While Art and his team were rushing to Paris by boat, Stanley, the captain of the task force directly under the Earl of Wales's bodyguard, who had received the urgent military order, had already led ten team members to arrive in Paris.
After Stanley and his party arrived in the suburbs of Paris, they fostered all the horses in a farm on the outskirts of the city. Then he ordered the task force to be divided into three, disguised as travelers with different identities, and infiltrated the city of Paris with his short soldiers hidden.
Paris is a large, open city, and it is too easy for the members of the task force to enter the city.
After entering the city, the three groups acted separately. One group searched for hiding places and safe houses in the city, and the other group collected materials and equipment (vehicles, clothing, disguised identities) needed for the operation. Stanley personally led two subordinates who were good at painting through the streets and alleys of Paris to draw a map of Paris. These were basically the task force's customary actions after sneaking into every city.
The mission was urgent. Art only told Stanley in the military order to sneak into the city of Paris and keep an eye on the Paris headquarters of the Holy Order and various treasuries near Paris, and then wait for him to go to Paris in person to command the operation.
On the second day of sneaking into the city of Paris, Stanley divided the ten team members into five groups in pairs. One or two of them pretended to be beggars and sat near the Paris Temple (headquarters of the Holy Order) and the Paris Holy Order's treasury for surveillance. The third group dressed up as two hawkers selling groceries along the street and were responsible for delivering the news. , four groups were waiting at the port dock in the south of the city to pick up Art and his party who were rushing to Paris. The last group stayed with Stanley at the secret stronghold in Paris, serving as a reserve team to support everywhere at any time...
A large single-sailed Kirk ship sailed on the wide channel of the Seine River. A wolf's head heraldic flag hung on the top of the main mast. Guards with short spears stood on the bow and stern of the ship. There were several rows of cloth sheds in the middle of the deck. Under the cloth sheds, about twenty soldiers sat or stood, chatting in low voices about the customs outside the ship. The neighing of war horses could be heard from time to time in the cabin below the deck.
Shipwrights and sailors walked between the deck and the cargo ship from time to time, operating the ship to sail to the prosperous French capital of Paris.
Now that Art is an earl, he certainly has the qualifications and strength to rent an entire river boat. However, due to the limited load of the Kirk boat that sails the river, in addition to Art and the thirty or so people accompanying him, it can only carry ten more horses. Therefore, most of the horses in the Art Guard were left on a farm near the port of embarkation.
In the stern building of the ship, Art and Robert, who was accompanying him, were drinking wine while chatting in low voices.
“…When the Holy Order was at its peak, it had more than 20,000 members and more than 9,000 manors and real estate. Even the royal courts of the mainland countries had to borrow money from the Holy Order’s treasury to support themselves. With such a huge holy organization, the French king really dared to attack him?” Although Art had predicted the outcome of the Holy Order to the archbishop and earl advisor many times along the way, Robert still had some doubts.
Att turned to look at the sky outside the window of the ship building, "The Holy Order thrives because of its strength, and it will also be destroyed because of its strength."
Robert sighed, "If the Holy Order still ends up like this, we~"
Matt turned his head and looked at Robert with firm eyes, "I know what you are worried about, but we will not pose a threat to the man on the iron throne yet, and he will not attack us. When we can threaten him, we will not have to be afraid."
Robert has also clearly seen the situation in the Burgundian kingdom. At the moment, it seems that Flanders not only has to rely on Att, who has a strong army, to stabilize the situation for him, but also relies on Att to expand his territory for him, so Att and the province of Wales are not worried for the time being.
"So when you come to Paris this time, how do you plan to grab a share of the pie under the sharp sword of the French King? The French Legion in Paris is not easy to deal with."
Although Art is not sure of victory, he has already hatched a plan in his heart. "There is always a risk of failure in things like conspiracy, so I am not completely sure, but this is an opportunity for the province of Wales to make a leap, and I cannot let it slip away."
September 25, 1307, Christian Era, the sky is clear and clear.
A large Kirk river ship sailing from the "mountainous areas" in the southeast of the Kingdom of France arrived at the port south of Paris.
The sailing ship had just docked, and two men who looked like sailors boarded the ship.
After a while, Atwood Wells, the count of the Burgundy province affiliated with the Kingdom of France and the military deputy of the palace, led Robert, the bishop of the Burgundy province, escorting a newly rented four-wheel carriage towards the Royal Palace of Paris, escorted by eleven elite cavalry.
Paris is still the smelly Paris it was four years ago, but Art is no longer the baron from a remote mountainous area.
· In the capital of Paris, where princes and princes come and go, and counts travel everywhere, a little Arter is really not a role here.
However, the Burgundy region, which has been living in remote mountains and remote areas in recent years, has been too noisy. When the ceremonial officer of the Paris royal court learned that the important ministers of the vassal country had come to Paris for an audience, they immediately sent an adjutant and a group of officials to greet him at the city gate.
Obviously the officials in Paris, the capital of a great power, are used to seeing dignitaries, so when Art arrived at the city gate, the ceremonial officials who greeted him did not show much enthusiasm.
But when Ron handed the small bag of ringing coins into the hands of the ceremonial adjutant, all the reverence and smiles immediately climbed onto his cheeks.
The low-level officials immediately began to drive away the untouchables crowding on both sides of the road to clear the way for these generous earls.
When nobles of count or above from the vassal country arrive in Paris for an audience, the palace will arrange a special hotel to provide food and accommodation, so the group of people is led in directly by the ceremonial adjutant. The ceremonial adjutant who received the favor personally ordered the hotel steward to arrange food and accommodation for the distinguished guest and his entourage, and then volunteered to submit an audience petition to the palace on Art's behalf.
乘船数日，饶是河道航行，亚特一行也颠簸疲惫，在旅馆简单吃了一顿膳食后便倒头酣睡，接下来的一段时间肯定繁忙，亚特必须养精蓄锐......
一夜无话。
At noon the next day, the palace sent someone to the hotel to summon Art to see him.
Matt immediately asked Ron to load most of the spices, porcelain and other valuable goods on the carriage into four iron boxes, and then led Robert into the palace with the usher in the ceremony.
Att was only a vassal count, so it was impossible for the King of France to receive him in person. Therefore, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of France and the Archbishop of Paris summoned Art and Robert on behalf of the King of France.
At the beginning of the year, the Burgundy Kingdom was established. Art stayed behind to maintain stability and did not follow Flanders to Paris to participate in the founding and enfeoffment ceremony. Therefore, it was the first time he entered the Paris Palace.
Hate's status is really not high, and the national strength of the Burgundy Kingdom is really not strong, so the Prime Minister of the French Court only met the somewhat famous young earl politely and gave a few symbolic compliments.
Matt didn't expect to become a sworn friend with the French Prime Minister in just a few words. He donated four iron boxes filled with valuable southern goods to the French court in court. These southern goods were only worth 15,000 pfennigs at the Continental Trading Company in Tynets County, but in Paris, the market price of these tributes increased at least four or five times, turning into a small hundred thousand pfennigs.
For the Kingdom of France, one hundred thousand pfennigs is not a big sum, but it is really touching to think that the earl of your highness comes from a remote country.
Hence, the Prime Minister of the Palace decided to immediately give back to the young earl on behalf of the King of France.
At rejected the prime minister's horses and gold coins, he asked the royal court to grant permission for a small merchant alliance called the Continental Merchant to enter the city of Paris to carry out trade.
The goods of the Continental Trading House were sold to the northern countries, including the Kingdom of France, but it did not obtain direct sales privileges. In other words, the southern goods of the Continental Trading House were basically sent to places such as the Marquis of Burgundy or the southern border of the Principality of Burgundy, and then resold to other merchants, who bought them to various places in the north.
The Prime Minister immediately convened with the Finance Minister and granted the little-known small business alliance a three-year trade privilege.
Art thanked the French Prime Minister, took Robert out of the palace, then returned to the hotel to tidy up a little, and then hurriedly took the gold coins to the headquarters of the Holy Order in the Paris Temple.