I'm very proud to be precise, arrogantly put on the score, because I enjoy preaching to everyone, the feeling of being held high by the stars, it is estimated that it is the root of the disease when the power goes out in the evening self-study of junior high school, telling ghost stories to the little girls before and after, although there is a group of five big and three rough old men in front of me, but the power of obscenity is infinite, and the eyes are closed, and they are all people, and it feels almost the same barely to make do.

"I won't continue to tell you the profound truth, but only tell a story told by a traveler who traveled to the Oriental world a long time ago." I deliberately cleared my throat, and the bull immediately took the lead in applauding and cheering, with a thirsty expression on his face, as if he was afraid that others would not know that he was the dogleg of the earl, and he was flattering and domineering.

"In the ancient East, there was an old wise man, who was full of knowledge, and could not use it in the dark and turbulent times, so he could only live in a corner and devote himself to cultivating students, hoping that his successor could pass on his ideals and fulfill his grand ambitions."

"One day a disciple asked him how to govern a country well, and guess what the wise man answered?"

Like a kindergarten aunt, I paused to ask enlightening questions, and the bull shook his head like an obedient rattle, and I continued with satisfaction: "The wise man said that only three o'clock is enough! Foot soldiers, foot food, people's faith, "

"Then his apprentice said that three points is too much, if you want to remove a little, which one should be left?"

"The wise man said that I would leave enough food and the trust of the people, because a truly strong country does not need to show force to be invincible."

The disciple asked again if a little more was removed, which one should be kept?

"The wise man said that if you keep the people's trust, you would rather starve to death than lose your trust in the people, and the loss of the people's will is a precursor to the collapse of the country, and the bottom line must not be touched."

"So, sir, what do you mean?"

Leonardo, who bows his head and savors the philosophy of the story, or forces himself to have a pitiful amount of knowledge, is the first to jump out and get straight to the point when he struggles to analyze the fragment that he can understand, and in his opinion the quick solution to the problem is worth the investment, not the ethereal wisdom of proverbs.

Sure enough, he was a businessman who pursued the most direct interests, and he couldn't fool him in a few words, so I thought about it and decided to follow the ancients to play a way to win the trust of the people:

"The desertion of the common people shows that they do not fully trust the rule of Nijmegen, nor do they believe that my army can win, and they would rather risk betraying the lord and going to the gallows than to serve. So I want to restore the absolute trust of the people in Nijmegen's rule, or rather to give them a psychological sense of belonging, a mysterious force that they will follow in whatever happens in the future. ”

In the evening, through Kohler's nightingale and Leonardo's female spies, the Earl will reward the first one tomorrow, and the gossip of the man who carried the log to the designated place spreads quickly.

The thick log erected at the entrance of the castle in the evening made everyone confused, but now it dawned on them when they heard the rumors, and the streets and alleys gathered together in twos and threes, and debated fiercely with each other over a few beers.

The long-awaited second day came late, and the sun hid in the clouds and refused to come out, but one after another many people had gathered in the small square in front of the castle, but they all gathered with people they knew, watched from afar, and exchanged a few words from time to time, but no one dared to come forward to challenge.

The log erected in the open space was not very heavy for most adult men, and it was not difficult to carry it under a large tree only a few hundred paces away from each other in the wind, and it was precisely because the test was so simple that everyone whispered and hesitated, and nine out of ten thought that it was a boring joke made by the Earl and a certain noble lord.

"They don't seem to understand your painstaking efforts, my lord, and I don't see what it has to do with carrying a log and winning the trust of the people, please forgive me for my ignorance, Amen."

From the very beginning, Leonardo thought that I was fooling around, that there was not enough food and grass, and that as long as he waited for two more days, he could let his caravan transfer mountains of materials from all over the country, so that the onlookers could see the jokes.

I smiled and ignored his sarcasm, pointed to a peasant who was being led by the guards to me, and said to him, "Look, isn't this coming?" God will not let my efforts go in vain. ”

"Give your name, farmer." The bull pressed his sword and asked sharply, I really want to be like how bitter and bitter he is, this kid has only been out of poverty and become rich for a few days before he has come to the aristocratic shelf.

"My honorable lord, my name is Three Trees, because my mother gave birth to me by the edge of Three Birch Trees."

The honest peasants have never seen this kind of formation, and their legs have long been trembling like chaff.

"I escaped from Limburg last month, alone, barely making ends meet by doing odd jobs for others, I heard about this and thought I would come and try it, anyway, the lonely man is not afraid of anything, and the big deal should be for the earl."

"Are you doubting the Earl's credibility?"

The bull angrily drew half of his sword, and the three trees were bloodless, and I hurriedly stopped his impulsive behavior, and waved my hand to order the three trees to start.

He walked to the edge of the log, lifted his tattered trousers, bent down and hugged the trunk of the tree, went directly to his shoulders with a heavy effort, gritted his teeth and walked step by step towards the designated tree, and the onlookers on both sides cheered him on, and followed him all the way.

Not long after the log was lowered, the three trees that had come back with the guards stood anxiously on one side, their dirty faces covered with sweaty mud prints, and the peasants on both sides stared at me in a loud voice, and the venue was quiet, everyone was waiting for the final result of the matter, or the joke that the Earl could not get off the stage.

"Do you know what you've done?"

I stood up and looked down condescendingly, and was so frightened that I sat down on the three trees on the ground: "Don't be afraid, you have completed the task given by the lord, and you deserve to be paid, this is God's will, and no one can change it." ”

"I can't believe my ears, my lord, what do you say?"

I handed him a pair of bows and arrows, pulled him towards the crowd of onlookers, and announced in a loud voice: "Three trees have completed their task, and I, the Count of Nijmegen, the rightful owner of this land, promise to grant him a land of arrows, and never to collect taxes, and from now on he will be a freeman who owns land!" ”

"Long live the Earl!" The populace was first immersed in a humming whisper, and then erupted in thunderous applause and cheers, praising their unspoken lord.

"What a wonderful idea." Leonardo smiled and shook his head, standing up and clapping to himself.

"How many people should regret it now......"

——————————————

By the end of May, the weather had become more pleasant, and the farmers had begun to tend to the vegetables in their homes and drive their sheep to the pastures.

But the rain also increases as the temperature rises, especially in such difficult times, when rainy weather often means stopping everything you are doing and sitting in a leaky castle and watching the corners of the walls slowly mold and grow strange mold.

In contrast, we are now in a more difficult situation, there is not even a corner of the eaves above our heads to protect us from the wind and rain, facing the oilcloth tents that are full of ventilation and sewage, everyone is sad and fingers to pass the time, what can be more nostalgic than this moment, that castle is not very warm?

After the gathering of the grain and the soldiers, the army set out on time, and the fact that I won the trust of the people caused a great repercussion, and by the help of the people, the whole of Nijmegen and even North Germany were circulating the allusions of the words of the Count's Chrysostom, and no one questioned my orders anymore, and all of them carried out them to the letter, achieving the perfect effect of the order and prohibition.

As soon as we entered Capello's range, we began to adopt the tactics of steady and steady tactics for the battalion, not caring at all about the enemy's small group of harassment, nor being lured to divide the troops to attack, the army only marched ten miles a day, and then relied on the terrain to set up camp to defend, without throwing off his arms at all, and the posture of doing a big job not only made the eager enemy very incomprehensible, but even his own people were puzzled.

"My lord, now that we have enough soldiers, why don't we take advantage of the sunny weather a few days ago to start a field battle with the enemy, they are just a rabble, face-to-face combat is not the opponent of knights at all, besides, we also have a large number of two-handed swordsmen and mercenaries, and the combat effectiveness is far beyond the scope of the robbers' imagination, cutting off these heads is no different from twisting the neck of a hen."

The bull shook off the mud from his boots in disgust, and leaned over to the fire in the middle of the tent, using the warm flames to drive away the moisture from his body, and the sticky feeling made him very uncomfortable.

"It's good now, I was trapped at the foot of the mountain by a continuous heavy rain, I couldn't retreat, every day it was wet like a chicken in soup, and the bread was soaked by the rain and it was hard to swallow, and everyone began to complain."

"I think you're complaining a lot, aren't you? Why, is it still a disadvantage for you to eat and drink in my military tent? There's no good bread to eat, but at least it's a good meal to fill you up! Complaining is an innate original sin, and the temptation of Satan can only blind you to the essence behind the phenomenon and to appreciate the beautiful gift of God. ”

I picked up the wooden spoon in the cauldron on the fire, stirred up the sinking ingredients, scooped up a spoonful and tasted it, then turned around and told Rollo, "Bring me the bag of pepper that Leonardo offered." ”

"I've been smelling food from afar, and adults are as talented in cooking as they are at the same level as they are at the mouth of the tongue. The oriental spice that costs more than gold? ”

Kohler appeared in the tent like a ghost, walked in with a hunched waist, and sniffed greedily as he spoke, as if he wanted to collect all the aroma into his body: "This thing is much stronger than rosemary, and adding a little to the food can immediately raise the ingredients to a higher level, no wonder it is hard to find." ”

Before he finished speaking, he picked up the soup spoon and took a full sip, comfortably stroking his stomach and lingering.

(End of chapter)