Continental Warriors Yoo Ma

The latter's face was reddish, a little embarrassed.

"I will immediately appoint you as the special envoy of King Aragon. Starting tomorrow, I will be fully responsible for the diplomatic affairs in Rome." Alfonso V took off his ring, which symbolized the king's authority, and handed it to Fernando.

"Father, I will definitely win Naples for you!" Fernando said firmly.

……

The next day, Fernando decided that the first person to visit was not Pope Enren IV, nor Emperor Sigismund, who had not yet arrived in Rome.

He wants to see Charles VII first.

The interests of the King of France are not necessarily the same as those of his vassal Ma Youfu.Now the Seres have not only become the actual rulers of Provence, but even set their sights on Naples.Facing such a courtier whose power is growing rapidly, wouldn't Charles VII have trouble sleeping and eating?

Fernando felt that he could try first and set Ma Youfu's backyard on fire.

After arriving at the mansion where Charles VII stayed, Fernando identified himself, and then walked in under the guidance of his attendants.

He waited in the drawing room for a while, and Georges La Tremoille, who was much rounder than before, "rolled" in.

The palace minister was originally in charge of the distribution of supplies for the Crusaders in Marseilles, but when Charles VII passed by Marseilles, he found that there were no available talents around him for a while, so he called him.

In this conference where many European monarchs gathered, the majestic Dharma king can't lose his face.

"Good morning, Your Excellency Fernando, may I ask why you came to visit His Highness Charlie?" Fatty George asked.

"My father bought a gold ornament from the mysterious Black Continent from a Portuguese merchant. He hopes to dedicate this precious gift to His Highness the King of France," Fernando said.

Chapter 420 The Fourth Duke of Barr

"The friendliness and generosity of King Aragon, His Highness will definitely accept it. It's just that His Highness has other important matters now, and you need to wait a little longer." George Palace said.

"It's okay, I can understand. His Royal Highness must have a lot of work to do in order to govern a country with such a large population and such a large area, and the war has just ended." Fernando nodded.

After waiting patiently for an hour, Charles VII arrived late.He was yawning, with prominent dark circles under his eyes, and he was followed by a voluptuous and plump woman—Fernando recognized her as a well-known actress from a theater in Rome.

It seems that Charles VII is indeed working hard, but the object of the hard work is not the country, but women.

Agnès has been pregnant for several months, unable to be intimate, and the real queen has long been estranged. This time when he comes to Rome, Charles VII, who is suffocated, probably wants to indulge.

After being slapped in the face by reality, the embarrassment on Fernando's face was fleeting, and then he ordered his attendants to present Aragorn's gift.

After Charles VII checked the gift and showed a joyful expression, Fernando tactfully asked for a private conversation with Charles VII.

The latter readily agreed.

When the two were alone, Fernando immediately proposed that if Charles VII could weaken the power of the Marquis of La Manche in the country as much as possible—for example, withdrawing the post of the Normandy royal family, then Aragon would contribute more than [-] yuan to Charles VII. Ducat's reward.

However, Charles VII refused without hesitation.Without giving Fernandonan another chance to fight for it, Charles VII sloppily ended the meeting, and went to have fun with his new mistress again.

Fernando left the mansion with a depressed expression on his face.

He couldn't figure it out. For a king, it was obviously in his own interest to suppress powerful ministers. Not to mention, he could also take this opportunity to earn a lot of extra money. Why did Charles VII refuse it without even thinking about it?

When Fernando saw that Prime Minister George was sitting in the garden, enjoying the spring sunshine while arranging paperwork, his heart moved and he walked over.

"Oh, Your Excellency Fernando, have you finished talking with His Highness?" Prime Minister George looked up at the young Aragonese.

"Yes. It's just that the result is not good." Fernando smiled wryly and sat opposite the George Palace, and threw a leather bag on the table. "I have a lot of confusion in my heart. Can you help me answer it?"

The Prime Minister of George Palace glanced at the bag that was not tied tightly, and found that it was full of colorful and huge gemstones. He immediately smiled and said, "Aragorn is France's closest friend. If you have any doubts, I will try my best to answer them."

Fernando smiled slightly.Fortunately, he already knew that this fat man was greedy, otherwise he would have left today full of doubts and unwillingness.

After Fernando spoke out about his problem, Minister George laughed out loud.

The latter laughed enough before saying: "The reason why the monarch wants to suppress the powerful minister is because of the existence of the powerful minister, which distributes the monarch's power and threatens the monarch's rule. But Ma Youfu, the powerful minister, is different. The direction of his expansion is always Outside of France, he did not compete with His Highness for power in the country. In addition, he is very good at binding most people to his camp through the method of equalizing interests.

Although His Highness is not planning to participate in the Crusades, he holds objective shares in the South France Trading Company.Weakening Ma Youfu's strength is equivalent to reducing the chances of victory in the Crusades and reducing His Highness's future income.Do you think His Highness will go back and do such a stupid thing? "

"But... Ma Youfu has now become the actual ruler of the Principality of Anjou. It is said that Genoa has also been brought under the control of the Sires. If he is allowed to get Naples again... Isn't the King of France worried that there will be another Duke of Burgundy? ?” Fernando still believed that Charles VII underestimated Ma Youfu’s threat too much.

"There is no need to worry about this, friends of Aragon. Genoa and Naples are vital core interests for you. But for France, they are far away and insignificant. In addition, about the Duchy of Anjou Question, His Highness reached an agreement with the Marquis of La Manche yesterday. The Marquis of La Manche will sell the title of Duke of Anjou, as well as the legal territory to which it belongs, to His Highness at a reasonable price."

For Mayouf, Anjou, which is located in the hinterland of France, neither borders Normandy nor is it a coastal area, and is an enclave that is difficult to govern.

During this period of time, his pace of expansion was indeed a bit too large, and relying on close economic ties alone may not necessarily be able to maintain a good relationship with Charles VII.

Land and orthodox noble titles are still the most important things for feudal lords in this era.Selling Anjou as a package to Charles VII is not only a great gift that the other party cannot refuse, but also a message to the other party: Your Highness, I, Ma Youfu, really do not have such great ambitions for the land, so you can rest assured.

Although there is no way to completely eliminate the king's natural guard against powerful ministers, it is enough to maintain a stable relationship between monarch and ministers for a long time.

Among the titles attached to the Principality of Anjou exchanged for the Kingdom of Naples, the Duke of Anjou was sold to Charles VII, the Count of Provence, and Ma Youfu took it himself.The title of Duke of Lorraine—to be precise, it should be the title of Duke of Lorraine. It was originally the dowry that Isabel brought when she married René I, so Ma Youfu still left this title to his lover for her to decorate.

There is also the title of Duke of Bar, which was originally passed on to René I after the death of Louis, Duke of Bar, the great-uncle of René I.Youfu Ma won this title without hesitation.In this way, Ma Youfu became a duke, reaching the apex of nobility under the king.

Before Ma Youfu arrived in Rome, the transactions of these titles and territories had all been completed.René I, who had been sent to a certain monastery for "convalescence", had no objection to this, and was held by someone to "voluntarily" sign the transfer agreement.It is said that after the treatment of the former Duke of Anjou, the corrupt power in his body was finally completely eliminated, and his life was safe. However, two sequelae were left: his intelligence was greatly reduced, and he had a special preference for handsome and delicate men.

After receiving this secret report, Queen Yolande of Aragon was sad and angry.

In order to preserve the last face of the Anjou-Valois family, she could only send someone to imprison her son in a secluded monastery, and send some young and beautiful male prostitutes there after a period of time, so that her son would be sexually happy. live the rest of my life.

Since the information about this transaction has not been spread, Ma Youfu did not specifically promote it, so when talking about him in Rome, most of them refer to him as "Marquis of La Manche".

After listening to the explanation given by Prime Minister George, Fernando left the mansion where Charles VII stayed.

Returning to Alfonso V at noon, the father and son chatted about the failure of the morning when they had lunch together.

"It seems that the people of Seres won over Charles VII before us and dispelled his doubts." Alfonso V comforted him, "But don't be discouraged, my son. It doesn't matter whether the French monarchs and ministers can cause internal strife. Affect our original plan. As long as we can form the tripartite alliance of Aragon-Pope-Holy Roman Empire, we can also take Naples and curb Mayouf’s expansion.”

"Yes, father. But Ma Youfu's diplomatic skills are indeed worthy of our attention. In order to successfully win over the two allies, we should probably increase our investment."

Alfonso V said proudly: "Don't worry about this. We still have a wealthy supporter in Portugal. João I promised to spend [-] ducats to facilitate our tripartite alliance."

"In this way, I am more sure. Both Sigismund and Enren IV are short of money now." Fernando said confidently, "I will visit Albrecht in the afternoon."

Emperor Shinra is still stranded in the military camp by the Po River, while his son-in-law Albrecht arrived in Rome first and is fully responsible for the emperor's diplomatic affairs with other countries.

Fernando heard from the gossip that the heir to the Grand Duchy of Austria suffered a lot in Ghent in the winter of the previous year. Not only did he fail to win the heart of the little princess of Burgundy, but he became a prisoner of Ma Youfu, making the emperor and the grand duke pay. It took a lot of price to redeem his freedom.

Fernando believes that the other party must regard Ma Youfu as an enemy, and the two sides have a natural basis for cooperation.

In the afternoon, with full confidence and high-end "African souvenirs" aided by the Portuguese, Fernando went to visit Albrecht.

There are important etiquettes to open the way, and the atmosphere on both sides is naturally warm and harmonious.However, as the conversation deepened and their respective vital interests were involved, many differences emerged.

To Fernando's great surprise, Albrecht did not show any hostility when talking about Mayouf.Either the other party has completely forgotten what happened in Ghent, or Albrecht is mature enough to be able to hide his emotions.

Fernando guessed that it was mostly the latter reason.

His guess was right.

After his tragic setback in Ghent, Albrecht returned to Vienna to reflect deeply and learn a lot from his resourceful sister.

Throughout 1432, when the Battle of Paris, which determined the final outcome of the Hundred Years' War, was in full swing, the Grand Duchy of Austria was also undergoing earth-shattering changes.

With a strong iron fist, Albrecht quickly quelled the internal rebellion in the Grand Duchy and wiped out all the rebels from the Styrian and Tyrolean branches.

Since then, the Habsburg Austrian line has completely unified the Grand Duchy.

Chapter 420 Five Steps Ahead

After the power within Austria was unified, Albrecht married Sigismund's only daughter Elizabeth, which further consolidated the relationship between the Grand Duchy of Austria and Emperor Shinra.

Since Sigismund had no other heirs, he trained Albrecht as his successor.It is hoped that he will not only serve as Holy Roman Emperor, but also take over the throne of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia in the future.

During the year, Albrecht followed the emperor in fighting the Hussites in Bohemia, the Mulhollans on the Hungarian border, and the Bosnians in Croatia.After these blood and fire experiences, he has grown tremendously.

Now in the city of Rome, Albrecht was already a mature and experienced politician when facing Fernando who came to visit.

He certainly has not forgotten the experience of Gent.But now Albrecht does not want to be an enemy of Ma Youfu, but focuses on how to win the victory of the Crusades and obtain as much land, wealth, and honor as possible from the pagans.

Ren Fernando was exhausted, and Albrecht did not let go, but only agreed to part of the strategy of the Aragonese Alliance: the German Crusaders will be divided into two parts.A garrison in Sicily attracted the attention of the Mulholland coalition forces and dragged them to Tunisia.Then, another German crusader, together with Aragon, attacked Tlemcen.

After the war, the newly conquered lands were distributed according to their respective contributions.Then use Tlemcen as the forward base to attack the Tunisian Sultanate.

From a military point of view, this is much safer than directly landing in Tunisia, and it may be a good idea.

But for Aragon, the fundamental plot to contain Ma Youfu and seize Naples has not been realized.

In the end, Fernando could only give up for the time being, and decided to win over the Pope first, and then work together to convince Emperor Shenluo.

So, after dinner, Fernando went to visit Enren IV without stopping.

The Vatican Heights, located in the northwest of Rome, is the seat of the Holy See.But at this time, most of the great buildings that were famous in the world in later generations disappeared at this time.

For example, St. Peter's Basilica, which was jointly designed by Michelangelo and other masters, is still the old appearance when it was built by Constantine the Great in Roman times.

The Sistine Chapel, which has many world-famous paintings, is also missing at this time.

To get to the Vatican, you need to pass the Sant'Angelo Bridge over the Tiber River.The twelve angels on the bridge are said to be infused with the divine power of the seven saints. When Rome is invaded by darkness, these angels will come alive and become warriors of the gods holding flaming swords to kill all chaos and evil.

Fernando crossed the Tiber River from the Sant'Angelo Bridge, passing by the Castel Sant'Angelo standing on the bank and guarding the Vatican, and finally arrived at the most sacred place in the world of the Seven Saints.

It's just that under this sacred appearance, desire for power and greed flow everywhere.

If it weren't for bribing a key figure in the Pope's advisory group, Fernando might not be able to meet Enren IV tonight.

Under the leadership of a junior minister, Fernando came to the Pope's Palace to wait for the summoning of Enren IV.

Fernando, who had been waiting in the reception room from [-]:[-] p.m. to [-]:[-] p.m., was running out of patience, when he suddenly heard voices coming from outside.He walked to the door curiously, glanced outside, and found a tall old man wearing a white teaching uniform and a red shawl, walking from the main dining room with a man with black hair, black eyes, and oriental features, talking and laughing come out.There was a group of people behind the two of them, obviously of high status.

The tall old man with a thin face and always a confident expression of winning is probably Pope Enren IV.

However, although the Pope looks good, his actual ability is often questioned.Many people think that the current pope has a bad temper, is not quick-witted when encountering problems, often swings from side to side, and hates heresy very much.On the other hand, Enren IV lived a clean and honest private life, sympathized with the poor, valued the development of education, and was willing to sponsor artists, and strongly promoted the development of the Renaissance movement in Rome.

And the foreign man who walked side by side with Enren IV was obviously Ma Youfu who gave Fernando's father a headache.

Enren IV had a smile on his face, as if some happy event had happened at the previous dinner.He sent Ma Youfu all the way to the gate of the Pope's Palace, and gave him another cheek-to-cheek hug, and then reluctantly sent the Siris away.

This scene made Fernando realize something was wrong.

"Could it be that Ma Youfu is one step ahead of me and reached an agreement with the Pope?"

He had to carefully evaluate Aragon's bargaining chip to win over the Pope, and secretly decided that if necessary, he had to increase the stake decisively, and must win the Pope to Aragon's camp.

After Enren IV sent Ma Youfu away, he finally took a break to meet Fernando.

After the two parties met in the Pope's private study, after a few words of greeting, Enren IV yawned and said, "Mr. Fernando, it's getting late. I can't stay up late at my age. You represent Alfonso The king came to see me, what is the matter, please tell me directly."

"Your Majesty, my father sent me to visit you to discuss the establishment of parishes in the newly conquered territory and the power of the church after the victory of the Crusades..." Fernando threw out his chips, and finally added, "Aragorn's attitude towards the Holy See, you should know, is definitely more loyal and reliable than some rulers who allow secular power to continuously erode the Church's power. We are the frontline against heretics and your reliable partners."

Hearing Fernando's promise that Aragon would give the Holy See the greatest autonomy in the newly conquered land of North Africa, Enren IV was naturally very happy.However, although the other party did not directly name the last words added by the other party, even the mediocre Enren IV could hear who they were targeting.

After Enren IV became Pope, he was very saddened by the weakness, corruption, and fragmentation of the Holy See.

Outside the Holy See, the heresy represented by the Hussites intensified.In the Holy See, a group of cardinals clamored to form a Grand Council to replace the Pope's supreme power over the church.These people call themselves "reconciliationists" and have also formed a parliament in Basel, which is said to be discussing the election of an "anti-pope".

In addition, secular kings are constantly challenging the authority of the Holy See.