The two ships on the Rhine were approaching each other, and the sailors on board hooked the two boats together with wood pulp, and when the two ships approached one man wide, the sailors set up a gangplank on the two boats, and on the ship from the east came a few Germanic nobles, and they boarded another ship, and on that boat another group of Germanic nobles were waiting patiently for them, and the two great East Frankish nobles were smiling and hugging each other on the calm side of the Rhine.

"Your Excellency the Duke of Franconia, thank you for agreeing to this meeting."

"My lord, it is my pleasure."

Duke Arnulf of Bavaria met with the Duke of Franconia, the younger brother of the previous East Frankish king Conrad I, on the Rhine, the meeting of the two dukes was a dangerous signal for the royal family headed by the Saxons, the Duke of Bavaria has always had the intention of becoming king, when Henry just became the king of the East Frankish Kingdom, the Bavarians elected Arnulf to become the king of Bavaria, and Arnulf's real idea was to become the king of East Francia, For this reason, he fought a protracted war with Henry the Birdcatcher, but as the situation gradually turned in Henry's favor, Arnulf had to lead the Bavarians to Henry, giving up his claim to the title of king, but deep down in his heart, did he really give up like this?

"Your Excellency Duke Franconia, the situation has not been very peaceful recently, and there is no danger on the way here, right?" The Duke of Bavaria curled the silver beard on his lips and said to the Duke of Franconia, and several attendants immediately brought chairs for the two noble dukes. Both sides sat in chairs and watched the waterfowl fly up and down from time to time on the water, and the boats slowly rose and fell with the waves of the river.

"Blessed by God, except for a few little thieves who don't know the depths, they didn't encounter much danger." The Duke of Franconia smiled slightly, and his gaze swept over the riverbank, where a group of knights with the heraldic banner of the Duke of Franconia galloped on horseback, closely following the direction of the ship, and an army of one hundred heavy infantry and sixty archers stood up from the one-man tall reeds on the riverbank.

"That's good, God bless you." The Duke of Bavaria also laughed, the Franconians had the most powerful castles, armies, and the most wealth in the entire duchy. It's just that he lacks the most important luck to be a king. When the elder Conrad I died, he said so regretfully on the occasion of his death.

"Your Excellency Duke of Bavaria, this is the end of the courtesy, why did you call this meeting, does the King know? As far as I know, you're Henry's samurai monarch. The Duke of Franconia's young face was slightly teasing. In Conrad's time, the rights of the Frankinians were higher than those of the other tribes in the entire East Francian kingdom. But since Henry, the bird-catcher of the Saxon tribe, came to power. The status of the Franconians gradually declined, even less than that of the Saxon tribes, because in order to gain the support of the Duke of Bavaria. Henry gave the Duke of Saxony the greatest power of independence in his principality, which included dominion over the church in the principality and the right to authorize war.

"Hmph, that's just a trick by Henry to secure his royal power." Duke Arnulf of Bavaria's beard was cocked, and he knew very well that when his alliance Duke Swabia wavered, Henry the Bird Catcher did not hesitate to send an elite army to raid the territory of the Duke of Swabia and force Schwabian to submit to the royal authority, and that qiē was just to cut off his right-hand man, until he dragged Henry's army in Regensburg, and the two sides did not talk to each other when they were evenly matched, and the struggle was far from over for the Duke of Bavaria.

"Yes." The Duke of Franconia's eyes narrowed, he leaned back in his chair, his hands crossed on his knees, the river breeze caressing his face, he was sure if the Duke of Bavaria was telling the truth.

"I stand with you, and believe me, Lord Duke of Franconia, we have a common interest, especially at a time when Henry has made his son Otto his heir, which is strictly contrary to Carolingian tradition, and the dukes of the clan should unite against the atrocities of the royal family." The Duke of Bavaria's brow furrowed, and he complained loudly to the Duke of Franconia, the king of East Francia had been elected from among the dukes, a tradition that dates back to the time of the Roman Empire, but now there was a powerful king who tried to break this inheritance tradition and pass the throne to his second son, Otto.

"Hmph, but how many dukes are willing to join us against Henry now, and most of them are content with the autonomy that Henry has given them." The Duke of Franconia shook his head, the situation was different from when Henry first became king, and many measures had strengthened the power of the royal family, especially the right to appoint bishops in the East Frankish kingdom, and the conquest of the Slavs in the east was also very smooth, and the new Brandenburg was established as a stronghold for expansion to the east.

"Not necessarily, as king of East Francia and the Teutonic people, Henry paid a large tribute to the Magyars every year, and these tributes were not all extorted from the heads of the various principalities?" The Duke of Bavaria reminded the Duke of Franconia.

"But it is precisely because of this tribute that we have been able to make peace from the terrible invasion of the Magyars, for which the dukes should not be grateful?" Duke Franconia said puzzled.

"Ha, this is Henry's sue for you, but I have a witness and a testimony that can prove that it was only when the Magyars attacked the territory of Saxony, in order to ensure that his territory was not attacked by the Magyars, Henry agreed to pay a large ransom in exchange for peace, but the envoy in his dealings with the Magyars misunderstood the Magyars that this was a peace between the entire East Francian kingdom, so he not only stopped the attack on the territory of Saxony, but also stopped the attack on the territory of the other East Francian kingdom, And Henry cleverly took advantage of this afterwards. The Duke of Bavaria denounced the Duke of Franconia.

"If so, this is an unforgivable deception." Duke Franconia said angrily, this is simply treating the other dukes as wronged, if the other dukes only get the truth of the matter, I am afraid they will attack Henry.

"Yes, we must convene a tribal assembly to demand a revival of the Carolingian tradition and the election of the king of East Francia by the dukes." The Duke of Bavaria expressed his wishes, believing that the Franconians would not be reconciled to their lost crown and would agree to their own proposal.

"Well, I can join your alliance, but our alliance is still too few, eh, but when you talk about the East, do you remember why the royal family of Saxony suddenly attacked the Slavs not long ago?" The Duke of Franconia took the wine glass handed by the squire, and a knight behind him took a sip for him first, and then the Duke of Franconia put the wine to his lips and took a sip, his actions made the nobles around the Duke of Bavaria a little dissatisfied, but the Duke of Bavaria did not care.

"I only know that the Slavs were defeated by a certain Germanic nobleman, and the news encouraged Henry, so the royal family mobilized an army to attack the Slavic lands and took a lot of land from them." The Duke of Bavaria didn't understand why the Duke of Franconia would suddenly bring it up, but he patiently became a good spectator.

"That Germanic nobleman, the son of a declining family of the Duchy of Mason, miraculously defeated the Slavs entrenched on the Baltic coast and took over a county, and the speed with which it rose was incredible." The Duke of Franconia said with appreciation.

"Oh, a son of a declining family?"

"Yes, but he is now the palace minister of the Duchy of Mason, but he has a deep grudge with the vassal of the Duchy of Mason, Count Lauz, and the Count of Lauzitz sent me a letter asking me to support him in becoming the new Duchy of Mason, and saying that he has the right to inherit half of the duchy." The Duke of Franconia stretched out his finger and hooked it at his advisor, who immediately handed over a letter from Count Lauzitz.

"Yes." The Duke of Bavaria looked at the almost pleading letter for help, his eyes couldn't help but roll, his beard curled, he raised the letter in his hand, and said to the Duke of Franconia, "We need allies, and the more allies we have, the more advantages we have in the tribal meeting, what do you think?" ”

"Will you support me to become king?" The Duke of Franconia's gaze sharpened, and he stared at the cunning Duke of Bavaria in front of him, who needed his promise in full view.

"Of course, you are the rightful king in my mind." The Duke of Bavaria was also unambiguous and immediately allowed the way.

"And what's next for us?" The Duke of Franconia laughed, he got what he wanted, so he had to start planning for his own purposes.

"It's our men who make sure the Duchy of Mason is in control." The Duke of Bavaria took the wine glass from the hand of his attendant, the wine in the glass was a red color, he raised the glass to the Duke of Franconia, and the two glasses touched each other with a crisp sound, and drank the beautiful scenery on the Rhine, and a flock of wild swans flapped their wings and flew on the river. (To be continued......)