Chapter 737 This is the first contact between Ross and the Frankish nobles
Hamburg really gives the Blue Fox a bad impression. If most cities in Frankfurt are like this, how can they claim to have strong capital?
They seemed like a shabby house that would collapse as soon as you stepped on it.
The buildings in Hamburg are all made of wood, and a few buildings are made of stone.
Hamburg Abbey is mostly built of stone, with a layer of mortar on the surface. The decoration inside the building is also simple, and there are some gold objects on the podium where there is no cross.
Blue Fox is sponsored in the priest's dormitory attached to the monastery, and he is a special person who enjoys a separate room.
The early morning bell brought dawn, and the lazy blue fox had to get up. In the dim light of the morning, he couldn't help complaining: "How can they bear it when their life is so miserable? They have to chase the wonderful paradise and don't want to enjoy it now."
.”
Complaints are complaints. Blue Fox has to get up. If he can't catch up, he won't be able to eat the black bread this morning. The food is not delicious, but he has no choice. Moreover, these priests are extremely self-disciplined and will not eat outside the meal.
time to provide food.
Under the eaves, he could only lower his head and look forward to meeting the local earl.
Esquier finished all his work in the morning, and his eyes were bloodshot, all because he stayed up late at night listening to the dictations of his subordinates and flipping through documents recorded on parchments.
His mental state was a little bad, and he didn't pull himself together until he was about to go to the count's mansion.
He doesn't need many attendants, or Blue Fox and Slavic Vardy are enough.
The three of them were all dressed in black robes, walking slowly with their hands clasped in front of their stomachs, their heads raised in awe-inspiring manner.
Earl Robert did not attach great importance to this meeting. What could the priest say? After leaving the monastery and entering his official residence, no matter how noble a priest is, he should follow a secular life.
At this time, the Roman Pope had not yet acquired huge secular power in Western Europe. The three Frankish princes naturally respected the Pope, but they still regarded the Pope's mediation resolution as nonsense.
Prince Ludwig had such an attitude. As a subordinate, Robert consciously received the "master and apprentice from the north" at home. Bishop Eskil of Hamburg had already shown his importance.
No soldiers dared to stop the priest. They opened the door to welcome Saint Eskilde, and then whispered.
Unlike the Earl, the Countess takes her very seriously.
The countess and her maid welcomed him in the courtyard of the mansion and offered her best wishes.
Blue Fox kept squinting his eyes, and even though he was tilting his head, he still glanced at these women inadvertently.
"Are Frank's women like this? The most noble countess is actually an old woman. These maids are quite interesting..."
Eskil didn't care about Blue Fox's attitude. He learned that the count was on the second floor of the mansion and went upstairs.
At this moment, Earl Robert is waiting here. He is very familiar with the lifestyle of those priests. There is no need to prepare snacks and water purification for this meeting. All important matters can be discussed in detail, and other miscellaneous matters do not need to be discussed in detail.
He dismissed his servants, and three priests were waiting in his dining room.
Several wooden tables are put together to form a large wooden table, with a layer of plain white linen laid on it. Overall, it looks quite neat. There is a bronze lamp holder on the table, which does not need to be lit during the day. There is also a pure lamp placed on the table.
The silver dinner plates are indeed the tableware of the nobility, and the purpose of placing them now is nothing more than to support the count's face.
The count was sitting in the most distinguished position at the table. Seeing the arrival of the priests, he first stood up and bowed slightly, then said he could sit down wherever he wanted.
It was not the first time for Eskil to come to this building. He looked around and made sure that the furnishings of the restaurant had not changed, as if time had been frozen. He motioned with his eyes to his two followers to sit down wherever they wanted, implying that they should not act rashly.
Robert shrugged and tapped the table to break the awkwardness of the encounter.
"Saint-Esquier, I've been waiting for you. What a big event it is, please come and visit me personally."
"But there is one big thing, it is very important." Esquier came prepared this time. He opened his robe and put the cloth bag in his pocket on the table, and took out a piece of parchment folded like a handkerchief.
"What is this? Could it be a letter?"
"My lord, your guess is very correct. This is a personal letter from the new king of Denmark, a man named Horik Klarsson. He hopes that I will serve as a messenger or intermediary and deliver it to Prince Ludwig.
.”
"Is this happening?!" In just one sentence, Earl Robert already understood the seriousness of the situation.
"How?" Eskil raised his old and wise head, his eyes already giving hints.
"You...want me to be the middleman and deliver the letter to the prince?"
"Are you willing? However, I would rather see the prince in person. Apart from this letter, I have other things I want to inform the prince of."
The earl, who was sitting on pins and needles, did not reply immediately. He was very curious about the content of the letter, especially since the letter writer was Horik, so he must be vigilant.
The earl asked simply and carelessly: "I want to know the content of the letter. I am directly responsible for His Royal Highness, and there must be no mistakes in anything that passes through my hands."
"There is nothing wrong with you reading the letter in advance."
The entire parchment letter was thrust into the earl's hands. The important information written in it made earl Robert instinctively vigilant. The thin parchment actually carried a man's ambition? A captive hound actually dared to negotiate terms with its owner?!
Putting down his trembling hands, Robert's first insight was that there was a threat to the peaceful life in his territory.
He sighed: "I know that Horik, a Western gangster and a wolf of the sea, stole Durist and called himself the Count of Flanders. He and his gang were not sanctioned because they surrendered to His Royal Highness. I really heard that
He said that the prince arranged for Horik to return to Denmark to seize power, and the prince even wrote me a letter."
"Oh?" Eskil, who was in his turn now, was startled: "So it turns out that Horik's coming to Denmark was planned by His Highness the Prince?"
"It was the prince who did it, but the situation shouldn't be like this. Horik can call himself king, but the prince can at most make him an earl, and the whole of Denmark should also submit to the prince. Horik actually said that Denmark and we are countries.
Once the prince learns of the relationship, he is afraid that war will start again!" At the end of the sentence, Robert's lips were already trembling a little, and his expression fully demonstrated that he was afraid of and hated war.
How could Robert not hate war? It wouldn't matter if he had enough troops, but his Earldom of Hamburg is in the North, and the Danes, Oberlitids, and Pomeranians are active in the border area
, these alien races seem to be peaceful on weekdays. If they launch a military operation, they will be unable to suppress it with their own troops. Now that the dangerous signal has appeared, who can guarantee that Denmark will not bite its master because the pirate leader Horik has usurped the power.
?
"Maybe the war has already broken out." Eskil tapped his fingers on the table, his eyes were trembling, and rare tears flowed down.
"Padra...you actually cried?"
"Hateful Horik, our monastery in Hedebe was destroyed! I was supposed to stay in Hedebe this year, but Horik expelled me. The war in the North has broken out, and Horik is eliminating dissidents.
Mass killing!"
"But didn't he convert?!"
"He is a hateful traitor. He betrayed the Lord and defected to the barbarian gods. He also used human blood to sacrifice to the devil. Lord, please send down thunder and lightning to punish this traitor..." As he said this, Esquier took thunder with him.
Keep making the sign of the cross on your chest.
At this level of description, Earl Robert was completely afraid of the war and was trembling. He was stunned for a while before he squeezed out a question: "The villain who made a deal with the devil will not cross the Great Wall to attack me now."
"I don't know. I just want to see the prince as soon as possible and explain everything I experienced in the north."
The earl nodded. He was sure that his comfortable and boring days were over. No one liked war. When a real threat of war appeared, the nobles of the kingdom must step forward.
"The prince is scheduled to stay in Regensburg, and I will personally escort you there."
"Is this true? It's really a good thing." Things unexpectedly broke through, and Eskil replied very decisively.
The count confirmed that his words were not spoken out of his mouth, but he clasped his fingers and muttered something about how long it would take to go backwards along the Elbe River and then take the land route to reach the residence of the Duke of Bavaria, which is Prince Ludwig's Regensburg Fortress.
It seems that this is the big thing to talk about today. Obviously, Count Robert can see that the matter is not over yet.
Esquier has two priests who follow him, one is plain-looking and the other is as big as a drum.
Seeing that the count was interested, Eskil ceremoniously pushed the blue fox to the front desk.
Blue Fox took off the hood of his burqa, revealing a typical priest hairstyle, which also made his face clearer.
"The fat priest in the North? Padra, you once said that this person is very important to me. Is he a believer you recovered from the North?"
"Exactly. Joseph was converted not long ago, and he was also a victim of Horik's atrocities. And..."
The count didn't wait for Eskil to finish speaking, and asked again: "Is he a Dane? Or a Saxon? Looking at the blond hair, he must not be a Pomeranian. He can't be one of us Franks? At least he is definitely not Turin.
Root people.”
"He's from Russia."
"Russian? What is that?"
At this moment, Esquier regretted that Blue Fox could not speak Saxon very well, let alone Frankish. Count Robert could only speak Saxon and Frankish, but could not speak Latin.
The count cannot communicate directly with the blue fox, there must be an interpreter standing in the middle.
Eskil is willing to be such a translator, and now it is finally Blue Fox's turn to use his mouth to explain his ideas as the special envoy of the Principality of Ross.
Everything the blue fox said was novel. The earl only knew that the Danes were a threat, and he also believed that the north to the nameless abyss of the world was the territory of the Danes. He did not expect that the sea at the end of the world existed, and there were other people living there.
people, Svealans and Rus, who were enemies of Denmark.
Lan Hu knew very well that he had passively represented the entire Ross outside. He was afraid that this was the principality's first contact with the Frankish Kingdom. Youdao felt that the first meeting would determine the success or failure of the future relationship to a large extent, so he regarded it as a businessman.
In a respectful manner, he gave a brief introduction to the affairs of the Principality of Rus to a local nobleman.
In this restaurant, he briefly discussed with Esquier in Latin, and suddenly understood Earl Robert's concerns about the security of the earldom.
Prescribe the right medicine in this way, and only pick out what the earl likes to hear.
For example, the Principality of Rus can mobilize 10,000 troops. The Principality hopes to do business with the Frankish Kingdom and can export a large amount of leather to the Kingdom. Although the prince of the Principality has not converted, he is very interested in the sacred faith. Students of Saint-Eskilre are already in
The Principality of Rus has a monastery...
As expected, this fat man was an outsider, a strange but sincere Russian, and a priest.
Although Count Robert believed that the description of "Russian troops numbering ten thousand" was an extreme exaggeration, the count did learn of the clues about the Russians.
"My viscount guarding the border gate paid me a batch of wonderful squirrel skins, which are said to be made by Danish traders. It is not simple to think about this. Joseph, could this be the leather that you Russians trafficked?"
After being translated by Eskil, Blue Fox responded decisively. Through his own eyes, he could see the Frankish soldiers on the border who were eager for high-quality leather. Looking at the simple furnishings of this house, there was actually a huge challenge in coming to Hamburg.
demand market.
Blue Fox simply made up some words to express a very low profile on behalf of Prince Rurik. After all, he was doing business to make money and was not shabby.
"Our young prince admires Frank, and we hope to get trade opportunities. If everything is peaceful, there will be a large amount of high-quality leather and good iron shipped to Frank in the future, and even to your Hamburg first. But the hateful Horik
To end all this, he killed the merchants of Rus, killed those converts, looted the leather that was supposed to be shipped to Frank, and captured people to sacrifice their blood to the evil god. Your house should have become gorgeous, and when there is a bear head to show your power,
.We planned to sell some bear heads and bear skins, which should have become your decorations this winter. However, these returned items were snatched away by Horik, which is a huge loss to us. And in the future, Ross
The trade routes with Frank were also almost interrupted..."
At least they won’t struggle with wealth!
Esquier translated very hard and the vocabulary was very accurate.
There is a kind of hatred that is called the loss of a treasure that should have been owned by Cheng Yaojin who suddenly appeared and snatched it away. This is the current anger of Earl Robert. Robert was skeptical about the description of Ross by the messenger Joseph Blue Fox, but they
Bringing the leather is a fact.
Seeing the mixed emotions of hatred and friendship in the count's eyes, the blue fox was convinced that his approach was initially successful. He deliberately showed the cross on his chest, showing that he was actually a devout convert and had the Saint-Eskilde platform beside him.
This feeling deepened.
Of course, Blue Fox has always been prepared to meet the Frankish nobles!
He and the Slav Vadi both had steel swords for self-defense. The difference was that his sword was inlaid with gems and gold, while Vadi's sword was made more generally for actual combat purposes.
Wadi's sword is a complete combat weapon, while Blue Fox's sword is more concerned with the needs of self-defense and display of wealth.
A long sword was hidden in the priest's cassock. The scabbard had holes for the leather and hemp rope to be worn as a strap and carried on the body.
Vardy, who had been silent all this time, was ordered to remove the steel sword, and it was suddenly placed on the table as if by magic, which really shocked the count.
"You entered my residence with weapons. You are priests, and you hid soldiers' weapons?"
Esquier hurriedly reconciled: "Of course this is wrong according to the regulations, but the Lord is angry! My child, this sword should belong to you! I dare say this is the best sword you have ever seen in your life.
The Lord asked the Ross messenger to deliver it to you, and the Lord asked you to protect the people, protect peace, and fight against rebellion."
In fact, this is a steel sword commonly used by the Russians. It seems ordinary but it is unstoppable.
The Count liked Esquier's statement very much. He picked up the scabbard and quickly pulled out the sword. He only heard a low buzzing sound, and a bright white sword actually trembled in his hand. It was actually bright white, the same as his own.
The gray iron saber is completely different.
Even more, this sword seems to be incredibly flexible.
In terms of color alone, he felt that this was indeed a good sword. As Blue Fox said, "It is soft and strong, it can cut off your sword." Based on his own knowledge, the earl felt that this was ridiculous and cut it with one sword.
It is impossible to break another sword without swinging a big ax to smash it.
Blue Fox spoke emphatically, saying that the sword represented the sincerity of the Ross messenger, and it would be his own shame if he could not cut off any iron sword.
The Earl acted decisively, placing his sword on the table, and slashed at it bravely with the new sword in one hand. The sword broke immediately, and the steel sword also hit the table, split the tablecloth, and left deep marks on the oak table.
The earl was overjoyed. He pointed his new sword at the window, facing the sunlight and not seeing the slightest curl of the sword's blade.
"Ah! The sword is actually in my hand!"
The Russians are still extremely mysterious. Apparently they have shown great sincerity and have a lot of hatred for Denmark. The Russians will definitely not be Frank’s enemy, let alone the enemy of the Earl of Hamburg. On the contrary, the Earl won
A steel sword can be said to be a great benefit, which is ten thousand times better than the flattering words of Blue Fox to Rose.
The earl even personally apologized for his rudeness to Fatty Blue Fox. Blue Fox naturally accepted the apology readily, and struck while the iron was hot to illustrate the commercial possibilities. The so-called Rus merchants might be able to bypass Denmark and go upstream from the mouth of the Elbe River into Hamburg.
, directly unloading the precious leather, exchanging it for local rye and other useful materials and transporting it away.
Business exchanges seemed possible, but this put Robert in a dilemma.
Without him, Earl Robert would stay in his own territory and would not go out unless there was an important matter. As a great vassal of the kingdom, he went to visit the Count of Flanders at the mouth of the Elbe River for important events such as weddings and funerals.
If it is inappropriate, it may even be considered a threat by the other party. Robert's understanding of geographical concepts is very poor, but it is possible to rely on waterways and oceans to directly communicate with the Russians, which is ultimately a good thing.
There was a breakthrough in commercial operations. Earl Robert verbally made the decision to welcome the Ross merchants to direct transactions. As for the formal establishment of a trade treaty, Prince Ludwig's approval was actually needed. Ludwig had to admit it.
The Principality of Rus is a country, and only the two sides have completely legal trade.