It is not surprising that the king personally rewards the meritorious soldiers with property. What shocked Ludwig was that Rurik, the king of Rus, actually spent a day and night rewarding all the barbarian soldiers with property.

"Are they all your cronies? Do those who accompany the army deserve property? Do you really need to reward everyone?"

Ludwig didn't understand that if he were the person involved, he would naturally only give property to the elite troops who had worked hard and made great contributions. Finally, for the civilians who had contributed, a few more mouthfuls of food would be a great reward.

Even if he could realize that such indiscriminate rewards would attract some low-blooded peasant soldiers to fight for the monarch.

But humble people are born humble, and this humble bloodline will never be changed. If a monarch gives property to a humble person, it will also appear that the monarch is not wise enough.

Because the scriptures have classified everything in the world, there is an insurmountable bloodline gap between Charlemagne's grandson and the farmer's grandson.

But those people's loud shouts were not a joke, they were indeed supporting their barbarian king.

"Bah. I admit that you are the winner, and our cooperation is just a temporary measure..." Ludwig hid his inner resentment. He was putting on a good show, as if he had fully admitted his defeat and had a total of 30,000 people.

The casualties of Frankish soldiers and many more fleeing Frankish civilians were forgotten.

Archbishop Hardbold of Cologne, a fat old guy with a purple face that had been constipated for ten days, faced the "spending money" behavior of King Rurik of Rus.

"It's all my money! You use my money as a reward! My Cologne actually spent such a huge sum of money to buy peace!"

After all, the peace treaty has been signed. Ludwig and Hardbold, who are of noble blood and status, actually have two contradictory choices.

The alliance with the Normans led by Ross was an expedient measure. After all, it was a blasphemy against the Catholic faith. The alliance should be broken and apologized in the future.

An alliance with the other party is a pragmatic choice. It brings peace. The Normans are also mercenaries that can be used. Breaking the alliance will do more harm than good.

Whether the alliance is implemented or suddenly torn apart, the Frankish side can have extremely flexible principles.

The two of them did not get together to discuss anything secretly. They stood on the heights of Hamburg's castle, always watching the Russian money-distribution drama outside the city, and both chose to tolerate the current situation.

"They will burn Horik to death. You...are you serious about believing that this person is a heretic?" Ludwig asked calmly.

Hardbold still had a tolerant face: "But he is indeed a heretic. Your Majesty, you also wanted to execute this traitor many years ago."

"He can be executed, but it's not the Russians' turn to execute him."

"Ah... they will light a fire outside the city. This is a barbarian ritual, and we will hold mass in the church." Sadly, Hardbold shook his head helplessly: "This year I will be in Cologne as in previous years.

A ceremony was held in the cathedral. Now I'm afraid my fellow believers think I'm dead."

"Are you blaming me?"

"I don't dare." Hardbold answered confidently, and Ludwig couldn't ask any more questions.

The Archbishop of Cologne was complaining. Ludwig shrugged: "Let all this end quickly. I want to return to Mainz and rebuild the army while there is still time. And you..."

"how?"

"Your Cologne joke failed. You should have organized an army to at least protect yourself."

"We are God's servants. In principle, we cannot recruit soldiers." Hardbold looked troubled, and he also felt that the king meant something when he asked this.

Sure enough, Ludwig said: "In this case, Cologne's military defense is entirely my responsibility. I will appoint generals to protect your bishop's church from being invaded by barbarians at any time."

"This...this is inappropriate."

"There is nothing inappropriate. You have to remember that they can ask for five thousand pounds of silver coins from your Cologne, and they will definitely try to ask for more in the future. Will you give it to me? Do you have the strength to refuse? Unless, my army

Stationed in Cologne. They will restrain themselves because of this, otherwise the sin of breaking the covenant will be theirs. Parda, you actually can't refuse."

Indeed, Hadbold could not refuse, and he responded with silence, which was actually acquiescence.

Especially the priests, they have not yet emancipated their minds, and are entangled in whether it is a blasphemy to God to have priests take the lead in organizing an army. After all, this is not the era of the Crusades. All priests adhere to the same new creed - to persuade barbarians through the mouth of lobbying.

People take refuge. Physical means are the worst of the worst.

So, just as Rurik was making money, Ludwig quietly took over the military power of the Cologne Archdiocese. In the future, the East Frankish army could station at will in this archdiocese. In the past, this kind of thing would have encountered Cologne.

opposition, now everything has changed.

Moreover, according to the alliance treaty, Ludwig noticed a minor flaw in the treaty.

The County of Westphalia was abolished, and all its territory was included in the Archbishopric of Cologne, with its northern edge reaching directly to the south bank of the Weser River.

Therefore, the Eastern Kingdom's construction of a military base on the banks of the Weser River does not constitute a betrayal of the covenant. If Rurik really values ​​the contract as much as he claims to do, this situation must be acknowledged.

Ludwig would be wary of the Duchy of Saxony and the Norman world further north, and on the surface both sides still had to show an alliance.

…

Now, for all the Christian people in Hamburg, tonight is Christmas Eve.

The winter solstice is regarded as Christmas by default, but I don’t know when it became customary and recognized as legal by the church.

During the last revision of the Julian calendar, the Roman Empire still existed. After five hundred years, the loose calendar had made the date inconsistent with the astronomical winter solstice.

In this way, some parish priests are obsessed with dogma and hold Christmas Mass on an incorrect day in strict accordance with the old calendar.

Archbishop Eskil of the North also believed in dogma, but now he is more willing to follow astronomy.

Because the daylight hours on the winter solstice in Denmark are better than nothing, he was detained in Rus and saw the full meaning of "day without daylight." Such an incredible astronomical phenomenon carries a strong sense of sacredness, since the birth of Jesus, who suffered for all generations, is

Like the light it brings, the saints were born after the winter solstice and the days are getting longer. This is most appropriate in the north.

The Norman Hanukkah completely coincides with the Catholic Christmas. From now on, the Principality of Saxony will celebrate the festival on this day. The northern diocese holds the right to interpret. Saxony, the Netherlands and Flanders are all areas under the jurisdiction of the northern church in principle.

, there is no need to pay attention to the attitude of other dioceses, especially the recent Archdiocese of Cologne.

When everything settled down, Eskil ignored his old body and took the time to select some potential boys from the Saxon children in Hamburg. He continued his old business, selecting and training young priests on the spot,

Reshape his life's work that almost collapsed.

In the past ten years, the northern world has been filled with wars and turmoil. The cause of spreading the gospel has suffered a devastating blow. Of course, there are unexpected results in desperate situations. God's nail has been pierced in the distant Ross. Esquier knows that his twilight years are impossible

Seeing that the entire north is immersed in the gospel, and in the final stage of its life, the northern church has been reduced to a mere theoretical existence. Now is a good opportunity to make a comeback from a desperate situation.

He ordered the remaining ten or so young priests to train the newly recruited boys and teach them how to sing hymns in order to perform outstandingly at the Christmas High Mass ceremony.

Boys are considered "masculine and holy" by the Vatican, and their voices are always graceful and penetrating. What they learn is Gregorian chant, which is a brand-new combination of Gallic chant and Roman chant appointed by Charlemagne.

Frankish religious chants were promoted through strong means, and all Frankish dioceses adopted this chant pattern.

But the children's chorus rehearsal attracted some Saxon people to stop and watch.

Almost all of these children are war orphans, and there are even freed Frankish children among them. Esquier takes in these poor children. In the future, they will lose the power of marriage but will have enough food and clothing. All children will at least have enough food and clothing when they grow up.

Being sent to a village to become a resident priest, the most outstanding of them can even succeed as the Archbishop of the North.

Therefore, compared to Ludwig's skillful means of seizing the garrison power of the Cologne diocese, Saxony has gone a step further. The Duke Liudov family has been completely bound to the northern diocese, and both parties use each other to ensure each other's safety.

Liudov regarded this in-depth cooperation as a major insurance for his principality's faith. He was wary of East Franks tearing up the treaty and launching an attack again. If this was really the case, then the other party's military actions would lack morality. Unless the East Kingdom's

The great nobles have no shame and deliberately attack the Northern Church.

So he took his only son Bruno out and asked Eskil to become Bruno's godfather.

Now and in the future, Liudov confirmed that he could not add any new male members to his family, and Bruno was the only heir to his title. Bruno was almost a young man and could legally get married. He did not participate in the war, he only wanted to serve for

Saxony retains the aristocratic fire.

Today's Christmas Mass, Bruno puts on a black robe to play the role of a junior priest, and will participate in the ceremony holding a small gilded cross from Cologne Cathedral.

Because Rurik made a decision, most of the confiscated sacred vessels of the Cologne Church were taken out, and they were simply handed over to the impoverished Northern Church.

Hadbold was too mute and did not dare to say a single objection. His only request was to take away Cologne's "True Cross" after everything was settled.

As a result, the huge mass in the Hamburg church was no longer shabby. Many believers heard the solemn chants, saw the huge golden true cross, and saw the dazzling array of sacred vessels held by the priests.

But believers are almost all Saxons.

People soaked strips of cloth and hemp rope with flammable turpentine and fish oil, wrapped them around wooden sticks and ignited them. They held a large number of torches and gathered outside the church. After all, the current Hamburg church is too small and cannot accommodate too many people.

A procession needs to be added so that everyone can join in the mass.

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Halloween, Easter, these festivals have parade activities arranged, and now there is nothing wrong with holding a Christmas night parade.

Eskil and Hadbold, the two archbishops, historically came together to celebrate the giant mass. After completing the work inside, they moved the sacred True Cross outside the church, amidst the astonishment of thousands of people.

Placed on a sled.

The singing boy continued the chant, and the young priest continued carrying the magical weapon.

Today, Hamburg is a large city. The walls built during the war have redefined the scope of the inner city, and there are dense buildings outside the trenches of the city walls, which define the outer city.

The parade is held within the wall, and the procession holding torches gathers around the True Cross. The procession will eventually circle the road under the wooden wall of Hamburg three times.

And this is just the first part of the Christmas Mass.

The Frankish forces were unable to defeat the Normans militarily. Today's Christmas or the Norman Hanukkah, the peaceful two sides are fighting in holiday ceremonies.

The grandest Christmas Mass is held three times on the same day, the so-called "Three Masses". Even the wealthy Archdiocese of Cologne will not hold "Three Masses" unless necessary, but this time is extraordinary.

What they are doing now is the "night mass", and they will wait until dawn on Christmas Day to do the "dawn mass", and wait until noon to do the "day mass" to complete all the rituals.

The priests will be very tired because of this. Just to fight for their faith, Eskil simply fights.

…

The priests made the ceremony very grand, and the chants and the shouts of the people were heard outside the city walls.

There seemed to be a fire in the city, and the scouts told Rurik that the Saxons had all raised their torches and were paraded lively.

"Are they showing me their strength?" He subconsciously looked at the tower and said seriously: "It seems that we have to repay them with a more enthusiastic ceremony."
To be continued...