Chapter 662 The situation is tense
".Now, I want to introduce a special guest to you~"
Mario walked up to Art and bowed slightly. "The man standing next to me is Lord Ater, Earl of the southern border of the Burgundy Kingdom.
Hitchhich is also the current commander of the Welsh Legion and the commander-in-chief of the Burgundy Palace Guards!"
At the beginning He strode to the bottom of the steps, glanced at the people present with easy-going eyes, and then said: "I am honored to be invited by Mr. Mario, the head of the Lavati Commercial Guild." Art turned back to look at Mario politely.
“Perhaps in Lombardy, many people will say that I am the culprit of this damn war. It was I who led the Burundians to trample your homeland, plunder your wealth, and confiscate your land. However, I swear in front of you in the name of the Earl of Southern Burgundy that this war is not. It was instigated by me, but by the Duke who was in the Lombardy court. In order to defend the territory under my name, I had to resist——" Facing this group of Lombardy businessmen, Art told the whole story of his army's southern expedition to Lombardy.
..This is why I led my army south to conquer Lombardy. In addition to taking back the territory that originally belonged to my Wells family and restoring the family's honor, it was also a retaliation for the treachery of the Lombard court! "
After Art said this, everyone in the hall began to discuss.
Although Arte's division is famous, it is an indisputable fact that he occupied a large area of the Po River plain in Lombardy. Even though he is also a Lombard, it is still difficult to gain the trust of these merchants and nobles.
As businessmen, their only purpose is to expand their business territory and pursue profits. In essence, the merchants of these other city-states were no different from the Lavati. The reason why they lack trust in the Earl of the North is that they do not see the possibility of huge benefits that can be obtained by cooperating with the Burgundy people.
After a while, a businessman said: "Your Majesty, please give us a reason to trust you."
"Reason?" Art spread his hands, "I would like to ask this gentleman, did you see any damage to Lavati's house when you entered the city? Did you see any ill will from the citizens of Lavati towards me? Did you see my soldiers looting everywhere in the city?"
Art asked three questions in succession.
"This~" The businessman was speechless.
“In the battle with Count von Bilen’s Patriot Army, our army surrendered hundreds of prisoners, most of whom have joined the Welsh Legion under my name and sworn allegiance to me. But you heard from the Lombard court that I am a murderous demon, and the soldiers of the Welsh Legion are monsters that eat flesh and drink blood. Today, I want to tell you You guys, this is all the slander and slander against me by the Lombard court! "
"On the contrary, you are now in a worrying situation. The wealth accumulated over generations has been taken care of by the Duke of Lombardy. I am afraid that there is always a risk of destruction. Otherwise, you would not be so eager to come to Lavati."
After Art finished speaking, he put his hands behind his back, turned around, and walked straight to his seat, calm and composed.
On the other hand, the merchants from various autonomous city-states in the hall were hurt by Art's words, and they all sighed.
Seeing the tension between the two sides, Mario quickly stood up and explained: "My lords, I would like to guarantee with my reputation that everything Count Art said is true. If Count Art had not led his troops to defeat the palace army, I am afraid that Lavati would have been crushed by the iron hoofs of the palace gang today. Nowadays, the autonomous city-states are facing an unprecedented crisis. We are gathered here to find a solution. "Mario glanced at everyone's faces, then changed the topic and said with a smile: "But before solving the problem, I think filling our stomachs is the most important thing we are facing right now~"
"Hahaha..."
The tense atmosphere was resolved with laughter.
「Come here!」
Mario's voice reached the ears of the butler who was already standing by.
"Tell the chef to bring the food and drinks immediately!"
"Yes!"
The butler quickly withdrew.
Watching the butler leave, Art said to the guild leader: "Sir Mario, I specially brought Welsh beer produced in my territory when I went south this time. If you don't mind, can you entertain all the guests with the wine I prepared tonight?"
Mario thought for a moment and immediately replied: "No problem, Earl Art, I will do as you say."
Mario nodded with satisfaction, and then gave Ron a few instructions.
After hearing this, Ron walked towards the door with two guards, "Be careful and bring the prepared drinks and food to all the adults!"
In the backyard kitchen, the guild steward shouted and gave orders to the handymen and servants inside.
After a while, a group of people walked towards the hall carrying the food that had been prepared. Seeing that everything was going on in an orderly manner, the steward finally breathed a sigh of relief and then sat down on the seat he had specially arranged for himself.
Hand out his hand to pinch a handful of soybeans on the plate on the small wooden table beside him, and slowly stuff it into his mouth. As crisp sounds resounded in the mouth, the aroma of soybeans filled the mouth. The steward closed his eyes and looked content. His fat fingers tapped on the table rhythmically, and his raised toes kept shaking up and down, "Karl is in charge!"
Suddenly, the steward's leisure was interrupted by a voice coming from outside the door. He stood up unsteadily and looked out the door, only to find that the person coming was the deputy steward he hated.
“What’s the matter?” the steward replied impatiently.
"Mr. Mario asked you to withdraw the drinks immediately. He has other plans."
"Withdraw?"
Carl yelled, scaring the deputy steward and taking a few steps back.
Karl was exhausted from the past few days of preparations. Now the banquet was about to begin, and the drinks and food had almost been delivered to the hall.
At this time, he temporarily withdrew the drink, making Karl's face turn red with anger.
But due to his low status, he had to swallow his anger and immediately took a few servants to walk towards the hall. When Karl walked to the door of the hall, he happened to encounter Ron and a few servants unloading the oak barrels on the carriage outside the door.
out of curiosity, Karl planned to step forward to check.
"Who?"
Ron shouted, almost scaring Carl to the ground.
"Well, I am the steward of the guild, may I ask what this is~" Karl asked hesitantly.
"It turns out it's the steward," Ron said politely, "This is the Welsh beer that my master brought specially from the North, and he plans to use it to entertain all the guests."
“Welsh beer?” Carl had never heard of this kind of beer, but the aroma wafting from it convinced him that it was definitely good stuff.
As the last barrel of beer was moved into the hall, Carl was not able to take a sip as he wished.
cedous , Karl has understood why the guild leader ordered people to replace the previously ordered wine.
"Master Carl, these drinks~"
A servant ran over holding an oak barrel,
Karl slapped the barrel, and the dull sound aroused his alcohol addiction. Since you can’t drink delicious beer from the North, this wine is also a good choice.
Carl leaned over and whispered to the servant: "Send this barrel of wine to the hut next to the kitchen, and send the rest to the wine cellar for storage~"
h"Yes, Master Carl, I understand." The servant nodded and replied with a smile, and then ran towards the backyard with the barrel in his arms.
Most of the busboys and servants in the guild knew that this business manager liked to hide alone in the small room next to the kitchen and drink some wine in his free time. In the eyes of the servants, this has long been an open secret. Occasionally, the steward would ask the kitchen to make a stew of meat, fruits and vegetables, with a few plates of soybeans, and call a few of his followers who usually followed him, and the few of them would drink in the hut until dawn.
But this time, the steward will eventually pay the price of blood for his greed——
".—Come here, pour wine for your lords!"
After all the meals were served, Mario shouted to the servants.
“Yes, my lord!”
After a while, the glass wine glasses placed on the table were filled with the golden liquid in the oak barrel.
The moment the beer was poured into the glass, a refreshing malt aroma instantly filled the entire hall. Looking at the thick and mellow golden liquid in the cup, these well-informed merchants and nobles from Lombardy were all amazed by the rare high quality of the wine in front of them.
Finally, someone couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Mario, where does this beer come from?"
Mario held the glass cup and kept shaking it back and forth in front of his eyes. He sighed softly and said, "Let's ask the Count about this question~"
At this time, everyone’s eyes were focused on Art, and they were all looking forward to learning from his mouth the origin of the beer in the cup.
Matt raised his head and looked at the expectant eyes of everyone, but did not answer the question directly. Instead, he raised his glass and said loudly: "How about this, let's have a drink together first. Your Excellencies are all well-known figures in Lombardy, and I would like to ask you to comment on this wine."
"Since the Count has said so, let's have a drink together!" Mario picked up the wine glass.
When a glass of beer enters the throat, the unique malty aroma and rich taste of the liquid in the cup are unforgettable.
「Good wine!」
“Good wine!”
“It’s indeed a good wine, I’ve never had such a delicious beer!” Mario also echoed.
"Lord Count, can you tell us now the origin and name of this wine." Mario asked.
At nodded with a smile, "This is a beer produced in my territory, called Welsh Beer!"
"Welsh Beer?" Everyone in the hall was talking about it.
"Yes, Welsh beer."
".What a good wine! Good wine!"
In the small room next to the back kitchen of Lavati Commercial Guild, the guild steward took a sip of the bright red wine in the glass cup and sighed repeatedly.
Looking at the steward taking another sip, the three servants sitting nearby also quickly picked up the wooden wine glasses and took two swigs. Although they did not have any appreciation for the wine in front of them, several people could not help but lick the remaining juice at the corners of their mouths, then grabbed the stew on the plate and started chewing it.
"Look at your moral character~" The steward glanced at a few people, grabbed a few soybeans and stuffed them into his mouth. When he just put his hand to his mouth, he suddenly felt a warmth and coolness in his nose, and a thin stream slowly flowed out of his nose."·
Tick tock!
A drop of dark red liquid fell on the back of the hand.
The moment the steward lowered his head to look, another drop of liquid fell down. Then came the third drop and the fourth drop——
When the steward realized that something was wrong, there was a sudden pain in the corner of his eye, and then a warm liquid began to flow out of the corner of his eye, and his vision began to blur~
Master steward! Lord Steward!