The Knight's Journey to the Empire

Chapter 97 Question 5: Reorganizing the Territory’s Army and Strengthening Defense (2)

Later, with the development of productivity and the changes of the times, more and more extraordinary knights were born among the civilian class.

Because they have mastered the extraordinary power of fighting spirit, these civilian knights can be called "knights" even if they have not been canonized by hereditary nobility.

And they can also build their own Cavaliers team.

It's just that their knights have no manors or fiefs to support them.

But whenever a war broke out between nobles, civilian knights would bring their own knight teams to be hired by nobles or lords, join one of the noble armies, and participate in the entire process of the war.

Therefore, since these civilian knights always moved around with their own knight teams following the war, they were also called wandering knights.

Also, because the conduct and morals of some wandering knights are indeed bad, they will rob passing civilians and caravans, or simply occupy the mountains and become bandits, so wandering knights are also called rogue knights.

At the beginning, after the knights led by these civilian knights participated in and won the war, they only got the right to distribute the spoils.

But later, as the number of civilian knights recruited increased, this distribution method could no longer support the survival of the team.

Because after a war, the amount of spoils that can be harvested is limited, and their value is extremely unstable.

This led to some large knight groups participating in wars, and although they won, they often spent more than they earned.

Thus, a contractual employment method emerged in which "commissions were negotiated before the war and paid directly after the war."

This method provides relatively more stable income.

Therefore, in the history of the Knight Continent, the origin of the mercenary group as an organization is actually the gradual development and evolution of the wandering knight team formed by civilian knights.

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In modern times, due to the development of commodity economy and the emergence of feudalism, as well as the continuous expansion of the scale of war.

In order to adapt to the development of the times, a new method of conscription emerged in the recruitment methods of the armies of various countries, that is, the "recruitment system."

Soldiers who are generally recruited through the "conscription system" are considered "professional soldiers."

The food and weapons and equipment for the professional soldiers were provided by the nobles.

The earliest recruitment system was one in which the lord directly used money to buy the soldiers' right to life.

Soldiers were equivalent to selling themselves "completely" to the lord, but this was different from slaves.

Because in the political context, such soldiers still belong to the category of "people".

Later, because the cost of directly buying out soldiers was too high, in order to reduce recruitment costs, this gradually evolved into the current method of fixed salary payment by the lord.

Compared with the manor knight conscription system, the recruitment system has three main advantages:

The first is that the loyalty of the recruited soldiers to the nobles has been significantly improved.

After all, under the feudal system where "the vassal of the vassal is not my vassal", the army formed by the vassal is naturally not my army.

These are not my army, so how can there be any such thing as loyalty?

The second is that the overall cost of recruiting soldiers has been reduced.

Because hereditary nobles no longer needed to divide their manors and subjects.

In this world, land is the most stable, reliable and long-term output. Only by owning land can you have a steady stream of wealth and income.

The third is that the efficiency of recruiting soldiers has been greatly improved.

As long as the lord has money, he can quickly raise an army anytime and anywhere.

Of course, its specific combat effectiveness is another matter.

However, there are two disadvantages of the conscription system:

The first is that the army’s combat effectiveness has declined.

The soldiers recruited by the conscription system are also carefully selected.

However, there is still a gap compared with the knight team formed by the manor knights themselves under the manor knight conscription system.

Because on the battlefield, the manor knights treat their knight team members as people who can be relied upon.

So in this case, how could these manor knights not carefully select them and how could they not strictly require their training?

The second is that the average cost of recruiting a single soldier has increased.

Soldiers were recruited using the conscription system. Although hereditary nobles no longer needed to distribute their manors and subjects, they still needed to pay the soldiers salaries.

They are also responsible for the soldiers' daily food, clothing, and purchase of weapons and equipment.

Compared with the free conscription model where manor knights pay for their own conscription, the average cost of recruiting a single soldier naturally increases.

It was also from this time that the system of ennobling manor knights was destroyed, and the title of knight gradually became meaningless.

Because there are really very few hereditary nobles who are willing to confer hereditary manor knights.

Therefore, the title of knight gradually evolved into a title, and the way of granting or obtaining it gradually became empty.

In the past, only those who had cultivated fighting spirit could be called knights or sir knights.

Now, anyone who has received knight training can be called a knight.

What's more, the strength of some people is really an insult to the title of "Knight".

Although the system of knight conferring titles has collapsed to some extent, it is undeniable that in the traditional concept of the Knight Continent, knighthood is still a noble title.

Anyone who can be officially canonized as a knight has already entered the ranks of the nobility.

Therefore, the nobles nowadays seldom confer titles on hereditary manor knights, but they are quite fond of conferring titles on palace knights.

The "traditional knight recruitment method" mentioned by Ramos earlier naturally does not refer to the "manor knight recruitment system" but the "inner court knight recruitment system."

Maybe it’s because the Cavaliers will participate in the distribution of spoils in the end!

Therefore, the combat effectiveness of an army formed in the form of a knight team is often stronger than that of an army recruited through the conscription system.

Therefore, with the development of the times, the knight enthronement system did not withdraw from the stage of history, but instead underwent some changes to adapt to the trend of the times.

For example, the Knights of the Imperial Palace can also form their own knight team.

However, the Knights of the Household had no manors or fiefs and needed to be supported by salaries provided by hereditary nobles, and wars were not always possible.

Therefore, in normal times, the knights of the Imperial Household could only survive by relying on the support of the hereditary nobles.

In addition to paying a fixed salary to the knights under their command, the hereditary nobles would also give some additional subsidies to the knights established by the knights under their command.

Allowing it to maintain the Cavaliers' organization and not reach the point of disbanding.

Just like when Soran led his men to form a knight team to participate in the Western War, Marquis Saladin, after recruiting Soran, not only gave him a salary.

Other members of the Cavaliers, such as Ramos and Henry, will also be given certain salary subsidies.

Of course, if he doesn't give salary subsidies to other members of the Cavaliers.

Correspondingly, he will also increase Soran's salary level.

In short, let Sauron be able to support this team of knights.

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