The heresy in the Dean family continued to brew, and the Baldwin faction, which had been silent and retreating for many days, quickly counterattacked.
On Monday, the Bishop of the Diocese of Jonah in the Earl of Baldwin and the Bishop of the Diocese of Lucerne jointly launched a censure against the Bishop of Thorne Diocese, accusing the Bishop of Thorne Diocese of betraying his mission and allowing the pure land belonging to God to breed heretics and heretical organizations. The Bishop of Jonah Diocese will also continue to investigate for several years. A large number of religious incidents in the province have listed a thick pile of heretical crime records, from river flooding to arable land failure, from a fire in a small church to the occurrence of witches in a certain place, but all major and minor events that may occur against God's will have become evidence of Bishop Thorne's incompetent preaching and even condoning the growth of evil.
Bishop Thorne, who is far away in Thorne City Cathedral, was involved in the heresy incident without even knowing about this sudden heresy incident. However, once the incident came out, Bishop Thorne could not escape the involvement in any way. After all, it was discovered that the location of heretics and heretical organizations was officially the residence of Thorne Cathedral, and a person with poor supervision would not be able to escape.
On Tuesday, the bishops and deans of fifteen large and small monasteries and churches in the dioceses of Jonah and Lucerne jointly put pressure on the Archbishop of Besançon, demanding a thorough investigation of the heretical crimes of the Dean family and an in-depth investigation of all those suspected of being involved in the heretical incidents. The targets began to target those nobles who were friendly with the Dean family.
Once the word "heresy" is touched, it will never come back. Therefore, the nobles and wealthy businessmen who had good relations with the Dean family in the past, after learning about the news, wrote to the Archbishop of Besançon overnight to strongly condemn the heretical crimes of the Dean family and stated that they were absolutely not involved in the shocking evil deeds.
Wednesday, Besançon Cathedral received an anonymous letter, which stated that the Deans had previously sent the family members and a huge amount of wealth to the mansion of a powerful nobleman, in an attempt to use huge sums of money to bribe the nobleman to quell the crime of heresy.
The letter did not specify which nobleman it was, but the flames of the heresy incident had already been drawn to Count Bernard.
On the same day, a large number of officers of the Palace Guards Corps and the Eastern Frontier Corps of Yona Province, stationed outside the city of Besançon, mutinied, claiming that since Count Bernard became the palace finance minister, a large number of military pay for the legions had been deducted, and the palace treasury secretly exchanged the military rations supplied to the legions from various places with inferior and moldy grain from grain merchants.
In the evening, a large pile of incriminating evidence was anonymously sent to the palace justice's office, which named the Dean family's caravan as involved in these crimes.
Early on the next morning, the mutinous army officers opened the arsenal of the Praetorian Guards. The soldiers all wore armor and prepared for war. Threatening the outbreak of military rebellion at any time, they asked the palace to strictly investigate the treasury officers under the minister of finance who stole and misappropriated military pay and food supplies, and the profiteers and evil merchants who colluded with the officials...
All this happened in just two or three days, and everything pointed directly or implicitly at Bernard, the Palace Treasurer, the Guardian of the West, the Lord of Saône Province, and the Earl of Burgundy.
Bernard had been prepared in advance, but he did not expect that everything would happen so quickly, and he did not expect that the heresy incident would be directly brought to the Paris Inquisition. The matter was more serious than he expected, and even beyond his control. Bernard could only respond passively. First, he sent his cronies overnight to send the relatives of the Dean family out of the mansion and hide them in a hidden place. It was not that he wanted to protect the relatives of the Dean family, but now he was riding a tiger and could not let them fall into the hands of his opponents. Secondly, as soon as the Guards mutinied, he strengthened the security of the palace, and the palace servants immediately closed the palace doors and put on armor to prepare for war. At the same time, Fei Ge sent orders to the Western Border Army and the quietly assembled private soldiers of the lords to prepare for war. The nobles of Bernard's faction in the city of Besancon also asked the private soldiers to be on guard.
In just a few days, the whole of Besançon was at war with each other. Dark armed forces secretly supported by the two factions began to appear in the city, and bloodshed began to occur...
The undercurrent finally turned into a wave.
At noon on the third Thursday in January, the entire Northland was filled with chill and chill.
The Marquis of Ivrea, the ruler of the County of Burgundy, who had not appeared in the palace hall for a whole year, finally appeared.
A special bed equipped with armchairs was carefully carried in from the back door on the side of the palace platform by eight strong palace servants. The chief of the palace guards was covered in thick armor and carried a giant sword on his waist. The chief physician of the palace and his three assistants followed the bed closely and walked into the main hall to wait on the side.
The bed was carried to the iron seat of the palace platform and put down gently. The Marquis of Ivrea, who was wrapped in a gold silk brocade quilt and covered with an exquisite bearskin rug, had a sallow complexion. In his hand was a raw silk scarf with bright red blood.
As soon as he sat down, a group of palace servants immediately placed eight copper basins filled with red charcoal fire around the bed.
Ivrea tried his best not to cough up blood, but his throat itched and he coughed violently. He quickly covered his mouth with a silk scarf and quietly wiped the bloodshot eyes from the corners of his mouth.
The main hall was full of nobles, but no one dared to make any move. The seventh-ranking ministers of the palace who used to sit next to the iron throne also stood obediently at the foot of the hall today.
Ivrea coughed a few more times and finally felt relieved. He gently raised his head and nodded to the chief of the palace guard.
The chief of the palace guard clenched the hilt of the sword with his right hand, took a step forward, and said loudly to the main hall: "The marquis personally ordered that the city of Besançon will declare martial law from now on. The palace chamberlain and the marquis' personal guard will take over the defense of Besançon. Except for the chamberlain and the marquis' personal guard, no armored and armed people are allowed to appear in the city of Besançon. Anyone who disobeys will be killed on the spot for treason!"
will order all the private soldiers in the provinces, counties, and autonomous cities of the count; unless they are performing palace military duties, no troops shall leave their garrison until the capital city is lifted; and that the troops that have left the country shall be withdrawn within a time limit. The hall was noisy for a while; the Marquis of Ivrea finally took action to stop the bloodshed and stabilize the situation in the entire count; the "bystanders" who were worried about the consequences for Chiyu breathed a sigh of relief.
Ivrea coughed twice, and silence returned to the hall. The voice of the palace guard continued to sound, "From now on, the qualifications of the deputy minister of the palace, deputy military minister Baldwin and palace minister of finance Bernard to participate in the meeting of the palace ministers will be suspended. The Marquis will send personal advisers and recall Lucesien The Count (Ivrea's cousin, a centrist) temporarily participated in the meeting of important ministers. "
When it came to dealing with the two important ministers, Baldwin and Bernard, Ivrea managed to lift himself up from the reclining chair and stared directly at the two important ministers in the palace with sick eyes.
The two men noticed the strange look in the Marquis's eyes, and immediately walked out of their respective queues and bowed to the Marquis on the stage to show their respect.
Seeing Baldwin and Bernard coming out, Ivrea mustered up all her strength and said in a hoarse voice, "You two, please be quiet, I'm not dead yet!"
The tone is extremely calm, but the majestic murderous aura that Weijun has displayed for decades does not need to be exaggerated by a strong tone. A pin drop could be heard in the hall for a while.
Ivrea said a word herself, and then lay down again.
The head of the palace guard turned to look at the Marquis who was concentrating with his eyes closed, and continued to convey his message, "Order the palace justice, the military minister and the chamberlain to form a special court to thoroughly investigate the matter of military pay and food proposed by the mutinous army. They must be fair, otherwise they will be punished as dereliction of duty."
"The Inquisition sent by the Paris Inquisition will arrive in Besançon in the near future. We have no control over this matter. We ask the Archbishop of Besançon to prepare to welcome it and assist the Inquisition in tracking down the heresy."
The Archbishop of Besancon came out from His Highness and said that he would do his best to deal with the matter.
Ivrea's body is already very weak. He stayed in bed today just to let the people below know that the ruler of the county dare not act rashly while he is still alive, and he is unable to do other things himself.
The purpose has been achieved, so the Marquis should move to the inner court.
But Ivrea was not in a hurry to leave. He opened his mouth and whispered something to the chief of the palace guard beside him.
宫廷侍卫长转身环视了一圈大殿，说道：「侯爵问，引发这么大的风波，那个捅了蜂窝的小杂种在哪儿？」
............
亚特重重地打了一个喷嚏，揉了揉鼻子，嘴里咕哝道:「谁TM在骂我！」
Dawson beside him didn't know what Art was talking about, and asked: "Sir, what did you say?"
Art spat, "Nothing, let's continue to the next blacksmith shop."
Dawson glanced at both sides of the street. There was a long row of blacksmith shops nearby and said: "Sir, do you plan to continue recruiting craftsmen? We have already recruited two weaponsmiths and three blacksmiths. The fifteen or sixteen people they bring with them will probably slow down our speed of going south. Besides, the castle owner only allows us to take up to five craftsmen."
Att tightened the cotton robe around him, looked up and stared at the long row of blacksmith shops in front of him, and replied: "The castle owner did not limit how many craftsmen I could take with me. These are ordinary craftsmen. I want to find another skilled weapon craftsman. I plan to continue to expand the weapon workshop. It is easy to build a house, but it is not so easy to find a good craftsman who leads the workshop. Luca is proficient in carpentry, but He doesn't know much about weapon making. Although Dim is proficient in weapon making, he is a Swabian who cannot speak the language and is not good at management. In addition, the service period I promised him is coming soon. Although he did not explicitly say that he wants to leave the valley, he is always tied to it. The weapons workshop is the foundation of our strong army. I have to make plans early." After saying that, Art walked towards the next blacksmith shop on the footless sewage.
This is the most prosperous castle in the northern part of the County of Burgundy. The prosperity of the castle is neither due to the fertile land and abundant food harvests nor to the development of business travel and trade. Its reputation stems from the fact that it is rich in the best "three irons" in the entire County of Burgundy and even the Principality of Burgundy - iron ore, iron tools and blacksmiths.
This castle named after "iron" is called Black Iron Castle. It is only three days' journey (or one day's drive) from Besancon, the capital of the Count of Burgundy. It has more than 500 residents, most of whom are blacksmiths and their families. There are more than ten large and small castles around Black Iron Castle. The mine has hundreds of miners, and the iron products produced by the Black Iron Castle monopolize the iron market in the entire Northland. One-third of the weapons and armor of the Besançon Palace Guards are made from this castle. Even some noble private troops in the Principality of Burgundy are equipped with weapons and armor from the Black Iron Castle.
This castle was not on Att’s planned return journey, or in other words, Att’s entire return route was not implemented as planned at all.
After setting off from Paris, Art and his party traveled southwest, heading towards the Principality of Burgundy along the winding road along the banks of the Yona River.
After arriving in Dijon, the capital of the Principality of Burgundy, the outpost reported that the entire province of Yona was searching for Ater. However, any stranger crossing the border would be subject to strict interrogation. Many innocent passers-by were imprisoned in various prisons by local lords and placed under house arrest for investigation.
Matt knew that Count Bernard was almost driven crazy.
Since there was no way to enter from Saône Province via a shortcut, Art had no choice but to lead his team through a detour to the northeast, passing through the northeastern border between the Duchy of Burgundy and the County of Burgundy and entering from the north of Besançon. This route was basically the same as Ron's thousand-mile rescue route.
But they did not have the same luck as Ron. They had encountered two blizzards since passing through Dijon. Although Art was eager to return, the knee-high snow still made the team drive seven days later than planned. Until now, they are still sixty miles away from Besancon.
The Black Iron Castle is not on the direct route to the city of Besançon, just because Art saw the iron tools forged by the Black Iron Castle in a border city in the North, and after hearing about the reputation of the Black Iron Castle, he did not hesitate to spend time to get here. The reason is very simple. This place is not only rich in ironware, but also rich in blacksmiths and craftsmen who make ironware.
There are many blacksmiths in the Barony of the Valley, and there are also two Swabian masters. However, most of the blacksmiths can only make some iron pots, hoes, farm tools and other iron tools. They can also repair battle-damaged weapons, but they are very reluctant to make large quantities of sophisticated weapons and armor needed by the army. This is also one of the reasons why the Valley Weapons Workshop has been unable to fully staff the Wells Legion.
Matt was pressed for time and could not sit in the hotel to post recruitment notices and wait for the blacksmiths to come after hearing the news, so he deigned to go from shop to shop and visit.
There are many craftsmen in Black Iron Castle, so these people do not have the same status here as in other castles. However, those with skills will always be treated well. Moreover, it is very prosperous and the workshop owners rarely default on the wages of the craftsmen. Those craftsmen who originally recruited themselves for the noble lord were instantly extinguished when they heard that they were going to an unheard of valley in the south. Therefore, after almost a day in the castle, only five ordinary craftsmen were recruited, two of whom were just low-level craftsmen who had just left their apprenticeships. As for craftsmen, they were even more rare. There were only nine craftsmen in the entire Black Iron Castle, and they were guests of various workshops. As for the weapon craftsmen, they were regarded as treasures by the workshop owners, and Art even offered insufficient conditions to poach these people.
However, Nuo Da’s Black Iron Castle can still yield surprises. Just when Art walked out of a small weapons workshop in frustration, a middle-aged man with a short stature and strong limbs stood in front of Art.
Dawson and another guard immediately stepped forward to block Art.
"Dear Sir, I heard that you are recruiting weapon craftsmen?" The man spoke.
Matt pushed away Dawson who was blocking him, and glanced up and down at the man in front of him. This man was not really tall, but he had a strong physique, and it was obvious that he often swung a hammer. His curly eyebrows, brown hair, and dark skin showed that he had been baking in front of the fire all year round. Looking at the sheepskin jacket and cowhide apron with holes everywhere, no one dared to say that he was a rich man.
"Are you a weapon craftsman?" Art questioned. Weapon craftsmen are the most outstanding craftsmen, and they are treated no worse than the squires in those villages. Looking at the guy in front of him, he obviously doesn't look like a craftsman.
"Dear Sir, I am not a master craftsman yet." The man answered honestly, obviously he could not deceive anyone with a discerning eye.
"I just want a weapon craftsman." Art didn't want to waste any more time, and was going to bypass this man and continue to the last few houses.
The man took off his cowhide bag from behind, took out a piece of plate upper arm armor and raised it high, "Sir, maybe you should give yourself a chance."