Chapter 652 Infighting
"Quick! Call the military deputy to see me immediately!"
The Duke of Lombardy, who fell to the ground, held the military information tightly in his hands and said to the palace prime minister in a weak voice.
"Your Majesty, Duke, I will send someone to take you back to your room to rest." The Prime Minister of the Palace tried to help Duke Witote up.
"Go quickly!" Duke Witott shouted, throwing the Prime Minister away and making him take a few steps back.
"Yes, yes, Lord Duke, I'll go right away! I'll go right away!" The palace prime minister shook his body and ran slowly downstairs, leaving the Duke of Lombardy lying alone on the ground·
Looking at the disappearing back of the palace prime minister, the Duke of Lombardy stood up slowly, stood up unsteadily, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and walked towards the study room with one hand on the stone wall. "Prime Minister, your lord, the Duke is so eager to see me, could it be that the Burgundians in the north have started to take action?" The tone of the palace military deputy was a little nervous.
“No!” the palace prime minister replied without turning his head, still walking hastily.
"Could it be~" The palace military deputy seemed to suddenly understand something.
"Yes, the Western Territory has been lost. Fort Arsi has broken through the city early yesterday morning and fell into the hands of the Provençal people." The palace prime minister spoke very quickly and looked back at the military deputy who was following behind him.
Hearing the news, the palace military deputy suddenly stopped and looked ahead blankly, as if he had been convinced by magic.
The Prime Minister of the Palace walked forward without noticing that the Deputy Military Minister did not follow him. After walking about ten steps, he realized that the heavy footsteps of the palace military deputy and the sound of the collision of mail chains disappeared from behind him.
"What are you doing!" Turning around, he saw the deputy military minister of the palace standing there stunned, and the prime minister of the palace yelled, his face full of anger.
But the palace military deputy still stood motionless,
"Damn it!" The palace prime minister walked quickly towards the military deputy angrily. "What are you doing? Francesco! The Duke ordered me to summon you to the palace urgently to discuss important matters!"
“Are you leading troops to stop the Provence people?” Francesco, the military deputy of the palace, sighed lightly and asked calmly.
"This—" the Prime Minister of the Lombardy Palace was speechless for a moment. "You'll know when you get there! Let's go."
Suddenly, the palace prime minister wanted to turn around and leave.
"Your Majesty Prime Minister!" The palace military deputy who was standing on the spot stopped the palace prime minister.
The Prime Minister of the Palace stopped again, turned around slowly, and looked at the guy in front of him with doubtful eyes, which had made him a little impatient.
The deputy military minister slowly approached the palace prime minister. After taking a look around to make sure there was no one there, he came close to the palace prime minister and said softly: "Prime Minister, you and I both know that once Fort Arsi is lost, we will no longer have a defensive barrier in the west. In a few days, the Provence will lead their troops eastward and approach Milan!" Listening quietly without interrupting,
"Currently, not only do we lack money, but it has also become difficult to recruit troops. As you have also seen, rebellions break out almost every day around Milan. If this continues, the enemy has not been driven out of Lombardy, and I am afraid that our own heads will have been chopped off by the mob. The Prime Minister thought for a moment, glanced at the military deputy, and did not answer in a hurry. He slowly put his hands in his wide sleeves,
Walked around the guy in front of me.
Having served as prime minister of the Lombardy court for many years, he was highly regarded by the Duke of Lombardy. Now Lombardy is caught in the double trap of the Burangdians and Provence. It has just lost a large area of fertile land on the Po River plain in the north, and now it has lost the most important military fortress in the west, Fort Arci.
The Burangdians in the north have sent their troops to Sauron Castle. Although they have not taken action yet, according to the character of the northern frontier count, it is only a matter of time before they conquer Sauron Castle. Although he holds a high position in the palace, the story that "the landless baron will retake the family castle, kill his enemies and restore his honor" has been circulated among the people of Lombardy for several months.
Although it was under the guise of restoring honor, those in the Lombard court knew that the ambition of the count of the Burgundy border was far beyond that.
Now he not only occupies large areas of land and cities in the Po River Plain, but also secretly sent people to lobby the lords and autonomous cities in southern Lombardy to jointly resist the tyrannical rule of the Duke of Lombardy and overthrow the Duke of Witote family in one fell swoop.
For the Lombard court, this is definitely a very dangerous guy. But with Lombardy's current national strength, it can no longer stop this brutal and greedy guy.
Now that the Western Territory is defeated, once Burgundy and Provence join forces, Lombardy will soon face the desperate situation of national destruction and city destruction. By then, not only will Lombardy be in danger, but his position as prime minister of the palace will also be in danger.
Thinking of this, the Prime Minister of the Lombard Palace couldn't help but shudder.
Now that the military ministers of the palace have defeated the Western Region, they are no longer able to stop the attack in Provence. If they were allowed to advance all the way to the east, it would be a matter of time before Milan broke through and surrendered. At this time, he seemed to have the answer in his heart.
But his idea needs the support of more important palace ministers, and the military deputy minister in front of him is undoubtedly the most important among these people. Although he didn't like the guy in front of him very much, he still tried his best to hide his displeasure.
Compared to the military minister who is fighting in the west, this deputy seems to be more in control.
After all, the military minister of the palace held a large number of troops, held a high position, and was deeply relied on by the Duke of Lombardy in the military. It should have been the military deputy minister in front of him who led the troops to the Western Territory this time, but the military minister tried his best to exaggerate the importance of the Western Territory in front of Duke Witott and insisted on leading the troops to defend the enemy in person.
Perhaps others do not know the intention of the military minister's move, but as the palace prime minister who also holds great power, he is a clear person. Prior to this, the Lombard army occupied half of Provence in just a few months and almost wiped it off the map. Therefore, the victory and defeat of Provence was heard by everyone in the entire southern continent. The military minister of the palace personally led the troops to resist at this juncture, making it clear that he did not take Provence seriously. Once Provence is driven out of the country, with this military achievement, the position of Prime Minister of the Palace will definitely fall into his hands.
Having worked together in the palace for many years, the secret struggle between the Prime Minister of the Camp and the Military Minister of the Palace is no longer a secret.
As a powerful and famous family in Lombardy, the Prime Minister of the Palace inherited the family title and dominated the country with his huge wealth and large tracts of land, which was deeply appreciated by the Duke of Lombardy. The family of the palace prime minister provides a large amount of loans to the palace every year. In return, the prime minister's family receives tax exemptions and preferential policies from the palace in many aspects, and occupies an absolute advantage in many cities in Lombardy.
The family of palace military ministers were the founding heroes of Lombardy and became the mainstay of Lombardy in the founding war. They helped the first duke unify Lombardy and made immortal contributions.
Two major families, one controls the economic lifeline of Lombardy, and the other becomes the sharp knife for the palace's external expansion, both are deeply relied on by the Duke of Lombardy.
For many years, the positions of palace prime minister and military minister have been tightly held by the heirs of the two major families. Although the two sides live in harmony on the surface, they are fighting to the death secretly. As the ruler of the Principality of Lombardy, Witote also turned a blind eye. As long as both parties did not go too far, he turned a blind eye.
The defeat of the Palace Minister of Military Affairs in the Western Territory just became the leverage of the Palace Prime Minister. As long as he uses it properly, he can give the Palace Military Minister a fatal blow, completely suppress his opponent, and make him never stand up. After a moment, the Palace Prime Minister walked up to the Military Deputy Minister, cleared his throat, and asked cautiously: "Tell me, what do you think we should do now?" After saying that, the Palace Prime Minister glanced around to make sure that no one could hear the conversation between the two.
Francesco, the military deputy of the palace, seemed to have seen through the thoughts of the prime minister. He pretended to be profound and said in a low voice: "I'm afraid the prime minister and I have the same idea~"
After saying this, Francesco raised his head and glanced at the prime minister, trying to find the answer on the face of the prime minister.
As a military deputy, Francesco is no ordinary person. Although he is over forty years old, he can still easily deal with four or five heavily armored infantry with his superb swordsmanship.
When he was young, he also went to the east with the Knights Templar. He was not injured in the battle against the pagans, and single-handedly sent more than thirty Saladin cavalry to hell in the Crusades to accept the judgment of God.
After returning to Lombardy, Francesco was promoted from knight to baron for his outstanding military exploits. Later, he accumulated countless military exploits in several foreign wars in Lombardy for more than ten years, and gradually grew from a small baron to a provincial count and military deputy with heavy troops and several cities.
But in the foreign war launched by Lombardy against Provence, the military deputy of the leading count played a major role in defeating Provence, but the final military glory was taken by the military minister who had been hiding in the rear. Due to the power of the military minister's family in the Lombardy court, Francesco had no choice but to swallow his anger and secretly look for opportunities to try to regain everything he had lost.
Now, the opportunity is before him. The Prime Minister of the Palace, who also holds a high position, has always been the sworn enemy of the Minister of Military Affairs. If he takes this opportunity to join forces with the Prime Minister of the Palace when the Minister of Military Affairs loses the western border barrier Alsiburg, then he may take over the position of Minister of Military Affairs at this critical moment and avenge his shame.
Given the current situation in Lombardy, Francesco did not intend to continue fighting with Burgundy and Provence. Now that there is no danger to defend on the western front, Burgundy has sent troops to the northern border of Sauron Castle. If it continues to fight, Lombardy will inevitably perish. In his opinion, the most feasible way now is to negotiate peace with the opponent, end the war as soon as possible, and avoid further division of Lombardy. Once Lombardy is rested and its national strength is restored, it is not impossible to regain the occupied lands and cities.
In this way, two other important palace ministers who were also enemies of the palace military minister came together.
“You mean, talk about peace.————”