Continental Warriors Yoo Ma

Even if he wanted to sell his daughter, he had to sell it to a noble king like Charles VII, or a powerful nobleman like Ma Youfu. How could he sell it to a barbaric and stupid widower?

After Raymond left, the atmosphere in the carriage became much heavier, and the excitement when he was invited by the Duke had long since disappeared.When the carriage stepped onto the stone bridge leading to Tarascon Castle and the destination was in sight, Antoinette spoke.

"Father, I must find a way to stay here. I must not stay at home until I formally receive a letter from my cousin inviting me to Paris. Other suitors know how to weigh the pros and cons, so after being rejected by me, they left decently. But Raymond is impulsive, and he is by no means a person who cares about the consequences. I am afraid that he will lose his mind and do something terrible..."

"Of course, I completely agree!" Jean II nodded repeatedly.

Chapter 340 The third lucky one is myself

It is of course a good thing that her daughter can stay in Tarascon Castle, which shows that she has entered a higher level of aristocratic social circle.But can it really be done?

With Antoinette's beauty, it will definitely attract the attention of René I.But the attitude of the Duchess is not a factor that can be ignored.

At the beginning, Agnès also entered the Provence court and served as Isabel's maid.But it didn't take long before she introduced Agnes to Charles VII.

What if the duchess is jealous and sends Antoinette to Paris in a few days?

It would be a good choice to go to Paris before getting a formal invitation letter.At least you can avoid Raymond's harassment.

But in this way, wouldn't the relationship established with the Marquis of Lamanche be interrupted?

Although Rang II is cowardly and incompetent, he is still an adult anyway, so of course he wants everything!

This kind of thing can only be taken one step at a time.

The carriage drove to the entrance of the castle, and identity checks were required as usual.An officer took the invitation letter from King Jean II, and was slightly taken aback: "The paper seems wrong?"

Princess Margaret's birthday invitations had been sent out one after another as early as a month ago, and this one in the hands of King Jean II was temporarily arranged after Ma Youfu and the Duke and Duchess negotiated the terms of cooperation not long ago. Of course, it's different when it's made in a hurry.

The officer checked the envelope carefully and found that the characteristics of the magic power emitted by the wax seal were all right. Although he still had doubts, he still nodded and let it go, but his tone was a bit strange: "Lord Meneles...well, the Duke's friend It is wide. Come in, my lord, and have a good day."

Although the officer's words and deeds were unintentional, the experience in front of the city gate still deeply stimulated the family of three in the carriage.

In the formal European title hierarchy, the three levels of Duke, Earl, and Baron are the most common, while Marquis and Viscount are more special.The lord is not a formal title.

This is a very casual title, translated into English as lord, which generally refers to any noble who owns a fief.

Charles VII was King of France, but he could call himself Lord of the Louvre if he wanted to.Lahaile used to call himself Lord Langeville, because he was not even a baron, but he was better than ordinary knights, and he had the property of a castle. It was better to put such a title on himself.Of course, the number one warrior in France has now been named Baron Montemori by Charles VII, achieving a class leap.

Let the second own several manors. This fixed asset is certainly considered rich among the knight class. This allows him to have money to pursue a luxurious life, and also has money to dredge up relationships and publicize his daughter's beauty.Calling yourself "Lord Menelles" at a banquet at a country estate will only attract the envy of others.

But at the court of the Duke of Provence, this was not enough.

Among the guests who came to the little princess's birthday party this time, the highest status was undoubtedly her grandmother, Queen Yolande of Aragon.Although the title is only declared now and has not been implemented, it does not affect the noble origin of this lady.In addition, the Duke of Savoy will visit Tarascon Castle in person, and the King of France, the Duke of Burgundy, the Duke of Brittany, and the Republic of Genoa have also sent special envoys of high status.

The lowest status of the guests attending the banquet was also a baron.Against the background of these big figures, the Second Emperor felt that his status was humble.

With mixed emotions, the second family was led by the attendants to the hall where the Duke usually handles government affairs.

On the four marble steps, there are two gorgeous thrones with gold armrests.René I and his wife Isabelle were sitting upright at this moment, talking with Donatello who was next to him in a priest's gown.

Raymond, who was riding a horse, arrived at the castle first and was standing in the middle of the team.He saw the cautious Jean II, showed a mocking smile, and then licked his lips at Antoinette.

Even in the hall where magic heating measures were taken, the beautiful girl couldn't help but feel chilly, feeling endless disgust in her heart.

At this point, the Duke and Duchess ended their conversation with Donatello.The great artist walked to the lower left corner of the Duke and sat down on an equally gorgeous, but smaller chair.

René I said: "According to the detailed investigation of Mr. Donatello, the respected veteran of the Purification Court, the celestial and sphere confluence events that have occurred continuously in the near-shore area have finally come to a detailed result."

Many nobles breathed a sigh of relief.Those aquatic undead that have been harassing the coast of Provence since December entered, making them hard to guard against and unbearable, and they have long been looking forward to a solution from the Duke.

René I added: "Blessed by the seven saints, several gentlemen performed very well in this celestial and sphere confluence event. In particular, Mr. Durandou de Amark, the mayor of Marseilles. On the night of the 10th, more than Six hundred undead landed from the sea and rushed towards Marseille. Fortunately, the mayor found out in time, and immediately organized soldiers, relying on the city wall defense, to keep these cursed monsters out of the city. Otherwise, the consequences would be disastrous."

"There is also Knight Julian. He volunteered to organize several small boats, went out to sea to track the escaped undead creatures, and finally found this."

He crushed a hollow crystal the size of a thumb.The crystal shattered, and the colored light group inside quickly unfolded, turning into a floating picture scroll.

In the painting, it is the calm Mediterranean Sea in the dark night.Under the dim moonlight, a craggy castle looms in the sea.

After a closer look, it was discovered that the castle was not built on solid ground, but was carried by a huge platform made of countless sunken ships and sailed on the sea.

"This is the final destination of those aquatic undead. The black castle exuding the breath of death is the root of the disaster. After seeing the true face of the enemy, the knight Julian immediately returned to report, and the court mages cast illusions, leaving the eyes in his eyes. I made this picture from the video. Although it is expensive, it is very worthwhile, and let me see the true face of the enemy..."

After praising them, King René I asked the two to go down to receive the reward. Suddenly, he changed the topic and said with a straight face: "However, some nobles' performance in this celestial sphere confluence event is very disappointing."

The Second King broke out in a cold sweat and his calves trembled, thinking that he had disarmed and feasted wildly. As a result, the manor was raided by the undead, causing heavy casualties, which angered René I.

Just as he was waiting to die with his eyes closed, René I suddenly called out an unexpected name: "Baron of Arles, do you have any excuses?"

Raymond didn't expect that he was suddenly called by the Duke's name, and he didn't know why: "Since December, neither my castle nor the city of Arles has been attacked by undead..."

"Your Excellency the Baron, in the face of the facts made of blood, do you still want to defend yourself? Eight days ago, the Meneles Manor was attacked, and a total of 160 and six disciples of the Seven Saints—31 of them were nobles—all died. What were you doing when you were in the hands of the undead? You were playing the 'unicorn game' with five prostitutes in the largest private room of the Golden Winged Nightingale!"

"The defense of the coastal area of ​​the Rhone River should be in the responsibility of the Menelles family itself, and it has nothing to do with me!" Although Raymond was confused by the sudden reprimand, his instinct for survival still made him turn around quickly, which was not very flexible. head, defending himself.

"You are right, but my father issued a special decree when he was still alive: when the coast of Provence is threatened, the barons should form a temporary cavalry unit of at least 100 people and be on standby at any time. Have you forgotten?"

Due to the perennial threat from Aragon and North African pirates, the former Duke of Anjou did promulgate this decree, but its purpose is to prevent the sea invasion of the enemy country, and it has nothing to do with the aquatic undead brought by the convergence of the celestial sphere.

Now, whether it is the cunning Alfonso V or the brutal pagan pirates, they have all died down, accumulating strength to deal with the Crusades next year, where is the coast of Provence threatened?

In fact, the nobles present more or less heard that the duke and his wife were a little far-fetched, deliberately punishing the Baron of Arles.

Raymond is a rude and violent guy, and he is an outlier in the Provence court, the birthplace of knightly lyric poetry.No one likes him, and no one speaks for him.

Rene I did not allow Raymond to defend himself, and directly announced the result of the punishment: "Confiscate a grape plantation, [-] acres of lavender fields, and impose a fine of [-] ducats!"

Five thousand ducats is equivalent to the annual income of the Barony of Arles, and after the confiscation of fixed properties, this number will decrease.For an aristocrat like Raymond who acted entirely on bravery, had no financial management skills, and spent every penny he had, it was a huge sum of money that he couldn't afford to pay back.

Feeling that he was being treated unfairly, Raymond's blood surged up immediately, and he shouted, "Tyranny! This is persecution! Lord Seventh, I will use my fist to show you, the bastard Duke!"

After speaking, he roared angrily, and was about to rush to the steps to beat René I.

His Excellency the Duke did not expect such a thing to happen, and when he saw Raymond's sandbag-sized fist swinging towards him, his face turned pale with fright.

But Raymond seems to have forgotten that although the Duke of Anjou is not proficient in martial arts, the Duchess next to him is not an ordinary person.

Before the guards could react, Isabel got up quickly, raised her foot and swept across, and Raymond's huge body flew out immediately.

"Let Mr. Raymond go to the dungeon to calm down. In addition, immediately send someone to Arles to investigate. This gentleman's impulsiveness and irrationality are too abnormal, and it doesn't seem like a devout Seven Saints." After speaking, the Duchess returned to the throne gracefully.

Let the second stand far away, witness the cause and result of things, and gradually taste something.

"Next, some major criminal evidence should be found in Raymond's family, enough for the Duke to deprive him of his title directly without causing criticism. I don't know which lucky person will be able to become the new Baron of Arles?"

Not long after, let the second know that the lucky one turned out to be himself.

Chapter 340 Four Crescent Knights

At this time, René I, who had regained his calm, said: "Compared to Mr. Raymond who did not fulfill his accusations, someone bravely stood up in response to the sudden attack of the undead! He is——Jean II De Menelles. Hundreds of zombies, banshees, and giant crabs corrupted by the magic of the dead attacked his manor. In the case of heavy casualties, Lord Menelles bravely stood up , while organizing the survivors to take refuge indoors, together with his daughter, they broke through the siege and asked for help from the outside world. In the end, the Marquis of Lamanche, who happened to be passing by here, successfully wiped out the invaders under his guidance..."

When the Second King heard that His Majesty the Duke dressed up his embarrassing experience of running away as a heroic feat, his heart suddenly burst into ecstasy.

If he still doesn't realize what's going on, he's really sorry for the gold coins he spent in noble society.

"I announce the awarding of the Order of the Crescent to Lord Meneles. Since its founding in 160, the Order of the Crescent has experienced glory and silence, and its ending is embarrassing. Now, it is time for the This ancient organization is full of glory! It's time for the name of Anjou to resound in the Mediterranean again!"

When the courtiers heard René I's declaration, they all looked at each other with expressions of "what happened", trying to find answers from other people, but in the end they found nothing.

The Knights of the Crescent was founded by Charles, Duke of Anjou, younger brother of Louis IX.He captured Naples and Sicily from the Hohenstaufen family and became the first King of Naples of Capetian-Anjou blood.Although he eventually lost Sicily because of the "Sicilian Evening Prayer Incident", which led to hundreds of years of disputes with Aragon, he can still be regarded as a great dynasty founder.

Although it is understandable that René I wanted to gild himself with past glory, although Capet-Anjou and Valois-Anjou do come from the same paternal ancestor if they go back, is this connection a little bit Too far-fetched?

Ma Youfu learned the news a few days earlier than these courtiers. At that time, his first thought was that René I was gone.

Historically, Rene I rebuilt the Crescent Knights more than ten years later.It is said that after he married his daughter Margaret to King Henry VI, when he communicated with the "poor relatives" on those islands, he was not angry with the "Knight of the Garter" who showed off his self, so he simply made a knight himself Let's play together.

In the Chinese translation, the associations created by these European nobles are called knights, but the nature is still very different.

The three major organizations familiar to later generations, the Knights Templar, the Teutonic Knights, and the Knights Hospitaller, are military orders with independent political rights and military power, equivalent to a country.

The second type is not much different in nature from the three major knight orders. When they were founded, they were charitable organizations that provided medical services for pilgrims and were supervised and supported by the church.As the scale gradually grew, in order to prevent thieves, monsters, and heretics from threatening the organization's property and life safety, it began to develop military power, and eventually evolved into a semi-religious and semi-military order.It's just that it never developed to the size of the three major knight orders. With the decline of the Crusades, it has now become a semi-independent organization under the control of the Holy See, mainly responsible for hunting harmful alien creatures and operating hospitals.The Knights of the Holy Spirit is one of the representatives.

And some monarchs created knights for vanity, to win people's hearts, or just for fun, which can be called court knights.England's Garter Knights, Burgundy's Golden Fleece Knights, and the Crescent Knights rebuilt by René I all belong to this category.

However, because of the existence of extraordinary power in this world, the knight order is often a place to inherit and study various extraordinary skills, and it is also an important way for the ruler to win over professionals to work for him.

Just as Ma Youfu thought, René I has indeed drifted away recently.Not completely gone, though.

Historically, he had already been captured by Philip III at this time, and he was not released on parole until he paid a large ransom and let his two sons go to jail instead of his father.

But now, the War of Lorraine Succession between René I and his cousin Antoine de Vaudémont has not broken out, and the young duke has not tasted the taste of failure, so he is naturally confident.

And behind him are Charles VII, the French king who completed the unification ahead of schedule, and Mayouf, the marquis of Lamanche, who is invincibly wealthy. These two "brother-in-laws" are backing him. Afraid?

Of course, Rene I dared not speak out about the above thoughts.

Although he was young and lacked military ability and ruling experience, as the dignified Duke of Anjou, René I still had some abilities.Although he has never heard of the term "period of historical opportunity", he can also realize that he now has two major allies, and it coincides with the imminent launch of the massive Crusade, which is the time to launch an attack on the sworn enemy Aragon.

It will take about a month or two for the news of the rebuilding of the Crescent Knights to reach Alfonso V's ears.By then, it was already the spring of 1433, and the Crusaders from France, Burgundy, and Brittany had already begun to gather in Provence.If the King of Aragon couldn't stand this provocation, and he raised his troops in anger, René I would just pull in the two "brother-in-laws" to completely defeat those Iberian shepherds and win a game of "I and Kobe teamed up to score 81 points." "Brilliant victory.

If this strategy fails, he will take further actions.

All in all, we must seize the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to regain Sicily, the place that the Capet-Anjou family dreamed of, and let the title of "King of Naples" become "King of the Two Sicilies".

The simple but solemn awarding ceremony ended quickly, allowing the second to officially become a member of the Crescent Knights.

René I smiled and said, "Congratulations, Sir Menelles, you are the third Crescent Knight."

"Besides me and the Duke, is there any respected gentleman who has joined the Crescent Knights?" Fatty, who was so excited that the second king couldn't restrain his trembling, said excitedly.

"Of course it is His Excellency the Marquis of La Manche. He is also the deputy head of the Crescent Knights." René I said.

These words are even more exciting than the previous announcement of the establishment of the Crescent Knights.Doesn't this mean that the Sirisian who has risen at an incredible speed is already an official ally of Provence?And the other party has a close relationship with the Duke of Burgundy...

Lorraine is saved, Lorraine is saved!

This principality with scattered territory and surrounded by powerful enemies finally doesn't have to worry all day, worrying about being pinched by two powerful enemies!

Philip III's covetousness for the Lorraine region has been lowered in priority because of Ma Youfu's planning for a while.He felt that since there was a way to obtain the Duchy of Lorraine in a legitimate way without launching a war, it would be better to wait patiently and unify the entire lowland first.

However, after he heard the news, he would definitely write a letter to Ma Youfu in a plaintive tone of "obviously I was the first", asking him why he didn't come to Dijon first to join the Knights of the Golden Fleece.

Ma Youfu didn't care about the priority.Anyway, I already have enough titles, joining two knight orders is just a waste of saliva when the master of ceremonies announces his name in the future.

Ma Youfu could regard the status of "member of the Crescent Knights" as an insignificant embellishment, but for Jean II, this is an unprecedented great honor.

"Okay, everyone, this is the end of today's gathering. For the next three days, please enjoy the banquet and competition to the fullest!" René I waved his hand, and the nobles dispersed one after another.Rang II, who was so excited that his legs were stiff, was almost driven away by his wife and daughter.

Unexpectedly, on the second day, Jean II was hit by another pie from the sky: After an all-night investigation and interrogation, the Duke's court discovered multiple crimes committed by the Baron of Arles.The most serious crime of all was that, on the night of the conjunction, two of the five prostitutes who had played multiplayer with Raymond were men!

"Fencing" is a serious crime in this era, and it is an act of serious desecration of the teachings of the seven saints.After the evidence was confirmed, the Duke directly deprived Raymond of his title.

Then, Jean II, who was still dizzy, was called to the study of René I: "Mr. Menelles, my wife and I have made a decision to let you be the Baron of Arles."

"what?!"

Jean II has been stunned by the continuous good news in the past two days.He nodded mechanically, as if his soul had come out of his body.