"Be a knight?" Ask was a little surprised.
After the two finished their sparring, Ludwig walked into the training ground, chatted with the two for a while, and suddenly made an offer.
"Yes." Ludwig said with a smile, "Our Weisbach family has always been eager for talents. Since Captain Ask has such strength, he can certainly be qualified for the position of knight."
"Hey, brother, what are you doing!" Eleanor said dissatisfiedly, "He is my captain, and you want to be his lord, so don't you become my leader?"
Who is interested in being your leader, sister! Ludwig was speechless. Isn't this for the two of you? As long as he becomes my vassal, father won't be able to do anything to him. You don't understand my good intentions!
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Excellency," Ask said, "But I am the leader of the mercenary group after all..."
"That's no problem. If you don't have time to stay in the territory, you can leave the relevant affairs to my cabinet members." Ludwig explained with a smile, "As for the territory, it is currently tentatively decided to be Berg Village, a small village located on the shore of Lake Steinberg with extremely beautiful scenery."
"That place is very close to Mingxing City." Eleanor added, "If I remember correctly, many nobles in the Principality have built private estates there."
"That's right." Ludwig thought to himself that his sister finally understood, and continued, "So, as the lord of Berg Village, the monthly fief tax alone is a huge fortune, and you can also interact more with other nobles, which is also very helpful for you to make connections in the upper class."
"That's strange." Eleanor glanced at him and said, "Are you really willing to give up that piece of land? That's not like you, brother!"
Ludwig remained silent. If this wasn’t your dowry, how could I have sealed it away
Through the sparring he just witnessed, Ludwig also realized that the strength of this leader of Ask was probably not just that of an ordinary mercenary group leader. Judging from the swordsmanship he showed, he was more than qualified to be a knight lord.
However, becoming a lord requires not only one's own strength, but also connections, prestige and relationships with feudal lords are also very important.
If he follows the normal path, Captain Ask needs to first become a landless knight, then accumulate qualifications by collecting military merits in wars, and win the recognition of other vassals and the appreciation of the feudal lord, before he can obtain a fiefdom after the war.
The first fiefdom would not be a good piece of land like Berg Village. It would usually be located at the junction of the Duchy of Bavaria and other duchies, or in small mountain villages at the foot of the Alps with inconvenient transportation and extremely poor conditions.
Then he would manage the fiefdom, slowly accumulate wealth through taxation and trade, spend the wealth through parties and social activities, and win a better reputation and connections in the upper class of the principality. Only then would he be qualified to change his fiefdom.
Of course, it is only a qualification. In reality, you have to wait until there is a vacancy in other fiefdoms, which is the so-called "one man, one job". Only when other lords die without heirs, or rebel and are deprived of power by the feudal lord, can it be your turn.