Chapter 738 The peace talks broke down
In the early morning, in the most luxurious fort tavern in the southeast of the inner castle of Wellsburg, the Prime Minister of the Lombardy Palace had early ordered his own nephew, the pot-bellied baron who had narrowly escaped, to be called into his bedroom to arrange the subsequent peace talks.
Although the fact is that the peace talks are false, it is true that it takes 98 hours to prepare for war.
After experiencing the major changes yesterday, the palace prime minister just wanted to end the peace talks as soon as possible and return to Milan as soon as possible.
"Mr. Palace Minister, how do Baron El and the peasants and soldiers who died in the battle explain themselves to the palace?" The pot-bellied Baron narrowed his eyes and stared at the thoughtful Palace Minister and asked.
In his opinion, although these dead guys have nothing to do with him, as long as they are handled properly, they can still get some benefits from these dead people.
After a while, the Palace Prime Minister slowly raised his head, glanced at the Pot-bellied Baron, sneered, and said: "Don't think that I don't know what you are thinking about. The top priority is to try to stabilize this Northland Earl, otherwise once the Lombardy Principality is completely defeated, it will be useless to you and me!"
Seeing the Palace Prime Minister's harsh tone, the Pot-bellied Baron had no choice but to give up and not mention the matter again.
Although this man looks naive, his military strength is not as good as those of the leading barons on the battlefield. But under the influence of his family environment since he was a child, he is quite familiar with diplomacy and negotiation affairs.
A few years ago, the Principality of Lombardy defeated the Principality of Provence. When the two parties signed a series of contracts, this pot-bellied guy was fully involved in the matter.
This time the Prime Minister of the Lombardy Palace went north for peace talks, and naturally he thought of his own nephew. This will not only cultivate his abilities, but also further gain more say and stabilize the family's power.
The Prime Minister of the Lombard Palace took out the list of peace talks that he had prepared and checked the terms on it carefully, for fear of missing something.
This list of peace talks was determined by the ministers of the Lombard Palace Council after repeated discussions. Although there are many clauses listed in it,
but the core meaning is only one - you can pay money one by one, but there is no way to cede land.
Although the ambition of the Northland Earl is no longer a secret among the nobles of the Lombardy Palace, under the current situation, they can only exchange money for time, delay the opponent's attack, and buy time for the subsequent recruitment of soldiers by the Lombardy Palace.
This is a shame for the Principality of Lombardy, but there is nothing more important at the moment than preserving the power of the Lombard Court.
"Mr. Palace Minister, based on my understanding of the Earl of Northland, although the numbers on this parchment do look very attractive, he may not agree to our conditions."
The Prime Minister of the Palace slowly raised his head, looked at the pot-bellied Baron, and sighed: "I don't know this. But this is the only way we can think of to temporarily stabilize that greedy hungry wolf. These money and benefits are equivalent to one-tenth of the principality's annual tax revenue~" After speaking, the Prime Minister of the Palace's eyes suddenly darkened.
"Our task this time is to persuade this count to make a truce with us and gradually evacuate Lombardy."
"What if they refuse?" asked the Potbellied Baron.
The Prime Minister of the Palace sighed softly, leaned back on his seat, pinched his forehead, and shook his head helplessly.
"In my opinion, it is better to temporarily hand over the lands they have occupied to them in the form of escrow and allow them to collect commercial taxes in these places for ten years. When the palace has accumulated enough strength and when they relax, we can take back the land that originally belonged to us."
"How long will this take?" the palace prime minister suddenly asked.
"This~" The pot-bellied baron had no answer in his heart.
Judging from the current situation in Lombardy, unless tens of thousands of troops can be assembled, it will be difficult to drive the opponent out of its own territory.
Dong dong~
There was a knock on the door.
"Your Excellency, Earl Art has sent someone to ask you to go to the inner castle to discuss peace negotiations."
The pot-bellied baron suddenly stood up and said uneasily: "This Earl of Northland is really unpredictable in wanting to negotiate peace with us in such a hurry." The only person who can guess what he is thinking is probably God~"
At this time, in the Lord's Hall of the inner castle, in addition to the two high-ranking officers Odo and Angus, Art arranged for the peace talks to be held by the priest Robert and the Chinese army secretary Bob.
The people sat quietly in their seats without saying a word.
Because just a moment ago, Art informed the people present of the contents of a secret letter sent by the palace.
This morning, Art finally received a secret letter from Lord Galvin of Besançon.
At this time, several days have passed since the last contact between the two parties.
When Ron sent the secret message to Art's bedroom, Odo and Angus were also outside the door.
Several people read the secret letter together in the official room.
The content is as follows.
First, the body of King Flanders has arrived at Besancon successfully; secondly, the spies who colluded with the Lombard spies to try to murder Prince Flanders have been eliminated; thirdly, the news of the assassination of King Flanders in Lombardy has been confirmed by the court of Besancon in a document The form informed several surrounding principalities, announced the new heir, and obtained permission from Paris; fourth, the monarch's burial ceremony will be held in three days; fifth, the palace royal meeting unanimously agreed that the Duke of Lombardy must pay the price for his despicable behavior and pay blood for blood.
After the meeting with Count Balian, Art has been waiting for news from the court of Besançon. Now, the opportunity has finally come.
Originally, Art planned to ignore the peace envoys sent by Milan for a few days, but now there is no need for that. The sooner we send troops, the greater the chance of victory for the southern expedition.
So, Art sent someone early in the morning to invite the Prime Minister of the Lombard Palace to come to "negotiate peace"
But the nobleman who had been in charge of the Lombard Palace for many years would never have thought that the Earl of the North would not give him this opportunity at all.
The essence of peace talks is the compromise between the weak and the strong.
Now the situation is completely one-sided. The Lombard army is constantly being defeated and cannot escape, and it is no longer a threat. Coupled with the despicable behavior of the Duke of Lombardy, which caused Flanders to die in the south, Art naturally would not believe him.
He is also a cunning and despicable person, but compared to the Duke of Lombardy, Art is even worse. Naturally, the other party's little trick couldn't deceive him.
Not long after, the Prime Minister of the Lombard Palace arrived with the pot-bellied baron and several clerks and knights.
Stepping into the lord's hall of the inner castle, the special envoy of the Principality of Lombardy, the Prime Minister of the Palace, who was always good at observing what was happening, first glanced at At, who was sitting at the top. Then he glanced at some unfamiliar faces on the left side of the long oak table, and walked straight to the seat on Art's right. After the Prime Minister of the Lombardy Palace and the pot-bellied baron sat down, Art motioned to the servant to bring two glasses of wine with a charming aroma and put them in front of them. He asked: "Your Excellency, the Palace Minister, is well-informed. Can you tell where the wine in this glass comes from?"
The Duke of Lombardy glanced at Art, picked up the wine glass, brought the wall of the glass to the bottom of his nose, fanned it gently with his hand, took a gentle breath, and closed his eyes slightly.
"This wine comes from the southern island of Lombardy~" the Duke of Lombardy blurted out without any hesitation.
Hearing this answer, Art was not surprised. He continued to ask: "Don't you, the Prime Minister, want to know how this exquisite wine came into my hands?"
"Of course!"
Ater slowly stood up, left his seat, came behind the Palace Prime Minister, leaned over and said, "A businessman friend of mine bought this from the southern island. He told me that the wine produced there is the most delicious in the entire continent."
"Your friend is right, the island is very suitable for the growth of grapes. However, the production of this kind of wine is limited and it is difficult for ordinary people to get it.
It seems that Count Art's friend is not an ordinary person~"
At said with an open mind: "Your Majesty, the Minister of the Palace is too complimentary. I am just a rough man. I can get to where I am today only because of the help of nobles. The Prime Minister of the Lombard Palace smiled and said nothing.
However, what Art said next made his expression slowly solidify.
"Ever since I drank this wine, I have never forgotten the taste of it. I always want to go there one day to see for myself what kind of environment can produce such a beautiful wine~"
As soon as the words finished, the Duke of Lombardy and the pot-bellied Baron sitting beside him heard the implication of these words.
Angus and Odo, who were sitting opposite a few people without saying a word, suddenly raised the corners of their mouths, smiled at each other, and looked at the Prime Minister of the Lombard Palace with contempt.
After a while, the Prime Minister of the Lombardy Palace laughed loudly and said: "Since Count Arte loves the wine from the southern islands so much, I can just send someone to deliver it to you when I get back. Why bother you to go all the way in person?"
Att said nothing after hearing this. After walking around the long oak table, he returned to his seat.
· Art tapped the table as a habit. After a while, he straightened up and continued: "Okay, let's talk business! Since we are here to negotiate peace, I should see your sincerity."
· The palace prime minister then slowly took out the parchment and handed it to Art. "Please take a look at Count Art. This is a unanimous decision after discussion at the Royal Council of the Lombardy Palace."
Art opened the parchment, glanced at it quickly, and said with a smile: "It seems that in the eyes of the Duke of Lombardy, the large land on the Po River Plain is not very valuable. Just like this, I am willing to spend the same value of gold and silver to buy the remaining land in the southern part of Lombardy~"
“You!” The Prime Minister of the Lombardy Palace was suddenly so angry that his face turned livid and veins popped out on his hands. In his opinion, Art was clearly humiliating him.
Seeing the unkind expression on the face of the palace prime minister, Angus, who was sitting opposite him, suddenly leaned forward and stared directly at the powerful man. Odo on the side glared at the rest of the entourage around the Prime Minister, warning them not to act rashly.
The peace talks reached a deadlock from the beginning.
Hunter's next words directly announced the breakdown of the peace talks.