If he really thought that hanging the Duke of Lombardy and the Milan vassal Ezzo II would be able to attack and capture Lombardy in one fell swoop when other countries were in chaos, it would be too whimsical, and the army brought by Ezzo II from the Duchy of Lombardy this time was only the army provided by his direct forces and the vassals and nobles under his command, as well as the troops provided by Italian mercenaries and Italian princes and city-states, In Lombardy proper, there were still large and small noble owners who opposed William.

As soon as the Duke of Lombardy was hanged by William, the Duchy of Lombardy would immediately elect a more savvy and capable prince to be their leader, supporting the youngest son of Ezzo II as their banner, and leading the Lombard nobility and the Italian states to unite against the brutal Norman invaders.

This is a very simple truth, if the Lombard Duke Ezzo II is killed, it means that Lombardy and the Italian states are facing an existential crisis, no one will believe that a guy who can kill the monarch of another country will forgive them, in their opinion, the only way to survive is to resist to the death.

Such a situation would only lead to two results: first, William's victory, but at the cost of heavy losses to his army and the repeated uprisings in the occupied area, it would take a long time to resolve the local hostility of the local nobles and commoners and bring the place under control; The second scenario is that when they are no match for William, they will support the monarchs of other powerful states, perhaps Bavaria, perhaps Bohemia, and once this situation is contributed, the intervention of the princes of the Holy Roman Empire will be inevitable, and William, who has fought so hard to defeat the Lombards, will end up making wedding dresses for others.

Leaving the lives of Duke Ezzo II of Lombardy and others not only allowed the nobles of Lombardy and the Italian states to throw a mouse, but also dissolved their will to resist, which was extremely beneficial to William's subsequent invasion of Rome.

To sum up, this is the principle that the king of a country does not kill the soldiers of other countries, and this principle is also common in later generations.

"The Princes of Lombardy, the Viceroy of Genoa, and the Marquis of Monferrato, are they willing to surrender? Invite them in and see them. When William heard the news that Ezzo II was willing to surrender, he was overjoyed and hurriedly instructed the knights of the guard.

"Yes." The knights of the guards hurriedly complied.

"Richard, Rodrigo, do you say Ezzo II are they willing to be loyal to me?" William, who was in a good mood, was anxious to share the joy in his heart, and inquired about the Duke of Richard and the Count of Rodrigo.

The first to answer was the Duke of Richard, who stroked his long beard and said slowly: "Manfrido, the governor of Genoa, may submit, after all, they are all businessmen, as long as they are profitable, they don't mind putting down their pride and swearing allegiance to you, but the Duke of Lombardy and the Milan vassal may not be able to say it, and they are very likely to demand unconditional peace, at most pay a part of the indemnity and ransom to ransom the captured nobles and soldiers." ”

Unconditional peace is also what everyone calls white peace, that is, there is no gain or loss in the terms of peace you negotiate - hite peace, and there are no conditions for directly signing a peace treaty.

Unconditional peace? This is not the result that William wants, he can't let his soldiers shed blood on the battlefield and gain nothing, it is impossible to let those who oppose him not lose at all, otherwise who will fear him in the future?

"If this is the case, I will lead a large army directly into Milan, and occupy all the Lombardy and Italian states, and the rich Po River Plain, which I have already intended to bring under my rule!" William was a little annoyed in his heart, and made up his mind.

"Your Majesty, Rodrigo supports your decision." Duke Rodrigo replied.

After a while, Ezzo II, Duke of Lombardy, and Manfrido, the governor of Genoa, were taken to William's tent by the knights of the guard.

The leader of the group had a proud face, a thick brown beard with a slight whitish whisker, a Chinese face, a golden crown and a luxurious robe, and it was obvious that this middle-aged man was William's enemy, Duke Ezzo II of Lombardy.

He was followed to his right and by the young Genoese governor Manfrido. Doria and the elderly Duke of Montferrato, Odono. Aleramizi, followed by people like Count Sainzo, Count of Bologna, Count Bernardo, Count of Cremona, etc.

These nobles were the exception of the Genoese governor Manfrido. Aside from Doria's own opinions, the rest of the crowd turned their attention to Ezzo II, the Lombard duke, apparently to heed his advice.

"The vassal of Milan, the king of the Lombards, the possessor of the iron crown of the Lombards, the ruler of Italy, Albert Ezzo of Esther, has seen His Majesty Wilhelm, the noble king of the Normans." The Duke of Lombardy, proudly proclaiming himself King of Lombardy and Italy, nodded slightly to William, who was seated on the throne, and the nobles on either side of his head.

"Doesn't this guy have a little self-consciousness as a defeated and a prisoner?" The arrogant look of Duke Ezzo II of Lombardy irritated William.

Despite the haughty expression of Duke Ezzo II of Lombardy, one of his words, "the iron crown of Lombardy", caught William's attention.

The iron crown of Lombardy, considered a symbol of domination of Italy, is a holy relic and one of the oldest royal symbols in Europe, judging by the size of the crown and its hinged construction, it may have originally been an armband, or a vow-worthy crown dedicated to the Cathedral of Monza, where it is still kept as a holy relic today.

According to legend, it was made from an iron nail on the cross at the time of the crucifixion of Constantine, and the real cross was found by Helena the Great, outside of Jerusalem, after which the iron nail was handed to Constantine, and how it fell into the hands of the Lombard kings is unknown, and since then the Lombard Iron Crown has been treasured as a holy relic like a true cross.

In the 6th century, a Germanic tribe conquered Lombardy and established the Lombard Kingdom, and the Iron Crown was probably created at this time, which was later used at the coronation of the Lombard kings. In 774, Charlemagne captured the last Lombard king, Decidrius, and proclaimed himself King of Lombardy, wearing the Iron Crown.

This iron crown was last seen decades ago at the coronation of Conrad II, father of the late HRE Emperor Henry III, on March 1, 1026, in the city of Milan, Archbishop Helibert of Milan crowned Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Germany, with the Iron Crown as King of Italy.

The Iron Crown was then missing, and since Ezzo II, Duke of Lombardy, claimed to have the Iron Crown, it was nine times out of ten true based on what William knew about him.