Under the carved dome of the cathedral, the king and the whole court listened to the Wolf's Sermon by the Archbishop of York, and the new Archbishop Osbert roared with the same air as his predecessor had denounced the English eighty years earlier: "Here are the murderers, the murderers, the murder of the monks, the enemies of the Church...... Some people commit adultery, others practice witchcraft......"

This sermon denounces the English under King Etheled, but there is also a lot of insult to the Danes, and most of the people present are either English or Danes, but they all seem to be listening with relish.

Suddenly, a Saxon rushed in, and despite the presence of the nobles, he reached the king and whispered a few words. The interrupted Archbishop Osbert, though extremely dissatisfied, did not dare to interfere with the king's conversation, and the whole sermon was then suspended.

The Earl of Oxford followed the king directly out of the church, while the Earl of Lincoln, together with the Lord of Hughey, followed the princes of the church out of the smoke of incense.

Back in the castle, the two Teutonic princes were already waiting for the king.

"The king of Rome rebelled?"

"This is a letter from the Duke of Bavaria." Bertold-von Rheinfelden respectfully handed over a roll of parchment, and the Mark of the Duke of Welf was still recognizable on the cracked wax seal.

"It says the queen died in Swabia?"

"I don't know the specifics, but after my father's death, most of his vassals in Swabia took refuge with Frederick, and now the Belém have blocked the news, and even Zeringen and Welf can't confirm it."

Edgar nodded, the little Bertolds of the Zeringen family are the brother-in-law of the other party, and the power in Swabia is enough to compete with the Belen (Stauffen) family, if even he can't find out, it is impossible for others to have a chance to know the truth.

"Look at this passage, the Countess of Turin and the Count of Montebellia attended the wedding of the Duke of Welf and Madame Matilda." The king sighed, "A toast to Conrad!" I didn't expect this kid to have such guts. ”

Edgar couldn't help but gloat, but then he remembered his son, Henry had just crowned the crown prince king of the Romans, just as he had made Edmund Duke of Saxony, and Conrad was only two years older than Edmund, and children were sometimes a nightmare.

Fortunately, my flesh and blood will never betray me.

"The Emperor is now alone." Henry, Earl of Oxford, commented coldly.

"Your Majesty, it is time to join the attack at once, from Saxony south to Bavaria, and flank Henry with the Duke of Welf!" Hermann von Salm said excitedly.

"Lord Henry, what do you think?"

"Welf is probably no match for the Emperor, and even if he can't hold out in Bavaria, he can go to the south, Carinthia still has many supporters of the Zeringen family, and the brothers of Lyutport are now too anxious to deal with the invasion of Welf and Matilda at the same time. As for us, if we go south, either to the Main or to Bohemia, we may meet with resistance from the princes. ”

Welf now had a way to go, and if the British army went south, it was very likely that the Emperor's main force would be handed over to the British army, and he would go to conquer the southern territories and reoccupy the eastern passes of the Alps, and the Tuscans and the rebellious Lombards would certainly help him to reblock all the Emperor's access to Italy.

Given that the other lords had not yet arrived, and that Edgar was reluctant to reveal much in front of the two Teutonic lords, he simply made a contemplative appearance and the squire brought out the freshly baked jam pie from the king's kitchen to entertain the three of them.

That night, Edgar found the only unconditional Governor of Hugh that he trusted unconditionally, and told him about the changes in the mainland.

"Your Majesty intends to attack Swabia?"

"We can't provoke the hostility of the imperial princes, so attacking Henry is not a good idea, as long as Caesar is still around, they must tolerate us, and attacking Swabian will not provoke much opposition. The princes were jealous of that Stauffen Frederick for a day or two, and if we entered the Black Forest under the banner of supporting Bertold, the situation would be completely different, although the people of Zeringen married Rudolf's daughter, they did not have the support of the royal family and the princes, and did not inherit the principality in name, so we can promise to let them control Rudolph's son in the future, with their army, Duke Frederick can only defend his own territory, and cannot resume expansion, and we can also calmly arrange and pacify Saxony, Cologne and other regions, Even if Henry defeated Matilda and Conrad, he would not have the strength to retake the north. ”

The prefect of Hughed, who was concerned about other matters, was not particularly concerned with the situation in Deutschland and Italy, and since the king had made up his mind, he naturally nodded yes.

A soaring white horse flag was planted diagonally on the wall, the gorgeous spear head shone with a metallic luster, and seeing the king planning the situation in the empire with great ambition, the county magistrate couldn't help but ask, "Does Your Majesty plan to let Lord Rodrigo command the attack?" ”

As soon as the words came out, Hugh Barn secretly regretted that he had already been half cut into the ground, so why should he worry about these things anymore?

"Of course......" Edgar looked up a little dazedly, and looked at the magistrate's expression to see his subtext.

"Does Your Majesty know about Edric Striona?"

There was a flash of anger on the king's face, and one hand grasped the edge of the black lacquered silk robe, as if to restrain something.

"At that time, Edric's father was not even Sain, but he was valued by King Ethelred and eliminated all opponents for the royal family. The Count of Northumbria was ambushed by him while he was hunting, and all his sons were gouged out, and in reward for his service, the king married his daughter to him and appointed him Count of Mercia. The magistrate recounted the history as he knew it, but the king had no expression on his face.

Later, when King Bazihu invaded, Edric fled with the royal family and personally escorted the queen across the sea to Normandy. After the death of King Bazihu, Edric returned with the royal family and assassinated the two major Seins of the Seven Castles for Prince Edmund, Siggphus and Moka, who had taken refuge with the Danes, and sacrificed their domains and the widow of Siggiphus to Prince Edmund. ”

Lady Edith, Sigiphes's widow, was Edgar's grandmother, and Edgar was no stranger to his grandfather Edmund's murder and plundering of widows, and his fingers tightened and tightened, almost tearing the placket of his robe decorated with gold thread.

"However, when Canute invaded, the Governor of Edric immediately defected to the Danes and betrayed King Edmund's army at Sheston, and from then on, like Norsman and others, eventually led to the fall of the kingdom."

"Your Excellency means that Rodrigo cannot be trusted?"

"Edric was also loyal to the royal family and was rewarded with a knighthood and a princess, but in times of crisis, the executioner who had cleaned up traitors for the royal family turned into a traitor to the kingdom, and Uhtred, Earl of Northumbria, who had betrayed the royal family, finally chose to support the royal family. Your Majesty lost the country in his early years, he experienced hardships and dangers, and the great cause of the kingdom is now tied to His Majesty, you must be careful! ”

"Is it a sign of loyalty to the royal family that Guspartrick's younger brother did not return to London, but privately led the northerners to plunder Ulster?"

"The sons of Moka, the sons of old Guspatrick, they are too young, Your Majesty may as well punish them, but you must not choose to favor the other side because someone is unfaithful. These days, the people of the north have realized His Majesty's well-being, and now they still have to show favor to those who are illustrious, which is the long-term strategy to control the kingdom. ”

Edgar finally understood what the Yorkshire Lord meant, and it was necessary to reward and punish strictly, but if he insisted on one end, he would lose the crowd like his ancestor Ethelred, and the northern lords would be unruly, and even a monarch like Cnut would sit up in the middle of the night and be terrified.

Forced force is never possible, and it is a dangerous art to balance the scales between the equally rebellious Normans and Danes, and Hughard Barn has seen his predicament, but there is no good solution to it, and even tries to persuade himself with his prejudice against Count Rodrigo.

Thinking of this, Edgar suddenly made a decision:

"How about a trip to Swabia for the prince?"

It was a cruel time, and the foundation of royal power was in the sword, war, which was the only way he knew how to obtain the sword.