"You seem to be saying you're going to kill me? Simple and crude method, although I like knights who do things neatly, unlike those self-righteous aristocrats, twisting and twisting and pinching to stand on the moral high ground, condescending pretense, but I have to say that you still think things too simply, you are very good at war, but in terms of political skills, you are as immature as a child who is still playing with mud, please forgive me for taking the liberty! ”

Duke Charles stretched out his legs, which were a little sore, and while rubbing his joints with his hands, he sneered at my approach as if he were laughing, completely ignoring the angry jumping feet of the bull on the side, and the eyes of the others who were looking at him to kill.

"You're a dead man right away, and you don't have the capital to bargain."

Thinking I had seen through his bluff, I grinned disdainfully and turned to look at the soldiers who were cleaning up the battlefield.

Together, they stripped off the chain mail and helmets that still had useful use from the twisted corpses, carefully searched every pocket for valuable things, collected the weapons all over the ground, and did not look at the enemies who were still alive and begged for mercy, mended with a simple knife, and then threw the cleanly stripped corpses into the river to feed the fish.

The river has never been so crowded, where the water flow is narrow, and the floating and sinking piles block many stumps and broken arms floating on the water, staining the river red, and a few crows fly up and down excitedly, picking at soft eyeballs or intestines to swallow, chirping and chirping.

"Do you think I'll be fine as long as I let you go? It may convince me to be kind in the face of God and gold, but there are others who will put you to death. ”

I looked back, for Hans had already begun to line up the captives for execution, and the spectacle of brains splattering all over the ground was something that only a bull would have applauded.

"The carriage that was attacked by you, the person sitting in it was not me, it was the Archbishop of Berlin, Germany, Lord Gailius, whose Templars were almost wiped out, and were almost killed by your people, and now he may be gritting his teeth and cursing you to hell with a small report, he is more familiar with the people of that world than we are."

The Duke of Richard, who heard the news, did not show much surprise, but tilted his face slightly, and his fleeting expression was immediately replaced by a calm smile, and he was far more sophisticated and skilful than me in terms of pretentiousness, and was good at playing the role needed:

"So it's him? Is this your ruse? You fooled me, and now the insider who wants to provide intelligence for Normandy is the undercover agent you arranged, right? Well, I admit my defeat, defeated by the arrogance of the enemy, but still insist that your way of winning is too opportunistic, and if you deal with it carefully, you may not be able to take advantage of it. ”

I stared at Duke Richard, who seriously admitted defeat, but I didn't expect that as proud as he was, he could also lower his noble head to admit defeat, which was very different from the impression he usually gave people, and the seriousness of having the courage to admit his mistakes was really impressive, so I decided to give him decent treatment, according to universal standards in line with the status of a duke:

"You can choose the method of execution, with a sword or without blood, it is your right, and I will return your body to Normandy according to the etiquette of the nobles."

I stood up and saluted respectfully, showing my respect for his dukedom and as an adversary.

"You can't kill me!"

Duke Richard interrupted me with a categorical wave of his hand, and stared at my eyes again in a serious posture, as if there was some big secret to be revealed, and his expression was so serious that people couldn't help but become serious too.

"Do you think that the so-called victory is as simple as killing me? It's so naïve. ”

I smiled and folded my shoulders, waiting to hear what he had to say, though it seemed to me to be no more than a comical dying throes, just like a clown trying to get a breath of fresh air: "Then try to convince me that the animosity between Nijmegen and Normandy will be put to rest and we will be neighbors hand in hand." ”

"Normandy is a strong beast that makes you feel uneasy, but you don't see wolves and lions hovering behind the beasts, and there are not necessarily birds and flowers behind the high walls. Once Normandy falls and the Capetian royal family in Paris loses the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads, then this family full of madmen will turn their greedy eyes on the next unlucky guy who will prevent them from unifying West Francia, and guess who the new victim will be? ”

Duke Richard's eyes were like an electrified searchlight, staring at me with burning eyes, and the invisible aura carried pressure, engulfing me with a head and face, adding to the verbal intimidation.

"You're saying Flender will bear the brunt of it?"

I bit my lip and followed his words, finally sorting out a little bit of context.

"The Capetian royal family has indeed wanted to reclaim control of Bruges and Ghent in order to compensate for their increasingly stretched finances."

Duke Charles made a gesture of finish, leaning closer to me, his blue eyes flashing with something unpredictable, like a foggy seaside cliff, one step forward is doomed, one step back is in the clouds.

"Now you know how important it is to preserve a Normandy, right?"

The corners of his mouth turned upward, and his tone became more and more affirmative: "Why don't we build a Normandy, Flanders, Nijmegen, Triple Alliance?" I believe that the combined power will be something that no one dares to underestimate, and I will give up the territorial dispute with Flender, and acquiesce in the annexation of Friesland by Nijmegen, and let Flender continue to dominate the small countries around them, and sleep in the sweet dream of the stars holding the moon. ”

It was indeed a tempting proposition, but at the same time a trap of crisis, and I tried not to be distracted by the sweet pie he painted, and to think for myself.

"If you give up the fight with Flender, where will you Normans vent your excess energy? Not allowing you to plunder is like forcing a lion to give up eating meat. ”

Duke Charles touched his chin and smiled, he scratched his head, pointed to the river full of corpses and said: "In short, we will not waste any more lives, challenge the temperature of the fire, the Normans are an unruly people, but not stupid, we like to challenge the strong, but we also know the importance of turning enemies into friends, we have leading warships and invincible heavy cavalry, aren't the Saracens of Sicily killing at the right moment?" ”

"How can I believe in your promise, light words are like duckweed without roots, which will be blown away by the wind in the blink of an eye, and will never be found again." I spread my hands and said I was hard to believe.

Duke Charlie's gaze jumped over me, staring at Count Sviki, who was covering his head and humming not far away, and squeezed his eyes slyly: "I will keep all the vassals as hostages, and then I will send an envoy to discuss this matter with you, and when everything settles, it will not be too late for you to release them." ”

"Don't worry, I will never abandon my vassals, that would be tantamount to self-destruction of the Great Wall, as for the promise to you...... Believe me, we will never be the first to provoke war in five years unless Normandy has mastered or found a way to restrain your secret weapon, and from a personal point of view, I have to admit that Count Randy of Nijmegen, you are a dangerous and shrewd adversary, and you will be a trustworthy partner. ”

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"An alliance with Normandy? My dear son-in-law, how come you have listened to the rhetoric of Duke Richard, who is like a viper, and whose fangs shimmer with the seductive light of the forbidden fruit of Eden? Count Baudouin's eyes widened and he made an incredulous expression, and his two beards fluttered and were about to fly.

I had long guessed that a shrewd person like my father-in-law would have such a reaction, and hurriedly took the initiative to fill his vacated wine glass, filled it with wine, and handed it over respectfully, while saying his opinion in a good time:

"By the time he was released, he had taken all the noble captives of Normandy hostage, and it was impossible for him to give up his vassals, which would ruin his rule, and no one would want to serve a lord who did not fulfill his obligations."

"There's no way he's going to give up his vassals."

Count Baudouin looked at me with the helpless expression peculiar to an old man, looking at a young man's shallowness, and placed the glass that had just come to his lips on the table.

"You're going to let the tiger go back to the mountains, Normandy has plenty of time to regroup, and Nijmegen has few troops to fight, what if they come back with the Frisians? Flender has to have enough troops in both directions in Lille and Antwerp, and there are very few soldiers capable of supporting Nijmegen, and I need to protect myself, my dear son-in-law. ”

What he said was true, Flender had to protect his vassal state from invasion, and Nijmegen, which was relatively far away, could only guarantee the safety of Herrusbeck Castle, and the surrounding villages and towns would be completely exposed to the clutches of the enemy, and the consequences could be imagined on their heels.

"Then we will unite and take advantage of the fact that the Normans are still on a firm foothold, defeat them once more, and regain the initiative."

I was quick to explain my plan to Count Baudouin: "It will take time to re-recruit vassals and soldiers, and as long as Flender provides a sufficient number of cavalry, we will have a chance to defeat Duke Richard before he regroupes, just as he did in previous victories." ”

As I spoke, I slammed the table with confidence, causing the wine in my glass to spill down the edges.

The beautiful bearded man picked up the glass, looked at the wine flowing on the table distressedly, pressed the palm of his hand to remind me not to be impatient, he took a big sip to moisten his throat, spread his hand and said to me:

"There are many castles in Normandy, coupled with the fact that Norman's heavy cavalry is very strong, almost dawn and evening, no one wants to encounter this gang of death in the plains, our cavalry is not enough for people to sprint for two rounds, besides, Duke Richard must have taken precautions a long time ago, once he chooses to clear the wilderness, our weak logistics supplies will be stretched, from so many years of experience, he is by no means a simple-minded reckless man, everything is carefully planned and interlocked, like a hungry wolf who is meticulous and does not start, As long as you attack, you will bite the prey and not let go, in the tug-of-war between the two sides for many years, Flender has lost more and won less, and our careful thinking is definitely within the calculations of others. ”

(End of chapter)