Rise of Rurik

Regraf has stayed in Tours for the third year, and he basically knows how many territories directly under the jurisdiction of the Earl of Tours.

This was very necessary. The brothers he brought were all Russians, and they were serious Norman pirates who would worry the locals.

Although he knew that little Hugo trusted him and therefore believed that these brothers who were brought here were not enemies, he could not guarantee that the mentality of the lower-level nobles in Uncle Qi's country could not be corrected.

Regraf restrained his team not to trespass into the territory of lower-level nobles. Everyone must either rob houses in the enemy's territory, or live in the area directly under the jurisdiction of the earl to avoid causing trouble.

Shannon is located southwest of the city of Tours. The overall environment there is very good, and various materials produced are continuously sent to the city. A very important part of the Earl of Tours' finances and taxes comes from a village in Shannon.

"Don't refuse. I want you to be Baron Shannon. How you want to govern is up to you. I will officially announce your title on Halloween. Please don't refuse. This is to protect Tours' safety. final plan."

"Do I really...have to be your Baron Shannon?" Regrave never thought there would be such a situation. He didn't think much about it and still resisted subconsciously.

"I want to believe you. Only you are not afraid of me...Besides, you are a Norman. If I really have a curse, it will not fall on you. You are good to me, and I will be good to you. Shannon...is yours .”

When the words came to this point, Regraf felt that he would not be a friend enough if he refused again.

His mind was spinning rapidly, and he suddenly became aware of Little Hugo's deeper intentions.

Using the dozens of villages in the Shannon area as bait, he, the King of Mercia, used real interests to pin down the territory of Tour. In this way, Shannon became an enclave of Mercia on the European continent.

Behind Reglaf is the strength of the Ross Kingdom. Robert is a defeated general of Ross. Shannon's classification as Reglaf not only divides Robert's power in the future, but also attracts the strategic protection of the Ross Kingdom for Tour.

Little Hugo did not believe that a father would completely abandon his son. Reglaf, who was born from a schizophrenia, is like Caesar. Many battles described in the "Gaul Wars" hundreds of years ago took place in the area including Tours.

Gaul was conquered, so that all kinds of people in Tours were descended from Gauls, including himself, who had strong Gallic ancestry.

Hugo's hair is brown-black, which is the result of the continuous mixing of Roman nobles and Gallic tribal leaders. The blood of the Frankish nobles who later joined did not dilute the family's hair color.

It's just that the main branch of the family will obviously be broken in the generation of Hugo IV.

Little Hugo continued to try to cheer himself up. He even wanted to sit upright.

"Brother, can you... help me up?"

"Can."

If Reglaf is afraid, his hands will tremble and his eyes will be wandering. He will ignore all the curses about little Hugo and act very decisively.

Little Hugo watched Reglaf's movements out of the corner of his eyes, and the latter also noticed the withered arms and legs of the young Earl of Tours - really a dying skeleton with only a little skin and flesh.

Little Hugo sat upright, covered up his discomfort with clothes, wiped his mouth skillfully to clean the blood from his mouth, and tried hard to suppress the discomfort in his lungs. He looked up at Reglaf, who stood like a hill, and said slowly: "I don't have much life left."

"Don't talk nonsense, you can still live. If you go to Rus, our high priest might cure you with some potions instead of drinking the flower soup fed to you by the bishop here. It is meaningless. "

"No." Little Hugo shook his head: "Even if I have a chance to go, it is absolutely impossible. Your Normans, I cannot accept help from the Normans."

"This...am I not a Norman? Am I helping you?"

"No. You are the King of Mercia, and your godfather is the Saint of the North. You are much more noble than me. However, in the future you will kneel in front of me. Right here...I will." At this point, he said it quickly He took a piece of cloth and covered his mouth, coughed violently, and threw the **** cloth aside: "Right here, I will make you Baron Shannon. I originally wanted to do this before Halloween, but now I On second thought, it might be too late by then. I might not even survive Halloween."

Little Hugo spoke very slowly, and Reglaf had enough time to appreciate the profound meaning of his words. At this point, refusing would be foolish in every sense of the word.

"Okay. I will kneel here to accept your canonization. If you are really dead, I will be at the funeral site and bury the soil in your tomb myself."

Little Hugo's haggard face showed a smile: "That would be great. Being buried by a king would be the last glory in my cursed life."

Because he is a "cursed person", little Hugo cannot be buried in the family cemetery. Of course, after his death, he couldn't just find a place to bury him. Instead, he placed his body in a small wooden coffin that had been prepared, added a lot of flowers, and anointed his body with holy oil in order to suppress the curse with divine power.

He will be buried in the Benedictine cemetery so that everyone can believe that the divine from heaven can cleanse away evil.

Although little Hugo was a de jure count, he could not control all the government affairs of the count. Even if he is healthy, he cannot take charge before he reaches the age of sixteen. As for him being a sick man, all the power is controlled by others.

Before the arrival of Robert and his second sister Adelaide, the power of Tours was shared by Archbishop Vivian and the nobles everywhere. Robert's military exploits proved that he was more suitable to be a leader that everyone could trust in troubled times. Robert actually controlled the power of Tours, and little Hugo almost became a "ruthless stamping machine".

However, little Hugo's power of personnel appointment and dismissal is unquestionable, and it is also his last power. But he has been sidelined. Even if such power is used, can it be implemented smoothly?

If a local noble is appointed as Baron Shannon, this personnel arrangement will probably be rejected by Robert and his sister.

If it was Reglaf who received the authorization, the situation would be completely different.

Anyway, he has no heirs. After his death, Tour will be meat on the chopping block, and all those who have the right to inherit can come and share it. In the future, Tour will still be Tour, but the ruling family will change.

Sitting by the bed, little Hugo was doing a preview for the future canonization. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that things could be implemented in advance.

Suddenly, he proposed this plan: "Seven days! A week later, right here! I will hold a ceremony, and everyone who should come will come, and I will make you Baron Shannon."

"Okay. I swear that I will restrain my subordinates, treat the local villagers of Shannon well, and regard the local priests as my friends."

"I trust you. Now, please grant my last request."

"Speaking."

Little Hugo forced out a wry smile: "Can you lay me flat again? I feel more comfortable only when I lie down."

"Can."

At this point, Regrave finally left Count Tour's bedroom. When he stood in the cool outdoors again, he felt like a thousand kilograms of weight was weighing on his body. He felt much better after taking a few deep breaths of cool air.

At this moment, only his soldiers were still waiting in the empty space of the city with bucklers on their backs. Because of the presence of these Normans in orange clothes, nearby people closed their doors one after another, and only a few people were still boldly moving around in the entire square.

"Boss, you are back." Eric, Reglaf's old subordinate, said worriedly.

Regraf looked around with a dull face: "Have Bruno and his people left? And where is Robert?"

"Everyone has left, we are the only ones left here. And..."

"What? Are you worried that I will be eroded by the so-called curse if I stay in the Count's Palace for too long?"

The soldiers looked at each other, and their eyes really showed their worry.

"Forget it. I am the son of Rurik. No matter it is Odin or the **** of Frank, if the **** wants me to die, he will not let me live until now. Instead of worrying about this, you might as well listen to what I tell you. Good news coming.”

"What's the good news?" Old Eric asked.

"The Earl of Tours knighted me. In the future, we will no longer be dependent on others, and we will no longer have to listen to Robert's arrangements. Soon I will be Baron Shannon, and we will spend the winter in Shannon. There will be bread, cheese, bacon and Wine, we are the local owners. Looking at you... we should also consider settling down."

In the third year, Reglaf and his Mercian army were dependent on others in every sense of the word. If his boss had a local title, all his brothers would benefit from it.

The warriors spontaneously raised their right fists and cheered, and their roar was the same as before - the extremely rhythmic Viking war cry.

"Everyone be quiet!" Reglaf opened his arms to suppress everyone's emotions: "By that time, you will all be knights! When I grow up and return to Britain, I will definitely get my throne back, and then all of you will also It has to be a baron. And you!" He looked directly at his old subordinate Eric: "When the time comes, I will make you a count."

"Oh! That would be great. But... before that I have to find a beautiful woman to give me a son, otherwise who will inherit my title? Haha." He laughed wildly, and everyone laughed too. Laughing wildly.

Regrave was also amused by their excitement and continued to announce in Norse: "Your personal problems can all be solved in Shannon. We will restore the way we did in the north over there, and I will recruit some new troops. From now on our people If you have more, the efficiency of war and plunder will be high. Next year I will lead you to continue to make a fortune."

It was an inspiring declaration, and everyone cheered again.

Little Hugo, who was lying on the hospital bed, could not understand the Norse language, but he could also feel the excitement of the group of Normans downstairs. All the emotions were brought up by Regraf. It was obvious that his brother completely accepted his arrangement.

Little Hugo has been thinking about this matter for a long time. He and Reglaf were of the same age, and sometimes he would fantasize about whether he would be like Reglaf if he was healthy.

He heard some stories about the evil deeds of the Normans, and also learned from Archbishop Vivian about letters from the northern saint Eskil. Many of the letters focused on describing the affairs of King Rurik of Russia.

When the king was a child, he was already ruling the army. As the child grew up, the Rus began to gradually expand.

The cathedral of Tours contains a large number of historical documents, one of which is from the Archbishop of Tours 250 years ago. Documents record the story of the Franks and how Tours established an alliance with the Frankish invaders.

Little Hugo was not sick at the beginning. He was later infected by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and suffered from tuberculosis. In recent years, his condition continued to worsen, and his body finally reached the point where he could no longer hold on.

He has been receiving a normal aristocratic education, with a focus on Latin. Based on the local characteristics of Tours, documents in the large library will also be retrieved, so that little Hugo can learn relevant historical knowledge.

Now that the old nobles of Tours can ally and integrate with the Franks, there is no problem in arranging for Regrave to possess Shannon.

He had made up his mind and took action immediately.

Archbishop Vivian, who came to visit the situation, learned that the young count had made such a decision. He was shocked but could not help criticizing him, but he did not refuse.

From the Archbishop's point of view, unless Robert, the outsider, dies suddenly, he is the new Earl of Tours. The archbishop did not like the man who committed the crime of indiscriminate killing, nor did he like his arrogance and arbitrariness.

Bishop Vivian was the abbot of the monastery across the Loire River. After the death of the old bishop, the local Benedictine order of Tours voted to become the new archbishop.

Vivian is also old, so he essentially watched the daughters of the old Earl of Tours grow up.

Adelaide, the second daughter of the old earl, was nicknamed Ada. She was a willful little girl back then. She was taken to Burgundy by her father to have a political marriage more than ten years ago. She cried, made trouble, and hanged herself because she didn't get along with her husband. Gotta get a divorce. Perhaps it was because Adelaide, as a descendant of the Roman Senate, prided himself on being much nobler than Conrad, the ruler of Auxerre-Burgundy. Who knows? Vivian did not dare to make her speculation public.

Conrad does have his own weaknesses! That was the "companion" who had been the old Charlemagne. With Adelaide's mysophobia, after learning the details, Conrad was so disgusted that he looked like a piece of excrement! This was the real reason for the divorce. Because it was too difficult to talk about, both Adelaide and Conrad claimed that it was just because of the disagreement between the husband and wife.

In order to get rid of "a piece of shit", she hastily married Robert, who was still Count Rheingau at that time, and she actually ran to the border area of ​​the empire to be clean.

The once delicate flower had succumbed to life. Vivian didn't know what Ada had gone through in these years. At first, he was very happy that this woman had returned after being away from his hometown for twenty years.

Now I think I underestimated her.

If Tour hadn't refused to admit that a woman could inherit the title, Adelaide would have gotten rid of her half-brother and become a countess herself.

After all, it is easy to kill a young boy who is about to die of illness. For example, if you just reduce the supply of food and drinking water, the child will die early.

Robert brought his entire team of Rheingau aristocratic waiters to Tours, and he lived elsewhere. Since the Earl of Tours' mansion may be cursed, Adelaide was not willing to live there, even though it was where his girlhood was. boudoir.

The couple and their children selected a new site for their mansion and renovated it using the earl's family coffers.

Robert is not yet a count! Tours' finances have already been controlled by this couple. They openly sympathize with little Hugo's plight, but what are they thinking deep down? Why doesn't Bishop Vivian know?

Robert was extremely ambitious, and Adelaide himself was not simple either, especially Robert. What he had done with his troops in Le Mans and Orleans was no less than that of the Norman pirates.

As for Regrave and his men, called the Mercian Army, they were essentially Norman pirates. What more could anyone expect from a Norman pirate? It happened that this group of real Normans had not caused any trouble in the city of Tours for two years.

"Regraf claimed that he would be kind to the villagers of Shannon and would treat the priests as friends. Papa, at least he respects you." Little Hugo, who was on the sick bed, could see the embarrassment of the archbishop and specially said some kind words to Reglaf.

"He only treats me like this, but how does he treat other priests? Alas, my child...since you have made a decision, I have no reason to refuse. When do you plan to conduct the ceremony?"

After weighing the matter, the archbishop made a compromise.

Little Hugo was very happy. He decided on the time for the ceremony and gave special instructions: "I hope that you will record this matter in person and then write it as a letter and send it to the religious orders in other areas. Your authority will convince all the nobles attending the meeting. , especially...let my brother-in-law Robert give up."