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

The city of Lienz is lively.

At least it was lively today.

The taverns, weapons shops, and blacksmith shops were overcrowded. Knights, nobles, ladies, and more slaves with various square flags and colorful clothes crowded the small town.

Lothar and his party settled down temporarily in the hotel.

Model squatted in front of the fireplace, baking everyone's clothes that were soaked by the continuous drizzle.

Ryan completed his mission perfectly, bringing back the lances and shields Lothar and Hans needed, and supervising the men in the blacksmith shop in the backyard to shoe the two newly acquired Hungarian horses.

Lothar held a bowl of steaming oatmeal and sipped it.

Hans wiped the rifle he had just received, looking obviously nervous.

Like Lothar, he was just an attendant before and had never really been on the battlefield.

Therefore, although his martial arts are already quite good in terms of attributes, without being tested, it always makes people a little less confident.

The specific time of the competitive competition was not stated, but in the afternoon, almost everyone in the city began to flock to the hunting ground outside the city, and they naturally knew that the competition was about to begin.

The hunting grounds were for the private use of the lord.

Hunting privately is a crime, and the crime can be serious or minor. Strict lords may even execute poachers for this.

Common people were regarded by many lords as livestock worthy of eating only grains, and only meat-eaters such as nobles were worthy of being called human beings.

Lothar and his entourage followed the crowd to the hunting ground.

The place is already overcrowded.

In the center of the hunting ground, the wooden stands built around the competition ground are somewhat as grand as the Colosseum of the ancient empire.

Count Leopold's seat was at the top.

There, from left to right, hang the eagle coat of arms of the Great Germania Empire and the red and white coat of arms of the Babenberg family.

On both sides are wrap-around stands, arranged from top to bottom.

For the Middle Ages, when most competitive venues were still crude, this was equivalent to a large stadium that could accommodate tens of thousands of people in later generations.

Lothar sighed with emotion: "This Count Leopold is also an ambitious man."

"It is said that Count Leopold also intends to participate in this round of the Crusades, but due to His Majesty the Emperor's face, he is still in the preparation stage for the time being."

A few years ago, the emperor and the pope were fighting fiercely.

The struggle between imperial power and religious power has almost reached a fever pitch. The emperor is jealous of a group of clergy who are extremely wealthy and tries to reduce the power of the clergy.

The Pope was eager to rally a group of princes who were loyal to the theocracy and start a war against the Hohenstaufen family.

Although the fight did not start due to various factors, the Pope also opened the emperor's religious membership.

Even though both parties now have the intention of easing, some small and medium-sized feudal lords still dare not make any independent claims until the Pope restores the emperor's status.

Although Germania Magna was loose, the emperor still had his authority.

After all, as the head of the Hohenstaufen family, the Swabian territory owned by Emperor Henry was also among the four initial states of the empire (i.e., Swabia, Saxony, Franconia, and Bavaria), and was very powerful.

The emperor was not only the emperor of the empire, but also the most powerful feudal lord in the empire.

Of course, if you really want to say it, Bohemia is the strongest state in the empire, but Bohemia is mainly populated by Slavs and has always been outside the center of power of the empire.

The reason why Lothar said that Count Leopold was an ambitious man can be seen from the scale of the competitive competition he held this time.

In fact, most knight competitions do not have prizes.

The champion will receive fame and honor, which is the greatest reward.

The winner of each battle can ask for ransom from the loser, or receive the opponent's armor and horses as rewards, just like winning a real war.

Therefore, holding a knight's competition is often a cost-effective thing for the lord.

And knights can also show their personal bravery, whether it is to attract the attention of lords, stand out from landless knights, and transform into fief knights.

It is also a good thing to gain fame, make yourself famous, and then sell it at a price.

It can be said that the Knight Athletic Competition is a large-scale job fair, a grand event that almost every knight has participated in.

Unfortunately, Lothar's father, Count Werner of Allgäu, was too poor.

He simply couldn't support more knights, so he never held a competitive competition to recruit knights.

Therefore, so far, Lothar has not been able to actually participate in this kind of entertainment that was popular among noble knights in the Middle Ages.

Of course, the knight competition is also a very dangerous activity.

In previous competitions, it is rare that there are no casualties.

Even if you use an easily broken white beech lance and a round blunt sword head, if you really fight, it will still easily lead to casualties and lifelong disabilities.

Especially those pauper knights who don't have all the armor, whose family has fallen into decline, and only have a pair of ancestral armor that can be called an antique.

Often when he comes face-to-face, the enemy will find the weak spot in his armor and deliver a fatal blow.

But they still flocked to him, hoping to be valued by the feudal lord and recruit them as fief knights.

Model said enthusiastically: "Sir, I heard that foot soldiers like us can also participate in the competition."

Lothar shook his head: "It's best not to. Only knights can kill knights. If you accidentally kill a knight by mistake, you may die."

These words immediately poured cold water on Model.

At this time, melodious singing came from the crowd.

A bard from northern Albion, holding a lute in his arms, playing and dancing at the same time.

These Celts who live on the islands seem to be born to be good at singing and dancing. They sing some timeless famous songs.

Occasionally improvise.

A bard saw the veiled Prajna, his eyes lit up, he played the lute and danced aside: "Ah, the black-haired beauty from the east, she walks side by side with our brave knights "

While singing, he showed a flattering smile and extended his hand to Lothar.

Lothar smiled helplessly and motioned to Ryan to put the coin in his hand.

Prajna looked at this scene expressionlessly. She was a master of expression management. She could not see any psychological fluctuations just by looking at her eyes.

A huge long table was filled with delicacies, including roasted pheasants, peacocks, and even swans, various game meats, and large bottles of fine wine for guests to enjoy.

It's like a buffet from later generations.

Some knights and their companions were already drunk and ran under the stands, dancing wildly to the songs of the bards.

Under the count's stand, in the center of the competition venue, there was a long barrier, surrounded by simple wooden fences.

When the competition begins, the knights will enter the arena on both sides of the barrier and then compete. This is to avoid the horses from colliding and causing irreparable damage.

In the stands, many ladies had already arrived first.

They whispered to each other and looked at the knights appearing in the competition field.

Some noble ladies made no secret of their favor for certain knights in the field, throwing winks and garlands at them.

Many aristocratic couples who were brought together by political marriage rarely restricted each other's behavior, which also allowed both parties to be uninhibited even though they were married.

If these ladies take a fancy to a knight, it is said that they will not only recruit him as a guest, but also provide a sum of money for the knight to purchase equipment, and even develop into a long-term lover.

In front, a knight with painted bird feathers on his head, like a peacock trying to open its tail to court a mate, is waving to the stands.

He was handsome and fair-skinned, which immediately attracted a large number of ladies to scream.

Participating in tournaments, winning the favor of noble women and ladies in the stands, obtaining funding, and even prostitution for free are also the pursuits of knights.

Lothar keenly noticed that among the crowd, there was a knight wearing old armor who looked at each other with a young lady in the stands.

The lady's eyes were full of worry, but the knight's face was full of determination.

Obviously, this is a love story between a down-and-out knight and a noble lady.

Once the knight can win the game, or rise to prominence and win favor, he will have a good match and hope to marry this noble lady.

But Lothar didn't think he had much expectations.

A set of sophisticated armor can enable a knight like Lothar to fight one against ten of Magyar's nomadic cavalry.

With armor and without armor, fine armor and old armor, they are completely two concepts.

"Sports competitions in this era are really interesting."

Lothar sighed.

"Hans, have you participated in similar activities?"

Hans shook his head and said: "The competitive competitions of our time have turned into social performances. The knights are dressed up like pheasants, and there is no need to compete at all."

He was also dazzled and excited, and he had already begun to imagine that in this scene, he could easily defeat the enemy and win the applause of the whole house.

"Look, the Earl is here."

Someone shouted excitedly.

People immediately became excited.

In this era of lack of entertainment.

They were extremely grateful to this generous earl for spending such a large sum of money to provide them with such a lively event.