Blue Sword

The Saxon dynasty of the Holy Solomon Empire had already produced three emperors by the generation of Otto II. All three were ambitious emperors, and none of them were willing to settle down.

Emperor Otto's grandfather, Henry I, refused the anointing ceremony of Solomon's Catholic Church when he came to the throne to show that he would not abide by the order established by the Holy See. Therefore, he was nicknamed the "sword without a hilt".

Emperor Otto's father, Otto I, encountered a once-in-a-lifetime civil strife in Italy and Canada. So with the help of the Florentine faction, he crossed the Alps and invaded Italy and Canada, deposed the then Pope John XII and replaced him with Leo VIII. The world is the Pope.

The "Otto's Privilege Agreement" was also signed, the most famous of which stipulated that "the pope should be absolutely subordinate to the emperor."

As a result, when the later Pope Innocent came to power, he tore up this agreement that was humiliating and humiliating the country, and simply pretended that no similar agreement had ever been signed.

I'll tear it apart. If you have the guts, why don't you bite me?

Of course Otto I did not bite Innocent. Firstly, the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like last time was gone. Secondly, he received a batch of technical assistance from the Holy See. Next, the most important thing is to seize the time to develop national strength. Task.

However, the HRE Empire was not an empire after all. The loose feudal system led to the independent administration of the principalities, while the Frankish tax-sharing system aggravated the imbalance of regional development.

Burgundy, Lombardy, and Bavaria in the south soon became rich thanks to foreign trade with the Holy See, while Saxony, Lower Lorraine, and Bohemia in the north remained extremely poor.

It is said that at one time, in order to build a factory park in Lower Lorraine, Emperor Otto I even had to condescend to borrow money from the Wolf family. This loan actually lasted for three consecutive years...

If this continues, don't talk about "concentrating your efforts on big things", it would be better if the empire doesn't divide itself.

According to the arguments of the textual research party bosses in the forum, as of today's Emperor Otto II, due to long-term trade deficits, the foreign debt of the Holy Ra Empire has reached a terrible point that is about to explode, and there is no ability to reduce it at all. sign.

At the same time, the Southern Principality also began to show signs of splitting. The Principality of Bavaria is pretty good, after all, it is blocked by the Alps from Italy.

The Wolf family has long-term trade relations with the Solomons in the Lombardy region, and even their thinking and culture have begun to be "Latinized". I heard that the people of Burgundy have even begun to consider themselves "Higher Franks".

Therefore, the mess that Emperor Otto II is facing now is that he can either continue to endure the humiliation, keep a low profile, endure the huge foreign debt and the separatist tendency of the Southern Principality, first try to reform the feudal tax-sharing system (Your Majesty, the laws of the ancestors are immutable!), and build up national strength. Say it again.

Or he could just turn his back and overthrow the Wolf family who betrayed their ancestors (which is tantamount to breaking up with the Holy See), and then use the power of victory to conquer Italy and Canada again, and follow his father's "entry into the customs" route again.

In the end Emperor Otto chose the latter. How much of this is his own political decision-making, how much is the common will of the empire's upper echelons, and how much is due to some unknown mental influence, no one knows.

The empire's war machine was already rumbling into action, and there was no turning back before it was smashed into pieces.

Two giant dragons flew overhead, causing violent and majestic winds. According to the ancient oath between the Saxon family and the Sarakli dragon clan, these two giant dragons will follow the emperor in his southern expedition to Italy and Canada until his campaign is completely successful or complete. until failure.

The soldiers marched ahead with their heads held high. A few days ago, everyone was still discussing with dissatisfaction "when will His Majesty be condemned by God" during the break, but now they have begun to passionately "make the empire great again".

It can only be said that the people at the bottom are really easy to fool, and they can be done with just a little incitement.

A few sword warriors rode up in front, saying that they had received the emperor's order and wanted to teach everyone a song called "God bless my emperor Otto."

Ask:………………

Obviously, the emperor seemed to have already taken measures to deal with the little tricks done by the dukes behind his back and the general resentment of the soldiers in various principalities. Speeches, singing military songs, and various methods are endless.

So the soldiers began to sing along. At first, they were a little silly, but then they all sang loudly:

Our great Emperor Otto,

We pray for a long reign of the emperor,

We wish you good luck.

May that laurel crown last forever,

To him be the wreath of victory...

The tune was quite catchy, and even the girls started singing along. Asik opened his mouth meaningfully, thinking that the task process was too long, and he just kept walking along the road for so many days. , looking at the scenery, and even leading a group to sing. Why do I remember that there should be a few tasks along the way?

Towards evening, everyone arrived at Pomarolo, a small canyon deep in the Alps, a small town where Latins and Franks lived together.

(Latins can be regarded as a mixture of the ancient Solomonic people and other peoples)

The emperor and the duke's team naturally occupied the best building in the center of the town. A large number of knights rented homes in the town. As for the lower-level soldiers, of course they could only find open spaces to camp outside the town. The camp tents were set up from all over the town. On the other side, looking down from the mountain, there is a sea of ​​flags and tents everywhere.

The Blue Sword Mercenary Group relied on Eleanor's connections and Ask's knighthood to find a civilian to live in the town. The hostess was a widowed Latin woman who raised two children by herself. She was almost frightened to death when she saw the mercenaries coming in.

Nora and Eleanor quickly went up to give her money to comfort her. Especially Nora's kind Latin language finally made this poor woman feel relieved.

"There are only two rooms upstairs. Distinguished guests can allocate themselves. Several people can sleep in the living room on the first floor. The children and I will go to the cellar. The children are very well-behaved and will not run around and will never be disturbed. Rest for all guests..."

The woman said cautiously, and Nora and Eleanor quickly comforted her and said, "No, you just need to stay in the room, we will stay in another room."

The woman was stunned when she said this. She grabbed the two children at the hem of her clothes and rolled her dark eyes. Although he didn't dare to speak, his eyes were constantly looking at the girls and Ask.

Didn’t Mom say that only married couples can sleep in the same room? So these sisters are all the wives of that brother?

Wow, that’s amazing, you actually have so many wives? !

Children always have simple minds, and they immediately regarded Aske as a "powerful person".

Nora and Medea read the two children's thoughts, and they both couldn't laugh or cry.

After the anxious woman took her child upstairs to sleep, the girls also planned to go into another room and go back to Fire Island to sleep.

"Eleanor?" Nora finally walked up the stairs and looked at Eleanor who was still standing in the living room.

"I am keeping vigil in the drawing-room to-day," said Elinor.

"Vigil? It's not necessary." Nora was a little surprised, "There are all knights outside."

Eleanor shook her head, obviously determined.

The way the two children looked at her gave her a bad feeling.

She recalled inexplicably the girl who was robbed of food and died outside the city of Thessaloniki; and the girl who laid a wreath for her in Beg Village, but was killed in the rat plague... They all used Such pure eyes looked at her curiously and friendly.

In a sense, I feel like my child's nemesis.

Even if it was just in case, she would not do nothing this time.

If there is any danger coming from outside the door, it will definitely step over her first.

Back on Hearth Island, Nora told Asik about the matter and asked with some concern:

"Ask, can you..."

"I can't predict the future." Asik shook his head, but in his memory, there were indeed many tasks in this main storyline.

"Okay, today I will keep the ancient books outside and stay in the room." He finally said, "If something happens down there, I will go there in time to support Eleanor."

Thank you to jhwillie for the 100 coins, and thank you to meow and meow for the 1,000 coins~