Chapter 638 Internal and external troubles
Finally, the palace prime minister could no longer hold his breath.
As the right-hand man of the Duke of Lombardy, this prestigious elder who was over fifty years old stood up.
The Duke of Lombardy raised his hand to stop the palace prime minister. There began to be murmurs in the hall.
"You don't have to say anything, I know everything." The Duke of Lombardy's deep voice was somewhat majestic.
Although the Prime Minister of the Palace had some doubts, he still took a step back and stood in his original position. In the past, the Duke of Lombardy would have been furious at this moment, cursing at the ministers and nobles in front of him. But today, his behavior was a little abnormal. He changed his past violent personality and became a little restrained.
Perhaps the defeat on the battlefield greatly stimulated him and he lost his former ambition. Or when he was defeated, he fled back to Milan and realized the true meaning of life. Or maybe he has already become disheartened when he sees this country that is now riddled with holes.
In short, the former arrogant Duke has changed.
Silence, another silence.
After a while, the Duke of Lombardy ordered everyone present to sit down one by one. He also ordered the servants to bring out the prepared wine and delicacies one by one. The originally serious and boring palace meeting turned into an unexpected banquet.
No one knows what kind of medicine the Duke of Lombardy sells in his gourd. The long wooden tables were filled with delicious food and wine, but no one enjoyed them.
The Duke of Lombardy slowly raised the glass to his mouth, glanced at the people present, and drank it all in one gulp. Then he grabbed the venison stewed with apples on the copper plate and took two big bites. The meat juice that overflowed instantly dripped from the corner of his mouth to the table.
The delicious stewed venison greatly satisfied the taste buds of the Duke of Lombardy. As the red wine in the glass slid down his esophagus and into his stomach, a warm current spread throughout his body.
Seeing that everyone in the hall was still indifferent, the Duke of Lombardy still ignored him. He lowered his head and drank and ate meat by himself, feasting to his heart's content.
Looking at the puzzling behavior of his lord the Duke, combined with all the unfavorable news coming back from the North and the Duke of Lombardy's appearance of begging for help when he entered the city. The nobles started pointing again and whispering for a while. The Duke of Lombardy finally put down the wine glass in his hand, picked up the silk scarf on the table and wiped the corners of his mouth slowly. After taking a rest, he slowly stood up and walked down the steps.
After looking at the listless nobles, the Duke of Lombardy finally spoke. "Look at your appearance, the winter in Milan has not yet arrived, and there is no light in your eyes. Are you frightened by the enemies in the north?"
The gray-bearded Duke has regained his former dignity, and his roar resounded throughout the hall.
"Yes, the cavalry I led did not stop the Burgundians from advancing~"
As soon as these words came out, the hall exploded instantly.
"Oh God, please bless Lombardy——"
"That's enough! Shut your stinky mouth!" Looking at the group of guys who usually fight for power in front of him, the Duke of Lombardy once again returned to his nature, pointing at the noses of several guys and scolding: "Look The way you are now, when you hear the Burgundians, you can't even stand still? If you hadn't picked it up one by one, why would we have been so defeated on the battlefield?"
A surge of anger instantly surged into the Duke of Lombardy's forehead, and he almost fainted.
「Your Majesty the Duke!」
Sensing that something was wrong, the Prime Minister of the Palace ran forward and helped the Duke of Lombardy, who almost fell.
"Quickly call the palace physician!"
"No need!" The Duke of Lombardy stopped the guard, "I'm fine, help me to sit down."
After a short rest, the Duke of Lombardy dissolved the royal council and left the palace prime minister and the bachelor of the palace alone. The important ministers called to the study room... "You have all seen that the current situation is not good for us. If it continues like this, I am afraid that the Burgundians will not wait, and we will be in chaos first."
The Duke of Lombardy leaned on the recliner, worried, and kept rubbing his aching temples.
"This~" The palace military deputy hesitated to speak.
"By the way, during the time I left Milan, I heard that there were many riots among the people under the jurisdiction of the lords in various places. Is this possible?" Since the Duke of Lombardy already knew it, he no longer concealed it and immediately told the whole story.
"Reporting to Your Majesty the Duke, this is indeed the case. As the war in the North and the Western Front intensified, not only did a large number of young men and women need to serve on the front line, but military supplies were also in short supply. When the war first started, the palace was still able to maintain supply and demand, but As time went on, the amount of military supplies became larger and larger, and the treasury was unable to bear it. So, in the name of the Palace Council, I asked the lords from various places to provide the military supplies needed for the front line. As a result, the tax burden on the territories increased, and they organized to oppose the lords' rule."
"Except for the enemy-controlled north, riots against the lords basically broke out in the southern counties. Especially in remote areas, the riots were more serious. Two lords have been killed by the people who rushed into the castle. One of them was dragged to the street by the mob and stoned to death, and the other was burned alive·
The Duke of Lombardy opened his eyes wide. He did not expect that his rear would be in such chaos when facing a powerful enemy. On his way back to Milan, countless homeless farmers died of starvation, and the town markets were no longer as prosperous as before. But what the palace prime minister said now solved his doubts.
"Continue"
"Yes, Your Majesty the Duke. Paying taxes to the lords is forced by the current situation, but there are always many greedy guys who want to take this opportunity to drain the last drop of blood from the people. After the riots, I secretly sent people to investigate. The fundamental reason why those people opposed paying taxes is that the lords everywhere Taking the palace decree, they intensified their efforts to plunder the people's wealth, without caring about the lives of the people under their rule. For example, the lords took the food allocated by the palace to the disaster victims and took it for themselves. Then they mixed the rotten and moldy grain in the granary with sand and sold it to the people in the market at a high price.
Boom!
The Duke of Lombardy slapped the table, "These bastards, I led the people to fight bloody battles on the front line, but they are doing such despicable things behind the scenes!
"Your Majesty, please calm down. After discovering this situation, I have sent people to imprison the leading lords to wait for your punishment." The Prime Minister of the Palace hurriedly explained, lest the Duke of Lombardy would blame him.
The Duke of Lombardy was breathing heavily, his face flushed with anger.
After the Duke of Lombardy's anger subsided, the Minister of Commerce who was responsible for managing the trade of the Principality of Lombardy brought him unfortunate news.
"I would like to inform you, Your Majesty, that since the war started, the domestic trade volume has been shrinking repeatedly. So far, the trade volume has been less than 60% of the pre-war volume. According to our estimates, if the trade route to the north has been blocked by the enemy, by the end of next month, our trade volume will continue to decline, to less than 50% of the original volume."
"In addition, due to the impact of the war, many places have canceled trade with us and switched to shipping goods to the north through Provence, which has further aggravated the shortage of domestic materials. There are more and more refugees at present, and the food in stock is only enough to last for half a year at most. You also know that our grain-producing areas are mainly in the north-"
The Minister of Commerce paused for a moment and subconsciously glanced at the Duke of Lombardy. Seeing him nodding slightly to indicate that he should continue speaking, the frightened minister spoke again.
"Due to the sudden onset of the war, the Burgundians quickly plundered all the grain in the fields after occupying the grain-producing areas. This not only caused a shortage of grain in the rear, but also raised grain prices in the short term. We are currently relying on sea transportation to purchase grain from other countries to ensure domestic food security."
"In addition, after our careful evaluation, we decided to reduce the tax on goods shipped into the port to attract merchants from all over the world to trade, so as to ensure sufficient domestic supplies. After this special period, the palace military deputy reported to the Duke of Lombardy one by one after summarizing military information from various places in the past few days.
"Battle report on the Western Front, Provence is still increasing its troops and advancing continuously within a few days, trying to Joined forces with the army of the Count of Buri in the north. As of yesterday, four of our counties and three military forts had fallen again, with 1,200 soldiers killed and injured. The Minister of Military Affairs sent a secret message, requesting the palace to send an additional 1,000 troops to the west to prevent further expansion of Provence. "
Upon hearing the news, the Duke of Lombardy closed his eyes slightly, and the veins in his arms clenched on the armrests bulged.
“In addition, the Burgundians stationed in Lavati last night and blocked all intersections leading to the north and west. Sentries were constantly patrolling along the way. Despite the report, Burgundy has sent 3,000 troops, less than a day’s journey from Sauronburg.”
“According to the deployment, we are already at Sauronbourg. There are two thousand troops stationed and enough food and supplies for more than half a year. In addition, the walls of Sauron Castle have never been breached by the enemy in previous battles, so there is no danger for the time being. "
"Is there any movement among the mountain people on the northeastern border recently?" The Duke of Lombardy suddenly asked after taking a sip of wine.
"The Northeastern Frontier Army reported that the group of mountain people never had direct contact with us. They often went down the mountain at night to plunder and then retreated into the mountains. The local defenders were stepping up the construction of border defense facilities to prevent the mountain people from continuing to plunder the villages and manor. At that time, some troops from the Northeast Frontier will be sent back to support to relieve our army's current urgent needs."
It was already noon after listening to the reports of several important palace ministers. After a few people left, the Duke of Lombardy came to the tallest tower in Milan alone.
Looking towards the north, houses of various sizes are densely packed in the city, and noises can be heard from time to time in the city.
Looking at the endless sky, the Duke of Lombardy suddenly remembered the words his father left before his death. "If Lombardy cannot unify the peninsula, it will have to be unified by someone else."
This is the last words left to him by his father, and it is also the cause that he has been practicing throughout his life. But thinking about the current internal and external troubles and the turbulent situation, the Duke of Lombardy felt a little lonely in his heart.