naaapseattle #232 - Sharp sword, sharp eyes
#232 - Sharp sword, sharp eyes
Sisi's deerskin boots stepped on the wooden trestle of Joan of Arc Castle Wharf, making empty noises.
He was wearing an exquisite openwork long dress, a gauze hat covering his original face, and his right hand holding Mitene's arm, as if they were a couple.
Mitene left two thick black crescent mustaches on his lips, looking like a fat middle-aged man.
On the cold river, white vapor exhaled from under his black beard, rubbing his hands and looking around, carefully observing this small city that had just experienced a tragic war not long ago.
The ground once stained red with blood had long been washed away by rain, and only half of the broken bridge still hung down on the shore.
As for the scorched black marks of lightning on both sides of the river and on the walls, it was impossible to remove them for a while.
"Be careful, handle with care!"
Turning sideways, Mitene shouted at the fellows who were moving the goods, lightly and skillfully playing the role of a merchant.
The fellows carrying wooden boxes, replied to Mitene: "Don't worry, Mr. Megedi, I guarantee there will be no damage."
Carrying a wooden box and wearing a scholar's robe, Marshal squeezed out from the crowd of people disembarking, accompanied by Andar, the guard leader sent by Megedi.
"Sorry, sorry." Marshal held the book bag in his arms, "I was so engrossed in copying books last night that I overslept a bit, and kept you waiting."
"Hahaha, it's okay, it's okay, we have to wait for the priests on the dock to finish counting the goods before we can leave." Mitene laughed heartily.
Standing next to Mitene, Andar, in leather armor, held a sharp sword and scanned the surrounding crowd with sharp eyes.
On the dock, hundreds of coolies carried wooden boxes and goods, transporting them to the small carts on the roadside.
Beside the road at the end of the dock, a dozen mule carts and large donkeys were waiting by the roadside, waiting to load the goods and then transport them to the commercial port.
Andar whispered to Mitene: "When I came to Joan of Arc Castle three years ago, it was also winter, and there were many more people than now."
"Three tenths of the population around Joan of Arc Castle have been taken away by the Savior Army." Sisi said with a chuckle, her voice as sweet as an oriole.
"The previous war was almost a devastating blow to the economy of Joan of Arc Castle." Marshal sighed and reached out to touch the grain bag on the side, "Fortunately, the local grain price has finally been suppressed."
"The grain price is suppressed, not because the nobles and wealthy merchants suddenly have a conscience, it's just that they have been here." Sisi's delicate fingers stroked the rough sack.
"Have you noticed?" Mitene mysteriously said to Sisi, "The people around here don't have a good attitude towards those priests."
Listening to Mitene's words, Sisi and others looked around, and indeed, as Mitene said, these local residents had a very ordinary attitude towards the priests.
You know, in normal times when facing priests, they would bend over and hunch their backs.
But now, although they are still submissive, their backs are straight, and from time to time they will secretly spit at them.
"They are quite nice to those Frankish knights, hey, where did the Franks come from?" Andar suddenly whispered.
Following Andar's gaze, Mitene's eyes narrowed slightly.
The gilded breastplate, the blue and white robe, and the iris on the robe, even though he was far away, he could still hear the dry Frankish language.
Frankish Royal Constitution Knight?
This is a knockoff made by the Kingdom of Frank imitating the Edict Legion, although it is a knockoff, its mounted combat is not inferior to the knights of the Edict Legion.
Holding Sisi, Mitene walked to the edge of the dock, where several old laborers were sitting on wooden boxes drinking water and resting.
Mitene pinched a Denar between his fingers: "Brother, I have a few questions to ask you."
"You say." Seeing the silver light of the Denar, the old laborer immediately showed a smile.
"Where did these Franks in Joan of Arc Castle come from?"
"Oh, you mean this." The laborer replied, "The Franks presented a contract for the land exchange of the stupid Duke Danner, claiming that this land should be transferred to Berman Da's father, the church refused, and the Franks forcibly sent Frankish knights to take over."
"Does this comply with the imperial law?"
"That greedy lady's father is an Eyre, I often say that she is so greedy because she inherited her father's Eyre bloodline... you know, whether it is legal or not is just a matter of the Eyre's mouth?"
"Then the church just watched the Franks send out Royal Constitution Knights?"
The laborer did not speak, but stared straight at the Denar in Mitene's hand.
Sisi simply pulled out the Denar and handed it to the laborer, who stuffed it into his pocket before speaking eloquently.
The Savior Army's distribution of land near Joan of Arc Castle before caused a lot of unhappiness between the church and the Lears and local residents.
To be precise, after the Savior Army left, a large amount of land belonging to local people in Joan of Arc Castle was recovered.
The scene of farmers running to the streets of Joan of Arc Castle to protest was almost replicated again.
Until the Franks came, the local residents turned to threaten the church to support the Frankish rule, and the church's repatriation of land action stopped.
After all, they could only choose the church before, but now they have a second choice, and the church is naturally afraid of breaking the dishes while trying to catch the rat.
The entire Joan of Arc Castle is currently in a strange balance between the church, the Kingdom of Frank, and the local residents.
Mitene didn't ask any more questions to avoid revealing his identity, but on the way to the hotel, he kept silently counting the number of Royal Constitution Knights.
When he got to the hotel, he could probably draw a conclusion, based on the number of officers and horses, that there were 400-800 Royal Constitution Knights in Joan of Arc Castle.
Adding the 300 extraordinary knights of the Edict Legion left by Prince Kondai and the Temple Knights left by the church, the entire Joan of Arc Castle currently has about 1000 extraordinary knights stationed.
As for why Prince Kondai didn't properly block Horn in Joan of Arc Castle, there is a reason.
Some time ago, the eldest prince, Inberra, led troops into the palace in an attempt to seize the throne, but unexpectedly, his subordinates were bought by Ginigis, resulting in the annihilation of the entire army.
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Now the Frankish capital, Longsong City, King Thomond is seriously ill in bed and basically unable to manage affairs.
At the suggestion of Pope Johnny VIII, Crown Prince Ginigis became regent and presided over the kingdom's affairs.
His first requirement was to have the three great nobles holding the Edict Legion come to the capital for this year's Spring Festival banquet before the spring.
Having learned of the two royal dukes Inberra encountered, they decided to hold a royal dinner and cordially invited Prince Kondai to attend in March of the following year.
These behaviors do seem inexplicable at first glance, but if you take out the Edict Legion, the situation immediately becomes clear.
As the Lair Kingdom's mobile field army, there are 42 Edict Legions in total.
They are each held by the king, the eldest prince, and the three royal nobles, and each has its own garrison in peacetime.
After the old King Thomond and the eldest Prince Inberra fell ill and died, Ginigis held 17 Edict Legions.
On the other side, Duke Luel and Duke Nedbach, the two younger brothers of the old King Thomond, held a total of 16 Edict Legions.
Prince Kondai, as a royal family of the previous dynasty, held 9 Edict Legions, and finally became the largest neutral force.
Because everyone knows that the various nobles in Lair will not let Prince Kondai become king.
This is the predicament that the Lair Kingdom has faced for many years, with great nobles within the royal family who control the mobile field forces of the Lair Kingdom.
There are also great nobles outside the royal family who control the local garrison forces of the Lair Kingdom.
The entire Lair Kingdom has a stronger royal power than before the Hundred Years' War, but it is still co-governed by the great nobles inside and outside.
At this critical juncture where the two sides are evenly matched, whichever side Prince Kondai joins, that side's strength will receive an epic boost.
In Mitene's view, Prince Kondai's staying in Flying Falls Castle with six Edict Legions is to wait for a better offer and see who can offer a higher price.
"This is both good and bad for us." Mitene analyzed, "The good news is that the internal checks and balances within the Lair Kingdom prevent them fromSpare(抽) energy to deal with us.
The bad news is that in order to prevent disruption the fragile balance, at least before March, Prince Kondai and his 9 Edict Legions will stay in Thousand River Valley."
"If we can quickly defeat the churches and nobles in various places, Prince Kondai will see that the general trend is gone and may just go with the flow and leave."
Sisi followed up with an analysis: "His core location is the Kondai region of Windmill Land, and it is not cost-effective to consume our strength with us."
"But from another point of view, if Prince Kondai launches a quick attack and defeats us one by one before we can unite, we will still face failure." Sitting on the bed in the hotel, Mitene said calmly.
Andar looked at Sisi and Mitene's faces and hesitantly asked: "We have to fight quickly and meet as soon as possible, isn't supporting the Savior Army scattering our forces?"
"The Savior Army is more familiar with Joan of Arc Castle than we are, and if we can remove Joan of Arc Castle, we can eliminate the hidden danger of being attacked from both sides."
"But do you really think that the Savior Army has the ability to defeat these 1,000 extraordinary knights in Joan of Arc Castle? This is not like before."
Sisi and Mitene exchanged glances and did not speak.
Marshal came out and said with a smile: "Isn't this trip just to assess whether they are qualified or not?"