The Knight Territory is the most basic territorial ruling unit. It usually consists of estates and villages consisting of dozens of households.
It is the underlying cornerstone of the feudal ruling system.
Each knight leader has a fully armed knight, a retinue who is also a cavalryman, 5-6 infantry attendants, and hundreds of levies.
In normal times, knights do not need to pay taxes to their superior lords. And their obligation is to spend at least forty days every year to lead their own troops and work for the lord.
For feudal lords, the feudal system was an option that could provide a high-quality army at a low price.
Limited by transportation and communications, it became very unrealistic for a lord to directly rule a vast territory, and the cost required was extremely exaggerated.
For example, the dynasties in the East required a lot of expenditure to support an extremely large civil servant group. Another example is the Eastern Roman Empire, which not only had to maintain a large number of useless officials, but also often had local powerful generals overthrowing the emperor.
Therefore, in comparison, the feudal system, especially the smaller knightly territories, was a relatively cost-effective way for the lords.
First, there is no need to incur a large cost of governance, such as recruiting tax collectors, sheriffs, etc. Secondly, you can have a free army with considerable combat effectiveness. There is no need to spend money to use this army for a period of time every year.
And a knight leader can provide an army of 1 heavy armored cavalry, 1 light armored cavalry, 5-6 heavy infantry, and hundreds of light infantry, allowing even a small baron to pull an army in an instant and effortlessly. Send out thousands of troops.
A king can mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops.
Of course, this is only for a short period of time. Over time, you still have to pay.
In early medieval England, four knightly lands usually formed a barony, and four baronies formed an earldom.
Since the actual sizes of standard baronies and standard earldoms vary from country to country, and due to the existence of inheritance, land sales, wars and other means of territorial expansion, the actual title cannot represent the strength of a noble.
Generally speaking, for high-ranking nobles, nearly 20% of the land in their hands will be reserved for the knight class, the remaining 30-40% will be reserved for vassals, and the rest is their direct territory.
Therefore, the most effective way to judge the strength of a noble is to see how many knights he has who are directly loyal to him.
For example, in the Count of Argau, the loyal knights are only in their early thirties, and their strength is average among the counts.
When Otto was ten years old, he obtained a piece of land of his own, which was almost the size of a barony and owned six knights.
In other words, even if Otto now loses his status as heir, he is still a lord and can call himself a baron. He can also raise one or two knights under him to become a handsome nobleman.
Of course, this kind of reward of land to heirs was still relatively common in the early Middle Ages. In the late Middle Ages, out of concerns about centralizing power and avoiding the split of family land, it was basically difficult for other children except the eldest son to enjoy this kind of land. Treated.
But now, it is the early Middle Ages, when the feudal system is still quite strong. Presumably the land that El can get by then will not be small.
Thinking of this, Otto felt a little heartbroken.
After getting the land, El can freely choose his allegiance. If he does not choose to be loyal to him or simply become an independent lord, the land will have nothing to do with the Earl of Argau.
Of course, the independent lord mentioned here is also relative. It does not refer to openly establishing a country by oneself, which is definitely seeking death, but to be loyal to a higher-level lord, such as a duke or a king.
The vassal of my vassal is not my vassal. This sentence is indeed a perfect portrayal of the feudal system.
The addition of new people made Otto's various tasks progress much faster, especially the two brothers Gent and Ivo. Perhaps it was due to the good education of the baron family, or perhaps it was the two brothers themselves who were smart. , showing certain management skills.
Gent is responsible for supervising the repair and manufacturing of weapons and armor, and Ivo is helping Bud with the construction of Eagle Fort. Everything is progressing in an orderly manner.
And an unexpected news came to Algaoling, who seemed to be temporarily calm at this time.
Otto's father, Count Berthold of Allgäu, was unfortunately killed on the battlefield and was seriously injured!
Even though the Duke of Swabia entrusted the church to take action and sought treatment from a cardinal, Count Allgäu was still unable to be cured. He was still in a coma and was being escorted by Allgäu troops as he returned to his territory.
When he heard the news, Otto felt his head buzzing.
This is undoubtedly huge bad news for Otto.
In fact, whether Count Argau returned to the territory in good health or failed to return to the territory and died outside, it would not have much impact on Otto.
After all, his identity as the heir is unquestionable. If Count Aargau is alive, he will naturally protect him, but if he dies, he will be the new Count Aargau.
But Count Argau, who is now half-dead and unconscious, is the most difficult situation for Otto.
With Count Argau losing his administrative ability, in whose hands will the power of the territory fall?
No need to think about it, Otto also knew that he would definitely fall into the hands of Mrs. Kailin. He would be at a huge disadvantage in competing with the other party.
In the final analysis, he is too young and does not have his own power yet.
As for Mrs. Kailin, she has been in charge of the territory's financial power for more than ten years. She already has enough authority and has enough influence on the vassals.
If nothing else goes wrong, after Mrs. Kelin takes control of the power, her first step is to take away her newly trained military power. After that, whether you want to collect taxes or do whatever you want, you will be greatly restricted, and you will not even be able to guarantee your own safety.
There is not much time left for Otto. As long as Count Aargau returns to his territory, it will be logical for Mrs. Kaylin to take over the power. The count has no ability to rule, the heir is underage, and the countess rules the territory, and no one can find fault with it.
Rather than sit back and wait for death, it's better to give it a try.
A dangerous idea popped into Otto's mind, but he immediately rejected it. Even if the cheap old man has nothing to do with his real soul, there will be no psychological burden if he is stabbed, but once the matter is exposed, he will be completely finished.
Parricide, whether in the Eastern or Western concepts, is always criticized. Except for Slavic barbarians and a certain green Rome, once a nobleman commits this kind of behavior, the loss of his noble status is a minor matter, but a serious one. He might even be sentenced to death.
After all, in the eyes of the church, this is a sin that cannot be forgiven.
Killing Count Argau would not work. Apart from the terrible impact, the more important reason was that he had no trustworthy subordinates.
Regardless of how loyal Wade and others are to him now, how much of this is because of his status as heir, how much of it is because he is the son of Count Argau, and how much of it is loyal to him personally. Woolen cloth?
If this road doesn't work, then we can only see if we can seek support from the "real power faction" in the territory.
