In mid-April, the weather warms up, and the whole land of Burgundy is shrouded in the bustle and vitality of spring.

At this moment, the palace hall of Besançon was quiet and cold.

On the platform of the main hall, seven oak chairs are arranged on the left and right sides of the iron seat, and the seven important ministers of the court of the Count of Burgundy are seated on both sides, and the iron seat in the middle of the hall is empty, and the prime minister of the court sits upright next to the iron seat, and he presides over the ceremony of the vassal audience and canonization on behalf of the Marquis of Ivrea, the ruler of the country.

Below the platform, representatives of the Viscounts of the Count of Burgundy and the Lords of the Frontier and above stood on either side of the hall, and they were ordered to come to witness and observe.

Around the hall and at the oak gate there is a row of palace guards (palace guards) wearing black armor, feathered helmets, and holding power axes.

On the left side of the hall, the minister holding a parchment book with lace and gold seals in his hand, read out the forgiveness on the book......

In the side hall of the main hall, Art changed the dress of the old ironclad and changed into a baron's regular dress with high price and good texture.

Listening to the bursts of enthusiastic cheers in the hall, Yate quietly dried a thin layer of sweat oozing from his palms on his regular clothes, and scolded in his heart: "It's really useless, what are you nervous about?"

After fighting in this chaotic world for so many years, Art has become accustomed to battlefield killing, and he can face life and death without panic, but today's encounter made his heart fluctuate slightly.

After a long time, the court usher pushed open the door of the side hall and came to Art, "Lord Arte, come with me into the main hall to meet you~"

As a courtier on the side of the Marquise, this high-spirited guy obviously had no good impression of Arte, the new vassal and noble, and his tone was not at all as courteous as when Martinus had just been summoned.

Art put away the flicker in his eyes, regained his sharp gaze, got up and patted the folds of his regular clothes, and followed the pace of the ushers generously.

The door of the hall opened, and everyone in the hall stopped talking and turned their eyes to Art, who slowly walked into the hall.

"Knights of the Court Guard, Sir Atwood Wells here!" The ushers shouted to the iron seat of the main hall, then turned sideways to get out of the way, and motioned for Art to step forward on his own.

The nobles on both sides of the hall also returned to their original positions and stood solemnly.

Art lifted his feet in cowhide boots, took a steady step, and walked to the bottom of the temple platform one by one and stopped, looking straight at the important ministers on the temple.

When Art's eyes met Bernard, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Bernard suddenly stood up from his seat, "Ladies and gentlemen, I have some important business to attend to and leave first, and you can enjoy the coronation of the monkey here." ”

After speaking, he ignored everyone's eyes and left the main hall directly, leaving everyone in the hall to talk noisily.

"Everyone, be quiet! Everyone, be quiet! The Prime Minister of the palace glanced helplessly at the back of Bernard leaving, and raised his hand to stop the noise of the crowd.

"The Chancellor of the Exchequer does have important matters to deal with, and the ceremony of promotion to the knighthood will be held as usual."

"Ask the Lord Keeper of the Seals to read the letter of appointment of the Court to Lord Atwood Wells." The prime minister of the palace said to the minister of the seal, who was standing aside with the paperwork in his hand.

The Minister of the Seals nodded, walked to the center of the hall, slowly opened a piece of delicate parchment, and read aloud: "In accordance with the divine will of God and the monarch of earth, promote the knight of the court guard of the Count of Burgundy, Atwood Wells, to the baron of the frontier of the Count of Burgundy, and grant the lord a fief ......"

The letter of appointment in the hands of the Chancellor of the Seals very simply stated the promotion of Art to the rank of Baron of the Frontier of the Count of Burgundy, granting him a fief in the vast valley between the Ranges of Lamel and the Sierra de Boge in the south of the Count, which from now on belonged to the borders of the Count of Burgundy and was under the jurisdiction of the county of Tignets. The letter of appointment also indicates the courtesies of vassals that Atwood Wells could enjoy, the number of knights he could canonize, the size of his army, and so on.

After reading out the letter of appointment of Arte, the Minister of the Seals took out a gilded flower seal book from the tray held by the attendant beside him, which was the Tern Certificate.

“...... The Baron of Atwood Wells had the power to adjudicate his barony's land, except for treason, to levy taxes on land, mills, roads, bridges, workshops, shops, and everything that created value, to appoint officials of the barony's ranks, and to call up soldiers in his realm to defend against foreign enemies...... No one is allowed to trespass on the territory without the permission of the lord, otherwise the lord has the power to punish the trespasser......"

"As a vassal of the Count of Burgundy, you will be directly loyal to the Marquis of Ivrea Otto, the ruler of the Count of Burgundy, and to the successor to the title of Marquis of the Count, and shall unconditionally fulfill the orders of the lord when your lord issues you military calls, taxes, and all the vassalal obligations enjoyed by the lord......"

The Minister of the Seals said a lot of things, nothing more than the various "independent decisions" that the Aters would enjoy in their domains, and the fact that when the superior lord (the Marquis of Ivrea) needed the vassals to provide troops, taxes, etc., Art had to meet them unconditionally.

"Baron Atwood Wells, do you have a clear understanding of all the powers and obligations of being a vassal?" The Minister of the Seals finally closed the Grace Form, looked up at Art in the main hall and asked.

Art straightened up, his eyes fixed on the Turn's hand in the palm of the Seals' hand, and replied loudly: "In the name of God, I have understood all the powers of being a baron of the frontier of the Count of Burgundy, and I have clearly understood all the duties that need to be faithfully fulfilled as the Marquis of Ivrea, the ruler of the Count of Burgundy, and his successors."

The Minister of the Seals placed the Tern in his hand on the tray, and led the attendant down the hall with the tray to Art.

"Baron Art, please stretch out your hands and take your baronial appointment letter and fief troll."

Art held his hands up.

The Lord Keeper of the Seals placed the two books in Art's hand and nodded, then returned to the throne, bowed to the Prime Minister of the court, and sat down in a chair.

The Prime Minister stood up and addressed the Lords in the Great Hall, "From now on, Atwood Wells will be crowned as a baron, and will be among the vassals of the Count of Burgundy." Let's cheer for Baron Art~"

There was a moment of silence in the hall, and sparse cheers rang out......

On the night of the court audience, in the Earl of Balwin's mansion.

"Art, today's audience with you has also realized how difficult it is to be promoted to baron, in order to make you successfully promoted, Bishop Orlof and I don't know how many court nobles we have lobbied. Even if you have now been promoted to barony against public opinion, there are still many stubborn and political opponents who make it difficult for you at every turn. That's the reality! ”

"But you should also be glad that you have taken every step of the way......

Balwin cheered up Yat for a while and then returned to the topic, "You became a baron with a fief after the court visit, although you didn't get a decent fief, but I have also heard about your ability to run a territory, and besides, you don't seem to rely on the territory to raise troops." ”

"I have treated you as my confidant, and I will not hide many things from you. The reason why I tried my best to get you to the position of baron is to forge a sharp sword, and when the time comes, I will draw the sharp blade and swing the sword directly at the enemy~"

"Your fiefdom is in the barren valley of the South, far from the court and hidden from the eyes of the world, so I have given you a mission." Balwin paused.

Art sat upright and leaned slightly, "My lord, you say!" ”

"If nothing else, the Earl of Longxia will "meet" the Marquis next spring, and I hope that you can train an elite infantry corps of more than five hundred men by next spring, and once you get the secret order, immediately rush to my fiefdom of Jonah to assemble! ”

"I will give you financial support for military expenses and armaments, and someone will contact you later on this matter."

"You don't have to worry about the regulations of the palace here, everything is up to me to resist for you!"

Art listened with enthusiasm......

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Chapter 222: Court Audience