Rise of Rurik

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After getting some unexpected supplies at the snowy stone bridge, Alibert, who had eaten his fill of barbecue, happily mounted his horse and headed west.

The group soon returned to Shannon.

When he first met Regrave, he still had some stereotypes about the Normans, and after a little chat, he became very fond of the young nobleman.

He suffered a worse humiliation than expected in Tours, which further demonstrated that Reglaf was a good man.

Now the King of Mercia is no longer in name only, Reglaf does have more than a thousand warriors in his hands, even though almost all of them are infantry. Are these soldiers really going to walk through the snow all the way to Poitiers in winter to meet the great Charles?

Aribert retained his suspicions, and decided to face Reglaf for questioning.

If this was the case, he felt that his plan should be adjusted - to ensure that his children and the "huge" Mercian army could reach Poitir smoothly and peacefully.

After all, things have turned out unexpectedly, and some additional things have to be considered.

Because he knew that his master had been living on the move for ten years. Although he was a prince, he had lived a life of a prisoner for many years. He also knew that his master had no fault at all. If he had, he would have a noble status.

Perhaps Charles should not have been born, and Queen Judith should not have seduced Louis the Pious with her beauty.

But the situation has become such that Alibert feels that he must assist Charlie, and he must also consider this young man who is only 21 years old. Suddenly, more than a thousand soldiers approached the city. If he had not been informed first that these were friendly forces that had decided to form an alliance with the Kingdom of Aquitaine, Charlie's first thought would have been to take a small group of followers to temporarily avoid the limelight - in fact, he would have run away first as a sign of respect.

While gnawing meat, he casually had an in-depth chat with old Eric, and then learned about the active preparations for war in Shannon.

Launching a horde of bored farmers and peasant wives for war service?

What kind of noble would think that those lowly people are trustworthy?

Reglaf insists on this, can he succeed?

Based on his own knowledge, Aribert still expressed doubts about Reglaf's actions. He still did not believe in "the power of the people."

In other words, the war he knew was that while the nobles participated in the battle with their retinue and soldiers, they whipped the villagers and ordered a large group of inferiors to join the battle with farm tools.

This is how lower-level nobles generally face the recruitment of big nobles. As for how the top nobles of the empire train a standing army, that is not something that small nobles of this generation such as Aribert have to consider.

The lower-level nobles have their own ways of living. The so-called maintaining a large army for a long time is meaningless except for frantically consuming their own financial resources.

Baron-level nobles usually retain a hundred cavalry who can immediately go into battle as elites, and then organize a few semi-off-the-job farmers to put on helmets and weapons and take time to train. It is enough.

If a great noble recruits a baron to take two to three hundred or at most five hundred men to fight, this is proof that he is a loyal minister.

The baron is like this, and the knights have fewer soldiers at their disposal.

Even in Aquitaine and Toulouse, a large number of knights were directly loyal to counts or dukes. Some knights who performed meritorious service on the battlefield could have their titles upgraded to barons, but their territories would basically not change, and their military strength was still the same old shabby.

Comparing the two sides, it is outrageous for Baron Shannon Regrave to organize more than a thousand warriors. Unless, emphasize that he is the king of Mercia.

Now, the people in the Saxon camp, as well as in the large villages of Shannon and Avane, are actively preparing. On the surface, the huge settlement seems to be sparsely populated, but the forest is still rumbling, and the chimneys of each house are always puffing. Thick smoke.

The cavalry arrived directly at Regrave's military camp as a friendly force. Ariubert ordered his men to dismount and rest so that they could chat with the blond Normans who came over from the local area. He himself walked into the military camp holding his helmet.

It happened that Bruno and Reglaf were warming themselves by the fire in the warm stone room.

"You're here." Bruno slowly turned around and faced Aribert, who came in as a friend.

「

I did come back. It seems that you have regarded me as a friend. I entered the village with my cavalry, and your soldiers did nothing to stop me. "

"Of course we are friends." Reglaf pointed to the wooden chair casually: "Sit down. Let me guess, you have to make an extra trip after returning from Tours. You must have experienced something in Tours and want to tell me? "

"My friend, you are so smart. Yes! I can tell you immediately the bad things I experienced in Tours." Ariobote paced and talked endlessly...

Because of the slights he encountered in the city, no one could expect that this elderly nobleman would speak kindly to Robert.

Aribert directly cursed with obscene words, and when he got emotional, he suddenly asked: "Friend, do you think...Robert will rebel one day?"

"Who are you rebelling against?" Reglaf asked in surprise.

"Charlie. My master."

"Rebel against him? It's hard to say. But... the Robert I know is indeed arrogant. Unfortunately, he was defeated by my father."

"This is not the answer I want. It doesn't matter, I'm afraid this kind of thing is not what people like me need to care about." Aribert didn't want to continue to use swear words. He adjusted his mood slightly, changed the subject, and his tone became Much softer: "So. Are you going to bring an army to meet my master?"

"Yes." Reglaf answered simply with clear eyes, "You have already met the personnel I stationed at the stone bridge when you came back."

"yes."

"So, how about it?"

"How about what?"

"As Lord Charles' personal noble, what do you think of my plan?"

"What else can I say?" Aribert shrugged and stood up quickly. This performance proved that he did have some opinions. No, the old guy came pacing again and said, "I changed my mind."

"Do you have any new ideas?"

"I learned that you two brothers are going to Poitir together. Your coalition is too strong! I'm afraid it will cause misunderstandings! In order to avoid unnecessary complications, I am willing to be your guide."

Regraf's eyes lit up: "Leading the way for us? This is a good thing. But what about your mission?"

"What else can we do?" The old guy pointed at the wooden door and said with a wry smile: "There is snow outside. In such bad weather, I am afraid that I will freeze to death while walking through the forest? Why don't we just wait for the snow to melt and wait until the road becomes hard again and we can be together? Walk."

"That's what I meant."

"Okay, let's make an agreement."

Reglaf originally thought that he could just lead his troops southward, but Ariobbert's size made him need to think carefully. Because of further chatting, he learned that Charles had encountered many death threats. A large army suddenly arrived. Charles himself might escape, and the local nobleman, Count Poitier, was very likely to quickly organize an army to resist. .

The two sides could obviously be friendly forces, but Regraf was not willing to cause any misunderstandings.

Because Ariubert mentioned a key node on the way south-Baron Erotus.

This information was something that Reglaf and Bruno had never thought of before. They thought that they could reach Poitir smoothly by following the ancient Roman road all the way south, just passing through forests and wastelands.

So what's going on with Baron Erotus?

Based on Ariubert's description, this baronial family is a branch of the Count of Poitiers family.

The name of this generation of baron is Elard, the owner of Erotus Castle and the protector of the local Benedictine order.

In terms of relationship, Elard wants to call Bernard, Count of Poitiers, his cousin. There is no "cousin" between them, so the relationship between the two is uncle-nephew. In other words, if Count Poitier dies due to various reasons, Baron Erotus will have certain qualifications to inherit the title.

It's just that Bernard's health is very good, and his wife is quite proud to have given birth to many boys who have reached adulthood or started to grow beards. No matter what the family thinks, it has nothing to do with the death of the heir. It is precisely how to arrange for them to grow up in the future when there are too many boys. asked a question.

Leave the eldest son, the others

Are all arranged to go to the monastery? This is unfair to the sons except the eldest son.

Dividing the earldom to form a new barony may seem like the most just arrangement, but it will actually weaken the family's strength in the future.

However, if he was highly involved in the imperial civil war and assisted Charles in achieving a great victory, it would be natural to claim the territories of some "imperialist" nobles as a hero. In this way, the issue of his sons' fiefdoms would be easily solved.

Because Bernard's family lineage is very noble, the old earl is willing to take in young "bald" Charlie. After all, they are blood relatives.

Charlemagne had a daughter named Eroda, who married the then Count of Autun. Charlemagne's son was the Pepin who "offered soil", and his grandson was Charlemagne.

Eroda gave birth to two sons for Count Autun, both of whom came of age. One inherited the title of Autun, and the other, named Guillaume, was named Count of Poitiers.

This Guillaume of Poitiers had several sons, one of whom was his successor Bernard, and the youngest son was named Baron Erotus.

This barony appeared suddenly! The original intention of its construction was, firstly, for the old father to solve the problem of his children's titles, and secondly, to establish a new barony to protect Poitier's security.

The so-called "Erotus" commemorates the family's grandmother, Eloda, the daughter of Charlemagne, with the Roman-style "us" suffix added to show the nobility of the family. After all, Charlemagne had already obtained the title of "Roman Emperor", and the emperor's relatives were willing to flaunt their nobility in some strange ways.

Especially for this generation of baron, his name is clearly intended to pay tribute to his grandmother.

In terms of seniority, "Bald" Charles is the cousin of Bernard, Count of Poitiers, and Baron Erotus is his cousin.

Bernard has a high self-esteem and faces Charlie completely as an elder, but he will not really suppress his nephew.

In the context of Western Europe, a nephew is equal to a nephew, and it doesn't matter whether he is an uncle or a nephew. There is only one word to describe this uncle-nephew relationship.

In this way, a restored Roman-era military camp reappeared as a noble castle. It is Châtelero, the so-called "Castle of Erotus". Only by successfully passing through this barony can the army reach Poitiers.

…

The stone chamber was heated very warm, and Ariobbert's entourage was arranged by Reglaf to warm the camp. These envoys from the south became completely honored guests. He also noticed that while he was away, among the soldiers injured due to misunderstandings and conflicts a few days ago, in addition to those who died because their injuries worsened and could not be saved, there were actually six cavalry whose injuries were not only stabilized, but their bodies were recovering quickly.

It seemed that the blessings of the local priests and the holy oil provided had an effect. Aribert was convinced that such a miracle was actually Reglaf's correct treatment plan - the Normans actually had miraculous methods of treating wounded soldiers!

He couldn't admit this in public, but deep down he was very grateful to Reglaf.

Regraf kept his word, and the promised rescue was implemented. He estimated that the wounded soldiers would be able to mount their horses again in a while. Because there are not many followers left with him from the old fiefdom, and those who have followed Charlie have been wandering around, and those who can survive until now are the elite.

There was nothing that could be done about the elite soldiers capsizing their boats in the ditch. He was fortunate that there were still some injured soldiers who survived.

Just when the snowy night was extremely boring, Aribert introduced the nobles in the Aquitaine region that he knew.

It is not difficult for Reglaf to sort out the relationship between this group of nobles, not only because the young people are smart enough, but also because the kingdom of Rus and the Frankish Carolingian dynasty have so many similarities in their aristocratic systems!

Now that Aribert had introduced him, Reglaf was in a good mood, so he simply described the nobles of the Kingdom of Rus in front of this elderly friend, and by the way, he praised his father's greatness to prove that he had a bright future.

There is an old king in Rus, and the old king only has one son alive, and that is King Rurik, who is only twenty-three years old! Moreover, the old king is still alive, but he has transferred his power to his only son. The old man himself is in a fertile land that is loved by thousands of people to take care of themselves until their old age.

This is how Regraf described it. Aribert couldn't understand it, but he didn't dare to criticize it. Is this the "co-ruling emperor" model? Just like Lothair coexisting with Louis the Pious for three years.

But according to Reglaf's description, when Otto, the old king of Rus, saw that his son had finally grown up, he happily handed over all power, and then lived happily surrounded by his grandchildren.

King Rus actually had eighteen wives at one time! One of them was the Princess of Mercia.

Regraf was embarrassed to say that his mother was actually occupied by his father. He was vague about the relevant circumstances. He described it casually to fool him, and then focused on his younger brothers and sisters.

The future highest priest of the Kingdom of Rus is the eldest sister, which is equivalent to the Pope of Rome. There are many temples in Rus, and the temple priests are all women.

There are already a large number of dukedoms and earls with varying strengths in the territory of Rus. The number of nobles named boyars is even greater than that of barons in the Frankish system.

Can a woman also be a duke?

It is a reality in Rus. Reglaf is proud to mention that his aunt is a duchess, and his cousin Karl is the next generation duke of the principality.

It was very nice to talk about some strange stories on a boring snowy night, but Aribert was frightened when he heard them.

Although the old guy is a minor noble, he has experienced too many things. Now when I hear Regraf mention the things about the Ross nobles, I always feel that this kid is making up nonsense based on the Frank nobles. UU Reading www.uukanshu.net

But if you think about it again, Reglaf's words were very colorful, and Bruno was on the side with his nobility of the Principality of Saxony echoing him. What these two brothers said should not be nonsense.

Aribert only wished that he could not record it publicly with banknotes. He only had to listen attentively and write it down with his decaying brain.

Because the old guy's three views have indeed been subverted.

Of course the Normans had nobles, they were nothing more than a big chief leading a group of small chiefs, and it was just the chief leading a group of warriors to plunder south.

"If Charlemagne were alive, there would be no chance for you to cause trouble."

When he first met in Regrave, he saw a group of strange blond warriors roaming freely, and his disdain for the Normans was aroused in his heart.

Now this disdain is completely gone.

It turns out that the Kingdom of Rus is already a very complex existence, and it seems that Frank is used as a reference everywhere. Unfortunately, these guys rarely convert to God.

We can no longer arbitrarily accuse them of being barbaric. Take a look at the current Shannon area. The entire area is well managed by Regrave. There are a thousand Gallic men there who are willing to work for a young Norman and a thousand peasant soldiers. For the first time, he was willing to march in winter.

Ariobote did not believe that "this was bewitched by the devil" because he himself was moved by Reglaf's sincerity and real attitude of mutual benefit. He will not admit that "I too have been bewitched by the devil".

Because Reglaf and his Norman warriors, one by one, all of them had a cross hanging around their necks. They had already converted to God.

Just because the conversation was too speculative, Aribert suddenly came up with a very wonderful idea - Reglaf could become the "merciful king" of Mercia, and I could be his vassal.

This radical thought just passed by for a moment.

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