The Moorish villages were filled with the smell of death. Judging from the burned orchards outside the village and the damaged water canal at the entrance of the village, this should have been a quite prosperous village at one time. At least in the territory of the Kingdom of Castile, there were not many villages that could build canals.
"Praise the Lord! The Moors in the south of the peninsula are really a people who are good at working!"
The old knight Lorenzo rode his horse and looked around the looted village, but did not see any living creatures. He looked at the entire row of stone houses in the village with great interest, as well as the chicken coops surrounded by wooden fences beside the houses, and the vaguely visible large barns. As an old Venetian knight who owns a manor and has run it himself, he knows very well how much wealth such a village can create every year!
"Tsk! What a waste it is to let the fanatical and rude Castilians conquer such a rich land and kill these Moorish farmers who are good at management! They will only turn the orchards and farms that create wealth into pieces. Poor ranch and then playing with their 'beautiful' goats."
The old knight Laurent raised the corner of his mouth, looked at the entire dead village, and said mockingly.
"Of course, after all, Castile is a devout and warlike Crusader kingdom. Although they are poor and their annual income is not as good as that of tiny Granada, they burn, kill and loot, and all of them are good players. Before they can raise sheep and horses on the farm, they must completely clear the land and turn the obedient Moorish farmers into slaves, or crucify and burn them!"
"Haha! A poor man from Castile who is praying hard while holding a sheep in his arms!"
Hearing the ridicule of the old knight Lorenzo, more than a dozen Venetian cavalry responded together and laughed happily. We all came here as crusaders, fighting for the Lord in these ravines, and it was really bloody and sweaty. But King Fernando of Aragon didn't even have enough supplies, and they had to spend money to buy them on the black market in the camp.
Fortunately, the leader of the team is the young knight Giovanni Tran, whose family is powerful and wealthy. Otherwise, everyone might be like those broken knights of the peninsula, who borrowed Jewish loans guaranteed by the church, and then went crazy with poverty and looked for Moors to rob and kill them.
Everyone laughed, but the young knight Giovanni frowned. He felt that although the knights of Castile were poorer, their beliefs were very firm, even fanatical and fearless!
If a small group of Castilian knights were to fight against the same number of Venetian knights, even if the Venetian side had better armor, they might not be able to defeat them. At present, all parties are comrades in the jihad. Is it really okay to have their own thoughts and secretly disagree?
"Ahem! Giovanni, I remember that there was a military market selling Moorish slaves next to the camp outside Barcelona."
The old knight Laurent turned his head to the left, glanced at the young knight's expression, and smiled to change the subject.
"Praise the Lord! You will inherit the big business in the future. The Tran family has many large estates on the Italian peninsula. When you return to the Barcelona camp, you can take advantage of the low price and buy a few more skilled people. Moorish serfs or craftsmen. In Venice, the hiring price for such skilled workers can be very high!... Of course, young Moorish female slaves have a special taste. Maybe they are from noble families, so you can buy a few more... "
"Uh... how many Moorish female slaves are you going to buy? Are they from noble families?..."
Thinking of the Moorish woman's exquisite appearance, the young Giovanni licked his lips, feeling a little moved. He hesitated for a moment, looked at the old knight's smiling expression, and lowered his voice.
"Isn't this not good? If my father knew..."
"What are you afraid of! Your revered great-grandfather, Governor Nicolo Tran, encountered the fall of Constantinople when he was in his fifties. He was greatly heartbroken and regretted it for a long time. He even spent a lot of money to save the country from the Ottomans. In my hands, I have 'saved' a group of young Byzantine ladies..."
The old knight Laurent Zuo smiled, like an old fox who is good at teaching.
"You are also saving! But you are saving the ordinary knights who sold slaves. After this holy war is over, there will be no more plundering, and the many holy war knights who are in debt will be poor, bankrupt and wandering Huh? So, even if it’s for the sake of the Lord, you should buy it!”
"You have seen this along the way. The so-called noble holy war in the south of the peninsula, isn't it just that the church and the nobles provide money, the knights and the militia send people, and then they all go to rob the rich Moors? In the end, they rob each other, Those who rob a lot will become famous, while those who rob not much will be in debt. And in the end, the money will change hands and fall into the pockets of the church? The moneylending Jews are just a glove, said If you lose it, you will lose it..."
"...Lord, I'm going to find a well! After running for so long, the horse needs water!..."
Hearing the words of the old knight, the young knight Giovanni sweated on his forehead and hurriedly rode away. He knew that what the other party said was true. He also knew that behind the loans to the devout Holy War knights, there were also the great nobles of Venice, including his own family.
The holy war knights fought bloody battles, burned and looted, and the final big head would still fall into the hands of the church and the great nobles. It's just that he doesn't want to think too much about this kind of thing. If you think too much, you may shake your faith.
"Hey! You have such a firm belief, but you are still too young!"
Looking at the back of Giovanni riding his horse, the old knight Lorenzo shook his head. He sighed lowly, feeling a little melancholy.
"Old Sylvester asked me to take you to the peninsula to participate in the Holy War. It's not just to get you some qualifications and reputation! You know, as the heir of the Tran family, you always have to hold the position of Venetian Councilor , had access to the inside story of the Republic, and made secret deals with the Roman Church, Jewish merchants, Ottomans, Arabs, Tatars in Crimea, and even the Moors in the southern continent!..."
"You will have to deal with so many complicated people in the future. How can you become a devout and brave believer like an ordinary knight?...You know, this era has changed. It is no longer the same as the Crusades. That’s it!..."
"...Well, it doesn't matter, it's still a long time! Anyway, this is how we get here..."
The old knight Loren was pacing his horse, following the young knight Giovanni from a distance, while his mind wandered far away, thinking of his youth. It wasn't until Giovanni stopped by a well and uttered an angry curse that his expression changed and he galloped over.
"Giovanni, what's wrong?"
"Vaffanculo! Damn it! Damn it! Bah! These poor knights who kill indiscriminately!"
Giovanni was furious and cursed a few times before pointing to the dark well.
"Cazzo! Damn it! This well is dirty and can't be used!"
