In the inner court of Besancon Palace, the palace guard reported to Flanders, the new ruler of Burgundy who was handling internal affairs.
"Art? He's still here." Flanders was not surprised by Art's arrival.
In the previous court meeting to announce the fiefdoms of the various meritorious officials, those guys who claimed to be the most important were so furious that they were fighting over several villages and estates, and they were on the verge of a fight. Only the newly appointed Earl looked calm and showed no dissatisfaction at all. Presumably, in his eyes, there is something more important than the fiefdom. How could such a little thought escape Flanders' eyes.
"Call him in."
Flander stood up and stretched his muscles, and ordered the servants to prepare drinks.
As the first Marquis of Burgundy, Flanders was still a little uncomfortable for a while. After all, he had served in the military all his life and was used to military life on horseback. It really gave him a headache to have him stay in the palace all day long to deal with complicated affairs. Especially when a prince's kingdom was first established, a lot of waste was waiting to be revitalized, and the official desk was full of literary ideas, and he needed to make decisions on all matters big and small.
"Your Majesty the Marquis!"
After a while, Art, who came under the guidance of the palace guard, had already appeared at the door.
"Come in."
Flender turned around and walked slowly towards Art.
"Your Majesty the Marquis, I specially ordered people from the European Trading Company to bring this back from Provence half a month ago."
After Art saluted, he ordered Ron, who was standing outside the door, to bring in a box of beautifully wrapped gifts.
"I heard that the Marquis has been working day and night on the affairs of the Marquis recently and has not slept well. This product is produced from the great eastern country and comes by sea. It has the effect of calming the nerves and reducing dryness. Please take care of yourself, Lord Marquis."
"Art, it is not easy for you to understand me as a Marquis. I accept your offer."
Flanders turned to signal the servant to accept the gift.
"Art, sit down."
"Thank you, Lord Marquis."
After the two of them sat down, Flanders glanced at Art, sizing up the thoughts of the newly promoted earl in front of him.
"Tell me, do you have anything else to ask me for?"
Flanders said this and leaned his right hand on the armrest, holding his chin and looking at Art.
At was silent.
Seeing that Art was embarrassed to speak, Flanders went straight to the point.
I think you have also heard that those old-school powerful ministers are still clamoring to come to the palace every day because their fiefdom is too small. I have to deal with the affairs of the marquis at the same time. It is not easy for me as a marquis. "
Flender rubbed his swollen eyes, then raised his wine glass and motioned for Art to clink the glasses.
"Just tell me, what conditions do you want to exchange the territory for? This can be regarded as my compensation to you."
"Sir Marquis, then I will tell you directly." Art had no intention of hiding in front of smart people.
Flender nodded.
"Your Majesty, the war that has just ended in the Marquis has led to the decline of people's livelihood and the decline in national strength. If you hadn't turned the tide, I'm afraid the Marquis would still be in danger of being carved up by surrounding forces." In front of Flanders, Art never hesitated to praise him.
"I believe that in order to restore national strength, the first task is to organize farmers to reclaim long-abandoned farmland and grow food. Otherwise, I don't know how many people will die of hunger in the coming year."
"You are right. The principality is currently the weakest. It is like a piece of fat on the lips of other principalities. Everyone wants to take a bite of it. If we don't hurry up to restore the national strength, recovery will be far away."
After Flanders finished speaking, he drank the wine in the glass and sighed softly. The servant quickly came with a wine flask and filled it.
"My lord, the Marquis, my territory is the most remote and barren in the entire princely state. Coupled with the wars in recent years, the population has been reduced, most places have been abandoned, and food production has also been reduced. Without a large number of agricultural tools and livestock, it may be difficult to recover within one or two years."
Art looked at Flanders and continued.
"So, I hope that the Marquis can provide me with the farm tools, materials and livestock needed to cultivate the land."
"You are right. Tyniec is indeed not as good as other places, and you are a little aggrieved. I will ask the palace to prepare all the farm tools and materials for you, and you can just go and get them when the time comes."
Flender readily agreed to Art's request.
"Thank you, Lord Marquis."
"What else? You came to me for more than just such a trivial matter."
Since Flanders was so straightforward, Art went on to shake out other requests.
"In addition, there is the issue of commercial privileges. I hope that the Marquis can grant my territory some tax exemptions in recent years..."
...
"Finally, as a royal chartered trading house, the Continental Trading Company should be exempt from commercial taxes when passing through other territories along the way..."
Att discussed with Flanders in the inner court for half a day, and finally bid farewell to Flanders happily with satisfactory results.
The various preferential treatment and privileges obtained by Art in exchange for land this time will create more wealth and gain more benefits for him and his territory in the next few years. While others were still arguing over those lands, the new earl had already weaved a huge network and was waiting for a steady stream of wealth. It was much easier to make money through business than to gain wealth by exploiting the serfs on the land.
Of course, Flanders would not give Art so many benefits in vain. Once Yate's territory is restored and developed, it will not only have to pay the same tax rate as other territories. The court also had to take a share of the profits of the European trading companies in return for granting them franchised trading rights.
………
After coming out of the palace, Art did not return directly to his mansion in the south of the city. Instead, he took the personal guards waiting outside the palace and walked towards the Besançon Cathedral in the north of the city with 30,000 pfennigs in gold coins. Since returning to Besançon, Art has not had time to visit Archbishop Olof, who is now in charge of the religious affairs of the princely state.
Matt is not an ungrateful person. Ever since he was a hunter, this noble man had spared no effort to help him, until today he became the arrogant Earl of the Hou Kingdom. Bishop Olof undoubtedly played an important role in this.
As a "devout" believer and an upstart in the princely state, Art should pay a visit. Now Olof has become the archbishop in charge of religious affairs in the princely state, and his influence is evident.
Under the protection of everyone, Art walked through several lively streets and arrived at a city square not far from the cathedral. Then he dismounted and walked onto the broad road leading to the church.
When a group of people came to the square in front of the cathedral, the sounds of clergy praying could be heard from inside.
"Sir, according to the clerical guard beside the bishop, Bishop Olof is in the hall on the right side of the church."
While Art was looking around, Ron ran from the side hall of the church to report to Art.
"You guys stay here, take your things with you, take off your swords, and come back with me."
"Yes, sir."
Not long after, several people had arrived at the gate of the side hall, and the guards who had been waiting here bowed deeply to Art. After receiving Art's reward, he led several people in.
"Your Majesty, Lord Art, Earl of Wales, is here." The guard knocked on the door.
Hurry up and ask Earl Art to come in."
Zhi~
The door to the bishop's office in the side hall opened in response.
"Dear Bishop."
As soon as Art saw Bishop Olof, he hurriedly knelt and greeted him. He took Bishop Olof's outstretched right hand with both hands and kissed the ring gently.
At this time, the ring that symbolized the status of the bishop was no longer the ring worn by the district bishop, but a ring that only the highest bishop of the princely country was qualified to wear.
"Art, my child. I am very happy to see you back safely."
Bishop Olof said excitedly, his body trembling slightly. The archbishop of the princely country expended too much energy in this battle for succession.
"Dear Bishop, thank you for your concern. As a devout believer in our Lord, this time, God is on our side."
As Art said, he put his hands on his chest and made the sign of the Holy Cross, muttering scriptures in his mouth.
"Child, get up."
Bishop Olof stretched out his hand to help Art up, which made Art extremely grateful.
"Ron."
At turned around and motioned for Ron to place the blessing he donated to the church in front of Bishop Olof.
"Your Majesty, as a devout believer in God, please accept some of my thoughts."
Olov looked at the glittering gold coins in the bag and did not show much excitement. Not because there was too little, but because Besançon Cathedral did not lack this amount of money.
"Att, your arrival has already explained everything, why do you come to the church with such a huge amount of money."
Bishop Olof held Art's hands tightly and said.
"Your Majesty, your country has just been established and everything is waiting to be prosperous. I can only use these to serve God. May his love and mercy shine on the world."
"Amen~"
"Amen~"
"Well, I will use this money to help those poor families. May God bless this war-torn country and heal the pain among the people as soon as possible."
Ate talked with Bishop Olof in the official room of the cathedral for a long time, recounting his battles in the past six months one by one. Bishop Olof praised Art's bravery and intelligence from time to time. He admired the upstart in front of him very much and was satisfied with his original choice and decision.
At noon, at the warm invitation of Bishop Olof, Art and Bishop Olof had Holy Communion and chatted about everyday things.
After dinner, Art said goodbye to Bishop Olof and led a group of people back to his mansion in the south of the city. Prepare to entertain distinguished guests who come in the evening.
………
咚～咚咚～
咚～咚咚～
"Master! Old~"
Ron standing outside the door of Art's bedroom kept knocking on the door.
"Ron, didn't I tell you? Don't disturb me with anything while I'm resting."
"Sir, I think this person is definitely worthy of your meeting."
Ron said mysteriously, with a proud look on his face.
"Who?"
…
"Lord Mormont, I have kept you waiting."
After putting on his armor and following Ron quickly to the reception hall, Art greeted the visitor.
The visitor is none other than Earl Mormont of the former province of Kodor.
"Earl Art, I'm really sorry for disturbing you during your rest time. Please forgive me."
Mormont said apologetically and with a respectful attitude. Then he ordered his men outside the door to bring in two or two large boxes of items.
Looking at the two heavy boxes, Art asked in confusion: "Lord Mormont, what are you doing?"
Mormont quickly explained, "Earl Art, here are two hundred thousand pfennigs. , please accept my little kindness. If you hadn't spoken for me in front of the Marquis, I might have died."
Art understood that the real purpose of this guy was not to thank him. Because his life was bought from Flanders for five million pfennigs, and it had nothing to do with him. If there was, it was just that there was no massacre of the city.
"Lord Mormont, you are too kind."
"Earl Art, I have one more thing to ask for."
As expected, this guy has another purpose. Art thought for a moment and thought of Mormont's two sons.
"Please speak, Lord Mormont."
"Look, my two sons who went with you on the expedition are still in your army, is it time to let them go home?"
Mormont hesitated, fearing that Art would betray his promise.
Matt pretended to be surprised, "Look at my memory, I have completely forgotten this matter. Lord Count, please rest assured that my legion is already on its way to Besançon. I believe you will be able to see your two sons soon. I will personally send someone to send the two young masters to your house."
"No, no, no," Mormont hurriedly refused, "Thank you, Lord Art, for your kindness. I will pick them up personally when the time comes. I won't bother you~"
After sending Mormont away, Art ordered Ron to open the two wooden boxes, and saw the white silver coins inside shining silver~
Mormont's behavior was beyond Art's expectation. He originally planned to send his two sons back just like this, but he didn't expect that this wealthy guy would just take 200,000 pfennigs to "ransom" them. In his eyes, Art is like a kidnapper. But Art doesn’t care what others think of him. As long as there are real gold coins flowing into his pocket, he doesn’t care so much~
…
At night, Art arranged a fairly sumptuous family dinner and invited his old friend David to come as a guest. The two discussed the various difficulties currently faced by the princes, and also exchanged views on their respective campaigns in recent months.
Looking at Art, who was now successful and famous, David kept praising him, his eyes showing immense envy. Even though he had led his army to fight on the front line, he was still far behind Art's Wells Army.
Looking at the princely states, except for the Longxia Army, there is no other army that can match the Wells Army. A battle for succession completely transformed Art and made the Wells Legion famous.
The two of them drank until late at night, and David was sent back by the guards.
At himself was also drunk, wrapped in a wool blanket and fell asleep, enjoying the rare peace since the war~