"Rod, you're here." William smiled and looked at Rodrigo, who had walked into the camp, and said, "How is the situation, have the leaders of the rebels, the Count of Domenia and the Count of Nantes, been caught?" ”

"Yes, Your Highness William, I was about to report this to you." Rodrigo bowed slightly to William and said apologetically: "I'm sorry, although we have annihilated all the armies of the Count of Nantes and Count Youdes, and captured the leader of the rebellion, Count of Domenia, Youdes, so far, we have not been able to find any trace of the Count of Nantes. ”

"You've done well enough, even Hubert and I can't do it better than you, so please don't beat yourself. I'll need to rely on your help in the next battle. William said softly.

"His Highness William." Rodrigo's eyes moistened slightly, and he muttered.

"Okay Rod, I'm going to ask you something." William looked at Rodrigo and said with a serious expression.

"Speak, please." Rodrigo's face grimaced, and he nodded.

"Now that the crucial battle of the Duchy of Brittany has been completed and the Dominia Fort has been breached, we will face the rebel Count of Brorec, Josselin, and the local nobility led by Hoyer, Count of Koneff, and Morvan, Count of Leon.

We must rid ourselves of all the nobles who are fighting against us, and we must not leave any potential rebellion behind, and there is no need to worry about the resistance of the three counties of Enre, Nantes and Dominia.

Therefore, we will face a long and boring counterinsurgency war, and now I will entrust you with the war against the Duchy of Brittany. William recounted the current situation of the war in the Duchy of Brittany, and looked at Rodrigo to entrust.

"You're leaving here and heading back to Normandy. Is this what happened? Rodrigo looked up at William and asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"There was some bad news that I had to go back to Normandy." William pondered for a moment, and finally decided to confess to Rodrigo:

"The Count of Joufrooy of the Duchy of Anjou took advantage of our war in the Duchy of Brittany to inherit the title and domain of the Duke of Anjou, and what is even more odious is that he dared to brazenly ally with King Henry I, who was hostile to us, and now the external situation is so bad that I have to return to Normandy in order to deal with it effectively."

"Is the situation really at this level of crisis? So much so that even Baron Hubert couldn't cope with it? Listening to William's words, Baron Rodrigo immediately became nervous and asked anxiously.

"Unfortunately, it is true, Hubert, Adolf, and Osborne have already sent me several letters, and the current situation is not something they can handle." William sighed, and said with a slightly helpless expression: "The hostile forces we are facing are the royal army of King Henry I, the Anjou army of the Duke of Joofroy, and the army of the Duke of Champagne, they can send more than 30,000 troops at most, and this is a huge crisis for us. ”

"And what about your ally, Lord Baldwin V, Duke of Flanders? If he helps, then at least he can take some of the pressure off of us. Rodrigo suggested.

"It's true that Duke Baldwin is our ally, but we can't pin all our hopes on him.

Even if Duke Baldwin did his best, we could only share the enemy army of 10,000 men at most, and in the end we still had to face more than 20,000 enemy troops, and if we added other noble princes who were eyeing each other, the situation we faced in the future would probably be even more severe. William nodded slightly, then shook his head and said.

Even a strategic genius as astute as Rodrigo could not immediately come up with the slightest effective attention, and in the end he had to persuade William:

"Your Highness William, it would be better to conclude a peace treaty with the nobles of Brittany and recognize their independence, so that at least we can control the three counties of Enlay, Nantes and Domenia. As long as you and I lead our army back to Normandy, there will be nothing to fear in the face of King Henry's threat. ”

"No, I can't give up the Duchy of Brittany, the conquest of Brittany is my most important strategic goal at the moment, and it is very important for me to conquer England in the future and seize the crown of the Kingdom of England." William shook his head and said in an excited tone.

William's covetion of the crown of England was well known to his cronies and noble generals, so when he mentioned the throne of England, Rodrigo, who had originally advised William to withdraw his troops, had to be silenced.

"Rodrigo, can I trust you?" William's eyes were fixed on Rodrigo, and he said in a solemn tone.

"Your Highness William, my master, everything I have has has been given by you, and if it weren't for your attention, I might still be a mercenary leader now, and I wouldn't be able to become a noble baron in any way.

I will follow any of your orders whenever you need to, wherever and whenever you need them. Rodrigo knelt down on one knee in front of William, hung his head, put his right hand on his chest, and said in an agitated tone.

"Well, Rodrigo, I'm not mistaken, you're the perfect knight." William stood up and walked in front of Rodrigo, then drew his sword and put it on Rodrigo's right shoulder and said: "Rodrigo, I canonize you as the Count of Domenia and give you the title of the domain, which you can decide for yourself, and can be used to canonize the barons and knights under your command, and provide for an army that belongs only to you to fight for me." I only ask that your barons and knights also swear allegiance to me, and that they will likewise call up soldiers to fight for me and obey my orders.

Rodrigo, do you accept it? ”

"I accept, His Highness William." Rodrigo looked up at William and nodded solemnly, "My family, my descendants and I will give you all our allegiance for generations to come, forever. ”

William's sword slammed left and right on Rodrigo's shoulder three times, placing the silver earl crown already prepared on his desk above Rodrigo's head, and then reaching out his hands to lift Rodrigo up.

"Now I can call you Lord Count Rodrigo, the title and domain of Count Domenia belong to you, as my vassal, anyone who tries against you will be my enemy, and I will always protect you and your family." The ice on William's face melted in the blink of an eye, and a warm smile appeared, and he looked at Count Rodrigo with a smile and said.

"I won't let you down, my master." Rodrigo got up with William's help and nodded in response.