Continental Warriors Yoo Ma

Even the nobles who were not eligible to participate in the imperial meeting, many people went to Paris one after another, hoping to use their own power to stir up the situation and seek benefits.

What is Ma Youfu doing now?

Ma Youfu is writing a PPT.

If you want the nobles to give up their own interests and agree to their own plan to deal with the wool soldiers, it is useless to just shout moral slogans.Ma Youfu must come up with enough benefits.

Although Ma Youfu doesn't want to share the real benefits with these greedy guys, it's still possible to draw a few big pies.It just so happened that he could take this opportunity to bind as many people as possible to the benefit chariot to accumulate strength for the Crusades.

On November 28, the imperial meeting of Charles VII was officially held.

The meeting was held at the Louvre.Among the nobles who attended the meeting, there were six Dukes of Brittany, Bourbon, Orleans, Anjou, Berry, and Alençon.

Except for the independent Duke of Burgundy and the three titles of Normandy, Aquitaine, and Touraine, which either do not exist or are held in the hands of the king, the ten dukes in the legal territory of France have all arrived.

One of the more special cases is the Duke of Brittany and the Duke of Anjou.

Although the former is an independent principality, it obediently became France's younger brother after the end of the Hundred Years' War. In addition, Brittany also suffered from a lot of wool soldiers, so this time he came to join in the fun.

René, Duke of Anjou, was still in Provence at this time.Present in his place was his mother, Jolande of Aragon, mother-in-law of Charles VII.

In addition to the dukes, the Marquis of La Manche, Mayouf, has the biggest card next.

Although the marquis is one level lower than the duke, in terms of strength, he has already surpassed any duke present.

In addition, several powerful nobles also attended the meeting.Its representatives are George, Earl of Guinness, and Lachel, Lord of Montmorilon, who enjoys great reputation in the army.

Chapter 310 The Duke's High Opinion

Rewind the time to a week ago.

While Ma Youfu was busy writing the plan for the Crusade, the Duke of Bourbon, the brother-in-law of the robber emperor Rodrigo, was also making intensive preparations for the imperial meeting.

Although the theme of this imperial meeting is that the king convenes the elites of the country's powerful ministers to work together for the upcoming crusade to formulate a military plan that everyone recognizes.But what the nobles really care about is a major central contradiction hidden under this theme: how to deal with the free mercenary regiments that have ravaged France since the Hundred Years War—that is, the wool soldiers.

The Duke of Bourbon's plan was to save Rodrigo's life and let him lead fifteen thousand mercenaries to join the Crusaders and attack Tunisia.If all goes well, Rodrigo will establish a mercenary country similar to Switzerland in the Maghreb region, using the government as an intermediary to provide mercenaries, a commodity that is in short supply, to European lords, with war as the main economic pillar.

In this way, he can rely on his relationship with Rodrigo to obtain a powerful military assistance from abroad, which can be used to win over other French nobles and fight against the king.

With the great prestige of winning the Hundred Years' War, Charles VII has already shown his desire to strengthen the royal power.In order to protect his own interests, the Duke of Bourbon must fight against it.

At the imperial meeting, the Duke of Bourbon had two main challenges.

The first one, of course, is His Royal Highness.

Charles VII's original plan was to send Rodrigo and all the wool soldiers in France to North Africa.This is not only bringing disaster to the east, but also drawing on the bottom line.

Without the woolen soldiers, the nobles lacked a way to exchange money for force, and then do three things and four things.If Charles VII went one step further and suddenly promulgated a decree prohibiting the nobles from hiring mercenaries privately and cutting off the legal basis for the nobles to use force to govern, then it would be troublesome.At that time, the nobles will not even have the ability to resist.

The Duke of Bourbon hopes to leave half of the woolen soldiers in France, and then the nobles from all over the country will come forward to recruit them to prevent these people from causing harm to the place again.

Of course, for such a good thing that benefits the country and the people, the king, the church, and the merchants all have to donate generously and sponsor some military expenses.

The second challenge of the Duke of Bourbon is naturally the Marquis of La Manche.

After knowing the cause and effect of the "Miss Fox incident", he was so angry that he cursed Rodrigo and his son severely.

A second-generation ancestor who is a psychopath, narrow-minded, and cannibal fool almost ruined the event he had planned for a long time.

There was also Rodrigo, who was obviously ruthless on the battlefield, killing the old and the weak, women and children like sheep, but ended up being infinitely tolerant of this son who was always doing bad things.Wouldn't it be good to kill Fausto earlier, and then have a few sons with his own sister?Although he claims to be a "mercenary emperor", he has no political consciousness.Look at the Roman emperors who killed their blood relatives for the sake of power. Which one was not clean and quick without blinking an eye?

Because of Fausto, Ma Youfu and Rodrigo have already forged a death feud.If the Duke of Bourbon wants to save Rodrigo's life, he can only be hostile to Mayouf.

In fact, it is not that the Duke of Bourbon has not tried to win over Ma Youfu.After all, the other party is also a big prince, and his interests should be consistent with his own, and both have the need to restrain the royal power.

But he sent several letters to Ma Youfu, hoping to have a face-to-face talk, but they were all rejected.

The dignified duke, the old Valois who was holding the fleur-de-lis flag, was being humiliated one after another by a smelly outsider. The Duke of Bourbon was a little annoyed, so he completely broke his mind.

Although Ma Youfu, who now owns the Dukedom of Normandy and the Earl of Beaumont, as well as Philip III, a powerful foreign aid, is far more powerful than the Duke of Bourbon, he can't do it alone.

As long as the Duke of Bourbon unites enough forces to put pressure on Charles VII at the imperial meeting, His Royal Highness must make a wise choice after weighing the balance of power between the two parties.

Because of successive accidents at the Saint-Pol Palace, Charles VII thought this place was unlucky, so he has been living in the Louvre.Now the Saint-Pol Palace has become a royal guest house, and the nobles who came to Paris to meet the king all lived here.

On the third floor of the Palais de Saint-Pol, in a large room where a Serese once had an affair with the queen, the five dukes of Bourbon, Brittany, Orléans, Berry, and Alençon are gathering together for an imperial courtroom. The last meeting before the meeting.

"Everyone, let's take another look at the list of supporters. Let's have an intuitive feeling of how powerful our side is." The Duke of Bourbon shook his glass, and the churning liquid in the glass was just like the political situation in France today , will be turned upside down under my own hands.

"Count of Foix, Count of Narbonne, Count of Comange, Count of Perigord, Count of Limousin, Count of Auvergne, Count of Sancerre..." The Duke of Bourbon said a series of names, "Except for the Earl of Armagnac, all the southern lords support us."

The Duke of Brittany said: "This is expected. The Earl of Armagnac is not only a nobleman, but also a mage. After reconciling with Burgundy, his pursuit of magic has surpassed that of the world. The desire for power. He has a good relationship with Ma Youfu, and it is said that the latter has promised that as long as the new holy mountain of Mulholland is occupied, the Arcane Academy taught by Count Armagnac will be allowed to build a magic tower there. To study the changes in the power of water elements."

"As expected of a 'wise man', you are very well informed."

"Brittany is adjacent to Normandy, and the Marquis of La Manche encourages trade and has little control over the movement of people. Naturally, I can find out some news." The Duke of Brittany looked pale.

Although the Brittany countryside had also suffered from wool soldiers, limiting the French monarchy and ensuring the independence of the Principality of Brittany was a higher priority, so he chose to cooperate with the Duke of Bourbon and others.

"In addition, although His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will not oppose his father openly, he will provide help secretly. Therefore, the financial resources and military power of the Dauphiné region will also be used by us." The Duke of Bourbon broke out another shocking news .

The Dauphiné region he mentioned is located in the south of France. It was originally the Earl of Viennoy and belonged to the territory of the Holy Roman Empire. In the 12th century, Count Viennoy tattooed a dolphin on his coat of arms, and his descendants changed the title of nobility to "Dolphin of Viennoy".Perhaps it is because dolphins are the smartest animals in the sea that they took such a title. Anyway, the brain circuits of medieval nobles are not well understood by the world.

Later, the Counties of Viennoy and their titles were purchased by King Charles V of France.Charles V canonized his domain to the Dauphin and renamed it Dauphiné.

The ruler seals a territory to the heir, so that he can exercise his ability before being crowned, accumulate experience in governing, and cultivate a qualified team. Players of "Kingdom King" must be familiar with this kind of operation.

Later kings of France also inherited this tradition, so Dauphiné or Dauphine (transliteration of "dolphin" in French) became the symbol and synonym of the French crown prince.This territory directly under the crown prince has great autonomy and tax exemption rights, so if the nobles have the assistance of the crown prince, they can act cheaply under his guise, which is very convenient.

Knowing that the crown prince also wanted to "pay filial piety" to his father in secret, the nobles' morale was greatly boosted, and they all praised the Duke of Bourbon for his skills, and they brought in a heavyweight ally.

The Duke of Bourbon glanced triumphantly at the Duke of Orleans, as if saying, "Look, who is the real royal blood, the leader of the French nobles"!

"Your Excellency, Duke of Orleans, the southern nobles have basically mobilized, what about you in the north?"

The Duke of Orleans, who was a lot fatter than he was during the Battle of Paris a few months ago, glanced at him angrily.

After the end of the Hundred Years' War, the Duke of Orleans returned to his fief in despair. He watched the other nobles who participated in the war gain honor and wealth, but he himself was burdened with ridicule and infamy, and his heart was extremely unbalanced.In the process of turning grief and anger into appetite and overeating all day long, he not only gained weight, but also figured out some problems.

In the end, the Duke of Orleans finally discovered that it was Charles VII who deliberately set him up, which made him lose his reputation and lose his reputation.By the way, he also regarded Ma Youfu, who had bought one of his fiefs, as an accomplice of Charles VII.

The Duke of Orleans also knew that with his current strength, he could not take revenge, so when the ambitious Duke of Bourbon approached him, he immediately agreed to help.

A lean camel is bigger than a horse.Although the Duke of Orleans' reputation is now discredited, and because of the debt problem, he can't afford much money, but with his remaining influence, he still has a few allies.

"Most of the north is the territory recovered from England, and a considerable part of it is still the royal family's territory. Where do you want me to find noble allies?" The Duke of Orleans said angrily.After a pause, he changed the topic, "However, I have found a businessman friend who is willing to provide you with financial assistance."

"Who?"

"Mayor of Paris, President of the Paris Chamber of Commerce, Étienne Amboise."

Étienne controls half of the transportation and sales network in Paris. He has hundreds of merchant ships, thousands of carriages, and more than 100 shops in his hands. No matter what kind of business you do in Paris, you cannot avoid his influence.So this powerful figure was naturally "elected" as the mayor of Paris.

The Burgundians and the English have ruled Paris for decades, and the pro-French faction in the city has long since been purged.After Charles VII occupied Paris, he was more restrained and did not carry out a major purge, so he agreed to let Etienne, who had always remained neutral, be the mayor.There was no conflict of interest between the two parties, but Etienne was very dissatisfied after Charles VII handed over the power of reforming Paris to Mayouf in order to hold the "one meeting and one exhibition" smoothly.

Ma Youfu's large-scale construction in Paris is bound to affect his own interests.So Mr. Mayor resolutely sided with the Duke of Bourbon this time.

"In addition, Jacques Cole also promised to remain neutral in the imperial meeting. Anyway, the wool soldiers only make trouble in the countryside and small towns, and dare not invade the big cities. There is not much conflict with his interests. A large bribe is enough to appease this A treasurer." The Duke of Orléans added.

Hearing this, the Duke of Bourbon finally couldn't help laughing: "In this way, Ma Youfu's economic advantage has also been wiped out. In terms of the number of nobles, we have more than 30 people supporting us, and at most ten people on the opposite side. Thirty against ten, the advantage is mine!"

"Good opinion, Duke of Bourbon!" The others echoed.

Chapter 310 Wang Defa

Amid the applauses, the Duke of Bourbon looked around.With the support of so many nobles with noble identities and long pedigrees, it can be said that "the crowd is full of power". When Charles VII saw his own situation, he would definitely be persuaded to agree to his proposal.

The only downside was that among the five dukes present, there were the dukes of Alençon and Berry.

The title of Duke of Alençon has not existed for a long time, and the fief is only a part of the original Dukedom of Normandy, with average strength and influence.Now that the Duke of Alençon has been transferred to Mann and has become the Duke of Mann, not many people take him seriously.

When the Second King was asked to attend various occasions and announce his name, many people habitually referred to him as "Duke of Alençon" instead of "Duke of Mann". This is an example.

Moreover, the Duke of Alençon himself has a good relationship with Mayouf because of the saint. He is actually quite reluctant to stand on the side of the Duke of Bourbon this time.

"Out of personal friendship and the gratitude of the Marquis of La Manche for giving up Mann to me, I am not willing to be an enemy of him. However, the legitimate rights bestowed by the Seven Saints to noble vassals are sacred and inviolable. The king has dictatorship measures, and I am willing to stand by your side, but don't expect me to be against the Marquis of La Manche."

The above is the answer given by Jean II, Duke of Alençon, or the Duke of Mann, after the Duke of Bourbon came to lobby several times.

Although it made the second look reluctant, the Duke of Bourbon was very satisfied.

Even if the Duke of Alençon is on his side, it is better for Xu Shu to enter the Cao camp without saying a word than if he is in the opponent's camp.

The same situation applies to the Duke of Berry.

The title of the first Duke of Berry was established in 1360 by King John II of France for his third son John of Poitiers.

Later, after John of Poitiers died in 1417, the family became extinct, and the Duchy of Berry was taken back to the royal family.

Today's second Duke of Berry was newly conferred by Charles VII after the end of the Hundred Years' War this year, and his owner's name is Alphonse de Berry.

The surname of Berry was changed after Alphonse was named the Duke of Berry. His previous surname was actually Bayar.He is the half-brother of Charles VII. It is said that when Charles VII, who was still the crown prince, fled during the Paris rebellion, thanks to the protection of Alphonse, he repelled many mob attacks before he could reach the south safely.

Later, Charles VII named Alphonse Lord Bayard as a reward for his life-saving grace.

After the victory of the Hundred Years' War, when Charles VII made a hero, he remembered the life-saving grace of his illegitimate brother, so he waved his hand and made him the Duke of Berry.

Anyway, His Highness the King relied on the prestige of defeating the mortal enemy England, and some people already called him the "King of Victory". Naturally, no one objected to this decision.It is the Valois family's own business how to deal with the royal territory.

People who don't know it think that Charles VII will not forget the old kindness, and value love and righteousness.People with a discerning eye can see that Charles VII has other plans.

Alphonse is just a pathfinder.The real purpose of Charles VII is to pave the way for the unborn son of himself and his mistress Agnès.

When Alphonse, who was 48 years old and contracted some kind of lower body disease due to his flirtatious behavior and lost his fertility, died, the title of Duke of Berry would fall to Agnès's son.

Anyway, there is already a precedent. The illegitimate son of Charles VI can be a duke. Why can't I be a duke for the illegitimate son of Charles VII?

At that time, the opponents could not find a suitable reason to ask Charles VII to withdraw his order.

As for after that, with the support of Charles VII, the power and prestige of the illegitimate son continued to increase, and what would happen after that is unknown.

The current Crown Prince Louis died suddenly, Queen Mary passed away after becoming ill from worry, Agnès was promoted as the new queen, and the illegitimate son became the heir...

It's not impossible for such a scenario to happen.

All in all, the current Duke of Berry is a tool man with an empty title, and the Duke of Bourbon brought him here just to boost his momentum.

The Duke of Berry suffered from a hidden disease, so his skin was pale, and there were piles of disgusting herpes on his face, which made people avoid him.At this time, looking at the high-spirited Duke of Bourbon, who was sitting in the corner alone, as if to merge with the shadows, Duke Bailey suddenly said: "Are you really so confident? The imperial meeting is not a third-level meeting. The votes determine the outcome. Do you think that the large number of people can influence the thoughts of His Royal Highness? If the king sees that the vassals are so united against him, will he be more afraid and take more radical measures to centralize power?"

"His Royal Highness is very mature and will not make mistakes out of impulsiveness." Duke Bourbon glanced at Duke Berry in disgust.

"Even so, the words are sharp. With so many of you, can you compare with Ma Youfu of Siris? He was the one who persuaded Philip III, who had the vendetta against the king to kill his father, to change his position and betray England, and rescued the king. The saint! What's more, Yolande, the mother-in-law most relied on by His Majesty the King, will definitely not stand by our side." Duke Berry continued to ask questions.

"Let's discuss Ma Youfu's issue slowly. He is indeed an opponent worthy of attention. But Yolande is nothing to be afraid of. If she supports a complete solution to the wool soldier issue, the palace minister will definitely object."

Two years ago, a large-scale conflict broke out between the court faction in the French court and Yolande and his allies, the Breton faction.Gilles de Ray led an army that attacked Yolande on the outskirts of Anjou and kidnapped him.

It was the wool soldiers under Rodrigo's command who did the dirty work.