Chapter 1687 That’s a Legend
Xiao Peng became interested: "You said this is the castle of the Teutonic Knights?"
Fabian was excited. "Of course! I've been idle in Germany all day, so of course I have to learn about German treasures. And when it comes to treasures, the Teutonic Knights are a must-see."
Xiao Peng nodded and shook his head after hearing this: "Wait, what does knowing about German treasures have to do with Russia?"
"Do you know Kaliningrad?" Fabian asked.
Xiao Peng thought for a moment and said, "It's a Russian enclave, the smallest state. The entire state combined is not even as big as our country's capital. When Russia hosted the World Cup, four group matches were held there. To host the World Cup, they even built a stadium that could fit almost everyone in Kaliningrad. Oh, and there's amber there too. 90% of the amber on Earth is in Kaliningrad and Lithuania."
Fabian said, "You know a lot, but what you don't know is that Kaliningrad was originally part of Germany! It was seized from the Germans by the Russians. Originally called 'Königsberg,' Kaliningrad was founded by the Teutonic Knights in 1255 in honor of King Ottokar II of Bohemia. Let me put it another way: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and other countries on the eastern Baltic Sea were originally part of the Teutonic Knights' territory. During World War II, the Soviets occupied this area, drove out all the Germans, and relocated the Russians. Russia and Germany fought a major battle here, and many buildings were destroyed. The Soviets rebuilt them, so the buildings there are mostly Soviet-style."
"The funny thing is: when the Soviet Union collapsed, the economy was sluggish and there was virtually no one managing this area. Many people proposed returning Kaliningrad to Germany in exchange for economic aid, but Germany didn't want it. Firstly, Germany had just reunified, and secondly, the EU at the time disagreed with Germany reclaiming Kaliningrad because it was populated by Russians, and they didn't want the Russians in Kaliningrad to become members of the EU. And now, what's the result? Russia has weathered the economic downturn, and Kaliningrad has become a wedge between Russia and the EU, driving it deep into NATO territory. Russia is constantly strengthening its military infrastructure in Kaliningrad, with three military airfields alone. Furthermore, when the US, Poland, and the Czech Republic established an anti-missile system targeting Russia, Russia's first move was to deploy Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad, enough to cover almost the entire NATO region. It's also a key base for the Baltic Fleet. In short, with its formidable military presence, gaining access is incredibly difficult."
"Stop beating around the bush, okay?" Xiao Peng interrupted Fabian, who was speaking enthusiastically. "What exactly do you want to say after saying so much?"
Fabian said, "Although Kaliningrad has been largely rebuilt in Russian style, they've preserved many castles from the Teutonic Order era! For example, Neuhausen Castle in Suryevsk; Lauken Castle in Saransk; Prussian Eylau Castle in Bagrationovsk; and Vador Castle in Nizhov; as well as Tapio Castle in Govardeysk and George Castle in Chernyakhovsk."
Now it was Xiao Peng's turn to be surprised: "Holy crap, you really did all the preparation? Such detailed research!"
Fabian said with a hint of pride, "Of course. Do you really think I'm doing nothing? The treasure of the Teutonic Knights, aren't you interested?"
After hearing this, Xiao Peng scratched his head and said, "Those are just legends! No one has found it in hundreds of years!"
Basically all European treasure hunters are interested in the treasure legends of the three major knightly orders.
Back then, the three major knightly orders all enjoyed privileges.
As the Pope's armed forces, they were granted tax exemptions by the Pope. Furthermore, their constant assistance to various nations in their wars was not free; the monarchs and princes of various lands had to "show their appreciation" to them. Furthermore, they themselves constantly earned wealth through plunder. All three knightly orders had experience in founding nations.
The Knights Templar is the only one of the three major knightly orders that disappeared in the long river of history, which is also related to their wealth.
At that time, the three major knightly orders were expelled from the Middle East by the Ottoman Empire, and the three knightly orders took different paths: the Knights Hospitaller went to the island of Malta and established the "Malta Knights"; the Teutonic Knights entered Eastern Europe, conquered Prussia and established the Teutonic Knights; and the Knights Templar returned to France, Spain and other Western European regions - after all, most of the Knights of the Holy Land were French.
Their wealth also brought them disaster. Philip IV, who was ruling France at the time, was so poor that he was bleeding from the waist. How could he let such a group of rich people go when they returned?
The Knights Templar were too ostentatious about their wealth at the time: after returning to France, they directly developed models similar to machine lending and deposits, which can be regarded as the prototype of modern banks. Moreover, they only lent money to countries and not to individuals. This shows how much wealth they had.
At that time, Philip IV had borrowed a lot of money from them. Not only did he not want to pay it back, but he also set his eyes on their other wealth. So he colluded with Pope Clement V at the time and directly accused the Knights Templar of "heresy". They arrested all the Knights Templar from the highest leader, the Grand Master, to the soldiers and burned them to death.
The reason for their accusation is quite interesting - in addition to the famous white robe and red cross, the emblem of the Knights Templar also has an image of two people riding a horse.
There are two reasons for using this emblem:
The first reason was that they were poor: the Knights Templar were in dire straits when they were first founded: they were founded by nine old French peasants who had participated in the Crusades. Two people riding one horse, how could they not be poor? Another reason was to highlight their camaraderie.
But in the mouths of Philip IV and Clement V, this became a symbol of the homosexuality of the entire Knights Templar, and they used this excuse to burn all the members of the Knights Templar to death.
This incident left a significant impact on Europe: First, it occurred on Friday, October 13, 1307, which is how the term "Black Friday" came to be. (Some also say that Jesus was killed on Friday and Judas was his thirteenth disciple, but this is clearly less reliable.)
As for the second impact? Where did the Knights Templar's vast wealth go after their destruction? Stories of the Templar's treasures are told in various novels, films, and television series. There's even a theory that the Freemasons and the Illuminati both developed from the Knights Templar.
But Xiao Peng didn't really understand this history and didn't delve into it. He really preferred to believe that it was just a legend.
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