Red Fort. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Located about 50 miles northeast of Paris, the capital of the Duchy of France, this century-old castle was built by the 13th Duke of Louis.

Huge marble blocks have been built on top of each other to build a twenty-meter-high façade, and the cracks between the stones have been covered with green moss that even the most nimble thief cannot climb. Beyond the walls was a moat ten meters wide, at least two people deep, and it flowed around the entire Red Keep day and night, never stopping.

Due to the existence of the moat, the only way to connect the entire Red Fort with the outside world is four suspension bridges in the south, east, and west. Constructed from nearly 10,000 pounds of fine Valyrian steel, the four drawbridges not only allow the safe passage of laden mammoths, but also provide an immensely powerful defense when closed as a gate. These four suspension bridges, together with the tall walls and wide moats, form the outermost and most impregnable line of defense in the entire red envelope.

It is precisely because of this that in the more than 100 years since the establishment of the Red Castle, although it has experienced dozens of wars in the Kingdom of France, it has never been broken, and the successive heads of the family who have protected Louis have climbed step by step from the position of a mere count to the duke title above 10,000 people under one person, and let the Louis family develop into one of the largest families in the Kingdom of France today.

At noon that day, a group of twenty cavalrymen escorted a carriage to the Red Keep. The cavalrymen were tall and burly in black heavy armor, which was rare in the Kingdom of France, and their crotch mounts were all white horses from the Portland prairies. Twenty black-armored knights formed a rectangular guard array to guard the carriage in the middle, and from every angle, these knights and their mounts were always in a straight line, like the sharp-edged spear in their hand.

After presenting the token, the tall drawbridge was slowly lowered, and the black-armored knights gathered around the carriage in an orderly manner and slowly entered the east gate of the Red Fort.

The Red Fort was a large city, and most of the Duke of Louis and his family lived in the luxurious complex built on the very central hill of the Red Castle, and the flat land below the hill was the barracks and servants of the Louis family's private army. The convoy slowly passed through the barracks, where thousands of soldiers were training in full swing, each of them wearing a blood-colored shield on their chests with the blood-colored shield representing the Louis family.

The convoy passed through the barracks and soon came to the foot of the mountain. There are dozens of huge boilers erected here, hundreds of blacksmiths are constantly beating and busy in the furnace fire, and the sturdy apprentices are **** on their upper bodies, shouting slogans while pushing the blower hard, so that the flames in the boiler jump high again and again. From time to time, you can see a carriage full of freshly crafted weapons and equipment slowly driving out of here.

After another twenty minutes, the convoy finally reached the highest point of the mountain. At the top of the summit is a magnificent palace where the head of the Louis family, the current Duke of Louis, and his wife and children live. Duke Louis, who was fifty-one years old, was very rare today with a few of his henchmen waiting in the square in front of the palace, looking like he was waiting for the arrival of this convoy.

The carriage slowly stopped in the middle of the square, and the coachman jumped out of the carriage and respectfully opened the door. A man who looked about the same age as Duke Louis stepped out of the carriage.

The top of this man's head was shiny and shiny, only a few white hairs remained above his ears and behind his head, his eyebrows and beard had also turned white, his eyes were as sharp as falcons, his thick lips were slightly pursed, he looked very majestic, and his clothes were even more gorgeous than those of Duke Louis, who had been carefully prepared and dressed, and as soon as he got out of the carriage, he greeted Duke Louis who had already greeted him very cordially: "Dear Maurice, long time no see." ”

"On behalf of the Louis family, I am honoured to have your visit, Lord Bismarck." The Duke of Louis, Minister of War of the Kingdom of France, showed a very humble expression, and his tone was very enthusiastic, even in the face of Bonaparte XVI, the current King of the Kingdom of France, you will hardly see our Duke Louis behave like this. "The feast is ready, so please come in with me and enjoy it."

"Well," Bismarck, who was a head lower than Duke Louis, suddenly waved his hand and said with a smile: "Dear Maurice, because of my status, I don't think I should appear in such a crowded occasion as a banquet, I wonder if you can find a time to have a private conversation with me?" ”

Bismarck's words were not wrong, because he was not a citizen of the Kingdom of France, and his real identity was Duke Leopold Bismarck, the prime minister of the Jimny Empire, who was located in the eastern part of the Kingdom of France and claimed to have the world's first cavalry.

Duke Louis pondered: "It's okay, then please come to the study with me." ”

The two soon arrived at the study of the Duke of Louis, and the maids withdrew after bringing tea and pastries, leaving only Bismarck and the Duke of Louis.

Bismarck picked up the teacup in his mouth and took a sip unhurriedly, before smiling at Duke Louis: "The best tea from the Eastern Continent 'Longjing', right?" I haven't had a good tea like this in years. ”

Duke Louis also smiled back, and said, "Master Bismarck, I will order you to go down immediately, and when you leave the Red Keep, I believe that a tube of fine Longjing tea should return with you." ”

Bismarck's eyes lit up, and the smile on his face unconsciously became a little thicker: "This is very good, then I will thank you in advance." ”

After a few more polite words, Bismarck finally coughed and began to get to the point: "Dear Maurice, I think I have seen enough in the Red Keep, but what makes me a little puzzled is that you are not afraid that your king will be alert when you train your soldiers and horses and build weapons and equipment with such fanfare?" ”

Now that he was down to business, Duke Louis's expression naturally became serious, and for the first time, the duke, who had dominated the François political arena for decades, straightened his waist in front of Bismarck, and the whole person inadvertently revealed the majesty of the superior who should have been: "Please rest assured that Lord Bismarck, I have completely sealed off the four gates of the Red Keep, and no one except my henchmen is allowed to enter or leave the Red Keep during this time, so it is impossible for the news to leak no matter what." ”

"Good." Bismarck nodded, since Duke Louis had already made arrangements, then he naturally wouldn't ask any more questions, so he turned the topic to another aspect: "I think we have studied the matter clearly enough in the previous secret letter contact, so I just want to confirm with you-" Bismarck looked at the military minister of the Kingdom of France in front of him with blazing eyes: "Do you really plan to launch a coup d'état to overthrow the rule of the Bonaparte family over the Kingdom of France?" ”

"Yes." Duke Louis was obviously mentally prepared for this question, and nodded without hesitation: "If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have asked you and His Majesty William for help." Duke Louis paused slightly, as if he was hesitating about something, but still asked: "I don't know what kind of help your country can provide me?" ”

Bismarck smiled slightly, and couldn't help but feel a hint of joy in his heart, it seems that although this old Louis fox has cheated me all his life, when it comes to the ownership of the throne, he still can't hold his breath after all. At such a critical moment of bargaining, the side that can't hold its breath will obviously pay more.

So Bismarck did not let Duke Louis wait too long: "Dear Maurice, His Majesty Wilhelm has given me carte blanche in charge of this negotiation, and my words represent the will of the Empire, and I hope you will be clear about this. Bismarck paused deliberately, and only after seeing Duke Louis nod his head in understanding, he continued: "I think you should be very clear about the requirements of the Empire, we want three million gold coins, and the land of the two counties of Alsace and Lorraine as a reward for the completion of the matter. ”

"Arthas and Lorraine?" Duke Louis's face changed: "Lord Bismarck, the conditions we originally said were not like this. ”

"Your Excellency Duke Louis, I want you to make one thing clear, and the conditions are to be discussed, so of course it can be changed." Bismarck took a sip of the teacup for a long time, completely ignoring the very ugly look on the face of the Duke of Louis in front of him, until the aromatic tea liquid entered his stomach, then he exhaled comfortably, and said slowly: "In return, in addition to sending 100,000 troops to launch a feint attack on the border to attract the elite troops of your Frans Kingdom, the Imperial side will also send six Sanctuary powerhouses to assist you in this operation." ”

"Six Sanctuary powerhouses?" Duke Louis's face changed again, but from the look of his expression, there was undoubtedly a lot of joy. With the assistance of so many Sanctuary powerhouses and the strength accumulated in his family for a hundred years, the probability of Duke Louis' success in this coup d'état is obviously much greater, which makes Duke Louis's heart fall into a violent struggle.

Bismarck took in the expression of Duke Louis, and the wise man, known as the "Fox of Jimny", smiled like a fox on his face, poured himself a cup of tea with great ease, and drank it all - he knew he had won.

After hesitating for ten minutes, Duke Louis, who was struggling in his heart, finally gritted his teeth and promised Bismarck's lion to speak: "Okay, it's decided!" ”

Bismarck smiled slightly and stretched out his right palm: "A word is a certainty!" ”

"It's a deal!" Duke Louis also stretched out his right palm, and the two of them high-fived in the air as an oath.

"By the way, I have one more small request." Bismarck suddenly took a map out of his bosom and spread it out on Duke Louis's desk.

"Your Excellency, please speak." Now that the two sides are already allies, Duke Louis's attitude is naturally more enthusiastic.

"I've heard that the 'Shadows' of your Kingdom of Frans are very good at intelligence work, and you know a lot about the Spanny Empire." Bismarck's hand slowly moved to the southwest of the map, and he lightly tapped on a small city in the northeast of the Spani Empire: "Therefore, I would like to be able to obtain all the information related to the lords and bishops of this city in your Kingdom of France." ”

Duke Louis looked at the map, and then smiled: "No problem, I will send someone to get the information immediately." ”

"That's the best." Bismarck laughed similarly.

This small city on the northeastern border of the Spanny Empire, which was pointed out by Bismarck's finger, is exactly the name of Varna City.