Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!

"Alvaro, exactly how many Imperial Knights do the French have? Northern Italy has them, Southern Italy has them, why are they everywhere?..."

"The number of Imperial Knights in France, exactly how many are there? I heard from a messenger sent by the Alliance to the Queen that there are nearly two thousand Imperial Knights appearing on the Italian battlefield. Adding those who haven’t mobilized in mainland France... probably three thousand knights? I guess it might be more or less, the difference shouldn’t be too much."

In the captain’s cabin of the Holy Light, Vice Admiral Antonio and Royal Cavalry Captain Alvaro chatted idly about the war in Italy while enjoying local delicacies from Seville. On the plate were fresh pork sausages, with blood and oil oozing out with each bite. In the pot was Moorish-style safflower chickpea fried rice, drenched with wet fish soup.

"Tsk tsk! These pork sausages from Seville, they are truly fragrant!"

"Haha! Although Seville Port is filthy, there are many villagers around who raise pigs. Fresh, fatty pork isn’t something you can just eat anywhere!"

"Indeed! Those who eat pork are true Christians! This is also how we identify heretics and heathens, bringing out those surface converts hidden among the people, one by one, to be purified at the Inquisition!"

"Hahaha! The flames of the Almighty will judge all! Those surface convert Jews and Moors will sooner or later be unable to hide, turning into torches!..."

"Turn into torches, with all their property confiscated! Ahahaha!"

At this moment, the two Castilian Holy War officers laughed heartily, and after their laughter subsided, they grabbed the meaty rice with their hands, stuffing it into their mouths. True knights never use "the utensils of women." Their cheeks bulged, chewing with wide mouths, blood and juices streaming from their mouths, and even in their amber eyes, there shone a light of devoutness and fierceness.

Ever since the victory over the Moorish Holy War, Castile swallowed the Granada Moorish Kingdom in one gulp, adding hundreds of thousands to millions of newly conquered "southern populace." The Inquisition thus welcomed "long-term busy periods for judicial business." The identification, accusation, capture, and trial of heretics and heathens was almost a continuous process, also being a profitable means of income generation!

Whether one eats pork, whether one partakes in sausages or stewed pork on public holidays, has become a convenient tool for the Inquisition to examine the "authenticity of faith," and also the most common reason for lower-class believers to report "unbelievers." Especially those surface convert Jews hidden among the populace, secretly adhering to "clean food" doctrines, showing no obvious racial characteristics.

In the closing years of the 15th century, the Castilians’ fanatical preference for pork has persisted from top to bottom for hundreds of years. From the Queen’s palace kitchen to rural places of worship, there is a clear expression of religious identity: "The dining table of a Christian must have wine and pork." Among the livestock most raised on the Iberian Peninsula, aside from "sheep," it’s "pigs." Even the Castilian Expeditionary Army about to set sail must bring "grape seeds" and "breeding pigs," to qualify as true believers in the Almighty!

"Almighty, huh? Three thousand Imperial Knights?! Alvaro, are you sure? How can the French afford to maintain so many of these ’Feudal Knights’ with fiefs? The Queen’s Royal Knights are only in the hundreds, right?"

"I heard it while guarding the palace, I don’t know the specifics... As for the reason, it’s probably because France has many fiefs and excellent farmland, unlike us in Castile, with nothing but mountains..."

"Tsk tsk! Three thousand ’Feudal Knights,’ three thousand! Each knight, even the least, must have 40 hectares (600 mu) of farmland, right? Plus their own manor mill, warhorses and armor, with 3-4 armed retainers, and at least 60 or more tenant farmers and servants paying tax... Holy Mother! Do the French truly have so much land and agricultural slaves to grant to their knights?"

East India is a thousand miles away, while the French and Italian wars are right at the doorstep, the topic of greatest concern to the Castilian nobles.

Currently, even when besieged by Spain, Venice, Milan, the Holy See, and Austria unitedly, the French continue to exhibit a fearless, steadfast knightly attitude. In this era, "chivalric spirit" and the "knightly class" are indeed the fundamental cornerstone of the entire French society. Pull out three thousand Imperial Knights, and what kingdom around wouldn’t tremble twice?

So-called "Imperial Knights" aren’t simply a military unit. Much like the Alliance’s Eagle Warriors, they are first and foremost military merit nobles with fiefs, the lowest "ruling class," then they are heavily armored cavalry for military operations. The Imperial Knights also directly pledge allegiance to the King of France as military merit nobles, summoned directly by the King without intermediary great nobility lords, being the most powerful and reliable royal force!

A "Imperial Knight," considering armor maintenance and replacement, warhorses and spare warhorses, retainer servants, weapon supplies, and taxes paid to the King, requires at least 300 Livres French Pounds of annual expenditure. To sustain such spending and ensure the knight’s combat effectiveness, the knight’s fief requires at least 600 acres of farmland, preferably 1000 acres! These farmlands and the agricultural slaves who cultivate them form the manor economy, which is the economic basis of the knightly class and constitutes the economic foundation of all France.