One messenger after another rushed out of the palace, and with the sound of horses' hooves, they rushed to all corners of the city—the barracks, the rich quarters, the guilds, and even the places of the wind and moon.

From the powerful to the Lishu, they were all shocked by the news brought from the front.

The threat of the Caledonians is imminent, and even as a member of the royal capital, he will not be able to live in peace.

In the face of the king's edict, a few families were happy and a few were sad, and those who had a way out naturally laughed, for example, the crossbowmen from the city of Genova had been living in the city of Pali for almost a month, and they had no loot to take out of their mouths. But the average commoner frowned—if even the crown prince, whom they respected, could not stand up to the Galedonians, then who could save the country?

Along with this news arrived, there was a conscription order for the freedmen in the city of Pali - the freedmen who could bring their own armor were still treated much better than the serfs under the coercion of the village lords, who were basically equivalent to mercenaries, not only had a reward to take, but also would not be used as cannon fodder, and if they made any eye-catching feats, they might even get mixed with the title of a minor nobleman. And the serfs, who have no money to arm themselves, will not be kind enough to spend money on these "consumables" - you know, a good pair of armor, the lord himself may not be able to afford it! The most common situation in Oggenia is that these peasants will go to the battlefield wearing bamboo poles and cloth clothes. If the fate is great, and he escapes back home intact, it is considered luck. If you survive without arms and legs, it can be regarded as God's favor. But if you die on the battlefield, you are really dead, and you can't even get a pension - so it's better to be a mercenary, but if you want to become a mercenary, you still have to have reasonable assets and be armed......

This is really a strange era in Sinampei's opinion, full of death-like decay, but also full of hope for a new life, one qiē and one qiē are developing in two extreme directions, the separation between the new class and the ancient rulers is obvious, and the gap between people has reached an unbelievable level.

For example, the meeting of the king now.

In fact, to Sinampei's surprise, it was not only the nobles from all over the world who came to support the king, but also the clergy, merchants, representatives of craftsmen from various guilds in Pali City, judges, and even famous citizens.

No matter how much contradiction the nobles usually have, they are gathered together at this moment, and the priests are not far from them, although they are detached and independent on the surface, but those who have a heart can see that they are hooking up with the nobles.

On the other side, the new class gathered together in a chaotic manner, shouting and shouting, although they were not afraid to express their contradictions with each other in front of outsiders, but they unanimously cast disdainful glances at the nobles opposite.

Si Nanpei shook his head helplessly, what is being held now should be a strict and professional military meeting, right? Why are so many people summoned? Is this holding a three-level meeting?!

Actually, he guessed correctly.

The king sat high on his throne, scanning his courtiers with a condescending and indifferent gaze, while Sinampei, like an attendant, stood not far from him.

The presiding officer of the meeting, Anatol, the king's legal adviser, an old man with a white curly wig, sat on the rostrum in the middle, and struck his hammer heavily, signaling silence and announcing the beginning of the meeting.

However, this impromptu meeting is not comparable to a regularly prepared meeting, and the agenda is quite simple because of the urgency of the situation.

"News has come from the front today that the despicable Caledonians have broken through the outer defences of the fortress of Agincourt with their cannons, and are now engaged in a fierce offensive and defensive battle with the defenders. As the rightful owner of the Capetian crown and the guardian of the Capetian people, His Majesty Henri Dieudonnay de Valoa would not endure such an insult to the gods. In the will of God, he will set out tomorrow to fight against the disobedient people of Caledonia. However, today's King needs your help, and he must have your support to defeat the Caledonians and protect your property. ”

Although the old man said it very tactfully, in short, the meaning is obvious - the king has worked hard for you, and you have to get a little blood.

"Your Majesty, of course we are happy to offer our loyalty to you. One of the citizens' representatives stood up, bowed to the king, and said slowly, "But we don't know what we can give." ”

Military service, or money? To be fair, they don't want to give anything, but in this case, they have to hold their noses and admit it.

The king smiled and did not speak, and naturally someone spoke for him.

It was Count Flesova who spoke: "Opposite, I think you know very well that five thousand crossbowmen from the south came from the south a month ago, and against the archers of Caledonia, they are an indispensable aid to our victory, and in this way, they can replace some of the king's people who have no intention of stepping into battle, and also reduce our casualties." But if we want foreigners to work for us, we need gold ......"

In this way, the purpose of this meeting is obvious - the king extorts the upright fee.

Several merchants heard Flesova's words and whispered to each other. They didn't know how much they would be apportioned if the new war tax was approved by the Conference. Even an extra tenth of their annual income, as is customary, would be enough to make them feel painful - although the total assets are scary, few businessmen will have enough money on hand. Depending on the type of tax, it must be levied very urgently, in case the liquidity chain is broken, it is enough for them.

Although they were tempted to encourage the people to refuse with the convention of "the king lives on his own", no one dared to be the first to jump out and be the first to see the swords and swords of the nobles. Moreover, there is no unity among the citizens, and there are many people who are noncommittal about this tax.

After Flesois, several more nobles jumped out to show their loyalty to the king - and by the way, put pressure on the townspeople. After all, they were going to follow the king to the battlefield to fight for their lives, and the tax could not be apportioned to them.

No matter how shy the king was, they felt that the king would have to rely on his own cornerstones.

Quietly observing the chaos of this meeting, Sinampei had a bottom in his mind about the political situation in the Capetian Kingdom. He looked at the king and thought to himself, "Did he organize this meeting just to go on an expedition?"