After surviving a near-miss outside Engelberg, Art ordered the convoy to leave Engelberg immediately and rush to Luzern.
It was already dark when we arrived at Lucesien. This was Bishop Olof's place, and Art wasn't too worried about anyone causing trouble here.
The caravan found a warehouse to store its carriages and horses. After the caravan's escorts had dinner provided by the warehouse, they spread straw and felt blankets in the open space next to the stables and slept on the ground. This way they could save a lot of money and take care of the valuable goods. Although Art was always generous to his men, it was too luxurious for the escorts to stay in hotels when they were in town.
After arranging the convoy and escort, Art, along with several caravan stewards and Ron Felix, crowded into the guest room of the warehouse and slept in their clothes for a simple night.
Early on the next morning, Art had a hasty drink of a bowl of thick soup and wheat paste in the warehouse, and then called a few stewards and attendants.
"The caravan will stay in Lucese for two days, and then head north to Besançon. Raven, you choose half of the guards to stay in the warehouse to take care of the goods. The other half can make their own arrangements, but tell everyone not to go out of the city and not to cause trouble. They must be back here before dinner."
"Yes, my lord." Raven, the deputy steward of the caravan and the captain of the guard, responded loudly.
Matt nodded, and then said to Salter and Juventus, "You two will go to various shops in the city today to sell as many of the relatively cheap southern goods as possible. Those precious southern goods that cannot be bought at Lucerne will be sent to Besançon, so you can buy as much as you can sell here. You can give a hint to those shops. There is the shadow of Bishop Olof behind our caravan. I don't need to teach you how to do it, right?"
"Sir, I know how to do it. But there is also a trading guild in Lucesen City, I'm afraid~"
"It's okay, at Bishop Olof's place, the guild has not yet ended. If you have the guts to seize our goods, as for Besancon, we can't rush into the city." Art is worried about the sales of Besancon, the largest market for southern goods. People in the Lucese guild are generally not stupid enough to offend Bishop Olof.
"Okay, I feel confident if you say that." Salt also felt that Lucesien was not the largest dumping market for southern goods, and there were not many valuable southern goods sold here, so it should not arouse the fear of the trading guilds. Moreover, there is also the care of the church.
"Ron, Felix, you two come with me to visit Bishop Olof, and then go see the shop given to me by my father-in-law."
"Ron, don't forget to bring the gift for Sir William."
< br/> Ron pointed to the wooden box placed on the wooden table nearby and said: "Don't worry, sir, it has been prepared for a long time."
"Well, not bad."
"Felix, how are you preparing the holy donation for Hewulf Cathedral?"
“One thousand pfennigs, all converted into small shiny silver coins.” Felix took out a white Holy Cross linen purse from his arms and weighed it in his hands.
"Very good, when I have an audience with Bishop Olof later, you two will go to the Holy Donation Deacon and tell him that this is my sincere respect for the Hwov Cathedral."
Ron and Felix responded.
............
赫沃夫大教堂内殿的主教小公事房，这里是奥洛夫主教会见重要来客的地方。
Bishop Olof is no longer as relaxed and kind as he used to be.
After Art saluted, he sat on an armchair in front of the official desk, looked at Bishop Olof's face, and asked softly: "Your Majesty, what's bothering you recently?"
Orlov already regarded Art as one of his own, and did not hide too much about his thoughts, saying: "It's okay to tell you, but just listen, don't go out and talk nonsense."
"Of course, I promise."
Bishop Olof nodded and said slowly: "Since the war with Swabia, the Marquis's body has become weaker and weaker. The Marquis wanted to hand over the title and county to the infant eldest son, Robert. "
Art was shocked when he heard this. Although Art was just a little knight living in a corner, he still knew that the eldest son, Robert Otto, was the only son of Ivrea Otto, the Marquis of Burgundy, and his third wife, Mamuty, the daughter of the Count of Artois, the Principality of Burgundy. He was less than two years old.
The most important thing is that the Count of Artois and the Count of Bernard are brothers. In other words, the future ruler of the county will be Count Bernard's nephew.
It would be better if Prince Robert reaches the age where he can distinguish right from wrong, but now he is still a young boy who cannot even speak clearly. Once the power of the county is handed over to the young prince, the Marchioness will definitely be the regent in the future, and the Marchioness will definitely rely on her uncle, Count Bernard.
By that time, Count Baldwin, who has been fighting openly and covertly with Count Bernard, and Bishop Orlov, who supports Count Baldwin covertly and covertly, will definitely be squeezed out or even purged...
Att sorted out this relationship, and instantly understood why Bishop Orlov looked worried.
“Count Baldwin and I have just taken the positions of Vice-Chancellor and Bishop of the Diocese now, and we are not yet firmly established. We can only pray to God that the Marquis can survive for a few more years.” Bishop Olof lowered his head and made a Holy Cross on his chest as he spoke.
Indeed, the reason why Count Baldwin and Bishop Olof were able to gain an advantageous position in the court struggle was all due to the Marquis of Ivrea's reliance on them.
Needless to say Count Baldwin, Bishop Olof was promoted to the bishop of the diocese all because the Marquis of Ivrea had been resisting the pressure from both the Archbishop of Burgundy and the Pope. Otherwise, whether Olof could be promoted to the bishop of the Lucese diocese was still an unknown mystery.
Once the Marquis of Ivrea fell, the decisive force supporting Count Baldwin's camp immediately collapsed.
The tree fell and the hozens scattered, and Art, who was hiding under the big tree, lost the protection from the upper level~
"Your Majesty Bishop, I once heard rumors from outside that the Marquis is infertile, and that is Prince Robert~" Art regretted the moment he said this.
As expected, Bishop Olof stood up and said softly: "How can these words come from the mouth of the knight who is the palace guard of the Marquis!! You can never say such words again, do you hear me?"
Art quickly stood up and apologized to Bishop Olof: "Yes, such words must never come out of my mouth. I will remember it."
Bishop Orlov relaxed a little after receiving Art's assurance. He looked around warily, leaned forward, and whispered: "At this time, every word spoken must be carefully considered."
Then Bishop Olof revealed a shocking secret.
"The news that the Marquis wants to pass on the throne to the heir apparent has spread. The Marquis has no biological brothers, but the Marquis' distant cousin, Flanders Huguet, the young Earl of Longchal in the south of the Duchy of Burgundy, seems to have the intention to compete with the heir apparent. Lord Baldwin and Count Flanders The count has a good personal relationship with him, and it is said that he has already started planning~"
The amount of information Bishop Olof said was too great, and Art couldn't believe it for a moment, "Count Longchard? Is he the Count Longchard who was imprisoned by the old Marquis Otto III, the grandfather of the Marquis of Ivrea?"
“Yes, but now the title of Earl of Longchard has been passed to Flanders. In order to obtain the power of the County of Burgundy, the old Marquis imprisoned Flanders’s grandfather, the elder brother of the old Marquis, for fifteen years, and expelled the young Flanders’ father’s family. After arriving in the barren mountains to the south of the Duchy of Burgundy, the old Marquis later released his brother after he completely took control of the Duchy of Burgundy and asked the duchy to confer the title of Earl of Longchal. The old Earl of Longchal also changed his surname to "Hugues" to show that he gave up the inheritance rights of the Otto family. "
"Now that the grandson of the old Earl of Longchard is claiming the right to rule the country in the name of the direct lineage of the Burgundy family, I am afraid that the country will be in chaos in the future~"
Having said this, Bishop Olof paused and added: "Oh, by the way, your father-in-law, Baron Galvin Huguet, is considered to be the cousin of the Earl of Flanders. However, during the disputes in the county, Galvin's father acted as a "fence-rider" and was not purged by the old marquis. However, the old marquis was always the one who suppressed the direct lineage, so your father-in-law also tolerated it in the county of Burgundy these years. "
Att did not expect that there would be undercurrents surging under the calm lake in the country, but for a little knight hiding in the deserted valley of the dense forest in the south, these palace struggles were not his turn to worry about.
Bishop Olof just told Art these secrets with the mentality of confiding his depression. He coughed and brought the topic back, "By the way, what do you want to do when you come to Lucesien this time?"
Only then did Art remember what he had come to do. He sat up straight and replied: "Your Majesty, this time I am here to open up trade routes..."
... ...
At a "Moulin Rouge" in the city of Lucesien, the caravan guard who had been working in the women's room all morning just walked out of the door with his pants in hand.
Two men waiting in an alley aside saw the guard going out and hurriedly followed them. When they walked up to the guard, a bulging money bag slipped from one man's sleeve to the ground.
"Man, your money bag fell." One of the men pointed to the money bag on the ground and said to the caravan guard.
The guard lowered his head and saw a bulging money bag on the ground. He quickly bent down to pick it up and put it in his arms, "It's mine, yes, I dropped it."
The two men smiled at each other and waved to the alley behind them. A rich young man in gorgeous clothes and two followers came towards the guard.
"It's this bastard who stole my purse! Someone, arrest him and send him to the Sheriff." The rich young man grabbed the guard's sleeve.
The guard was not a good person either. He raised his hand and waved away the rich young master's hand, shouting: "Who are you? Why do you say I stole your wallet?"
"Why? Why do you have my purse in your arms!"
The guard covered his arms and took a step back, "I don't know what you said, I'm leaving." With that, he wanted to slip away from the rich young master.
The rich young master once again blocked the guard's path, and the two attendants beside him had already put their hands on the hilts of their swords.
“Do you dare to let me search you? I have five small silver coins and forty copper coins in my purse.” He said that he was going to search him.
The guards retreated repeatedly to prevent the rich young master from approaching, and more and more people were watching the excitement around, and the two followers also drew their swords.
The guard turned around and saw that the guy who had just asked him to pick up the money bag had disappeared around the corner, knowing that he had been plotted against.
With a plop, the guard knelt down and said, "Master, I was wrong. I was greedy for money. I will give it back to you. I will give it back to you." After saying that, he took out the money bag from his arms and gave it to the rich young master.
An attendant next to the rich young master stepped forward and kicked away the guard who was kneeling on the ground, and said fiercely: "Weren't you very cruel just now? You dared to push my lord. Do you know who the person in front of you is? He is a palace guard knight..."
Dean pulled away his entourage, stepped forward and smiled at the guard kneeling on the ground, saying: "It's not impossible if you want me to spare you, but you have to do a small thing for me..."