Continental Warriors Yoo Ma

After Didi left, Ma Youfu discovered that the Earl of Warwick had been watching not far away.

After seeing Ma Youfu looking over, the Earl of Warwick nodded slightly, and then walked up to him: "Master Marquis, your kindness to the common people is amazing. Now I know why Lady Duris has such a good relationship with you, and why Our Saintess of England has also given you a very high evaluation. Maybe others think it is accidental, but I think it is a matter of course that you can get the golden flame battle flag."

Today, the Earl of Warwick represented England at the Entrance of Charles VII and the unveiling of the sculpture.Now that the matter is over, he does not intend to go to the Louvre to attend the banquet, but is ready to leave immediately and return to England.

But the Earl of Warwick had one last mission in Paris: to escort the body of the Duke of Bedford to Rouen for his burial.

The duke's widow had arrived in Rouen a few days ago to oversee the construction of the cemetery.

Under the great charm of the gold coins, the bishop of Rouen fully cooperated and chose a geomantic treasure site behind the church, mobilized manpower to work overtime, and soon built a cemetery suitable for the status of the Duke of Bedford.

"My lord, Madam Anne wants you to write an inscription on the Duke's tombstone, so please return to Rouen as soon as possible after you have dealt with various affairs in Paris."

Although in this world, there are similar spells, there is no need to worry about the body being left to rot for too long, but it is not a good thing if it is delayed for a long time.

"I see. In three days at the most, I will set off for Rouen."

The Earl of Warwick didn't say anything else, he just took off his hat and bowed to Ma Youfu, then took his leave and left, leaving only a bleak figure behind.

Although the nobles of both countries suffered heavy casualties in the battle on the night of September [-]th.But the survivors in France today all look like "I am the hero who defeated the minions of the evil god and saved Paris", and the overall atmosphere is high-spirited.

On the England side, however, there is a decadent atmosphere.

Perhaps this is because the Duke of Bedford is dead, the life of the little king is uncertain, and the future of the Kingdom of England is uncertain.

One-fifth of Henry VI's soul was melted away, and now he is staying in St. Michael's Abbey, receiving treatment from professional soul healers sent from Rome.

It is said that the environment of Mount Saint-Michel is special, and magic users can communicate with Mount Paradise more easily here, and the effect of casting spells is better. That's why England chose this place to heal the little king.

Charles VII did not stop, and even enthusiastically expressed his willingness to provide all help.In his opinion, Henry VI, whose soul was already mutilated, would turn into an idiot even if he woke up, and could not pose a threat at all. He might as well be a good man and show his magnanimity as the King of France.

In addition, Elizabeth and Joan of Arc, the saints of England and France, are also at the Abbey of Saint-Michel.

Elizabeth was commissioned by the Archbishop of Beaufort to look after Henry VI.Joan of Arc, on the other hand, carried out the "Holy Land Pilgrimage" here.

The pilgrimage to the holy land referred to here is of course not the behavior of the later generations of Azhai who went to the actual place where the material was collected to check in and travel after watching the show of Healing the Macho Man.

As a well-known holy place of the Seven Saints, Mont Saint-Michel is already well-known, and because of its glorious deeds of independently resisting the siege of England for decades in the Hundred Years War, it has also become a symbol of indomitability and courage in the minds of many French people. monument.Even Joan herself, who took the first step to save France from the small village of Donremy, was also influenced by Mont Saint-Michel.

After the end of the Hundred Years' War, the pilgrimage of the French saint to Mont Saint-Michel is a matter of great symbolic significance and can inspire the hearts of the whole of France.

At the dinner hosted by Charles VII, Ma Youfu found that he had no chance to have a private meeting with the queen, so he left early, went to Notre Dame, and visited Donatello who was staying there.

The identity of this Italian is not only a famous sculptor, but also one of the 12 elders of the group of wise men in the Purification Court.He was sent to Paris by the Holy See. In addition to creating commemorative sculptures, he also had another major task, which was to investigate the invasion of black orcs from another world.

Accompanying him were four trial knights of the Tribunal.

It's just that the high-end force that the Seven Saints Church relies on most is not good at finding clues, piecing together all kinds of information, and then peeling off cocoons, summarizing, and drawing conclusions.It is still Donatello, the think tank priests under his command, and the priest Mirna who performed miracles with the power of prophecy.

"Mr. Donatello, the Duke of Bedford said before his death that Le Camus, who pretended to be Bishop of Bowen, frequently visited the 'Red Tit' tavern during his stay in Paris. You have made a breakthrough. Yet?"

Chapter 290 The Son of Salt Mist

"Don't be so anxious, Your Excellency the Earl...No, I should call you the Marquis now." Donatello was still dressed casually in his toga and bare feet in his luxuriously decorated guest room.He looked at Youfu Ma appreciatively, "Farewell to Sharon, you have made amazing achievements in less than a year, it really makes people feel a lot of emotion."

Donatello took out his pipe, carefully stuffed some shredded tobacco into it, and snapped his fingers. With a "whoosh", a ray of flame ignited at his fingertips.Donatello lit the pipe with the flame, and took a puff of the cigarette happily.

"Master Marquis, you really don't want to give it a try? The tobacco cultivation in the Court of Purification has been a great success. Although it cannot be widely promoted in Europe due to climate reasons, this plant is still worthy of being enjoyed by spellcasters with extra pockets. It is very useful to take a sip when you are stuck in thinking or your magic power is exhausted."

Seeing that Ma Youfu was indifferent, Donatello showed a self-defeating wry smile, and then got to the point: "I have thoroughly investigated the 'Red Tit' tavern, and I did find some useful information. That cultist named Le Camus , I visited the tavern three times. According to the information provided by the tavern owner and regular customers, Le Camus did not consume any alcohol every time he went, but just stayed in a private room with someone for 10 minutes to half an hour, and quietly leave."

"who?"

"This is thanks to our priests Mirna. They used the prophecy school of magic to conduct repeated and detailed searches, and finally found out the identity of the mysterious man - the captain nicknamed 'Son of Salt Mist'. To be precise , is a great pirate active in the Mediterranean."

"Mulholland?"

When mentioning the pirates in the Mediterranean Sea, Ma Youfu subconsciously thought of this group.After all, who hasn't heard of the great name of North African pirates?

"No, he neither believes in the Lord Mulholland nor the Seven Saints." Donatello said, "It is said that the origin of the Son of Salt Mist is very complicated. His father was a sergeant of the Knights of the Hospital, and his mother was A Tunisian woman. His parents died early, and he joined the mercenary regiment in Italy at the age of 14, earning a living by fighting for his life. Because of his mixed-race status, he was discriminated against in the mercenary regiment, and he did the most dangerous work on the battlefield. The commission was very little. Later, in a battle where North African pirates plundered Sicily, the Son of Salt was captured.

It is a pity that the Mulholland pirates did not recognize the Son of Salt Mist as a believer in God, and sold him as a slave to become an oarsman on a galley warship.

In this era, the oarsman on a galley warship can be said to be the most dangerous of all military positions, with the highest death rate—no, the oarsman is just a slave, not a position at all, just a waste of time on a warship Goods.

Perhaps because he had suffered enough, the Son of Salt Mist did not die on the galley.In another storm, the warship he was on sank, but he was lucky enough to escape.

Later, it is said that when the Son of Salt Mist was drifting at sea, he received the blessing of the ancient sea god and possessed powerful extraordinary power. From a fugitive slave, he rose step by step to become the most powerful pirate in the Western Mediterranean.

The Son of Salt Mist does not care about religion or nationality, as long as there are enough interests, anyone will dare to rob and kill anyone.Because the trade routes were plundered, both the Republic of Venice and the Mamluk Sultanate organized fleets to encircle and suppress the Sons of Salt, but without exception, they all failed.

It is not good news that such a vicious big pirate has contacted with crazy cultists.

Seeing Ma Youfu frowning slightly, Donatello smiled and said: "Don't worry too much, Mr. Marquis. I have good news-Le Camus colluded with the Son of Salt Fog, just to transport some secret goods, not to do it. It's a crazy thing to attack coastal cities in various countries."

"Secret shipment? How much? How many times? Where is the destination?"

Seeing Ma Youfu asking a lot of questions like a cannonball, Donatello was not in a hurry to answer, but just poured him a glass of wine: "Try the fine wines of Florence, compared with the wines of Burgundy and Bordeaux , don't have a flavor."

Ma Youfu couldn't taste the quality of the wine.But he also realized that his mentality was a little impatient.

Even though he repelled the black orc army that invaded from another world, every time he looked at the golden sun mark on his hand, the message he got remained unchanged: "Save France in crisis and open your elite path."

In other words, the conspiracy brewed by the New World Order is still in progress, and it is even very likely that it will be launched soon.

Recalling his several confrontations with this mysterious cult, Ma Youfu felt more and more that the other party had big plans, so he naturally became anxious.

Such a mentality is not good.

Introspecting, Ma Youfu took a deep breath, then grabbed the glass and downed the wine in one gulp.

As a spellcaster, he is usually quite restrained in drinking.But the feeling of gradually relaxing in the slight drunkenness is quite good.

"That's right." Donatello nodded and continued the topic just now. "The only information we have is that there are four pieces of goods that the New World Religious Order entrusted the Son of Salt Mist to transport. I don't know anything else. After all , Even the spells of the School of Prophecy are not omnipotent and have many restrictions. Moreover, the enemy is also very cautious, and will carefully clean up the traces of everything they do, and use spells to cut off the connection of the line of cause and effect."

Although the investigation in Paris has yielded some results, it has not made any staged progress.The two continued to brainstorm for other breakthroughs.

"During the siege of Paris, military control was implemented in the city, and with the Duke of Bedford in charge, it was difficult for Le Camus to find opportunities for small movements. He must have exhausted his ability to make such a big commotion on September [-]th. Full strength, no time to do other things. Maybe we can let go of our vision..."

Donatello's words gave Ma Youfu an idea: "According to the information obtained from the inquiries of those who had contact with Bishop Bowen, his temperament and living habits have changed. He returned to Paris after the Battle of Chalons. At the beginning. It’s just that the bishop passed the undead detection at that time, so no one suspected that he was resurrected from the dead, let alone that there were cultists lurking in Paris through his skin.”

"Since the end of the Battle of Chalons, the Bishop of Bowen has become Le Camus, maybe there will be new discoveries based on his whereabouts since then?"

The two went ahead and quickly found useful information from a large amount of investigation materials.

"From last winter to April this year, Bishop Bowen has returned to his diocese four times!"

It just so happens that the Bishopric of Bowen is in the Earl of Beaumont.

Chapter 290

Since it is in its own territory, things are much simpler, and the search can be carried out without the cooperation of the local lord.

The next day, Ma Youfu and his entourage, together with members of Donatello's Purification Court, went to Bowen Diocese.

At Bishop Bowen's home, Ma Youfu found some leftover paper in the fireplace.Donatello immediately felt like he had found a treasure, and carefully took out the paper that had been burnt to the point where only scraps remained.

Then, through the restoration of various magics by the priests of the think tank and priests of Mirna, some readable text was finally obtained.

"First shipment, Day of Rose Withering, 2000 to 2200."

"The second shipment, Mother's Cry Day, 2030 to 2200."

"The third batch of goods, the bloody day, 2010 to 2300."

"The fourth shipment, black rat outbreak day, 2000 to 0000."

Although these texts show that Le Camus commissioned the Son of Salt to deliver four shipments, it is still unclear how many months and days those four days were.As for what the latter numbers mean, I have no idea for the time being.

"As for the conspiracy of the New World Order, I will continue to investigate. Lord Marquis, if you find anything, please inform me in time. Let's not pass it by now. I hope that when we meet next time, we won't have to bear such a heavy responsibility and can relax. Have a drink at your leisure and chat about literature and art.”

"I hope so." Although Ma Youfu wanted to solve the mystery earlier, there was no rush for such a thing.

Both of them have other things to do, and it is impossible to stay in Bowen diocese.

After bidding farewell to Ma Youfu, Donatello led the Purification Court to Ghent to see if there were any clues that were missed during the textile workers' uprising last winter.

And Ma Youfu returned to Rouen.

……

In the evening, two young men dressed as squires were on their way on the main road from Bowen to Risol.

The tall, thin man in the lead, named Renault de Joigny, rode a tall, thin old horse with no skeleton.The pudgy fellow walking behind was named Garmond de Tousy, and he didn't even have a horse at all, and he relied on a mule for transportation.

At this time, the daylight was gradually dimming. From a distance, the silhouettes of the two people walking on the dirt road looked like a funny and crooked exclamation point.so-so

Renault and Garmont both came from typical declining noble families.The eldest son of the two took the horses, armor, and weapons purchased by draining the entire family's wealth, and went to the battlefield to look for opportunities to make contributions to the ancestors.

As the second son, the two naturally had no choice but to find another way out.

Fortunately, reading and literacy in this era is much easier than in the past.When they were young, Renault and Garmon worked as servants beside the lord's son, and had the opportunity to study with the baron's private tutor.

At the age of 14, Reynolds and Garmon left home to make a living relying on the knowledge they had learned from studying in childhood.

Renault's surname is Joigny, which is a small town in northern Burgundy. He didn't want to be too far away from his family, so he chose to work in an estate under the name of Philip III.It took eight years for him to be promoted all the way from the clerk in charge of bookkeeping to the manager of the manor. He also learned a lot about plants and animals from the herbalist and even the druid who lived in the forest.

After all of Garmon's relatives died in a plague, he chose to leave the sad place of France and board a Portuguese merchant ship.According to the popular saying in later generations, this is called "the world is so big, I want to see it".

In the ten years since he left his hometown, Garmon had traveled east to Azov, and had seen Genoese crossbowmen fighting nomadic tribes with ogre blood at the mouth of the Don River.I have been to Madeira to the west and tasted the local white sugar, which is as sweet as frost and snow.To the north, he experienced the cold wind of Scandinavia, and to the south, he once stood on the Atlas Mountains, overlooking the endless sea of ​​sand.

During this journey across the known world, Garmon gained weight day by day, learned a wealth of sailing knowledge, and even became a sailing nerd who was obsessed with ships and tinkered with ship models all day long.

The two childhood friends who have been separated for more than ten years and have different life trajectories, the fundamental reason why they can reunite this time is the most famous French figure today.

Marquis of La Manche, Count of Rouen, Count of Beaumont, Steward of the Royal House of Normandy, Rebuilder and Savior of Paris, Bearer of the Golden Flame, Master of Whisperers, Wise Men of Siris, Close Comrades of the Saintess...

This person who has many famous titles and titles and is talked about by Renault and Garmon every day is naturally Ma Youfu.

Apart from lamenting that a foreigner could achieve such dazzling achievements in such a short period of time, what Renault and Garmont talked about the most was the upcoming civil service exam in the Earl of Rouen.

According to the Lord Marquis of La Manche, passing a fair and impartial examination and only using talent as the criterion to select talents is a mature system that has been implemented for hundreds of years from the El Dorado in the far east.This is undoubtedly a more advanced talent selection mechanism compared to Europe, which relies on blood, court relations, money bribes, etc. to obtain official positions around the ruler.

Therefore, when the news of Ma Youfu's decision to hold the civil service examination spread, it quickly attracted those from the middle and lower classes in France who were talented but did not show their talents on the stage.

Ma Youfu promised that if he could pass the exam, he could become an official official under the Earl of Rouen.In addition to having a generous salary, if you perform well, you will also have a lot of opportunities for promotion, and you can even be enshrined as a nobleman.

Moreover, if the exam for the Earl of Rouen is successful, this system will also be extended to the Earl of Beaumont and the entire Normandy region.

You must know that all the territories in Ma Youfu's hands have been swept away by the English forces and taken back. Except for some lands that belong to the diocese and have no control over them, in other places, he is the only ruler with a large number of positions and titles in his hands. Available for rewards.

In terms of the broad prospects and the smoothness of the upward channels, I am afraid that such a good opportunity will not be found hundreds of years ago.

Both Renault and Garmont saw this opportunity, so they put down their work at the same time and wanted to go to Rouen to try their luck.

Garmont was the first to go to Rouen.

When he made this decision, he was still in Bordeaux.At that time, the Portuguese merchant ship "Royal Pedro" he was on finished a voyage to transport special products such as sugar and spices from Madeira, and was repairing at the port.After hearing the news, Garmon thought about it all night, resolutely resigned from his position as the second officer, and set off northward with his beloved model ship.