prince of europe in quintiles

But another thing that is even more ridiculous is that it is precisely because the knight lords are really uneducated, it is difficult for them to have a specific account of how much supplies, food and money they collect.In many cases, peasants can cheat foolish knight lords by stealing and playing tricks.

Therefore, the rule of the knights over the peasants is rough and difficult to form effective control.Invisibly, it allows the farmers to escape, to have more children, and to live on stutteringly.

If the bishops rule, although they are more popular, they can collect taxes and squeeze means, and they don't panic with the knight lords. Compared with the stupid knight lords, sometimes the bishop's rule may have more characteristics of feudal oppression.

The reason for mentioning this is mainly because a series of anti-tax movements are erupting within the Principality of Saxony.

Bernard Billon has managed the Principality of Saxony like an iron bucket for decades, but the knights and bishops form an alliance with each other to form an iron bucket, and the people don't think so.The public will only find that the feudal and evil forces have united into an Iron Curtain, squeezing the breathing space they won by being "forced to steal, rape and play tricks" more and more narrowly.

The Principality of Saxony is not a particularly rich place, and it mainly relies on the trade between the North Sea to supplement the shortage.Those densely forested places are actually quite barren, and it is difficult to open up wasteland.They don't have Huo Teng's heavy plowing and ox farming technology, so they can only hit a wall in the face of the locked social development space.

Therefore, the anti-tax struggle that breaks out every year, this year is no exception.

In other words, the whole country is like this every year.If it were in an ancient eastern country, this kind of chaotic society is hardly worthy of being called governance, but in Europe, this situation is normal.

But the difference in the Principality of Saxony is that the duke has no money!

Bernard Billon, since he sent troops to invade the Friesland (Netherlands) area last year, he assembled three thousand soldiers and horses to conquer Göttingen in autumn and winter, and was defeated; River, repairing and building forward fortresses and parishes, oppressing local Slavic tribes; preparing for the southern expedition in summer to threaten the Imperial Parliament of the Duchy of Thuringia, and stationed troops in Goslar, Wernigerode, and Halberstadt on the southern border In autumn, a complete army should be prepared to wipe out Huo Teng's power in one fell swoop by escorting Gaudius to Göttingen.

After careful calculation, since last year, the Duchy of Saxony, which is not rich at all, has been using troops every quarter, all the time.The 40-45 day war period of medieval knights every year has actually clearly stated that they can fight at most one war a year, and they have to go back to production at other times.

With a swipe of Bernard's pen, the wealth and food accumulated by the Principality of Saxony were quickly consumed in the war.

When he was about to levy exorbitant taxes again and prepare an army, not only the owner farmers were not happy, the tenant farmers were desperate, and the slaves were exhausted, even the earls and viscounts everywhere wrote letters, hoping that Bernard would not be so crazy.

If the fight continues, everyone will really die from exhaustion.

With the private connection and acquiescence of nobles and lords from all over the country, the anti-tax struggle quickly evolved from quarrels and beatings to hundreds of mobs fighting hand-to-hand with the dog officials and housekeepers sent by the Duke.In the name of name, mob gangs resisting taxation are increasing and growing day by day, and their goals have begun to have a new direction.

They wanted Bernard Billon to get off the stage quickly and put someone clean and honest on it.

It was easy to solve this matter, but old Bernard was a stubborn man, he didn't allow himself to pick up his daughter Gottisdiou from the monastery for nothing, but gave it to Horten.

Isn't that a precious inheritance right for nothing?

So amid such persistence, Bernard and the nobles under him broke out a fierce scolding battle.

According to legend, in the capital Lüneburg, Val, Count of Paderborn, refuted Bernard's stupid behavior face to face, but was caught by the enraged Duke and thrown into prison.

And a long time ago, to be exact, a few months ago, the countess of Paderborn, Ms. Selina, went to Göttingen to persuade Conosha to accept the surrender.

What's clear is that Lady Selena and Conosha's relationship is okay.

So, after Val was arrested and imprisoned, Mrs. Selina panicked and ran to Huo Teng to beg Huo Teng to help him.

"Ma'am, are you crazy? If I spoke for Earl Val, I'm afraid he might die unexpectedly in prison tomorrow. Duke Bernard regards me as a thorn in my side."

Facing Mrs. Selena, who is in her mid-mature and still charming, Huo Teng seems to be lacking in interest.

He had just been crushed by Jones last night, but in the middle of the night, Connorsa sent a maid to ask him to have a private meeting with him at the stables, which is a daily cheating affair, causing Huo Teng to spend the whole night in hard work.

The earl also really realized why men gradually have other hobbies.

Because going to bed is always easy to turn from fun to burden.

Mrs. Selina didn't know yet, the young man in front of her was smacking her mouth, recalling the bedtime affair last night, she just panicked: "Then what should we do? Val is the pillar of our family, we can't fall down !"

There is love between husband and wife, but only a little bit.

The most important thing is family interests.Mrs. Selina was afraid that once Val fell, Count Paderborn would fall into the hands of others.

Huo Teng suddenly remembered something.

The country of Paderborn is located in the northwest of Göttingen.It is also one of the more famous cities in Germany in this era.It is as famous as famous cities like Minden and Bremen.

Do you want to try to instigate Paderborn to betray Bernard?

Huo Teng was secretly planning in his heart.

After much deliberation, Huo Teng decided to take a risk.

So he showed a devilish smile at the ignorant Ms. Selena: "Why don't I give it a try. I'll write a book right now, and please pass it on to Duke Bernard of Lüneburg."

Spreading out the paper, Huo Teng began to write in Latin.

But in fact, he didn't write any content about Earl Val at all, but instead described his own efforts to welcome the marriage of Godius Diu.

Only continued at the end, writing: "I heard that in order to collect the dowry for my son-in-law, you even imprisoned the earl to obtain sufficient wealth. My son-in-law is deeply disturbed. I ask my father-in-law not to do this again."

Chapter 140 Three Regrets For Life

Although Paderborn, the country of Paderborn, was a well-known commercial and trade city in the north at this time, it was as famous as Minden and Bremen, which were also located on the Weser River, but its capital was not located in Paderborn , because it is a city, and in order to ensure their own safety, the nobles are obviously more willing to live in their own castles. The city's defense capabilities are weak, and you can grab them back if you lose them.The key castle is gone, but it means the loss of dominion.

And the famous German city located at the mouth of the Elbe River, famous for its hamburgers, but at this time it is only a small town of thousands of people, Lüneburg on the southeast side of Hamburg, is also a small scale, but very solid and reliable, firmly controlled The key node of the Eastphalian Plain.

Eastphalia?Sound similar to Westphalia?

That's because the Principality of Saxony, as the former Kingdom of Saxony, has a large area.It is roughly square, plus two parts of the protrusion on the north side of the Elbe River.

The prominent part on the north side of the Elbe River is the famous Holstein area in later generations.At this time it was named Nordarbingia in the Celtic language.The specific meaning is not very clear, it may refer to 'Hebei', that is, the north of the Elbe River.Possibly also the name of a Saxon tribe.

In the square area, it is evenly cut vertically to form three parts.These three strip-shaped areas, from west to east, are located on the banks of the three rivers flowing from south to north, the Ems River, the Weser River and the Elbe River. Based on sailing.

Geographically, from west to east, they are Westphalia, Anglia, and Eastphalia.

Westphalia means 'Western Plain', and Eastphalia means 'Eastern Plain'.Very unpretentious Germanic naming.

Anglia, located in the middle, was named after the Anglia tribe that was conquered and slaughtered by Charlemagne.This Angli sounds similar to Anglo, but the Anglo tribe mainly comes from the Holstein area, not the same family.This family existed as early as in the records of the Roman historian Tacitus. It participated in the battle of the Teutonic Forest and massacred the Romans.Later, in 17 AD, the famous Roan general Germanicus commanded the Battle of Angrivari and conquered here.

These four regions are not synonymous with fixed earls or dukes, but they are names that have historical memory and are agreed upon by everyone.

For example, the Earl of Paderborn, even if he and Huo Teng belonged to the same tribe in blood, they were both from the tribe in the south of Anglia.Only 1000 years later, the locals have long since denied this bloodline.

Huo Teng had previously preached to the Knights of the Lord that he would establish the Principality of Westphalia. In fact, he could also try to establish the Principality of Anglia, but the probability of directly dividing the Principality of Saxony into two halves is really small. The leftover area of ​​the side develops freely.

In the Anglia region, there are three big cities: Bremen, Minden, and Paderborn, but there are not many in the Westphalia region. The more famous ones are Osnabrück, Mingen Stern and Dortmund.At this time, people have not yet discovered the industrial strength of the Ruhr area where Dortmund is located, and do not know how coal should be used.

After thinking about it, I understand that after dismembering the Principality of Saxony, it will be easier for Huo Teng to obtain where there is more potential.

For the rich resources in the Ruhr area, Horten would not choose Anglia either.

Steel is an important military foundation for establishing hegemony.Most of the iron ore in Europe is of average quality, either silicate iron ore near the Alps that is not suitable for ironmaking, or poor iron ore with low iron content and high cost.

Anyway, good quality and high iron content cannot have both here.

Coincidentally, although there is no steel in the Ruhr area, low iron content is produced in the hilly areas of central Germany.For example, the Earl of Kassel on the southwest side of Horten has a lot of low-content iron ore in their hills, and iron ore is also produced in the territory of Viscount Goslar on the northeast side.

After Huo Teng inquired about this series of resources, he knew everything in his chest.It is even possible to win the Ruhr area without digging coal. The fertile plains over there are worth developing.It is feasible to consume forest charcoal resources first and then develop coal mines.

The topic returns to Lüneburg, the capital of the Principality of Saxony.

Old Bernard did not rule the country. His actual control territory was located between the Elbe River and the Weser River, that is, the plain east of Bremen and south of Hamburg, sandwiched between the two rivers.On ancient maps, this place is clearly marked as 'The Land of the Billund Family'.

He doesn't even directly control the vicinity of Magdeburg in the south of Eastphalia, that is, the part bordering the Duchy of Thuringia. It can be seen that the old guy's control over other places is not particularly strong. .

But a tiger is a tiger. Old Bernard has been powerful for decades. Many juniors have grown up listening to his stories. When he stomps his feet, the whole country trembles three times.

Earl Val's imprisonment clearly proved that old Bernard had no intention of stopping the war at all, and he still wanted to kill Huo Teng, who got in the way.

As a result, the situation that seemed to have just calmed down became tense again.

Slightly north of Lüneburg, there is a small town called Badovik.

When the old Bernard was in a heavy mood, he would come here to feed the giant war beast he raised in captivity.

Throwing a ball of wild boar into the cage, Bernard Sr. noticed that his son Bernard Jr. was coming.

"Father, do we really want to fight again?" Bernard Jr. looked reluctant.After the embarrassing defeat in Göttingen, Bernard Jr. changed his boastful style, and began to avoid war and didn't want to talk about weapons at all, becoming an extreme dovish person.

Old Bernard knew that his son was scared of beating him, and he didn't want to lose face again.

But if such a person inherits the Principality of Saxony, he will sooner or later be coerced by a shrewd person like Huo Teng.

So the old Bernard reprimanded his son categorically: "Fight! You have lost such a big face, and you don't want to save it. You are so stupid! This time, you will be the coach, and I will watch after you." With you, you are only allowed to win, not to lose!"

"Or me?" Little Bernard couldn't believe it. He had already lost a battle, and he wanted to go out to embarrass himself?

Obstacles from the heart made Bernard Jr. not feel that this was making up for his mistakes, it was clearly his father's second humiliation to him.And since old Bernard clearly wants to command the army secretly, why should he be pushed forward?What is not shame and humiliation?

The father and son, whose brain circuits are completely different in thinking directions, have such a big disagreement at this moment that they don't understand each other's feelings at all.

Old Bernard gritted his teeth. He picked up the scabbard and threw it at his son.

This throw hit little Bernard on the head, causing the bad guy to bleed.

Little Bernard, who was completely afraid of war, was heartbroken by his father. He turned and ran, shouting, "I don't want to fight!"

The old father was heartbroken. If the eldest son hadn't died young and the younger son had entered the church, he would have wanted to change his heir a long time ago.

The angry old Bernard picked up the stick and chased after his son in a series of fierce pursuits. The screams of the little Bernard even surprised the war beasts in the giant beast garden, and learned the battle between father and son Way.It can be said that people look at animals, and animals look at people.

Compared with Huo Teng, who began to pay attention to collecting resources in the nearby area and making larger strategic plans, Little Bernard, who was being chased and noisy in the Giant Beast Garden at this time, seemed to be superior.

Old Bernard, who beat his son to relieve his anger, returned to the castle, and the first thing he did was to check the letter sent by Huo Teng.

When he found out that Huo Teng humorously teased himself that he imprisoned nobles and asked for money in order to marry his daughter, the old Bernard, whose blood pressure exploded for a while, made a painful decision for the rest of his life.

"Go, go and teach old Val some lessons! How dare you cheat on the enemy, it's against him!"

Chapter 140 Four Eye Gouging Punishment

Aristocrats have their own morality and decency.

However, it is false that nobles do not kill nobles.Not killing, but the fear of the weak who are concerned about social influence.

For a big man like Bernard who stomped his feet and made earthquakes in Germany, it was almost unimpeded for him to clean up an old subordinate earl.Not many nobles, not many priests, would rebel against Bernard for Count Val of Paderborn.Besides, he didn't intend to kill directly.

If Val is a famous priest, whether to kill him or not, and how to humiliate him, will cause huge social disturbances, at least to ensure his dignity.

The problem is, he's not a priest.

He's just a veteran.

As mentioned earlier, the feudalization process of each country in Europe is different in thousands of ways, and it cannot be answered 100% by a simple sentence of bureaucratic hereditary and feudalization.

In Germany, that is, in East Frankia, the five grand duchies known as the "five rhizomes" gradually settled in feudalism in the form of overall tribalization and formed their own feudal system.In other words, the group of people who have been firmly united through blood and cultural ties such as tribes and regions actually have not only the residue of feudalization, but also the legacy of tribalism.Although the clan has disappeared, the blood ties of the family and the compatriots in the village have been preserved for a long time, and continue to be mentioned in the Frankish customary law.Another example is that the Frankish nobles did not live in cities, which can also be explained by the fact that the early Frankish Empire practiced a dual-track system, the Romans practiced Roman law in the city, and the Franks practiced Salic law in the countryside.So according to custom, the Frankish nobles do not go to the city.

Relics of antiquity like these abound.

Therefore, under such a continuation of the habit, Val, who was born as a veteran in the army, not only has attachment in the feudal sense to Bernard, but also attachment in military affiliation, which is similar to the power of the patriarch in the past tribal era.

Bernard can punish Val who belongs to him according to his own ideas.

The Duke's punisher walked through the dark dungeon, through the low tunnel densely covered with cockroaches and rats, and finally appeared in front of the prison where Earl Val was imprisoned.

"Is the general finally willing to send an envoy to listen to my explanation?...Wait, you are the group of executioners!" Val is an earl anyway, and he was not imprisoned in a small hole like a 'forget-me-not', but his cage The gap with the dog cage is not too big.

After Val saw the visitor, he couldn't help panicking.

They don't look like Germans, or they don't look like humans, with pointed ears and slender and tall bodies.

"Roman!"

Val recognized them.

But more precisely, they are the descendants of the Romans from the Italian region, that is, the descendants of the Hellenists.The original political structure in Western Europe was the Western Roman throne controlled by the Germans and the Pope controlled by the Greek survivors.

This dualistic dual-track system is based on the collapse of the western part of the empire and has to make haste.One side represents force, the other represents culture, and one side lives in the countryside while the other lives in the city.At the beginning, the Pope of Italy obeyed the control of the governor of Ravenna to maintain the stability of the empire in the west. It was not until the rise of Queen St. Irina and the emergence of Charlemagne that the weirdness of today was caused.

That is to say, with the gradual collapse and political decline of the Eastern Roman Empire, that is, the Byzantine Empire, the two originally diametrically opposite sides were forced to slowly merge together, forming what Western Europe looks like today.

And these Roman elves live everywhere in Italy, and they are very powerful in the church system.

Old Bernard hired these people for his own ulterior purpose.

Just like the assassin he was good at, the old Bernard hired the Romans in Italy to obtain their criminal techniques.Otto III's practice of cutting off the five sense organs of the enemy Pope John was influenced by the Roman culture in the court.

"Count Val, Duke Bernard has already told us that you will be sentenced to have your eyes gouged out."

The elves in Rome skillfully put an iron rod on Val's shoulders, preventing him from moving.

The terrified Val was surprised to find that what he thought was just gossip between old friends, actually led to Bernard's madness.

He's going to cut off Val's eyes!

Roman emperors were especially fond of gouging out the eyes of their opponents and shutting them into monasteries as a show of mercy (not killing people).Who would have thought that old Bernard also learned this trick?

An exquisite box was opened, and the person in charge of the punishment took out one of the shiny oval-shaped sharp objects, then opened Val's eyelids so that the container half-enclosed his eyeballs, and then exerted a relaxed and freehand force...

The tragic scene is unimaginable.