Hundreds of Viking dragon ships anchored on the eastern coast, and when Aquaman Ragnar stormed London, he issued more summoning orders, and letters were sent to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Rus...... Let the Vikings from all regions come to get a piece of the pie.

November 22, 865 AH.

Two thousand Vikings and four hundred surrendered puppet soldiers, three thousand five hundred Wessex soldiers.

The two sides were in separate positions on a hilly area.

The Wessex soldiers occupied the higher position, with four large trebuchets and twelve ballistae.

It was nearly noon, and the two mighty kings, under the protection of their respective nobles, rode out of the ranks.

"Aquaman Ragnar" had not been to the south of England for many years, and this time the nobles and soldiers who came with King "Æthelred" were many of them seeing this demon for the first time.

They suddenly felt that the legend was so ridiculous.

This is just an old man with gray hair, and he doesn't look strong, how much is he seven meters long? One meter eight? How scary can it be?

On the contrary, it was the soldiers behind him, and the momentum was extraordinary.

And the endless crow armor and green round shield.

If you really fight, I don't know how many people will die?

Ethelred was surrounded by the best knights of the kingdom.

Ragnar, on the other hand, was accompanied by only two Berserker riders, both of whom were as old as him, riding on horses with bent backs.

The two kings who decided the future of England stepped forward to face each other.

"Ahem......"

"Your Majesty (Æthelred)?"

Æthelred's face was very bad, he didn't want to lose face in front of the Vikings, but he couldn't help it.

Ragnar smiled and waited until Ethelred relented.

"If I'm not mistaken, I met you fifteen years ago."

"Yes, Your Majesty (Ragnar), that time, you killed my uncle in 'Hastings', and I was captured by your men, and then you used a cart of treasure and replaced me."

Ethelred addressed Ragnar as His Majesty, not with contempt.

This shows that he doesn't want to fight anymore.

So far in the war, Wessex has been earned, reunited the whole South, and the borders have not suffered much, and it would have been better if the Vikings had retreated, or rather to fight Mercia.

"I'm willing to give Hafdan back to you, what I want is simple, peace." Ethelred took the cloth out of his mouth and saw a bright red on it, then carefully withdrew the cuffs from outsiders.

This body is too bad, if he dies, what will happen to his son and beloved wife who can't walk well?

There were also examples of Ansa aristocrats marrying the wives of their elder brothers.

One of his brothers, who died young, also married his father's wife.

The thought that his brother might climb into his wife's bed burned with rage

Therefore, there must be a truce, and then the difficulties for my son will be eliminated to ensure that he can ascend to the throne.

"Peace? Sounds great, but the Three Northern Sides think differently than you, they hunt and kill Vikings everywhere, without the slightest idea of peace, and the king of East Anglia whom I have chosen has been thrown to death by them!

You say, how can I trust you?"

Ragnar was in no hurry to attack and began to discuss the possibility of peace.

"Without Wessex's joining, the Northern Army is the most numerous and unable to expel you, they are them, I am me, I am the great and noble Æthelred, and the promise I have made will not be easily broken."

Æthelred was accompanied by close knights, who knew that the king wanted peace talks, so they did not object.

If it was Alfre's people, I am afraid it would be different.

"And what about after you're gone? Forgive me for my faux pas, life is always full of accidents, isn't it?" Ragnar hinted that Ethelred was in poor health.

Æthelred immediately replied, "I am the king, after I go to the Lord's side, my son is the king, I will arrange everything, as long as you cooperate with me, there is nothing in this world that can trouble us except the resurrection of the dead and the rise and fall of the sun." ”

Ragnar was deep in thought, and this time he came, he also doubted Æthelred's peace proposal, and wondered if he would secretly attack the sneak attack.

But after the meeting, from Ethelred, Ragnar only felt that this was a dying patient who was arranging the aftermath.

"You don't have to think about it, you are all soldiers, and the logistics are all robbery.

If you don't agree, I will fight you with the Northern Army, and then order all the county magistrates and the lord of the manor to fight you to the death, and it won't be long before you will return to England in ashes, and besides, have you heard the rumors of the 'Golden Seal Edict'?"

The Golden Seal Edict!

"I know that the royal decree from Northumbria, King Ella, who called on the princes of God to attack us, and said that he would send men to Rome to ask the Pope to send troops from Italy, is that a crazy and great proposal, isn't it?" Ragnar was also stunned when he heard this.

"Ella can't do it, but I can, I've always been in contact with the Romans, my children have been canonized by the Pope, and I've given my children allies in North Francia."

"North Francia? Iron Arm Baldwin?" Ragnar's first instinct was to think of this man.

"That's right, the great nobleman who has suppressed the Dan people in the past few years and defeated Sigurd and Hafdan, I have sent someone to form an alliance with them last month."

As a king who lived on a sickbed and went to the government to discuss state affairs, Æthelred slowly gained power in his own way.

In fact, according to his family style, he can also find a Frankish princess for his son, but in that case, it may trigger an invasion of the Frankish royal forces.

And marrying Baldwin's daughter can use him to contain the Vikings in Denmark.

And just "fake marriage".

If he could live another year or two, let him eradicate all the county governors who were not loyal to him, and find a better daughter-in-law, it doesn't have to be Baldwin......

He mentally looked down on this robber who robbed the king's daughter.

After the meeting, the two returned to their camps and discussed with their respective men.

Ragnar told several of his cronies, "Ethelred is willing to take out the map and secretly send someone to help us repel the Mercian coalition army, and in the future set up a Great Danfa district, from East Anglia, East Mercia, plus half of Northumbria."

And put Hafdan back.

In return, we will relinquish the reign of Wessex, and even recognize him as 'King of England.' ”

This proposal amounted to the Vikings taking a quarter of the land of England and the other three-quarters to Æthelred.

Ragnar felt it was profitable, but he wanted more, so he didn't agree right away.

"Several Viking leaders looked at each other, fighting and killing people, but when it came to dividing the land, they were not so sharp."

"Can you take Æthelred by storming, can you control Wessex?" One of the chiefs asked?

"Hit?"

"No, talk about peace, this condition is very good."

Two more responded.

Ragnar looked over, but he didn't agree with the proposals and reasons, until his eyes fell on the last young leader.

The man's name was "Knut", and Ragnar only knew him when he came ashore.

Less than twenty years old, but already has a lot of combat experience.

He was a young slave brought back by Hestein during the robbery of Eastern Rome, and later became his adopted son.

This time, he released false information and used the 'Rolo's Pirate Banner' to deceive the Anglo nobles, which was a means from him.

"Your Majesty." "I think you should agree." ”

"Why?" Ragnar asked.

"You supported a young man to be king, but the end was that the Ansa nobles threw him to death by cruel means, the nobleman named Oran, the hand of the king from Northumbria, what did he say after he killed the 'young king'?

He said that those who surrendered to the Vikings deserved to die and must go to hell!

You have attacked Frank with 'Rollo', and the number of people is far smaller than this time, but why did the stronger and more unified Frank compromise?

Charlemagne's descendants paid a ransom, ceded the islands, and recognized our right of way.

The entire British Seven Powers combined, whose population and land are not comparable to those of the Franks, were defeated by us, but we did not back down at all, and even proposed the 'North Sea Crusade'.

The Franks had a vast land, and they could still bear to cede some land, England was surrounded by seas on all sides, and they could not bear to lose their homeland, and this time inspired the belief that they would fight to the death.

Then we can't despise them, we can't let them cooperate, and we must break them separately.

Our numbers are too small to rule the place with the local nobles, and the rebellion will keep gathering.

The king of Wessex has used us, and we can use him, and when the people of the district trust us, today's agreement can be nullified. ”

"How do you get them to trust us?" Ragnar asked again.

"It is extremely difficult for a man to die with a sword, but to destroy his faith.

But once successful, there is no need to worry that he will rebel again.

Wash away the faith of the Ansas, change their customs, their writing, their habits of speech, send our priests, teach them Sakya literature, and send people to sing praises to your heroic deeds.

From the court to the brothel, there will be no 'King Arthur' in the future, only 'King Ragnar',

It was just a battle between different monarchs, not a heretical foreign invasion.

We and our ancestors of the Anza people came from the southern lands.

Let them know that your rule has its legitimacy. ”

"Go on." Ragnar came interested.

"Destruction and looting only make people afraid, and make people feel hatred in their hearts, and the 'clearance order' you issued when you went ashore was to await the Vikings who died in the last battle, and also to boost morale, but the effect was extremely bad.

With the pirate's mind, even if the Seven Kingdoms are defeated, waiting for you and your children to pass away, this place will still be called England.

If you govern with the mentality of creating the 'North Sea Empire', it will be different.

In the eyes of the Frankish aristocracy, the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy was also a barbarian.

They despise us because they look down on our cultural traditions, and we should change and assimilate some of their progressive beliefs......"

From jurisprudence to other aspects, Knut spoke in detail.

Ragnar's heart was moved, and when he looked at the young man, his affection doubled.

He even planned to give an illegitimate daughter to Knut.

"Your Majesty, let go of Æthelred and reduce the blood feud with Wessex, a country, the king and the crown prince are at odds, the king wants to give the throne to the young child, this is the source of the unrest.

Once detonated, it will be a battle of division.

Maybe not long after we establish the kingdom of Danfa, the civil war in the south will break out, and we will have to rely on our military forces at that time. ”

After saying the last sentence, the corners of Canut's mouth rose, and the other leaders were impressed by his confidence and explanation, and readily agreed.

After that, there were some details, and Ragnar adopted a number of Knut's proposals.

Ragnar was born as a peasant and relied on fortune to reach the top, but he had many bad habits in his bones, and many plans were not far-sighted, but he was willing to listen to the persuasion of others, and to a large extent, made up for many shortcomings.

Wessex's proposal is tantamount to a betrayal of the Northern Army in disguise.

And it would plunge Alfred into an unprecedented crisis.

Originally, Alfred was a hero against the Vikings, but now if peace is negotiated, then he will not lose anything, and he will even be relieved of his military power.

Twenty miles south of the county of London, the crown prince, who led three hundred men to defend, kept sending people to the hilly battlefield to inquire.

He even wrote a handwritten letter asking the king's brother to take a good look.

From dusk to evening, Alfred sent letters three times, but each one became the fuel the king used for heating.

Towards dawn, Æthelred woke up.

Or he woke up coughing, and there was a minister next to him who was resting on his stomach, still holding a pen in his hand, and when he heard the sound, he woke up immediately.

The courtier had short hair, was no more than twenty-five years old, and wore a black robe.

Æthelred saw him awake and said, "I can't sleep, read the story you wrote to me." ”

"What do you want to hear?"

"Listen to your story of the Seven Kingdoms, sometimes I admire you, your hands can really write, 'My daughter is also a daughter, and the great evil will affect the peace of Northumbria, so that the two brothers cannot be united.

There were also rumors that King Mercia had poisoned his father, which made Burgred's reputation in Rome so bad that he and the nobles of his realm were suspicious of each other. ”

"Your Majesty, then I'll start reading."

In an archaic tone, the courtier began to tell the story of the Seven Kingdoms, but when it came to Wessex, it ended only with his father.

Ethelred suddenly remembered something and asked, "You say, what will happen when I die?"

"I don't know." The minister said.

"I'm going to be the greatest."

"You will."

"Your book is called 'The Kings of Britain.'"

Then the king said, "'Reign over England, God bless him, Æthelred the Great'...... All I have to do is leave this sentence in your book, and it will be good to ......"

As the two spoke, a fourth letter from the crown prince arrived.

The king closed his eyes, but this time he did not let the courtier throw him into the campfire, but let him read it.

But the king did not respond to the first three letters, nor did he ask the messenger to send anything back.

In the fourth letter, Alfred was so anxious that he said that if he made peace with the Vikings, it would be extremely stupid to betray the Northern army, and these words were read out by the ministers......

Cough!

The blood stained the red quilt, and the king's eyes turned cold, "If he (the crown prince) is disobedient, let him go to see his father!"

"A wise choice, Your Majesty."

……

As a king, a demeanor that will change the direction of the country for years, decades.

At this moment, Oran is on the roof of the "Dan City", looking at the southern sky, hoping that everything will be as he expected.

The dark sky will not light for a while, and Oran waits, waiting.

Oran waits for the sun, while the Titan stands behind him, looking at the sun in his heart (Oran).

An hour later, a knight went upstairs and told Oran that Björn's forces had defeated a coalition of Mercia and were approaching the grave of King Mercia.

Two hours later, golden light lit up from all directions, and it rose into the sky.

Don't be pessimistic, the reason why people can is to believe that they can!

Oran exhaled a long breath and shouted at the soldiers below, his eyes were firm and full of confidence,

"Open the meal!"