Before the envoys sent by the other four barons to sign the alliance treaty arrived, a spy from Gend rode an inconspicuous donkey to Esbaiburg.
He brought back a piece of bombshell news for Simon - the long-running war between the Principality of Flanders and its claim to the Barony of Helder was over.
"Who won?" Simon, who was sitting high on the lord's throne, asked impatiently.
"Duke Dirk of Frisia." The spy, wearing bright tights and dressing up like a traveling merchant, replied.
The Principality of Frisia is the Principality of Friesland, but among the residents of the Rhine region, they prefer to use place names to refer to the principality in the north with Norse ancestry.
In terms of affiliation, Duke Dirk of the Principality of Frisia was loyal to the Kingdom of Germany, while Duke Arnulf of the Principality of Flanders was a vassal of the King of West Francia. Therefore, the Principality of Flanders claimed East Francia. The earldom of the Principality of Lycia was in fact equivalent to the war between the Kingdom of West Francia and the Kingdom of Germany in a sense.
But what is interesting is that neither king sent his own soldiers to intervene in the war this time.
King Raoul I of the West Frankish Kingdom had not had time to take a moment to breathe from the good news of the death of his enemy Rollo, Duke of Normandy. Rollo's son Guillaume "Long Sword" succeeded to the throne and became like his father. Together with "The Great" Hugues, the poor king was tortured to death. At this time, the political situation in the Kingdom of West Francia was extremely chaotic.
The King of the Kingdom of Germany, "Fowler" Heinrich, was distracted by the Magyar attacks in Saxony and Thuringia. At the same time, he had to deal with the increasingly aggressive attacks of the Duke of Bavaria and the Duke of Franconia. Too demanding. Therefore, he was unable to deal with the claims wars encountered by the counties of the northern coastal vassals.
As a result, the war ended up being a private war between two dukes from different kingdoms without the interference of the king.
Fortunately, the Duke of East Frisia defended the claim and reputation of his vassal Count Held, which would also make the royal family breathe a sigh of relief - at least the German Kingdom would not lose a count because of this.
The Duke of Flanders was extremely dissatisfied with Raoul I's inaction, and even openly attributed the defeat to the king's unwillingness to send troops many times on the banquet table. There are rumors that he is in contact with "Long Sword" Guillaume, and God knows what they are plotting.
"For me, when they resume agricultural production, the profit from the food I sell to the lowland areas will decrease. At the same time, there will no longer be so many slave traders passing through here. If the population of my territory wants to grow, Then we have to find another stream." Simon held his chin with his hand without saying a word, changed into a comfortable position and lay on the back of the chair, weighing the pros and cons in his mind.
If the neighboring town of Nijmegen to the north of Esbaiburg resumes production, perhaps Simon can steadily purchase low-priced agricultural products from there and Isselburg and sell them to the Italian region in the south.
But Simon predicts that, at least in the short term, it will be difficult for the town of Nijmegen to recover from the blow caused by the war.
A few months ago, Count Testebunt of the Principality of Frisia led an army to besiege the town of Nijmegen. Although they did not capture the town, they plundered the villages and farms and pastures on the outskirts of the town. And destroyed completely. His army went like a carnival and slaughtered the landowners and farmers near the town of Nijmegen like slaughtering wild dogs. The scene of devastation made even the bold slave traders tremble when talking about it.
"Walter, Baron Clairvaux, has really suffered a huge loss." Simon shook his head sadly.
He once visited the baron whose territory was adjacent to his own. The owner of the town of Nijmegen was a kindly old man. The long curling sword hanging in his hall and a shield with his family crest full of scars seemed to tell the story of the old man's bravery in his youth, but now he may no longer be able to wield them.
Walter had a high reputation in the local area, and most of the people thought he was a good lord worth following, and were even willing to pay the price of their lives for him, which is enough to show the support and love he received. Perhaps it was precisely because of these people's willingness to die rather than surrender that the tragedy of Nijmegen was caused.
The spy who was kneeling on one knee seemed to have no intention of getting up. He cleared his throat and continued: "My lord, I have another bad news here."
"What bad news?" Simon's pupils dilated instantly, and a bad feeling surged into his heart.
Bad news from the Principality of Flanders? It seems that for a long time, his spies in Flanders have not found a good opportunity to assassinate that person. Could it be that that person now...
"Sir Luke, who holds your strong claim to Esbaiburg, was given a barony by Duke Arnulf due to his outstanding performance in this war. Now, he is Kortrijk. Baron Luke.”
Simon was silent for a while, rubbed his temples with a headache, and said to the spy: "Get up, sit down on the stool over there, and tell me in detail."
It turned out that Luke, the useless lord who fled two years ago when Simon came to occupy the barony of Quinir, and his uncle Schheiber fled all the way to the Principality of Flanders in the Kingdom of West Frankia, and finally took refuge in the country where Luke's mother was. family.
The patriarch of that family was Ambrose, the mayor of Arras. As the mayor of the lowlands, his strength is no different from that of an ordinary feudal baron. However, in view of his excellent military command skills, he was appointed by Duke Arnulf as his military commander.
In this war, Duke Arnulf lost a large number of soldiers and horses in the Battle of Horon, which determined victory, and several mayors and vassals were killed on the battlefield. Arnulf was a rational man. He did not blame his military chief for the defeat. He knew that the numerical gap between himself and the Duke of Frisia's army in that battle was too big. The military chief Arnulf Bruce had already tried his best, and he saw his nephew Luke's bravery on the battlefield.
Although the war was lost, the territory must continue to develop and be maintained. Several families of mayors who died in the war have highly respected heirs in the local area, but the mayor of Kortrijk Anton is an exception. He came from a humble background and died in the war before he could leave any heirs.
As a result, Luke, who was eager to express himself and performed brilliantly on the battlefield, came into the Duke's sight. Coupled with the day-to-day lobbying and recommendations of his uncle, the military chief Ambrose, Duke Arnulf finally succeeded. Kortrijk was canonized to Luke.
It is worth mentioning that Baron Luke will swear allegiance directly to Duke Arnulf himself.
Don’t forget, Luke also has a strong claim to the Barony of Quinnier. Although this title has now disappeared and been integrated into the title of Barony of Foldburg by Simon, no one can deny him and his The fact that the family once belonged there. This means that the Duke of Flanders can declare war on Simon at any time, and the reason for declaring war is to regain the legal territory of his vassal.
Fortunately, the current political situation in the Kingdom of West Francia is in chaos. The Duke of Flanders currently has little interest in this small barony and has no desire or inclination to attack Simon for the time being.
"My enemies are really getting more and more powerful." Simon clenched his fists and frowned.
The strength of Arnulf, Duke of Flanders, was far beyond that of a baron named Simon.
Even if a war breaks out, if the Duke of Cologne fulfills his obligation to protect his vassals and several of Simon's baron allies lead troops to come to the rescue, there is a high probability that they will be defeated by Arnulf's army.
Compared with the Principality of Flanders, which has a profound foundation, the strength of the emerging Principality of Cologne appears to be so weak.
"I still have a lot of things to do! I can't stop and indulge in comfort, otherwise one day I will die without a burial place." Simon secretly made up his mind, and the heavy stone that he had broken free from was pressed down again. On his mind.
"My lord, this is all I know." The spy from Gende bowed to Simon and said humbly.
"You took the trouble to come from Gende in the Principality of Flanders to bring me this important news, and you deserve to be rewarded," Simon said, taking out a silver denier coin from the purse on his waist. , handed it to the spy, "If there are any movements in the Principality of Flanders, you must inform me as soon as possible."
"Thank you, your generous lord," the spy took the coin and said happily, "don't worry, I will take care of everything."
The spy was happy, but Simon couldn't be happy no matter what. Plans emerged in Simon's mind one after another, and finally settled on assassination.
According to the male-first inheritance law, as long as Simon assassinates Luke, the second in line claimed by the Baron of Quenier, and his uncle Shi Haibo, who is the third in line, all problems will be solved.
But in this case, two people who have no grievances against him will lose their lives, and the poor Baron Kunir will be completely extinct. No one who will inherit his bloodline will survive in this world, and his family will disappear in the world. into the long river of history.
But screw it, Simon doesn't care about these trivial things.
As long as there is a threat to Simon's title and life and death, Simon will be cruel and ruthless, even if he has to use the most dirty methods, he will completely eradicate them. To be kind to your enemies is to be cruel to yourself.
He is no longer the stupid young man who traveled through modern society. The original owner Simon's thoughts and personality are changing him little by little.
He might have been unable to kill Lange before because of his brotherly relationship, but now, for this stranger who holds the title of his own territory, Simon will never be merciless when it is time to kill him.
Otherwise, when the Duke of Flanders comes to the city one day, it will be too late to say anything. By then, he will definitely hate himself for being so indecisive and worrying about gains and losses.
"Call Ludwig over here," Simon said with cold eyes to the servant on standby behind him, "I have a new task to give him."
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