Rise of Rurik - Chapter 1004

[Chapter 1006 Peace talks outside the peace talks]

Ludwig finally gave in psychologically, and the peace talks were immediately put on the agenda.

There are still some days before the peace talks, and Ludwig is still under house arrest.

He was allowed to wander in Hamburg and the surrounding area, had the right to see the Russian camp, and had a good chat with Liudov.

This is all these things are under the attention of the eyeliner placed by Rurik.

The defeated king lost all his glory, and he was plainly dressed and inconspicuous.

He is a king and a devout believer. He prays once every morning and every time he eats, which is like obsessive-compulsive disorder.

There is a small church in the city of Hamburg, and the political significance of this bishop’s seat is extremely huge.

On Sunday, Ludwig prayed in the church with a pious attitude, and the strange thing is that the Archbishop of the North and the Archbishop of Cologne are here.

It is a fact that he is praying, and it is even more urgent to have a good chat with the two regional archbishops.

The outdoors began to be cloudy, and the dense snow seeds made the world gray.

Bad weather is like Ludwig’s tangled heart.

The “True Cross” of Cologne Cathedral is temporarily erected in the Hamburg Church, making this simple wooden building shine.

The sadness in it made the Archbishop of Cologne Hardebold speechless.

Contrary to the tangled and uncomfortable attitude of these two, the Normans and Saxons were immersed in the joy of victory, and they were already actively preparing for their festival.

Those pious Saxons returned to the church to pray, which made Ludwig’s appearance extremely embarrassing, and he had to avoid it for a while.

So, what to pray to God?

Pray for victory?

However, God gave the Saxons victory and did not sanction the Normans.

In the dead of night, he remained in the church.

One king and two bishops, three noble people sitting beside the true cross, helplessly discussing things that have nothing to do with faith…

[To tell the truth, I have been using the source-changing app recently to read and update books, switch between sources, and read aloud with many timbres. www.huanyuanapp.com is available for both Android and Apple.

】

The three remained silent for a while until Ludwig spoke first.

“I have lost the battle, and God is not on my side. Now Rurik of Ross allows me to negotiate a conditional peace, and I decide to accept it.”

“If peace can be restored in this way, if the Normans will not continue to attack, conditional peace… I can accept it.” The Archbishop of Cologne sighed helplessly.

The atmosphere was still cold and decadent, and Eskiel couldn’t say anything about it.

He silently comforted: “Rurik of Ross will not break his promise. If he leads the peace, the peace will last forever.”

“As if I were praying for peace. You…you really trust him. You seem to be his lobbyist…” After all, Eskil was a high priest, and Ludwig didn’t want to speak seriously.

“My lord. I told you many years ago to pay attention to the rising Ross people, but you turned a deaf ear to them. Now, no one understands their terror better than you.” Eskil pointed out solemnly: “Your deployment in Denmark triggered a war, and the entire The Norman world thinks you are the root of all evil. You are responsible for this war.”

“Ridiculous. The Normans, then, are not responsible.”

“I didn’t mean that, but the Rus in the war didn’t reason with us. They believed that all Frankish subjects were enemies, and they had no scruples in plundering and killing.”

Ludwig had to wonder: “Are they starting to reason now? Are they really believable?”

“Credible. I have lived in the Ross world for some days, and this Rurik has his own set of principles. Now we have to admit that their words are powerful, just like you have to admit that your elder brother Lothair is powerful. In fact… ”

Eskil collected himself: “Some words may arouse your anger.”

“Tell me. What right do I have to be angry?”

“We want peace talks, what should we do next? Maybe the king can form an alliance with the Ross people.”

“I can’t believe you can say such a thing!” Ludwig, who was suppressing his emotions, suddenly exploded, and then sat down hastily: “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t lose my composure in this sacred place.”

“It’s okay. Have you seen Liudov?” Eskil hurriedly changed the subject and continued asking.

“No, that man has been avoiding me.”

“He has a guilty conscience. He once served you loyally, but now he betrayed you and defeated you with his troops.”

“No! I was defeated by the Normans.” Ludwig emphasized.

“However, without those 10,000 Saxon fighters, they may not be able to win.”

So, Eskil continued: “Liudov confessed to me, he is still willing to be loyal to you, and is willing to ask you to forgive his betrayal. But this matter has conditions, Liudov wants you to recognize his Principality of Saxony, as for Whether to keep the title of Westphalia, if you take it back, he can accept it.”

“Wait a minute, this is different from the request of Ross King Rurik!”

“After all, every nobleman has his own demands. That’s right. The baron of Nassau Village, he has no chance to meet you because of his low title. He also has his own demands.”

“Nassau? A little traitor.” Ludwig said disdainfully.

“Nassau has surrendered to Liudov, and Nassau Village, his hometown, also hopes that you will allow him to keep it. Even if he knows that you have controlled his family. The release of his family and villagers is also one of the conditions of the peace talks, and It is your limited bargaining chip.”

“Does it make sense? He ignored his family when he rebelled.” Ludwig shook his head slightly, “He is a ruthless person. He is forcing me to be ruthless.”

Eskil also shook his head, “I’ll continue to talk about Liudov’s appeal. Liudov revealed the bottom line to me. His Duchy of Saxony is shrunk. He only needs to be north of the Weser River and south of the Danish Wall. The Saxon region south of the Weser River, he doesn’t have to.”

It seems that this is an act of borrowing a donkey down a slope.

“Nonsense.” Ludwig suddenly came to his senses and understood what was going on: “The villages are all deserted, and almost all the Saxons in the south immigrated to the north. What’s the use of the places south of the Weser River? They can’t even collect taxes. ”

“Anyway, this proves that he doesn’t have huge ambitions, and he sincerely repents to you.”

“But what can I do?” Ludwig shrugged, “Everyone in Westphalia has left. I will take back here and Saxony to the south of the river. What I get is almost a piece of land that can go.” A hunting forest. What use would I have a forest.”

An area is like a hot potato.

The Archbishop of Cologne, who had been listening for a while, looked helpless: “Then it belongs to my Cologne Diocese. Many refugees entered Cologne, and I sheltered them, but I still suffered a great shame. They Russ actually blackmailed our Holy Spirit Ku! I can’t stay out of it, I want what you don’t want.”

Ludwig was also extremely dissatisfied with this matter, and the Cologne diocese actually handed over five thousand pounds of silver coins as a joke.

He had to think: If I have this money, I can train more elite soldiers.

The archbishop of Cologne, Hardebold, had no idea that the servant of God was so outrageously greedy.

Ludwig was reluctant to criticize and reprimand because of the other party’s face.

On the contrary, Eskil was really poor and a pure ascetic, which Ludwig knew very well.

But although this guy is poor, what he is now playing is a lobbyist who has also betrayed the king.

Get a land where people’s livelihood is dying, and it will cost money to restore it.

After a little calculation, Ludwig is unwilling to spend any more money, and he still has to settle the account of the Marquis of Thuringia, who has pigeonholed his order, and the rest of the army must completely defend the Middle Franks of the elder brother Lothar. The army continued to cut down and invade.

“Okay! Since they said conditions, I also have conditions. Lord Hardebold, South Saxony and Westphalia are all given to you. Go and rule here.”

“Ah! Do you really want to?”

“Can I still refuse? I know, you are still loyal to me.”

“That’s natural.” Hudbold couldn’t hide the joy in his heart.

East Francia is indeed a patchwork kingdom. Saxony, Thuringia, and Flanders were all annexed by force during Charlemagne’s reign. They already have strong centrifugal forces that are difficult to control.

There is also the Archdiocese of Cologne, which exists like the Papal State in Italy, and it is one of the countries within the Frankish territory.

Ludwig thought about it. His base was in Bavaria. Secondly, because of the civil war in the kingdom, he strengthened his control over the Earl of Leingau or the Marquis of Frankfurt. The desire of the ruler of the Alamanni region.

These servants of God also have worldly desires, and they just want to establish the kingdom of heaven according to the scriptures.

Undoubtedly this behavior was more threatening than the plundering and murderous Norman brigands.

Ludwig still wanted to ask a few more questions: “Is Rurik the Ross really trustworthy? Even if I recognize the Duchy of Saxony, if they suddenly deny the agreement, I will be an ass.”

“Some things will change, and you can trust them,” Eskill continued.

“But they are savages and don’t believe in our God.”

“No. Rurik is very ambiguous about the holy faith. He has at least three sons who have been baptized. There is also a legal bishopric in Ross. Archbishop John Invar is my favorite student. Maybe a few years later Rurik Take the initiative to convert, and the entire Ross or the entire Norman world will collectively convert.”

Saying these words, Eskil felt complacent, as if everything was going according to plan, and his optimistic attitude was like the sunshine in winter.

Ludwig felt that the old man was daydreaming, and that even if the Normans converted, the war would be eliminated?

Pooh!

The Saxons rebelled anyway, which had little to do with faith.

Ludwig didn’t want to struggle anymore, he couldn’t win on the battlefield, so he could only make concessions at the negotiating table.

As for an alliance with the Normans… what’s the point of an alliance?

A thought that made him feel uncomfortable: “Alliance is sacrilege, but may I resist Lothair’s attack.”

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this matter was operable, not to mention the meeting on the tower, Rurik himself also said that the Ross people intended to form an alliance.

Once the shackles of thought are opened, everything becomes different.

Thus, Ludwig determined his negotiation plan, and the rest was to wait for the agreed peace meeting.

So Rurik was not idle.

The Treaty of Alliance of the Northern League had a written document which was the basis for subsequent treaty documents.

The decisive battle is over, and the victors don’t quite believe that there will be a new Frankish army going north to provoke war again.

The top priority is to negotiate peace with Ludwig, and this matter will be put aside later.

With this gap, some economic and trade treaties are now being finalized in written form.

Therefore, Baudouin, the Earl of Flanders, looked unscrupulous. He admitted his defeat, and now he changed himself to be everyone’s ally.

Baudouin, the chicken thief, has already figured it out. He has no ability to take back the territory north of the estuary of the Inn River, and his other territories are still facing crazy attacks from the Normans.

Join if you can’t beat them, this group of people won’t attack allies, right?

For this reason, Baudouin would rather swear allegiance to Liudov and continue to retain the title of earl as a Saxon courtier, while also receiving national defense security guarantees.

There is such a good thing?

Liudov is not a fool, the two families are neighbors, and the essence of Baudouin’s surrender is to achieve peace.

After some discussion, Baudouin’s willingness was accepted by the nobles pinching their noses.

This guy has no shame at all, King Ragnar of Denmark thinks this is lowly, but Rurik directly calls this guy a wise man who has both sides.

It is difficult for a strong man to expect this guy to be loyal, but this person will never betray his interests, and it is easier to control him.

The southern area of the Earl of Flanders is mainly composed of Gaul descendants of the old Biliczka and Frankish immigrants, while the Frisians are mainly in the north.

The north has become independent as the Counties of the Netherlands, and there is a new Norman city, Rotterstadt, to replace Durist.

The reduced County of Flanders legally joined the Northern Alliance due to its allegiance to the Principality of Saxony. Even if Rurik had dissatisfaction, he had to admit it, otherwise the alliance treaty would be meaningless.

On the contrary, Rurik is willing to accept this guy Baudouin.

In this way, Saxony, the whole of the Netherlands, and the whole of Belgium in his concept are already within the sphere of influence of the Kingdom of Ross.

Especially now the country of Flanders is almost equal to Belgium.

There is no need for military control over it. This area can be described as a very good grain and wool producing area in Western Europe. In order to gain profits, economic trade is enough.

Originally, Flanders relied on the wool industry to make money. They sold wool to Cologne, Aachen, and Paris. They might as well sell it directly to Ross by sea.

Rurik once regretted that he had destroyed Antwerp, an important port in Flanders, which was really detrimental to his future economic and trade activities.

Baudouin, with his shrunken Flanders, was the newest member of the alliance, joining which might keep the domain safe from naval raids.

He can’t quite confirm, but Rurik, King of Ross, seems to be serious.

All the members gather in a log cabin where they all sign a new trade treaty.

There is so much talent here.

Rurik, King of Ross, Ragnar, King of Denmark, Yevlo, Count of Finland, Medved, Governor of Novgorod, Norenlen, Countess of Narvik, Blue Fox, Earl of Gothenburg, Regalaf, King of Mercia, Ainred of Northumbria, Bijoni, King of York, Duke of Saxony, Henry Nassau, Earl of the Netherlands, Robert, Earl of Old Hamburg, and Baudouin, who is known to everyone.

Even Harald Clark, the deposed king of Denmark, came over as a political figure of the old era to make up the numbers. As for some nobles who did not show up, since they were all in the territory of Ross, Rurik represented them.

“We signed a purely commercial treaty today, just to establish our tariffs. I demand that all members of the Northern League, must unify the tariffs to 1%. In addition to the entry tax, I have decided to abolish it. The entry tax is incorporated into the customs tariff. , the tax is calculated based on 1% of the total value of goods entering Hong Kong, and I ask you all to admit this. You see, I have designed the document, and you only need to sign it.”

Customs tax is not surprising to Frank and Eastern Rome, and it is still a novelty in the northern world.

After all, even the Kingdom of Ross began to collect taxes in the last ten years. Before that, there was no clear boundary between collecting taxes and asking for tribute.

For a mature royal country, it is natural to charge customs duties.

It will be very fair. Merchant ships from various countries will have to pay 1% customs tax when they arrive at the ports of Ross.

The tariff was deliberately arranged by Rurik to be extremely low. After all, Ross did not rely on this tax to subsidize the finances. On the contrary, the official commercial activities directed by King Rurik directly earned huge profits to fill the treasury.

So establishing extremely low tariffs was in Ross’ favor.

A 1% tariff is equivalent to opening the door to Ross by all the allies, and the rest is to dump competitive products and buy raw materials and food at low prices.

As for the trade tax, they can collect it from ordinary merchants, but the business groups directly managed by the king have no right to collect taxes.

The nobles didn’t know the secret behind it, but each of them thought it was fair.

The world is too strange. When the Ross ships arrive at the port, the landowner can still collect a tax. For the king of Northumbria, this is simply collecting tribute from the Ross, and Rurik proposed it on his own initiative.

It has been nine years since the defeat, and the Kingdom of Northumbria, which has always been under great financial pressure, urgently needs new tax sources. The limited farmers can no longer search for it. At this time, it seems that the Ross people are sending money in person.

And because of the treaty, Northumbria merchants can confidently go to the neighboring kingdom of Viking York to trade, because they have to pay taxes, and commercial activities must be guaranteed by the other party.

One party collecting tariffs naturally has the obligation to protect the commercial safety of merchants. This obligation must be complied with by all, and it is clearly written in the treaty documents.

Therefore, if there are pirates and robbers, all members have the obligation to send troops to fight against them.

Similarly, for tax refusal and smuggling, the allies have reasons to confiscate the payment for the goods.

What the document highlights is an absolute trade fairness!

They signed their names one after another, and Rurik was very satisfied with their straightforwardness, and appealed to the trend: “I hope you will all send permanent envoys to my capital, New Roseburg, and I will also send envoys to your capital. We are an alliance and reject all civil wars.” .So we need to strengthen understanding and mutual trust, and resolve everything through negotiation. What do you agree?”

Everyone said yes, especially Baudouin who held his head up and shouted in favor.

Because he hoped to sell the wool safely to make money, now Rurik, King of Ross, made a solemn promise.

[End of this Chapter]