"The Pope is going to Blaise himself to crown Ferry III." The Duke of Buckingham handed the letter to the king.
The king frowned.
The letter was sent back by Legrand's secret overseas letter from Blasey, and the king quickly scanned it.
coronation, baptism.
Before this, it had been a haze looming over the Rose Royal Family.
The Duke of Buckingham subconsciously turned his head to look in the direction of the Black Tower.
That gloomy night more than ten years ago seemed to reappear in front of his eyes: Queen Illinois who was about to give birth, William III who was on the battlefield and couldn't get back, and the palace guard on the bright side was made by someone who was already dead. The cavalry led by the Earl of Walter, but in fact, the real guard is the force in the shadow of the Rose family led by the Duke of Buckingham himself.
That night, the candles of the nobles' messengers lit up into a thin river outside the palace.
The night was dark.
With a long sword on his knees, he sat in the darkness of the cold night guarding the soon-to-be born crown prince behind him. They are making a big gamble, and the bet is the life and death of the Rose family. They had no other choice, and the Duke of Buckingham didn't know whether the gamble would work.
The former Knight Templar was behind him, whispering to him that the hellish being they were waiting for had entered the Queen's bedroom.
Hearing these words, the Duke of Buckingham's hand holding the hilt of the sword subconsciously tightened, and the blue veins on the back of his hand looked like a horned dragon.
As long as there is still a little hope, they will not choose to put such a heavy burden on the newborn child. They sacrificed all the happiness a child could have had, and put the king's fate on his shoulders early.
When the cry sounded, the Duke of Buckingham closed his eyes.
From now on, the new crown prince is destined to carry everything—everything hand-delivered by those who are supposed to shield him from the wind and rain. Couldn't the young Wang Chong survive the long and tearing madness? Will he go completely crazy or just as expected
they do not know.
So it's a big gamble.
At that moment, the Duke of Buckingham felt like a coward.
Illinois hated him and William III for so many years, they deserve to be hated.
"Why do you think the Pope should crown Ferry himself?" the king pondered and asked the Duke of Buckingham.
The Duke of Buckingham broke free from the memory of that night.
He looked at the king: "Maybe for the Black Death... I think the Holy See should have other powers."
"No, it should be more than that."
The king shook his head slowly.
He could use the power of hell to fight against the Black Death, so the Holy See, who also mastered the mysterious power, might not be completely helpless against the Black Death. At least, judging from the information returned by overseas spies, the sanctuary where the Holy Court is located has not yet broken out of the Black Death.
—Is it not yet infected, or is there another way
The king's speculations tended to be that the Holy See had some way of rescuing those infected with the Black Death, but this was either not easy to implement, or it was too expensive to really popularize. Otherwise, in the manner of the Holy See, they should have taken advantage of the outbreak of the Black Death to raise people's devotion to it again.
Well, that being the case, the Pope's trip to Blaise to crown Ferry III was definitely not just for the Black Death.
perhaps…
The king linked information previously brought back by General John to this event.
"war."
he whispered.
The Duke of Buckingham looked at him suspiciously.
"The Holy Court has been preparing for a war. Now, I know what their goal is," the king said slowly. "Blasy. They're going to—"
"Religion builds a nation."
In a short sentence, it was as if thunder swept across the heavens and the earth, tearing apart the thick fog in an instant, allowing people to spy on the terrifying truth.
Silence in the library.
There seems to be a symphony of gold and iron in the air, proclaiming that the long-standing stable political situation in the mainland will set off violent changes.
"Blasy, the Holy Court, the founding of the country." The Duke of Buckingham said these three words slowly, he let out a deep breath, and understood what the Holy Court's series of plans over the years were for. "I chose to fight the Holy See's founding battle when the Black Death broke out, so that other countries would not dare to intervene easily..."
Both he and the king knew that once the Holy See succeeded in establishing a country under the direct control of theocracy, their enemies would be stronger than before.
The king made a decision immediately.
He unfolded a new piece of paper and picked up a pen to write a top-secret letter.
This letter was written to Legrand's sworn enemy, the new King Ferry III of Blaisey.
That's how the political arena is - there are no permanent enemies, only permanent interests.
The king signed his name and stamped it, looking up at the Duke of Buckingham: "Is there anyone who can secretly deliver it to Ferry III in time?"
The Duke of Buckingham nodded.
"It must be delivered to Ferry III before the coronation ceremony." The king delivered the letter to the duke.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The Duke of Buckingham answered, he paused, and asked.
"Have your headaches gotten better recently?"
The king glanced at him, then picked up the next report: "Much better."
The two tacitly avoided speaking out on a certain topic.
The next report is also not good news. The Duke of Buckingham does not look relieved when he sees the king.
"What's the matter?"
"refugee."
The king answered succinctly.
The Black Death broke out for a while, and on the other side of the Abyss Strait, Blaise was not the only country. Larger countries like Blasey are better, but other small coastal states have suffered badly, and entire countries have even been on the brink of extinction without a war.
Against the background of such a catastrophe, Legrand, who has not yet been swept by the plague, has become a piece of pure land in their eyes.
Refugees fled from their hometown ravaged by the Black Death, struggling to overcome the currents, storms, and storms on the Abyss Strait in winter, trying to escape to Legrand to avoid disaster.
Prior to this, the king's order was to strictly deny the entry of any refugees, and all refugees near the Legrand Sea would be expelled by the Royal Navy. Any Legrand who tries to provide relief to refugees in private will be guillotined along with the refugees.
The king received much criticism for his order, and poets with great emotion wrote poems mocking their king, who were not hard-hearted who would never weep for any tragic story.
But all this could not stop the cold blood of the king.
The royal fleet obeyed only his orders.
This time, though, the refugees were a little different, so much so that First Mate Charles felt compelled to report it to the king, who made the decision.
It was a refugee from the country of Qahtani.
The refugee team included the king and queen of Kathani, as well as a large number of nobles. Refugees at this level are no longer spontaneously seeking asylum, but have become a political issue.
The king tapped lightly on the table with his fingers.
The Duke of Buckingham made no noise to interfere with the king's decision.
"Expel them—both commoners and nobles."
The king made a choice.
But soon, he frowned again: "There is something wrong."
"Do you think there is a problem?"
The king did not answer directly, he stood up, walked to the map hanging in the study, and found the location of the country of Qahtani.
This is a small country, and at the same time, it is a place where the hopeless inland sea connects with the Abyss Strait. It is a small commercial country with prosperous shipping. Judging from its geographical location, under the influence of the Black Death, it seems not impossible that even the king and queen would flee to other countries.
The king examined the routes.
"Tell Charles, mobilize the fleet, and raise the alert."
After thinking for a long time, the king suddenly said coldly.
…
The ghost ship of the Walway Pirates.
Charles unfolded the secret letter, which was quickly delivered by secret means.
"Expel them."
Charles told the pirates waiting for the order, and at the same time asked the royal fleet on the southeast coast to temporarily tighten the gathering - the nominally royal admiral at this time was Captain Hawkins, but obviously there was no way to expect how reliable Captain Hawkins was.
The pirates whistled when they got the order.
This order is extremely cruel and ruthless to those who are guarded in the city and safe, but in the eyes of the pirates, it is too in line with their style!
OMG! Those sympathetic idiots who feed their heads to pigs and don't eat them!
It's time for them to come on the ship and see for themselves the plague ship that they have sunk these days, to see the disgusting and horrific scene on that ship, and then let them go and talk face-to-face with the refugees who are likely to carry the plague. What is it? What is "kindness" called "sympathy"
Come to think of it, they are very happy to have those dense bags growing on their bodies.
"Ho! Ho! Legrand has a good king!"
The pirates shouted their horns, and the sails were hoisted hard, and the paddlers rowed hard.
"Ho! Ho! Great and glorious!"
The pattern of roses on the sail was stirred up by the wind, burning and blooming.
Charles heard the voices of the sailors and smiled and shook his head.
A few days ago, many of these guys almost beat people to death with wine jars in the tavern, because they heard people in the tavern bashing the king from time to time, and some people even made up some songs to sing.
It was rare for these guys to be so indignant, even after they got back on the boat, they were indignant.
Charles included these guys in his letter to the king.
This is not to praise his men in front of the king.
He is the godfather of the king.
Intellectually, he knew that when the king made various decisions, he must also know that he would face these criticisms, and the king chose to bear them. But as godfather, after William III's death, as the closest person to a role like a father, Charles hopes to make the king happy.
Charles hoped that the foolish actions of these pirates would bring some comfort to the young king who had carried too much burden.
If possible, he hoped that his godson would be safe and happy.
Unfortunately, that is too extravagant for a monarch.
"Ho! God bless my king!"
Amid the roars of the pirates, the fleet moved forward quickly.
They lined up side by side, driving out the Qahtani ships waiting for a reply.
The trumpeter stood on the bow and blew the harsh trumpet vigorously, and at the same time, the bow rams of the warships were all aimed at the Qahtani ships, showing a gesture of expulsion.
The qahtani boats hoisted their anchors and raised their sails as well.
They slowly backed away as if very frustrated.
Charles held up the binoculars and looked at their distant shadows, feeling that something was wrong.
"Just leave like this?"
He frowned, feeling uneasy that the expectedly difficult expulsion went smoothly. But since Qahtani's refugees had retreated, they would not chase down the rocks, so after the refugee boat disappeared from view, the royal fleet turned around and returned.
…
on the vast sea.
The Qahtani refugee fleet flying dark gray flags left the area blocked by the royal fleet. After sailing back and forth for a while, they suddenly turned around and sailed back in the darkness.
When the boats resting at the port at night found that the refugee boats were approaching again, they hurriedly lit torches, rowed their oars, and shouted loudly to drive them away and prevent them from approaching the dock.
The sailor standing in the bow, holding a torch, shouted, threatening to attack the refugee boat if it did not leave.
He had just shouted twice when he saw trebuchets set up on the opposite ship in the dark night.
Does the other party want to fight with them to land on the island
The thought flashed by.
The next moment, they saw that in the dark night, something on the refugee boat was thrown high through the trebuchet and threw it to the port city behind.
That's not a boulder! There is no way for a trebuchet to throw a heavy boulder that far.
what is that
An ominous foreboding passed by.
Someone threw a torch into the sky.
In the flash of the fire, they saw a blurry shadow in a flash.
"It's a corpse!"
Someone exclaimed.
Amidst the noise, Charles, who hurriedly put on his coat and boarded the deck, saw the scene at hand, and his expression suddenly changed. He realized-
This is a premeditated plague contagion! [1]
The real goal of Qahtani is not to get relief, they are to send the Black Death to Legrand!
The author has something to say:
[1] Historically, wars were often unscrupulous. According to Gabriele Dempsey's "Plague and Death in 1348", when the Tartars attacked Tana, the plague broke out in the Tatar army, and thousands of people died every day, so "The Tatars cast their hatred on the people of the city, hoping to spread the disease to their Christian enemies. With the help of weapons, they threw the dead bodies into the city. The corpses were thrown into the sea as much as possible... the air was polluted, the well water had germs, the disease was spreading rapidly in the city..."