"Huh." Duke Hillnant laughed dryly and shrugged: "It is precisely because you successfully completed the commission and brought back the head of the harpy that it is possible for us to meet in a place like this."
.If you die in the Black Forest without being able to complete the commission, it also proves that you do not have the ability to be a king, and then everything that follows is unnecessary."
Arthur remained silent.
"Young man, I know that you have great ambitions, and I know what you are planning. I know that Admiral Penzance is already on your side.
But I want to know, are you worth it?
The current young king, His Majesty Henry VI, is actually just a puppet, and behind him is the Earl of Warwick. That guy Warwick once promised us lords that as long as we send troops to support him, he will bring down France.
, and let us get a share of the pie. The result? That incompetent guy just consumed our troops in vain, and the war fell into a quagmire. The great English Knights have hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers and generals, and we have us in their hands.
You are proud of your strengthened heavy crossbow, but you still lost to a little girl from the French countryside. This is really a losing business. Can you guarantee that you will not become another Earl of Warwick? Let us lords [
Investment] becomes a loss-making business?"
Arthur remained silent. Whether it was war or royal power, in the eyes of these nobles, it was just a business.
"That's right, you came back after wiping out the harpy - whether it was the real source of the plague or not - this proves your skill. But when a man goes into battle alone, and behind the scenes...
Leading troops to fight are two completely different things. Are you really confident that you can do all this well?" Duke Hillnant asked, "If you can do worse than Warwick, then what's the point of supporting you as king?
use?"
At this point, Arthur could no longer bear it. Regardless of the risk of offending Duke Hillnant, he retorted: "However, the only choice is war."
"Huh?" The Duke raised his brows and waited patiently for Arthur to finish speaking.
"The Earl of Warwick advocates the invasion of France. He keeps asking for things from you lords, and even from the British people. The result? The benefits obtained from the war are minimal, but they consume a lot of British national power. You have known him from the beginning.
Doing so will inevitably fail, but you just don’t dare to blatantly oppose him, right?
So enough is enough, really enough. No one with any sense will agree with the continuation of this kind of war. France is a hard bone that cannot be chewed. Even if you bite it forcefully, it has no taste and will only damage your teeth. Let's let this
This meaningless war should end soon."
Duke Hillnant raised his eyebrows again: "So you advocate an armistice with France?"
"As long as they don't attack us and we don't attack them, yes. This is good for everyone." Arthur replied bluntly: "I think you, Duke, must have had this idea for a long time, right? It's just that the nobles have always supported Henry VI.
Your Majesty and the Earl of Warwick, it is hard to find an excuse for your sudden change of mind. That is why you need an excuse - for example, the throne of His Majesty Henry VI is not orthodox, and there is another orthodox successor to the throne of England.
Other people------and so on."
When Arthur said this, he prolonged his tone and narrowed his eyes, showing a scheming look. Although this was not his usual expression, and he was not actually that scheming, but everything relied on acting skills.
Maybe this acting skill will work in front of Duke Hillnant?
As he spoke, he kept observing the subtlest emotional changes on the Duke's face. He could see neither anger nor doubt, but a hint of joy on the Duke's face. At this time, Arthur knew that his words
It works--even if only a small part of it is working.
After listening to Arthur's words, Duke Hillnant thought for a long time before finally answering: "You may be right, Mr. Aslan. The meaningless war has continued, consuming countless of our manpower and material resources. Maybe
It’s time to stop. It’s better to gain nothing than to keep losing.”
"I admit it." He stared at Arthur: "You may be a little bit better than the Earl of Warwick and His Majesty Henry VI. Maybe this is your qualification as a king. This appearance
It is also slightly similar to the Edward family--bloodline is not important, what is important is that your appearance can be used to convince the nobles in Parliament. If you want to take away the power from His Majesty Henry VI,
It’s not like you have no chance at all. What you lack right now is fame, recognition, and recognition. When you have all these, it won’t be too late for us to discuss the matter of seizing power in detail.”
Duke Hillnant's attitude was almost the same as that of Admiral Penzance. In the end, they also "promised to support Arthur", but in fact they still had to let Arthur work hard to build up his prestige alone.
"However, if I don't give you anything, it would be too unkind to ask you to work hard alone." Duke Hillnant took out a large bag of gold coins from his arms and placed it on the table. The table was made of wood.
He put the bag on the table lightly enough, but the moment the bag of gold coins landed on the table, it still made a loud rustling sound. You can imagine how heavy the gold coins in the bag were and how amazing the amount was.
"Take it. Use the money to hire a group of skilled mercenaries, and then choose a knight below the black robe from my knights to be your adjutant. Then when you have the most basic military power in your hands,
Let’s deal with the thieves gang [Bone Scavengers] causing trouble in the local area. This is a win-win outcome. You have established your prestige and there is less of a group of pests in my territory. Do you agree?”
The Duke of Hillnant was really smart (cunning). He gave Arthur some money and wanted to use Arthur's hand to help him get rid of the evil. At the same time, he also arranged people from his own knights to stay with Arthur day and night.
Watcher Arthur's actions. This is euphemistically called to help Arthur establish prestige, but in fact it achieves multiple goals, and most of the benefits ultimately belong to him. This old fox is really cunning and calculating to the extreme.
"If there is just a band of thieves, Bedi and I can destroy them all together. The others are just a burden." Arthur hummed. Of course he wants the money, but he doesn't want the mercenaries.
Please, even less willing to let the Duke of Sirnant arrange a watcher beside him.
"I don't know how good your skills are, Lord Aslan." The Duke took another puff of cigarette, and after exhaling the smoke ring, he slowly replied: "But I also said, this time I am not testing you.
[Ability to fight alone] is a test of your [Ability to fight alone]. If you want to be a true king, [Ability to fight alone] is much more important than [Ability to fight alone]. As a king, you can't always do it every time.
Running at the forefront of the battlefield every battle, risking his life to confront the enemy head-on. That is what a reckless man would do, not what a king should do. "Leading by example" and "leading by example" are just words.
It sounds nice, but it actually means nothing."
Arthur couldn't refute, because he knew that Duke Hillnant was right--at least partly right. The people in their other world had comparable fighting capabilities to the people in Arthur's original world nine hundred years ago.
, much worse. That is all-round weakness from equipment to combat technology. And in a world composed of such weak people, generally speaking, commanders would not dare to risk going to the battlefield in person.
Joan of Arc is of course a special case. Moreover, she was a little girl born in the countryside, not a king. The French princes and nobles pushed her to take risks at the forefront of the battlefield without feeling any distress at all.
"Forget it." Arthur blinked: "In your knighthood, what is the concept of knights below the black robe? The black robe is a commander-level knight, right? In other words, except for the commander-level knights, other knights
Can you choose any knight? ------- Even a trainee?"
"Yes." Duke Hillnant said, "Of course, I have several recommended candidates, all of whom are smart and capable people. It depends on which one you want to choose."
Of course, the candidates recommended by the Duke are all his trusted ministers, or the family members of his trusted ministers. After all, they are the knights arranged by the Duke to monitor Arthur, so how could they be of poor quality? Although the Duke said so
Let Arthur choose anyone in the knights to be his lieutenant, but in fact the process of Arthur's selection is the process of the Duke testing Arthur's ability as a king. If Arthur chooses a person randomly, he chooses an incompetent person.
If you become his follower, the Duke's evaluation may also be lowered at the same time.
But he couldn't just follow the situation the Duke had set for him. Even if he asked for help from others, it was not King Arthur's style to be led by the other party. He had to find something within this limited range of choices.
Breakthrough------Find a method (selection) that will not make the Duke's evaluation of him worse, but will not easily let the Duke control him.
"Choosing an adjutant is of great importance, so I won't look at your recommendation." Arthur said, "Can you give me permission to actually walk around your castle and learn from the daily work of your knights?"
Look at their qualities and select suitable candidates?"
The Duke took another puff of cigarette and thought for a moment: "Okay. This is more fair."
He took out a fist-sized medal-like thing and handed it to Arthur: "This is my family's token. You can take it with you first. When walking around the castle, if a knight wants to stop you, show this token."
It will make your journey smooth. For one day, you can search for a suitable candidate in my castle."
"As long as the candidate is below the black-robed knight, is it true?" Arthur confirmed again.
"As long as the candidate is below the black-robed knight, everything is fine." Duke Hillnant also said decisively, without any hesitation, as if he was overconfident in his plan.
"Very good." Arthur smiled evilly, took the money and tokens and pushed out the door. (To be continued)