flstandardbreds Chapter 171 External Forces
Chapter 171 External Forces
In the winter of 1447, in a mansion located in the center of the French King's Hall near the square, Fidelicio, the patriarch of the Bandimeo family, was sitting at his desk, bending over to handle important affairs inside and outside the family.
Ever since he supported the new King of France to stabilize the political environment within the King's Office a few years ago and eliminated the opposition parties early through a series of means, he can now be said to have almost mastered half of the power of the King's Office. He also brought the Bandimeo family to the peak of its history and became the most influential family on the continent after the royal families of various countries.
With the endorsement of the French Royal Office, the Bandimeo family seized the wealth of various countries through religious activities, and quickly converted the money into power in the political, military, diplomatic and other fields of the family, so that he and his family only needed to give an order, and a group of people would do it for them. This not only achieved his goal, but also ensured that the family would not pay too much consequences for this matter.
After Fidelicao closed a document and put it aside, he was about to take out a document from the other side that he had not yet read to continue reviewing. However, when he took a quick look, he found a hint of blue mixed in with the stack of white documents.
For the sake of work efficiency, Fidelicio often ordered people to classify and divide the documents sent to him. Except for the French King's Hall, which was marked white, the affairs of other countries were distinguished according to the country's main color. This time, the blue document obviously came from the Kingdom of Midland.
When looking at the document, Fidelicio's tired eyelids twitched noticeably. What surprised him was not that this was a document from abroad, as he had handled several documents from the Southern Kingdom before, but that this document came from the Midland Kingdom.
Since the relationship between the French King's Office and Midland improved three years ago, the families from the French King's Office began to make arrangements in Midland. As the leader of the Bandimeo family, Fidelicio immediately participated in this game of power.
Compared with other families' military and economic investments in Midland, Fidelicio took a different approach and chose a unique way of cooperation - marriage.
Of course, Fidelicio did not want his family members to marry the nobles of Midlan. First, doing so would intensify the internal conflicts within the family. Second, the Bandimeo family did not have so many people for him to complete this plan.
In his opinion, an alliance formed by interests and force will not last long, and as the pride of the nobility, bloodline will always be the standard by which the nobility measure a person's status.
So, with the help of Fidelicio, some of his loyal retainers married the nobles from Midlan. As the price of the marriage, Fidelicio promised some financial and military support to help the Midlan nobles fight against other nobles in the country.
Unlike other nobles funded by the French King's Office, these Midland nobles who are deeply tied to the Bandimeo family will gain more resources, and their relationship with the Bandimeo family will become closer. After more than a decade, Fidelicao will gain a group of mixed-blood nobles who are pro-Bandimeo family. Although it may take a long time, it will be much easier for Fidelicao to plan for Midland.
However, all of this is currently in Fidilligo's plan, and his layout has just begun. Under the temptation of money and power, some impoverished Midlan nobles choose to marry some of his retainers, but Fidilligo also chooses people based on their personal preferences. For those noble children with small territories, Fidilligo will choose the children of civilian merchants in the family chamber of commerce to marry them, and provide them with money to help them fight for the inheritance of the territory. Once successful, their descendants will inevitably have a connection with Bandimeo.
So, logically speaking, there shouldn't be any major events happening in Miteran right now. Those nobles are either still staying in the King's Hall or returning to Miteran to develop their own power. In short, the document from Miteran in front of him really made Fidelicao feel suspicious.
While opening the document and browsing its contents, Fidelicor was still wondering if there was a flaw in his plan that led to its failure, or if those nobles were too arrogant to follow his advice and acted on their own, thus attracting the attention of the Midlan royal family.
After reading the document in its entirety, Fidelicao realized that he had been worrying too much. Rather than an international incident, the document seemed to Fidelicao like an interesting everyday dispute.
Looking at the familiar name on the document, Fidelicao gradually recalled what happened a few months ago.
That day he held a banquet for the Mitlan nobles living in the French King's Hall. This was to let Fidelicor judge who he could support through chatting and observation. The noble who wrote the letter also met him at this banquet, but because he was the only son in the family, Fidelicor did not propose the idea of marriage, but made him a promise to help him when he was in trouble.
Fidelicor forgot this promise not long after. In his opinion, it was just one of the countless polite words he said to others on various occasions. Even if there was something wrong, he could solve it completely with the background of the Bandimeo family, whether it was money or military problems. But he didn't expect that this nobleman would bring such a big enemy to Fidelicor right away.
"John Hohenzollern..."
Of course Fidelicor knew this name, as he was also paying attention to the Battle of Barden at that time, and John was one of his main observation objects. This upstart who had made many achievements in the war had become the overlord of the northeastern region of Midland in just three years through various wars.
Of course, Fidelicault would not let go of such a powerful but inexperienced nobleman, so after John wiped out the hostile forces in Franche-Comté, Fidelicault asked the nobles who were married to his family to send people to Franche-Comté several times to invite John to the French King's Hall to have a talk with him, but as expected, they couldn't even cross the border.
Originally, Fidelicio thought that this was because John was concerned that they were foreign forces. However, after a month of observation, he found that except for a few nobles with whom he had a good relationship, John did not allow any other nobles, regardless of their size, to enter. Seeing this, Fidelicio had no choice but to give up.
However, according to the letter, John Hohenzollern had kidnapped his fiancée in broad daylight, and he was unable to seek justice because of John's coercion, so he turned to Fidelicius of the French Royal Court for help.
Fidelicao took a quick look and found some suspicious points. First of all, why did John, a great nobleman, have so many girls pursuing him, but he tried to snatch the fiancée of an unknown nobleman? Besides, shouldn't the person who should be found for this matter be the King of Midland? Why didn't he find John's feudal lord, but a foreigner like Fidelicao? If he went there, he would not only lose face, but would also be noticed by the Midland royal family.
But if this was true, and he didn't do anything about it, if the noble said something else, his plan would be exposed.
Thinking of this, Fidelicio put the document in the drawer, ready to inquire around before taking any action.
However, thousands of miles away in the Yoda Empire, a carriage drove to the castle of Count Reginale. A middle-aged man got off the carriage, and before the castle steward greeted him as usual, the man hurriedly ordered the steward to take him to find Count Reginale.
After walking through several courtyard corridors, the man was led by the butler to the living room where Count Reginale was. After the butler pushed the door, bowed and said a few words to the inside and received a response, he turned to the man and invited him in.
In the living room, a stove embedded in the wall was glowing red, and the charcoal in the stove was burning red and emitting a warm breath.
Not far from the stove, Count Reginale was reading a book in his casual clothes with great interest. Hearing the footsteps approaching, Count Reginale closed the book, stood up and said enthusiastically to the man who was approaching:
"Count Nilan, why did you come here so suddenly? I was just about to bring a gift to thank you."
The Earl of Nilan on the other side replied awkwardly:
"Count Reginale, this visit is mainly for the matter of your daughter, Miss Matilda."
Speaking of Matilda, Count Reginale immediately asked:
"That's exactly what I was about to say thank you for. Although I haven't been to the border many times, I know how chaotic it is there."
"No, no, I mean Matilda..."
Noticing that something was wrong with Count Nilan's condition, Count Reginale seemed to know something and asked anxiously:
"What happened? Did something happen on the way? Was Matilda kidnapped?"
Hearing this, Earl Niland quickly replied:
"No, she has been escorted back to Wendam by the Midland army."
"Mitran's army!" Count Reginale hurriedly approached Count Nilan and asked in a more intense tone in the face of the other's bewildered expression:
"Count Niland, even if you can't send Matilda over, don't do this. You can write to me and tell me that you can't push my child into the fire pit!"
"No, it's not what you think. Let's sit down first and listen to me." Count Nilan hurriedly calmed Count Reginale's mood, and then told Count Reginale everything.
When he heard that his old friend had lost all his territory, Count Reginale said to Count Nilan with a bit of guilt:
"I'm really sorry. I didn't know this was the case. I thought Matilda was captured by the rebels. Since the leader is a noble, there is some protection. Let me write a letter to her mother first. In this world, it's not only difficult to be a commoner, but also to be a noble."
After expressing his feelings, Count Reginale asked Count Nilan:
"By the way, are you familiar with Earl John? Although they are both nobles, the two countries are at war, and I am afraid that he will do something inappropriate to Matilda."
Count Nilan also shook his head and said:
"I'm not familiar with him. The only thing I've heard about this person is that he can fight. I used to sneer at this, but now I've experienced it."
Looking at the falling snow outside the window, Reginale seemed to see the scene in his heart. After a dull moment, he sighed sadly:
"I hope nothing happens to Matilda..."