Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 560 Zhu Gui: We can't do without a French eunuch by our side [Please Subscribe]

John is the eldest son of Philip II and is twenty-six years old this year.

Historically, he was supposed to lead a Burgundian crusade this year to fight against the Ottoman Empire.

Although Burgundy was one of the most powerful principalities in the Kingdom of France, its strength was not significant in the context of the entire Eurasian continent, and it was far inferior to the rising Ottoman Empire.

Therefore, in the original history, the Crusaders suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Nicopolis, and John was captured and held captive by the Ottomans for more than half a year before being released after Philip II paid a sufficient ransom.

John then became a political schemer in the Kingdom of France, inheriting Philip II's will to try to separate Burgundy completely from the Kingdom of France and make it a completely independent country.

In this process, he colluded with King Henry V of England, assassinated his political rival Louis I of Orléans, and controlled the mad King Charles VI, using every means at his disposal.

But now, because he did not lead the Crusade against the Ottomans, nor did he suffer any major setbacks in his life, he still acts like a self-righteous "prince".

Therefore, he particularly despised those nobles who, for the sake of a little profit, disregarded the dignity of the nobility, sent their private armies to impersonate bandits and plunder, or even personally led men to plunder.

Philip II frowned and said, "I'm afraid things aren't that simple—I have a feeling there's a shadow looming over the southwest, which could very well be related to those two mercenary groups from the Ming Empire."

John said, "What does it have to do with them? Didn't Father talk to Louis II and get him to keep those mercenaries in check?"

Philip II said, “Good man Louis has agreed to this matter and is wary of those two mercenary groups, but I’m afraid he won’t be able to control those troops from the Ming Empire.”

John said, “Father, I have heard that many of those mercenaries are farmers recruited from the local areas, and some are from the southern and western coasts of the Mediterranean. There are very few people from the East who are actually from the Ming Dynasty.”

"Why are you so wary of these people? Besides, they're just mercenaries. At most, they'll pretend to be bandits and rob some minor lords. What great harm could they possibly cause?"

“I hope so,” said Philip II. “However, the southwest cannot continue to be in such chaos. You will lead the Snow Lion Knights to mediate the disputes between those minor lords.”

John was reluctant. “Father, this is not something I should be doing—perhaps I should be going to England as an envoy or leading a crusade against the Ottomans.”

“John!” Philip scolded, “A person who always looks up at the sky while walking and never looks down at his feet will fall down sooner or later!”

"Although you are my son and hold a high-ranking position in the kingdom's army, you have not yet achieved anything noteworthy."

"If you can mediate the dispute among the many minor lords in the southwest this time, you will gain great prestige—which will be very beneficial for the future independence of our Duchy of Burgundy from France!"

John was more interested in making the Duchy of Burgundy independent, or even a kingdom, than Philip, so upon hearing this, he changed his mind and nodded, saying, "Alright, I'll take the Snow Lion Knights with me."

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Baron Salan.

On the castle walls, the young Baron Saran looked at the bandit army outside the city with a mixture of fear and resentment.

There were more than 3,000 bandits outside the castle, including more than 500 cavalrymen, all of whom were equipped with excellent armor. Even the infantrymen were not badly equipped.

Would this army be a bandit army?

Only a ghost can believe it.

Thinking about the recent events in his territory, he figured that his rival, Baron Elias, must have colluded with bandits to take advantage of the chaos in the southwest, eliminate him, and then annex his territory!
Woohoo~!

The robbers sounded the horn of attack.

Rows of catapults were pushed to the front of the position and began to hurl stones at the castle.

Although Baron Saran also deployed catapults on the castle walls, not only were there fewer of them than his opponents, but their throwing distance was also shorter, leaving him only able to passively take hits.

While the castle garrison was pinned down and unable to raise their heads, a small squad quickly ran to the castle gate and began digging a pit.

They seemed to have received specialized training, or perhaps they were miners by trade; in no time, they had dug a fairly large pit under the city gate.

Then, another squad carrying large boxes rushed forward under the cover of catapults.

On the castle, Baron Saran's knight commander risked peeking out and saw this scene, but was puzzled: "Your Excellency, the enemy has brought a large box to the city gate. What are they planning to do?"

"A big box?" Baron Saran, as a nobleman, had his own social circle and knew much more than the knight commander.

Upon hearing this, he quickly recalled hearing some nobles discuss the combat methods of the two Ming Dynasty mercenary groups, and it seemed that they mentioned that the Ming Dynasty mercenaries would use a magic box to blow open the castle gate.

Therefore, almost any castle became vulnerable in the face of Ming Dynasty mercenaries.

Upon realizing this, Saran exclaimed, "These people are actually mercenaries from the Ming Dynasty?!"

Then he asked in confusion, "Wait a minute, some of the mercenaries from the Ming Dynasty are Turks and Mongols, but these bandits in front of us are clearly French?"

"Could it be that Elias bought the explosive magic box from those two Ming Dynasty mercenary groups?" Before Saran could figure it out, a loud bang was heard, and then the castle shook violently as if an earthquake had struck.

Then came the screams of many defenders, clearly indicating that people near the city gate had been seriously injured by the explosion.

Some people were shouting in panic, "The castle is broken! Run!"

“It’s all over, all over!” Baron Saran collapsed to the ground.

The knight captain said, "Your Excellency, what should we do now? The bandits are about to storm the castle."

Saran forced himself to pull himself together and said, "Since they aren't really bandits, I'll surrender to them. Maybe I can exchange my property for my life."

So Baron Saran, instead of ordering the remaining garrison to resist, led the garrison to lay down their weapons and welcome the "bandits" who had stormed in.

Outside the city, Zhu Gui was quite surprised to hear that Baron Salan had defected to the French. He was both tyrannical and fond of military affairs. So, after making many arrangements, he joined the Second Guard of the French Escort Army led by Gordon and pretended to be a bandit, hoping to get some relief.

He had expected the French nobleman to fight to the death against the bandits, but to his surprise, the enemy surrendered as soon as the castle was breached.

"Why did Baron Salan surrender?" Zhu Gui asked, puzzled.

Gordon laughed and said, “Your Majesty, perhaps he thinks that surrendering can save his life—in France, or even throughout Europe, nobles who are captured are not only not killed, but can also regain their freedom through ransom.”

Zhu Gui blinked and said, "But we are bandits. Now that we have breached his castle, all the treasures inside are ours. Why would we need him to exchange them?"

Gordon said, "Your Majesty is right, Baron Saran is too foolish."

Zhu Gui then said, "Never mind, let's bring this person here so we can meet him."

Before long, Baron Salan was brought before Zhu Gui.

Upon seeing Zhu Gui's face, Baron Salan finally had a more certain guess about the enemy's identity, but he still couldn't help but probe, "Are you mercenaries from the Ming Dynasty?"

After listening to the translation, Zhu Gui laughed and said, "Since you know our identities, it seems we can't let you live."

Baron Saran was so frightened that he immediately knelt down and hurriedly said, "Your Excellency, I know nothing—I have a lot of wealth elsewhere, I can redeem myself!"

Zhu Gui said, "You say you don't know, but how can we believe you?"

Saran said, “I can swear in the name of Christ that I will never reveal your identities.”

Zhu Gui shook his head. "Don't think we don't understand Christ—since you said such a thing, it proves that you are not devout in your Christian faith. What credibility do oaths made in the name of Christ have?"

Baron Salan had no choice but to kneel on the ground in despair.

Zhu Gui sized up Baron Salan and found that the man was at most in his early twenties, with deep and delicate features, and a kind of Western-style male body with female features. So Zhu Gui had an idea and said, "If you want to live, there is another way, but I don't know if you are willing."

Upon hearing this, Baron Saran's will to survive surged immediately, and he hurriedly said, "I'm willing to do anything to live, even sell my soul to the devil."

“We don’t need your soul.” Zhu Gui revealed a strange smile, then said, “Find the army doctor and castrate this man—since we’ve come to France, we can’t do without a French eunuch by our side. This man is quite capable and is suitable for some training.”

The translator did not translate this sentence.

Baron Saran still sensed something was amiss from Zhu Gui's eerie smile.

However, he couldn't think of anything more terrifying than death.

It wasn't until he was led to a room in the castle, where a man who looked like a doctor came in, had his hands and feet tied to the bed, pulled down his pants, and revealed a sharp scalpel, that he realized what was about to happen.

"No!"

A piercing scream tore through the sky above Baron Saran's castle, just like the land girls he had forcibly brought to the castle and ravaged before...

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Shalon.

This is a city in southwestern France, located in the County of Auxerre, and is one of the important cities in the southwest.

John's first stop in the southwest with the Snow Lion Knights was here. John wanted to avoid trouble, so he planned to invite all the minor lords of the southwest to Shalon and tell them that they should no longer fight each other. Then he would ask who agreed and who disagreed.

Anyone who dared to object would be taught a lesson by the Snow Lion Knights, letting them know the majesty of the son of the Grand Duke of Burgundy.

(End of this chapter)