Bai Cunxiao said: "General Tang Zhangwei, although you are, the god of war of the Tang Dynasty. But you must also know that our numbers are too different from the Vikings' troops. It's possible that on a beautiful night, a group of Vikings will be able to capture you with their bare hands. ”

Tang Zhangwei said: "What is your opinion? Bai Cunxiao said: "I hope that you can gather the garrisons of the European provinces of the Tang Dynasty, so that our troops can have a numerical advantage over the Vikings." At the same time, we should use all kinds of technical weapons to fight against the Viking forces. Otherwise, it's up to us to send us to death.

Tang Zhangwei said: "I don't think so, our troops didn't have a numerical advantage back then, didn't they also defeat those feudal warlords of the Tang Dynasty and unify the Tang Dynasty?" Later, when we fought all over the world, did we all have a numerical advantage? ”

The king did not say so. If he said anything decisive, it meant the opposite. He was not offended by insisting that the king had other choices. Philip thought, I have to remember this: when you're about to be rejected, put it off.

Philip and Wallen were about to turn and leave, but Henry insisted, saying, "When will we hear your decision?" ”

Stephen was embarrassed again. "The day after tomorrow." He said.

Henry bowed, and the three of them walked out.

The hesitation was almost as bad as the negative conclusion, and Philip found the wait unbearable. He spent the afternoon in the splendid collection of books at Winchester Abbey, but the study of them did not keep him from thinking about what the King was thinking. Will the King reneg on his promise to Percy Hamley? How important is Percy exactly? He was nothing more than a squire who longed for an earl's estate—and Stephen had no reason to offend him. But how willing is Stephen to help Wang Qiao? It is well known that kings were religious in their old age, and Stephen was still young.

Philip was tossing and turning over the possibilities, but in fact only looking at it, without reading Boitius's "The Consolation of Philosophy", when a friar came to him on tiptoe down the cloister aisle and whispered mysteriously: "Someone is outside asking to see you, priest." ”

Since the guest has to wait outside, it means that he is not a monk. "Who is it?" Philip said.

"It's a woman."

Philip's first reaction was to think with fear that it might be the prostitute who had seduced him outside the mint; But the look on the young friar's face told him something else. There was another woman who looked at him today. "What does she look like?"

The young man grimaced.

Philip nodded, understood. "Rigan Hamley." What is she doing here? "I'll be right there."

He thought slowly as he walked around the cloister until he came to the courtyard outside. He was going to use all his wisdom to deal with this woman.

She stood outside the door of the secretary's room, wrapped in a thick blanket and covering her face with the hood of her cloak. She gave Philip a vicious look, so explicit that he wanted to turn back at once, but he felt a little ashamed to run away from a woman, so he stood on his heels and said, "What do you want to see me?" ”

"You stupid monk," she spat out, "how could you be so stupid?" ”

He felt his face flush. "I'm the vice president of Wang Qiao, and you'd better call me Father." He said. His voice sounded like it was angry rather than full of authority, and he was chagrined about it.

"Well, Father—how did you allow yourself to be taken advantage of by those two greedy bishops?"

Philip took a deep breath. "Be clear," he said angrily. "I can't make sense to a dumb person like you, but I'll do my best. Wallen is using the burned church as an excuse to win land for himself. That's clear enough, right? Do you know what that means? ”

Her contemptuous tone still irritated Philip, but he couldn't help but defend himself. "There's nothing unpleasant here," he said, "and the proceeds from the land will be used to rebuild the cathedral." ”

"Why do you think that?"

"That's the whole idea!" Philip protested. But deep down, the strings of doubt had been plucked for the first time.

Rigan's tone changed from mockery to cunning. "Does this new land belong to a monastery?" She said, "Or is it a diocese?" ”

Philip stared at her for a moment, then looked away, her dignity unbearable. He had envisaged that the land would belong to the monastery, not to the diocese, and to be controlled by him, not by Wallen. But then it occurred to me that when they were promoted to the king, Bishop Henry had specifically asked for the land to be given to the diocese. Philip thought it was a slip of the tongue, but it was not corrected either at the time or afterwards.

He glanced at Gan suspiciously, she couldn't possibly know what Henry was going to say to the king, and she might be right about that. On the other hand, she may be trying to create a dispute. The argument between Philip and Volren on this point will benefit her greatly. "Wallen is a bishop – he has to have a cathedral," Philip said. ”

"He's got to have a lot of things," she replied. After she began to reason, she was less vicious, but more humane, but Philip still couldn't bear to look at her a little longer. "For some bishops, a fine cathedral is primary. But for Vollen, he had other needs. Anyway, as long as he controls the rope of the money bag, he will give as much or as little as he wants to you and your building. ”

Philip knew she was telling the truth, at least on that point. If Volren collects rent, he will naturally set aside a portion for his own expenses, and he alone can decide how much to take. As long as he wanted to, no one could stop him from spending money on a purpose that had nothing to do with the cathedral. And Philip will never wonder month after month if he will have the money to spend on it.

It would undoubtedly have been much better if the abbey had that land, but Philip was sure that Volren would resist the idea, and that Bishop Henry would support Wollen. Philip's only hope was to appeal to the king, and King Stephen, seeing that the church was at odds, might give the earl's fief to Percy Hamley to solve the problem.

This, of course, is exactly what Rigan wants.

Philip shook his head. "If Volyn wants to deceive me, why did he bring me here? He could have come and make the same request himself. ”

(End of chapter)