Chapter 45

"Then I won't be polite, I won't ask about the price. Please give me an address in Zhenzhou, and every three to five days, I will send someone to deliver some seafood to Brother Luo. I guarantee they will all be rare items; I won't bring ordinary things." Hong Tao didn't quite understand the social customs of the Song Dynasty, but he understood those of the future. Since Luo Youde had this intention, it meant he wanted to befriend him. Regardless of his motives, Hong Tao didn't want to owe him a favor. He had to show his appreciation, and mutual benefits would make future interactions smoother. Between adults, especially between merchants, this was a way of expressing goodwill.

"Hahaha, then I'll trouble Brother Hong. Just give it to the innkeeper here. This inn is also part of my family's business. I was thinking of inviting Brother Hong to stay at my residence for a few days, but it seems Brother Hong doesn't have that intention, right?" Luo Youde didn't refuse Hong Tao's offer and then pointed to the white slave standing foolishly nearby.

"Indeed, I would also like to chat more with Brother Luo. I am still very unfamiliar with the Song Dynasty. However, I have a few elders at the port selling fish, and now I've encountered him. I'll come to bother Brother Luo in a few days." Hong Tao appreciated Luo Youde's easygoing attitude. Since he understood, there was no need to say more. He spoke frankly.

"I will inform the innkeeper. If Brother Hong comes here, make sure he tells me. Farewell!" Luo Youde stood up, bowed to Hong Tao, and went straight down the stairs. Hong Tao escorted Luo Youde to the stairway and then noticed A Cai waiting by two mule carts. Not knowing how to say goodbye in this era, he could only bow to both Luo Youde and A Cai, watching them get into the mule carts before returning upstairs.

"Karl, I'll call you that! Are you German?" The white slave was still standing motionless. Hong Tao walked to the window, opened it, and leaned on the windowsill, looking at the bustling Song Dynasty street scene while asking him in German.

"Rome, the Holy Roman Empire! I haven't thanked you for saving my life... I swear by the honor of the Steffen family that I will use a ransom sufficient to cleanse my shame to regain my freedom!" Hearing Hong Tao speak German again, the white slave finally came back to life. Without a word, he knelt on one knee, drew a cross on his chest with his right hand, clenched his fist, touched his forehead, and began to swear, his head half-raised. Some words were unclear to Hong Tao, but he understood "Holy Roman Empire," "family honor," "ransom," and "freedom."

"Are you a knight of the Crusades? Captured in battle? Are you a noble?" Seeing Karl's standard knightly etiquette, Hong Tao suddenly understood how he had been captured as a slave. The 13th century was the era of the Crusades, a 200-year war he knew a bit about from his studies at St. Lawrence College, where he sometimes attended classes with pretty girls. To get their attention, he would answer the professor's questions, which required him to at least skim the textbook and understand the content.

"I am ashamed, I never saw the real enemy; the ship sank! Those damned infidels didn't give me the honor of a knight!" In front of his master, Karl didn't dare to make a sound, but when he heard Hong Tao's words, he blushed and began to defend himself, showing the power of the whip!

"Which Crusade is this?" Hong Tao had no interest in knights or honor. Compared to the Song Dynasty, he knew even less about medieval Europe. Saving Karl wasn't because he liked him, but to learn about the current state of Europe.

"The sixth, Emperor Frederick II led it personally! Along with the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitaller, and the Teutonic Knights!" Karl remained on one knee but lowered his hand.

"When did it start?" Hong Tao recognized a name from his memory and felt a bit excited.

Emperor Frederick II was an interesting figure, known as the first intellectual emperor of Europe. His life was very tumultuous. He lost his father at a young age and then got involved in the struggle for the German kingship, ultimately failing. He then married a princess widow ten years his senior. After inheriting the title of Holy Roman Emperor, his relationship with the Pope was always strained. He was excommunicated four times by two different Popes, but since they were all part of the same system, he was always readmitted. No emperor had such a record, not even Napoleon.

More interestingly, he led a very special Crusade that left all of Europe stunned. He didn't kill a single infidel or fight a proper battle. After a long and arduous journey to Egypt, he began negotiations with the Sultan of the Ayyubid Dynasty, which ruled Egypt and the Middle East. He eventually talked the Sultan into a stupor and secured the majority of the jurisdiction over the Holy City of Jerusalem without shedding a drop of blood. However, he couldn't station troops and had to share the city with the Sultan. Regardless, the ultimate goal of the Crusade was to reclaim the Holy City, and he achieved it!

Of course, this ultimate goal was just a fig leaf. The Church's aim was to use the Crusade to seize the treasures of the Middle East and expand its influence. But Frederick II's actions indirectly saved the day. He got the fig leaf but didn't seize any treasure or kill any infidels! The Pope was so angry that he excommunicated him for the second time, the first being for delaying the campaign and feigning illness.

Not only the Church but all the emperors of Europe were furious. This was a joke! The Church had significant power in Europe at the time, so the Germans even considered conspiring with the Sultan to kill this emperor who had disgraced the royal families and nobles of Europe in Jerusalem, rather than let him return in disgrace.