When Art led Ron to the residence of Earl Baldwin, the Vice Minister of the Palace, carrying a brocade box containing fifty large silver marks and several agates, Earl Baldwin was having a heated argument with Earl Bernard, the former Vice Minister of the Palace and the current Finance Minister, in the palace hall.
The focus of the debate is how the court divides fiefs into fiefs for apprentice knights who should be rewarded for their merits after serving.
Last summer, the palace was limited by financial resources. In order to recruit a group of elite troops to deal with the war pressure in the east, at the suggestion of the Marquis, the palace issued an order to canonize apprentice knights throughout the county. Soon after, dozens of people participated in the selection of apprentice knights, and finally In the end, twenty-four candidates were canonized as trainee knights. Among these trainee knights, except for three with well-connected backgrounds who stayed behind to hold some military positions that were easy to perform and not too dangerous, the remaining 21 people all led their own troops to the battlefield to fight against the Swabian army.
Of the twenty-one persons, the souls of six of them are permanently stationed on the Eastern Front battlefield, and eight of them were lying on the carriage and being dragged back to Besançon; among the remaining seven lucky ones who returned with all their tails and beards, only four had made military exploits, and the other three were killed on the Northern Front battlefield soon after the war began. Terrified by the brutal battle, these three men refused to charge into battle no matter how strict the commander was. As a result, the angry battlefield commander imprisoned them for shrinking before the battle and refusing to fulfill their orders. Not only were these guys unlikely to be canonized as knights, they would also face severe sanctions under military law.
For apprentice knights who died in battle, the court retained their status as lifelong apprentice knights in order to appease the grievances of the deceased's family. The deceased's family's land did not have to pay all taxes except war taxes for ten years, but the status of apprentice knights could not be inherited. Their heroic death in battle could only bring ten years of tax-free privileges to their family.
Treat trainee knights differently who are seriously injured and cannot recover. Verification of the documents sent back to the court from the Eastern Battlefield revealed that five of the eight seriously wounded knights had made military exploits. These five seriously wounded trainee knights would have their swallow-tailed flags cut off by the palace. However, since they were no longer suitable as knights to lead troops in battles for the palace, these five people could only enjoy the titles and privileges of lifelong knights, and the palace would not grant them fiefs. The other three unlucky guys who had just entered the battlefield and were seriously injured before they had a chance to kill the enemy could only enjoy the same treatment as those who died in battle - lifelong apprentice knights and ten years of tax exemption.
The treatment of those who died in battle, disobeyed orders, and were seriously injured was basically unanimously approved by everyone in the palace. The key to the dispute was between the three people who stayed behind and the four people who had merit in battle, because they were all qualified to obtain knighthoods and fiefs.
These twenty-four trainee knights were all recruited and canonized in the name of Ivrea Otto, the Marquis of Burgundy, and their titles and fiefs must be settled by the Marquis himself.
The title is simple, nothing more than a piece of paper sealing the document.
But the issue of fiefs is difficult. The territories directly under the Marquis of Ivrea are the most fertile and fertile lands in the county. These fiefs have long been divided up by the Marquis' most trusted retainers or palace dignitaries. Even the not very wealthy fiefs like the county town of Tyniec are handed over to the Marquis' former captain of the bodyguard. Viscount Pierre took care of it, and other earls, viscounts and powerful ministers in the court who had fiefs could not hand over their fiefs to the palace to entrust these trainee knights. After all, these trainee knights were vassals of the marquis, and the landed nobles could neither collect taxes from these people nor ask these people to lead their troops in battle.
The Marquis of Ivrea continued to mediate, and in the end he had to exchange tax exemptions, business privileges, and palace positions as conditions for fiefdoms from the nobles.
Since the war mainly took place in the province of Winterthur in the east, many knights died in the battle in Count Baldwin's fiefdom, and there were also some uninherited territories. In order to share the worries of the Marquis of Ivrea and consolidate his position in the heart of the Marquis, Count Baldwin voluntarily handed over two knightly territories to the palace. Of course, the Marquis of Ivrea still gave Baldwin the official position of a palace herald and the business privilege of linen in Winterthur Province.
Hence Count Bernard, the finance minister, saw that Baldwin had gained prominence in front of the Marquis, and also gave his Winston Manor in the southern part of Tyniec County to the palace as a knight's fief...
Finally, the Marquis of Ivrea acquired five knightly fiefs from the nobles (the fiefs contained castles and citizens).
But faced with four apprentice knights who had made great achievements in the front line and three apprentice knights who had backgrounds and backers in the rear, how to distribute these five pieces of land evolved into another debate.
Two of the three trainee knights staying behind have backers in the palace. One of them is the second son of the marquise's brother, and the other is the illegitimate son of the palace military minister. It is certain that these two will be canonized as knights and each will be granted a fertile piece of knighthood. In the fief, another trainee knight named Dean opened the door to Finance Minister Bernard. His family privately spent a huge sum of 60,000 pfennigs to "purchase" the Winston Manor from Bernard. Therefore, Count Bernard, who had always been shrewd and stingy, generously handed over his own manor to the court for disposal.
When Finance Minister Bernard mentioned the name Dean, Earl Baldwin immediately couldn't sit still. This guy first defected to Earl Baldwin. His family sent huge amounts of property to Earl Baldwin and obtained wealth from Earl Baldwin. He held the military position of a military escort officer, but later Count Baldwin discovered that this greedy guy had bypassed him and secretly colluded with businessmen in Besançon, swallowing up a lot of military supplies and making a fortune. Count Baldwin originally planned to severely punish this ignorant guy.
However, Dean immediately switched to Finance Minister Bernard after the incident, and his family seemed to have friendships with the powerful people in the palace. Earl Baldwin was forced to give up the investigation of Dean under the pressure of his rival Count Bernard and some palace powerful people. But now Bernard actually proposed to allocate Winston Manor to Dean as a fief, and Earl Baldwin immediately raised strong objections.
"Lord Bernard, if Winston Manor was still your own fiefdom, I would not say "no" even if you gave it to the humblest slave. But now that Winston Manor has been returned to the palace, as the deputy minister of the palace, I firmly object to granting this manor to this guy named Dean! ! ” Earl Baldwin abruptly rejected the Chancellor’s proposal.
Bernard glared at Baldwin. Not only did the old guy in front of him secretly take away his position as deputy prime minister, but he also opposed him everywhere in the palace. He immediately retorted: "Sir, deputy prime minister, you can't make things difficult for others just because Dean can't stand your tyranny and leave you. Dean is serving in the palace. He worked tirelessly back and forth to transport military supplies for half a year, and his family contributed tens of thousands of pfennigs in war taxes to defend the Marquis's territory. Shouldn't such a loyal and courageous person be treated favorably? Besides, Dean is from Tyniec, so it is just right to grant him the Winston Manor as a knight's fief!"
Earl Baldwin was so angry that he almost said that the Dean family paid a huge bribe to the finance minister, but he suddenly remembered that he had also received money from Dean, and his words changed again, "If the fiefs are to be awarded according to the circumstances, then the trainee knight Art is also from Tynets County, and he has made real achievements on the battlefield, then the Winston Manor should be entrusted to Him! "
Bernard's anger rose when he heard the name Art. He pointed at Earl Baldwin's nose and shouted: "That bastard Art, he once robbed Winston Manor like a robber and killed my vassals! Such a bastard is worthy of the attention of the Deputy Prime Minister, and now he actually wants to occupy Winston Manor, what a dream!"
Baldwin deliberately used the word "Art" to irritate Bernard. He turned his head and said to everyone in the palace: "Bernard, the matter at Winston Manor has been settled for a long time. I think you know better than anyone else who's fault it is!" After arguing about the past, the Marquis of Ivrea stopped the two of them sternly and said: "What we are talking about now is the issue of the fiefdom of the apprentice knights. Why are you bringing up these nonsense!!"
The two people in the palace saw that the Marquis was a little angry, so they sat back on the chairs on both sides with eyes wide open.
"Both Baldwin and Bernard's considerations are reasonable. But now there are only three knight fiefs left in the palace, but there are still five knights who need to be enfeoffed. Not to mention the quality of the fiefs, just who is fiefdom and who is not fiefdom is a big problem, so we should talk about this issue first before considering other things~" Seeing that Baldwin and Bernard had strayed from the topic, the elderly palace minister hurriedly came out to talk to each other.
Others in the palace also agreed.
Hence, all the powerful ministers in the palace began to consider who could obtain fiefs based on the remaining five trainee knights’ military exploits, family backgrounds, utilization value and many other factors, and which ones could only be canonized as knights but not fiefs...
The court meeting lasted until noon. This court meeting was mixed with too many family forces and palace struggles from the beginning, so that in the end, the real battlefield military achievements were only a minor influencing factor that could not be used again.
As a foreigner with no real family background in the County of Burgundy, a pawn involved in the personal struggle between the deputy minister of the palace and the minister of finance, the trainee knight Art who made outstanding military exploits at Talburg did not receive fair treatment commensurate with his military exploits.
“My Lord Marquis, I think Sir Art should be entrusted with a knightly fief in any case. Your territory is still facing the invasion of enemy countries. Facing the hungry wolves around you, you need loyal and fearless warriors like him to protect you. Neglecting a warrior who has done meritorious service will chill the hearts of other warriors who fight for you. Although Art is a Lombard, he has a relationship with Lombardy. I have seen the hatred of his family. Although the number is small, they are all elite soldiers. If the palace needs to recruit him again in the future, he will be a sharp arrow. Moreover, he and his father were the religious guards of Bishop Olof. Such a warrior who is loyal to God and loyal to you should not be treated unfairly." Baldwin made a final attempt for Art.
The Marquis of Ivrea also felt that he was a little unfair to this warrior who had made great achievements in the southeastern border, but as the owner of a county he needed to consider the balance of all parties. "I also know that this is a bit unfair to him, but Baldwin, the county of Burgundy now needs more and more powerful family support. I can only focus on the present. Don't worry, I will not only make him a formal knight, but also reward him with enough money as compensation."
The Marquis of Ivrea turned to Bernard, the finance minister, and said: "Bernard, how about giving 50,000 pfennigs from the palace treasury to Art Wood Wells, and 20,000 pfennigs to David Patrick (another meritorious apprentice knight) as compensation for not enfeoffing the fief?"
Bernard shook his head repeatedly and said: "My Lord Marquis, the palace treasury is almost exhausted in response to this war, and the war is still going on. The commercial and agricultural taxes of the county have been reduced repeatedly due to the impact of the war, and those free cities have refused to increase taxes to us. The palace treasury must leave enough gold coins to maintain the operation of the county."
Seeing the embarrassed expression on the face of the Marquis, the Minister of Finance continued: " The 20,000 pfennig given to David can barely be squeezed out, but the 50,000 pfennig given to Art is too much, and I am afraid it will be difficult. Besides, I heard that this guy who is good at plundering has robbed a lot of money and goods in Swabia, and he may not value the palace compensation coins.”
“Well, tell me?” Marquis Ivrea leaned forward and listened carefully.
"According to a letter from the tax officer of Tyniec County, this guy named Art once took the initiative and set up a tax card at a bridge on the southern border of Tyniec to collect the inbound merchant tax. Since he likes to set up a card there to collect taxes, then simply give him the sheath together with the surrounding land as a fief. In this way, he also gets the fief, and the palace can also save a large amount of gold coins. It is a two-pronged strategy."
As soon as Bernard finished speaking, Baldwin objected, "Sir Bernard, Art set up checkpoints on the border to collect taxes as a temporary measure because Tyniec County could not afford the money to supply the border security patrol at that time. The southern border is full of wasteland and hard soil where even weeds are not easy to grow. How can we produce food? There are not even villages and estates for a hundred or ten miles around. Now that the north-south trade is blocked, how can you ask him to support the army with only the money from business taxes?"
"Mr. Deputy Prime Minister, you said that this is not allowed and that is not allowed. You are trying to make things difficult for the Marquis for a little trainee knight who has made some military exploits. Is that Art your illegitimate son?" Bernard's words were obviously meant to sow discord between Baldwin and the Marquis of Ivrea and were insulting.
Baldwin immediately jumped up and pointed at Bernard's nose and cursed: "Bernard, if you dare to talk nonsense again, I will be rude to you!"
Bernard was not a good person either. He ignored the dissuasion of the palace minister and started to quarrel with Baldwin in court.
"Enough!! Shut up, both of you!" Marquis Ivrea finally got angry.
"Now, let's discuss how to deal with the war after the cold winter..."
...
In the afternoon, in the official room of the earl's residence, Earl Baldwin opened the exquisite brocade box that Art placed on the table and took a look at it. He closed the lid and pushed it to Art. He said, "Art, please take everything back. I've tried my best on your affairs, but obviously that bastard Dean has a lot of influence in the court. I couldn't win Winston Manor for you as a knight." Fief, the Marquis has decided at the court meeting to grant you the bridge tax card in the southern border of Tyniec County and a large area of five miles around it as a knight's fief. In order to make up for you, the Marquis also specifically asked the palace treasury to give you 10,000 pfennigs. I broke up with the finance minister at the court meeting..."
Att was not surprised or sad at all by the "bad news" brought by Earl Baldwin. He spent the whole morning thinking about how to reasonably refuse other fiefs given to him by the palace, and then take the land in the valley into his pocket.
Yat's heart was not disturbed at all, but the look of despair and loss on his face could not be suppressed: "Since the Marquis has decided not to give me a real fief, I will not make it difficult for you. After all, you have offended the palace dignitaries for me, and I cannot cause any more trouble for you. , I will tell Bishop Olof about your efforts.”
Baldwin was moved by Art's sincerity. He touched the brocade box on the table again, thought for a while, and said, "Art, how about you join the Palace Guards. I can make you a legion phalanx captain, and all your soldiers can be brought into the legion. I still have this power."
Art was really worried that Earl Baldwin would include him in the Palace Guards, in which case all his previous efforts would be in vain.
Yate showed a hint of surprise, and then immediately recovered from his disappointment, whispering: "Thank you, Lord Prime Minister, for your kindness. There are more powerful and powerful people in the Palace Guards. I am another servant who only knows war. Even with the care of you and Bishop Olof, whether I can survive in a legion of mixed forces is still a problem."
"But~" Art hesitated.
“But what? Just tell me, I will do my best to help if I can, even if it’s for the heroes who died in Talburg.” Baldwin patted the brocade box on the table.
"Mr. Palace Minister, you know that the fief granted to me by the palace cannot produce a grain of grain at all, and I really want to train an elite army that is loyal to the Marquis and to you, Mr. Palace Minister, but training soldiers requires money and food supplies..."
"Art, are you right? Do you have any other ideas? Just say it. "
"Mr. Palace Minister, I would like to ask you to ask the Marquis to confer a piece of land for me."
"Which piece of land?"
"The barren valley between the Poze Mountain and the Rammel Mountain on the southern border of Tyniec."
Baldwin searched hard for memories in his mind, and vaguely recalled that there was indeed such a valley, and asked: "What use do you want the wasteland in the unclaimed valley? As far as I know, that place has been uninhabited for hundreds of years, overgrown with weeds, and infested with wild beasts. Do you expect to grow food there?" Apparently Earl Baldwin had not personally visited the valley.
"My father and I have been hiding in that deserted valley and dense forest in order to avoid being pursued by our enemies over the years. My father's bones are also buried there. My father fell from there, so I want to stand up from there. In addition, I also hope that you can keep me. The position of patrol officer, this position was given to me by you, and I have not completed my mission yet..."
Att told Baldwin completely about his desire to entrust the wasteland of the barren valley to him as a fief and to retain the security patrol officer of the southern border of the palace.
Baldwin thought about how to operate it for a while, and said: "I can make the decision about retaining your position as patrol officer now, but if you want to seal another piece of land as a fief, you will probably have to give up the 10,000 pfennigs rewarded by the palace. Even if it is a barren wasteland, you can still grow food..."
"Yes!" Art agreed readily.
…..
Three days later, the court of the Count of Burgundy came to a conclusion on the issue of the fiefdom of meritorious trainee knights.
Att Wood Wells was promoted to the title of Knight of the Court Guard of the County of Burgundy. The knight's fief was a tax card on the southern border of Tyniec County. It included a one-mile surrounding land and 3,000 acres of unclaimed wasteland in the barren valley between the Poge Mountains and the Rammel Mountains. The two knightly fiefs will not pay taxes for ten years; at the same time, Art's role as security patrol officer in the southern border of the palace became an official official position in the palace. The five regular soldiers in the patrol team were treated as light infantry in the legion, and weapons and salaries were allocated by Tyniec County on behalf of the palace.