Chapter 106: Bethlehem (1)

Bethlehem, in the language of the Isaacites, means "House of Bread," while in the language of the Saracens, it means "House of Meat."

Regardless of which one, it symbolizes the wealth and prosperity of this small city.

It is located on the Bethlehem Mountain, between the desert and the hills, an oasis with lush water and grass. As early as the 14th century BC, the Canaanites had already established themselves here and built a city. Its history might be earlier than Al-Asar. In terms of holiness—Jesus Christ was born here, shepherds received the revelation of angels on the fields here and came to worship this infant. After He and His parents left, many holy infants were martyred for Him, and when Jesus Christ returned here, He also temporarily stayed in a milk cave.

This is also a place that many pilgrims must visit, and one of the hubs and trading places that merchants are happy to choose. The people of Bethlehem plant olive trees everywhere. Olive oil, olive wood, handicrafts, and carpets are all important products here.

If you say that such an important place was enfeoffed to Cesar by Amalric I, and no one raised an objection, that would be strange! In fact, some people did try to persuade the King, but they were all blocked and refuted.

For one thing, this was the last will of the King of Al-Asar. He was not just a dying man, but a Crusader knight who fell on the road of the expedition; he was destined to become a saint!

Furthermore, it was very obvious that the King's move was still for his son Baldwin—after Baldwin was infected with leprosy, all the youths who should have become his arms left him. Now, the Prince was also unwilling to pay trust to them. He had only Cesar by his side. If Cesar were just an ordinary knight and page, wouldn't the Prince's power be even weaker in front of those old, cunning ministers?

Finally, Cesar was a student of Patriarch Heraclius, and the Patriarch's attitude was also very clear; he absolutely supported these two children.

Since this was the case, why care so much about this momentary gain or loss?

Even if some people couldn't help but covet this sweet bait, it wouldn't be too late to wait and see. If the young new King was just a puppet, or if Cesar was unworthy of the name and couldn't manage this city well, then it wouldn't be too late to make a move.

——————

The original manager of Bethlehem, Bishop Andre, thought so.

Bethlehem was originally part of Al-Asar. The bishop who could be appointed by the King to manage this place on his behalf could of course only be his own man. Bishop Andre was originally a monk brother in the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, always maintaining sufficient respect and caution toward Amalric I, even though he had been in Bethlehem for nearly ten years, he had never shown any disrespectful expression or tried to line his own pockets.

But the old King was dead, the new King was just a youth who had barely come of age, he had no loyal ministers by his side, and most of the generals remained in a wait-and-see attitude. Amalric I enfeoffed Bethlehem to the page by his side, perhaps to increase his bargaining chips, but, Bishop Andre shook his head, how could things be so easy?

He took the monks and clerics out of the city gate, earnestly preparing to welcome the new master of Bethlehem as if he were treating a true lord.

"You don't have to do this," his student grumbled unconvincedly on the side, "We are enough, he is just a child."

"Only a fool would be hung up on such trifles," the Bishop said: "Even if no one came to welcome him today, he is still the master of Bethlehem. The ridicule and sarcasm behind his back cannot hurt him in the slightest. Don't say do such meaningless things, don't even think about it—and," he joked: "Don't you love beauties the most? Even if it's just to see a beauty, it doesn't matter if we wait here for a while."

The Bishop said this, which made his student embarrassed: "I don't believe it, it's all Gerard's Thomas talking nonsense, he was originally a fool..."

"Shh," the Bishop suddenly raised a finger, "They are coming."

——————

When Heraclius mentioned Bethlehem, Baldwin was stunned for a moment, and then immediately understood.

It was also because Cesar had been inseparable from him for these few years, living together day and night, that he almost forgot that Cesar had already been knighted and obtained a territory, and it was a quite important and key place—Bethlehem.

Just like the territory that once triggered the conflict between Amalric I and the Knights Templar (because of the fall of this territory, the King executed twelve Knights Templar), the King enfeoffed him here, which was equivalent to placing one of the vital points of Al-Asar in his hands. From then on, no one dared to look down on Cesar again. They no longer called him the little Isaacite slave, nor the little page by the Prince's side; they called him the Knight of Bethlehem.

Just like Raymond and Bohemond, although the Knight of Bethlehem was Baldwin's vassal and minister, needing to handle government affairs for him and go to war with the army, his territory also needed him to govern and manage it himself. This was also his right and obligation.

Cesar had been by his side for the past few months, and the reason Heraclius didn't say anything was probably because that time was the most chaotic. The old King passed away, the new King ascended the throne, and the Princess's wedding followed one after another. Everyone was busy and couldn't stop, and they indeed needed Cesar to help and observe on the side.

But now Al-Asar had entered a relatively gentle and peaceful period through everyone's efforts, yet Cesar hadn't been to Bethlehem once, hadn't seen his officials, merchants, and people, which was indeed not quite right.

"You should set off tomorrow," Baldwin said decisively. Anyway, Bethlehem was not far from Al-Asar. When Cesar was needed, he could return to the Holy Cross Fortress with the messenger knight on the same day.

——————

Compared to those scorched deserts and mountains, Bethlehem was like a small and exquisite gorgeous silk blanket covering the Bethlehem Mountain.

About fifty knights of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre were stationed here, but like Bethlehem, they were originally managed by the Bishop of Bethlehem.

Cesar's team was very simple: six knights, one monk, twenty armed attendants and squires.

"Only one monk? Your teacher is the Patriarch!"

Longinus asked strangely, although he knew his master was a diligent and good student, and his various subjects were learned quite well, but in people's impression, knights mostly lacked fine brains and nimble fingers.

Just as Baldwin said before, a knight should always have a monk by his side. This monk was responsible for writing letters, writing poems, and keeping accounts for the knight. Even if Cesar didn't need it, the Patriarch should have assigned a few more monks and clerics to him—if the Bishop of Bethlehem was not very honest, they could just clean it up from top to bottom and replace them with their own people.

And by Cesar's side, let alone a few more monks, the only monk was simply an old goat, old, slow, and hard of hearing. However, Longinus felt that his kind of deafness might be selective. When you were discussing what to eat for dinner, his hearing would be as sharp as a hound, but if you wanted to say something unpleasant, he could immediately stuff cotton into his ears.

"Don't say that, he is a monk with quite profound knowledge and has read various laws." It was not easy to choose a monk to follow Cesar. Those who knew him knew that he was actually not very pious. Although he rarely revealed it in words or traces, just like love and coughing, faith was something that couldn't be covered up.

This person must be absolutely trustworthy and not so firm.

"And you can handle the things you said yourself." Cesar responded gently, "What about you, why are you still following me? You have already killed three Saracens and fulfilled the oath you made to God, why haven't you taken back your surname?"

Longinus smiled. Indeed, when he came to Al-Asar, he never thought he would be reduced to a wandering knight.

Although at that time he only had a small sum of money left by his father, and all of it was exchanged for horses, weapons, and attendants, he was full of confidence, thinking he could rely on his martial arts to carve out a way for himself in this land of pagans, perhaps even a castle or a fief.

But things went contrary to his wishes. He might not be able to win every battle in the arena, and in reality, life beat him black and blue. Sometimes, he also felt that meeting Cesar might be because God felt he had suffered enough and should give him some sweetness.

And when he was on the expedition, he had considered whether he should restore his original identity after fulfilling his oath, but what good would that do him? It was possible that some people would find him because of this surname and ask him to do something, and he would lose his original freedom instead.

What's more, he wanted to restore his surname to return to his father's castle with money and glory, but now that was his elder brother's. His achievements would not make the former feel proud and happy, but would make him full of vigilance—who knew if Longinus would want to take away his title and castle?

"I have decided to stay in Al-Asar. The original surname has no meaning. They will be inherited by my elder brother and my other brothers, and will not be cut off. And it's been so many years, I'm already used to people calling me Longinus. If I suddenly change back to my original name, I won't be used to it."

Cesar nodded. He was not the kind of person who would force others, even if it was nominally for Longinus, not to mention that he didn't think he couldn't give Longinus a stable future.

At least he was planning now that after he completely gathered Bethlehem into his hands, he would still return to Al-Asar, and when he was by Baldwin's side, Longinus could stay here and manage Bethlehem on his behalf.

"Wait, is that... someone coming to welcome us?"

Cesar asked.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 107 =====