The two parties sat separately in the hall.
The hall was rearranged, and the servants brought a painting or clean cloth to hang as decoration, and filled it with beeswax.
Light up the hall brightly.
King Ella and others will take the main seat, and Oran will be assigned to sit on the left.
This symbolizes that his status is higher than that of several other sheriffs, or that he is more valued by the king.
When cooperating with King Ella, you must always be careful. Among the five county chiefs present, "Olan" and "King" lead the most people.
One is afraid of death, the other is more afraid of death.
The person leading the least number of people was the young and handsome Sheriff Gliese.
The Mercians had entered his territory, and he did not want to offend his powerful neighbors before he was sure that King Ella could safeguard his rights as an earl, so the trip was kept secret and only a few knights around him knew about it.
In terms of age, he is the same age as Oran, but he has been a county commissioner for eight years and has rich experience.
When he was just over one meter tall, he took over the burden from his father who died of illness.
It is the second most populous of the eight counties of Yorkshire.
In the golden age a hundred years ago, Yorkshire had long been the county castle where the king mainly lived and issued orders.
In Oran's memory, he had been to this place twice, but he never had the chance to meet the young county chief.
Gliese came from a wealthy family; his grandmother was also Alfred's maternal grandmother.
Her mother is the second daughter of the eldest son of the former Frankish Duke of Normandy.
If the Viking "Rollo" hadn't seized this vast land, Gliese would have inherited his mother's rights and claimed part of the land in Normandy.
But after the Vikings arrived, everything changed.
It will be dinner time later, and the table is already covered with silver tableware.
Beside them stood wine waiters and maids serving the county chiefs.
The maids rushed to serve Oran and Gliese.
They hope to be attracted by these two handsome and wealthy sheriffs, and preferably become lovers, thus escaping from the humble servant life.
However, the county chiefs were actually very preoccupied, and no one wanted to tease the maid.
The next conference is related to their own territory, and they are all thinking about how to strive for greater benefits.
"Your Excellency Oran, I have admired your reputation for a long time." Gliese first raised the wine glass on the table to face Oran.
"Your Excellency Gliese, my guild relies on your legal protection, and I would like to express my gratitude."
Oran drank it all in one gulp.
Influenced by later memories, he hated this kind of acidic and inferior wine.
But other county chiefs quickly immersed themselves in the joy brought by alcohol, or "pretended to be drunk."
This will prevent you from pretending to be exhausted later when you encounter a topic you don’t want to respond to.
Everyone chatted briefly.
No matter how rude most nobles are, they still know not to have fun with strangers. After all, no one has hundreds of people under their command.
The atmosphere gradually became harmonious and soon entered the stage of mutual praise.
By the time King Ella arrived in his best attire, the scene was already lively.
In addition to several county magistrates, there were also several royal courtiers around Ella.
At the dinner party, the last person Ao Lan wanted to see was Princess "Hai'an", but by chance she also came and walked in with the king.
Oran hated this woman with heavy makeup, but the other county chiefs didn't think so. Some were even more attracted to the princess who still had charm.
For example, Carlisle County Sheriff John. Lekas.
His eyes kept wandering over the princess's plump upper body.
"Being loyal to the lord" and "wanting to sleep with the lord" are not in conflict with each other.
"His Majesty."
All the county chiefs stood up to greet him.
Ella and Haian entered from the middle aisle. According to the custom, the Sheriff who got up would lower his head and wait for the two majesties to approach, then bend down and kiss the rings in their hands.
Olan hates this kind of behavior of sharing other people's saliva. Usually when encountering this kind of thing, he usually touches it with his nose and treats it perfunctorily.
Just as the princess passed by him and Olan lowered his head, Hai An ignored her and walked over.
This behavior was naturally caught by other county chiefs.
When the two majesties were seated, the chef began to serve the dishes.
This is the dinner party, and it is also the "mobilization deployment" before the Thain Conference, and the time when the nobles of the kingdom who are dissatisfied with Oran launch an attack.
The first two dishes are very common aristocratic food, and the third dish is "stewed pigeon".
But the live creature of this dish was brought to the public first, and the sheriffs and knights present were dumbfounded. This was not a dove, but an eagle!
Three-headed eagle, one of which has almost white fur, just like Oran's white eagle family crest.
Although several county chiefs changed into regular clothes, they all had their own family crests embroidered on them.
For example, Gliese opposite Oran, in red clothes, is painted with a "golden lion raising its paws".
Hai'an pointed at these "pigeons" and said, "Everyone, what do you think this looks like?"
John, the Sheriff of Carlisle, responded first, "It's a pigeon, such a fat pigeon. The first time I saw it, my mouth was almost watering. I will stab it in later and enjoy this delicious food, Your Majesty."
John was loyal to both the king and the princess. Haian had told him before that if he wanted to ridicule Oran at the banquet, it would be best to make him angry.
If the nobles’ family crests include common animals or flowers, they will generally not be served on the dining table.
With Hai'an's behavior, anyone with a discerning eye can see who she is targeting.
But the matter has nothing to do with them, they just hang up high and wait for the good show.
"Referring to a dove as an eagle"!
But Olan did not attack, and only added, "Leave the most nutritious heart to me later, and I will give it a knife."
Olan's lack of reaction was tantamount to a roundabout in disguise.
"Did you hear that? Go and get it quickly." Ella waved to the cook to take the "white pigeon" away.
Hai'an still refused to give up and smiled at Oran, "Your Excellency Oran, how come Bishop Guile and Konni, who were sent by the king to assist you in annihilating the Vikings, were not present?
Today is a day worth celebrating, and we should see the two of them. "
"Your Majesty (Hai'an), Priest Konni, is helping me hold a grand prayer for the warriors who died due to the extermination of the Vikings this time.
Lord Gulie is worried that the captured Vikings will gather to cause chaos, and is patrolling Yewei County. If you want to see him, I will send someone to take you there tomorrow. "
If Haian agrees, it will be equivalent to giving himself as a hostage to Oran.
She gritted her teeth with hatred, looked at her husband beside her, and signaled him to fall out on the spot.
But what King Ella and Oran were talking about related to the interests of the throne, which was far beyond the comparison of Gu Lie. In addition, Oran's hundreds of soldiers were also in the city. From the window, you could still see the white eagle flag. If he starts a fight now, his vitality will be severely damaged. Not only seeing the three southern counties being taken away by the Mercians, other county chiefs may also have undue rebellious thoughts.
Ella avoided this look, gathered her wine glasses and told everyone, "The day after tomorrow, I will judge the villain Shi Meng. From now on, there will no longer be Viking bandits in the kingdom to disturb the peace."
"All glory belongs to you, Your Majesty." The county chiefs returned to the wine.
King Ella then looked at Gliese, "I saw you several times before the kingdom was divided.
I often visited your father in Yorkshire when he was young.
Has that cathedral been built? The church with the extremely impressive corridor?
Yes, I remembered, the one with the saint's fingers.
I still remember that your father brought a kind of stained glass mirror from the Franks. It cost a lot of money and could be used to arm a team of cavalry. "
After saying many words, Ella did not give Gliese a chance to speak. She looked at others with the eyes of an elder looking at a junior, "You know, that place is so beautiful. After walking out of the castle, half a day's walk to the left, there is an oasis.
There are also plains, hills, swamps and other scenery in the territory.
A trade route opened in the Roman era is still in operation. As long as it can get through the places controlled by Mercia, it can connect to Wales and Ireland..."
The king who lost his young life always loved to recall those days.
Several county chiefs expressed interest in listening, but in fact they were yawning inwardly.
Finally, King Ella said, "It has been so many years in the blink of an eye... Gliese, although you are loyal to the former king, that is a matter of the past. From now on, are you willing to work with me to restore the glory of the kingdom?"
"Your Majesty." Gliese immediately stood up and said, "You have repelled the Vikings in the kingdom and recovered almost all Danfa areas. Your reputation has spread to Yorkshire. When I received your letter, countless knights wanted to If you come with me, I’ll toast you.”
King Ella asked him to express his loyalty, but Gliese ignored him.
This situation is obvious, or in other words, Gliese will not easily fall to the king before seeing enough benefits.
The five county chiefs here represent the interests of six counties.
Not attending were the counties of "Manchester" and "Aldborough".
The Sheriff of Manchester had a feud with King Ella. Among the county commissioners, he was the most loyal to the former king and had hurt Ella on the battlefield. However, after Ella sent someone to deliver the letter, he had already received a reply from the county.
Apparently they didn't want to be ruled by foreign nobles either.
Ella said to the county chiefs, "Within two days, envoys from the other two county chiefs will be here. The king has reached an agreement with the county chief of Durham, His Excellency Oran, and will concentrate his forces to drive out the Mercians first. After the war, the eight counties concentrated their efforts to resist foreign aggression.
At the same time, new commercial decrees and laws will be introduced. In the future, tariffs on goods within the kingdom will be reduced to facilitate circulation. "
In the past few days, King Ella and his advisers have begun to plan how to obtain greater benefits.
Within a country, the king is the largest noble, and these county chiefs belong to the middle and upper nobles. Only when their own interests are strong can they continue to overwhelm them.
"Wait a minute, Your Majesty, what law are you talking about?" Tyrell, the Sheriff of Edinburgh. Buller spoke up.
He has always been neutral. He controls a large portion of the Viking Danfa area and borders Scotland to the north. There is great internal and external pressure.
Whenever there was any disturbance in the kingdom, he always felt like he was facing a formidable enemy.
"Since the eight county chiefs have arrived this time, let's renegotiate the royal power law and elect a new palace manager."
When King Ella talked about these plans, he felt powerful all over his body.
Eight counties, the whole eight counties are back.
This is the true King of Northumbria!
From now on, his carriage will no longer be stopped after traveling for a day or two before encountering other county governors' borders.
From now on, the number of people listening to him will increase several times. He will have enough power to negotiate with the kings of the south at the same table.
He can even send people to Scotland and Ireland to renew alliances with local leaders and build a stronger diplomatic network.
King Ella drank another glass of wine with satisfaction.
"Your Majesty, before discussing the kingdom's plans, I have a proposal to change the boundary line from Yewe County to Edinburgh. There is still a Viking force active there, and the leader is called 'Ponytail Gomon'."
These words were directed at Oran, who put down the food and said with a smile, "They have converted, and soon I will plan to move to the county. From now on, there will be no Vikings, only people from the kingdom, Lord Tyrell. "
"Your Excellency Oran, that is to say, this belongs to your subordinates. So they invaded my territory a few days ago. How should we solve this?"
Hai'an on the side looked at Olan with interest, but he didn't expect that the other county chiefs would not obey him either.
"Then what do you want? I'll chop off Gemeng's head and send it to your bed as a gift." Kunsang, who was behind Olan, suddenly spoke.
"Boy, what did you say!" Tyrell was extremely dissatisfied with these words.
King Ella watched with cold eyes, but it was not time to persuade them to reconcile.
Then Tyrell pitifully told everyone about the various damages that had been suffered in the territory recently.
Finally, he bowed respectfully to the king and said, "Your Majesty, please use your wisdom and help me make a fair decision."
"Your Majesty, this is Yewei County. I am only temporarily acting as the county magistrate of Yewei County. I have not agreed to the power to divide the land."
"Your Excellency Oran, the reason why His Majesty asked you to act as your agent is because of the legal document you handed over. It clearly states that your ancestor 'Sir Bran', in the ten years from 702 to 712 AD, He once ruled Yewei County."
William, who was present at the meeting, explained the legal reason why Oran forged the title and submitted it to the king's clerk. He then said, "According to that document, you also have the right to rule Yewe County. Since Lord Tyrell proposed it, I think it should be Take this matter seriously.”
As William opened his mouth, more participating nobles joined the discussion, and Oran fell into a passive situation.
The county chiefs had also heard about some things about Oran and Earl. They did not expect such a powerful colleague to appear among the vassals of the kingdom and who could also drive the Vikings.
"Which document is..." Olan stopped predicting, feeling very embarrassed.
"Do you want to say that it is a forged document?" William took advantage of the opportunity to pursue.
"Of course not, it's true!" Oran looked at the king, hoping that he would help him.
The latter took advantage of the situation and continued, "It is indeed a legal document, with the seal of the previous king on it, and according to the letter of appointment of county governor sent by Mr. Earl, indicating that until his body recovers, Mr. Oran will assist in governing the country. Wei County."
After Ella finished speaking, Sheriff John added, "In this case, Your Excellency Oran has enough rights to change the territorial lines."
It was difficult to suppress the situation, so Olan could only give in, "Oh, then let's follow His Majesty's wishes."
Next, several border frictions were discussed, but except for Olan who just relented, matters regarding other county chiefs ended with the two parties giving in.
The smelly outsider's castle is not safe.
Oran divided Dan Castle into half.
After the dinner, Oran led people back to the floor on the other side of the castle. A military posture was set up here. Although it was clearly within the safe confines of the castle, wooden fences and horses were erected, and crossbowmen were arranged to guard it, as if A city within a city.
After returning to this side, Oran smiled, and Kunsang beside him complimented him.
"Sir, these idiots are being teased in circles by you."
"You could have turned over the table just now, pretended to be angry, and served the dishes to William's face. This would be more realistic."
"I'll pay attention next time."
"Your Excellency, were you just pretending?" Tai Tan, who was also present but standing in the corner, said with wide eyes.
“Titan, when a person is lucky, there will be countless eyes staring at you.
We are strong, which means the other county chiefs are weak. I captured Guile and Kongni. That woman in Hainan must be crazy and want to deal with me. Maybe she will find someone to assassinate me?
We are 'strong' but 'show weakness', which can paralyze others.
What Tyrell said today was what I asked him to say in advance. After I caught Shi Meng, I took the opportunity to meet him.
He had no ambition but to govern Edinburgh forever.
Those territories I gave him can always be taken back.
Besides, our forged title jurisprudence was just recognized by the county chiefs and the king, and you all heard it.
Now I am annexing Yewei County, and it is justifiable!
We should really thank William for guiding the topic there and giving us an 'unintentional benefit'.
When King Ella saw us conflicting with the Sheriff of Edinburgh, he would not have thought that we had cooperated and he could not win this vote from me.
Then just one more vote and we have four votes.
Only lords with more than 5,000 acres of cultivated land could participate in the Sein Conference. However, except for a few county chiefs, no nobles participated this time.
He and his advisers want to reinstall the palace general manager, but it is conceivable that I will not get a too prominent position.
We need to be on guard here, help him ascend to the throne, and ensure that Mercian power cannot get involved in the kingdom. At the same time, we must divide his power and rule the counties with him. "
"Co-governance, you mean 'Hand of the King'!" Titan understood.
The Hand of the King usually also serves as the Keeper of the Seal (diplomacy), controlling the power to negotiate and declare war with foreign countries.
Above all the general managers, if Olan can serve, it means that he is the deputy king.
This was the main reason why Konni was asked to convene the Thain Conference after catching him.
In the past, I was a little baron, a village leader, and a manor fighting. It was called "village fighting."
Now entering the eight-county system, directly using the power of everyone and stepping on their shoulders, it can be upgraded to a town war, a county war, or even a national war.
Under the moonlight, Oran slowly walked up the floor, looked at the King's Hall on the other side, and said to Kunsang beside him.
"Tell me, if you become a king and look at the sky, will you feel any different?"
"Sir, I don't know."
"If you become king, I will give you Carlisle County. That rough guy disgusts Ben."
"Then I am your Excellency, too." Kunsang looked ferocious, smiled like a devil, and nodded towards Olan.
"You have to help me, and I will use the power of everyone to control more than half of the kingdom's military strength, and then I will trample them to death!"
"Your Excellency, I will build a beautiful kingdom with you!"
"I want to build a vast capital city inhabited by 50,000, or even 100,000, or 200,000 people."
"Even in the dark, pedestrians in the distance can still see the brightly lit White Eagle City!"
Olan stretched out his five fingers towards the sky. At this moment, he felt that he could pick off the moon if he wanted to!
Power, supreme power!
king.
"Kunsang."
"Your Mightiness?"
"I want to kill someone again."
"Then let's carve out a kingdom."
The next morning, Gliese received an invitation from soldiers sent by Oran to enter his city and meet with him.
The first thing Olan said was, "I want to create a 'marriage alliance' with you."
"Who did you say you were talking to? Mr. Olan."
"For Nanding, the most loyal and brave knight under my command, I ask to marry your sister 'Alion'."
