In fact, even Duke Otto III of Swabia, who had always been loyal to Henry III. Feng. Babenburg left his Emperor Henry III out of ambition, not to mention the already half-hearted princes and nobles of the HRE Empire.

When they returned to Nassau with the remnants of their army, they left Henry III and returned to their territory with their knights and armies.

Because of a complete defeat, many of the HRE princes abandoned their Emperor Henry III.

This was not unusual in the Middle Ages, let alone the Holy Roman Empire, which was neither sacred nor roman.

Unlike the Kingdom of France, which came from the homeland of the Frankish Empire, the Holy Roman Empire was mostly the newly conquered territories of the Frankish Empire.

In order to defend the frontier and subdue the aliens, the Frankish emperor was not allowed to divide his territory into various dukes and vassals, which is the fundamental reason why the princes in the Holy Roman Empire were powerful.

As the conflict between the German princes intensified, the ecclesiastical power gradually infiltrated the German regions and colluded with the various princes, and once the emperor revealed that he wanted to centralize power, the German princes would unite with the church against the emperor, and the German princes and ecclesiastical power became a great trend.

At this time, Emperor Henry III was wiped out by the Normans because of this defeat, and the only remaining strength was not to mention dealing with the Normans.

Some of them are ready to stand on their own and wait on the wall, while others are ready to unite with the monarchs of other countries and seize the crown of the HRE Empire after gaining support.

Among them, Otto III, Duke of Swabia, was a prince who was ready to unite the monarchs of other countries and try to seize the throne of the HRE Empire.

As he marched his army, he also sent letters asking for his cooperation to the monarchs, including his enemy, the Norman King William I.

In the face of interests, in the face of the temptation of the throne, even the revenge of killing his father can be temporarily forbeared, let alone cooperating with the Normans, who were once enemies.

On William's desk, he received more than one secret letter asking for cooperation, including that of Otto III, Duke of Swabia.

For such an important matter, William naturally had to listen to the opinions of his important ministers, Duke Hubert and Duke Richard, so he immediately invited the two to meet him.

"Lord Hubert, Lord Richard, you see this is a secret letter sent to me by the dukes and vassals of the HRE Empire, you see." William flipped through the letters in his hand and handed them to Hubert and Richard.

"Yes, Your Majesty." The two of them took the secret letter handed by William with both hands and read it carefully.

In addition to Otto III, Duke of Swabia, there were also letters from Bernhard II of Saxony, Duke Brzetislav of Bohemia, O'Donnay, Duke of Savoy, Conrad III, Duke of Verona and Carinthia, and Adalbert, Marshal of Austria.

These were all princes who used the power of William and the Normans to seize the crown of the HRE Empire or expand their own territory and power.

Choosing a partner among these people, His Majesty Wilhelm can think carefully about it.

"Back to Your Majesty, the ministers have finished reading it." Duke Hubert and Duke Richard returned the secret letter to William, bowed and spoke.

"Who do you think would be a better fit for us?" William looked at the two of them and asked.

"Your Majesty, the old minister thinks that the Duke of Saxony and the Duke of Bohemia are very suitable partners to work with, and of course the Duke of Swabia is also the best candidate.

But the likes of the Austrian dukes Aldebert and Carinthia and Conrad III, the dukes of Verona, were not very suitable candidates, one of them was located in the remote east of Germany and the other in the northeast of Italy, far away from the core of the HRE Empire, and they were weak enough to help us. As a suggestion to foster a new emperor, the Duke of Richard had some of his own opinions.

William listened to his words, nodded slightly, turned to look at Duke Hubert and said, "Hubert, if you have any ideas, you may as well say it, we can take a closer look." ”

"Your Majesty, Lord Richard, we don't really need to install anyone to become the new Holy Roman Emperor, all we want is for this loose empire to break out into large-scale civil strife.

It was easier to finance the rebellion of ambitious German princes directly than the thankless strategy of installing a new emperor. Duke Hubert glanced at Duke Richard and said to William.

Duke Hubert's words were a direct rejection of Duke Richard's strategy to support the new HRE Emperor, believing that this plan was thankless, and that the only way to bring the empire to ruin was to support the rebellious princes.

When William heard this, he felt very reasonable, and nodded his head and said, "Lord Hubert is right, Lord Richard, do you have anything to add?" ”

William looked at Richard, who was blown and glared, and was angry with Duke Hubert, and felt a little funny in his heart.

Ever since Hubert became duke, the two have been at loggerheads, one offering opinions and the other always trying to refute him.

Of course, it is not that the two are making trouble unreasonably, most of the fights between them are still in the category of healthy competition, and when refuting, the reasons of the two are reasonable, not unreasonable.

William is naturally happy to see this, the dominance of the aristocratic family under his hand is definitely not something he is happy to see, the two restrain each other, and the neutral situation of the other part of the aristocracy is also promoted by him.

"Lord Hubert, what do you think should be done against the HRE Emperor Henry III, who is hostile to us? What if he relieves himself and goes against us again? Duke Richard looked at Hubert with his eyes firmly on him, and he didn't care about etiquette, so he asked again and again.

In response to Duke Richard's question, Duke Hubert had already prepared, and he took a moment to complete his life, and said: "Your Majesty, Lord Richard, in the face of the rebellion of the princes within the empire, he has used the energy against us, and if we don't go to his trouble, he should burn high incense."

His Majesty often said that between nations, there are only eternal interests, and there are no eternal enemies.

I expect that Henry III, in order to keep his crown and quell the rebellion at home, will bow to His Majesty and pray for peace with us. ”

Listening to Duke Hubert's speech, William nodded involuntarily and applauded: "Yes, Lord Hubert, you are right, there are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests, and it is not impossible to keep Henry III."

The two adults, let's follow Duke Hubert's plan. ”