"Tell me, what are the conditions to let me go?" The Duke of Champagne said with a bitter face.

"Ally yourself with me and be my ally!" William said in a kind tone.

The Duke of Champagne looked at William with wide eyes, looked at William in disbelief, and asked, "I'm afraid this is not what you want, I know my own value and situation, and if you want to get it, you have to pay more than that." ”

"That's true, I'm going to be an ally with you, but with some strings attached." William smiled and nodded.

The Duke of Champagne had an expression on his face that was indeed the case, and his previously solemn face relaxed, and he looked up at William and waited for William to say his terms.

"Once we have become allies and signed an alliance, I will return you to the Duchy of Champagne, but you must agree to my few conditions.

The first is that your Keeper of the Seal, the Military Governor, and the Treasurer must be the Norman nobles whom I have discharged, and that the military forces of your immediate army and the three counties will be trained and commanded by the generals I have sent them.

These Norman nobles will serve as a bridge between the two of us, and they will maintain the alliance between you and me. William smiled in disgust with the Duke of Champagne, and spoke like a demonic whisper.

"It can't be! I absolutely cannot accept that you are trying to turn my Duchy of Champagne into a vassal of your Normandy? I absolutely can't accept this. The Duke of Champagne slammed the table with his right hand, looked up at William and shouted fiercely.

"I know you'll agree, because the situation is up to you, King Henry I has failed, he has no hope of defeating me, and as for his allies and the lockdown, there is nothing to fear, and in the end, Henry I will definitely give in.

The defeated Duchy of Champagne will be weakened and alone, with no allies to rely on, and no way to hold its territory.

Facing Normandy, facing King Henry of France, facing the Duke of Anjou and other princes, the Duchy of Champagne could not escape the fate of being divided and destroyed.

Now there is a chance to keep the Duchy of Champagne in front of you, and that is to submit and attach to me and accept my protection, so that the Duchy of Champagne can survive the post-war environment surrounded by wolves.

What's more, even if you don't agree, one of the other dukes of Champagne I have supported will gladly accept my protection. William spoke confidently and calmly, not at all worried that the Duke of Champagne would not agree to his terms.

"Say no more, please don't say any more, I promise you, I promise you everything. Your Excellency Duke William, if you have any conditions, please say them all, and I will accept them. The Duke of Champagne wept and hurriedly spoke to prevent William from continuing his story.

"Well, I'm glad you got the idea." William smiled and shouted a compliment to the Duke of Champagne, ignoring his foul face, and continued: "My second item is a condition that is beneficial to both you and me, after the alliance between you and me, we will exempt each other from import and export duties on each other's goods, and open all border checkpoints to each other, so that the merchants in both territories will compete and we will receive more commercial taxes." ”

William's condition to the Champagne Lord is also uneasy, once the tariffs of both sides are exempted and their respective checkpoints are completely opened, William's Duchy of Normandy and the consortium will ultimately benefit.

Compared with the Duchy of Champagne, where the handicraft industry was weak, William's factories had already popularized a large number of water-powered machinery, and their production efficiency was not comparable to that of individual craftsmen, and even other workshops in the Duchy of Normandy began to use water and wind power to drive machinery and hire workers for production.

The end result of this high productivity was that a large number of Normandy goods rushed into the Duchy of Champagne like wild boars, destroying all the local handicrafts and emptying the treasury of the Duchy of Champagne and the wallets of the people.

In the end, the Duchy of Champagne will not be able to produce any weapons and armor, all military products will be controlled by Normandy, and even because the wallet is emptied by Normandy's industrial products, the Duke of Champagne will not be able to organize a large-scale army in the end, and can only rely on Normandy loans to survive.

This is what William wanted, to turn the Duchy of Champagne into a colony of Normandy, not an ally or a vassal.

"This—" The Duke of Champagne hesitated, and he was not sure whether he should agree to it or not, for the offer offered by William did seem as tempting and beneficial to both parties as he had claimed, but deep down he always felt that it seemed to harbor evil intentions.

"Maybe I'm too sensitive." The Duke of Champagne shook his head slightly and sighed secretly, raising his head to habitually argue with William, wanting to fight for more benefits.

But when the Duke of Champagne saw William's stern eyes, he remembered William's threatening words before, for fear that these things would really come true, so he had to give in to William, nodded and agreed: "Okay, William agreed to your conditions, open the trade checkpoints, and exempt each other from customs duties, so that you are satisfied." ”

"It was really not easy for us to come to a consensus, which shows that we have a friendship and that the alliance between Normandy and Champagne is starting to grow stronger, and I am happy about that." William shamelessly reversed black and white and said a bunch of high-sounding words that caused the Duke of Champagne to roll his eyes.

"Alright, Lord William, it's time for you to release me." The Duke of Champagne stared at William in anticipation.

"I will release you, but only after the signing of the treaty of alliance between Normandy and Champagne, and at the earliest when the war is over.

However, in order to ensure that both parties faithfully fulfill their covenant, I hope that you will give me your brother Thibaught to be my courtier.

In this way, with your brother Thibaud as a guarantor, we both have a foundation of mutual trust without fear of betraying us. Still unsatisfied, William went on to offer his own conditions.

As long as the Duke of Champagne's younger brother Thibaud is in his hands, William can support him to become the new Duke of Champagne at any time, so that the Duke of Champagne has a handle in William's hands, which is enough for him not to act rashly.

"You deceive people too much, but I will never agree to this matter." The Duke of Champagne was furious and looked at William viciously, as if he wanted to choose someone to devour.

"Now you are not qualified to negotiate terms with me, as long as I enter Champagne, then some of your will be lost, do you choose to become a noble duke, or a derided down-and-out nobleman, completely lose all titles and territories?" William squinted his eyes and threatened.

Needless to say, the Duke of Champagne, who regarded power as his life, eventually capitulated, and as long as this treaty of alliance was implemented, the Duchy of Champagne would eventually become a vassal and colony of Normandy.