king of ros

Chapter 459 German Monarch
The Holy Roman Empire, on a hillside near the Lübeck construction site, this hillside is very ordinary, but now it is full of people in armor.

The seven vassals under the military shield system of the Holy Roman Empire were neatly arranged according to their ranks, and Ross's personal soldiers followed them tit-for-tat, and also stood in line.

Compared with the Ross people, the Germanic people are obviously more humble to their monarch, especially those German guards, who nod and bow crazily whenever the emperor appears in front of them.

But no one underestimated these Germans. The guards were the most important force in the hands of the German emperor. They were a powerful army, and they were all experienced fighters. Everyone could feel this.

A faint smell of gunpowder pervaded the two sides. The Russians and the Germans had the idea of ​​competing with each other. Some militants wanted to fight with each other. However, how their relationship will go depends on the two people who are talking. big shot.

"Look at this busy construction site, Your Majesty, it will be more prosperous in the future, think about how much wealth it can bring at that time, this wealth not only belongs to the free trade alliance, but also belongs to the empire, and the empire can also benefit from it."

Rostislav looked at the construction site from his perspective. The busy workers were like ants, constantly moving various materials around, or working under the supervision of the supervisor.

Some shacks have been built on the edge of the construction site, full of life atmosphere. Thousands of residents are crowded in this place, and livestock such as chickens, ducks and pigs can be seen on the road. The shacks are built around the Ross barracks and warehouses. Rus soldiers in blue smocks are seen patrolling among them.

This city is to be built into a stone city, and stones can be seen everywhere on the construction site.

Unlike Eastern Europe, which lacks good stone materials, there are many good stones here, which are much cheaper and more reliable. The only stone produced in Ross is white limestone, which is almost the most unreliable stone, but they have many choices here. .

This is why there are few stone buildings in Ross, and there are wooden cities everywhere. The local stones are too rotten, and Ross can only take the road of brick and tile buildings.

"Indeed, Grand Duke of Ross, this land will be more prosperous in the future, but what I and the empire really care about is why Ross came here. Lord Rostislav, please don't give me those diplomatic words. That's not what we came to the North for, and I hope we can reach conclusions on topics of mutual concern."

There is a German next to the Grand Duke of Kyiv. He is wearing a gorgeous fur coat. Under the coat is chain mail. Wrapped in cowhide, dressed like a war lord.

His face was very young, and his black hair was gathered at the back of his head, making him look capable and powerful, but impatience appeared on his face from time to time, which ruined his temperament.

"Oh, the emperor of the empire, as I said, Ross is only for trade, that's all, there is no other plan."

Rostislav repeated what he had said at the beginning of the meeting, his tone was still so calm, without much emotion.

Because it is better to be rational when talking with this person in front of him, he is not a master to deal with, and he has demands from others.

"Perhaps, Mr. Rostislav, but it is a fact that you built a military fortress on the territory of the empire. I cannot simply regard such an act as a trade act."

The young imperial monarch continued to say that he was Henry IV, the current ruler of the empire, and the tone of this monarch was full of distrust.

It was normal for him to have such an attitude. This young monarch could be said to distrust anyone. He still couldn't forget that the lords snatched him from his mother, and these lords were given land by his mother.

After he became an adult, he found that many of the royal family's direct territories were given to those nobles by his mother. He worked hard for a long time to regain some land, and then continued to follow in his father's footsteps and began to strengthen the royal power, but problems came one after another. The opposition of the royal power, the ready-to-movement of the nobles, and the damned investiture struggle...

Recently, he had to bow his head to Rome because of the Saxon rebellion, temporarily slowed down the struggle for investiture rights, and gave up the originally scheduled Polish expedition, which made him feel very bad, and still very distrustful of outsiders.

Rostislav also understands this kind of distrust. Based on the behavior of the Rus people, he would also be very distrustful if the emperor of the empire.

Slavic princes are strictly vassals of the empire. Although Lübeck has mixed the name of an imperial city, it is just a name. Everyone knows that this is actually the city of the Grand Duke of Ross.

But the most important thing is that Lübeck is very close to Saxony, which is rebelling, especially East Saxony, which is the base camp of the rebels. If the Ross people provide support for the rebels, the situation will be bad.

The rebels in Saxony are the emperor's current focus. If these people can be dealt with smoothly, then some things will be easy to handle, but if not, it will be terrible.

Rostislav knew the situation of the Holy Roman Empire very well, and it was precisely because of this that he came to meet the emperor. If he couldn't talk to the young emperor about something, the construction of Lübeck would be really difficult.

The biggest problem in the Holy Roman Empire at present is the rebellion of Saxony, and the rebellion of Saxony was caused by Emperor Henry's strengthening of the kingship, and the emperor's officials were strengthening the rule and corvee, which finally caused a rebellion. The peasants and nobles stood up and killed The emperor's officials attacked the emperor's garrison, and finally formed a rebel army that affected the situation of the empire.

The local nobles who did not participate in the rebellion are actually sympathetic, not to mention the Duke of Saxony. They are all watching the show to see how Emperor Henry cleans up the mess. If he shows weakness, then these guys will not hesitate. pounce on.

The dukes all despise Henry very much. In their view, it is too easy to deal with this young man. They never take him to heart and are full of contempt for him.

The dukes of South Germany expressed their support for the rebellion in northern Saxony. They said that it was the actions of Emperor Henry that led to the rebellion. Some guys even expressed that they would give the rebels a platform by force.

But after all, they are just posturing. For the emperor, as long as the rebellion in Saxony does not continue to spread, he does not have to worry about those dukes of South Germany who only shouted to overthrow the emperor.

The appearance of Lübeck is very subtle. If Rostislav wants to do something to the empire, then this will be an excellent entry point. With the resources of the Rus, if they help the rebels, the consequences will be disastrous.

Emperor Henry knew what happened on the Baltic Sea. Since the Grand Duke of Kyiv has made such great progress, will he go one step further and mess up the empire to fish in troubled waters?
After all, chaos is always the best way to go, and creating wars is always the most profitable. If the entire empire is in chaos, then this group of businessmen will be too tempted by the benefits.

Maybe these guys will hook up with those dishonest dukes... If so, it would be too bad for him, he has many plans, he wants to restore the glory of the empire, instead of wasting his life on endless During the civil war, the King of Poland and the Pope of Rome were still waiting to be cleaned up by him.

Therefore, the emperor wants to see the Grand Duke, he needs to understand what the Grand Duke thinks, and see if he is as non-hostile as he said, so that he can formulate a strategy.

"Your Majesty Henry, let's get straight to the point. I know you are worried about Ross's aid to the Saxony rebellion, and even colluding with the dukes of South Germany, but I can assure you that Ross will not interfere in the internal affairs of the empire. It’s good to start trade with the west, but the king of Denmark should be more worried.”

At this stage, Rostislav also knew that frankness was necessary, and that only frankness could solve the problem.

He didn't want to have a conflict with Emperor Henry. Although this person was famous for the humiliation of Canossa, how many people knew that the emperor expelled the Pope shortly after that incident?just won?In fact, he was not defeated in the dispute between royal power and religious power, and he was still facing a civil war at the time.

"For Ross, participating in the affairs of the empire will not allow us to gain benefits, and the distance between our two countries also determines that all behaviors that invest manpower in the West will eventually lose money. As for war, war will only destroy trade and will only Destabilizing the environment is something that no one wants. There is no need for conflict between our two countries. On the contrary, we can cooperate further, such as in besieging Poland. I remember that your expedition to Poland last year was caused by Saxony The rebellion ended, I think what you are most afraid of now is Polish intervention, and Ross can also play a role in containing Poland."

Rostislav's words obviously moved the monarch very much. Although he has organized a lot of forces to restrain the Polish king who is full of wars, there will never be too many forces to surround that guy.

A series of actions by that guy have seriously affected his plan. If he can settle down, Emperor Henry is willing to give something. He has already begun to feel moved by Rostislav's proposal. He can hear the sincerity in the words of Grand Duke Ross. , and it is true that Ross does not get any benefits here, let alone the need to participate in the internal affairs of the empire.

"And Ross can also provide you with mercenaries. Your Majesty the Emperor. With Ross's relationship in the northern world, it is very easy to find some North mercenaries. We can even introduce you to thousands of people at a time. I think this is exactly what you need. What is urgently needed now, with their help, you can end the war as soon as possible."

This sentence made the emperor more excited, and it was more practical for the emperor. He needs troops now, but due to the bad relationship between the empire and the north, it is impossible to hire a large number of Norse people, but if there are Ross people to match ...

Rostislav did not boast either. With Ross's influence in the north, it was very easy to achieve this point, so easy that some people even doubted the truth.

After all, the news of Denmark's Sven's failure in the west has already come, and Norway has no intention of going to war, which means that many northern warriors have no work to do, and it will be very easy to recruit mercenaries.

For a long time, Ross has maintained extremely close ties with Northern Europe. The Rurik family has never severed their ties with their hometown. Vladimir once took refuge in the court of the King of Norway. Yaroslav married the daughter of the Swedish monarch. , these relationships are intricate, and Ross still has strong connections in the North.

"It seems that I have misunderstood you, Mr. Rostislav, um... But you don't have to worry too much about the rebellion, the rebel army will be finished soon."

Emperor Henry relaxed a little because of Rostislav's assurance, but his words remained firm, showing his toughness and strength, as if he were stating a fact.

He once wanted to draw the Ross people into the war of the empire, and directly asked the grand duke to lead the army to participate in the affairs of the empire, so he hesitated, but in the end he strangled the idea.

If it is possible to marry the Ross monarch, then he can still do so, but neither he nor Rostislav has children of the right age, so it can only be forgotten.

On the other side, Emperor Henry's certainty made Rostislav a little curious, but then he recalled something about the Saxon War in his mind, and he was immediately relieved.

"Let the peasants loot the graves of their ancestors? This is really hard work. It really can make everyone dare not and can't stand for the rebellion. It's really smart, but it hurts the ancestors a little. I don't want to have such offspring."

Grand Duke Rus muttered in a voice that only he could hear, this guy is really ruthless - that's why Rostislav didn't want to conflict with this man, and it's better not to have too many things in the West.

"I will allow your construction, Grand Duke, this construction is also for the benefit of my people, and it will also allow the Christians to expand. I am sorry for my previous mistrust"

Emperor Henry didn't care what Rostislav was muttering, he finished what he should have said, and the emperor's emotional posture was indeed different. If he was a little aggressive before, he is very gentle now, making people feel like a spring breeze.

This shift in mood has all the more to do with Rostislav, a 23-year-old who appears to be a seasoned politician in these matters, well tempered by a difficult and turbulent childhood.

"It seems that our negotiations have achieved a very effective result. Your Majesty, may our country be more prosperous."

Rostislav's tone was also filled with joy. Anyway, after spending a lot of talking, this matter also came to a result, and it was a good result.

The Grand Duke of Kyiv actually wanted to pull the emperor into the free trade alliance, but he finally forgot it. Joining with the size of the empire would only be bad for the alliance, and it would be even worse for Ross's control of the alliance.

"May our country be more prosperous."

Emperor Henry responded, and his words also announced the end of their meeting. The two then signed an agreement, which was roughly about establishing a friendly relationship. After the meeting, the teams of the two parties also left one after another. The hillside also returned to its usual calm.

And after the meeting with Emperor Henry, Rostislav did not leave immediately. He went to the construction site in Lübeck and met his new subjects. He hadn't seen them before. He came directly to this place On the hillside, I met Emperor Henry who also rushed over.

Knowing the arrival of the Grand Duke, the Slavs and Germans hurried out to greet him. They were so humble before the famous northern monarch that they almost kissed his boots.

These people can see the future potential of Lübeck, so they are desperately trying to curry favor with Rostislav, wanting to get a bigger share of the future power.

But it is useless for them to please Rostislav. In the future, Lübeck will be a city whose status depends entirely on its ability. Rostislav is very aware of the importance of this city to the Free Trade Alliance. He must let capable people control it. this city.

After learning of the arrival of the Grand Duke, those Germanic and Slavic lords also came one after another. They belonged to the latest group of people who got the news, and expressed their loyalty to their lord, and Rostislav also generously gave them gold and silver, and Encourage them to expand their land.

Rostislav attaches great importance to these landed lords. For a long time in the future, Lübeck will have to rely on the troops provided by these lords. They will be the city's most steadfast guards.

The prosperity of a city takes time. This is not Ross. Rostislav can directly mobilize a large number of people to enrich the city and let it develop naturally.

In addition to the audience, Rostislav took a good look at the land. He even went to Hamburg to visit the Church of the King of the North, and had a good talk with him about future cooperation.

The resources that Hamburg-Bremen can provide are very important. It can be said that it is with the support provided by the church, the King of the North, that the Free Trade Alliance can be obtained so smoothly within the empire.

The meeting also went well. The two sides decided to deepen cooperation, further open up the development of trade lines, and decided to jointly face the challenges from Denmark in the next few years.

In this regard, in addition to promoting trade, Hamburg-Bremen also has its own needs. In terms of diocesan division, Hamburg-Bremen is in command of the entire north, and the North countries in the north are obviously very dissatisfied with this. It is necessary to suppress the Norse countries.

Of course, this means that there will definitely be conflicts between Hamburg-Bremen and Norway, but this conflict can be put aside, after all, Denmark must be the first to be resolved.

Moreover, Hamburg-Bremen has no objection to the agreement between him and Emperor Henry. The Church's King of the North has always been neutral in the internal affairs of the empire. After the Free Trade Alliance, its energy has been devoted to developing trade.

After staying in Lubeck for a while, Rostislav left here and returned to Gotland, and after a short stay in Gotland, Rostislav began to prepare to return to Ross, the wanderer who left his hometown, and now finally I'm going back to my hometown.

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　Update 1w, update completed

　　
　
(End of this chapter)