A heated meeting lasted from morning to evening, and it was only at this point that William, Baron Adolph, Richard, and others barely agreed on the names of the heads and officials of the boroughs of Evreux.

Although most of the officials that William discussed were administrators of the three districts of the Barony of Agentang, the County of Evreux, and part of the Barony of Alençon, the rest of William's control (including the Barony of Vernon, the parish of Lischel, the Barony of Wexon, and most of the Barony of Alençon) had long been occupied by William's cronies, the battle between Baron Adolph and Baron Richard was still fierce.

Under William's guidance, the official arrangement of the two factions of Baron Adolf and Baron Richard is basically a complex state of you have me and I have you, and the Barony of Agentang to which Baron Richard belongs is arranged with a large number of officials from Baron Adolf's faction, and the same is true of the county guard of Evreux and the Barony of Alençon that Baron Adolf is in charge of.

William had the support of Steward Osborne and Baron Hubert, and he wanted to use this method to weaken their control over the territory, even if Baron Adolph and Baron Richard saw William's intentions, they still couldn't stop it, after all, their relationship made it impossible for them to unite against William.

Baron Richard, who may have opposed William, had to follow William's arrangement under the restraint of Baron Adolf, who was close to William, and even in order not to make his opponent Baron Adolf bigger, Baron Richard gradually moved closer to William to gain William's support.

In the present state of affairs, William hoped that as an ideal, William, who was in a neutral and arbitrating position, could support any weaker party, and not make any faction grow in power and threaten William's rule.

"Whew..."After finally sending away the two big heads, William sighed softly, leaned back on the back of the seat, gently wiped the sweat with his hand on his forehead, and closed his eyes and squinted slightly for a while.

After a long time, William woke up from a short sleep, and when he opened his eyes, he saw the gray-haired Osborne butler waiting beside William, carefully draped William in a brown bearskin quilt.

"Master William, you're awake." Butler Osborne saw that William had come to his senses, and leaned over to William's side and said.

"Always by my side, thank you, Steward Osborne, please go back and rest quickly, I can do it alone." William sat up, removed the bear skin from his body, and said.

"No, His Highness William, I'm still by your side, so that I can feel at ease." Steward Osborne refused.

"For as long as I can remember, you have always been by my side to take care of me, and now that I am almost older, you should also rest for a while." William smiled as he reminisced about the old days.

"Don't talk about that, Master William, I sometimes have to discuss with you today, and Hubert is waiting for you here!" Steward Osborne shook his head.

As soon as Steward Osborne's words fell, Hubert came to William's side with a few oil paintings in his arms and said, "Your Highness William, as Steward Osborne said, we have important matters to discuss with you. ”

"What the hell is going on? Speaking of Hubert, what are you trying to do with these paintings? William wondered.

Hubert, who was usually bold and atmospheric, twisted his face, hesitant, and embarrassed to speak.

"I'll tell you, Hubert." Osborne took the three oil paintings from Hubert's hand, unhurriedly propped them up on a shelf and displayed them in front of William, and said, "What we want to discuss with you is your marriage. As the main vein of the Normandy family, the scarcity of people has always been a problem for us, and now you are the only one left, we must find a suitable wife for you to carry on the Normandy family lineage and branches. ”

"Even so, you don't have to worry, I'm only 11 years old now, and I'm five or six years away from the age when I can get married, so I don't need to be in a hurry at all." William shook his head and refused.

"No, His Royal Highness William, you must know that it is not easy to find a noble princess at the level of a king and duke now, if you don't choose a target and make a marriage contract with the other party as soon as possible, do you want to marry a count's daughter or even a lower woman? Hubert and I could never agree to that. Steward Osborne said angrily.

William had never seen the good-natured Osborne butler get angry, and he was immediately stunned by his reprimand, and hurriedly waved his hand and agreed: "I promise you, Osborne butler, tell me who you are?" ”

"You see, these three ladies are the right people we have found for you." Butler Osborne said, pointing to the three oil paintings behind him.

William looked at it and saw that the three people in the painting were all underage girls, the oldest was only ten years old, and the other two were even five or six years younger than William, and they were only four or five years old.

"Who are they? Can you tell me about it? William asked, curious.

"Yes, Master William." Steward Osborne hurriedly introduced William: "This older one's name is Beatrice. Morality. Poitou, the only daughter of the previous Duke of Aquitaine and Duke of Poitou Gillme V, and the sister of the current Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Poitou Gichome VI and Duke Odo of Gascogne. ”

"It's not bad, I'm going to see the other two making decisions." William touched his chin and groaned for a moment, then said to Osborne's butler, "Please continue, Osborne." ”

"Look at the other person I have chosen for you, she is the daughter of Baldwin V, Duke of Flanders, named Matilda. Fan. Flanders, although she is now less than five years old, is one of the most powerful princes in France, with seven counties, nearly half the size of Normandy, and more importantly, the Duchy of Flanders is close to Normandy, and if any emergency occurs, you can quickly request reinforcements from the Duchy of Flanders to deal with any emergency.

As long as we marry Baldwin V, Duke of Flanders, and form an alliance with each other, we will be able to deal with any contingencies, even if King Henry I of France attempts to attack Normandy. Steward Osborne solemnly recommended.

William carefully examined Matilda's portrait, her age was still valid, and it was impossible to tell if she would be beautiful or anything else, but Matilda was not very pretty, and seemed to be a head lower than the girl on the other side, who was only four years old.

"Matilda, who may be her historical wife, the future Duchess of Normandy, is indeed much shorter than her peers, a natural dwarf. It seems that she will have three sons for William in the future, Robert, Richard and Henry, one with a crow-lip, one lazy and gluttonous, and one who is gay despite being brave.

As a result, William passed the throne of England and the Duke of Normandy to these three sons respectively, but the Normandy family was completely cut off in their hands, and as a result, the hegemony of William the conqueror was finally lost, and the huge inheritance was inherited by Henry, Earl of Anru, and a new Plantagenet dynasty was established, completely replacing the Normandy dynasty. William's eyes were fixed on Matilda's portrait, reminiscing about Matilda. Fan. The history of Friesland, I couldn't help but think in my heart.

William is not a pedantic person, and he will not choose Matilda because she is his future wife in history, not to mention that William thought of the tragic fate of the future Normandy family, so he instantly vetoed Matilda.

"Your Highness William, please do not choose Matilda as your future wife, she is said to be a dwarf, not popular with your parents and brothers, if you marry her, I am afraid that you will not meet the expectations of marrying the Duke of Flanders, and even more because you marry a dwarf, you will become the object of ridicule of the nobles." Hubert on the side stood up and retorted loudly with a frown.

"So you say, who should Master William's marriage partner choose? Hubert. Osborne's butler raised his eyebrows and said angrily.

"Your Highness William, this Uraka of the Ximena family is the best person I have chosen for you, and is also the one you have ceremoniously recommended by your cavalry commander Rodrigo.

Her father was Ferdinand, Count of Castile, son of King Sancho III of Navarre, while his wife was Sancha, sister of King Bermudo III of León, Princess and heir of León.

Uraca's father was not only a prince of the kingdom of Navarre, but also a princess and heiress of the kingdom of León, and as a member of the family of Jimena, who ruled Spain, she had such a prominent reputation that she was the perfect person to be your wife.

As long as you enter into a marriage contract now, in the next twelve years, when you are twenty-two years old and Uraca is sixteen years old, you will be able to marry Urakar and make an alliance with the kingdoms of Aragon, Navarre, León, and Garcia of the family of Jimena, and these nations will be your strongest help in the future. Baron Hubert was not annoyed by Osborne's questioning, but confidently introduced his chosen marriage.

"Well, yes, thank you very much, Hubert and Osborne, and I am very grateful to you." William looked at the two of them, smiled and nodded.

"So who are you going to choose? Beatrice of the Poitou family, or Matilda of the Flanders family. Steward Osborne asked first.

"You should choose the Uraca of the Jimena family the most, and marry the Ximena family, then you can get the service of those battle-hardened Spanish knights." Not to be outdone, Baron Hibbert said, holding the portrait of Uraka.

William knew that one of the two people chose was the daughter of a great prince and nobleman in the Kingdom of France, and tried to consolidate the power of the Norman family in the Kingdom of France through marriage with the daughter of the duke.

Sir Hubert, on the other hand, advocated seeking foreign aid outside the Kingdom of France, and as a military nobleman, he first considered the strength of the military forces of his marriage partner. As the Spaniards who fought against the Moors who believed in the Wood Religion for many years, their army was generally much more capable of fighting than the nobles of France, Britain and other places who had been at peace for a long time.

As for why Baron Hubert is not looking for a marriage partner in the Holy Roman Empire, on the one hand, the relationship between the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire is not good, and they are often hostile, and William and the magnates of the Holy Roman Empire have some troubles, on the other hand, the royal family of the Holy Roman Empire, the Salian family, is not prosperous, and there is no suitable candidate as William's marriage partner, as for some dukes and nobles under the empire, they are either too far away, or Hubert is very blind to their weakness.

The marriage of Steward Osborne and Baron Hubert had both advantages and disadvantages for William, who was trying to seize the throne of England and France, and each had its own advantages, and it was difficult for William to make a decision for a while.

"Let's choose Beatrice of the Poitou family, the most powerful family in southwestern France, as long as they have their support, what enemy cannot be defeated?" Osborne, after reading William's slight dislike for Matilda, immediately changed the object of his advance to Beatrice. Morality. Poitou.

"Uraka's father, Count Ferdinand's banner Sancha, is the princess and heir of the Kingdom of Leon, and Uraka is likely to become the princess of the Kingdom of Leon. Even if this is not the case, it is a good choice to marry the Ximena family. Baron Hubert urged him.

"Beatrice. Morality. Poitou? It seems that there are no footprints left in history, perhaps an insignificant figure. And the Urraca of the Jimena family seems to be the eldest daughter of Ferdinand I, King of Castille and León, who is very famous in Spanish history, the future Countess of Zamora, in the war between Sancho, King of Castile and Alfonso, King of León, in the war for each other's thrones, she stood on the side of Alfonso, King of León, resolutely resisted the attack of King Sancho, and finally was canonized as Queen of León by King Alfonso for her merits, and ruled with Castille and Alfonso, King of León, In general, she was a strong and politically wise aristocratic woman.

The image of the conspiracy of the Song of Cid is not at all credible, and according to historical sources, she is a sympathetic noblewoman. William closed his eyes and pondered how to choose the two marriages of Beatrice and Urraca.

Although Urraca's father, Ferdinand, was now only an Earl of Castile, he already had the strength to compete with his suzerain, and it was at the Battle of Tamaron on September 4, 1037 that Ferdinand killed the King of León, Belmudo, inherited the Kingdom of León, and was crowned King of León and Castile the following year, while he occupied Portugal, expelled the Moors there, and established the Kingdom of Garcia.

With the consolidation of Ferdinand I in the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula, in 1039. He claimed to be the emperor of Spain, known as Ferdinand I the Great, and in the decades that followed, he defeated the kingdoms of Navarre and then Aragon, truly unifying all the Christian kingdoms in Spain.

In just a quarter of an hour, William had already made up his mind that he would choose the eldest daughter of the future Ferdinand I the Great as his marriage partner.

I saw William open his eyes, look at Osborne and Hubert, and said without hesitation: "Osborne, Hubert, I have decided to choose the Uraka of the Ximena family as the object of my marriage. ”

"It's... Hey" Steward Osborne frowned slightly and sighed, but finally chose to respect William's decision.

"Your Highness William, time will tell you made the right choice." Sir Hubert said confidently.

"Well, I trust my own choice." William nodded in response, turned to Osborne's butler and said, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Osborne." ”

"No, you're not wrong, maybe it's just my negligence." Steward Osborne hurriedly shook his head and denied that he would not let William apologize no matter what, nor would he let William admit his mistakes, and in his heart William would always be right and unique.