The quaint door of the chamber was pulled open from within, and Cepes and Apaca came out smiling.

Bishop Mitte, who was guarding the doorway, heard the movement behind him and immediately flashed aside to make way for the Patriarch.

"Patriarch, this is my friend Arthur, please remember what he looks like, so that you can plan later."

Bishop Mitte and the two tall monks present were Apaca's henchmen.

So Cepes did not shy away from it, and introduced Arthur in front of them.

"Valiant young man, God will always be with you."

Apaca was very face-saving, sliding his fingers and praying for Arthur's blessing.

This move surprised Bishop Mitte and the two monks on the side.

Arthur made a flattered expression, and then simply knelt on one knee.

Tepes pursed his lips, obviously very dissatisfied with Arthur's kneeling for the old god stick.

Then he thought that when he was crowned, he would kneel down to the old god stick, and his mood instantly became even more unhappy.

In line with the principle of not being out of sight and out of mind, Cepes forcibly dragged Arthur up, then turned his head and said to Apaca with a smile:

"Patriarch, my identity is more sensitive now, and I can't come out for too long, so I'll go back to the Kurtea Palace first.

Please also get the gold coins ready, and tomorrow my friend Arthur will come to collect them. ”

"St. Mary's Church has a secret vault, if you need it, you can leave with the gold coins now."

The churches and monasteries of the Middle Ages, each of them, held many secrets.

Not to mention the secret vault, even if Apaca said that there was a vampire suppressed under the church, Cepes would believe it.

However, he had no intention of taking the gold with him now.

"There are too many gold coins, too conspicuous, and if you bring them to your body, you will probably let the Ottomans find out.

Tomorrow, Arthur will come and fetch it alone, and when Bishop Mitt sees Arthur, he will take it to you immediately. ”

"That makes sense, then I'll pick it up again tomorrow."

Apaca nodded slightly, and then said to Bishop Mitte:

"Azha, give your cross to Arthur, and then have the monks of the church, when they see someone coming with your cross, bring them to me at once."

With Bishop Mitte's current status, in the whole of Wallachia, the only person who can call him by his name is probably Apaca in front of him.

Bishop Mitte, on the other hand, was even more curious about what kind of agreement his patriarch had made with this fellow of the infidels.

However, despite the doubts in his heart, Bishop Mitt gave the cross to Arthur as Apaca had instructed.

Taking the cross, without further delay, Tsepes and Arthur, walking out of the church grounds, returned to the Palace of Kurtea under the protection of the Ottoman cavalry.

As soon as he returned to the palace, Tsepes approached Braye and told him the good news.

Of course, information other than the coronation ceremony being finalized, of course, can't be told to this guy.

Returning to the room with Arthur and making sure that no one was eavesdropping on the door and window, Tsepes spoke:

"Go to St. Mary's Church tomorrow, Apaca will give you two thousand gold coins, you ......"

"Oh my God! Two thousand gold coins! Have you robbed the Patriarch!? ”

Cepes was about to explain the specific arrangements to Arthur, but was interrupted by this guy's startled shout.

"Shhhhhh

Tsepes covered Arthur's mouth, looked down the window, and made sure that Arthur's shout did not attract the attention of outsiders, and then continued:

"Don't be surprised, we are planning the fate of a country, and two thousand gold coins can be nothing.

Of the two thousand gold coins, you give five hundred to Davar, which you will use to buy food, forage, weapons, and continue to recruit men.

Then take out five hundred, give it to your cousin, and ask him to go to Switzerland as quickly as possible, hire one hundred and twenty of the best mercenaries, and then rush back as soon as possible.

The remaining 1,000 will be kept for the time being and used when needed. ”

Now he has plenty of money, so on the way back, Cepes made a slight change to his original plan.

Since the existence of mercenaries, Swiss mercenaries have been the benchmark in the industry.

Swiss mercenaries are more trustworthy than Swiss clocks hundreds of years later.

"Why hire mercenaries? With those five hundred gold coins, we can train five or six hundred warriors. ”

Arthur didn't understand Tsepes's new arrangement, and simply asked questions.

"Because, the tax will start next month, and I don't want the Ottomans to take this year's tax with them.

Do as I say, and then by the first of October, be sure to come back to me, and I will give you an official position. ”

Regarding the plan, Tsepes did not say too specifically, and Arthur did not continue to ask.

Obviously, the value of the tax that the Ottomans were going to take away was far more than 500 gold coins.

When he had finished all that he had to say, he began to write again his letter to Miss Gina.

Finally, he sent Arthur, the messenger of love, to the gate of the palace, and deliberately raised his voice and shouted:

"Arthur! My friend! I miss Miss Gina so much, so please bring the letter back as soon as possible! ”

"Your Highness, I will hurry up and bring back Miss Gina's letter as soon as possible!"

Because Arthur had to rush back to Targoviste before the first of the next month, Cepes deliberately arranged this disgusting scene.

These few times Arthur sent letters, he calculated the normal time, and then appeared with the letter, trying to do any details without any mistakes.

Now, although Braye has fallen into the trap of interests, there is also an extremely calm Litam by his side.

A cold, machine-like guy like him often has a keen sense of smell for deviations in details.

Therefore, every little detail must be considered, including the time Arthur used to and fro.

Sending Arthur away, Tepes went back to living a routine life.

Enjoy the delicacies, let the 'Deshui' comrades enjoy the delicacies, flirt with the beautiful court maids, chat with Vladis every day, and practice the swordsmanship given to him by Litam.

In the blink of an eye, the time came to September 29, 1447 in the Julian calendar.

On this day, Arthur, who was in the dust, returned with letters.

From his embarrassed state, it can be seen that he did put a lot of effort into order to get Cepes's letter from Miss Gina as soon as possible.

At the same time, more than thirty tax collectors gathered in front of the Palace of Curteaua to wait to hear the lectures of Cepes and Braye.

These tax collectors, all of whom were subordinate officials of the direct domain, were responsible for collecting taxes from commoners and serfs in the direct domain.

As for the vassals' domains, they were responsible for the taxes, and the church's share and the Ottoman share were also collected by the lords.

Subsequently, the Church and the Ottoman Empire would send someone to transport their wealth.

If the lord refuses to pay the tax, or if the amount of tax is insufficient, it is natural that someone will pass over and let them be severely punished.

Today's meeting is only about the taxation of the direct territories, and there is no difference from previous years.

Tsepes was only symbolic, and after a few words to the tax collectors present, he stepped back behind Braye.

Bulray, on the other hand, was more active and said a lot of words of encouragement to these tax collectors.

These people, starting tomorrow, will be sent to various parts of their direct territory to cooperate with the local magistrate in collecting taxes.

As for the matter of going to the vassal territory to collect taxes, it will be arranged by Bura Ye tomorrow.

Of course, Cepes will give some tips in due course.