Rise of Rurik

The black fox came to see him in a gorgeous dress, and Ludwig felt that his clothes were outmatched.

He couldn't take off this person's clothes to ensure that he didn't overstep, so he could only make him wait for a while, then wander around in the dressing room and put on his own good clothes.

Ludwig changed his makeup and wore a purple robe, which was heavily embroidered with gold thread patterns.

The gold-plated leather helmet is still the same, but with real emerald green peacock feathers.

He deliberately twisted his thick waist in front of the black fox, holding his gold-patterned belt with both hands to show off with a smile.

"What do you think? You have seen a lot in the north. Do you think my king's clothes are gorgeous?"

To be fair, the black fox was instinctively envious and even jealous when he saw Ludwig wearing a purple robe. However, even though the top nobleman in the east was wearing the clothes, he could not forcefully take them off.

The smart black fox hurriedly asked Sophia to step back with gestures, then put on a businessman's professional smile, pretending to be quite respectful: "It's so gorgeous. When I was in Ross, I heard the King of Ross said that wearing purple The robe is the real Roman emperor. You are the real venerable! And your gorgeous helmet crown, which is the tail feathers of a gorgeous bird in the far east, my father once owned it, so I know something about it."

Black Fox's words really meant something, the horse was photographed just right, and Ludwig felt very comfortable.

"A real Roman emperor. Very good! However, I am not too obsessed with becoming a Roman emperor. But this purple robe..." Ludwig spun around in a circle, causing the robe to fly: "It It's a real Roman product, exclusive to the Eastern Empire royal family. I didn't expect that guy Rurik to know the goods."

"Yes. Rurik, the king of Rus, does have great wisdom. Moreover, we in Rus don't know anything about the Eastern Empire."

"Our Ross? What a joke." Ludwig pretended to be displeased and snorted: "Now you are my king's vassal. That's fine. That guy Rurik..." He poked his head towards the north, thinking of some past events. There was a trace of sadness: "Rurik, if he converts to God, I am willing to be a good friend with him and even marry my daughter to him. Unfortunately, he still believes in the evil god of the north. I am very sorry."

"Even so, King Ross is still a good person to talk to."

"Good man? Stop speaking for him. He is a king, and I am also a king. What about Rus? The king lost 30,000 troops on the Elbe River, and now he has raised another 30,000 troops. What about the Duke of Saxony? He is still loyal to me now. I You are stronger than Rurik, and you! You fox, becoming my vassal is the right way."

"This is natural." Black Fox quickly complimented with a smile.

"That's fine. Compared to other nobles, you are more knowledgeable. The other nobles only know that my king's clothes are gorgeous, but they don't know where they come from. I will not wear this robe unless necessary. Now is the time." As he spoke, Ludwig stared closely at the black fox's face: "Now I want to see what you have captured. In the next military meeting, you will wear this gorgeous clothes and participate on behalf of your wife."

"This...I am your baron."

"Baron? In my opinion, your ambition is worthy of the status of a duke."

There was a hint of sarcasm in Ludwig's words. At this moment, the Black Fox was not surprised or frightened at all. On the contrary, he was very satisfied with the irony with his slightly cocked head. Yes, after all, Paul Black Fox, who married into the Nassau family, wanted to carve out a huge territory.

"Women have no right to participate in the military meeting, and any maids will also avoid it." Ludwig added: "You will be the new Count of Laingau, and the king will still need your military strength in the new military operation. .”

The words had been made clear, and Black Fox's mind was spinning. He thought that this year's military operation was over, and the next step was to barrel the wine and prepare for winter. Did he have to continue to participate in the civil war of the top Frank nobles?

At first, Black Fox had some luck, but now it doesn't matter anymore.

Mainz gathered a huge army. Based on Black Fox's understanding of Ludwig, the next step must be to attack.

Maybe the decisive battle will be this year.

Regarding Ludwig, his purple robe was indeed imported from Eastern Rome.

Inheriting the vast territory laid down by the iron heel of his grandfather, the eastern fiefdom belonging to him, namely Austria, was extremely large. However, local development is limited. Fortunately, the Croats on the border still remain in a state of surrender. Business travelers can enter Eastern Rome after passing through the Croatian-controlled areas along the Adriatic coastline.

Who was the real Roman emperor, the wasteland of Eastern Rome, or the king of the Franks?

The dispute over the "real emperor" continues. Lothair still holds the title of emperor, but once he is defeated in the civil war, the title will be suddenly lost.

This is what the Eastern Empire wants to see, but the Eastern Empire will not send troops or spend money to help Ludwig win the civil war.

Some gifts can prove the attitude of the Eastern Empire, such as the purple robe draped on Ludwig.

A robe is worth a thousand words! As he said to Black Fox, the so-called demand is to ask the eldest brother to recognize the old agreement to divide the kingdom. Ludwig hopes to gain an advantage on the battlefield, and the door to negotiations is still open. He hopes to have a good talk with his elder brother after a decisive victory, and then he will give him a step to end the civil war with dignity.

】

So, where is the battlefield for the decisive battle?

In fact, the news has spread all over Mainz, and there must be some details of the Middle Kingdom mixed in in the city. It can be said that the work of preventing spies does not exist. Besides, the great nobles in the north and east led their troops to cross the Inn River in a mighty manner. This kind of action cannot be concealed at all. How can the Middle Kingdom's garrison in Kaiserslautern be deaf or blind? Can be ignored.

Ludwig, dressed in purple robes, completely overwhelmed the black fox's gorgeous attire. This robe adds the only touch of purple to the entire city of Mainz. However, in this city that has become dirty due to the garrison of the army, the filth and filth have become a blasphemy against the purple robe.

Ludwig didn't take it seriously. He was accustomed to a messy environment, and he would not realize his sloppiness until he had the opportunity to go to Ross's New Roseburg for a state visit.

The king of the East deliberately made a high-profile appearance. The smart black fox and his wife behaved exactly like a follower. The two of them brought all the guards in Ross attire, which gave Ludwig enough face.

Ludwig did not ride a horse, but walked on the dark road all the way to the north gate of Mainz facing the river. At the pier, as he had done last year, he personally admired the looting masterpiece of the Ross army under the banner of Nassau.

A large number of helmets were piled on the ground, and even a few bent swords.

At this moment, Ludwig was surrounded by a group of majestic cavalry, and the Nassau troops in Ross army uniforms also stood together.

The lively pier attracted many people. Thuringia Lord Thakurf had always been an exquisite man. This time he simply rode a horse to find out what was going on. He easily saw the indescribably expensive man in a purple robe, riding a war horse and sitting on a high place. I also saw the piled-up "helmet mountain".

Ludwig did not want to touch these dirty helmets with his noble hands. Judging from their style, they were unmistakably Frankish.

Is there a certain possibility that the so-called Nassau Army used other methods to obtain the helmets and broken swords to claim credit?

No! There is no need for these guys. Besides, no matter what Black Fox does so far, it will have no impact on the next battle.

"Not bad. Very good...you have gained a lot."

Black Fox thought this guy was praising him more, but unexpectedly, he just muttered a few words and dismissed it?

"Your Majesty. What do you think?" Black Fox couldn't help but ask.

"How else can I see it? It's enough that you have properly completed the task assigned by me. At least for the time being." After saying that, Ludwig looked around, and from the corner of his eye he noticed that the Thuringians were watching the fun. Some people couldn't help but whisper: "Takulf. What are you doing here..."

The Russians were rewarded with a lot of disgusting heads, which made the view extremely bad. Now a lot of helmets are a good thing, but in the eyes of the locals, even under the banner of Nassau, it is still Norman who appears here. The army, they exist here simply because they are the king's servants.

Considering the viewing issue, the people brought by Black Fox still camped at the pier. Even the little girl Sophia Nassau, as a countess, could only use the pier as her camp.

The black fox's fox ears were raised high. Although he had not yet participated in the military meeting in the evening, various garrisons were discussing ideas such as attacking Kaiserslautern and attacking Strasbourg. Everything was not groundless. He had already estimated Here comes Ludwig's purpose.

Because these two place names are at least not unfamiliar to the Kingdom of Rus, Black Fox is even more familiar with a set of maps made by Rurik himself.

At night, inside Ludwig's palace.

Just as he said, no women will participate in the military meeting, the maids have all avoided it, and even the male waiters have disappeared without a trace.

Ludwig did not want a mixed bag of people to appear at the combat meeting. At this moment, he was not acting as a king, but as an expeditionary general, surrounded only by generals with strong military virtues.

justice? In his view there is no absolute justice. Some are real benefits.

In the not very spacious stone room, the high-hanging chandeliers and oil lamps on the walls illuminated the entire room.

Ludwig still wore his purple robe, but the light of the oil lamp could not highlight the splendor of his clothes. He was sitting on a rather simple wooden chair with a table in front of him. A map was drawn on the parchment spread out on it. On the map were placed some wooden blocks carved into the style of small towers to represent some important military towns.

Duke Liudolf of Saxony, Margrave Thakurf of Thuringia, Archbishop Odegaard of Mainz (Worms), and the Black Fox representing Leingau (Nassau).

Compared with the Middle Kingdom and the southern princes, Ludwig did not control many princes. There were only four nobles present. It seemed that he did not have many vassals, and in fact there were not many. However, none of these vassals Fuel efficient lamp.

Completely different from his elder brother, since the eastern part of the kingdom has been at war with various West Slavic tribes, war factors have forced the eastern kingdom to be more organized. The more vassals he has, the more he weakens Ludwig's own strength. The command of the 20,000-strong army is firmly in his hands, and he has a paper strength suppression of his several major vassals.

But only on paper.

Only two years ago, the great nobles gathered in this room were beaten to a bloody head.

Meeting each other now is naturally awkward.

In just one and a half years, Duke Liudolf of Saxony restored the strength of the army. The Saxon army was dressed in black and held high its characteristic flag. All these essences were learned from the Kingdom of Rus. In fact, their clothing styles were not unified at all, but the overall scale was large. The black tone, as long as a large number of Saxon spearmen line up, they can build a "black square" that is very scary.

The 5,000-strong Saxon army was Ludwig's powerful ally. However, it was Liudov who combined with the Russians two years ago and caused heavy losses to his heavy cavalry regiment. I think I have mixed feelings about this man and this army.

There is no need to mention the past, but the arrogant look of Liu Doufu now, and the smiling eyes between Liu Doufu and the fat man Paul Black Fox make people speechless and angry.

Looking at the Marquis of Thuringia, Thakurf was neither happy nor worried. He had a calm face and seemed to want to speak, but also seemed to just want to listen.

Ludwig didn't want to scold this guy at all.

As a so-called vassal, it is the duty of a vassal to lead troops and respond to calls according to duty, but he is obviously a border marquis with an expansionist streak. He only led a thousand people to respond, and it was almost written on his face.

As for the real wooden man, he is Archbishop Odegaard. This man is not a pure monk. Odegaard can personally pull out an army and act as a de facto military commander. He has never done so and will never do so again in the future. No chance to do so. In other words, Odegaard has become numb to the civil war. He once thought this was his opportunity, but now he just wants to spend the rest of his life in the church. Finally participating in this military meeting was also a forced move.

Everyone was listening to Ludwig himself.

No, he cleared his throat and spoke.

"At this point, the hounds sent by the king have attacked Sarabrücken. The bridge has collapsed, Baron Salgau has been killed, and the road from Metz to Mainz has been interrupted, so that the enemy cannot add more troops. In this way Our plan to attack Kaiserslautern must be foolproof. The king is about to launch an attack. All of you must organize your armies immediately after the meeting. When I personally lead the army to advance, all of you must follow."

His eyes mainly looked at Liudov and Takulv, and the so-called march mainly relied on the coordination of the two allies.

No, the words were not intuitive enough. Ludwig pushed the first wooden block on the parchment and said while pushing: "We will attack Kaiserslautern along the road. This time we have absolute strength. We must kill it." Take it."

After that, he pushed the tower-shaped wooden block that symbolized the first goal, and still pushed the wooden block that symbolized his army: "After winning the battle, we will capture Sarabrücken, we will build a pontoon bridge, and then we will march towards St. A full-scale attack by Rasburg.”

Both Liudov and Takulv were informed of the king's proposal, although it was very radical.

The reason for attacking Strasbourg was because Lothair's family was there. He is very aware of the sneak attack on Aachen by the Rus Kingdom this year, and he will never mention it to others in public, but the fact is inevitable. With the ability of the Rus people, the attack on Aachen will probably be successful.

As a man who had no intention of becoming the only king of the Franks and the emperor of Rome, Aachen would never belong to him, and Ludwig was not born there. As the top nobleman in the East, his whole family was in Regensburg, even if Aachen Not only did he suffer no loss from being robbed, but he was injured by his enemy, his eldest brother Lothair.

Only God knows whether Rurik's troops disrespected Charlemagne's tomb, and now they can only pray that they fulfilled their secret contract.

This is an opportunity! As long as Lothair was distracted by the disaster in Aachen, it would give him a strategic opportunity to advance quickly.

The Ross Expeditionary Force was tantamount to opening a second war for the Eastern Kingdom. Although the Normans had their own opinions, the Eastern Kingdom did gain strategic benefits without paying a single silver coin.

He pressed his right index finger firmly on the point marked Strasbourg on the map, bared his teeth and shouted with a victorious smile: "This is the real goal of my king! I will personally surround this city and force Lothair makes peace with me! This is my God-given opportunity! The civil war will end with my victory this year.”

Indeed, only God knows whether the Civil War will end this fall.

Liudoff was not impressed by Ludwig's vow, and Takulv found it even more ridiculous.

A very sharp question was first raised by Liudov: "The great past! Now that the bridge over the Saar River has collapsed, how can the army cross the river? Besides, is Lothair's army really so weak that it will collapse in one blow? We all I know there may be a large enemy garrison in Kaiserslautern."

"You?" Ludwig was very happy to be called the Great King, but he was unhappy when he was questioned. He waved his hands and said with a smile: "You. There is no need to mention the past. Now you are all my king's subordinates. This time I brought the Eastern Cavalry. Our army can gather five thousand cavalry to launch a strong attack. I have a hunch. , our army can easily capture Kaiserslautern."

Liu Doufu felt very speechless. Indeed, two years ago, this guy also felt that he could easily destroy himself and the Norman army, especially the Ross army.

Why do you have this magical confidence? Maybe the soldiers led by Ludwig himself could defeat ten of them one by one.

Liudov shrugged, "Then I'll congratulate you on your victory in advance."

Thakurf, who had always remained quiet, could always listen attentively, but the king's behavior regarded crossing the river as child's play. However, when our Thuringian army came to the Inn River, they all boarded Norman longboats and easily crossed the river. Could it be...

Takulf still looked down upon a nobleman of Norman origin, especially a fat pig-like character.

He rarely spoke and asked: "Your Majesty, how can we cross the Saar River after the bridge collapses? The cavalry corps still needs bridges." "Takulf...is this a problem?" Ludwig pointed at the black fox with his big hand. : "My new Count Laingau personally destroyed the Saar River Bridge, so I will order him to go out again in this war."

"Ah?" How could Black Fox sit still now? He pointed at himself: "You still want me to go? You really can't trust me?"

"Black Fox!" Ludwig continued: "I need your ship as a pontoon bridge. Besides, I also need manpower to stop the enemy's rout."

"Let me build a pontoon?"

"Exactly. For the sake of my king's victory, you must go. Don't you...don't you want Sargao?" At this point, Ludwig's purpose lies. Because there are two large unstable factors sitting here, namely the Duke of Saxony and the Margrave of Thuringia.

"Assist me to besiege Strasbourg, and all of Sargao will be yours. Anyone who performs meritorious service for me will be rewarded. As you, the prize after success will be Sargao! You! You will also serve as the Count of Sargao. !”

Ludwig kept repeating the word "Sargao", and he wanted the other nobles present to hear it.

What he wanted to express was the truth of Shunchang's rebellion, but in the eyes of Liudov and Thakulv, it was really stupid for the king to take advantage of a naturalized Norman nobleman.

But wait!

Salgao has always been the core territory of Frank, and this is Lothair's fiefdom.

Could this be a deliberate attempt to create a buffer zone? Just like Croatia is sandwiched between Frankia and Eastern Rome, it is the buffer zone between the two countries.

It was a good thing to get Sargao, but Black Fox was afraid that the interval between the two operations would be too short, and the exhausted army would need a period of training before it would be able to fight. The key is that although Nassau's huge landless knights can carve out territory in the empty Salgao after acquiring Salgao, it is still a blank check at the moment.

Since Ludwig was yelling so loudly, the black fox simply stood up and made the matter clear.

He simply didn't bother to say honorifics at this moment, but called him by his first name: "Ludwig! I can be Count Salgao, but my warriors need tangible benefits."

"You!? How presumptuous! How dare you call this king by his first name?!" Ludwig turned around and smiled, but it was definitely not true anger.

"I have a request. Only by meeting my request can I convince my soldiers to go out again."

"you say."

"I want one pound of silver coins for each of my soldiers. I have five hundred elite soldiers. Five hundred pounds of silver coins, bring them!"

"Absurd! Does the lion open his mouth?"

"Then use grain instead. Give me one hundred thousand pounds of this year's new wheat as commission."

"You...want so much?"

"Is that much?" Black Fox said reluctantly.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the room was already very strange. Ludwig was a little overwhelmed because of his anxiety, and both Liudov and Thakulv became restless.

"It is natural for a vassal to send troops to serve my king!" The helpless Ludwig had no choice but to emphasize.

Black Fox immediately added: "I have already helped you fight once. You asked me to send troops for the second time this year. Yes! Give me money. If you don't have money, give me food."

So Takulf immediately stood up after hearing the news: "In this case, we in Thuringia guard the border for the king and are loyal to the king every day. This time our army has to participate in the expedition and pay a heavy price. The king is so kind... Love Nassau. Oh no, it’s Lai Yingao. He sends five hundred troops, and I have one thousand. He wants one hundred thousand pounds of grain, and I just want two hundred thousand pounds."

"And me." Liudolf, Duke of Saxony, couldn't hide his joy: "I will send five thousand troops, so just give me one million pounds of grain."

"You! Ridiculous!" Ludwig was blocked for a while and couldn't get off the stage.

The black fox refused to give up. After all, he knew that the so-called king was so depressed that he almost died in the snow. Being captured by the Ross army was a pain that this man could never forget in his life. The more this is the case, the more Ludwig must have to prove that he is still very noble.

The black fox deliberately provoked him: "This is the second time that the king has organized an army of 30,000 people. Is the king really so poor that he can't even afford to pay me 100,000 pounds of food?" "You! Damn fox! I will give it!" Derwig stomped his feet vigorously: "You guys, I will give it! May God forgive your greed."

"No! It's to thank the king for his kindness." Black Fox felt comfortable now. He covered his chest and greeted Ludwig who had suffered a loss.

I saw two other nobles, and they also stood up to pay tribute to the king's congratulations.

In this way, it seems that Ludwig is really happy. If so, it is also a bitter and happy feeling...

Up until now, Archbishop Odegaard of Mainz was the only one sitting silently. He didn't want to say anything, and he didn't even want to argue now. I can only secretly regret in my heart: "Oh, if you spend a huge amount of food, the people of Alemany will suffer, and your own people will suffer. Ludwig, you are a militaristic lunatic..."