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The Empire has never had a divine renewal of the total [Forbidden Water]—

The Empire has never had a sacred [Forbidden Water]-

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There was chaos in the Papal Palace, and there were assassins everywhere! The Swiss Guards, armed with halberds, and the Papal Guards, armed with spears, were so angry that they turned the entire Vatican upside down as if they were crazy under the command of their respective commanders. In the end, however, not a single Assassin hair was found.

Fortunately, however, Pope Gregory VII was not assassinated, as he had been assassinated on the previous occasions. Although the Assassins were agile and capable, they were still a little worse in the end. And after the first and most dangerous assassination, which almost cut off the arm of the Holy See, the Holy See also became nervous. There are three steps and one post in the Vatican, and one post and one post in five steps. Pope Gregory VII was surrounded by a large number of soldiers, but who would have thought that the Assassin would be disguised as a guard before this?

Half an hour later, Gregory asked his captain of the guard with the gauze still wrapped around his left arm in his fine clothes, "Still haven't you caught it?"

"I'm very sorry, Holy See. "Once again, the captain of the guard was a little embarrassed.

"Forget it...... , it's hateful. Gregory VII's last sentence was to comfort the captain of the guard who was loyal to him. The latter sentence is about the Norman Assassins, although there is absolutely no evidence that these Assassins were sent by the Norman Emperor, so the Papal States cannot further question the Norman Emperor. But there is a popular saying in Europe today that if you can't find out at all, the Assassin who came to assassinate you is definitely a Norman. And Egil was going to send someone to assassinate Gregory VII, who was against him, and the motive, purpose, and ability were all there.

There is just no evidence.

"It's ...... disgusting. The more Gregory VII thought about it, the more angry he became, slamming his fist on the armrest of the throne beneath him, repeating the word again. And the captain of his guard, and even the bishops around him, all bowed their heads and said nothing.

This is what happened on November 21st. It was the day before Francisco met with the emissaries sent by the Norman Empire. This was not the first time, and certainly not the last, that the Pope was assassinated by Norman Assassins. I wish him a good night's sleep.

In the dim light, the Norman envoy spoke openly and honestly, and quickly explained the conditions of the Norman Empire and what he wanted Francisco to do. And repeatedly claimed: this was the will of the Norman emperors. The emperor's will could not be influenced, let alone changed, and he had no right to negotiate terms with Francisco at all. So, even if Francisco imprisoned him, it would be useless to even kill him.

Looking at this secret letter from the Norman Emperor, Francisco fell into a deep groan. In fact, the letter seemed rather rude to him, as if his boss was ordering his subordinates. And the content of the letter is also very simple:

"In my capacity as Holy Roman Emperor, I command you: to carry out my orders. Just stand still and resolutely oppose the crossing of the Alps in winter. And after the Holy See's army crossed the Alps, in response to our call, the supply routes on the side of the Holy See were blocked. And answer my call to join my army in attacking Rome next spring after my army crosses the Alps, and in addition to this, you must provide enough supplies for my army.

As a reward, I will recognize your title as Duke of Milan. and support your occupation of Corsica. In the legendary Atlantis of the New World, and in the fleets of the Far East, I have a place for you. Milan's merchant fleet will be unimpeded in the Mediterranean. The Norman navy would protect all Milanese merchants from pagan pirates, or other powers. ”...,

Seeing this treaty, Francisco was moved, although this treaty was condescending in tone, and it sold Milan completely in one go. He was asked to send troops and money to support Egil in this campaign. However, if the Normans had won the war, Milan, which had a good chance of winning, would also benefit from the war. Trade routes, money, the protection of the strongest navy in the Mediterranean! However, thinking of this, Francisco suddenly remembered one more thing. I couldn't help but hesitate.

"What are you thinking? Or rather, do you have any scruples? Such conditions, so good, so tempting. Aren't you satisfied?" asked the Norman messenger on the other side, slightly dissatisfied.

"No, I don't have an opinion on this document, this treaty. Like you said, he's good enough. Especially for a country like Milan, it's really exciting. However, there is only one question here......" Francisco hesitated a little longer, only gritted his teeth, and asked: "The Norman Empire, can it really guarantee that this treaty will be implemented after the war?"

"Are you doubting the sincerity of the master you are looking for, His Majesty the Great Egir?" the envoy was even more dissatisfied when he heard the duke ask: "It is well known that His Majesty the Emperor is true to his allies and to the country that truly supports him! as close as the Fourth Crusade to the invasion of Europe by the Greeks. Your Majesty has twice served as the leader of the European Continental Alliance, but who has ever suffered a loss?!"

"No, no, no, it's not that kind of grace. There is no doubt about the sincerity of His Majesty the Emperor. Francisco hurriedly waved his hand~ Indeed, the character of the Norman Emperor is indeed quite poor, but he still has the word honesty when he speaks and does things, which is related to the authority of the emperor and the credit of the Norman Empire. In formal diplomatic situations, Egil would never play tricks.

"Looking for another thing, this ...... , you know, the greatest power at the disposal of the Empire in the Mediterranean is what your country calls the Open Sea Fleet. This is also the reason why the large army of the Holy See did not dare to leave Italy and enter South Germany. Now, things are completely different...... So, look for a feeling of ",..."

Hearing the other party say such words, the Norman envoy finally couldn't help it, and laughed out loud, which also alarmed the Milan guards outside. The guards immediately stormed the tent. Then he was quickly driven away by Duke Francisco.

"I don't think there's anything funny about it. Duke Francisco was a little annoyed at the sight of the visitor, but soon the cunning fellow understood the meaning of the Norman messenger's laughter.

"It's difficult, could it be said that the commander of the open sea fleet of your country is actually not ....... Looking at the visitor's calm and confident smile, Francisco nodded: "No wonder, no wonder...... , your emperor is really ~"

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, and your Emperor. The Norman messenger interrupted Francisco and said this.

"That's right, that's right, it's also the emperor ...... you're looking for. Duke Francisco chuckled quietly. At the same time, he stood up, turned around, and brought a bottle of this year's new wine and two crystal glasses.

"So, for the sake of the emperor who is looking for you, let's have a drink. The Duke proposed.

"It's better to be respectful than to obey. The mission was successfully completed, and the Norman envoy nodded easily. In this way, Francisco Forza, Duke of Milan, and his army of 27,000 defected from the Holy See and signed a secret treaty with the Norman Empire, thus announcing their membership in the Norman Empire. ...,

And the same thing happened in Venice. Vutte, the governor of Venice, who was supported by Egil on the one hand, didn't even wait for the other party to say a few more words, and took the initiative to say the words of surrendering Egil Unlike Francisco, who has risen in the past two years, this governor has seen all the strong aspects of the Norman Empire since his debut, and he doesn't think that the Holy See can have any possibility of defeating the other party. He joined the ranks of the Holy See because he was afraid of Rome's 50,000 elite armed regular army. Thus reluctantly responding to the call of the Papal States.

After the Norman envoy made an unannounced visit, he immediately turned back.

In this way, the 24,000-strong army under the command of Venice also changed its banner. The treaty follows the example of Milan.

This was the second round of the Norman Emperor's confrontation with the Holy See Gregory. The Holy See's efforts to remove the kings of the Seven Kingdoms caused a series of rebellions in the rear of the Norman Alliance, so much so that tens of thousands of Norman troops had to return to the country to quell the rebellion. Egil, on the other hand, reversed Milan and Venice, the two northern Italian states. The strength of the Holy See was lost by more than a quarter at once. It's clear who wins and who loses.

Thus, at the behest of Egil, the Doge of Venice and the Duke of Milan, both of whom sent emissaries to the Holy See to protest against the Pope's order to force them to climb over the Alps in winter. And in this regard, Pope Gregory VII also felt a headache, although he was not a first-class commander. However, before Gregory VII was crowned pope, he had also participated in the war against the Eastern Roman Empire and participated in the planning of the training of the new Roman army, and he was not ignorant of military affairs. Climbing over snowy mountains in winter, he also feels that this kind of thing is not very reliable. Speaking of which, he was also forced to be helpless.

Prior to this, the news of the defeat of South Germany and the death of the Duke of Swabia made Gregory VII helpless. Originally, his Ji Ge was similar to Henry of Bavaria, and the two dukes of South Germany concentrated their forces to guard the south bank of the Danube, waiting for the next spring to bloom, and then send a large army to the rescue.

However, as soon as Henry of Swabia died, Bavaria immediately became isolated. Although there were also quite a few rebels in the South German region. But how much of a role these rabble can play, Gregory VII did not know in his heart. He knew that if he did not come to his aid as soon as possible, he would not have to wait until the next spring to conquer all of South Germany by the Normans...... , (To be continued). If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations, monthly passes, and your support is the biggest motivation to find. ）