothar was chatting and laughing with the bishop of Semanud City at this time. This bishop had long been in contact with Lothar's "Shadow of Darkness" in private, and was warmly received by Lothar.

"Your Excellency, from today onwards, you will be in charge of half of the Holy Fire Altar in Semanud City. No one will ask the Copts and the Catholic Church to merge. You can remain the same and be loyal to me alone."

The bishop said with joy on his face: "Praise Heavenly Father, praise Heavenly Father for your favor, Your Majesty the Duke, I believe that all Christians will be overwhelmed by your achievements, and every Copt will rejoice that the righteous faith has regained Egypt. "

Lothar responded with a smile: "This is the responsibility of every devout Christian among us, to expel the heretics and recover the patriarchate. Your Excellency, I am just worried now, who should be appointed as the archbishop of Alexandria in the future?"

The bishop was moved by Lothar's series of pictures, and repeatedly promised that he would spare no effort to encourage Copts to join the army and contribute finances and taxes to support the Crusades.

Send this bishop away.

The smile on Lothar's face gradually faded. Heretics are sometimes more hateful than heretics.

For example, in the last years of Eastern Romania, the church was unified in exchange for help from the Latins, but it was strongly opposed by the Orthodox Church of Constantinople.

They would rather accept Ottoman rule than submit to the Latins.

Although there was the massacre and looting of King's Castle during the Fourth Crusade, the two sides had already been enmity as deep as the sea.

But Lothar felt that the most important factor was that the merchants of Venice and Genoa had too many privileges in Constantinople. Not only did they have their own dedicated urban areas and a large number of colonies, Latin merchants also had many tax-free privileges.

Domestic businessmen still need to pay taxes when doing business, but foreign businessmen do not.

How can such a country win the support of the people?

This is why Lothar has always been wary of funding from Latin merchants, and is unwilling to accept the price of establishing a business inn or granting trade privileges in exchange for the full support of Latin merchants.

Treaties are not things that can be signed casually.

The Latin city-state, which was founded on a navy, really had the strength to pull out a large fleet and come to collect debts with arms.

Although Lothar was not afraid of them, he was not willing to make enemies out of thin air.

Therefore, Lothar has no intention of returning Coptic Christianity to the "orthodox faith". Only by giving them a more relaxed environment can they win the support of this group of people.

Coors, who was hiding in the shadows, stood up after the bishop left and said with some emotion: "This guy has such a big appetite, he really dared to eat half of the altar."

Lothar smiled and said: "I am not afraid of his big appetite, but I am afraid that he is timid. Handing over half of the original Zoroastrian altar and part of the real estate to them will force the Copts to stand on the opposite side of Zoroastrianism."

"Now, it won't work if he doesn't follow us."

"Coors, how do you think the administrative system of Semanud City should be rebuilt?"

Coors hesitated for a moment and said with a wry smile: "Sir, I'm afraid we have to rely on local people. Most of our administrative talents are reserved in Damietta, unless you transfer Andreas and Muller to the front line."

Lothar shook his head.

One of these two people is responsible for logistics, and the other is responsible for Ella Port. They are both crucial matters, much more important than the mere city of Semanud.

He didn't know what Coors said. The biggest difficulty for him if he wanted to follow the path of an urban aristocrat was the lack of talent.

Although the loyalty of your subordinates is important, loyalty alone without ability is not enough.

To be a good urban aristocrat, literacy is definitely not enough.

A crusader knight who is full of muscles but is loyal to Lothar is obviously difficult to compete with a city noble who needs a flexible brain to avoid being deceived by cunning citizens.

Unfortunately, Lothar's army, like most armies of this era, is an army filled with such brash men full of brains and muscles.

The heavy-armed cavalry from Dongluo received excellent education and inheritance, but they also had military skills such as literacy, drawing, and code-drilling. They were completely fine as military instructors.

But it is beyond our capabilities to allow them to directly participate in urban management.

"But if the citizens are self-governing - can these citizens be reliable in the territory they just acquired?"

"It's not reliable, but for now it's enough as long as they don't cause trouble."

Lothar added: "We need a big victory. As long as we defeat Adil, Egypt's fate will be doomed. If only one side is left, even the losers will have no choice but to fall to our side."

In the same way, no matter what administrative system Lothar has set up now, if he loses on the battlefield, the citizens of Semanud City will immediately raise a flag of rebellion.

Buhayla.

A large-scale Saracen coalition has gathered here.

War is always a demon that destroys order.

Many civilians were displaced, intimidated by the Crusaders' reputation for brutality, and flocked to the city to escape the war. The streets were filled with refugees.

Famine and plague, two disasters that have always been associated with war, followed one after another.

While Adil was relieving the victims, he spared no effort to exaggerate the cruelty of the Crusaders. At the same time, he encouraged them to have the courage to retake their homeland, and recruited the best among them to be incorporated into the cannon fodder battalion.

Representatives of these civilians who have lost their land stand up every day and pray for Adil to send troops as soon as possible. However, the nobles whose territory was taken away by the Crusaders are much more honest. Once they lose their territory, they will lose most of their wealth and military power. At this time They are like beasts that have lost their claws, fearing that Adil will find any reason to deprive them of their power.

"Master Shemail, when will our king come by ship?"

The black-robed mage said solemnly: "Your Majesty has his own considerations."

"I just received a military report that the gateway to the Central Delta has fallen, and Lothar has occupied the city of Semanud."

Master Shemeier wondered: "Your Excellency Governor, according to my understanding, this should be a good thing. The more territory the Crusaders occupy, the more dispersed their power will be, and the more troops will be willing to gather under your command. .”

Adil said in a deep voice: "Master Shemail, if we really want to count the battle in this war, it will still fall on you. We are just ordinary people. If you fail, no matter how many troops you have, it will be useless."

His face was not pretty, his beard had not been trimmed for a long time, and his eyes were bloodshot.

The more he learned about Lothar's past battles, the less sure Adil felt.

The situation of the war has changed.

It has become completely different from his previous era, where extraordinary power determines everything. A famous general like him seems to be abandoned by time in just half a year.

"I need a guarantee!"

Shemail looked deeply at Adil, Saladin's confidant and the lion of the Ayyubid family, and said for a long time: "His Majesty's magic advisory group will defeat the Crusaders on a transcendent level."

His voice was very calm, giving people full confidence: "In the library of Alexandria, there are many precious books. They may be worthless to you warriors, but they are priceless treasures to us spellcasters."

During this time, he found an extremely powerful treasure in the library, and with the help of other spellcasters, he was still confident that he could defeat the Crusader prince and the witches under his command.

"Master, if that's the case, I'll be relieved."

Adil breathed a sigh of relief: "Christmas for the Crusaders is coming soon. Master Shemeier, if you have no objection, we will choose this day to fight the Crusaders!"