"That's all I can do for you, sir."

Duke Herman held the seal in his hand and waited for the attendant to pour the freshly burned fire paint from the crucible next to him onto the parchment: "This signed document is to grant you the command of the knights of the entire duchy, and the scepter representing the authority of the duke will also be handed over to you when the expedition is about to be made. ”

The duke raised his skinny palm and pointed at the knight sitting below, who got up and saluted, and his gestures were full of temperament, and he was indeed a vigorous and resolute practitioner.

I nodded at Count Lechfeld, and then took the paperwork from Duke Hermann, my fingers still feeling the warmth through the thick paper.

"Thank you for your great help, only in times of danger can we learn to keep our eyes open and see clearly who is our true friend, may God bless you, noble Duke."

I said to the yellow-faced Herman, "If it weren't for your poor health, how I would have wished you could personally command the Swabian army, and I look forward to fighting alongside you again, no matter how sharp the sword is, it can only be wielded with 100% power in the hands of its master." ”

The Duke of Swabia raised his right hand and looked at it in the air repeatedly, as if the white, slender limbs with exposed veins did not belong to him.

"You've seen it too, my lord, what kind of person I have become now, let alone wielding a sword for God, even riding a horse is probably an unattainable luxury."

He laughed self-deprecatingly, and hung his arms weakly, it was already a hot summer day outside, but the weak duke was dressed in a winter fur.

Can you relate to that? Life is like sand in your hands, one by one slipping down the cracks between your fingers, the tighter you hold it, the faster it will drain, my destiny, God is calling me, he is calling me......"

As he spoke, Herman's eyes became misty again, and there was no vitality to be found in his dilated pupils, he was already a shell, a soulless walking corpse.

I was silent as I shook the syrup in my glass and handed the document with the Duke's seal to Rollo for safekeeping.

The room was quiet, and the fire pit near the main seat was burning with freshly chopped firewood, which was not strong because it contained too much moisture, and the smell of wood was emanating from it.

I wiped the beads of sweat from my forehead, turned my face to meet the others pushing the door in, and the Swabian vassals6 continued to take their seats.

The Count of Bouchard and the Count of Basel sat very close together, both of them had rebelled, and they regarded each other as their own, and it might have been safer to sit together, and most of the remaining nobles I did not know, and when the two bishops of the fiefs instigated a rebellion, they were either neutral or secretly in concert with the rebels.

Strictly speaking, none of the people at the table were loyal courtiers, like sunflowers in full bloom, always following the brightest sun.

After the tedious etiquette and unnourished pleasantries, the meeting finally got to the point, and the coughing of the Duke of Hermann kept filling the room, making the already dull atmosphere even more oppressive, but I watched with great interest the expressions of everyone, and how ugly should they be when they sat together at a table with their own intentions, or what kind of masks should they wear that made their acting skills amazing? At least for the moment, they were all guarding their bodies in fear, as if they were not soft fur under their buttocks, but sharp needle felt.

"Ladies and gentlemen, now that the rebellion in the country has been suppressed, there are still a large number of displaced people and thugs running rampant in the villages, causing social unrest and the withering of people's livelihoods. I cleared my throat and said some words of encouragement that were neither salty nor light, and warmed up the scene first.

"My lord, we are aware of our responsibilities, and as sinners who have gone astray, it is thanks to God's forgiveness and the kindness of adults that we can be reborn, and we will work hard to serve the stability of the country." The Count of Bouchard was the leader of the people here, and of course it was up to him to answer the womb.

"Lord Duke is not in good health, but the affairs of Swabia must not be messed up, Lord Bouchard, you must also take your own responsibility."

I nodded meaningfully, and Duke Hermann bowed his head and did not squeak, trusting to Nijmegen, and the two had already formed an inseparable alliance.

"Before his departure, the Bishop of Mainz revealed to me a shocking secret, someone reported that the two bishops of Konstanz and Augsburg betrayed the faith, worshiped the heretical gods of the Black Forest, and the soul was bewitched and degenerated.

"In this case, Lord Bouchard, you and the Count of Basel will be responsible for taking stock of the two bishops' estates and finding evidence of their heresies, and the nobles who participated in the rebellion in the country have died a lot, leaving behind many ownerless castles and lands, and you can gather a few more people to help carry out a new investigation and measurement, so that it can be further divided in the future."

Count Bouchard opened his mouth in surprise, a little hard to believe the fact that his ears were hearing, on the surface I had assigned a tedious task, but in essence it was not, it was tantamount to giving him the opportunity to reap the benefits and expand his power, the other nobles stared enviously at the Count who somehow caught up with the line of Nijmegen, Duke Hermann raised his head slightly, and the corners of his mouth hooked at me shallowly.

"Your kindness is comparable to that of the Virgin, two great adults, and I am as small and obscene as dust in comparison."

Count Bouchard didn't expect that he could be reused, grateful for the incoherent words, I looked at the moved count and the envious nobles around me with satisfaction, and remembered in a trance that His Majesty Otto was used as an inspiration to everyone's catfish himself, and now Count Bouchard is the fierce catfish stuffed into the school of lifeless cod, and the large ownerless castle and land are a distant reward, even the rebellious and impermanent duplicity I can accept, the rest of those nobles who have no criminal record as long as they are willing to be loyal, what kind of benefits can not be obtained?

With that in mind, I turn to the main topic of the day:

"Let's start discussing the specific matters of sending troops, the root of this rebellion is in the Vatican, the Pope Ni has a small Xiao around him, he blinded the eyes and ears of Ni Xia Shengcong, colluded with local unstable forces to seize power, so that the Roman decree is chaotic, directly causing the division and war of the empire, we must march into Rome, pull out this despicable villain and make it public, clean up the holy court, and return God's heaven on earth to a clear blue sky!"

"No wonder I always feel that something is wrong, it turns out that there are bad people gathered around Nixia!" The Count of Bouchard, who was stunned by the benefits, immediately chimed in.

"That's right, the enemy is in the Vatican!"

I set the tone for the action categorically, and waved my arm in the appearance of wise and beautiful: "Your lords have worked hard in the army, and there are many trivial tasks in the country, so there is no need to lead the army to march, please send your eldest son to lead their respective knights to assemble on time, I want to make a unique southern expedition of the eldest son, and use the blood of young people to wash away the heavy haze over Italy!" ”

"The eldest son? Isn't that the heir......"

The Count of Basel muttered quietly, and Bouchart tugged at his sleeve before the former looked up.

I sneered in my heart, you gang of wall grass, which side of the wind is strong, wait for me to pat my ass and leave, after a while, His Majesty's army will not be able to sell Nijmegen cleanly, and take the heir in my hands as a hostage, forgive you and dare not make a mistake!

Speaking on behalf of the nobles, the Count of Bouchard said: "We raise our hands in favor of your idea, my lord, this old bone is indeed time to rest, thank you very much for your thoughtfulness, may God bless you!" He flattered tactfully, now Nijmegen is the strongest, people are under the eaves, and they must know to bow their heads when they should bow their heads.

I picked up the menorah on the table and placed it in the middle, and placed the two cups to the left and right: "This candelabra symbolizes the Alps, with the Brenne Pass in Bavaria on the left and the St. Garre Pass in Swabia on the other, and I will lead the main force of Nijmegen into the Apennines from the direction of St. Galta, while Lord Lechfeld, as the plenipotentiary representative of the Duke of Hermann, will lead the combined Swabian and Bavarian forces around the Brenne Pass, attack the rebel Verona Domain, force them to divide their forces to the rescue, and relieve the pressure on the right flank of Nijmegen." ”

The nobles nodded their heads in agreement with my battle plan, but the Count of Basel was stunned in his seat, and he felt the gaze I cast on him, and explained:

"I don't mean anything else, Lord Duke, you don't know, Basel is a poor place in the mountains, and it is difficult to produce a large army of knights, and most of my vassals are killed or wounded in battle, and those who can go to war cannot get decent equipment and materials to pay for the battle......"

He tilted his head and glanced at the Count of Bouchard, who was looking at him, and immediately added: "Rest assured, Basel's faithfulness can be tested before God, and it will never be worse than anyone else!" Although we can't send knights, we can provide a considerable number of infantry, composed of fierce mountain people, who are adept at using spears with scythes, gathered in an army according to their villages, echoing each other, and quite brave enough to fill the gaps between the positions behind the knights' charge, and these mud legs are as tenacious as weeds, even if the enemy is currently in a rout! ”

"Oh? If that's as powerful as you say, I'd like to see it. ”

Before the crossing, I didn't know how to learn, but I still heard of Basel, a famous Swiss tourist destination, since I mentioned Switzerland, that small country on the top of the mountains, has always been rich in high-quality mercenaries, and later generations have been as the Pope's direct guard in the media many times, and the predecessor of the famous Swiss mercenaries is the fierce mountain people in the earl's mouth.

Basel originally belonged to the Kingdom of Burgundy, and was later assigned to Swabia because of the marriage, and the locals never forgot the old country, and staying in their hometown was indeed not conducive to the stability of the rear, so they simply conscripted the army and put it by their side more practically.

I smiled and pushed the cup in front of the count, who was too apprehensive to accept it: "Don't worry, you can recruit as much as you can, Nijmegen will take care of the supplies, and besides, I would like to bring your men into the army of Nijmegen, and provide horses for them to keep up with the knights' march......"

(End of chapter)

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