Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 563 The Enthusiastic Young Master John and the Bewildered Archduke of Bourbon [Please Subscribe]

Upon learning that the Ming Dynasty mercenaries, disguised as bandits, were attacking the lords of the First Burgundy lineage at the behest of the Grand Duke of Bourbon, John dared not linger and cautiously made his way out of the camp.

He faced several dangers along the way, but ultimately escaped unscathed, allowing him to flee the Ming Dynasty mercenary camp.

Unbeknownst to John, shortly after he left, the camp, which had appeared to be hosting a dance, returned to silence. If someone were watching from above, they would have seen soldiers patrolling the entire camp in perfect order.

About an hour later, several elite scouts returned to the camp to report to Zhu Gui.

"Your Majesty, we followed John all the way to a village, and watched him steal a bad horse from the village and run towards the city of Salon before returning."

Zhu Gui nodded, "Although John is a good-for-nothing, his riding and swordsmanship are not bad. Now that we have horses, returning safely to Sharon should not be a problem."

Below, Gordon laughed upon hearing this, "I wonder what John would think if he knew how much the King was worried about his safe return to Sharon."

Zhu Gui smiled and said, "He will definitely thank us."

At this moment, Xiong Tingrui said with doubt, "Your Majesty, I have heard that the Duke of Burgundy, Philip II, is an old fox. If he does not believe the news that John heard, then wouldn't we have let John go for nothing?"

Before Zhu Gui could speak, Zou Wuji, who had proposed the plan, said, "Commander Xiong is overthinking it—Philip II and Louis II are political enemies and are naturally prone to suspicion. Now that he has heard this news from his son, how can he not be suspicious?"

"Even if he doesn't suspect anything, we can just let John, this good-for-nothing, go. He'll still hold a high position in the French army when he goes back, and next time he might lead his army to its doom at our hands."

Zhu Gui nodded, "Counselor Zou is right. It's no big deal to let a good-for-nothing like John go."

"Next, we can wait for Philip II's reaction while continuing to pretend to be bandits and attack these pro-peace French lords, so as to cover up the recruitment of entourage."

"As ordered!"

···
···
John returned to Chalons and joined the more than two thousand Snow Lion Knights who had also fled there. Ignoring the speculations and attempts to persuade the Chalons nobles, including Count Auxerre, he hurriedly led the Snow Lion Knights to Paris.

He had to inform his father of Louis II's plot as soon as possible!
John returned to his familiar Paris in just a few days, riding swiftly.

Upon meeting his father, Philip II, John immediately recounted his experiences in a slightly altered manner. In John's account, Louis II, knowing that he had led the Snow Lion Knights to southwestern France to mediate disputes among lords, deliberately set a trap, taking advantage of the unsuspecting enemy, which led to John's near annihilation of the entire Snow Lion Knights in a single battle.

Finally, John, his eyes bloodshot, said, "Father, I think Louis II shouldn't be called Louis the Good, but Louis the Schemer."

"On the surface, he agreed to your request, saying he would restrain the Ming mercenaries, but secretly he instructed them to impersonate bandits and attack the pro-peace faction lords. His aim was to weaken the pro-peace faction's strength and thus replace you as the new Grand Duke Regent of France."

"Father, if Louis II and his ilk are not eliminated, I fear the Kingdom of France will never have a day of peace. As for the Duchy of Burgundy's desire to truly gain independence, that seems a distant dream!"

Upon hearing this, Philip II frowned deeply, his graying brows furrowing. He murmured, "Louis II shouldn't be that kind of person. How could he possibly instruct mercenaries to impersonate bandits and attack the Lords of the Peace Faction? Isn't he afraid of being ridiculed and ostracized by the other lords if things are exposed?"

"Father!" John exclaimed urgently, "Even if things are exposed, Louis II can simply shift the blame onto the mercenaries!"

Philip II thought about it and realized that it was indeed true.

Louis could simply feign ignorance and say, "I don't know. I didn't give the Ming mercenaries such an order—and they don't completely follow my commands."

With just one sentence, all blame could be absolved and the Ming Dynasty mercenaries could be made the scapegoat.

At this point, John added, “Father, now that we have signed a twenty-year peace treaty with England, it is time to free up our hands to deal with our internal enemies in France.”

"Since Louis II is targeting you so much and has even brought in Ming Dynasty mercenaries as allies, why don't we take advantage of the fact that they haven't grown too strong and our forces haven't been weakened too much, gather a large army, and wipe them out!"

"Wait a minute!" Philip II gestured for John to stop talking.

Let me think about it..."

“Father, what else are you thinking about?!” John asked impatiently.

Philip II felt that his son was seriously interfering with his thinking, so he shouted, "Get out of here!"

John had no choice but to leave Philip II's study. From that day on, John displayed his greatest skill—social skills.

He frequented various social events in Paris, such as banquets and balls. Whenever he met a nobleman, he would tell him about Louis II's conspiracy, saying that Louis II wanted to weaken the pro-peace faction and become Grand Duke Regent, thus reigniting the war between France and England.

Because John was the first heir to the Duchy of Burgundy and spoke with such certainty, many people believed him.

So when this story reached the ears of Louis II of the Duchy of Bourbon two weeks later, he was completely dumbfounded.

"what?"

"I had Ming Dynasty mercenaries disguise themselves as bandits and attack the territories of pro-peace nobles?"

"Are you kidding me? The Ming Dynasty mercenaries are paid so much, I'm usually reluctant to assign them tasks, why would I spend so much money to have them do this kind of thing?!"

Louis II was completely baffled, even bewildered.

Then he couldn't help but ask, "Could it be that those Ming Dynasty mercenaries acted on their own initiative and stormed those nobles' manors and castles in order to plunder their wealth?"

At this moment, Baron Wayne, who was also an important official of the Duchy of Bourbon, spoke up: "Your Excellency, the Pingyi Guard from Jin and the Four Kings mercenary camp are both in the suburbs. A few days ago, I was ordered by you to deliver a batch of grain and supplies. How could they appear in the southwest to attack the Baron of Saran and defeat the Snow Lion Knights?"

"It's obviously fabricated!"

Louis II suddenly realized, "Indeed, both mercenary groups are on the outskirts of the city. It couldn't have been these two mercenaries who defeated the Snow Lion Knights in Saran. So, who are those bandits? Could they really be bandits?"

Baron Wayne said, "How could bandits possibly defeat the Snow Lion Knights? Your Excellency, I think this is all fabricated by John."

"Perhaps Philip II instructed him to do this, deliberately damaging your reputation so that you would be disgraced in the Kingdom of France, and even stripped of your title and the Duchy of Bourbon!"

Louis was startled upon hearing this.

He hadn't thought of it that way before, but now that he thinks about it, given Philip II's shrewdness, it's indeed possible that he would do it.

Furthermore, as far as he knew, Philip II wanted to conclude a twenty-year peace treaty with England in order to free up his resources to deal with the forces in France that opposed him.

He and his Duchy of Bourbon were undoubtedly the core of his opposition forces, so it was only natural that he was framed by Philip II.

After regaining his composure, Louis II couldn't help but ask, "So what should I do now? Go to Paris and explain to those nobles that this was Philip II's conspiracy?"

Baron Wayne said, “Your Excellency, Paris is now Philip II’s territory, and he has always intended to deal with you. If you go there, wouldn’t you be like a lamb walking into the mouth of a wolf?”

“I think that you should not only not go to Paris right now, but also be more vigilant and keep the Duchy’s army ready for war at any time. If Philip II really uses this matter to strip you of your Grand Dukeship and try to eliminate the Duchy of Bourbon, you must not accept it obediently.”

"Now that you have two powerful Ming Dynasty mercenary armies helping you, you can let Philip II and the other pro-peace faction know who is the most powerful duke in the Kingdom of France!"

Louis II was the third Grand Duke of Bourbon, and naturally did not want the Duchy of Bourbon to be destroyed in his hands. He even had a dream like Philip II's—to make the Duchy of Bourbon completely independent, or even a kingdom.

Therefore, upon hearing Baron Wayne's words, he subconsciously nodded, "You're right, the Duchy of Bourbon must not be destroyed by conspirators!"

After speaking, Louis II returned to his study and began signing orders to ensure that the army of the Duchy of Bourbon was ready for war at any time.

At the same time, he wrote to his allies, including the Earl of Navel, who were in favor of war, explaining to them, firstly, the conspiracy of Philip to slander him, and secondly, to inform his allies to be ready to send troops to support him at any time.

After finishing writing these letters, Louis II came out of his study and saw that Wayne was still there. He said, "Wayne, I'll have to trouble you to go to the mercenary camp on the outskirts of the city again and talk to them about a new mercenary mission."

“Yes, Your Excellency.” Wayne smiled.

He was originally going to the mercenary camp—he had done what they asked him to do: "persuade" Louis II.

This time, he should be able to collect a considerable amount of money.

(End of this chapter)