In the afternoon, Na (sāo) castle.

Count Na (sāo) paced up and down his study restlessly like a hungry tiger, looking so angry and agitated that his eyes were bloodshot, as if he were a bloodthirsty beast. If you count the salty body odor on him (shēn), then he is no different from a real tiger!

In front of him, a trembling Baron Albrecht was kneeling on one knee, and if there was anything that made him feel better, it was a soft carpet on the ground that kept his knees from coming into close contact with the hard, cold stone bricks.

But judging from the cold sweat on his head, his pale face, and his lips trembling involuntarily, the effect of this soft, warm wool carpet is probably infinitely close to zero.

"Waste, how do you do it? Hundreds of people! Hundreds of people actually let that kid slip under your noses! Count Sāo roared angrily, and the bloody jaw seemed to be able to devour the poor Baron Albrecht alive, as if he were a roaring lion, like the coat of arms of his (xiōng) mouth. His spit even splashed on Baron Albrecht's face and hair.

"Lord Earl, you don't blame me for this! That cunning Oriental was a wizard, and he turned into me in front of me, and swaggered out! Albrecht hurriedly crawled to Count Sāo, hugged Count Sāo's right leg and cried in defense.

"Wizard? I think you're just quibbling! Count Sāo flung his right leg angrily, but Baron Albrecht refused to let go, and Count Sāo was immediately annoyed and kicked him several meters away and slammed him into the wall.

"Lord Earl, what I said is true, absolutely true!" Baron Albrecht crawled back to Count Sāo again with his hands and feet, and began to cry like a puppy reprimanded by his master.

On the wall behind him (shēn) hangs a thick heraldic tapestry with an upright yellow lion on a blue background, the coat of arms of Count Na (sāo). In fact, if the error is a few tens of centimeters, what awaits Baron Albrecht is likely to be a sharp blade hanging on the wall for decoration!

"Then do you still want to tell me that he has wings and can fly?" Count Sāo sneered and examined Baron Albrecht's unrecognizable, bruised face. Don't get me wrong, these are not souvenirs left by Count Sāo to Baron Albrecht, but the "fruits of victory" for the knights who were provoked by Han Xing.

"No, no, no, of course not!" When Baron Albrecht saw the eyes of Count Sāo, he was thrilled and hurriedly waved his hand.

"Wait, you said he became you in front of you?" After continuing to kick and beat Baron Albrecht, after calming down a little, he asked with a suspicious look on his beard on the cheeks of the Count Traveler.

"That's right, that's right! I saw with my own eyes, not only me, but several knights to testify to! Baron Albrecht repeatedly grasped the straw that saved his life, and he climbed up with a happy face, and nodded his head like a chicken pecking rice.

"In that case, I have an idea!" A smug smile flashed across Count Sāo's face, and he came to the edge of the map and took a closer look at it.

"I wonder what tricks the Earl has?" Baron Albrecht was very aware of the xìng of Count Na (sāo), so he asked obediently.

Count Sāo was obviously eager to vomit, so a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and then he rubbed his hands in anticipation and said, "You say, what would Archbishop of Münster do if he knew that Count Henschel Segard was a heretic?" ”

"Of course, that would be to declare him a heretic, and send an Inquisitor to arrest him and burn him at the stake for a barbecue!" Baron Albrecht looked admiring when he heard this, but of course it was not certain whether he was consistent or not.

"Is this possible? He is an earl, even if he is an archbishop, he would not dare to provoke a high-ranking nobleman easily! I don't know if it will disturb His Majesty the Emperor! Even if he is really a heretic, he will usually open one eye and close one eye! After a brief moment of excitement, Baron Albrecht asked worriedly.

"That's true in general, but don't forget who Paderborn's titular owner is!" Count Na (sāo) said with a smile (xiōng).

"Ah~ yes! As long as there are interests, I am not afraid that our archbishop will not be (tào)! I will go and tell him the sad news of the old man—Count Hanschel Segard is a heretic, a servant of Lucifer! Baron Albrecht slapped his head, smiled and walked backwards out of the room.

After Baron Albrecht left, Count Na (sāo) looked at the location of Ganquan Village on the map, "Alas~ What a feng shui treasure!" Why did I seal it off in the first place? This is good, I lost my wife and broke my soldiers! ”

The importance of Ganquan Village in the county of Sāo is self-evident, and despite the fact that it is now just a small trading hub, it actually has great potential to transform into a trading hub. Moreover, its geographical location is special, it is close to mountains and rivers, and more importantly, there is a clear spring in the city, water is the source of life, and human settlements are usually inseparable from water. This means that as long as you stock up on enough food in the city, you will never have to worry about running out of food and water.

In fact, Count Sāo had only recently noticed the village of Ganquan, which contained three baronies, two castles – Na (Sāo Castle) and Bamberg Castle, and one town – Wetzlar. The area is about one and a half municipalities, and in such a vast territory, Count Sāo did not notice the potential for development of Ganquan Village. After all, there were no less than 20 such hamlets in the entire Earldom of Sāo.

It wasn't until Han Xing was made Earl of Paderborn that Count Sāo began to pay attention to taking it to Ganquan Village. There is a good saying that "only when you lose do you know how to cherish", in the past, Ganquan Village belonged to Han Xing, and Han Xing was a vassal of Count Na (Sāo), so in a sense, Ganquan Village is also the territory of Count Na (Sāo).

However, with Han Xing's appointment as Count of Paderborn, Han Xing became the same level as Count Na (Sāo) and had no subordinate relationship with each other, and in this situation (qíng), Ganquan Village, as Han Xing's territory, was out of the grasp of Count Na (Sāo). This can refer to the cause of the Hundred Years' War between England and France - William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy of France, conquered England by his own skills and was crowned King of England.

For a long time, the descendants of William's "conqueror" were loyal to the French king as the Duke of Normandy (shēn), but over time England began to grow in strength and annexed Bordeaux (known for its wine), Poitiers, and Aquitaine in southwestern France through marriage. This meant that the British crown actually controlled one-third of France.

and (shēn) for "Count of Île-de-France" (a nodding term used to make fun of the French king, who for a long time in the Middle Ages played a role similar to that of Zhou Tianzi). The King of France, who could not get out of the small territory around Paris, was like an island in the middle of the sea) began to fear the British King, and at the same time, the growth of power made it impossible for the King to endure the humiliation of bowing to the French King. (Everyone is a king, why should I make you a subordinate?) ）

Han Xing's situation is very similar to that of Count Sāo, and in fact the confrontation between Britain and France is even more violent, because of the presence of the duke, there is almost no reason for the two to go to war, which makes it even more difficult for Count Sāo to reclaim his territory.

In fact, if the Duke of Hesse was still around, he would even maliciously favor Han Xing, and for the lord, it was a good thing for the vassals to oppose and contain each other (qíng). Unfortunately, the Duke of Ulrich von Hesse had now paid the price for his years of overeating, perhaps because he was so happy after recovering Paderborn that he went back to binge again, not knowing that this was his last supper.

In the feudal society of the Middle Ages, it was very difficult to try to expand territory (qíng), because the layers of feudal systems regulated the whole of Europe, in response to the saying "what is small attracts the old". If you attack an earl, it is likely to attract his lord or even alarm the king, and even if the king does not fight you, it is possible to force you to cease the war, which basically seals the possibility of military expansion (xìng). (This is also the main reason for the rise of the Habsburg characteristic marriage politics.) ）

The most typical is the Holy Roman Empire, and the declaration of war on any of these feudal states can be understood as a provocation to the authority of the emperor, as the emperor, the territorial integrity of the empire can be said to be almost the most basic obligation.

Therefore, we can understand why Count Na (sāo) is so concerned about a small Ganquan village, whether you have perfectionist obsessive-compulsive disorder or not, no one likes someone to fence around their living room and fence their own TV (ài) to prevent themselves from watching, right?

When Count Na (sāo) noticed Ganquan Village, he naturally began to send people to secretly collect (qíng) newspapers, and the more he in-depth, the more frightened he became, he did not expect that the economic development of Ganquan Village was so vigorous, and there were more than 20 caravans passing and staying every day, and Wetzlar was only passing through eleven or twelve every day at its peak!!

As long as he is willing to invest in it, Ganquan Village will definitely be able to develop into the Count of Sāo, no, the most prosperous trading town in the whole Principality of Hesse. And trade means a lot of input!

Why is the Duchy of Hesse called Hesse? This is not a transliteration, this is a place with more than 70% woodland coverage, which can be called a poor mountain and bad water, in this era when the wood processing industry has not yet emerged, large areas of forest mean that transportation is inconvenient and arable land is scarce, and in this situation (qíng) the importance of a new and prosperous trading town (xìng) is self-evident!