Chapter 1,477 This True 10-Word Frame that Is Revered Is a Fake

The Russian troops outside the city began to form an array. They were dressed in uniform uniforms, each of them had a huge feather on his helmet, and all the prepared flags were tied to their spears and set high.

For a while, flags were flying on the abandoned farmland north of Cologne, and the cold wind in late autumn made it even more chilling.

Residents in the city tried their best to remain calm. They hid in their homes and closed their doors and windows, especially bolting their doors. Because it is said that King Rus entered the city in person, ordinary people's understanding of Rurik is negative. They don't know whether such a barbarian king's entry into the city will cause chaos, so the top priority is to protect themselves.

Many small churches in the city were filled with people praying, and small masses were held under the organization of lower-level priests.

Only the cathedral in the city was deliberately left vacant because it was said that King Rus would eventually enter there.

Do you go to the cathedral to repent with a pious attitude, or even kneel down in front of the cross and declare your conversion? This matter is absolutely impossible, but a group of lower-level priests have heads wrapped in daydreams under their black robes.

The priests ensured their dignity in their own way. Archbishop Hadbold staged a consecration procession, leading his vast team of black-robed men, many holy vessels, and the specially inlaid The so-called true cross of ruby ​​​​walks towards the north gate accompanied by the sound of brass trumpets and drums.

The Danish mercenary leader whose Christian name is Paul, he and his brothers also wore smart chainmail, serious Frankish-style helmets on their heads, and put on smocks with huge cross patterns sewn on them, making their appearance look like three The Crusades a hundred years later. Although a large number of Crusaders are descendants of former Frankish Danish immigrants.

Rurik heard the shrill sound of brass horns and noticed that the north gate was fully open.

"They're coming."

"Looking at the formation, it's the fat archbishop who comes to see you personally." Fisk tilted his head and smiled, his eyes full of disdain.

Rurik was in a good mood. He squinted and stared at the dark Chengmen Cave: "From what you said, the archbishop is even fatter. I want to see how much fat mutton he has eaten in the past three years."

"Well, you'll see that soon."

The first ones to appear were the Danish mercenaries, and for a moment Rurik became a little insane. "Crusaders? Well, in a way they are."

"It's the Dane who betrayed Odin." Fisk corrected him disdainfully.

"Everyone has his own ambitions, so now you and I don't have to call them Danes anymore. They are just clones." Rurik sighed again inexplicably, shaking his head slightly with regret.

All those warriors appeared and lined up under the city wall. They tried their best to form three rows that were as wide and as neat as possible, leaving enough doorways to ensure that the black-robed priests appeared.

The priests advanced slowly, interpreting a certain divinity with a sense of solemnity.

Archbishop Hadbold was wearing a black robe and was sitting in a carriage. Behind him was the cross. Rurik, who witnessed this scene, immediately had a sense of déjà vu. "Fisk, I heard you say that when you led the cavalry to attack their team, the Archbishop was just sitting there like this."

"That's right. He sat quietly like an arrow target. Fortunately, the soldier's arrow missed, otherwise this old thing would have been dead long ago."

"It was a good thing for us that you didn't kill him then."

"Maybe it would be better for us if he died."

"Who knows?" Rurik shrugged: "Now that the treaty has been signed, it was a treaty led by me. Now... for a favor, I will go and meet him in person."

"Okay, I'll accompany you," Fisk said again.

"No need." Rurik waved his hand: "Let brothers watch from a distance. Although Hudbold looks like a big fat sheep, he is still an actual nobleman who rules a large area. I am in a good mood today, just Condescend to meet him.”

So, Rurik clamped his horse's belly, and one person and one horse walked up majestically.

What is King Rus? The golden laurel crown on his head is too conspicuous. Look at the actions of King Rus, the wily Hadbold would not dare not appreciate it. The old guy signaled the lower-level priests to stay put, then looked up at the cardinals watching cautiously on the city wall, and then ordered the coachman to ride the horse boldly. Meet King Rus himself.

A twenty-three-year-old northern man seemed very mature, and he could feel a domineering aura from Rurik. He seems to have the capital of a king. Look at the huge cavalry and countless flags behind him! The Frankish army did not have the tactic of raising the flag wantonly. It must be said that this was really a deception, giving people the illusion that the army was extremely large. In fact, the Russian army was indeed huge.

Rurik drove the horse around the carriage, and he was able to take a good look at Hadbold, whom he had not seen for three years, even though he had only met this person a few times.

"Dear Bishop, we meet again. It seems that you are still healthy after not seeing each other for three years. I think it must be thanks to God's grace. Indeed, the Lord is with you, haha."

Rurik's diplomatic rhetoric in Latin really surprised Hardbold, especially when King Rus's utterance of "God" seemed to confirm those unrealistic legends - King Rus' belief in God Tolerant indeed.

After letting down his vigilance for a moment, Hudbold still crossed his legs and covered his body with a loose black robe to cover his indecent sitting posture. "Honorable King of Rus, I heard that you want to enter Cologne as a guest, and are you even willing to enter our cathedral? Welcome, on behalf of all the clergy in Cologne, I welcome you. I hope that when you arrive at the cathedral, God can also give you the gift of piety. blessing."

He said this as if he had become a Christian.

Rurik couldn't hold it in for a while. He smiled softly: "But I don't accept your belief."

"But you are not against it. You went to the cathedral. Maybe in your dream tonight, the archangel will give you some inspiration."

"Who knows? Only God knows. In fact... I am still willing to talk to you about human affairs. You should understand that this time my army is only here to help Ludwig, and I am also very concerned about it. Trade in things like wine, wool, leather and grain in your diocese of Cologne.”

"Is that really the case? That's fine. But... regarding trade matters, maybe I shouldn't be involved. If you insist on requesting it, I can ask my financial officer to handle it on your behalf."

"Okay."

After a conversation, Rurik confirmed that he must go to the city to have a look. However, to be on the safe side, all the Danish mercenaries in Cologne stayed outside the city, and Rurik only selected a hundred soldiers to accompany him into the city. The city's north gate cannot be closed after entering the city.

Although the priests should not have any evil intentions in the sacred city they claim to be, if they are not protected, they will still cause trouble.

Rurik did not reveal his concerns, and the archbishop tacitly acknowledged the Russians' incomplete trust.

In this extreme tacit understanding, King Ross and a hundred heroes accompanied the Ross flag and officially entered the city of Cologne in 843. Unsurprisingly, General Fisk was the temporary captain of this elite guard.

Cologne, it took six hundred years to build the magnificent Gothic-style cathedral. It was built in the 13th century, and the current Cologne Cathedral is not of that scale.

Today's Cologne Cathedral is a large-scale renovation of a building left over from the Roman era. Its main walls are still stone and the roof is made of a large number of hardwood structures.

It also has a circular staircase tower with a copper bell placed on the top and a pure wooden cross on the top of the tower.

The entire cathedral has a very regular geometric structure, not at all the Gothic-style spiers of later generations.

Rurik could clearly see the entire cathedral from a distance. He also looked at the stone road trampled by the horses' hooves and the residential buildings on both sides of the road.

There was an indescribable odor permeating the air. It was definitely not the smell of feces and urine, but it had a familiar feeling that had been there since childhood. "Ah! I've heard that there is a booming wool and leather industry here. The smell comes from tanned leather, right?" He suppressed the thought in his heart.

To his surprise, the city of Cologne was not seriously dirty. Perhaps it was just because he was walking on the main road of the city, and there were clearly ditch structures on both sides of the road. There seemed to be ditches across the city, too. There is a clear drainage system, and the dirty things thrown into the water will eventually flow into the Rhine River.

The Bishop's Cathedral is the core of the city. There is a city square paved with stone slabs at the entrance of the cathedral, which is also the only square in the city.

Hudbold, who had been in the carriage all the way, finally got out of the carriage, which made Rurik interested.

Rurik also signaled the soldiers to dismount and rest. He stepped forward in person and asked with a hint of ridicule: "I thought you had forgotten how to walk due to your leg disease after not seeing you for three years. First of all, you are still sound."

Hudbold was unmoved: "This is where the bishop sits. Under normal circumstances, unbelievers like you are not allowed to enter, but... please follow our regulations and take off all your weapons to enter. Remember , don’t make any noise, don’t walk fast.” After saying that, the old guy crossed himself hard on his chest again.

Inviting King Ross to the bishop's seat, Hardbold also made a risky decision at the council meeting last night against all opinions. The cardinals were afraid that they would be punished by the archangels if they allowed this matter. Only Harder Bould boldly declared: "I am a noble servant of God on earth. All punishments are directed at me. If I cause any trouble, I am willing to atone for my sins in the fire of hell."

Rurik could notice the fear of this old guy, and he knew exactly what he was afraid of. In this regard, Eskil and Hardbold were in the same situation. "You are just afraid of sacrilege."

As a person blessed by Odin, although Rurik took off his sword and dagger, only his armor remained, and the golden laurel crown was still on his blond head.

When the priests entered the bishop's chapel, they all bowed their backs to show their piety. Only Rurik walked in with his head held high, but he just didn't make any loud footsteps.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the northern king entered the bishop's chapel with a questioning and arrogant attitude. At this moment, the "True Cross" had been returned to its original position. Facing it, Rurik stopped to look at it, with a trace of contempt on his lips.

Seeing this, Hadbold, who was about to say something, bowed over and introduced: "Did you pay attention to this? It is the cross when Jesus was crucified. The iron nails that once penetrated the hands and feet of the saint can be pulled out. Now it is set with rubies, and we wrap it with gold. No matter how much gold and silver we use to decorate it, it is difficult to describe our reverence for the saint."

"Is this the True Cross?" Rurik shook his head and turned slightly to look down at the Archbishop who had put on a white yarmulke: "But, I heard that the True Cross is in the Levant. Even if it is not, it should be in Rome. , or how did Constantinople fall into the hands of your Cologne diocese? Is your Cologne more noble than Reims or Rome? "

"Ah? You..." Hudbold was stunned on the spot for a moment, not knowing how to respond for a long time.

"I admit that that man is a saint who has been passed down from generation to generation. If the Spear of Longinus, the Holy Cloth, and the True Cross are really preserved, they must be stored in the Holy See and should be managed by your Western Patriarch. And you How to get it? As early as three years ago, I questioned your expedition with the True Cross. Do you, the noble one, always believe that it is a holy object? "

Hudbold was still speechless and even felt a strong sense of suffocation.

The old guy gradually darkened his face, and slowly asked with a sad and angry attitude: "How much do you... know about us? You actually..."

"Are you angry at my doubts?" Rurik shook his head and his attitude became more condescending: "The holy object is not in your hands! The true cross that is enshrined in front of you is a fake! It is just an ordinary cross. You wrapped it in gold skin to Gem inlay is just a vulgar way to implement your imaginary sanctity. The saints who have been passed down by generations were crucified on ordinary wooden crosses, the Holy Grail is just an ordinary wooden water cup, and the holy cloth is ordinary white linen. As for Langhi The lance is just a javelin. What is sacrilege? I think you are sacrilege."

"Sin! What a sin..." Hudbold hurriedly crossed himself.

The old guy was shocked and convinced at the same time. King Rurik of Rus was a blond northern pirate. It was such a man who spoke Church Latin and described the holy relics in a clear and logical manner. It was these descriptions that were aggressive and seemed to be fundamentally different. The attitude is negative.

Hardbold couldn't accept his belief being said in this way, but he couldn't refute it, because King Ross's logic was not wrong.

For Cologne has preserved the True Cross since Hadbold was a boy.

The city of Cologne has an astonishingly long history, but according to today's Christian chronology, priests generally agree that this world was born thousands of years ago, and people lived in the Sixth Age.

It has only been a few hundred years since the sixth quarter began when the Virgin Mother gave birth to the saint who had passed through the generations.

In the cognition of the priests, every era is full of ups and downs, accompanied by the rise and fall of civilization, and now ominous sayings are also circulating among the major dioceses. Because Charlemagne was crowned Roman Emperor, and Charlemagne maintained peaceful relations with the Eastern Rome, for a time the two Romes formally recreated the situation of "two emperors co-ruling", and almost merged the two Romes due to marriage. The Sixth Age finally returned from chaos to peaceful unification.

But now, the empire is undergoing a full-scale civil war, and frequent barbarian attacks from the north and south are considered to be a sign of annihilation.

The Rus are now the most destructive of the many northern barbarians, even though they have gradually become no longer unfamiliar to the Frankish nobility and senior priests.

Hardbold's wishful thinking was that when the King of Rus saw the True Cross with his own eyes, he would be so overwhelmed by its divine power that he would kneel down and announce his baptism in public.

In the past two years, a group of Danes have actually been baptized in this cathedral. Thinking back to the time when the Russian fleet passed through the border, a group of Russians who claimed to have been converted by the Northern Archbishop insisted on entering the cathedral to visit. They even slept on the floor in the church, although after they left, the church stunk and was filled with feces and excrement.

Although this incident was unbearable, it at least proved that the northern barbarians could be converted, and now the identities of those guys have become nobles of all levels in the County of Nassau-Coblenz.

Now a group of Danish barbarians came in long boats. They brought their families and asked to convert. Now each of them has a religious certificate, and their identity documents are written on parchment, which is made into a file and placed in the cathedral. In the archives. Compared with those Russians who carelessly crossed the border to Nassau back then, the newly promoted Danes seemed more restrained and easy to control.

But King Rus determined that Cologne's True Cross was a fake, and Hardbold's fifty-year faith... collapsed by more than half.

The old guy no longer expected the King of Rus to convert, he just asked him not to cause trouble in the cathedral.

The whole scene was awkward. The lower-level priests present heard the clear logic and extremely powerful Latin speech. Seeing the archbishop sweating, the priests had no choice but to arch their backs and be dumbstruck.

"You stopped talking?" Rurik asked after calming down.

"I don't know...I don't know how to say it anymore."

"At least... your cathedral is nice. That's it for now, I'd rather talk about something else."

"Okay! Okay..." He subconsciously stretched out his sleeves to wipe the sweat. Not wanting to be embarrassed anymore, Hadbold led Rurik to his office. At the same time, he also ordered someone to notify Cologne's financial officer. Prepare to chat with King Rus about business and trade issues.

Designing a simple trade issue, all the embarrassment ends here.

In principle, Hardbold was not allowed to get involved in such small meetings related to business. He asked the cardinals to withdraw. He only acted as a supervisor to supervise his financial officer not to have any excessive discussions with King Ross, who was good at doing business. thing.

Here Rurik met the financial officer who was said to be named Abra. The strange thing was that this person did not wear a common cross, and his dress was also special. All signs indicate that he is an Eastern exile whose ancestors came from the Levant in the East. After some discussion, Rurik also learned such a thing - a small independent community in Cologne is filled with such people.

Cologne has had a small community of Levantine exiles since ancient times. It has lasted for a long time. The language they developed on their own is Yiddish. However, in this era, people in Cologne spoke a mixture of Frankish and Saxon. In fact, this The two sides basically have no barriers to communication with each other.

Disregarding all distractions related to faith, this Abra was happy to talk to Rurik about trade.

Because of the small community where it is located, residents are prohibited from buying land for reclamation, and are prohibited from holding any weapons, even for hunting. In order to survive, they started a business of processing supplied materials. Making profits from the production of leather and wool products is the key to life. Even if they have to pay heavy taxes for this.

But no one knows more about trade and early finance than these guys. There are many households in the city that process supplied materials. If they are short of money, small communities can provide them with loan services, but they must give more money when exchanging money.

Everyone in the small community does not feel guilty about "loan usury is sacrilegious". They are guests of Cologne City, and this kind of financial behavior is something that others would not dare to do based on their beliefs.

The small community where Finance Officer Abra lives is happy to sell all the existing ready-made clothes, clothing and hats, and is willing to explore the trading rights and advance payment prices for future output. Rurik, the king of Rus, took into account his winter needs and never felt that he had too few winter clothes.

The two parties openly discussed real business cooperation issues in the Cologne Cathedral. In addition to the quantity, price, future production capacity, advance payment, payment methods, etc. of finished clothing, they even negotiated advanced behaviors such as signing a written contract.

Hardbold watched the whole thing, wanting to interrupt but not knowing how. He had realized that the situation was not going in the right direction and stopped this sacrilegious transaction, but he did not dare to show shame to King Ross because of his own face and the safety of the entire city of Cologne.

As for the guests in the city afterwards, Hudbold did not dare to retaliate afterwards, because he needed a shrewd financial officer. When he saw this Abra again, he had a strange relationship with the King of Rus, and they talked and laughed happily. It's even harder for me to take action myself.

Hudbold could only pinch his nose and admit it, regretting his reckless promise. Now he just hoped that these two people could end the conversation quickly and put an end to the secret farce in the church.