"Hi, Simon, my dearest brother," Langer said casually, playing with the goose legs of the roasted swan on his plate, "you are not the most loyal vassal under the Duke, but also the most pious lord in the entire principality. Why? Why did it take you so many days to assemble the army? Is it true that deep down in your heart you are actually disgusted or afraid of this expedition? "
Simon felt an unknown fire rising in his heart. Count Lange would never let go of any opportunity to belittle himself, especially in front of all the nobles of the entire principality. He is so stubborn!
"On the contrary, I was looking forward to this expedition, so I took some time to assemble my most elite troops. In addition, as we all know, my territory is in the most remote area of the entire principality, and I have tried my best to use the best troops. We arrived in Dusseldorf as quickly as possible." Simon replied as calmly as possible.
Getting angry will only make you lose your temper in front of everyone, which is exactly what Langer is looking forward to.
"We can't be harsh on Baron Simon on this matter," Baron Winter of Vancombe, who was wearing a bright blue woolen sweater, started to help Simon out. "What's more, he did not exceed the assembly time required by the Duke. "His gentle and magnetic voice makes people feel relaxed and comfortable.
The nobles at the table whispered to each other, and many nodded in agreement.
"That doesn't change the fact that he was the last one to arrive in the town of Dusseldorf. Hey, this lazy guy who is full of excuses to go out to fight and is not active at all, maybe we should give him a new title, um... Simon, the latecomer!" Count Lange chewed the goose leg meat. When he raised the corners of his mouth proudly, the golden oil on the roasted goose skin overflowed from the corners of his mouth.
"Whatever you want, Lange the Deceiver," Simon no longer cared about his feelings and directly broke his face and said sarcastically, "If this will make you work harder in the battle against the heretics in the future, I actually don't care. What do you call me?"
Count Lange's face suddenly froze, followed by embarrassment and anger. Since the last messenger incident, no reckless person has dared to mention the word "conspirator" in front of him. Even the Duke chose to keep silent. He was fighting the urge to smash the dinner plate into Simon's face.
"Hahahahahaha!"
"good!"
The other nobles cheered and even clapped, not sure whether it was because Simon's profound words moved them, or because they simply wanted to see the arrogant Lange deflated.
This made Count Lange even more embarrassed. His face turned red quickly, and Simon could tell that he was very excited now, but it must be difficult to pretend to be indifferent.
Count Wolfe, who was sitting next to Lange, held his temples and shook his head, but Duke Amadeus, who was sitting on the throne, was observing everyone's expressions with interest.
"You'd better watch your words, Simon," Lange's face almost dripped with gloom, "Besides, I don't allow you to doubt my devotion to God, whether you call me latecomer Simon or Scarecrow Simon or All the other shit, I’ll fight the infidels to the best of my ability!”
"That's it, let's wait and see." Simon raised his glass to Lange, raised his head and drank the red wine in the glass.
Count Lange never learned a lesson - every time he wanted to insult Simon, the result would often be reversed and he would humiliate himself.
What Simon is good at is dealing with Lange's radical aggression with calmness, thereby gradually taking the right to speak into his own hands and turning disadvantages into advantages.
"Stop having meaningless quarrels, my warriors," Duke Amadeus was good at finding the right moment to cut into conflicts. He raised his glass and said emotionally, "In front of the pagans, we are all warriors of God. , isn’t it? What we need most right now is to put aside disputes and unite!”
"Kill all the infidels!"
"Let these demons who invade our homeland go back to hell!"
“Christ’s warriors are always invincible!”
"God bless us!"
Everyone raised their glasses and cheered, and the awkward atmosphere just now suddenly became full of religious enthusiasm.
It has to be said that as the mediator and balancer between the two forces, Duke Amadeus has always played the role of a good old guy who is not annoying, but Simon knows very well that he is the most scheming among them all. of that.
Speaking of Duke Amadeus of Cologne, Simon has learned a lot about him with the help of Ludwig in the past two years.
The duke's heir is called Forkhard, a twelve-year-old boy. He also has a sister one year younger than him, named Luitgard. Their mother died in childbirth many years ago, a painful memory that Amadeus never wanted to recall.
Forkhard's guardian was not his biological father, the Duke of Cologne, but Duke Hermann of Swabia.
Herman was quite accomplished in the military. Amadeus wanted his children to learn the art of war. He knew that in this chaotic era, an outstanding military strategist could change the fate of the entire family, so he sent Fokhar to the army. De was sent to Hermann's side.
In fact, Count William of Thuringia is the most proficient in military command in the kingdom, but his poor territory that has been ravaged by the Magyars is really worrying. Maybe one day his castle will be attacked by the pagans. , Amadeus had to spend a large sum of money to redeem his son from the Magyars, and he did not want to take this risk.
As for his daughter Luitgard, when Amadeus was Earl of Berg, he was preparing to fight to the death with Earl Loon, but he was worried that if something happened to him, his daughter's fate would definitely be extremely tragic, so he Send her to Gundesheim Nunnery in advance - a nunnery sponsored by the royal family Liudolf family, which is rich and safe.
When Forkhard and Luitgaard came of age, it was time for them to return to the court of Amadeus. Of course, if Amadeus died before then, they would immediately return to their father's court to inherit the inheritance and title.
…………………………
The nobles spent a comfortable night in the castle. Under the warm hospitality of the host Amadeus, many of them almost forgot the purpose of coming here. It was not until the next morning that the knights were ready and saddled. When they were preparing to go to war, there were actually nobles lying on the bed soundly asleep.
Bishop Hans of Dusseldorf, who followed the expedition, was originally a patient man, but his patience had been exhausted by the endless waiting in the courtyard.
"These lazy idiots are simply blaspheming! The pagans are slaughtering the people of Thuringia and drinking their blood, but these noble men who keep saying they want to save them from fire and water are actually still sleeping!" the bishop muttered dissatisfiedly. road.
It wasn't until the Duke's servants knocked on the door one after another to urge them that the hungover nobles realized that they seemed to have made a mistake.
Count Lange of Dorsten walked out of the tower in disheveled clothes, rubbing his sleepy eyes. Behind him came a woman's giggle, and a half-covered figure swept past the ajar door. However, the knights waiting in the courtyard looked at Lange meaningfully and laughed.
Simon sighed. Poor Lady Josephine should be in labor now, while her husband was spending the night with other women in the Duke's tower.
Thinking of this, Simon couldn't help but look at Count Wolfe not far away. The latter didn't seem to care about this. Maybe his own private life was so dissolute and he was accustomed to it, so he didn't care about this matter. Lange looked angry at his son-in-law.
After a while, Baron Lemaître of Siegburg also came out with a flushed face. Simon was not surprised at all when he saw the peach blossoms on his face.
He knew his other four allies. Baron Siegburg was a lusty middle-aged fat man, and he would naturally not miss this opportunity. But Simon is very worried about whether this will become his weakness, and will he fall apart at a critical time when the alliance needs to work together in the future? No one knows.
"Alright my warriors," Duke Amadeus saw that the people had almost arrived, so he clapped his hands and motioned for everyone to look at him, "from now on, we have to put aside our enjoyment and embark on a road full of thorns. The road is over. The girl and the wine will always be there. When we crush the invasion of the pagans, we can come back and enjoy it to the fullest!"
Today he is wearing the crown of the Duke of Cologne made of gold. The crown looks particularly noble under the light of the rising sun, and it also makes his short speech more majestic.
"good!"
The knights and elite armed soldiers in the courtyard raised their weapons and cheered.
Amadeus knew exactly what his men desired, which was nothing more than money, wine, and beautiful women. As long as two of them are met, these professional soldiers can burst into endless fighting spirit and tear their enemies apart. This is also the thing that best arouses their enthusiasm and enthusiasm in a speech.
Afterwards, the knights and armed soldiers left the castle courtyard one after another and walked out of the castle gate in a grand manner.
In the middle of the rows of wooden houses in the town of Dusseldorf are streets filled with smelly excrement. The streets are now filled with townspeople who come to see off or watch the fun, and people holding their hands. Vendors hawking amulets and clovers touting their magical properties.
"Your Excellency, I think your next speech should use the Lord to inspire everyone, rather than these worldly pleasures and temptations," Hans, the short and fat Bishop of Dusseldorf, rode a white pony. The Duke, who was riding a tall war horse next to him, raised his head and looked at him as he spoke. The height difference between the two looked very funny, "We are now marching in the name of the Lord, so we must pay attention to our image and impact."
"So what should I say?" Duke Amadeus looked a little unhappy and rolled his eyes. "Teach me, wise Hans."
"For example, for Jesus, for St. George..." Bishop Hans himself couldn't continue. Worldly enjoyment is real, but the name and deeds of the saint are still too much for these expedition members who may die at any time. Too far away.
"It would be better to say that everyone who dies fighting the pagans will directly ascend to heaven." A voice interrupted from the side. Bishop Hans frowned because his speech was interrupted, but after thinking about it, he realized that this was indeed the case. Very feasible.
"Simon," Duke Amadeus praised in surprise, "my wise man, you always come up with good ideas."
"Thank you for the compliment," Simon nodded. "I just want our soldiers to know what they are fighting for and where they will go even if they die. The Bible says that people are born with original sin. If A man sacrifices his life to protect his Christian brothers from being killed by pagans. Isn't that enough to atone for his past sins? Now that he has atoned for his sins, can't he still go to heaven?"
"What you said makes sense, my child. You are worthy of Simon the Pious." Bishop Hans nodded with satisfaction. It seemed that he also agreed with Simon's remarks. At the same time, it had been a long time since he had seen a noble with such a view. In his impression, the nobles only knew how to fight and kill. Many of them could not read a word, and they were no different from farmers in terms of education.
However, if Bishop Hans knew Simon's true thoughts at this time, he would be so angry that he would go to see God on the spot.
The seemingly devout Simon is actually a complete unbeliever. Simon knew very well that European religion in this era was the best sickle for cutting leeks. Many civilians and even nobles live in squalid environments and suffer from all kinds of suffering in the secular world. The vast majority of people place their only spiritual comfort in Catholicism. In Simon's view, this is tantamount to a whip. The injured sheep seeks comfort from the farmer holding the shearing sheep with aggrieved eyes, which is ridiculous and ridiculous.
As for those Catholic religious allusions and deeds of saints, Simon would indeed understand them, but their role was limited to increasing their eloquence, deceiving people, and winning the favor of religious people.
However, it has to be said that Catholicism has indeed restrained the behavior of many people in this chaotic era and in this broken society. Out of fear of going to hell after death and suffering eternal pain, many people do not dare to break through the bottom line and commit evil deeds. Instead, they work hard to do good and live a difficult life, hoping to enter heaven. This can be considered a positive aspect of religion.
. The fastest website to update the Apex mobile version:
