Early morning on the second day, the knight's mansion.
哐哐哐!
哐哐哐! !
Hunt and Art were doing "morning exercise" in the bedroom when they were interrupted by a knock on the door.
Shy Lottie quickly pulled her clothes over her body, and then pushed the angry Art to open the door.
With an angry look on his face, Art walked to the door naked and angrily and cursed: "Who the hell knocked on the door so early in the morning!"
"Brother-in-law! It's me, Felix." Felix answered anxiously through the door.
At closed his eyes and bared his teeth, and asked bitterly: "Why are you knocking on my door so early in the morning?"
"Brother-in-law, it's urgent, open the door!" Felix knocked on the door a few more times.
Att rolled his eyes and opened the door.
Felix looked at Art, who was naked, and then at Lottie on the bed, knowing that he had ruined their good fortune, and said with a sorry smile: "Sister and brother-in-law, I'm sorry for ruining your good deeds."
"If you have anything to say, tell me quickly!" Art was very angry.
"Brother-in-law, Ron is missing!" Felix said.
亚特反应了一下，贱笑道：「罗恩不见了不是很正常吗？奥莉也一块不见了吧～」
「姐夫，我没开玩笑，罗恩突然不见了，连同他的战马和武器盔甲都不见了。」
Felix noticed that Ron was in an abnormal mood from the time he returned to the wooden castle to the end of yesterday's banquet, so he went to hunt with Ron early this morning to relax. However, when Felix arrived at Ron's new house, he found that Ron's shadow had long since disappeared, along with his horse, weapons and armor, which had disappeared without a trace.
"Ron's mood was a little abnormal yesterday. I was too busy and didn't have time to talk to him yesterday. It was all my fault." The anger in Art's heart immediately dissipated and turned into a trace of worry.
"You mean his horses, weapons and armor are all missing?" Art asked Felix.
"Isn't that right? Now Mrs. Emma is going crazy with anxiety and begging me to come to you."
At this time, Lottie wrapped up her clothes and came over, "Go and ask Ollie quickly. Ollie was called away by Ron yesterday evening, and Ollie looked bad when she came back." Felix turned around and ran downstairs to find Lottie's personal maid Ollie in the servants' room...
"Ron, why did he suddenly disappear?" Lottie complained in a low voice.
"I was careless." Art said and went back to the bed to put on his clothes and prepare to go out.
"Where are you going?" Lottie asked.
"Go and tell everyone not to worry about Ron, he must be chasing the army. I asked the sergeant major to catch up and take a look~" said Art and ran downstairs.
"Poor Ron~" Lottie sighed...
Due to Ron's private departure, Art and his team's original plan to rest for an extra day was also cancelled. Early in the morning on the third day after returning to the valley, Art gathered several soldiers who had gone home to visit their relatives and hurriedly mounted their horses.
…..
In the first ten days of March, the two armies of Charis and Art were marching non-stop day and night. Except for Art who went to see Bishop Olof alone when passing through Lucesien, they never entered the castles along the way for repairs.
· Marching all the way north, the two armies finally arrived at Besancon, the center of Burgundy in mid-March.
After three days of simple repairs outside the city of Besançon, Count Baldwin ordered the palace granary and arsenal to allocate a batch of food baggage, weapons and armor to the two armies.
Count Baldwin's residence in the city of Besancon. This is the third time Art has entered the Earl's residence, but it is different from the previous two times. This time Art is invited as a confidant of Count Baldwin.
Baldwin received Art in a separate official room in the house. The always mature and capable Earl Baldwin also began to look a little tired. Not long after he sat down, he yawned several times in succession.
"Mr. Palace Minister, you should pay more attention to your health. The country still needs a support like you." Art said and respectfully handed a small box to Earl Baldwin.
Baldwin took the box, opened it gently, and found a small piece of brown wood placed on the raw silk satin in the box. He frowned, looking at this ugly thing that he didn't know what it was.
But a faint fragrance hit his nose. Baldwin pinched a small piece of wood and sniffed it under his nose. His frown suddenly relaxed, "Is this~ this is the fragrance of stone wood?"
Att was also worried that Earl Baldwin didn't know the goods. It seemed that the powerful people were really knowledgeable.
“The Prime Minister is really well-informed. This is indeed the incense of stone wood. Oriental businessmen call it agarwood. I bought it from a Persian businessman at a high price. However, this kind of thing is too rare, so I only got this little. I think the Prime Minister must be working hard recently. Excessive, scrape off a little bit of the powder and burn it for incense every day, it can calm your mind and refresh your mind.” Baldwin put the incense under his nose and closed his eyes to smell it for a while. He opened his eyes and looked at the young man, and said with a smile: "Then I will accept your wish."
Baldwin closed the wooden box and placed it on the wooden table behind him, and then said to Art: "We don't have much time, let's talk briefly."
"I'm transferring you back from Provence this time because something big is about to happen in the palace. Although it seems to be okay so far. Calm, but there are clouds in the sky and heavy rain may come at any time, so I have to be fully prepared. Charis must have told you a lot of things along the way north, and I should also have a general understanding of the current complex situation in the entire country. "
Matt nodded slightly.
"The battle for power in the uncle country has become a foregone conclusion. The forces behind the crown prince and the Earl of Flanders each have their own strengths and weaknesses. Since I have placed my bet on the Earl of Flanders, I can only follow him."
“If you want to successfully seize the power of the county, a battle for the throne is unavoidable. To be honest, the forces behind the crown prince are very powerful. Among the 22 counties in the four provinces of the country, ten counties in the two provinces in the west belong to their power. In the remaining provinces and counties, there are many centrists, fence-sitters and free cities that do not express their positions. We only have the provinces of Yona and the northern part of ** in the county that are completely under my control. Of course, the Longxia region definitely supports the Earl of Flanders, and the Duchy of Burgundy also intends to further control the county of Burgundy by supporting the new monarch, so we also have the support of the Duchy of Burgundy. "
"Now, I am cultivating my own power, especially cultivating a group of commanders who are worthy of fighting. This is why I asked you and Charis to return north. Needless to say, Charis, his grandfather and father are both military nobles with outstanding military exploits, and yours The performance is obvious to all. So this time I want to promote you to a knighthood, so that when that day comes, you can legitimately lead the army for me."
Balwin said it very plainly, and Art understood it clearly.
"Thank you to the Lord Chancellor for your cultivation, Art Wood Wells is willing to die for the Lord Chancellor."
Baldwin was very satisfied with Art's promise, "I also hope that you can become the pillar of the uncle's country in the future, but you cannot die on the battlefield."
After explaining the general situation of the country, Baldwin focused on the war in the eastern province of Yona.
It turned out that the order to send Art and Charis back to the east to regain the lost territory was just a pretense. Baldwin transferred the two men and their troops back just to strengthen the army at his disposal and to prepare for crises that might break out at any time.
As for the matter of regaining the lost territory, Charis and Art just need to show off, and successfully win a job that will allow Baldwin to propose a reason for them to win military honors and titles. Because the castle captured by the Swabians in Yona Province has been attacked several times by Baldwin's men, now only two people are needed to lead the troops to strike the final blow.
"The Swabians in the city can no longer hold on any longer. Just lead your soldiers and make the final attack. The local army will assist you. After regaining the lost territory, you can stay there for a while. I will operate the palace for you."
"As for Charis, he will not go with you to attack the Swabians. He has to go to Jonah Province to recruit and train an army. But his name will definitely be in the military honors book for recovering the lost territory, so you don't have to worry about it."
"I understand, I understand!"
Baldwin stood up and picked up a sheepskin album from the wooden table, "This is an order issued by me in the name of the lord of the Province of Yona, strictly ordering the surrounding castles, fortresses and manors to support you while you recover the lost land and garrison it."
At stood up, took the order, and put it into his arms.
"My lord, I'll take my leave then."
"Let's go~"
........................
After resting in Besançon for a few days, under the instruction of Count Baldwin, Art received more than ten sets of leather armor and short-sleeved half-mail mail from the palace's armament warehouse, as well as swords, spears and axes as spare parts for wear and tear.
According to the arrangement of the palace, the one hundred or so men under Art were organized into an independently reduced company. The official name in the palace's troop dispatching document is the Temporary First Company of the Border Guard Corps, which is equivalent to the Royal Guards sent by the palace to fight in local areas. The commander is of course the palace guard knight Art Wood Wells.
Since it is an army equivalent to the Palace Guards, Art naturally enjoys the palace's military support. As the deputy palace minister and military deputy, Earl Baldwin can still make the decision to allow an army of more than a hundred people to enjoy the treatment of the Palace Guards.
So in the next period of time, the soldiers temporarily assigned to the first company will receive a military salary that is slightly higher than usual.
Yat also made some reorganizations in the army, and transferred the newly joined wandering knight Reyek to the 4th Squadron as the temporary squadron leader. The former 4th Squadron Captain Ron was transferred back to form the bodyguards. Ron served as the guard captain and military judge, and was also responsible for the entire intelligence network of Art.
"Sir, we all support the selection of elites to form a bodyguard for you, but Brother Ron has selected six elites, four of which are cavalry for my sentry team. Our sentry team has only ten cavalry with me, and he wants to leave four at once. Isn't it a bit too much~" Lusignan ran into Art's military tent and kept complaining that Ron's hands were too dark.
"Ron is under my military order to select elites from the whole army. I told you that I will give you my full support."
"Sir, we definitely support it, but we can't just go against our sentries and pluck their hair~"
Art coughed, "Hmm~ No, no, I have to tell Ron about this~"
...