Faced with Count Hubert's question, William replied without hesitation: "Yes, that's right, I want to make peace with Henry I." Now I can't swallow all of France in Normandy, and it will be no good for us to defeat Henry I completely, but only other countries and princes. ”

"I support your decision, His Highness William." Count Hubert nodded in response, "Then what are you going to do?" Was it to continue to be a vassal of Henry I after the armistice? ”

"No, my Duchy of Normandy will become independent of the Kingdom of France," William shook his head and said, "After annexing the three counties of Amiens, Vissan, and Anjou, as well as the Duchy of Brittany that I had previously obtained, the Duchy of Normandy has occupied a vast area of northwestern France, and with the foundation for an independent state, Normandy may become a kingdom at that time."

Of course, this requires the consent of His Majesty the Pope, and with my relationship with His Majesty, it is not very difficult to ask him to crown me as Norman King. ”

Hearing that Normandy would become an independent state and be elevated to a kingdom, Count Hubert was very excited when he thought about it, and immediately expressed his support for William: "You must have a well-thought-out strategy, and as your vassal, we will support you." ”

Indeed, for the growing power of Normandy, a mere principality attached to France did not satisfy the ambitions of the Normans, especially after their victory over the coalition forces of the Kingdom of France.

"The first priority now is to negotiate with Henry I, to sign a peace treaty with him, to gain independence from France, and to take full possession of the territories currently occupied.

In this way, there would be no reason for Ferdinand I of Spain to continue fighting against France, and there was no reason to forcibly annex the Duchy of Gascogne, as well as the Duchy of Flanders, which would also have to withdraw after the armistice.

Although there will be complaints on both sides, as long as compensation is in place, neither Ferdinand I nor Baldwin V have any reason to complain. William said confidently.

"That is to solve the two pretenders against the Kingdom of France, but how will the Holy Roman Empire face it, their desire to seize France is very strong." Earl Hubert nodded frequently and responded.

"Then shift their aim, and let Emperor Henry III treat the march on Rome as their primary goal.

Since the founding of the East Francian Kingdom and the Saxony dynasty by Henry, Duke of Saxony 'Birdcatcher', his three descendants, Otto the Great, Otto II and Otto III, have been crowned emperors of the Romans, the Holy Roman Emperors, in Rome.

For more than 100 years, marching into the great city of Rome and crowning him Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by His Majesty the Pope has become something that all monarchs who want to make a difference want to do.

It just so happened that His Majesty Henry III had not been crowned emperor in Rome since his accession to the throne, and his legitimacy had been questioned, so that simply sending someone to blow the wind in his ears could arouse his desire to march into Rome. In this way, France's greatest crisis can be resolved. "William relied on his strong analytical skills to analyze a detailed set of solutions from various intelligence and historical sources.

William's articulation, coherence and reasonableness convinced Earl Hubert that few people possessed such a strategic vision, at least not anyone he had ever seen anything else to match him.

"Doesn't this bother His Majesty? If the Holy Roman Empire were to move south, His Majesty Benedict IX would be under a lot of pressure. "Count Hubert knew that the current Pope, Benedict IX, was an ally of William, so he was concerned about the situation of His Majesty.

"Haha, that's exactly what I wanted." William smiled and looked at Hubert with a smile and said, "In the face of the pressure of the Holy Roman Empire, my Pope His Majesty will surely think of his reliable ally Normandy.

It's not time for me to ask for him, it's time for him to ask for help. In order to win my support in Normandy, he will not fail to accede to my request to personally officiate at the coronation ceremony for me. ”

It turned out that the development of things had already been calculated by William, and both his far-reaching strategic vision and his self-confidence and calmness deeply impressed Hubert.

......

On the second day, the siege of the Île de la Cité had lasted three days, and with the approach of Ferdinand I's Spanish army, William was running out of time.

He did not hesitate to send an envoy to invite Henry I to peace negotiations.

After several rounds of back-and-forth negotiations, the basic framework of the armistice agreement had been negotiated as William had expected, and only some details needed to be negotiated back and forth between William's envoy and the other party.

William immediately invited Henry I to come out of the city to talk to him face to face, and Henry I, who had no way back, agreed, but he asked to negotiate in the open space between the castle and William's camp, not in the camp where William was given.

William agreed, and he generously allowed him to carry a guard of no more than fifty men with him.

On the Île de la Cité, in the open space between the French and the Normans, William and Henry I each met with a hundred and ten guards.

"His Majesty Henry"

"Your Excellency Duke William"

William and Henry I stopped their horses and looked at each other from a distance of ten paces, especially Henry I, who scanned William's young face back and forth, as if to see what was special about the young duke who had defeated him.

"Alas..."Henry I sighed in his heart, shook his head secretly, and sighed that the tiger father has no dogs, and the blue is better than the blue, he is much stronger than his father, Duke Robert, and this calmness alone is not comparable to that of Robert when he was young.

He once regarded William as his son and nephew, and provided him with a lot of help and protection, but I don't know when, with the imminent unification of the Duchy of Normandy and William's strong military strength, Henry I began to be jealous of William, so he came forward to mediate the truce between William and Burgundy.

As his defense of William escalated, it eventually led to the rupture of relations with William and the outbreak of war.

However, Henry I did not regret doing this, he only hated himself for not discovering William's ambition earlier, and not attacking William in time when William was about to unify Normandy, so that William slowly grew and grew enough to threaten Henry I's rule.

As it turned out, Henry I's hunch was right, William and his Normans were so powerful that they easily defeated their coalition and captured several territories, nearly toppling the Capetian dynasty.

"Your Excellency Duke William, I have promised to sign an armistice with you, recognizing your lawful possession of Amiens, Vissan, and Anjou, and the independent status of you and the Duchy of Normandy. I wonder what you are inviting me to discuss? Henry I was the first to ask.