prince of europe in quintiles

The so-called ceremonial knights are actually equivalent to the inner palace knights of the palace minister, or helpers.Their fiefs may be poor, for example, there are only a dozen households in a village, and they cannot afford the dignity of a knight, so they go to help the palace minister.Everyone prospers, everyone loses.

And when the guard of honor knights rushed from all directions, Huo Teng also easily recognized that these people were all relatives of the Bowendeng family, and one of them was even the distant relative of the Bowendeng village. Because the whole village moved to avoid the war, there was no Income had no choice but to ask Huo Teng to be a knight of honor.

Although Huo Teng disliked them for being illiterate, since it doesn't cost a lot of money, let's accept it.

By the way, all the official positions Huo Teng has unlocked so far have no fixed salary.All his income is settled by the misappropriation of privileges within his own authority.In other words, in theory, as long as the privilege is in hand, don't be hacked by the enemy, and you can make whatever you want.Huo Teng can also reduce and increase the salary of the army, but the change in morale is more difficult to recover.

Huo Teng specified that the guard of honor knights and stewards would not be allowed to play at will.

At present, Huo Teng has unlocked a total of two general affairs officers, namely a merchant and a housekeeper.These are repeatable recruits.Huo Teng may consider sending a steward to Millhouse Castle to perform management duties.But he must first respect the power and dignity of Geoffrey Knight.

In the morning, when Huo Teng was thinking, he found snowflakes falling in the dark sky.

This is the first snow this year.

"What are you thinking about?"

"No... I was just thinking, according to the Christian year, this year should be 998?" Huo Teng was actually a little confused, because according to history, Otto III should be in power this year, the last (spiritual) Roman.But the Roman emperor of Germany has fast forwarded to Conrad II.This is a young descendant of the dynasty who has few cards in his hand.

"Yes, the Last Judgment will come soon. Maybe we will all be condemned to hell." Connorsa was wrapped in a quilt, leaning on the bed and reading a Bible booklet.

Huo Teng twisted the corners of his mouth and said with a smile: "What are you afraid of? According to the millennium theory, Christ will reign with the saved saints in the kingdom of heaven for 1000 years and judge the lost. We still have 1000 years to wait. to be brought to court."

The so-called millennium theory is what Christianity put forward after the resurrection of Christ.

They believe that 1000 years after the resurrection of Christ, this earthly world will eventually be destroyed, and God will judge all living and dead people. The redeemed believers will go to heaven, and the sinners will roll into hell.Then Christ and the righteous reign in heaven for 1000 years, constantly judging the lost.In the final stage, Christ and the righteous will be resurrected in Jerusalem to start a new chapter.

There is nothing wrong with this theory, anyway, it is an empty-to-empty theological bible, and it can be interpreted in any way.

But the problem is that Christianity just lasted for a long time.As we all know, the AD is the year when Christ was born, and in two years, Christ will be one thousand years old.Counting from his resurrection, the millennium is only 35 years away.

But is it the turn of the millennium?

At least in this dark and chaotic era, there is no hope for people.

Therefore, this theory belongs to people thousands of years ago and digs holes for believers after thousands of years.

Although some people put forward the post-millennial theory, that is, the light of Christianity must first shine on the world, and then Christ will be resurrected to start the process of the millennium.But this statement was criticized as early as 451 at the Ephesus Council.

Do not underestimate this doomsday myth.

The closer it was to the legendary doomsday, the more tense people's spirits became.Especially at the grassroots level of the Christian faith, those priests and nuns often go crazy under the huge pressure of reality and ideals, let loose, and even set up cults, bringing the local social order to the verge of collapse.They believe that the millennium will not come, or that when the millennium arrives, they themselves will be cast into hell and judged, so it is better to enjoy themselves while this is happening.

The image of the villain priest often depicted in various European-style literature, games and comics was created by the Europeans themselves.

Connorsa is a devout believer, and when her adultery with Huo Teng is over, she reads the Bible as soon as possible to wash away her violation of the Islamic law and comfort herself.

As for whether it is appropriate to sin first and then repent, anyway, they have not changed it until modern times.

Huo Teng suddenly felt that this millennium theory could be worked on.

If the millennium is approaching, but the entire Christian world is still sunk in darkness, and the majority of Christian believers have been disappointed, even when they are desperate, they will stand up and cry out, saying that they are the righteous people chosen by Christ, in order to create a happy millennium If you decide to unify Europe in [-], will there be many people who support you?

This is a fantastic idea, but for some reason, Huo Teng still thinks it is quite plausible.

The premise is that Huo Teng has this ability himself.In fact, it is already very lucky not to be hanged and beaten by the Principality of Saxony.

Seeing that Huo Teng was still in a daze, Kang Nuosha frowned a little.

"Don't be in a daze anymore, okay? Baron Kennan and his dozens of henchmen are still ruling the mountains in our southwest, echoing Saxony. You see, it's snowing. This winter, we can only sit and watch Kennan The Baron has betrayed us."

It wasn't that Conosha blamed Huo Teng, it was just that the countess felt physically sick when she thought of Kenan's old face.

"Don't worry... have you forgotten that we fought in Göttingen for almost a whole year? Believe me, they are short of food and will come to me to surrender. All the nobles in the territory know that I bought a large number of Grain storage." Huo Teng shrugged.

Baron Kennan, nothing to worry about.

What is worrying is the Big Mac in the north.

"My elder brother, Adler von Nosenberg, just wrote to me a few days ago to tell me that Grand Duke Theodoric is about to compromise with Duke Bernard on the issue of the three northeast counties. At the price of returning the three counties In exchange for the Duke of Saxony’s support in depriving a number of churches and monasteries of positions.” Connorsa sighed and told the truth.

Huo Teng was taken aback for a moment, and then he was amused.

This Grand Duke Theodoric seems to have made love with the church.He is a rare pious person, and he should support the clean church movement, oppose corrupt religious dignitaries and buy and sell clergy.

But as the Grand Duke, it was embarrassing to abandon his loyalists so easily.

"Maybe, this is a good opportunity..."

……

The winter of 998 ended here.

This year, Göttingen has experienced three consecutive quarters of tragic wars, coupled with cold and heavy snow. Although next year will be a bumper harvest, many people will not be able to survive this year.

The fact is also true, the food that Huo Teng saved earlier has become the key to buying people's hearts in winter.

The dozens of knights that Baron Kenan was struggling with quickly left him in the turmoil of lack of clothing and food.Huo Teng will inevitably have to run between Göttingenburg and Free City to maintain a stable triangular relationship between his wife and her best friend.

Afterwards, he began to cultivate his own territory.

He first divided the territory next to Freedom City, regardless of wasteland or woodland, into blocks, and then redistributed the territory of the people who had gathered in Freedom City for refuge directly along the banks of the river.Although some knights objected to this, Huo Teng blocked their mouths with food.After such planning, 11 villages were formed on both sides of the Yachi River, each village has more than 1000 households, and they can rely on fences to protect themselves.These more than 10 people, as well as the [-] knights above them, were directly accepted by Huo Teng as retainers and became direct subordinates.

In later generations, the county of Göttingen has 13 people in the capital alone, which proves that the potential here is by no means as simple as [-] to [-] people.

Just as Huo Teng was cleaning up his house, Baron Kenan finally collapsed.

He didn't have so much food, so he was caught by his subordinates and sent to Gottingenburg.

"Wait, you can't put me in a 'forget-me-not'!"

He screamed in the dungeon and was stuffed into a 'forget-me-not' smaller than a coffin.

The so-called forget-me-not is an extremely harsh punishment method, a dungeon the size of a coffin box, and only half of the head of the person who is stuffed into it is exposed outside.

Imagine that you are locked in a very small coffin, and you can only see the dark dungeon, and all the people running up and down are rats and bugs. The extremely cramped cage can drive you crazy.The pain of being unable to bend a limb will be unforgettable forever.

Horten then wanted to meet Baron Kenan.

But he was only held by Conossa for two days before he suffered a heart attack and died.

Chapter 83 Let us be independent!

There is no punishment more terrifying than 'forget-me-not'.

All kinds of instruments of torture that directly destroy the body, even beheading racks and wheel torture, are nothing but direct destruction of the body anyway.Even if it is hanging on the wheels, it is only a long-term pain or a short-term pain.

However, being imprisoned in a forget-me-not is an extremely terrifying mental oppression, until one is tortured by darkness and loneliness, and finally becomes a lunatic submerged in his own feces and vomit.

"This is forget-me-not?"

Under the guidance of the guards, Huo Teng came to the basement located on the semi-basement floor of the castle.In the basement behind the innermost room in the basement, there is a small opening that can only fit a person with shoulder width in and out.At first glance, I thought it was a sewer, but upon closer inspection, I found that the inside was very thin, only one foot high and low, and only one human was allowed to lie in it.

Huo Teng couldn't help trembling all over.

It is such a dungeon. After being locked in, the body cannot be bent, the hands cannot be scratched, and the feet cannot be flexed or stretched. Thinking about how many bugs and mice live in such a dark corner, I really don’t know how creepy it is.What's more, the most helpless thing is that in this empty and empty room, there is only one prisoner who complains every day and the earth is not working.It's like being locked in a small black room, not knowing the passage of time, and can only gradually go crazy in impotent rage and extreme panic.

Baron Kennan was only locked up for two days before experiencing the pain of a heart attack and going to hell to wait for the millennium.

No wonder it's called 'Forget Me Not'.

"Aren't you afraid that I will lock you in one day?" At this time, the countess appeared behind Huo Teng.

Huo Teng smiled, and pulled the countess out of the basement indifferently: "Don't forget me doesn't make me forget your kindness."

Having said that, Huo Teng was no longer afraid of being suppressed by the countess' reputation.Because now, Huo Teng is the only general in the entire northern country of the empire who fought against the Saxon army head-on and successfully defeated the strong with the weak.With such a legendary reputation, Huo Teng could even escape from Göttingen directly and serve as a high-ranking official in the emperor's court.

This is not without precedent.Because at this time, the German region was still in a period of transition from a relatively backward tribal principality to an empire.In the course of 100 years before and after, a large number of nobles came directly from the knights and priests at the grassroots level, relying on the emperor's favor and reuse to ascend to the sky in one step.

Just like old Bernard, this guy was just an ordinary knight before.After being a loyal servant to Emperor Otto for decades, the sparrow turned into a turtledove, and then the dove took over the magpie's nest and turned into a phoenix.

It was also during this turbulent 100 years that the main tone of the Holy Roman Empire was established in the future.That is to say, from the practical pursuit of 'Romanium', that is, the jurisprudence inherited from the Roman Empire claimed by the Holy See and Charlemagne, to the consideration of 'Frankenium', that is, to face up to its own actual situation in order to maintain Frank (here mainly Refers to the stable unity of the German) region.

Perhaps it was because she knew that there was no way to suppress Huo Teng, the countess' tone became more and more relaxed, and when discussing things with Huo Teng, she looked more like a partner.

"You always fool me. But after experiencing such a rebellion just now, how do you spend Christmas?" The countess also had her own worries.

Christmas, in fact, evolved from the winter solstice.In most parts of the world, this day is an important holiday.

On this day, the nobles will gather in the church, pray and watch the night until dawn.No one dares to launch attacks and wars at this time, and those who do will be crucified on the pillar of shame.In the era when religion was bigger than the sky, engaging in such a thing was tantamount to honor suicide.

But as the monarch of many knights, how does the countess look back on her achievements this year?

It seems that they have been betrayed, attacked, and surrounded, and the complaints of the knights are not unreasonable now.

The countess can play tricks, but the grand strategy is obviously missing lessons.

"What's the point? We can make a big one." Huo Teng kept smiling, as if he was quite confident about the Christmas party.

Connorsa was very strange, she couldn't ask why, and when talking with Jones' best friend, Jones didn't know what was going on.

Taking advantage of Christmas Eve, Huo Teng mobilized the leaders to cut down trees on both sides of the Yachi River, drain the swamps, and connect eleven villages with each other. There was even enough time to mobilize farmers to level the roads and complete the road for these villages. closed loop.The swamp was drained into the Yachi River, and the trees were cut down to build wooden row houses, and two small wooden bridges were built to expand the convenience of the road.

In the Middle Ages, it was not impossible to start big projects.

In fact, many farmers know that they have to work hard for the lord, and it is free work with their own dry food.This kind of work is unreasonable, but it is the formation of this tradition.The lords are also willing to occupy the living space of the peasants and take advantage of it.From an Eastern point of view, this is corvée.

Generally, lords arrest peasants for corvée, repairing castles and building houses. After all, Huo Teng is doing business, so the peasants' reaction is not very great.

But in the eyes of the knights who came to the Christmas party from every direction, it looked very bold.

They saw eleven villages distributed along the Free City of Göttingen, and farmers were building houses in winter, and they also noticed newly built wooden bridges and newly repaired roads.These projects reflect Huo Teng's excellent organizational skills.It is also an invisible deterrent.Let the Cavaliers know who has more say locally.

And at Christmas, the deterrence is even stronger.

Young knights from all over the world surrounded Huo Teng.A total of seventy or eighty knights with fiefs and no fiefs supported Huo Teng, more than the Countess' subordinates.

According to the rules, everyone first eats the Holy Communion, then keeps vigil until the bell rings at 12 midnight, and then prays in the church until dawn.

However, when 12 o'clock struck midnight, Huo Teng led the knights to stand on the altar in a hurry.

Huo Teng stood on the main seat, and he seemed to attract the attention of all the knights naturally.

The Countess is clearly by the side, but it seems to be a supporting role.

"I have a proposal. I know it's crazy, unreasonable, and even desperate." Huo Teng's words frightened the monks to turn over and hide in the shadows.

The knights even stood up one after another, discussing and arguing loudly, regardless of the solemn occasion and status.

The nobles had already guessed what Huo Teng was thinking. At this critical moment, what else could Huo Teng do?

"We are not the legal territory of the Principality of Upper Lorraine, but we also left the Principality of Saxony decades ago. I belong to the Diocese of Mainz in Franconia. We seem to have something to rely on, but there is nowhere You can go." Huo Teng raised his hands high, "Since Grand Duke Dioderic has given up the feudal contract signed between us and God's acquiescence, and he will not be rescued, and he will not be rescued. Then I should give up This contract, so..."

"Let's be independent!"

Chapter 84 Establishing the Duchy of Westphalia

Independence, a vocabulary destined to be handed over to blood and war.

Those who don't know may mistakenly think that Huo Teng just won a battle of defending the city, and then began to delusional to ride on the head of the emperor of the Roman Empire to shit.Although this is a fake Roman emperor, and a young man.

But the nobles below know that this refers to getting rid of the original feudal order, jumping out of the leftovers of the Duchy of Upper Lorraine, and directly linking with the Roman emperor.That is, to dissolve the feudal relationship with Dioderic, the Grand Duke of Upper Lorraine, to prevent middlemen from making the difference, and to establish a new feudal order directly with the emperor.

Although the ideal is beautiful and the dream is particularly lofty, is it possible to realize it?

Don't say it, it's really possible.

Ordinary people would probably think that Europe at this time established a pyramid structure with distinct tops and bottoms, just like the feudal system of Duke Bozinan in China.But in fact, the Franks in Western Europe simply created such a complete feudal system.Their system is actually very simple, that is, the kingdom, the country under the kingdom, and the villages under the country, so it is a feudal system.

Take the not-so-authentic German region as an example. The five grand duchies of East Francia formed the 'Five Old Duchies', also known as the 'Five Root Duchies'.It's not riding on the earl's head, but half a body faster than the earl.

At the same time, "Fan Hou" gradually appeared, which was also translated as Marquis.However, the vassal and the duke are slightly different, but they are completely equal in status.They refer specifically to the new border lords who established fiefdoms in the border areas.

The earl, together with the counties it owns, is the basic unit of the fiefdom system.Some earls are loyal to the duke; some earls are powerful, and they are an earl country, and they directly practice one-on-one with the emperor, and occasionally they can beat the emperor and run away; The earl surrendered and swore allegiance.

In France, known as the model sample of the pyramid of feudal order, at this time, all the great nobles in the country were counts, and only a few of them claimed to be dukes.If you don't carefully check the loyalty relationship between them, you may think that the whole country is a county.

Moreover, the orderly title of Gonghoubo is the result of Chinese translation.In fact, it was originally a series of military titles such as 'governor', 'vassal', and 'commander'.It's even more outrageous when it comes to lower-level nobles.They parasitized various low-level official positions such as 'forest guards' and 'arbitrators', creatively created many minor noble titles, and then established a feudal ecology by themselves.

In fact, these are all the testimonies of the remnants of the Roman Empire in these areas after the gradual collapse of the western part of the Roman Empire and their gradual integration into the local area.In the early days, when the Germanic kingdom was not fully Christianized, the local government directly practiced one country, two systems, and the Romans belonged to the Romans, and the Germans belonged to the Germans.It was not until the 6th and 7th centuries that the remaining cities and churches of the Roman Empire gradually degenerated and became barbarian, becoming what they are today.Of course, this does not mean that they regressed, but adapted to the production level at that time, and then developed to a higher level.

Such a chaotic system, in fact, in the early days, there was no strict system at all.

Especially after the church joins.As the maintainer of the European ruling order, the church has always been a group that forcibly pushes a powerful king and prevents those local forces from messing around to bring the whole country to collapse.This is completely different from people's traditional impression, because most of the black materials about the church in later generations were fabricated, modified, and distorted in the Renaissance to overthrow the authority and overthrow the old dignitaries.

During this period, the church, as a group that publicly supported the emperor, was greatly appreciated by the emperor, who was also a devout believer.The emperor believed that these educated and knowledgeable people were more suitable for management than those big bosses, and they were more loyal to him.After all, if a member of the church dies, they will be re-elected, and buying and selling renewal rights is a golden business.

Therefore, the emperor often shamelessly deprived a certain territory and directly changed it into a diocesan to rule.The bishopric here is called the 'prince's bishopric', also known as the 'real power bishopric'.Unlike ordinary dioceses, which are only responsible for religious and cultural matters, such a princely diocese, also known as a bishop's country, is ruled by bishops in an all-round way.He even had to provide the emperor with troops, food and taxes.

In this way, the whole country has formed a chaotic scene where the emperor is respected, the principality, the uncle state, the vassal state, the bishop state, and some strange regional autonomy.In the future, they will also be mixed with the free cities.

In order to fight against the five old duchies, the emperor chose to split them up, thus forming new duchies such as upper and lower Lorraine and Carinthia.In order to fight against the feudal lords, he chose to split the feudal lords into two or three parts.In order to fight against Uncle Bo, he also made frequent substitutions.This, on the contrary, exacerbated the division and fragmentation of the country.