When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 518 The wind direction in Hotam County has changed

"This is the best offer from our Lord Count Sampoli. Please think carefully..."

The noble messenger's voice was shut behind the door, while Andre and Valentel walked side by side on the path dotted with tents.

They all lowered their heads in thought, without saying a word.

After more than an hour of talks, both sides had basically understood their positions and demands.

Valentyl, as the main force of the Holy Sun Righteous Army, had already had a premonition about the so-called "peace talks" by the nobles.

Ever since the Lancers wreaked havoc, the nobles and the Holy Sun Righteous Army had reached an unspoken understanding.

A large number of people who had fled from the Lancers joined the rebel army, and the nobles did little to stop them.

Among these new members, there are even quite a few craftsmen and citizens.

In the past, these were rare talents, but now they have actually run out of towns and joined the rebel army.

The reason is simple: the Lancers have finally spread from rural areas to urban areas.

After these Lancers recruited a group of local ruffians, they began to collect war taxes from local townspeople. On average, each household had to pay a terrible war tax of 1 to 3 gold pounds.

After all this, the morale of the Imperial Order Company naturally rose steadily, while the resentment among the people became increasingly serious.

Not only the common people, but even many nobles came into conflict with the Lancers, but most of them were mediated by Lacunio, Banifos and others.

How could the noble lords of Hotam County swallow this humiliation? They dared not disobey openly, so they secretly opened the door for the Saint Sun Righteous Army.

But it was the first time for them to be approached for insider trading.

In the tents on both sides, the newly joined warriors were sharpening their rusty daggers and saber sticks on whetstones.

Children in patched new clothes ran back and forth with wooden swords, while women walked and talked with jars on their heads.

The aroma of cooking smoke and bread filled his nose, and Valentyl stopped and looked towards the sunset in the distance.

"If we don't agree, the other rebels will." Seeing Valentyl stop, Andre said, "You also know that they are not rebelling to eliminate the nobles, but to become nobles."

"I know." Valentyl replied in a muffled voice, but did not continue.

The conditions offered by Count Sampoli were very convenient.

He promised not to hinder the activities of the Holy Sun Army and allowed them to engage in smuggling, but would not allow them to launch another attack on the Knight's Manor.

For the captured members of the Holy Sun Righteous Army, the two sides can exchange prisoners, and the nobles can provide ransom if they do not have prisoners.

During the winter, they can provide some clothing and food.

The Earl even kindly offered to send a group of unknown people to help them train the army.

To the envoy's surprise, this most important military aid was rejected by them. Instead, the farmers of the Shengsun Righteous Army hoped to obtain a batch of weapons and armor.

It was naturally impossible to provide armor, but the Earl of Hotham County still had a lot of stocks of spears and daggers.

The envoy naturally agreed readily, but Andre was the one who did most of the negotiations. As the main leader, Valentyl only asked one thing, which was "conditions."

They had two conditions. The first was that they could not stop the farmer from returning home. This was easy to agree on.

The second one was to ask the Shengsun Righteous Army to change its course and change its flag from Shengsun's name to Melia's.

It is hard not to think that this condition means that Meliati's 50 dinars have arrived.

But Andre could see clearly that after a long period of defeat and changes in the war situation, these nobles had reached the limit of tolerance.

The Lancers' actions of seeking food and dividing the land finally broke the camel's back, forcing these die-hard church factions to climb over the wall.

All their current actions are intended to give Melia a heads-up so that they can be treated preferentially when they surrender.

The nobles had made a decision on the two enemies of the Thousand Valley Church - they would rather choose Meliati than the demon Horn.

Although the former is cruel, at least one can retain basic status and have a chance to make a comeback.

The latter seems kind, but her methods are even worse than Meliati's.

It's just that Meliati treats nobles and commoners equally, while this demon only targets nobles. "Of course, we are only temporarily united, and then we will welcome the Savior Army. After the Holy Sun Righteous Army is disbanded, we will join the Savior Army. Then the previous agreement can naturally be invalidated." Andre continued to persuade.

Although he is the executive vice-pope, the person who really has the power to make decisions is Valentyl.

Although Andre also has a group of fans, they are still not enough in front of Valentyl, who has the blessing of the saint's grandson and fame.

"I know." Valen Taylor still said indifferently.

Andre stopped suddenly and grabbed his arm. For the first time, his face was solemn and serious: "You can't escape. You have to give me a definite answer."

Valentyl didn't look back. After a moment of silence, he just responded lightly: "I don't believe these nobles, never again..."

Valen Taylor was born into a family of manor stewards, and his family has been stewards of the manor for generations.

His father and elder brother used to be stewards of the estate and were even allowed to eat at the New Year's Eve banquet.

After his brother died, he inherited the position of steward, and he performed his duties conscientiously, whether it was distributing land, managing farmers, or selling and purchasing surplus grain.

Among the many knights' estates in the surrounding area, the one he managed always had the best harvest.

He would have lived his life as an ordinary butler until he heard about the blue-blood orphans from passing merchants.

Then Valen Taylor finally understood what was being sold in the secret account book left by his dead brother.

"Those nobles stole my only son, my brother's only son and daughter, and wiped out my family line. Then they brewed the blood of my flesh and blood into wine, poured it into my cup, and asked me to drink.

When I drank it, I never understood why they laughed so happily..."

Leaving Andre's hand aside, Valentel touched the scar on his palm where the candlestick had pierced it: "I was so grateful at that time that I knelt down and swore never to betray you.

I treated them as my family and the young master as my own son, taking good care of him.

Later, I wanted to spare the child's life, but he picked up the candlestick and tried to kill me by surprise. He never treated me as a relative, but as a servant.

So I stabbed his throat with a candlestick and pushed him down from the third floor of the castle."

Valentyl recalled that rainy night countless times in his mind, and he could even tell it to Andre as if he were a stranger.

Only at this time did Andre seem to see the shadow of Valentyl, the violent fugitive who killed the knight's entire family.

A full year had passed since Valen Taylor killed the lord and fled at the end of last year, and accepted funding from the Magdi Chamber of Commerce before returning to Hotam County.

In the first six months, they did not achieve much.

In the second half of the year, their numbers and strength expanded like a sponge.

In addition to the circumstances in which local forces were transferred away and Andre's plan, the most important thing was the motivation of the battle record.

The defeat and demise of four Imperial Order Companies gave almost all the desperate people a glimmer of hope.

All the rebels in Hotham County came together under the banner of fighting against the nobility and the church.

The first are a large number of low-level monks from the Juano sect. Currently, many of the Holy Sun Righteous Army are organized by low-level monks from the Juano sect.

The next group of people were refugees and craftsmen who had fled from various places, and even the second sons of knights.

The most ridiculous thing is that there were even three Temple Knights among them, as well as dozens of night guards, armed peasants and monks.

These most die-hard supporters of the church actually chose to stand against the church.

After turning from fans to haters, these rebels showed a fanatical attitude of converts in quitting and turning against the fans, and they were the most radical part.

If they secretly make peace with the nobles, or change the flag to Meliati's, the morale of the army will surely be disrupted to a certain extent.

"I'm sorry, I can't make this decision."

"This is a different time. I'm not asking you to give up your hatred." Andre was prepared to pretend to surrender and regret it later. Otherwise, with the current surge in the number of Saint Sun's troops, it would be difficult to survive this winter.

The usually good-tempered Valentyl shook his head firmly: "This is not a deal, this is a compromise."

"How about this?" Seeing Valentyl was so stubborn, Andre rubbed his aching head, "How about we write a letter to His Holiness the Pope and let him decide?"

(End of this chapter)