Refusing to attend the dinner with the knights and making an appointment with Michael alone. If Michael didn't understand this, then he wouldn't be able to secure the position of bishop of Basel.
Obviously, Otto's first goal after winning Basel was not for the church, but for the two knight families.
Since it is not Otto's primary goal, then the two parties can definitely discuss the distribution of interests.
"A painting from ancient Greece? That's really rare." A smile appeared on Mihail's face.
"Since His Excellency the Baron is not feeling well, I will help His Excellency Baron refuse tonight's banquet. I really look forward to seeing a beautiful painting."
Michael meant something.
The communication with Michael was quite pleasant. Perhaps because Bishop Valens said hello, or because he was obviously aware of the gap between the strength of the church in the Basel area and Otto's, Michael did not make any excessive demands. , and a consensus was quickly reached.
The church handed over a large amount of land in its hands, retaining only a small amount of land near a few monasteries. The church handed over most of its power and no longer interfered with secular affairs in the Basel area. The number of soldiers and knights guarding the church in Basel could not exceed thirty.
Accordingly, Otto needed to pay a compensation to get the land ceded by the church. At the same time, the church continues to enjoy the power of tithing, and can also receive half of the revenue from commercial taxes in the Basel area.
Michael is extremely satisfied with this. Overall, although the church has lost a lot of land and control, it has gained a considerable amount of cash and long-term benefits from future business taxes, while also retaining its original wealth. It is considered the best. Good results.
The rapid rise of Argolan relies heavily on generous business taxes, and Michael also knows this. Therefore, he is very content to receive half of the commercial tax income.
If other big nobles had occupied Basel, they probably wouldn't have given such generous terms.
As for the two knight families, Michael didn't care at all. Although the two parties had always been relatively happy to care about each other, the relationship was not so good that Michael needed to risk offending Otto to protect them.
Compared to the tangible benefits that Otto can provide to the church, the two knight families are really nothing to mention.
Michael looked at the paintings he had scribbled on Otto's table, with a heartfelt smile on his face.
"This painting by His Excellency the Baron is really beautiful, but I think it is not a painting from the ancient Greek period. It may be the work of a certain master in Aargauen."
"Really?" Otto looked suddenly enlightened. "Your Excellency, the Bishop, is very discerning. I was almost deceived. Thanks to Bishop Michael's guidance, otherwise I was almost deceived."
After saying that, the two looked at each other and smiled, saying nothing.
The day after the negotiation with Michael, the cavalry of Argoland easily solved the two knight families and took back the two knight territories.
Otto did not kill them all. The members of the two knight families were very self-aware and did not confront Otto's army. Otto only expelled them from the territory.
Although a knight is the lowest rank among nobles, he is still a noble. Since he is a noble, Otto can only abide by some noble game rules and cannot do things too far, otherwise who will dare to play with Otto in the future.
The news that Otto had captured Basel quickly spread to the ears of nearby nobles.
Neither Sundegaard nor Zurich responded much. Mainly, the lords on both sides had left their territories with their armies.
Count Bresgau was furious, because he had the same idea as Otto and was preparing to take advantage of the war between the Kingdom of East and West Frankia and the Kingdom of Lotharingia to capture Basel, which he longed for.
Unexpectedly, before he could take action, Otto captured Basel first.
"Damn arrogant boy, Araholf's bastard, I won't let you look good."
Count Bresgau was furious when he thought about his previous plan to marry Otto but was rejected by the other party, and now that the other party had robbed him of Basel.
"Gather the troops! I will capture Basel!"
He also received a recruitment order from King Louis of East Francia, but he has not set off yet. The idea was to seize Basel and then lead an army to gather. Now that his plan failed, he was furious with new and old hatreds.
Otto did not know Count Bresgau's reaction, nor did he know that the other party was about to gather troops to fight for Basel, but Otto also responded early to the possible enemy attack on Basel.
The day after the deal with the church was reached, Otto ordered Baron Dillon to start repairing Basel City. He did not seek to turn Basel City into a strong fortress, but at least it could not be like the current Basel City, which is full of loopholes in city defense. .
After Basel had arranged everything, five days had passed. Otto left most of his army to Baron Dillon to guard Basel, and he himself was preparing to return to Eagle with two hundred cavalry. Fort, he had other things to do.
"Master Otto, are you going back to Eagle Castle now?" Baron Dillon was surprised. Didn't you agree to guard King Yuge? Why is Basel right at the doorstep not moving?
Otto seemed to understand what Baron Dillon wanted to ask, and explained with a smile.
"Barr has assembled enough troops and nobles. If we are here to defend against the attack of the East Frankish Kingdom's army, aren't we defending the kingdom?
Not only those who fight on the frontal battlefield are considered heroes, we who silently protect the kingdom's territory are also warriors loyal to His Majesty. "
There was no way that Otto's nonsense could deceive the experienced Baron Dillon. After thinking about it for a while, he came back to his senses.
It's a lie to protect the kingdom, but it's true to seize the opportunity to capture the Basel area that Otto has always wanted.
However, since we are already preparing to expand our territory, many of the surrounding territories are now empty, so why not do it all at once?
"Baron Dillon, we are here to guard the territory of the kingdom. In Basel, we were asked by the local church to help, so we sent out troops.
As for the other nobles' territories, we have not been invited to assist. If we help on our own initiative, we may cause the displeasure of other nobles. Wouldn't that be a good intention but a bad thing? "Otto explained to Baron Dillon with a smile.
To put it bluntly, in view of the so-called bullshit legal principles of this era, even if Otto wants to expand, he has to worry about some impacts and cannot be so unscrupulous.
Fortunately, Basel is already in a de facto lordless state, but other territories are not easy to handle. Attacking Bern first and then Basel has already gained enough benefits. Expanding too much territory at once is not always a good thing for Otto.
Otto is planning to bring all the expanded territory under direct jurisdiction, and is not planning to use any feudal system or rely on the power of the church for management. Therefore, the current requirement for the territory is that it is best to directly govern it within the radiation range of Eagle Fort. .
In layman's terms, Otto did not have enough administrative power to manage a huge territory and could only limit his own expansion.
After instructing Baron Dillon to guard Basel, Otto left the city of Basel with two hundred cavalry.
When Sophie saw Otto returning to Eagle Castle, she was surprised. She really didn't expect that the week Otto said was actually true.
"Oh, my beautiful wife." Otto looked at Sophie with a bright smile on her face. "Are you interested in going out to relax, for example, going back to your parents' house or something?"
