The day after the knights' race, the nobles who had been a little farther away took their leave and set out on their way home, and their ladies brought carriages full of precious incense and splendid cloths, and said goodbye to their lovers who had been happy for several days, sobbing on their chests while stroking the soft cashmere fabric, and contemplating how they should return to their country castle and show the new fashions to the maids who had never seen the world, and reap the intoxicating compliments and vanities.

The great nobles of the neighborhood also met the Count Baudouin, and the two sides hid in the tightly guarded small room, and after bargaining like the merchants, they patted their bellies with satisfaction, and after the two days of eating, drinking, and merrymaking, and making their bellies fatter, with the help of the attendants, they climbed into their horses with difficulty, waved goodbye to the crowd with great pose, and then immediately changed into a carriage or a soft sedan chair when they turned out of the castle, and rubbed their old waist, which was about to fall apart, and fell into a deep sleep.

I stood by the tall floor-to-ceiling windows of the castle, condescending to look down on the crowd of people hugging and kissing goodbye, like a masked extra, with clumsy skills but desperate to cover up, and the funny scene made me sneer in my heart.

I have experienced too many things recently, and it seems that I have been reborn like Nirvana, and I have obtained the fiery eyes that I have never had before, and I can easily see through the interests of the red luoluo between the void and the snake.

When the Duke of Normandy left, I also did not go to see him off, and found an excuse to lead the dog and the eagle to hunt in advance, but his every move was reported to me in detail by the nightingales of Kohler, and the Duke of Richard did not seem to give up his fight for Nijmegen at the last moment, and sent his personal attendants several times to invite me to have an open and honest conversation, but I had to return again and again with disappointment.

The war was about to break out, and Flender began to prepare for war quietly in private, stockpiling grain and grass on a large scale to prevent the war from spreading to his territory.

"You just rejected him? The Black Duke is a very vengeful man, and in his anger, it is really possible to start a war in a hot head, and for this group of savage Normans, if they can't get it, they should be destroyed, and there is no need for any high-sounding pretext for declaring war, and the fall of Laon Castle is a living example. ”

The Count of Baudouin, who had been standing behind him, turned his wine glass, as if polishing the wall of the glass with the crimson wine pulp inside, and spoke quietly, seemingly kindly reminding me to pay attention, but in fact it was a disguised test of my loyalty.

"Normandy to Nijmegen, separated by thousands of mountains and rivers, unless there are wings, it is impossible not to borrow from Flanders and Lower Lorraine, it is not so easy, it is nothing but a bluff military threat, even the Duke of Richard knows that this kind of news is not lethal to me, at most it deceives the little lords who fall like grass on the wall."

I walked across from the Count Baudouin, pulled over a chair and comfortably placed myself in the soft cashmere cushions, the wooden statue of the Virgin hanging behind him was so peaceful that I couldn't see the deep expression on his face in the dark.

"I don't think Flanders can let Nijmegen face the wrath of Normandy alone, because you still need us."

The Count of Baudouin put down his glass, twisted his fingers like a naughty child around the thread of the edge of his purple robe, squeezed out a reluctant smile, and said to me in a serious tone:

"But it is impossible for Flender to stand behind you blatantly, after all, the two families have not yet become sons-in-law, once Duke Richard robs the time difference and unites the Friesians to attack from the flank, Flender is beyond the reach of the whip, not to mention ......"

The bearded man stroked his neat long beard: "We also need a helper to distract the attention of the royal family, reduce the pressure on Flender, and let the royal family sink deep in the north of the Seine, and press the gourd to float the scoop, which is conducive to Flender uniting more southern feudal lords to jointly resist the brutal rule of the Capetian dynasty, although Charles of Lower Lorraine is also ambitious, but he is an embroidered pillow, and it is beneficial to Flender's long-term interests to restore the cowardly Carolingian dynasty." ”

"May I understand that Nijmegen has to make sacrifices if necessary for the sake of Flender?"

I deliberately pretended to be unhappy, wanting to see what kind of medicine was sold in the bearded gourd, and I heard the strong disobedience that he expressed between the lines, as if he meant to replace the other.

"Use Nijmegen to divert Normandy, become more and more aggressive, and then create opportunities for Flender to fish in troubled waters?"

The Count of Baudouin pressed his hands quietly, and motioned for me to be at ease, for it seemed to him that I was a young and vigorous young man who was not willing to suffer, and who could not always take a long-term view of everything, and as an elder, at this age there was an almost pathological hobby of playing with the experience of the years.

"Normandy is an immature wolf, and if we don't give him enough fresh meat at all times, it may get out of our control and turn around and devour its master, so we must be vigilant and constantly look for new targets, provide hot blood, and make its minions work for me."

The bearded man used the kind of deliberately elongated tone that the elderly often have at the end, proudly showing me that he was experienced, or rather cunning.

"After the conversion of Normandy, several generations of dukes were more religious, often contributed and pilgrimaged, and the relationship with the Vatican became intimate, although everyone understood that each took what he needed and used each other, but this group of barbarians actually learned to sell their fame and reputation, and used the Holy See to expand their influence, if they can get another vote while gaining honor, I believe that Duke Richard will not be tempted."

"So you have a plan in mind?"

The old fox is the old fox, and even though I have tried so hard and careful, every step is still in his calculations.

"Diverting the attention of the Normans, is it England across the sea? They seem to have coveted the fertile island nation for a long time. ”

"England is indeed tempting enough, but it is a hard bone wrapped in thin fat, the restoration of the Wessex dynasty, quickly gained the allegiance of lords large and small, even including the tribes far away in Ireland, Duke Richard is not so simple-minded, if it was possible, he must have crossed the channel non-stop, riding horses to conquer the kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons, why wait until now."

The Earl of Baudouin shook his head, to be honest, England was indeed invaded and ravaged by the Norsemen for hundreds of years, but the two sides were always in a state of see-saw, even if one side had the advantage in a short time, it could not completely defeat the opponent, and the Norsemen only maintained control over the coastal areas of Scotland and England.

"The Saracens of Spain, who no longer seem to pose a threat to Christendom, are only a few small countries in the southern foothills of the Pyrenees, and hundreds of years of comfortable life have long worn down the fiery fighting spirit of Muhammad's warriors of truth, and the contradictions with the Sultan of Baghdad and Cairo have hindered the reuniting of ******."

I have seen more or less ****** businessmen from Spain, most of them are humble and courteous and knowledgeable, far from the cunning and ignorant little businessmen around us, compared to them, the basic situation in Spain is also intermittent from chatting with these people, in short, Spain is a far away place for me where birds don't, and nothing happens to me.

"There have been many Norman adventurers like Roger de Toesni who went to Spain, but the effect was not as smooth as imagined, the terrain of Spain, restricting the play of Norman cavalry and heavy infantry, was not suitable for them to fight, and the ****** warriors who were well organized and more adapted to the terrain came and went like the wind, and more and more Normans gave up going to Spain to make a living, and eagerly drove warships to find new places to conquer."

The bearded man filled my glass, patiently speaking in detail, and pushed it in front of me.

"The Normans were still enforcing the ancient system of equal division of sons, in which each son received land and property equally from his father, which caused the non-wealthy families to break up into many less wealthy families. That's why Normandy maintained a large standing army, and the extra mouths were fed by the duke's money, but they were equally overwhelmed, and Normandy urgently needed an outlet to ease the anxious Duke Richard. ”

"What do you mean is to use a trap that the Normans themselves willingly jumped into to restrain the Duke of Richard's conquest, and even wear down his strength and sharpness, and then ......" I gasped and watched Count Baudouin's eyes change, this old fellow is too vicious.

"That's right! The decline of Normandy was the day of Flanders' emergence, and now they are on the cusp of the storm, and many people are cursing them down with their teeth in their backs. ”

As he spoke, the Count of Baudouin radiated an indescribable greedy gaze in his eyes, as if he saw himself describing the scene of that day, when the wall fell and everyone was pushing it, Normandy might need a strong backer to avoid the revenge of the fallen stones, who else but Flender had this qualification?

Sure enough, the ginger is still old and spicy!

Listening to the vast plan of the Count of Baudouin, I got goosebumps down my spine, and the old fellow had worked so hard to get his subordinates into Nijmegen by marriage, and I had to be prepared to deal with the reality of the situation.

I am already a grasshopper tied to a rope with Flender, and I must keep the same pace, not to mention that people's thighs are thicker!

"Sicily!"

In front of Count Baudouin, a huge map of Europe seemed to appear, and he stretched out his hands and gestured in the void, intoxicated like Chaplin in "The Great Dictator" who used exaggerated body language to express psychological activities.

"The Saracens there are at the end of their power, Sicily is rich enough, and it is on the main transportation route of the Mediterranean, and the Normans will not hesitate to send fat to their mouths, and by the way, they can knock on the bamboo poles of the Eastern Romans in southern Italy and do some good things for the German emperor."

Hearing this, I felt a little bit of a taste, and quickly asked: "Listen to what you mean, I will also participate in this operation, with those stinky Normans?" ”

"That's right!"

The bearded man waved his hand violently, emphasizing in an unquestionable tone, completely treating me as a pawn at the mercy of his own hands.

"Although His Majesty the Pope seems to have murderous intentions for your rise, but after all, everyone has not reached the point of tearing their faces, for the sake of old friendship and Flender's face, the marriage of the two Holy See will definitely send a bishop of equal status to preside, you must seize the opportunity to regain the trust of His Majesty, and encourage the Vatican to come forward to contact Normandy to conquer Sicily."

"Huh?"

I didn't seem surprised that I had guessed my mission at the beginning, but I still didn't understand how doing so would help His Majesty Otto, or how it would help me in my promotion.

"If His Majesty the Emperor, who was busy building a new capital in the Palatine Mountains, suddenly invaded the Capua Valley, and felt threatened from both sides, would the Eastern Romans choose to negotiate terms with the Normans, or would they seek some tacit agreement with their strong neighbors?"

The Count of Baudouin leaned back in his chair and stared at me with confidence, his eyebrows curled in a beautiful arc, which set off the deeper and more blurred sockets of the eyes, making it impossible to see the dark tide of stagnant water.

(End of chapter)