"Please state your identity, knight, or I will have to use force to defend my safety any further." Rollo peacefully stretched out his palm, palm outward close to the Norman knight, stopping at a safe distance, maintaining the demeanor and politeness of a knight.

The visitor scratched his neck as if he had just woken up from a dream, pushed the brim of the iron helmet up, squeezed his thick eyebrows and big eyes to look carefully at Rollo who spoke, and did not pay attention to the stranger in front of him at all, he was stunned for a long time before he slowly asked: "I am the son of the great Loren, the conqueror of the North Sea and the Seine, the lord of Genoa and Calabria, the vassal of the King of France, the Duke of Normandy and all its possessions, Lord Richard, the bravest knight under his command, who once held a giant bear in his hands." The mountain 'Morientes, who has been ordered to report it, may I ask who is the Duke of Nijmegen? ”

I hurriedly took a breath while he asked, this dizzying remark came down, and everyone was starved of oxygen in their brains, I really don't know why the other party didn't react, Rollo lowered his arm and responded decently: "The knight of Morientes?" Your fame shines as brightly as the midday sun, and even in the far away corners of Nijmegen, I, a lonely person, have heard of the heroic deeds of the 'Great Mountain' in subduing the bear. However, I still don't know what you mean, I'm afraid it's difficult to introduce you, this is for the safety of the Duke, please forgive me. ”

The knight, who called himself Morientes, shook his head, glanced past Rollo and scanned the crowd before falling on me, smiling secretly like a child who had found candy hidden by his mother, clasping his saddle and shrugging his shoulders and shouting, "Is that the famous Duke of Nijmegen?" ”

It's over, I can't hide...... I pursed my lips in annoyance, brushed aside the guards standing on my left and right, flashed out with some embarrassment, and pretended to be calm and cleared my throat: "That's right, the person you are looking for is me, knight, what message did my good friend Duke Richard ask you to bring?" ”

The Norman knight looked me up and down, his critical eyes were no different from those of his mother-in-law who looked at her new son-in-law, and it was very unpleasant, and my knight was angry at the rudeness of the other party, and pressed the long sword with dissatisfaction, and the sharp blade of the sword collided with the scabbard. "My lord, Lord Richard, has sent me here to greet you when he has heard that you have come all the way to Lombardy, and he has prepared two gifts for his guests from afar—one is a sumptuous meal and wine, and a bewitching Latin dancer; The second was 10,000 Norman warriors. He stated calmly, as if he were talking about a trivial matter that had nothing to do with himself, "By the way, I forgot to tell you that the banquet was arranged in the most splendid palace in the city of Milan, and our warriors were neatly arranged in the morning mist beneath the city. ”

"Presumptuous!" Rollo pulled out his long sword and pointed it at Morientes, "How dare you be so rude to Lord Duke!" ”

Morientes didn't even look back, he knew that I had no choice at the moment, so he said unscrupulously: "Do the knights of Nijmegen like to bully the less?" ”

I sighed softly, and what I was worried about inevitably happened: "Since an old friend invites me, how can there be a reason not to give face?" Lead the way, knights......"

As the morning sun rose higher and higher, we followed the Knight of Morientes and weaved through the path through the trees, and we were talking about me, Luca, and the five guards. Rollo began to insist on staying with me, he feared for the safety of the trip, and he couldn't trust the guards who accompanied him, especially Luca, who looked silly, "His recklessness will drag you down." Rollo explained his doubts.

"You have more important tasks to do." I said, "Take my sword and go to our army at once, and remind them to be vigilant and not to fall into the trap of the enemy." As long as you are here, there is no danger on my side even if the talks fall apart; If you fail, then I'm completely gone, you know? I whispered in Rollo's ear to keep the conversation from the others, who was still a little resistant, but he was a sensible man, and quickly figured out which of the two was more important.

The trail seems to be long and endless, flanked by tall oak trees, and the canopy-like canopy is intertwined into an impermeable green barrier, if the secret realm tracking is going to make a sequel, I suggest that the director team travel directly through the millennium to shoot here, there is absolutely no need for post-production, the various hums of small animals in the early morning are heard in the depths of the secluded jungle, and after a warm rainy night, the world is full of life again.

Morientes led the way, leaving his back to us with confidence, not caring to let us do it unconsciously on this inaccessible tree-lined path, and I stared curiously at him cynically carrying his spear on his broad shoulders, trying to find something to talk about. But when he opened his mouth, he didn't have anything to say, so he had to pretend to yawn and gasp twice, bow his head and continue on his way.

The road suddenly cleared up after the downhill slope. Sure enough, I saw the towering spires and crosses of the Duomo in the morning sun, and at the same time, the Normandy flags on the city walls and the dense marching tents outside the city, Duke Richard did indeed occupy this "heart of Lombardy" before me.

The city of Milan stands majestically on the vast plain of the Po River, backed by the foothills of the Alps, and has been a battleground for soldiers since ancient times. Its history dates back more than 1,500 years to the time of the Celts, and it became famous for the settlement of a strong Insubre people. The Romans quickly drove out their enemies and conquered this fertile land. It was used as a strategic base for advancing north into Gaul and resisting the barbarians from the south, and later gradually became a major commercial and trading city of the Roman Empire with convenient water and land transportation, and its wealth was comparable to that of Rome. It also became the capital of the Western Roman Empire after the division for a short time, with a population of more than 300,000, an absolute megacity.

Home to the archbishop, Milan is another religious center that echoes the Vatican's north and south. The Archbishop of Milan is the first bishop of the universal Church. It has a significant voice in the Council of Cardinals. All this is due to the famous "Edict of Milan" issued by the two emperors of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires, Constantine I and Licinius, proclaiming the freedom of the spread of Christianity in the territory of the two Roman Empires, and returning the confiscated church property, and also recognizing the legal status of Christianity, which became a turning point in the history of Catholicism, marking the transformation of the Roman Empire's policy of Christianity from a combination of repression and tolerance to a policy of protection and exploitation, from a persecuted "underground religion" to a religion of honor. And the upper echelons of the church began to merge with the imperial government. As a result, Milan became the center of Christian propagation, second only to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and the Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican.

In the long history that followed. The Western Roman Empire fell under the trampling of the barbarian iron hooves, and the Eastern Rome was trapped in the Balkans and unable to extricate. The banner of the conqueror and the spirit of the conquered were constantly fluttering at the head of the city of Milan, so that the head of the river pier was rolling, and the ruler was pushed by the new ruler to behead him, and the goddess of victory, who guarded the city with blood and sacrifice, was not until the arrival of Charlemagne. The Carolingian kings received the crown of "Roman Emperor" from the Pope, but they could no longer exert influence on Italy, making it a hotbed of rebels and a paradise for adventurers.

Milan is home to a number of fortresses left over from the Roman Empire, which have been expanded and connected by successive generations to form a strong and complex fortress system, defending the bustling commercial city within the city walls. In particular, the Basilica of San Ostoggio and the Basilica of San Ambrocius, redesigned and built by the Archbishop of Milan Ambrosius, which form the foundation of today's cathedral, have been gradually renovated into dazzling landmark buildings.

"It's a miracle of God, isn't it?" The Knight of Morientes gazed eagerly at the gilded dome of the Duomo of Milan and admired himself, "I have never been to Rome, but I can already imagine the majesty of St. Peter's Basilica, which is the pinnacle of human civilization." ”

I withdrew my gaze from the cross and drove my horse onto the stone path outside Milan. I have been to Italy many times, but I have never been to Milan, which is known as the second largest city in Europe (they obviously forgot the opulent Eastern Roman capital Constantinople, but in the eyes of Western Europeans, it is an authentic Oriental city), but the famous conquerors who came from the north in history always liked to stop here, Charlemagne, Emperor Lothair and Otto the Great, and the other title of the emperor was King of Lombardy, representing his legitimate rule and possession of the Po Plain. Of course, in the last years of the life of His Majesty Otto III, Milan was granted a certain degree of autonomy, in addition to paying taxes and providing supplies to the German army, basically free from the imperial system, the puppet king Aduin also took a fancy to this point and chose to run this place as his lair, I really don't know how the always rebellious citizens were fooled by his clever words.

"The world created by God is huge, but it is a pity that mortals often think that what they have is all they have, and they are constrained from searching." I continued with his words, "There is a sage in the East who once said, 'Only by reading 10,000 books and walking 10,000 miles can you avoid narrow-mindedness and achieve your ambitions in life.'" ”

"Read 10,000 books, walk 10,000 miles?" Morientes seemed to have heard something funny, rubbing his stomach and laughing, "Won't you fall into the abyss guarded by the sea monster if you go so far?" Didn't he say he would go with the sharpest sword and the toughest warhorse? What's the use of reading too many books, only the king's tax collector buries his head in the waste paper heap every day to calculate small profits, and the bachelor of the school city has to find a rich lord to work in the end, if he waits until he finishes reading 10,000 books and walking 10,000 miles, half of his body will have to be buried in the ground. ”

I rolled my eyes and put on a "scheming and conspiracy" expression, but Morientes continued to indulge in admiring the church (which I think was more like calculating the gilded value of the dome) and did not notice my disdain. His statement represents the idea that 99 percent of the aristocratic class in this era "reading is useless, and having a sword and money is the king of grass", and the Vatican is naturally happy to let those powerful fools rest on their laurels, because in this way, the Holy See that controls the culture can play tricks and maintain the firmness of faith and the detachment of status, which is quite similar to ancient China before the imperial examination, the more backward the productive forces, the more solidified the class stratification, the more superstitious the society is about birth and force, which is convenient for the rulers to fool the people.

Our group slowly approached the Normandy army garrison outside the city, rows of tents were arranged in a haphazard group, next to the slums by the moat, their simple construction was not essentially different from the tattered shacks, the only difference was that the pot here was steaming hot and freshly hunted venison, and there was a group of refugees who were staring at their saliva and swallowing their saliva, eager and greedy but afraid to move forward.

Seeing a knight passing by, the soldiers running by the side of the road hurriedly and honestly hid in the corner, and made way for the old men to walk, but there was no cowardice in those eyes, only full of respect for the hero—every Norman was a natural warrior, they feared the strong, but they were never ashamed of themselves.

The two guards guarding the city gate were just about to speak, but without raising his eyes, Morientes threw a pass token and led us through the arched gate into the city, and the exquisite city was instantly presented in front of us. "We only came here yesterday, so there are a lot of places that we are not familiar with, but fortunately I still remember the way back." Morientes turned around and said apologetically, but it was so bad that it made people want to slap it in the face.

"Huh." I sneered twice, dry like sun-dried rancid fish, if you don't choke, you will be smoked to death!

The merchandising city showed a different vitality than other places, and the street vendors kept shouting at the crowd to sell all kinds of goods, from needles and threads to jewelry, and I even saw a Saracen merchant in a robe leading a camel leisurely wandering, no one had the time to pay attention to the other party's beliefs and dress, they only cared about whether their things could be sold at a good price, and then restocked at a low price, a bustling scene unique to a commercial city. What surprised me even more was that the Norman occupation did not affect the daily life of the citizens, they lived as if nothing had happened, and the Norman army, which had always had a bad military discipline, also changed the image of a greedy thug, and camped outside the city in a regular manner, quite a bit of a people's army in the autumn without committing a crime. "The world is really messed up......" I muttered to myself, shaking my head incredulously, still unable to recover from the experience of the past two days.

This book was first published from 17K, the first time to see the genuine content!