Olan's whole body was covered in sweat, and he was wearing coarse linen.
The skin friction was very uncomfortable.
Only a dozen people in the queue knew their identities.
Wherever Oran goes, these people move.
Arriving in front of this longhouse, about 500 meters away, Olan saw a group of Vikings.
There was a commotion from both sides.
At least hundreds of people came from this group of Vikings.
With so many people dispatched, both sides were afraid of suddenly taking action if they disagreed.
Then each side sent a rider out, and after whispering a few words to each other, they returned to their positions.
After hearing the report, Nanding led several people forward, including Oran.
They headed towards a large stone house - the manor house here.
The carving of "God Thor" has just been hung on this large roof to bless them with a good harvest.
Before taking this place, Shi Meng also looked to the cross for luck.
Shi Meng now no longer pursues the futile and meaningless "Hall of Valor", but he also does not blindly pursue the "Kingdom of Heaven".
Believers in the god Odin say that "it" loves and protects brave warriors, and they have made meritorious deeds in many battles in its name, so they should be protected.
"The Evil God"
Believers of God, who say "He" loves the world, are themselves one of the world, His children.
The two gods were skillfully used alternately by Shi Meng.
Nanding also saw that among the Vikings who entered the house early, excluding Shi Meng, there were two others - each with a small cross ring hanging on their arms.
The two teams each formed a formation about 300 meters outside the big house and did not dare to move rashly.
After entering the house, Shi Meng and Nan Ding shook hands with each other, then hugged and patted each other on the back, and then sat on the left and right sides of the long table, which showed that both parties were equal.
They are both strong warriors. When they shook hands just now, they were also testing each other, each feeling the other's strong grip and the thick calluses in his hands.
Shi Meng felt that Nanding had surpassed the former White Eagle Lord (Olan's father).
After Nanding sat down, he said, "Thank you Lord White Eagle (Olan) for sending so many farm tools. After the harvest, I will send someone to give back the food and fruits we grew."
In the past few days, Orange sent people to deliver letters and gifts almost once a day.
Although Niu Jing didn't know why Lord White Eagle was so enthusiastic, he needed all these things, so he didn't hesitate and took them all as ordered.
In today's meeting, he originally thought that the White Eagle Leader planned to draw a boundary with him and not interfere with each other.
This happened several times during my father-in-law's time.
But after a few words, the situation developed far beyond his imagination.
Seeing that the time was almost up, Nanding waved and presented a new gift.
This gift was handed over by the "Titan" and placed on the long table. When the cloth was removed, a square box was revealed.
Shi Meng thought it was some jewelry or sundries, but when the Titan opened it, the atmosphere changed drastically!
The warriors around Niu Neck all put their hands on the handles of their swords.
"What do you mean!" Shi Meng was filled with murderous intent.
He waits for the next response, and if he is not satisfied, he will leave immediately.
"This gift is very precious." Nanding pushed the bottom box of the human head forward so that Shi Meng could see it more clearly.
"A salted head, do you think of this as a gift?"
After Shi Meng finished speaking, he looked at the head carefully, and then discovered that the head was missing an ear. It looked like an acquaintance - a Catholic knight from the east of his settlement.
"Do you see clearly?" Nanding pulled the box back and covered it with cloth again. His voice turned gloomy, "Chief Shi Meng, what you say next, you must promise never to leave this room. In that way, I can Tell you everything."
"What if I don't want to know?" Shi Meng didn't want to get involved in trouble.
Norwegian proverb: Curiosity can kill a bear.
"The White Eagle Leader will visit your territory until one of the two parties loses any power."
"Go to hell, Old England!" One of the Vikings couldn't stand the provocation and pointed his sword at Nanding's face.
But Nanding didn't move at all, and His Excellency Oran was right behind him. Even if he was afraid of death, he would "fall forward and die."
"etc."
Shi Meng suppressed his subordinates' dissatisfaction, and at the same time he also had many questions in his mind. He said, "Okay, you can tell me."
"Clear the place first. The fewer people know about this, the better. Leave one person on each side, preferably someone who knows how to read." Nan Ding suggested.
What Nanding said basically did not deviate from what Oran taught him, and at the same time he was taking control of the scene step by step.
But Shi Meng knew that when negotiating at the table, no matter how much you agree or are forced to accept what your opponent says, you have to put forward different opinions. He replied, "Leave two."
Nanding didn't hear Olan's "coughing" hint and said hello.
Then a few more people walked out, and when "Olan" was about to walk out, Shi Meng said, "This kid stays."
The atmosphere on Nanding's side was even more tense than when the Vikings drew their swords just now, and they all drew their swords in an instant.
Olan feels bad, this will expose his secrets.
Shi Meng suppressed his speculation and said deliberately, "He stays."
Shi Meng didn't say the reason, but his attitude was firm, so in the end there were six people left in the room, three from each side.
Behind Nanding stood the Titan, Oran.
Behind Shi Meng stood two loyal men, who also read through some texts.
Three against three, Shi Meng had the upper hand in force inside the house, but outside, Olan's military power was superior, and neither party dared to take action at will.
"Knight Nanding, now you can tell the secret of the damn head." Shi Meng said.
"The head just now was a border knight under Earl Earl. His ears were cut off by you.
My lord (Olan) launched a night attack and took it down directly at the cost of twenty lives.
Now, as a gift to you, this knight launched a sneak attack two years ago when the leadership of your settlement was handed over and killed more than ten of you. Am I right? "
Shi Meng was a little confused. The White Eagle leader directly "killed fellow believers" to please himself, a foreigner?
He thought for a while and said, "I want to kill this person. Since you brought the head, I will accept it and give you the same compensation. If you need our help to maintain peace on the border and allow your people to trade, we can do it at any time." .”
But Nanding didn't want this. He then took out a leather letter from his arms and handed it to Shi Meng.
This is one of the letters Oran took out from the bedroom of Rowling Castle. It contains the words that Earl wanted to poison and attack the White Eagle Territory.
This was also the reason why Nanding asked them to keep someone who could read. He was afraid that Shi Meng couldn't read.
Shi Meng read it several times, whispered to the left and right in Viking dialect, sorted it out, and pushed the letter back.
"So, those previous gifts, plus this head, are all for the purpose of forming an alliance? You want to take revenge and swallow up the northern territory, so let us take action together?"
It's "conspiracy" again. Shi Meng hates conspiracies, and his favor towards the White Eagle Leader continues to decline.
"Chief Shi Meng, there is another letter here."
Nanding released another letter "forged" by Oran, which stated that King Ella was preparing to use troops to the north to clear out all the Danfa areas, consolidate his rule, and avoid fires in the backyard when attacking the former king, and wait for the obstacles to be cleared. Start a kingdom unification war again.
This letter was related to his own side, and Shi Meng's expression changed again and again.
"We have formed a marriage alliance with His Majesty Ella. He recently sent a special envoy (Sars) to our territory just for this matter. If you don't believe it, you can send scouts to the surrounding area to investigate." Nanding said.
Oran used the king's special envoy Sals to handle matters in the country, and recently sent out false information, saying that the king supported him.
Oran also sent a group of people north to Earl's territory, and also told the miser that he had the king's full support and wanted to clear out the northern Danfa area, and asked Earl to join forces with him. In this case, he would give priority to helping him clear out the area. The gold tooth forces within the territory.
After that, Earl can help him defeat the bull's neck.
Oran had this plan in mind. On the one hand, he formed an alliance with Earl and persuaded Earl to let him enter his territory.
On the other hand, he formed an alliance with Shi Meng and asked Shi Meng to read these two letters.
First, Shi Meng thought that he wanted to take revenge on Earl.
Secondly, let Shi Meng know that his settlement is in danger and needs to find an ally, otherwise it will be besieged and killed by the God Lords in the south.
"The incident has exceeded my expectations. Instead of making random guesses, why don't you finish it in one go? If it doesn't harm the interests of our settlement, then we can still talk about it. Otherwise, let's see whose sword is faster."
Then Shi Meng pointed at Olan behind Nanding and suddenly threw the small ceramic cup filled with water on the table.
Titan immediately used his body area and his chubby face to accurately block 10% of the attacks.
Shi Meng said coldly, "Who are you?"
"I'm just a messenger, Sir Chief."
Oran patted Titan on the shoulder, feeling dissatisfied with the Norwegian man in his heart.
"Command? My men drew their swords just now, and the people around you are all protecting you, regardless of the knight on the table.
When there are only two people left, the little fat man next to you always looks at you from time to time and holds the sword on his body.
Now if I splash water, he will still protect you immediately?
Also, when you entered the room, you were obviously the last one among your group to enter, but until you came in, this male knight was willing (dare) to sit down.
A noble knight is waiting for you, the messenger?
In addition, the eyes you look at your lord are full of..."
After Shi Meng entered the house, he paid attention to all movements.
Olan saw that he was so shrewd and no longer hid it.
"enough."
After saying this, Olan showed that his identity is no less than Nanding.
"Are you the Lord of White Eagle?" Shi Meng asked tentatively.
Oran didn't say yes or no, and replied, "I like to make deals with smart people the most, because they will not be affected by anger and pay more attention to actual interests.
The White Eagle Territory needs new territory, and you need the goodwill of the surrounding lords.
The king will use his troops against you, and your presence will prevent the northern lords of Northumbria from ever obeying his command and doing their own thing.
The northern lords always said that they wanted to protect their homeland. If they sent out troops, they would be invaded by the Vikings.
After you are cleared, Ella can order the northern lord to fight his brother without any worries.
Earl Earl is also dissatisfied with you. You have part of the territory, which happens to be in his legal territory, but you use it for planting. He thinks that you are stealing his food, so he has the border knights lead people to raid you from time to time.
Before I knew about Earl's letter that he wanted to harm us, I was almost used by him to turn against you.
Now the truth is clear, Earl is my enemy, and you are his enemies. The so-called enemy of my enemy is the best ally, isn't it?
Giving you this head shows our great sincerity in cooperating.
What I want you to do is very simple. If you harass the border between the king and Er, I will spread the word and make you want to attack..."
Oran wanted to use the cow's neck to spread the news about the chaos in the north and delay the agreed time to go south to join the war. On the other hand, he also used the cow's neck to scare Earl Earl and force Earl to agree to form an alliance with him to fight against the Vikings. .
The most important thing about the whole thing is Niu Neck's attitude, so Olan must come in person to take control of the situation.
Shi Meng hesitated. Olan's proposal was too crazy.
Oran added, "You can do it as long as you want, but I will only accept one answer, I agree!"
If I don't give you a satisfactory answer, this place will be engulfed in fire today, and then I, the king, and Earl Earl's army will destroy your settlement within a month. "
"Why should I believe you, kid? If you kill a fellow believer, aren't you afraid of being exposed? We can also inform Earl Earl!"
It was the man who drew his sword angrily at Nanding just now, Shi Meng's right-hand man "Si En".
Now that the "young man" is gone, he can be regarded as the second person in charge.
"Telling?" Nanding snorted.
Si En realized that he actually wanted to ask Earl, but his confidence suddenly fell short.
They made the sword crazy, but their judgment of the situation was very poor.
"It's a good thing you're not sitting in the leader's position, otherwise you would mess everything up." Oran didn't give any face at all.
The Vikings believed in the strong, and the stronger they were, the more they could suppress them.
"You are crazy. We have only been in contact for a few days, and you actually proposed such an outrageous alliance!" Shi Meng said.
"I've asked a lot about you in the past few days, and I guess you are the same, so you should have heard of sword fighting in church?"
Seeing Shi Meng nodding, Olan then said,
"If I hadn't brought too few people with me at that time, I would have killed all those who insulted me and let the church sword fight become my 'fight for honor.'
When trading with honest people, you can only take one step at a time. When trading with crazy people, the profits will be astonishingly huge!
You once wanted to convert and join Ella, but they didn't believe you.
Now you have another chance, come to me and I will protect you. "
"King Ella is a king in name only. You can rule one county at most. So you want to protect us?"
Shi Meng picked up the water glass in front of him, drank it and spat on the ground.
Oran looked at Si En who had just spoken harshly and Shi Meng who was sneering, and finally turned to Shi Meng and said, "I heard that your wife is pregnant. Let's assume one thing. Your good wife gives birth to a boy." one girl.
Fourteen years later, a foreign man suddenly comes and takes away your daughter, injures your brothers and children, and even finds a 'priest' to tell you that he hopes for a peaceful settlement and asks you to swallow it, what will you do?"
"If this kind of thing can be forgiven, it would be a shame to live." Si En said quickly.
"Uncle Ben will tell you that in the Frankish territory in southwest Denmark, a duke has appeared in recent years. Maybe you have heard of him, known as 'Iron-Armed Baldwin'. Five years ago, he only had one county, the same as me.
He wants to expand his power, boost his family's prestige, and reach the sky in one step!
How did he do it?
He later kidnapped a Frankish princess, a descendant of Charlemagne,
After forcibly getting married, he fought off the king's soldiers, and at the same time used the stolen gold and silver to bribe the Vatican, and asked the Pope of Rome, Nicholas I, to intervene.
The Holy See has forgotten all about the so-called Seven Good Things. As long as they have enough gold and silver, they can turn a person with seven evils into a saint.
And King Frank actually agreed!
As the grandson of Charlemagne, why should he endure such humiliation?
Because wars were raging on his border, and his close ministers had evil intentions, he could only endure it. In the end, he entrusted the security of the northwest border to Baldwin and asked Baldwin to drive away the Danes!
This allowed the kingdom's land bordering the Danish border to be disturbed much less frequently.
When others laughed at him, it was because they could not see what the king's eyes saw.
When people stand in different positions, they see different scenery.
You will be satisfied with a few pieces of land where spring and autumn come, and you can harvest by sowing. When you are old, you will probably die in humility, and the burial objects will only be a few broken wine glasses, clothes, and a better one, a broken sword. Same as the broken armor, the tombstone is engraved with, born in a certain year, buried in a certain place...
The scenery that Uncle Ben saw was huge. If you run with your legs, ride horses and take boats, you won't be able to reach the finish line in several days.
This land can be populated by many people with different skin colors, and gods of different shapes can be worshiped.
Now, my enemies call me Lord White Eagle, wait five years and they will call me 'King of England'. "
After Olan said this, he felt a little thirsty and gestured to his water bag.
The Titan beside him quickly picked up his water bag.
Olan drank half of it and then sprinkled it on Shi Meng and others.
"How does the sweet mountain spring water taste?"
"Sweet." Si En said, his heart beating wildly at Olan's words.
"Many mountains in Northumbria can produce such sweet spring water. Let's build a beautiful home with Benbo, boy."
"Okay...okay!" Sean said as if he was possessed.
Shi Meng grabbed Si En's hand and motioned for him to calm down.
After Si En calmed down, he also picked up the water bag on his body and drank most of it, but he did not dare to spill it on Olan, just to let the fire of desire in his heart subside.
"Simon Pig, you will be equal to Ben Bo."
Olan stretched out his hand, and everyone looked at Shi Meng. At this time, they all wanted his consent!
After thinking again and again, Shi Meng stood up and held Olan's hand.
Great plans often come from crazy proposals and ideas.
Oran successfully led the meeting.
Before leaving the house, Oran said, "I will establish a communication channel. You can wait for my news at any time. Starting today, once your people set foot in the White Eagle Territory, they will feel like returning to their own home."
Oran picked up a Viking armband hidden on his body, which he had prepared for this event. He handed it to Shi Meng and said something crazy that Shi Meng would never forget.
"For Odin, God witnesses."
"For Odin, God witnesses!"
Shi Meng repeated, took Olan's armband, and then passed on the armband in his own hand.
Armbands are multifunctional, and one can be used as currency. This kind of armband is made of silver, which can be removed when money is scarce and chopped into pieces as "broken silver" for payment.
What Oran sent up was the silver armband.
But Shi Meng gave him a leather armband, which symbolized honor and adulthood.
In the end, Olan and Shi Meng hugged each other and walked out.
On the way out, Olan was still hiding in the crowd. He formed a team with these soldiers who knew his identity.
"This old Norwegian is so powerful." Oran looked at his red palms.
"Your Excellency, do you really want to be on an equal footing with these barbarians?" Tai Tan asked.
"Talk too much."
O'lan shook it a few times to normalize the redness on his palms, and then said, "Take care of the head, be careful not to leak it."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
In fact, Oran did not launch a night attack at all. He returned to the county and sent people to notify Earl the day after he conferred the title on everyone. When his men were passing by the border, they saw a fire. The knight who once caused trouble in Shimon's territory, He drank too much and died in the house.
As he got to know Shi Meng and Earl better and better, Oran decided to make a fake incident.
He heard from his subordinates that he got a human head of about the same age and with a somewhat similar appearance. He also burned the skin of the head with fire to make it difficult to see the facial features. He then cut off one ear and made a very similar appearance to fake himself. The night attack is now being shown to Shi Meng.
The person was dead and Shi Meng had no way to verify it, but he did send soldiers in and out of the Er border many times.
So as long as Shi Meng believes it in his heart, he will connect all these things. If Shi Meng goes to inform Earl, it doesn't matter, because he has never done it.
…
…
On the other side, the three Shi Meng who stayed in the house started discussing.
Sien calmed down and said, "Chief, what should I do? I was confused by this kid!"
Shi Meng just sighed. He began to feel that his policy of tolerance in the past two years was very wrong and he had lost a good opportunity for development.
And now, a new opportunity has arrived!
