85_85536 In the days when the Second Great Frontier War was about to begin, but it had not yet begun. After being busy with the things that I needed to do, I thought of all the ideas I could come up with. William's life was easy again.

The resettlement work, which was expected to be busy, was completed easily. Thousands of Gothic refugees, that sounds like a lot. But scattered throughout the Duchy of Mystia, it is very rare.

In addition, the advanced bureaucracy, or at least the relatively advanced, and the abundant food reserves, were the reasons why William could easily swallow the thousands of immigrants.

After being surprised to find that a dozen towns and hundreds of farms in his territory were divided into one point, and thousands of immigrants disappeared without a trace. William was half-joyed and half-sad.

Rejoicing naturally because of the increase in population. In this era, there are no theories such as population carrying capacity, population explosion, and population burden. There is too much untapped land in this world. At the same time, the average life expectancy of human beings in this era is too short. Add to this the decay of agriculture. So in this day and age, instead of thinking about the burden of the population, it is better to think about what to eat tonight. At least think about the latter, it's barely useful.

That's it, there's nothing to do. Or that all that should be done has been done. The messenger who had set out in the autumn to deliver a letter to the Gothic Knights within the Empire returned to Mystia in early November, bringing back a reply from the Gothic Order.

Just like William thought, after a series of quarrels, discussions, compromises and bargains. The Gothic Order admits that the judgment is correct. Or rather, they "believed" that William's judgment was correct.

Of course, when it came to the specifics, William did not say that this was his meaning and analysis. Instead, he put all this information under the name of his father, Duke Otto, to enhance his credibility.

In fact, William felt that even if he didn't, the goth knights would have made up for it.

After all, compared to a young nobleman of eighteen years old, the hero of the era of the Great Frontier War, the duke who has entered middle age is more convincing.

Of course, this cannot be said to be entirely the credit of William.

The Gothic Knights themselves had their own sources of information. And their intelligence showed that William's judgment was correct. Or at least partially true. The other "parts" cannot be judged to be correct or not in a short period of time.

So, the Gothic Knights chose to believe that they were right.

Of course, one thing the Order didn't know was that their intelligence channels had been slightly interfered with.

This "small disturbance" came from the Polotsk merchants, led by the Blue Hat Merchant Group.

Because strictly speaking, the Polotsk United Province is also located in the large border area. The merchants also didn't want Tartaria's centaurs to come in.

In this way, the Gothic Knights began to operate in full force. Mobilize the backbone and organize an expeditionary force. Contact the Holy See to obtain a "crusader" mandate. Lobbying aristocrats, merchants, and even commoners for donations, troops, and supplies. At the same time, it actively contacted various mercenary groups. I hope to hire as many mercenaries as I can with the least amount of money.

Things are moving in the direction William hoped.

In Krakow. The Duke of Mystia, William's father, Duke Otto, became the guest of honour of the Grand Duke of Leszeck. The identity of the prospective children's in-laws does not feel too reliable, and it is always a little worse...... But Grand Duke Lesek had been dizzy by the harsh shape. Treat Duke Otto as a lifesaver and obey him.

Just like William predicted. With the Second Great Frontier War about to begin, no matter how stupid the monarch is, he will understand the importance of Duke Otto.

It was under the influence of Duke Otto's great prestige that the four Grand Duchyes of Wende reluctantly reached a cooperation agreement.

Grand Duke Leszek was to support Henry of Shilonsk and become King of Wende.

However, his support is limited to personal support. On this basis, Grand Duke Henry will no longer force Vial of Turov in order to gain his support.

In principle, the four Grand Dukes of Wende, including Dietrich, would form an alliance. to deal with Tartaria together.

There are three basic principles laid down in the Covenant,

The first was the union of Shilonsk and Mazovia, the two Liestrians.

Second, it is a common alliance of the four Grand Dukes, excluding the alliance of Shilonsk and Mazovia.

Thirdly, the alliance is only against Tartaria, and at the same time it is a defensive covenant and not against third parties.

Such an inconsual, vaguely conceived covenant was unexpectedly unanimously supported by the four Grand Dukes. Because they all got what they wanted, at least partially, what they needed.

First of all, common. The alliance against Tartaria is something that the four Grand Dukes, and indeed the entire human world, are happy to see.

Secondly, Henry of Shilonsk succeeded in winning over Mazovia. He was one step closer to the throne of King Wende, which he coveted.

Thirdly, Dietrich of Livonia, and Vyal of Turov, who were not forced to recognize Henry of Shilonsk as the only legitimate King of Wende, or at least the legitimate successor of King Wende. They have preserved their independence.

Fourth, the uncertainty of the alliance, and the nature of the defensive covenant that was not directed against third parties and only dealt with the Tartarian Khanate, as well as the contradictions within the alliance, also satisfied the rest of the human world, especially the rest of the Ostrogothic Empire.

Their minds, William guessed very thoroughly: a good Wende is a divided Wende. But it can't be too divided. It needs to be strong enough to deal with external aggression and act as a shield for the empire and the entire human world. At the same time, it needs to not have enough strength to deal with Tartaria without being a threat to the rest of the human world.

Therefore, the covenant drafted and presided over by William seems simple, but in fact it is comprehensive and everyone is happy.

"But it's not actually perfect. Speaking of this covenant, William said to Charlumie, and to his aunt Freya:

The covenant came into effect immediately, but it was very short-lived. Once the centaurs of Tartaria are repulsed, or take the initiative to stop military operations in the border area, then a new civil war awaits the kingdom of Wende. ”

"Why do you say that?" asked Charlumie.

"Because for Archduke Henry, the time has come for him to unify the entire kingdom of Wende. Mazovia, plus Shilonsk. His power already occupies one-half of the entire Wende. And then, no matter how much diplomatic efforts were made to win over the other two Grand Dukes, they would not agree with Archduke Henry.

Why should he not use force when diplomatic efforts have been ineffective and he has not suffered military losses?"

In this way, Vyal of Turov and Dietrich of Livonia will naturally come together. Two against two, no one suffers...... Indeed, if the Wende Kingdom can survive next, then a civil war will follow. Freya nodded, agreeing with William's reasoning.

Then Freya realized that something was wrong—it was William's personal fault.

When it came to the impending war, William was not worried, nor did he have any concerns.

William, on the contrary, looked a little excited. Or anticipation. He was looking forward to the coming series of wars. At the same time, they are also looking forward to him, and the series of benefits that the Hereford family can obtain in the next war.

But Freya didn't think it was wrong. On the contrary, William's attitude is seen by her as a positive and enterprising expression. Any young nobleman with talent and achievements, if he has no ambition, is called a strange thing.

"I'm very glad that the Hereford family has such an heir, and I'm very fortunate that this person is close to me. Freya thought to herself. At the same time, he forced himself not to stare at William for a long time. That's too bad. Charlumi was right next to her. If she sees anything, it will not be good for her or William.

That's it, the three of them were drinking hot coffee in a warm room in Circassian Castle while chatting about the recent situation. The main topics were raised by William. Charlumi and Freya listened most of the time.

"Well, that's what happens on this side of the Empire. It is a pity that neither Asturias nor Briton have any interest in fighting Tartaria. In the end, we can only unite our own people in the Gothic Empire. William ended with this sentence and stopped discussing the events of the Empire.

Speaking of which, although the correct name for the Gothic Empire to which the Kingdom of Wende belonged, or the "international appellation", should be "Ostrogothic Empire", the prefix "East" is often selectively forgotten when the Imperials refer to their empire. Call yourself the Gothic Empire. At the same time, the emperors of the empire, who were selected from the crowd of chosen kings, often referred to themselves as "emperors of all the Goths" in various private or public places.

By the way, the nobles and kings of the Visigothic kingdom often have this problem......

Of course, this is not the point, the focus is on the topic that William will discuss with them next. That is, about the four states of the Slavites, Pyrm, Ruthenia, Holmgard and Novgorod.

After all, it's not just the Goths who will face the centaurs of Tartaria this time, but also the Slavites. And the situation of the Slavites was even worse than that of the Goths