Of course, the mercenary generals couldn't laugh - persuade them to surrender, and if the other party does not surrender, it is better to say. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info but if the other party surrenders, then there is no reason for their own side to burn and loot again...... No, the mercenaries of this era don't have such good hearts. After the other party surrenders, burn and loot. Even burning, killing, looting or something in their employer's territory, this kind of thing mercenaries do not less...... It's just that William's attitude ...... It seems like......

Although William did not say it explicitly: "I am against your robbery. "That's the case. But his attitude says it all.

At that time, some mercenary generals gave an unhappy "hey", and then wanted to stand up and reason with William - but before that, he was pulled back by his companions.

This action satisfied William and was not satisfied. Dissatisfaction is due to the fact that the other party has taken the initiative to show the intention of opposition. And the satisfaction is because the other party didn't say it clearly after all.

This shows that William has initially established his prestige, but this prestige is not strong enough.

"We'll have to keep up the good work. William thought to himself. At the same time, he smiled and looked at the unwilling mercenary generals around him.

Of course, William could convince them with high-sounding excuses such as "this will reduce losses". Despite the nature of these guys, they are evil and greedy mercenaries. But now they are dressed as righteous crusaders. Face or something, more or less still need some.

However, this does not mean that they will accept this without reservation or complaint - if William only does this, it will definitely cause the mercenaries to deviate.

Even if they didn't rebel and disperse, but continued to follow William for the sake of mercenary money, they would never fight with all their might in the next battle.

All kinds of things that don't obey orders, perfunctory, and even cheat teammates, they can do it - William doesn't have the slightest confidence in the discipline of these bastards.

"So, citizen conscription, universal compulsory military service or something......" William thought of that possibility again, and then sighed.

Institutional reform is not something that can be accomplished overnight. Finance, authority, territory, resources, sufficient career officers and officers. The level of consciousness and the level of education of the population, these things have an impact. In a short period of time, William still can't do without these bastards to fight the world. At least for now, these bastards are still useful.

So, after beating them with a stick, William decided to give them another sweet date:

"Of course, those evil Slavians want peace, and it is not without a price. William smiled and said, "And our loyal and brave soldiers also deserve to be rewarded with 300,000 imperial gold, which will be added to the peace treaty." We need three hundred thousand imperial gold, or something of equal value. This is a ransom in exchange for not attacking the city. And this sum of money, I and the soldiers under my command, only forty percent. ”

After listening to William's words, the atmosphere in the venue was enlivened again - 300,000 imperial gold, if there really is 300,000 imperial gold, then it is definitely worth it. Not to mention, the 300,000 imperial gold will be completely distributed according to status. You don't have to loot after breaking the city. There will definitely be a lot of greedy mercenaries who will hide some gems, jewelry, or similar small and expensive things and not hand them over.

In this way, the money that they, the captains and commanders, can get more than what they can get from plundering after breaking the city.

"Guys, if there is no problem, let's send an envoy to Novgorod now. William finally made the decision.

And just like that, the matter was settled. Then William discussed with the crusaders, scoundrels, and scoundrels what would happen after the defeat of Novgorod.

William hoped to take advantage of the victory, fight Novgorod in one go, and then annex the weakened Holmgard...... However, after saying this suggestion, looking at the Crusader generals around him, William knew that these fellows were not too interested in his proposal - only because the kingdom of Holmgard was too poor and desolate compared to Novgorod, which was close to the sea, a commercial hub, and had a lot of wealth. Whether it's the number of people, the output, or the wealth, there's nothing to look forward to.

In other words, there's nothing to rob.

Of course, the generals of the crusaders were not interested in such a poor place. However, the Crusader generals also said that they would continue to follow William forward if he really wanted to—after all, William had paid their commission, and for the sake of money, they would continue to advance...... It's just that for their will to fight, William can't expect too much.

"These bastards. Once again, William had this thought: "Even if the civic conscription cannot be popularized in a short time, I will have to train more professional soldiers!"

After that, compared with the depressed mood of William, the Novgorodians after the defeat, their mood can only be described as hopeless.

The main forces have been completely annihilated. The two or three thousand city guards who ran back also refused to continue fighting. It's like William's imagination to mobilize citizens, issue smoothbore guns, organize temporary troops to garrison the city, or something...... This kind of thing, the Novgorod authorities did not do at all. It should be said that they were frightened by such a swift and huge defeat, and they were not able to regain consciousness for a while.

Completely overwhelmed, after realizing that Novgorod had been blockaded by the Crusaders and there was no possibility of escape, the city of Novgorod became chaotic.

The hooligans and scoundrels in the city took the opportunity to make waves, smash, loot and burn, and do all kinds of bad things...... Order in Novgorod was completely destroyed.

It was in this context that the messengers of the crusaders came to Novgorod and submitted three conditions to William.

Surrender, restore the monarchy, recognize the rule of the Hereford family over Novgorod, and hand over 300,000 imperial gold coins, or valuables.

These three conditions are very demanding. If Wilhelm had sent an emissary to the Novgorodians before the battle to make such conditions, then the emissary would never have wanted to leave Novgorod alive.

But now......

After some urgent discussion, the Novgorod parliament made a decision to surrender - these merchants, who were not disciplined in themselves, made the most correct choice at the first time.

After that, things will be easy. William gave the mercenaries enough money to appease them and tell them not to enter Novgorod. At the same time, the White Legion of his descendants entered the city in the shortest possible time, and killed all the hooligans who caused chaos, maintaining order in the city. The Novgorodians breathed a sigh of relief, and resistance to Wilhelm's occupation of Novgorod was much smaller.

In this way, under the astonished gaze of everyone in the Old World, William easily destroyed the centuries-old Slavic state in the Great Frontier Region. The news of the Crusader victory, the crushing of the Slavian coalition by Wilhelm von Hereford, and the capture of Novgorod spread like wings throughout the Old World.

Those who supported the Crusaders, such as the Holy See and the Gothic Order, cheered. And those who have a grudge against William, such as the Dark Elves' Suldan, the Sarida Khan of Tartaria, or the Grand Duke of Wende, who sees William and the rise of the Hereford family as a threat, are cautious and jealous of this matter.

Unlike the Duchy of Mystia, which had a narrow territory and a remote location. Even in the Old Continent as a whole, Novgorod was a large country in terms of territory. Despite its small population, the potential is enormous. In addition, Novgorod was strategically located, to the south it was possible to attack Pirm and Ruthenia, which had little resistance to it, and to the west, together with Mystya, to encircle the Polotsk United Voivodeship Republic. To the east, to the southeast, it is possible to attack Holmgard, as well as to enter the Cuman-Chincha steppe.

These lands are very vast, very huge, and at the same time very potential. What's more, these territories are currently very weak and very easy to attack. It's like William's meal. Some even made sour predictions that William would conquer more Slavic territories in the next year or two, and even annex all of the Slavic countries and become the king of Slavia.

But of course, William wouldn't do that.

Rapid rise, rapid demise. It's like a meteor streaked across the sky or something. It's okay to leave such a romantic thing to someone else to do. What William wants to do is to build a strong empire that can last forever, not even after death. To use an analogy, it would be Augustus Octavian. And not Alexander the Great.

Therefore, in the short term, William will not continue to move south, or eastward, and annex more territories. In addition to this, he made a new decision - to negotiate with the Tartarian Khanate - as he had said before, William wanted the other side to be a shield to protect his side from the invasion of the Ottoman Empire.