Rise of Rurik

Ghisra's eyes were swollen like frogs after crying bitterly.

The blue fox felt sorry for this girl, as for what else to do, it was probably to save her life.

As a royal princess, what one can get is not only glory and wealth, but also endless personal bondage, and even now it is a sin to live.

That night, Jisra, who was weeping silently, finally awakened to something.

In the early morning of the next day, the morning fog filled the whole of Mainz, and the soldiers' clothes were damp, especially the Ross soldiers on the Rhine River had to endure the dampness.

A girl sat quietly in the shed. After sitting quietly for a while, she slowly stood up, rubbed her swollen eyes, and walked outside barefoot. She was looking for a familiar figure, and soon found the blue fox who was busy scraping fish scales with a dagger in his hand.

The girl stood there blankly, frowning, her appearance was unexpected.

"Ghisla? You? Your eyes..." The blue fox immediately stuck the knife on the ground, and the fishy hands were not comfortable touching the girl.

"Kill me." She said quietly with a sullen face.

"What did you say?!"

"Kill me. Let me die. Let the world forget me completely. I am so redundant in this world, there is no place for me to shelter. You should have killed me when you were in Aachen, why did you keep me until now .” She growled in a low voice.

"Naughty girl." Blue Fox could understand that she had been strongly stimulated, but it wasn't enough to make a fuss.

He didn't want to pay attention, and suddenly Jisla squatted down, snatched the knife from Blue Fox's fish, and the blade went straight to his throat. She looked into the blue fox's eyes with grief and indignation, and whispered fiercely: "Stab me to death. You can do it! End it all."

She was serious. Being threatened by such an accident, the blue fox suddenly became furious.

"Stupid!" A slap knocked over the hand holding the knife, and the sharp blade cut the girl's palm. Then with another slap, Blue Fox knocked her to the ground.

"What's going on. Brother? Are you talking?" The little fat black fox walked to the scene of the incident through the cover of fog, only to see the curly-haired princess sitting on the side of the muddy ground and sobbing while clutching her bleeding hand. On the other hand, it was the blue fox covering his head with a helpless expression.

The blue fox didn't feel sorry for her, at this moment he understood why Askad would rather have a maid than such a girl. He slapped his face, pointing at Jisla and continued to yell: "Stupid! You jump into the Inn River if you want to die. Let me tell you, your father doesn't love you, your uncle doesn't love you, and you don't As for self-deprecation. I am the Earl of Gothenburg, and now I encourage the noble me to stab you to death. I took you in with good intentions, and this is how you treat me?"

Enduring the pain in the palm of her hand, Ghisla remained silent, her tears almost dried up, and she just sat there motionless.

"Come here." Blue Fox called casually: "Bandage her hands, and stitches if the wound is serious. Remember, take good care of her, and don't let her get a fever."

But the situation is more serious than Blue Fox thought. The wound on Ghisla's left hand was bone-deep, and there seemed to be no catastrophic injury to the tendons, but the bleeding was shocking.

What is the meaning of a farce in the early morning? Both the blue fox and the black fox think that it is the desperate girl who is looking for death.

However, this is where Gisra's true awakening begins.

She really gritted her teeth and watched her horrific wound being stitched up with fine needles and hemp thread. What was shocking was that she kept staring. She actually endured the whole process of what should have been a painful operation.

The ground was covered with his own blood, and his badly injured left hand felt as if it was useless now that it was gone.

Blue Fox was by her side, witnessing the girl's bravery the whole time.

Suddenly, she clenched her teeth and said loudly: "It's over! Let me be a Norman!"

"Um?"

"I'm not going to be a Frankish princess, let me be a Norman! I'm cursed by the devil, why don't I be with you barbarians."

At this moment, the blue fox was not surprised. He subconsciously stroked the back of the girl sitting sideways: "Gisla, you are serious."

】

"Yes. Cut off my hair and start all over again. Fox, promise me." After that, she slowly raised her head, her swollen eyes looked expectantly.

"It's your own choice, I hope you don't regret it."

"I don't regret it. I'm dead, I want to leave here, you...take me away."

In Frank, only women who committed crimes such as adultery and rebellion would be punished by having their hair shaved. Ghisla was innocent, but if she really wanted to be a Norman, she committed the crime of treason. According to the law, she not only had to shave her head but also hanged.

Sharp knives kept cutting her curly hair, and Jisra kept her eyes closed, and finally reappeared in the form of extremely short hair. If it wasn't for worrying about hurting her scalp, Jisla would have already been bald.

For the first time in her life, she touched her own scalp. Kneeling by the Rhine River, the fog had cleared and she saw her brand new face clearly. The tears have been drained, and the pain in both eyes is accompanied by the pain of tearing the left hand, but any pain is not as good as my own heartache.

Suddenly, she pulled off the small pure gold cross pendant from her chest, stood up abruptly, and threw it viciously into the river. For the first time, the girl cursed: "Curse me! Father! Uncle! You are all villains! Lord! You are not worthy of respect at all. I want to be a Norman! I want to believe in the gods of the north! Gisla! I Don't want this name! Ahhhhh!"

She screamed and screamed at the Rhine.

The blue fox let her vent, and when she had shouted enough, she put her big hand on her shoulder lightly.

"Silly boy, but what else is your name Ghisla?"

"Call me whatever you like."

"Name. Only parents can name their children." Blue Fox said casually.

"Really? I'm in your hands. Compared with my father and uncle, they are worse than you. I know you just want to possess me, and I have nowhere to go. Name me! I'll go with you .”

She had a pleading mood, and the blue fox shook her head and compromised.

"Theresia. Your name is no longer Ghisla, you are Theresia," he said.

"What does it mean."

"A kind of bird in the extreme north, small and cute, with blue-black feathers, it is not afraid of severe cold and is extremely tough."

"That's fine. Gisla is dead, and I'm Theresia! I'm a Norman, and I won't speak Frankish anymore. Before I learn your language, I'll speak to you in Latin... "

"Yes." Blue Fox looked at the girl in front of him, who was both familiar and strange, but the feeling of strangeness was stronger.

The so-called Teresia is a mixture of the word trastr and a Roman-style feminine suffix. This is a temporary creation of Blue Fox. It is indeed not a native Nordic word, nor is it used to describe girls.

Its original meaning is a blackbird, a common bird in the Mälaren Lake District. Even in the snow, the bird still maintains its prominent blue-black plumage and dances on the branches of snow-covered pine trees. Such a bird can only be appreciated from a distance, it is too small, even the value of hunting does not exist. Although it is a small bird, its perseverance is amazing.

Blue Fox originally planned to enter the city after the fog cleared and talk with Ludwig about continuing to fight. With the farce of the riverside camp, he decided to wait.

The Ross warriors watched as a poor girl transformed into one of their own factions, she became grotesque with her hair cut off, a major change in her appearance, and at first glance she did appear to be a different person.

It was just a farce, and the girl felt even more that this Norman nobleman was the man who cared most about her. Even though he was not young, he should have never been married.

Could this be part of fate?

The blue fox let the princess who changed her name to Theresia run amok. There is one thing that makes him happy now. There is no shadow of the old princess Ghisla in the entire Rose camp. The blue-striped robe, and when she lost her hair, she covered her head with a strip of cloth. Now who would have thought that she was a princess in essence?

In this way, he felt that it would be better to explain the matter to Ludwig, because the princess was dead in a big sense.

Of course, Ludwig didn't know all this for the time being, and he was about to know it in a new way.

On whether to really assemble the elite to launch an autumn offensive against Metz?

Blue Fox had to calculate the time. He had already calculated that as long as he followed his brother's wishes, the army would definitely lose the opportunity to spend the winter in his hometown. Is this appropriate?

Considering that he was granted full power by Rurik, he could announce that the whole army would spend the winter in warm regions such as Rotterstadt, especially the main force of the Ross army in the coalition army. Is it really necessary for the brothers to go back.

The blue fox is very aware of Rurik's attitude towards the Frankish civil war. As the saying goes, once Ludwig of the Eastern Kingdom is defeated, Lothar will categorically deny all the unequal treaties signed with him in the past. To make matters worse, the defeated Eastern Kingdom will not be able to maintain the several great nobles in its western territory, especially the eyeliner placed by the Ross Kingdom in the middle reaches of the Rhine River, the current Earl of Nassau, everything will come to naught.

All this determines that Rose must help the East Kingdom win.

Can Ludwig really end the civil war before Christmas this year? The odds are slim. The civil war still needs to continue to drag on. Ludwig can at most gain a certain advantage, and only with the help of the Ross army can he gain a greater advantage.

Besides, if this year is not a decisive battle, either next year or the year after, a battle of fate will inevitably break out between the two kings who have torn their faces. At that time, it would be too boring for Ross to send troops all the way from his hometown.

If the elite troops are forced not to go home, where is the best wintering place?

The Black Fox and Sophia Nassau give the best wintering grounds - the valley of the Lahn River, and the plain of the estuary triangle of Koblenz.

This is the core territory of the Earl of Nassau, especially Koblenz. Its good geographical environment has long proved that it can support up to a thousand standing troops stationed for a long time. The Middle Kingdom army stationed in the past was destroyed, and now it is replaced by the real Ross elite What's wrong with being stationed?

Even if it suffers serious losses, the elite of the Russian army and the Finnish troops with its **** supporters, the blue fox can transfer 1,000 soldiers to garrison.

So Nassau-Koblenz became a strong base for future attacks. The attack could be reversed along the Moselle River all the way to Metz, and the retreat could be easily retreated by boat all the way to the mouth of the Rhine to avoid right and wrong.

If he really did this, it still violated Rurik's original mission requirements. The expedition operation has actually been completed, and it would be extraneous to do a new operation. But he took the opportunity and refused to do it, and his heart was itchy and uncomfortable.

then do it!

"Rurik, the situation has changed now. The army will be stationed at the Ross store in Nassau that you personally stipulated. I will lead my brothers to greater victories." Blue Fox thought.

Now that the two brothers have agreed, the next step is to inform Ludwig of this matter.

No, Ludwig still prepared a quiet room, he dismissed all the waiters, and this time even the guards on guard were asked to rest.

He specially summoned two foxes, he was struggling with some things, and he didn't know whether he should disclose it clearly. As for other important matters related to the Great War, he intends to make another secret agreement with the two Ross people.

There are oil lamps in the secret room, and the fire flickers in the quiet room. The atmosphere here is very depressing, and the so-called dark corner is really suitable for a conspiracy agreement.

Putting on such an atmosphere was done on purpose by Ludwig, and Blue Fox didn't need to point it out, he was a little aware of this guy's attitude.

The black fox and the blue fox are on one side, and on the opposite side of the square table is Ludwig himself wearing a crown.

In addition to the lighting fixtures on the table, maps are also spread out.

The blue fox inspected it for a while, and noticed that there were wooden blocks in the shape of towers on the map. All the wooden blocks placed represented a city, which was a simple but intuitive war sandbox.

Ludwig propped up his forearm, and lightly held his mouth with both hands: "Let me guess, you two brothers not only want to join the war, but also want to be a big vote."

"That's natural." Blue Fox's eyes signaled his younger brother not to speak, and he looked left and right...

"Don't worry, I also removed the guards. The other nobles don't know that I have met you secretly. If you don't tell me about anything, no one else will know."

"Alright." Blue Fox nodded, "In that case, I won't talk nonsense." He continued to stare at the map on the table, and stretched out his hand to hold a key piece of wood.

This wooden block is unusual, and it is clearly marked in the old Latin alphabet next to it: saarabvkien.

Ludwig stared at Blue Fox's hand: "What? Your brother has a new idea?"

"good."

While speaking, the blue fox's eyes fixed on another mark marked on the map, namely mets, and put the wooden block on it.

"Is it Metz? Are you following Metz?"

"Exactly. You..." Blue Fox glanced at Ludwig's face: "It seems that you are not surprised?"

"Accidental, but not much. It matches your methods."

"Thank you for the compliment. Now that you can accept it, what do you think? What if we Ross attacked Metz?"

Blue Fox needs to listen to Ludwig's own wishes, and he can guess that this guy is happy to do so.

At this moment Ludwig stood up, raised his chest and took a deep breath, then let it out fiercely like a wolf. His hands floated on the table, and the vibration caused some lamp oil to splash on the map.

His eyes fixed on Metz, and then on Sarabrücken, and the two settlements were connected by a thin black line, marked not by a river, but by a Roman road, and marked in small letters as "beautiful." Inz Avenue".

He continued to hook his head, whispering: "Count Metz Adalbert, if this man dies, the war will be more beneficial to me."

"Him?" Blue Fox asked.

"Compared to other nobles, this person followed Lothair the most. Smart nobles tend to preserve their strength in civil wars. After all, no matter who wins, life must go on. But this Adalbert fought me desperately, His army is not Lothair's personal soldiers at all, why should he! Last year, he was the one who prevented the king from taking back Kaiserslautern."

Blue Fox knows very little about this matter, so it's unexpected that there is such a hidden secret?

Blue Fox thought for a while: "There is no unreasonable hatred. Could it be that you did something to him that caused him to be furious?"

"Causing outrage? If that's the case..."

"If you don't mind, you can talk about it."

"It doesn't matter. The king has deprived him of his fief in Swabia."

There is still an act of depriving the territory? It is in line with Ludwig's domineering temperament, of course, this kind of domineering must be established when his strength is superior.

"Swabia? This is the first time I heard of it, where is it?" Blue Fox asked.

"In fact, it's on the right bank of the Rhine Valley, in the mountainous area opposite Strasbourg. Adalbert doesn't want to follow the king, but Swabia is in my Bavaria territory. Such dissidents must be eliminated!"

"Ah! Now I understand everything." The blue fox slapped his thigh and continued to stare at Ludwig.

"What do you understand?"

"Since your deprivation aroused that man's anger, then he resolutely followed Lothair to fight you to the death. Lothair must have given him a major benefit that cannot be ignored."

"Maybe! But it doesn't matter." Ludwig shrugged. In his opinion, there is something in the cunning fox's words. Since Earl Metz fought hard for his master for the great benefit, then the name Nassau is actually the Earl of Nassau, a vassal of the Ross forces. Looting is for the great benefit - to get the entire Saar region.

"There are no outsiders here, let me tell you the truth." Ludwig pointed at Metz as he spoke, "This king is unable to divide his troops to attack Metz. Even if he is able to divide his troops, he cannot attack quickly. I tell you with intuition, The current defense of Metz City must be extremely empty! If you can launch a sneak attack, you will have a great chance of victory. Moreover, I dare say that in our army, only you have this ability."

"Hehe, you have won the prize." Blue Fox coughed twice again: "Please note that our Ross army is not your servant. Whether you want to fight Metz depends on my will. Let me tell you clearly, I got King Ross You can freely control the army. You don’t need to teach me to attack Metz.”

"Okay. But your brother is indeed the king's vassal." After speaking, Ludwig looked at the fat black fox again, and then stared at the blue fox's face.

"Maybe, we can form a coalition. Bavaria (referring to the Eastern Kingdom) and Ross will make a legal military alliance. Your people will attack with the Nassau army. The goal is Metz. Rather than continue to cut off the Sarabrücken Ferry bridges, it is indeed better to directly destroy Metz. Just like you did in...in the west. Set fire! Destroy all the bridges in the area! Destroy the granary! I can allow you to plunder freely, and everything you get is yours , this king will not blame anything."

"You are so generous." Blue Fox smiled sarcastically, "We helped you fight the war, but you still haven't paid anything."

"I paid. Sargau! Your brother Paul Black Fox's wife Sophia is Count Sargau." Ludwig pointed at the map again: "North of Kaiserslautern until Mainz, In the future, this will be a peaceful archbishop's territory. The other areas divided by the Moselle and Saar rivers are Sofia's Saargao fiefdom. Your methods can be more barbaric. The southern territories that were conquered by war, I can admit it's yours."

But how do you think that Ludwig is still the sympathy of others, and very thugs emphasized that the legal ownership of the new fief belongs to Sophia Nassau. Although the black fox is the girl's husband and is actually in power, once she succeeds in law, Sophia really enjoys the fruits of victory.

Forget it, his son will inherit everything, and the black fox thinks he is the son. For Ludwig, this person obviously needs this kind of reward to express his opinion to the many nobles who are loyal to him.

The so-called king has the ability to control a new group of Norman nobles (referring to the Danish nobleman Harald Clarke who has ended his political career) like a dog, and direct them to fight for himself.

The so-called king has great rewards for nobles who are loyal to him and have made great achievements, and he is extremely generous in rewarding land.

There is no need to continue to discuss this matter in detail, because everyone knows that the Ross army has super subjective initiative. Ludwig can't really order the army to do things. He can only use some interests as a guide to meet his own strategic needs.

He had long thought that he could attack Metz, kill Adalbert and install a nobleman loyal to him as the new Earl of Metz, so as to split his elder brother's power.

Of course, the Normans cannot be the Earl of Metz, but they can create a raging war in the Metz area and create an atmosphere of terror to achieve the same goal of "separating the power of the big brother". The local traffic is interrupted, the granary is destroyed, and the west and east of the big brother will be temporarily cut off. Isn't this the time window for Kung Fu Strasbourg?

If these Ross Normans are quick to do things, the probability that the army will capture Strasbourg this year will be even greater.

Ludwig is now full of ambitions. He is proud that the secret meeting with the Ross nobles not only provided him with a strong new force, but also that he is expected to break the backbone of his elder brother in a direct battle this year.

As for the use of Norman wolves to destroy Frankish territory everywhere, it is against honor. Now Ludwig doesn't want to talk about this anymore, after all, only the surviving final victor can define what honor is.

Seeing his complacent look, Lan Hu mentioned the girl he brought yesterday, and it was time to take out a special hidden gift for this.

"You're right." While speaking, Blue Fox took out a bundle of curly brown hair tied with a rope from his clothes. "I was deceived. The girl from yesterday was a liar, and the maid dared to pretend to be a princess. I have already found out that she cheated because she didn't want to die. However, she is already dead."

Ludwig was taken aback and lost his composure. His subconscious retreat and widened eyes clearly proved what he thought in his heart.

Lan Hu was silent, and he understood it just by looking at this guy's expression.

Ludwig cheered up again, and asked cautiously: "Did you really do it?"

"Of course. I was lied to. Thank you for telling me the truth." Blue Fox pretended to be confused and continued: "The woman is dead, and the body has been thrown into the Rhine River. Everything is over."

"Is this the end? Is she...really dead?"

"It's strange to see your complexion. A lowly usurper, worthy of your noble treasure? Or..."

"Nothing!" Ludwig coughed twice and said sharply: "I didn't intend to pay attention to a servant. I just thought you would take him in as a servant. Maybe you are a bit arbitrary in this matter." He didn't want to ask this matter any more, nor did he Willing to entangle, the so-called according to the cruel way of the Ross people, what the blue fox said must be true.

That's fine, the girl died, and many secrets were swallowed up by the Laine River.

He hurriedly changed the subject: "This king's army is about to move, when will you Ross people leave?"

"Soon, at most a few days later than you."

"I advise you to act early, while the main force of the **** Earl of Metz is still in Kaiserslautern and Strasbourg. Now only you Normans have the ability to launch a sneak attack, so you should act quickly."

Blue Fox shrugged: "It's still the same sentence. You don't need to teach me."

The secret meeting ended quietly, and the city of Mainz quietly entered a chilling silence.

This night Ludwig couldn't let go of it for a long time, how could he not recognize Gisla's face?

As for the child being stranded in Aachen, Ludwig really didn't know about it.

At that time, the father was still alive, and Ludwig already had a clear understanding of the situation of the eldest brother's heirs. He knew the girl Jisla, and he remembered Jisla's appearance and curly hair during the limited royal gatherings. .

After all, all princesses can be used as a tool for marrying great nobles, especially if the married princess gives birth to the eldest son and inherits the title, it means that the big vassal is the king's in-laws, and his loyalty must not be said.

The eldest brother Lothair has four daughters, which means that he has more opportunities.

A large bundle of curly brown hair was in his hands, a living woman would never allow others to cut off her long hair, not to mention that this hair was literally "mowing" the scalp. To humiliate a woman like this is tantamount to taking her life.

He really believed that the blue fox killed the child~www.readwn.com~ But should the blue fox really be blamed for this matter?

Ludwig tossed and turned, and didn't sleep at all, so he walked barefoot to the small chapel in the palace, and with the starry sky and bright moon as the light, he confessed facing the cross. He felt that he had directly killed his own niece, and the child was innocent anyway.

He regretted it very much. It is true that the child was a hot potato. He didn't want it and shouldn't be ashamed to say "fake". Now he is dead. If he can choose again, he is willing to take in his niece, even if she really knows too many dirty things about him that she shouldn't know. Even if he is sent to a certain monastery to live in peace in the future, it is better than being killed for no reason now.

However, Ludwig also felt that he was too hypocritical for this kind of after-the-fact confession.

Of course, Gisla wasn't dead at all.

She lives well under the new name of Teresia, and her identity has also been changed. It’s just that the injury on her left hand is so painful that she can hardly sleep at night. Such a bad feeling will take a few more days to endure. As the wound continues to heal, the pain will continue to ease until the moment when the stitches are removed...