Chapter 653 Conspiracy
.——What? Make peace! As a military lieutenant of the palace, were your courage frightened by those bastards?
In the study of Duke Witote of Lombardy, when Francesco, the palace military deputy, proposed to negotiate peace with Burgundy and Provence as a suggestion to save Lombardy, as expected, the Duke of Lombardy began to curse after hearing this.
bang!
Witott smashed the glass full of wine on the table to the ground, and the broken glass shards flew everywhere, frightening the military deputy minister and the palace prime minister who were standing aside and took a few steps back.
Looking at the angry expression of the Duke of Lombardy, the Prime Minister of the Palace lowered his eyebrows and did not dare to speak.
The Duke of Lombardy clenched his fists on the table and stared at the military information document sent back from the Western Region in front of him. He swallowed for a while.
Nowadays, Lombardy's national strength has been damaged, its military resources are insufficient, its fiscal revenue has dropped sharply, and the palace military minister has lost the western barrier of Alciburg.
This series of disasters came one after another, making it unbearable for the Duke, whose temples had already turned gray.
The Duke of Lombardy himself also understood that with the Western Territory lost, Provence would march straight in soon, and would reach the city of Milan in less than half a month. By then, the entire Lombardy will be divided up by Burgundy and Provence, and the family business built by his ancestors will be lost in his own hands. He cannot bear the consequences.
"Get out! Get out of here!
The Duke of Lombardy yelled hysterically and kicked out the two important ministers.
The Prime Minister of the Palace, who wanted to step forward to offer some words of comfort, knew in his heart that now was not the time. So he led the military deputy ministers and retreated.
When the heavy wooden door of the study room was closed, the Duke of Lombardy slowly slumped on the ground along the chair behind him, his hair disheveled,
His eyes were full of anger. "Sir Francesco," after arriving outside the door, the palace prime minister asked eagerly: "Do you think the Duke will do this? Do you accept the proposal of peace talks? "
The deputy military minister looked at the uneasy look of the palace prime minister and replied confidently: "Don't worry, Prime Minister, the Duke will summon you and me again before long. We have no way out, the opponent is pressing too hard, and we have no choice but to negotiate for peace."
The Prime Minister of the Palace listened quietly to the analysis of the Deputy Military Minister and nodded slightly.
"You are right, we can only negotiate peace with the North and Provence, and we must do so as soon as possible. Once Provence marches eastward and the Burgundians capture Sauronburg, it will be too late~"
The words of the palace prime minister were full of uneasiness.
"But now is not a good time, the Duke is angry. But we need to be ready to negotiate peace with the northerners at any time, we should-"
Hey~
The door to the study room where the Duke of Lombardy was suddenly opened.
"You two, come in!" the voice of the Duke of Lombardy came from inside.
The palace prime minister and the military deputy were suddenly interrupted by the Duke of Lombardy who appeared at the door. There was no time to think about it. After the two looked at each other, they hurriedly walked towards the room. A moment ago, the Duke of Lombardy, who was slumped on the ground, suddenly thought of a person. Maybe this person could be a breakthrough for Lombardy.
"Your Majesty, Duke, do you have any other instructions?"
The Prime Minister of the Palace who walked into the study looked at the Duke of Lombardy who had already sat back in his seat, nodded slightly and bowed and asked.
The Duke of Lombardy raised his hand and motioned for the two of them to sit aside.
"You are right, we are indeed unable to resist the two-sided attack of the Burgundians and Provence. But it is too early to talk about peace at the moment.——.
The Duke of Lombardy showed his gray beard on his chin, and seemed to have other plans.
At this time, the palace prime minister sitting aside slowly stood up and asked puzzledly: "What does the Duke mean——"
h "You seem to have forgotten someone~"
h "Who?" The military deputy beside him could not sit still.
"The ruler of Burgundy - Flanders Otto!" After saying this, the Duke of Lombardy picked up the refilled wine glass and took a large sip of wine.
"Flanders? Isn't he a Duke~" The palace prime minister hesitated to speak.
"That's right! I sent someone to shoot him with a poisonous crossbow. No matter what, he will definitely not survive!" The Duke of Lombardy stood up excitedly, quite satisfied with his assassination plan.
“Is it because of Flanders that the Burgundians have been stationed outside Sauronburg but are not in a hurry to attack the city?” the military deputy interjected.
"This reason cannot be ruled out. According to the report from the spies, the news that Flanders was poisoned and died has not leaked out at present. I speculate that they deliberately concealed this news to stabilize the morale of the army~"
"If we reveal the news of Flanders's death, the morale of the Burgundian soldiers will be greatly disturbed. At that time, if we gather heavy troops, we may be able to defeat the Burgundians in one fell swoop—"
"You are right, Francesco!" the Duke of Lombardy said excitedly, pointing at the military deputy. "I think that if I had sent you to the west to resist the Provence people, the outcome might have been completely different now."
At this time, the palace prime minister seized the opportunity, took a step forward, walked up to the Duke of Lombardy and said: "What the Duke said is absolutely right. In terms of military capabilities, Lord Francesco is not inferior to our military minister who just lost Alsiburg in the west. We all know that Alsiburg has almost as strong a wall as Solonburg. If the enemy wants to start from It is almost impossible to attack Fort Arsi from the outside. But the Minister of War lost the last barrier to the west less than a week after retreating to Fort Arsi, putting the entire Lombardy in danger. This is simply unbelievable!"
The Prime Minister of the Palace accused the Minister of Military Affairs of his incompetence and loyalty to Lombardy in an almost accusatory tone.
When Francesco on the side saw this, he did not add fuel to the fire, but unexpectedly opened his mouth to defend the military minister. "The current situation is unclear, and the responsibility for the loss of Fort Arci may not lie with the Minister of War. I believe that when he returns to the palace, he will give the Duke an explanation."
Seeing that the time was ripe, the Prime Minister of the Palace on the side decided to take this opportunity to deliver a fatal blow to the Minister of Military Affairs, and immediately added: "I heard that the city gate was opened from the inside, and the leading baron who was on duty at that time was the nephew of the Minister of Military Affairs..."
After speaking, the Prime Minister subconsciously glanced at the Duke of Lombardy. As expected, Witott was completely irritated~
"Ah this bastard! He actually let his good-for-nothing nephew guard such an important place!" The Duke of Lombardy was so angry that he walked back and forth in the study, "I knew it was not that simple."
"Come here!" the Duke of Lombardy shouted loudly.
"Your Majesty the Duke!" The palace guard standing outside the door opened the door and came in.
"Immediately send someone to capture that bastard, Minister of War Alessandro, and put him in a dungeon until the war is over!"
"Yes, Your Majesty the Duke!" The guard turned around in response to the order.
“Wait a minute!” The palace prime minister stopped the guard, turned to the already furious Duke of Lombardy and said: “Your Majesty, Duke, as the military minister of the palace, the power of Alessandro’s family cannot be underestimated. Many leading viscounts and barons in the army are closely related to him. If there is no evidence, Capturing him back and imprisoning him in the dungeon was bound to cause turmoil. "
The Duke of Lombardy panted heavily and asked, "In your opinion, how should this matter be handled?"
The Prime Minister of the Palace had already had a countermeasure in mind.
"At present, I think Lord Alessandro is no longer suitable as the commander-in-chief of the Western Territory to resist the Provence people. We urgently need to send a person with more battlefield experience to the Western Territory to replace Lord Alessandro, relieve him of military power, and recall him. Only in this way,
Only can we reverse the current decline.
The Palace Prime Minister shared his views one by one.
After thinking for a moment, the Duke of Lombardy said: "You are right. The Alessandro family has deep roots and a wide range of connections. It is not advisable to act rashly." The Duke of Lombardy looked at the Prime Minister of the Palace and asked: "Then who do you think is the most suitable person to send to the West?"
"Francesco!" The Duke of Lombardy walked up to the military deputy of the court.
"Your Majesty the Duke!" The military deputy bowed his head and faced the Duke of Lombardy.
"You take the appointment document from the palace and go to the Western Territory tomorrow in the name of Acting Military Minister to take over Alessandro's position as commander of the Western Territory and recall him to the palace. At present, Alsiburg has been lost, and you must rely on other fortresses and towns to stop it. Stop the Provence attack and buy time for Sauronburg. Once Sauronburg is relieved, I will send a large army to support the western region and drive those bastards out of Lombardy in one fell swoop!" The Duke of Lombardy said wolfishly.
"Yes, Your Majesty the Duke!" Francesco, the military deputy, replied firmly.
"Okay, you go down and prepare first, I have to discuss with the palace minister how to deal with the Burgundians——"
"Yes, Your Majesty the Duke!"
The military deputy slowly withdrew. After the guard closed the door, the Duke of Lombardy told the Prime Minister of the Palace every word of his conspiracy...
"· Secretly sent people to spread rumors?"
After hearing the Duke of Lombardy's "ingenious plan", the Prime Minister of the Palace was shocked.
Divide the various forces in the Buriandi court and let them fight each other, and then the crisis in the north will naturally be resolved."
"You are the wiser, Duke!" The Prime Minister of the Palace praised the Duke of Lombardy repeatedly.
"Is there any news from Lavati?" The Duke of Lombardy asked. "Replying to your lord, there is no news yet~"
"Currently, the earl of the North has become a serious problem for us. We must take this opportunity to kill him to satisfy the hatred in my heart!"
The Duke of Lombardy slammed his fist on the table, his eyes filled with anger·