How many coastal people have experienced such a scene......

A bunch of longships came ashore, and the pirates beat their shields excitedly, and ran to the villages and towns where they were unsuspecting lambs to the slaughter, like a swarm of locusts armed to the teeth.

When the old soldier who chops melons and chops vegetables is eliminated, and the old soldier who can't even hold a spear steadily, or easily defeats the lame knight who has been in battle for a long time, and hangs the body of the lord from the tree at the entrance of the village to make an example, the pirates will go from house to house to enjoy the fruits of victory, rummaging through boxes and cabinets in search of valuable things, and if they meet a beautiful woman, it will simply praise God.

Sometimes, even between companions, there will be armed fights because of the uneven distribution of spoils, even if the pirates have known each other for a long time, it is just an unreliable cooperative relationship and can not be sublimated to the height of friendship, it is common to draw swords against each other, and it is not uncommon for gang infighting to occur, but there is only one bottom line that no one will ever dare to touch, that is, one third of each pirate's spoils of war must be used as a swordfish's commission.

No one knows when this rule was enforced, and no one wants to know, because all those who cross this bottom line have long become a pile of minced meat in the belly of a fish, or thrown into the fire in front of everyone to be burned alive, and become a dead soul who will never be redeemed by God, floating lonely on the sea, waiting for the long and indefinite doomsday judgment, and the people who are tormented by the terrible screams will only have a deeper fear of the swordfish in their hearts, and understand what they should do well.

In order not to be seen by unrelated people in the pirate leader Swordfish entering and leaving the castle and thus affecting Nijmegen's reputation, Leonardo sent his cronies to find him and take advantage of the night to enter through a secret passage outside the city.

The swordfish was blindfolded along the way, just in case he secretly wrote down the location of the secret passage with bad intentions, which would cause incalculable losses, and the thick linen clothes on his body covered his face, even if anyone saw it in the corridor, he would think that it was just a poor peasant who could not pay his taxes and was arrested and interrogated.

There was silence in the room for a long time, and everyone in it seemed to be thinking about something.

Leonardo tapped his crutches and seemed to be refreshed, waking up from his dozing state, squinting his eyes and frowning, the bull staring angrily at the unpleasant pirate, always holding his weapon tightly in his hand to prevent him from doing anything out of the ordinary, he had never had a good impression of pirates.

In contrast, Kohler was very calm, but his left hand was still on his waist, not far from the dagger hanging on his waist, and he could draw his sword at any time to control the enemy, Hans stood close to the door, nervously pinching the doorknob, ready to open the door for help, and let the guards outside rush in to control the situation.

I was probably the most heartless, fingering at the unpolished fine wood chips under the tabletop, and glancing boredly at the expressions on the faces of everyone in the room, they were too nervous to be even a notorious pirate leader.

Seeing that the heat was about the same, I cleared my throat, and everyone in the room looked at me and waited, so that I was a little speechless.

"The swordfish in the North Sea is really famous, how many nobles have offered a lot of rewards to take your head, you actually have the courage to come to my castle, and your courage is really extraordinary." I smiled at the pirate who was staring at me without hesitation, and gradually increased my tone, trying to kill his prestige before we could start a formal conversation, so that I could gain the upper hand.

However, the swordfish is obviously an old fritter who has seen a big scene, since the Duke of Nijmegen can send people to find him here, it means that there are definitely important things to discuss, before the task is completed, his own safety can be guaranteed, maybe he can also use this opportunity to bargain, and strive for some more weighty conditions to guarantee, it is said that the Duke of Nijmegen is very rich, and is carrying out maritime trade with many countries, coming and going must have his own place, maybe this time he will do a good job, It's a rare opportunity to get promoted.

"The Duke's reputation for impatience and righteousness has long been widely spread on both sides of the North Sea, not to mention the introduction of Lord Leonardo, I naturally don't have to worry about my own safety, I can find me in such a mysterious situation, if the Duke wants to kill me, he can send me to God without knowing it."

I don't like the expression of the swordfish now, it's a bit cheap and good-looking, and it's very frivolous to squeeze your eyebrows, but I like smart people, and as long as you cooperate with them, you don't have to worry about the follow-up operations.

"You're a smart guy."

I decided to try the affinity route first, so I grinned, but I was still not ready to let the attendant sit for him, and now I am no longer the stunned young man who was full of egalitarian thoughts, and I already know how to use the disparity of identity to psychologically oppress the other party.

"I heard that you are very authoritative along the coast of this area, and almost every ship that goes to sea must pay a certain amount of ransom to pass smoothly, otherwise regardless of nationality and master, you will kill people and merchant, and scuttle to show punishment. Speaking of which, I glanced at the bull out of the corner of my eye, and the latter took two steps forward in understanding, and his huge body gave the opponent invisible oppression.

The swordfish thief glanced at the bull approaching him, and his eyes turned twice quickly, but he did not take a step back, but replied calmly: "Every ship has to pay money, this is a common rule at sea for hundreds of years, it was like this before, and it will be like ......this in the future."

Before he could finish speaking, the bull let out a loud cry and pressed it down under him, the sharp tip of the dagger just immeasurably far from his narrowing pupils!

"Rules? I like rules so that everyone can find their place and understand what to do and what never to do, like the pirates who broke the rules and burned them alive, proving with their lives the cost of crossing the line. ”

I played with my glass quietly, as if I didn't even see the tension in front of me, and I learned from the extraordinary magnanimity of the king on TV, playing with human life in the palm of my hand.

"But you should also be clear about your identity, the world needs rules, but the rules must be made by the strong, between you and me, I am the strong, so you are not qualified to talk about the rules, you must learn to bow down and obey."

Cold sweat broke out on the swordfish's forehead, and he kept running down his neck, perhaps not nervous at my words, but too frightened by the approaching dagger, and though he boasted of his courage, he still feared death.

"I think I understand, noble duke, you say I will do it, this is my promise, by the supreme Heavenly Father!" Seeing that the dagger was about to pierce into the pupil, the swordfish screamed loudly at the top of his throat, and his tone could no longer find the calm and composure just now, and turned back to the cowardice that ordinary people have.

"I don't trust your assurances because you have no credit to speak of."

I walked up to him with a smile, looked down at his face distorted by fear from top to bottom, took out a golden cross with a unique shape from my pocket in my arms, and gently posed it in front of him twice.

"You know this, right? Penduk Island? ”

"This is my treasure!"

For a pirate, the only reason to support his outlaw career is to accumulate wealth like a dragon who likes to collect shiny items, and in order to ensure safety, they are similar to their juniors hundreds of years later, they will find a small island with no one to bury the treasure they have saved in this life, and what I have in my hand is Leonardo's informant who lurks inside the pirate, and after finding the island where the swordfish hides the treasure, he sent people to transport all the treasures back, so the pirate leader is so emotional.

"That's right, there is still gold, silver and jewelry left, and I can't help but be impressed by the promising profession of pirates, and since Nijmegen can find your treasure, it has the ability to wipe out your gang, so I don't need to say anything more, right?"

I took the cross and patted his face, which turned pale in an instant, and said word by word, "How is it?" This time, let's take it as a certificate of resignation! In the days to come, you will gradually understand that I am a more ruthless existence than you, don't play with me, otherwise you will lose badly. ”

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When the news of His Majesty's defeat came, I had just led my army to Burzen, less than fifty miles from the border of the Elbe, and the withered farmsteads and broken kites hanging on the trees along the way seemed to be silently telling about the miserable fate of being ****.

The closer we got to the border, the less people we could see, and in the end we could not see even a living creature, and we could only follow the flock of crows in the distance, for often such a place was a village that had been burned to ashes, and the rotting corpses were the kind of food that the crows could not ask for, and they cried merrily, competing with each other for their soft eyeballs and internal organs, and pecking at each other.

"You're still too eager to prove yourself, Your Majesty......"

Riding on the back of a bumpy horse, I listened to the clerk beside me read the contents of the letters sent by the herald urgently, and leisurely commented on the gains and losses, as if the defeat had nothing to do with me.

The Great Bohemian Proclamation was sent to His Majesty the Emperor's camp in Wittenberg, begging the Empire to send troops to the rescue as soon as possible, as a subject country they had reached the limit, facing the invasion of two fierce neighbors alone, the Poles' troops, only five days away from Prague, the Archduke's residence, and all the land was lost, and once Bohemia changed hands, the entire eastern frontier of the empire would be directly under the threat of the enemy.

Emperor Henry naturally understood the significance of this, as a newly enthroned emperor, it was one thing to be eager to prove his ability, but if he couldn't even hold the land left by his predecessor, how could he establish his prestige and expand his territory?

(End of chapter)