In the days after the banquet, I pushed off countless heavy makeup and glamorous daughters who wanted to climb relatives with me, renew their teeth, make friends, and even sell their own dress, and claimed that the bloodline came from the large and small nobles of the ancient royal family.

Pack up and prepare to leave Rome before Duke Crescenti is beheaded, unwilling to let his daughter hate me even more when she sees her father's head in a different place.

On the other hand, because of the identity of the old duchess Edass, he is inextricably linked with me, but he was sent to the guillotine by my own hands, and I couldn't bear to see his last moments, so I decisively chose to embark on the journey back to my hometown as soon as possible.

The Pope kept him again and again, hoping that I could have a long conversation with him, but I politely declined, and this buddy now found that I had an endless stream of fresh ideas in my head, which was very conducive to helping him establish the supreme authority of the church step by step, so he wanted to tie me, a small nobleman from the poor countryside of Germany, to the chariot of the Holy See, and did not refuse to meet all my demands.

On this occasion I asked him to send a group of the most experienced missionary and willing to live in poverty to purify the air of heresy in the Low Countries, and to persuade the Danes and Norwegians from the Norse gods, Odin, who were from time to time to plunder the coastline, to serve God.

In addition, it can also strengthen the control and influence of the Holy See on the grassroots, so that ordinary peasants can bathe in the glory of the Lord without leaving their homes.

His Majesty the Pope was deeply moved by my piety, but he was more concerned that the plan I proposed to establish village churches in various aristocratic territories was tantamount to spreading a beautiful prospect of power in front of his eyes, his hungry wolf-like eyes were bright, and the smile on his face was even stronger, believing that he was as smart as he was, and at this time he had roughly drawn up several sets of execution plans from top to bottom in his mind, and those nobles who were scattered all over the place, simple-minded and only knew how to fight and kill, would change dramatically in the future because of my words.

With the few remaining warriors under my command, I couldn't help but sigh!

The ten infantry who responded to the conscription with me at the beginning, plus the additional archers and cavalry I brought, as the German Viscount, I also conscientiously contributed more than 30 living cannon fodder, and I didn't think that there were only three people left who could return to my hometown with me.

Those soldiers who entrusted their lives to me because of their loyalty, can only let their souls return to their homeland with me at this moment.

"Poor and uncertain riverside bones, like a person in a deep dream."

On the hill outside the city of Rome, I stared at the endless buildings between the hills for a long time, overlooking the bustling city with traffic and people, and slowly recited this famous sentence that is well-known in the 21st century.

"What did you say, my lord?"

Kohler and the bull followed me, heard me muttering in a language they didn't understand, thought something was going on, and asked me suspiciously.

I wiped the tears from my cheeks casually, turned and rode away, looking at the slowly receding scenery on both sides of the road, and said: "You remember that the families of those who died in Italy must be taken care of in the best possible way, and that the lack of a pillar in the family will make life very difficult in the future, and I have decided to exempt them from paying taxes. ”

"Yes! My lord! ”

Kohler and the bull remembered the martyrs with whom they had spent their days and nights, and replied in a sad tone.

Our army marched along the Roman road to Venice, preparing to march over the Alps and back to Germany proper.

Why do you say it is so powerful?

Because the number of men under my command snowballed, and by the time I arrived in the northern suburbs of Venice, the number of the team had exceeded 1,000.

And that's not even counting the ownerless serfs who heard of my biography and followed me to the blessed land of my imagination.

After a short stay in Venice, replenishing supplies and attending the farewell banquet prepared for me by the Duke, Prince Othello, who had been released back to Venice, immediately pretended to be sick and hid when he heard of my arrival, refusing to attend such an important diplomatic banquet.

Hans, who had been in Venice for several months as my plenipotentiary envoy and oversaw the building of armor and the operation of the trade, recounted with a handful of snot and tears what he missed me.

Now the whole of Venice knows that there is a scoundrel who claims to be a well-known butler of the Count of North Germany, lingering in the skirt of the fireworks willow lane**, and owes a butt of debt to the tavern, not only is he notorious, but also despised by the locals, and my reputation has also been greatly affected, which directly caused a sharp decline in paper sales.

Except for the nobles of the upper echelons of Venice, who occasionally patronized me, the local market was not opened at all, and the commoners heard that it was a product of my territory, and they all discouraged their desire to buy it, and I was furious when they heard the real situation.

"You bastard who doesn't do enough to do more than you can do!"

I pointed to Hans, who was standing in the corner trembling, and tried to control the irritability that he had cultivated over a long period of war, for fear that at some point he would not be able to control the sword and kill him, and the bull and Kohler stood behind me in silence, holding their breath and not daring to touch my moldy head at this time.

"For God's sake, my lord, I know my mistakes, please forgive me!"

Hans walked up to my knees and hugged my thigh, and cried with tears in his eyes: "I am a coarse and ignorant countryman, and I cannot find the value of my continued existence except to be loyal to my master, please give me a chance to stay by your side and serve day and night, and nothing more can I ask for." ”

What else can I say in the face of such a faithful minion?

Shu Shun took a breath, walked to the edge of the chair and sat down, still angry: "Only worthy of being a slave!" During this time in Venice, I learned to spend all day drinking and slapping horses, which is really embarrassing, and I was going to read for the sake of your perennial service, and after returning to the fiefdom, I canonized you as a knight, but now it seems that I am still exempt, if I want to do that, it can only discredit my honor! Go back and continue to be your squire! ”

"Thank you, sir!"

After listening to my words, Hans kissed my boots excitedly, and the saliva was so developed that it could be regarded as brushing my shoes. I shook my head helplessly, but I couldn't hide the tiredness in my heart.

The quality of the people around him is too poor, either a fool or a martial artist, after becoming an earl, he must establish his own palace management territory, and now what is urgently needed is a talent with the ability to think and take charge alone, but a really talented person, who wants to follow me to an unexplored wild land?

Bidding farewell to the Venetians, I led my men on the road, and the procession behind me became more varied, and if it weren't for the heralds carrying the banner of the Earl's status, the castle of the lords passing by would have rejected us as a greeting.

I and the soldiers who had just changed into new armor walked at the front of the line, and the majestic ones finally managed to save my face, most of them were unowned knights and freeriders who had returned along the way, and they all admired my reputation, and with a heart to make a difference, they surrendered their swords and swore allegiance.

Some of the pikemen of Ravenna were also strongly persuaded by me to move their families to Nijmegen, and their leader, the spice merchant, Modiyunas, played a key role, and at least 200 of the citizens of Ravenna joined me with their families.

This well-disciplined pikemen regiment will become the main force and backbone of the count's army in the future, and will be cultivated and reused.

There are also Italian mercenaries, they have no masters, they are loyal only to the rich side, sell their bodies and souls, help any lord who can afford to pay, although they are brave but undisciplined, the first thing they do after capturing the castle is to capture all the people of high and low status and sell them as slaves, and then burn the looted castle, killing, robbing, and burning it all!

Kohler and the bull have no good impression of these robbers, and try their best to prevent me from co-opting them, but I am confident that I can tame these green forest heroes, I don't think so, my party can still reform the bandits, as a new youth who grew up under the red flag, why can't I reform the robbers?

Self-confidence is self-confidence, but I am still careful to control the number of mercenaries, no more than the total number of Ravenna pikemen, although how bold people are, how productive the land is, but there is only one life, you can't have the heart to harm people, but you can't have the heart to defend people.

Far following the end of the line is a group of merchants and **, just like the inherent habits of this era, they are constantly serving soldiers in various needs along the way, and at the same time, they can also use the protection of the army to avoid being attacked by robbers, and by the way, go to the county that is said to produce magical paper to see if there is a way to make a fortune, and these budget-conscious merchants will not let go of the opportunity to get rich.

In short, our team is very large, and our team is very harmonious.

Our team also walked very slowly, it took two full months to return to the territory, when I saw the flag fluttering on the castle from afar, I thought I would never be able to go back home in my life, and finally deeply realized that Liu Bei took the people of Xinye back then, and the reason why he traveled only a dozen miles a day, the old and young ate and drank Lazar, which was indeed very delayed.

When I returned to the territory, it was the middle of April, the grass grew and the warbler flew and everything recovered, and the fields were full of farmers preparing for spring ploughing, and they saw an unknown army appear in the territory, and they all fled in panic, making me very embarrassed to be ready to enjoy the cheers of the crowd again.

Wangcai, who got the news, led the guards in the castle to hurry to us, and saluted me with a stumbling greeting, apparently he also knew what was happening in the territory: "Welcome home, Lord Earl. ”

I stretched out my hands and motioned for him to march with the army, and Lao Wangcai reported in a nervous manner that the castle was ready for a welcome banquet, and that a herald had been sent to spread the news of the victorious return of the expeditionary army, and that the lords who knew the truth would soon gather to welcome their lords.

As they approached the castle, not far from the gates, a triumphal arch made of spears and flowers appeared, and as soon as the soldiers passed under it, they announced the end of their military service, and they could return home with the spoils of their battles and novelties from the outside world.

The lords, who knew that we had returned, slowly gathered more and more on both sides of the Arc de Triomphe, crowded in front of them were the families of the soldiers who had gone out with the army, and they stood on tiptoe with the old and the young, anxiously looking for their families, whether husbands, fathers, or sons.

The peasants who found their relatives cheered, and they couldn't wait to rush over and hug their loved ones who were worried day and night and wept bitterly, but more disappointed and lonely faces, they did not find their relatives in the crowd, they did not want to believe the fact that they broke their spirits, and they kept standing in place and waiting, deceiving themselves into believing that maybe their relatives were just lagging behind slowly.

I reined in my horse and wanted to say something to those who were waiting for me, but I felt something in my throat, and I couldn't make any sound with a red face, so I waved my hand and called Kohler and the bull over.

Although I thought that I had been hardened by endless wars, I was as depressed as if I had lost a battle in the face of these poor people who were lonely and helpless in front of me, and I told them tiredly:

"It's up to you to announce the names of the dead in a moment! Remember what I said about the generous treatment, that's all I can do for them. ”