Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 702: Queen, Bishop, Knight, and Soldier (Part )
Outside the camp, a large group of people gathered in the open space, shouting and yelling. Others gathered around to join in the fun, but two people dressed as monks were still standing by, busy copying something from a stack of documents.

Another monk came over quickly with a few books in his arms, put them on the table, turned his head to read them, and asked the old man behind the table curiously, "Dean, what's going on over there? It's so lively."

"Another group of people came here and joined us." The dean replied, "The woman leading them claimed to be Princess Jeanne of France, and that she was the queen of His Majesty the King of Wu. Sir Frank and his men didn't believe her, so the woman said she wanted to challenge them in a duel to prove herself. In the end, Frank didn't beat her, and Hans and his men were not convinced, so they took turns to compete."

"Ah? What are they doing?" the monk said in surprise:
"Women are generally not allowed to participate in formal tournaments. Although if you insist, there have indeed been very capable female knights in history. If she insists on participating in the competition, everyone can accept it, so it is understandable... But the question is, shouldn't everyone be concerned about the identity of the queen? What does this have to do with the tournament? Does the queen choose based on who can fight?"

"Okay, don't make a fuss, Michael." Another monk said with a smile, "Maybe everyone just wants to watch the fun. After all, our place is too remote, and these days, martial arts competitions are not as popular as before. There are no competitions to watch on weekdays. Before, everyone may have heard about the story of the knight's tournament when they were drinking beer and chatting."

"That being said, it's fine if the audience wants to join in the fun, but what do the people involved think..." Michael muttered.

"That's normal. The girl is French, and the entrepreneurial tradition there is that a poor knight hooks up with a nobleman." The monk behind the table said, "The knight provides the most important military force, while the nobleman provides legitimacy and other kinds of support, such as wealth, bringing him into the upper circle so that he can gain connections, etc. Therefore, many knights will pursue female nobles, and if they have the conditions, they will become lovers or even successfully marry them to obtain resources."

"This model is popular in reality over there, so even in literary works, this routine is used. Maybe after being in this atmosphere for a long time, they have developed a habit."

"I have read those chivalric novels." Brother Michael thought for a moment and said, "But, this is not suitable for our current situation, right? Whether we are down and out, we have to compare them. No matter how down and out our Ming Dynasty's royal family is, we don't need the legitimacy of local nobles, right?"

"No, no, no. Martin has understood the situation, but you, kid, have understood it the other way around." The dean said with a smile, "Although the French model usually has 'down-and-out knights' and 'noble ladies', the situation now is the other way around. In their relationship, His Majesty the King of Wu is the noble who provides legitimacy, connections, and a platform for development; and Princess Jeanne is the 'knight'."

"Hey?"

"The dean asked you to read more information about various countries before, but you probably got lazy." Brother Martin also laughed and said, "For the common people, lower nobles and ordinary monks here, the French princess is certainly a noble figure. However, in the palace, the situation may not be so simple."

"The royal family of France has always been fertile, and the same is true for 'Mad King' Charles. His mental state did not affect his fertility too much. He and his queen Isabeau alone have 12 children." He reminded: "They are not comparable to some of our nobles who are prone to extinction."

"When we had a meeting before, the brothers from the French church introduced the situation over there to us." The dean said, "Is she the Princess Jeanne? I have never seen her in the French court, so I cannot confirm it. But I do know something about the royal family."

"The king's children included six boys and six girls. Among the boys, the eldest, second and sixth died young. But the six girls, except for the eldest sister who died young, all managed to live to the age of marriage."

"The princess's second sister, Isabella, married King Richard II of England when she was 7 years old. After Richard was deposed and murdered, she was also driven back without leaving any offspring. At the age of 17, she married the powerful Duke of Orleans and left a child, but she died three years later."

"The princess herself is the third oldest girl. The fourth sister, Mary, went to a convent and probably has no intention of getting married. The fifth sister, Michelle, married another powerful official, the Duke of Burgundy. The sixth sister has not married yet, but the English have long had their eyes on her, hoping to regain the marriage relationship that was interrupted after Richard's death through her - of course, mainly because this relationship can bring the right to inherit the Kingdom of France."

"So you see, France is indeed a big country, and princesses are indeed noble, but at this moment, France is not short of princesses. Compared with her other sisters, she is not outstanding in her family background."

"Moreover, in France, female nobles cannot inherit all power alone. If they want to have the opportunity to display their power, they must find a great noble to gain a stable platform. In addition, before, Your Majesty was regarded as a competitor by the other sons-in-law, that is, those in England and Burgundy, and she was also squeezed out of the court."

"So, from this perspective, although her status is much higher in name, her actual situation is similar to that of the second sons of nobles who lost their inheritance rights and were forced to wander around and make a living by force. In this relationship, she is the down-and-out female knight. Showing off her force everywhere is probably a habit caused by this situation."

"And even her status is similar to that in knight novels." Brother Martin lowered his voice and said, "Do you know? I heard that His Majesty actually had a queen. Like the prince, she was in Constantinople and was protected by the Romans. So, she actually started out as a lover of a noble..."

"Don't say that directly." The dean waved his hand to stop her, "No matter whether she is true or not, as long as she can help us defeat the enemy and rescue His Majesty, we can temporarily recognize her. For her situation, it is obviously beneficial to participate in the war and gain prestige."

"We have too many troops now and we are indeed in need of capable fighters. If she can help, she can also help us. Since we have a common goal, everything will be easy to discuss. As for whether it is true or not, please wait until Your Majesty is rescued and make your own decision--" He shrugged: "And to be honest, if she can really lead us to defeat Sigismund and bring Your Majesty back, then there will be no problem in recognizing her as the queen, right? Your Majesty will understand."

"Alright, alright, now that we know what's going on, that's enough. Let's quickly sort out the information, as the two of you will need it."

"Okay." Brother Martin nodded, then asked curiously, "But who are those two?"

"I only know that they were sent by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. I think they were called the Imperial Guards. They were definitely not ordinary businessmen." The dean said, "His Majesty had previously instructed that if they needed help, we had to cooperate. Normally, we were not allowed to ask them random questions or disturb them out of curiosity. So, don't ask them questions casually."

"Now, they are busy rescuing His Majesty, so we should be more diligent. Here, these are the records of the battlefield that were just delivered this morning. We should also count them in."

The other people nodded quickly.

They didn't have time to join in the fun, and immediately began to check the data. After a while, two Jinyiwei came out of the shed. Brother Martin looked up and saw them, so he stood up and shouted, "My two envoys, the data here has been sorted out."

The two men walked over quickly, and the dean picked up the booklet at hand.

"Someone also secretly visited the second battlefield." He said, "According to what we know so far, after the first battle, His Majesty tried to gather the remaining troops and retreat eastward to prepare for another battle. But that night, Sigismund organized elite troops to attack their station, and the army collapsed again. We completely lost contact with the court."

"However, some people also say that His Majesty later appeared in the north and fought with the enemy many times. In the end, he was forced to leave because he was unable to cope with the situation. But at present, there is no reliable evidence for this statement, so we have no way of judging whether it was His Majesty himself who commanded them."

"Some ministers and senior officers may have been captured by the enemy in the chaos. We urgently contacted our friends at the Nuremberg Chamber of Commerce and the Mainz Church, hoping to contact Sigismund's court through them. But at present, we don't know their detailed situation or whether they have been killed. We can only wait until we have contacted them and see if negotiations are necessary." "With the help of local villagers, we have carefully checked around the two battlefields and rescued some people. But there are still a large number of people missing."

"Those who were lost or missing due to the defeat included more than ten commanders, deputy governors, and assistant governors, and more than a hundred chief and deputy chiefs, governors, and garrisons. The total loss was more than 3,000 officers at all levels and more than 500 soldiers."

"Ah? The casualties among soldiers are so small?" The bearded Jinyiwei was a little surprised for a moment.

"They have always been like this." Another person next to him told him: "Wu Fan has a large organization but few people. Most of the people in their army have official positions."

"Uh……"

"These are from the military - but the actual losses should not be that great, because there must be many people who escaped, but they just didn't contact us." The dean continued: "Also, we are not the only ones actively active in the vicinity, there must be others who have escaped."

"However, the court itself also suffered considerable losses. In addition to the ministers who were previously sent out to carry out the mission and those who were ordered to stay behind, the others followed His Majesty and suffered losses in the battle. Currently, three officials from the six ministries have completely lost contact; Lord Huang and the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate have not been found yet. There may be hundreds of other ministers who have been lost. However, we only have information related to the army, and there is no way to count the losses of the court."

"At present, this is the general situation." He put away the booklet: "If we have any news, we will inform you in time. If the envoy learns of the movements of His Majesty the King of Wu, please inform us."

"We have a mission and we will try our best. Unfortunately, there are many times when we are powerless." The two men on the opposite side said helplessly: "But you can just do your work with peace of mind. He should be fine. Apart from anything else, if he runs away, we, the Jinyiwei, won't be able to find him..."

"Okay, okay..."

As they were talking, a tall young man walked over.

He was wearing an old suit of armor, and the cape on his shoulders was tattered, but the armor plates on his body were still well maintained. At this moment, he was not wearing a helmet, revealing his messy hair, two bruises on his face, and a cloth stuffed in his nostrils, looking a little embarrassed.

"Oh, this is the temporary leader of our camp, Sir Frank von Weishafen, the deputy commander of the Right Guard." The dean introduced: "He just..."

"I've seen them both before." Frank covered his nose and explained, "I'm sorry, I underestimated the enemy and got beaten up badly..."

"Have you told the envoy about our situation?"

"The report has been completed." The dean nodded.

"Is everything normal in the camp now?" A Jinyiwei looked at the place where everyone was gathered and asked: "Can we send more people now?"

"Sure. Just now, two more thousand soldiers followed this...Princess Jeanna to our camp." Frank thought about it and cautiously used the title of princess: "There are quite a few people here now. We should be able to take action after we have a discussion."

"It's quite fast." The bearded Jinyiwei praised again.

"Ah, it's still a bit confusing. There's nothing we can do." Frank scratched his head. "Some things I shouldn't say, but the previous order from the palace was really... radical. We have to split up into more than a dozen groups and each of us will go after the targets marked by His Majesty. In fact, I think what we should do now is not to eliminate these strongholds individually, but to concentrate our forces first and kill those die-hard supporters of Sigismund."

"Your Majesty wants to resolve the various separatist forces as quickly as possible. I understand this feeling, but we have to prioritize when eliminating their forces. This way, we will attract more opponents and we will also be dispersed."

"After the defeat of the imperial army, His Majesty and the Ministry of War lost contact with us, so we had to contact each other and gather together to make the next plan. However, this has increased the speed of our actions and the strength of our gathering. I think we are now even stronger than we were a few days ago. We can complete new tasks if there are any."

"Okay." The sturdy Jinyiwei beside him nodded and asked casually, "Come to think of it, you have been calling His Royal Highness the King of Wu 'Meyersti, King of Wu' or something like that. What does that mean?"

"This is the honorific title for the monarch in our local language," said Sir Frank. "It probably means a distinguished person, right?"

"This word comes from Latin. It originally represented national authority." The dean knew more and explained, "Later, monarchs of various countries, such as the kings of England and France, including Sigismund across the street, were also addressed this way by their subjects."

"Oh, that's right. It's almost the same idea as your highness." The two Jinyiwei understood.

At this time, the crowd cheered. Then, they dispersed to both sides. Everyone turned their heads to see that over there, several people were pulling up the deputy commander Hans, who they had met before. In the middle of the crowd, another knight put away his sword, took off his helmet, and revealed a determined face.

It can be seen that her face should have been pretty, but now, with obvious burn scars on one side of her face, she looked ferocious and fierce, like a wounded beast. Seeing that everyone here was looking at her, she threw her helmet to a knight next to her and strode over.

"Everyone," she called hoarsely, "can we talk now?"

(End of this chapter)