In the early summer of 1062, William led an army of tens of thousands, enveloping countless clergy of the Holy See and the nobility of Italy, and marched to Paris with a heart of glory.

Along the way, although there were some bait thieves such as the remnants of the Duchy of Provence and Barcelona, this may not have been a problem for William, but rather a pastime for him to relieve boredom along the way.

"That's what Caesar said?" William, having received Caesar's intentions, spoke again to the returning messenger.

"Yes, Your Majesty, Caesar of Sicily did not want to return the former pope and the former grand deputy, but opened his mouth to ask for a lot of supplies."

"Got it, let's go down"

William knew Caesar's thoughts very well, he was never a man of subservience, he was an out-and-out hero, with a desperate desire for power, land and wealth.

The other party will turn to the Byzantine Empire, which is completely expected by William, since Caesar wants to attack the Byzantine Empire, it is better to let him go, and he is happy to see it.

The Byzantine Empire, the self-proclaimed Roman Empire, still has a strong vitality, despite its corruption and depravity, and its military strength is not strong, but in times of crisis there will always emerge a strong leader to lead them from crisis to strength.

Therefore, although the Byzantine Empire was jokingly called the Defeat Court by later generations, it struggled to survive in internal and external troubles for more than 400 years.

William was looking forward to ten years from now, when the young Brother Alec. Subjects Ning Emperor and Caesar. What kind of sparks will Guicaste make?

"See Your Majesty, Lord Richard, Earl of Derby, and Earl Baldwin, Earl of Hereford, for your attention."

"Hmm." William took the scroll from his squire's hand, spread it out and looked through it.

"It's boring, the Provençal rebels in Kyiv Yères have surrendered, and the troops of the Duchy of Savoy have all shrunk back, and I would have liked to have had a good time with these traitors on the way back." William casually handed the battle report in his hand to the Duke of Richard and the Duke of Rodrigo to circulate it.

"Your Majesty, I think it was your great conquest of Rome that shocked the first people, and the soldiers who surrendered without a fight, the old minister admired it very much." Duke Richard stroked his beard and smiled.

"You, Lord Richard, can even say flattering words." William laughed.

"Your Majesty, since everything has been settled, please lead the troops to the battlefield of Barcelona to support Lord Hubert." Rodrigo stepped forward to ask William for instructions.

"It doesn't matter, even if the Duchy of Barcelona is difficult, it is only a small country, and Hubert is led by the first legion, the most elite standing army in the kingdom, so there will be good news soon." William waved his hand and smiled as he rejected Rodrigo's offer.

However, William was more concerned about the future treatment of Italy than the war in Barceloma, especially the geographical disadvantage of Italy, which was caught between the Holy Roman Empire, Venice and Croatia, Hungary, and the Normans.

"Lord Rodrieu, I have a matter for you." William looked at Rodrigo and said.

"Your Majesty, please just do what you ask."

"Rodrigo, I have appointed you to be the governor of Milan, to lead the Second Legion to garrison the city of Milan, and have the right to dispatch the armies of Genoa, Pisa, Tuscany and other princes to be responsible for guarding the territorial security of northern Italy, are you willing?"

"Your Majesty, it's an honor."

"Very good, I couldn't be more relieved to have you as an imperial general come forward to sit in Milan.

Now, of course, we should return to Paris and have a grand triumphal ceremony for you and your soldiers, and it will not be too late for you and the soldiers of the Second Army to leave for Italy. William looked at Duke Rodrigo and said with relief.

"Your Majesty, the situation around Italy is still grim, and the southern German princes, such as Welf of Bavaria, Vladislav of Bohemia, Rudolf of Swabia, and others, as well as the Venetians, Croats, and Hungarians, are all eyeing Italy, and our southern country, the Kingdom of Sicily, is also ill-intentioned.

In such a crisis situation, how could the minister abandon the heavy responsibility of guarding Italy and return to Paris to receive the glorious triumphal ceremony? Rodrigo immediately straightened up when he heard this.

"He is truly the first samurai of the kingdom, loyal and brave! Okay, I'll promise you, but you'll think of different soldiers as you think, and you'd better ask them for advice before you do that. William complimented without hesitation.

"Yes, what Your Majesty said is that the minister will first ask the soldiers of the Second Legion if they are willing to give up the glorious triumphal ceremony and voluntarily stay to guard the territory, if not, the minister will definitely not force it." Duke Rodrigo is colorful.

"Well, after the triumphal ceremony, I will immediately order the rest of the officers and men of the Second Legion to go south to Italy to join you, and before that I will allow you to independently recruit a guard corps of eight thousand men in Italy to cooperate with the Tuscan Grand Duchess and the Genoese army, and it will not be much of a problem in a short time." William nodded with satisfaction.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After receiving the order, Rodrigo could not wait to return to the Second Army to consult with his men.

"Your Majesty, don't worry about Italy's comfort for the time being, the surrounding princes are afraid of your might and will not dare to offend easily, why should Lord Rodrigo personally go out?" The Duke of Richard rode his horse after William and asked.

"The situation in Italy is not as rosy as you think, first of all, the vassals on our side, the Genoese are both mercenary, and if they rebel against us to bring them greater good, I don't think they will hesitate to betray us.

As for the Italian states such as Pisa and Bologna, most of them were forced to surrender for fear of our force, and if the situation changed, they would immediately rebel.

On the Tuscan side, I don't worry much about betraying us, but once Italy changes, I fear that Matilda, the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, will not let go of this good opportunity to expand her power.

Although Matilda is my future daughter-in-law, as long as the marriage between them has not been completely settled, I still have some worries in my heart. ”

William explained to the Duke of Richard the chaotic situation in Italy at this time, but as he said, although Italy was conquered by William, there were still many forces, which were deeply entrenched and could not be easily divided and completely subdued.