After fifteen days of arduous marching, I finally reached the Emperor's camp under the castle of Engels, with the remaining fifty-two wagons of food, but soon I got lost in the camp radiating from the center of the Golden Horde.

The private soldiers of the Italian nobles who came with stinky feet set up their tents in a mess, and the German camp with a strict layout in the wooden fence was a world of difference, perhaps this is why the Italians will eventually become German vassals, the martial and rigorous style of their ancestors is replaced by pleasure and luxury, so Italy finally becomes the pasture and money bag of the strong, like a man's old pearl yellow black fungus, moaning exhausted, satisfying the demands of one conqueror after another, It wasn't until a thousand years later that it was hit by Allied aircraft and artillery.

The Emperor's personal attendant led me to wait outside the tent.

The nobles inside were discussing the battle meeting, and through the thick curtains, they could still hear all kinds of rude shouts and angry curses inside, and the soldiers guarding the door looked extremely embarrassed and embarrassed.

In the past few days, three attempts to storm the city have failed, not to mention the loss of troops, and many expensive siege equipment have been scrapped, coupled with the lack of food supplies, which has dealt a great blow to morale, and some pessimistic people have even begun to feel that they will not be able to conquer this fortified city until the next winter.

And the Normans at this juncture, repeatedly invaded the Low Countries, the local lords were armed, most of them were conscripted to participate in this expedition, heard that the territory was attacked, they asked to return to their hometowns to fight, and even many small nobles said goodbye, which made their feudal lords very embarrassed, but blameless, His Majesty the Emperor also had a fire in his stomach and had no place to vent, he was now like a leprosy head with hemorrhoids, sitting or lying down, scratching his ears and cheeks was very painful.

Engels Castle was built on a cliff on the verge of a small tributary of the Tiber River, with a turbulent river on both sides, a cliff with a sigh of ape hope on the other, only one side facing the main road, this side is a long and gentle hillside, within the firing radius of the castle, all attacks can only be launched from here, and countless manpower morale is consumed on the long gentle slope, even if you are lucky enough to rush to the city gate in the end, you can only look at the city wall a few feet high and helpless, it is really worthy of the last stronghold of the old fox, easy to defend and difficult to attack, The real one-man man should be closed!

"Lord Viscount, Your Majesty has called you over!" The attendant whispered in my ear, pulling my thoughts back at once, and I nodded and lifted the curtain and walked into the tent.

The big tent is very comfortable, the ground is covered with a thick Italian felt carpet, the walls are decorated with all kinds of weapons and shields, the four corners of the hall stand a faucet-shaped stove, and there are attendants who make the good charcoal inside, so that it can fully contact the air and burn completely, so that the temperature can be guaranteed, and there will not be too much choking smoke, so that the temperature in the big tent and the outside are like two heavens, so warm that people are lazy and unwilling to move.

On the long table in the center, there are many plates, containing all kinds of well-made food, all kinds of color, flavor and taste, from this point alone, I did not find that the army is about to run out of food, at least the nobles still eat and drink, and pick the fat and eat very pretentiously, even their attendants can suck off the last bit of meat left on the bones, and then throw the bones to the logistics officer to cook the army's dinner.

There was an indescribable atmosphere of decadence in the big tent, like a fog that could not be seen clearly, His Majesty the Emperor was concentrating on cutting a whole roast chicken in front of him into several portions, so that it could be fairly distributed among the Grand Dukes present, and the rest of the people were either competing with their own food, or burping with full wine and food, only Duke Henry of Bavaria noticed me and smiled at me from afar: "Here you are, Randy!" ”

His Majesty the Emperor raised his head when he heard the voice, put down the dagger in his hand, motioned for me to find a place to sit down by myself, and then continued to devote himself to the fairer cause of how to distribute the roast chicken, and the other Grand Dukes just tilted their heads and glanced at me, and stayed for a second or two at most and took care of themselves, and no one wanted to deal with me.

Grand Duke Henry asked his attendants to bring me a seat, took a plate of pickled wild boar and put it in front of me, and said to me kindly: "Eat, it's the road, everyone is eating, fill your stomach first, and then ask you later." ”

"Thank you, Lord Duke!"

I saluted, carefully gathered myself and sat down on the pier, chewing slowly as if I were sitting on pins and needles, and all I could think about was that His Majesty the Emperor and the great nobles might ask me all sorts of tricky questions, or what if I were to be arranged to be a death squad and attack Engels Castle?

The depressed psychology made the black cured pork in front of me completely lose its deliciousness, and it tasted like chewing wax, I took a sip of the wine poured by the attendants, the brewing technology of this thing was in the hands of the monastery, because the wine was regarded as the blood of Christ in the Holy Grail, and only the nobles could enjoy it, and it must be a few nobles with money and power, and most of the wine they drank was actually inferior blueberry juice.

"Just now, the logistics officer reported to me that the food you brought this time has greatly supplemented the shortage of military rations, and it really solved my urgent need."

His Majesty the Emperor forked a chicken leg onto the plate of the Grand Duke of Swabia, who bowed his head humbly, his head like a ball of fluffy wool, and brushed his finely trimmed mustache and wiped off the food residue on it.

"I heard that you also seized a batch of gold coins, just to reward those nobles who can't loot the village, but are so anxious to scream, these wolf cubs are all angry red eyes and howling, I can't suppress it anymore, you bought the hearts of the people of Ravenna with a part of the grain in my name, and also brought two thousand pikemen with great combat ability, the Venetians are also saying that you are good, in short, this mission has been completed well, and it has not disappointed me, tell me, what reward do you want?"

His Majesty the Emperor crossed his fingers and stared at me with a pleasant face, he had never been so patient, and the rest of the Grand Dukes also put down the utensils in their hands and looked at me when they heard His Majesty's words, and all the gathered eyes suddenly made me a little embarrassed, and I could only smile stupidly to hide it.

"This is all the wisdom of the decision of Your Majesty and the Dukes, and I expected that the rebels' garrison in Ravenna could be decided in one go, and I am actually an errand runner, stepping on the shoulders of giants and knocking on the door of victory."

I considered my wording, and tried not to offend every big nobleman present, now I am like a clown dancing on the tip of a knife, the slightest carelessness will inevitably hurt myself, and even unconsciously with a narrow-minded nobleman, the social circle has always been a vanity fair, but also the abyss of life and death that eats people without spitting out bones.