Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

"If you are really a girl from the countryside, how did you learn to ride a horse?"

Domitia rode her favorite white pony and looked suspiciously at Jeanne Dacre who was also riding a horse.

Orville was hanging three to five meters behind the two of them, followed by dozens of armored guards as a safety measure.

He didn't like to make a big show, but this was a frontline city and it was necessary to be a guard. He was always in armor except when sleeping, and only wore linen laminated armor when traveling privately, which was a little lighter.

"Michael taught me for a while, so I naturally learned to ride a horse and fight."

Domitia rolled her eyes, obviously very dissatisfied with this explanation, but it was hard to say anything, she was vaccinated by Orville.

"I shouldn't ask you this kind of question. Are you sure you don't need to change clothes? Orville is also too rough. You can wear warmer and prettier clothes. Don't worry about the price. He will pay for you. If he is stingy, I will pay for you.

You can wear wolfskin, mink, deerskin coats, or silk embroidered clothes. After all, you are the prince's messenger. I don't think he will be stingy with you. He is the one who ties silk to bows and arrows."

Orville uniformly distributes winter clothes to his soldiers. This is a fur cloak with a hood. The official name is Sagum. Faced with the weather in northern Gaul that is sometimes close to zero degrees, the men of the Tiber River also dislike the military uniforms that show thighs and do not wear pants. It is too cold and will use cloaks to keep warm.

In fact, Orville also prepared proper pants for them, but the thinking of these Mediterranean people is "barbarian stuff, NO! NO!" They are very resistant to pants, so not many people really wear pants. This kind of comparison is prevalent in the army. Whoever insists on not wearing pants is more masculine.

Orville was not in a hurry. He would not worry about these guys not having clothes to wear when he marched into Britain. He did not believe that they would not feel cold in a place like Scotland. He was so stubborn that he would suffer.

Jeanne was of course not so particular. She was a Gaul, so she changed into the linen long coat and trousers that Orville distributed to the army. In fact, the Roman soldiers' version was cotton coat and cotton trousers, but Jeanne wanted to wear the same clothes as the Gaul soldiers, and Orville did not stop her.

He was very conscientious in giving out new clothes for free. If the Gauls themselves still felt cold, they would wear several layers of clothes inside, but Jeanne seemed to be a more stubborn person. She did not bring any other clothes to change. She only wore a layer of linen clothes as underwear. The outdoor temperature in Trier was about five degrees now, which was definitely not enough. Domitia could not bear it, so she spoke up.

"There is no need for such extravagant things. Clothes that can cover the body and keep warm are enough. I don't need anything else."

"Are you sure this clothes are warm? I can see that you are shivering a little." Domitia did not believe it.

"It's not a big deal. I won't get sick because of this."

Just as Jeanna and Domitia were arguing, the cavalry sent by Orville came back with a big package in his hand.

Orville took the package, and with a little force on his legs holding the horse's belly, the horse came close to the two people, and Orville stuffed the package directly into Jeanna's arms.

"Open it, this is my request, if you don't listen, it's an order."

Jeanna lowered her head to open the package, inside was a thick fur cloak, the area was very large, it was almost as good as a bed sheet.

"I order you to wear it, don't think of using self-punishment to wash away your self-blame, this is completely morbid thinking. If you really want to atone for your sins, you should cherish your current life more, and then use practical actions to make up for your behavior instead of complaining about yourself here, what's the use of this?"

In Orville's view, Jeanna's behavior has the tendency to become a self-flagellation, which is not a good sign. He is a person who is more inclined to action. Instead of being in a panic all day long, it is better to do something to make up for it.

That's why he insisted on bringing Jeanne with him. To be honest, among the Romans, the only one who really cared about the other's life or death was probably Orville himself. If it was left to the rest of the people, it would probably be "just alive", and the Gauls didn't have enough coercive power to stop this behavior.

In his heart, he had a more complicated feeling towards the Gauls, mainly apology and guilt, because he had strangled the fire of resistance from the locals. He embodied this feeling on Jeanne to ease his guilt a little.

There were only so many things he could do. He was a Roman, not a Gaul. Whether it was a false sympathy or a pretense, he just felt better in his heart.

Jeanne silently shook out her clothes and put them on herself, and nodded to Orville to thank her.

——

Seriously speaking, there was still a little age gap between Domitia and Jeanne, and their worldviews and life experiences were not at the same level. However, despite this, Jeanne's arrival still made Domitia a little happy. It was difficult for her to find a playmate of the same age.

In Rome, it was a little better. In Trier, there were not many families that could compete with the royal family. The children of the local nobles either avoided Domitia or fawned on her. She didn't like either. At this time, Jeanne, who was neither humble nor overbearing, made Domitia care about her.

Therefore, although she said that she was annoyed and disliked Jeanne, Orville could generally feel that Domitia still cared about her a little bit, otherwise she wouldn't have suggested buying winter clothes for her.

Orville couldn't always stare at these things. After giving everyone a few days off, he prepared to leave again and go to his province to take office.

The accompanying personnel were two and a half legions and supporting auxiliary troops. Orville placed Tia's legion in Brittany to maintain stability and placed a legion in Paris on standby. These two legions were necessary forces to maintain local order. The power vacuum in various places after the war must be filled with strong means, otherwise it will breed bandits and corruption in the chaos, which is extremely unfavorable for long-term development.

As for himself, he took the remaining troops to Caen, where he would start building military facilities in the port to prepare for the future Battle of Britain.

In addition, there was another troublesome matter waiting for him to deal with - the Gauls had already collected this year's taxes to cope with the war, but the Romans had not yet collected them. Now that the war is over, should the Romans still impose an additional 10% tax on the locals?

If taxes are not collected, Orville will have to hold on until the autumn harvest next year. If taxes are collected, it is now midwinter, and I am afraid that some people will starve to death or freeze to death. It is quite troublesome anyway.