Now let's get straight to the point! The papalatiel's parrot has flown away, and you still have enough time to think about giving me an answer, maybe not, who knows? ”

Baron Lewandowski pursed his lips and smiled meaningfully, and I could clearly feel that even Leonardo behind him was subconsciously swallowing.

"Your Majesty had already issued an edict two months earlier, in a document signed by His Majesty and the Pope, as usual, at the Council of Religion in Pavia, and on the initiative of the Emperor, to return the ecclesiastical estates used for other purposes, so that the dioceses and monasteries could fulfil their tasks and better assist the officials of the empire in the administration of the government."

Baron Lewandowski took out from his bosom a document stamped with the seals of the royal family and the Holy See, and on the beautiful printed parchment, His Majesty's dashing signature and the Pope's gentle and modest calligraphy were in stark contrast, like the very different personalities of two people.

An aggression like fire, always energetic!

A smiling knife hides a knife and does some dirty things in the dark!

"I'm sorry I haven't seen this document, but the messenger who may have delivered the message is delayed on the road, and it's too far to say where any unpredictable situation will happen, so I don't know anything about the contents of the Pavia Council."

Looking at the paper full of standard writing letters, copied neatly written documents, I touched my forehead and hurt my brain, the hateful thing is that I know every letter, but they are arranged and combined, and they become as difficult to understand as advanced mathematics, clearly bullying me for not being literate.

"Nijmegen doesn't have ecclesiastical estate, and our diocesan bishop is in Berlin, so you should pass this document to him, because it's hard to understand what you mean by showing it to me first."

Baron Lewandowski was not surprised that I would give such an answer, and after confirming that I had read the document carefully, he carefully folded the parchment and stuffed it back into his clothes, and said slowly:

In order to ensure the Empire's control over the Holy See and its rights and interests in Italy, His Majesty has been committed to strengthening the rule of the Papal States, gradually improving the control of the bishops over their respective dioceses, and even setting up the Emperor's court in Rome to deter those hostile forces who are about to move, but God's representative walking on earth does not want to be a pigeon raised in a golden cage, fantasizing about the freedom of the sky and letting the birds fly."

Leonardo kicked the chair lightly from behind, the range of movement was so small that I almost didn't feel it, the problem was sensitive, and he reminded me not to follow the other party's train of thought, and to make promises easily before I understood the chips offered by the Holy See.

Although Nijmegen is now valued by both sides of the struggle, it is just a high-level chess piece, juggling on the tightrope of power, it is not an easy thing to lift a weight, the slightest carelessness will fall into the whirlpool, no matter who it is, it has the strength to easily strangle the little Nijmegen county.

Seeing that my expression was calm and unresponsive, Baron Lewandowski, who was a veteran negotiator, was still unhurried, sipped his eyebrows and drank the wine that he pushed aside, moistened his throat, frowned and said:

"Maybe I have been in Italy for too long, and I have been spoiled by the fine wines made by those churches, and now I am disdainful of the quality of the property, knowing that in the past, even in the emperor's court, wine was not something that could be drunk casually at our level, and the inferior ales in the taverns used to fill the bloated belly of every drunken knight, and anesthetize every nerve that longed for stimulation."

"I'm afraid your taste is still not improving, this is a fine vintage given to me by the Count of Flanders, a good product from the Bordeaux winery."

I laughed and filled Baron Lewandowski's glass, the mellow red liquor like a supple ribbon: "If you taste it carefully, the absolutely authentic taste is softer than the Italian one, and the aftertaste is endless." ”

"Italy's gentle country is indeed soft enough to entangle people, many knights can't resist the temptation of the glamorous lights when they get there, they have colluded with the local nobles, lost the will to continue to forge ahead, and refused to give their lives in the face of the rebellions and riots of the citizens, and turned a blind eye to the incitement of the masterminds behind the scenes, and now the task of suppressing rebellions everywhere basically falls on the mercenaries."

Baron Lewandowski shrugged helplessly, his expression was as uncomfortable as swallowing flies: "You also know those barbaric Normans and Hungarians, although they are brave and desperate to fight in battle, they have no discipline at all, and they have disrupted His Majesty's original deployment many times and acted without authorization, and only bright gold coins and women's white thighs can be exchanged for their loyalty." ”

"Whenever they conquered a city, they would go into the streets and loot their property in droves, in defiance of the emperor's prohibition, ** women, these repeated atrocities also caused to a certain extent the rejection of the imperial occupation by the citizens of Italian cities, who preferred to return to the rule of the Eastern Roman executioner emperor who was driven out by their own hands, rather than continue to bask in the glory of German power."

"Stupid, isn't it?"

I understand that Italy is not only a legal justification for the Empire, but also an important source of tax revenue to keep the Empire firmly in place, and a territory that cannot be given up in any way.

"Without a strong Germany standing behind them, in the face of the aggressive ****** of Sicily and the Eastern Roman army in Taranto, those cowardly militias who could not even hold their spears, I am afraid they would not hold out for a single round."

"If there had been a wise aristocrat like yours in Italy, they would not have been trampled and groaned under the feet of the conquerors countless times, but it is a pity that those people are but short-sighted people who hide in the dark secret rooms of the castle, playing with intrigue and trickery, swaying between the various powers, thinking that they are on the road of no return."

Baron Lewandowski seems to hate the two-faced ******, he has followed two emperors, three times against the Duke of Cresenti, who instigated rebellion in Italy, in the endless campaign, lost his father and friends, and his life experience is very gloomy, so he always hides his wounded forehead in thick hair, covering most of his gloomy face.

"You've confused me, Baron."

I pretended to be confused and rubbed my head, and said to him with a sad face: "Or is it that the Bordeaux wine is too strong, comparing the light things brewed in Italian monasteries, so that you forget the main content of the negotiation with me, and start to babble some digressions, you won't be brought up by your own grandmother, will you be old and decrepit?" Haha, just kidding! ”

Baron Lewandowski echoed my lame joke, the folds on his face were crumpled into a flower, and he replied with a very cowardly frown: "It is so easy to talk to smart people, we all know how deep the water is behind this, just like you pretending to play a clown in front of Bishop Odoses, enough exquisite and humble, full of ears, but knowing to hang your head and face the earth." ”

"Nijmegen can have everything today, and His Majesty the Emperor deliberately raised and cared for it, please forgive me for taking the liberty, if it were not for Your Majesty's appreciation, you may still be an ordinary knight hovering on the verge of death, with a small village to support your family, working for your master, going in and out of bullets, I don't know when I will fall under the enemy's butcher's knife, with a humble and depressing love for life......"

"Shut up, do you know it's rude to say that, I ask for a duel with you to defend the dignity of the feudal monarch!"

The bull slammed the table, stood up in a rage, and pointed at Baron Lewandowski with angry eyes, and shouted, as if he was going to eat him alive.

"Grumpy knight, don't be impatient, I don't mean to look down on you as a king, but just give a kind reminder from the perspective of a friend. Italy is a swamp where people sink into the mud, and the Holy See that lives on this land is a frozen viper, and the first thing that wakes up in the bosom of mercy and generosity is to bite the warm chest of oneself with ungrateful greed. ”

"What do you mean by that?"

I tilted my head and asked, thinking that this thing was getting more and more interesting, and Baron Lewandowski's outspoken criticism of the Pope only showed that the power struggle in Rome had become more intense, and the two supremes who had once worked together were now openly and secretly starting to engage in confrontation.

Baron Lewandowski touched his eyebrows with his right hand to apologize to the bull, who huffed away and looked around him, as if to confirm whether his next words would be leaked out and cause unexpected fluctuations.

He swept the face of the last person, propped his hands on the table, and said to me in a low voice: "Your Majesty has a slight discord with His Majesty in the concept of governance, but the small contradiction has been exploited by good people with ulterior motives within the Holy See to make a big fuss and encourage His Majesty to do some terrible things. ”

Kohler leaned to the side, flashed to the corner to look at the nightingale hidden in the shadows, and waved his hand to let him leave, because the content of the next conversation was not suitable for his subordinates to hear, and it was difficult to guarantee that they would not leak secrets.

"According to reliable sources, the envoy of Henry, the quarreller of the Duke of Bavaria, secretly met with the Pope, and the two sides reached some tacit understanding, and at the same time, the Duke of Carinthia, who controlled the important communication lines connecting the empire with Italy, the Duke of Franconia, the Grand Duke of Bohemia and other local powerful figures, they also had inextricable links and collusion with King Robert in Paris to plot a rebellion."

Baron Lewandowski knew that what was at stake was high, so he made it clear word by word, depriving us of the opportunity to choose a side in an irrefutable tone.

"Now that His Majesty the Emperor is in Rome, in order to thwart their conspiracy and maintain stability and unity within the empire, he has to take extraordinary measures, and the heirs of the Duke Henry's family for three generations have been paranoid about seeking the throne, and every reigning emperor has waged an arduous struggle against them, and now the lame quarreller is crippled and strong, and still fantasizes about the day when he will be robed in a yellow robe."

The baron raised an eyebrow and stared at my uncertain face, as if urging me to make a decision early.

"The bargaining chip of Henry and Robert is Lorraine, this land that the French have dreamed of for generations, as long as they control it, not only will they have an offensive advantage over Germany geographically, but also legally avoid the possibility of the Capetian dynasty being restored by the Carolingian dynasty, so Your Majesty needs to wedge a nail between your enemies, and you are the person Your Majesty trusts."

"Is there another civil war in the newly settled empire?"

Leonardo, who had been silent before, suddenly interjected and asked: "The enemy has only been temporarily defeated, and is lurking with minions preparing to counterattack, but at this time, the empire itself is in chaos first, and the war in Italy is about to rekindle." ”

Baron Lewandowski thought that the old man was just a close scholar, just like the other lords had an old scholar who had hired a lot of money to serve as a staff officer, so he was a little surprised by Leonardo's sudden question, but after observing the reaction of everyone, especially me, he roughly figured out his identity, so he replied seriously in a lower voice:

"As long as the Count of Nijmegen can guarantee that he and his allies Swabia stand behind His Majesty, then the reward will be more than just the gold and silver of the territory, and the dismembered rebels may no longer be suitable to participate in the joint meeting of the Grand Dukes."

(End of chapter)