Chapter 961 Rurik at the Gate of Utrecht

Originally, the main population of the Count of Flanders was concentrated in the south. In the so-called Belgium region, there were really not many people living in the Netherlands, especially in the north.

The limited population is also highly concentrated around Utrecht, with the town of Groningen being the only northernmost settlement.

However, people's lives are really poor.

All this is because Durist is nearby and has a history of forty years. It has been the residence of Danish exiles. Later, a leader named Horik came and led all Danish exiles to get there. Recruitment.

There is a price to pay for Zhao'an, and before receiving Zhao'an, the Earl of Flanders must also pay tribute and use property to buy peace.

Who will pay for this wealth? Naturally, they would plunder the wealth nearby and deliver it to the pirates who would be recruited into the Port of Durist.

As time passed, the port of Duriste was purged of pirates, the port was devastated, and the place returned to the control of the Counts of Flanders.

But before, excess taxes were collected to buy peace from the pirates. Since this matter has been implemented for at least twenty years, it is natural to collect excess taxes. The mixed-race nobleman Baudouin, who succeeded his father's title, has his butt and head, and the excess taxes still have to be collected.

Therefore, the Barons of Utrecht were ordered to collect more taxes. In the end, the people had to bear the money. Therefore, according to the noble level, from high to low, the total tax amount was increased layer by layer, and finally fell on all the yeomen and tenant farmers. After decades of hard work, a large number of Frisian peasants became tenant farmers working for the knights, and some even became indentured serfs.

Even the nobles, big and small, are Frisians, and they really lack favor to their fellow tribesmen. If the former bishop of this diocese, Frederick, and the current bishop, Arbery II, had not called on the nobles not to go too far, the nobles would still dare to do so. Further tax increases.

In fact, the nobles also had difficulties, especially Baudouin, Count of Flanders. Once an independent kingdom, Flanders was annexed militarily by Charlemagne. Although Baudouin has Frankish ancestry, he now regards himself as a Frisian. Although he is not so enlightened that he will do things for the welfare of the people, he must maintain his status.

Flanders was sandwiched between the Middle Kingdom and the Eastern Kingdom. He could choose any king to submit to. For his own benefit, he chose neutrality regardless. He was legally loyal to Ludwig of the Eastern Kingdom, but he secretly contacted Lothair and paid Lothair a large amount of grain, wool and cloth. These were real military supplies, which was to help Lothair win the civil war. Now that the situation is not clear at all, we will maintain the status quo and rely on money to buy a neutral position.

The price is that the country under their rule can no longer accumulate wealth. Because they are paying for the kingdom's civil war to a certain extent and exporting daily necessities, the people's living standards have been slowly declining.

The situation is worst in the northern part of the county.

The villages were built along the Amstel River. Rurik's swaggering march attracted a lot of attention, and more and more people gathered. Women generally wear coarse cloth headscarves and long robes, while men dress more frugally and wear fur hats.

They kept getting closer to the army, more children than the adults could outrun, and they kept shouting some words in Frisian.

Although Rurik does not understand the local language, this word is common to various Germanic groups. It is pronounced "brat" in Norse and "broot" in Frisian, which means pieces of bread.

Looking at the dirty faces of these children and their thin and short bodies, they are indeed very different from Ross's children in spirit.

I am afraid that the local lords do not treat their people well, or it may just be because the productivity level of the local people is too low.

Upon seeing this, Henry Nassau hurried to the front of the team and quickly negotiated with Rurik himself: "These villagers will be my subjects. You must not use force against them. Just... drive them away."

"Why bother to drive away?" Rurik smiled, "This is an opportunity, isn't it?"

"Opportunity? What opportunity?" Nassau was confused.

"You persuaded me to be kind. Obviously, you don't understand what true kindness is. These people came to ask for food and alms, and they sacrificed their dignity for food. The local lords are obviously not good people. What do you do? Just be nice to them , these people will support you. Isn’t this an opportunity?”

"What...what should I do?" Nassau understood a little bit.

"Give you a chance. Gather as many people as possible and tell them that you are the Earl of the Netherlands. Tell them to follow the army to Utrecht! Tell them that today is a great day. The Earl of the Netherlands takes over Utrecht. In Delech, every farmer who follows the count’s army can receive some wheat.”

"Do I really want to do this?"

"Are you really stupid? You didn't listen when I gave you a chance. Just do as I say and go quickly!" Rurik urged impatiently, and Nassau had no choice but to comply.

The amphibious army paused, and the Ross army and the Danish army collectively watched the middle-aged guy Henry of Nassau perform.

After all, he is a de facto village chief in his hometown of Nassau, and he has no problem communicating with farmers. He greeted the local Frisians in Frankish. Upon hearing this introduction, the ordinary farmers naturally believed that this was a great Frankish nobleman from the north.

The farmer heard the term "Count of the Netherlands" for the first time. Is he a count, the same rank as the Count of Flanders?

Will the northern region be classified as the earldom of the Netherlands in the future?

If Utrecht became the count's royal residence, wouldn't everyone have to pay tithes and other taxes directly to the nobleman?

Psychologically, the locals do not want to be ruled by a Frankish noble, but if this noble noble reduces taxes, he will be a good person.

Nassau only spoke according to Rurik's request, and his words were very stumbling. At least he specified "go to Utrecht to get the reward from the granary", which immediately attracted the support of all the people gathered.

So soon a village leader came after hearing the news. This kind of person is the so-called Lord Knight.

The knight really came on horseback. I heard that a new earl suddenly appeared. No matter whether the news was true or not, if it was true, the new earl was a local noble, and it was necessary to come and see him as soon as possible.

As many as six knights arrived in a short period of time. They were originally loyal to Baron Utrecht. Now that they arrived at the riverside, they were all in awe when they saw the mighty army in uniform uniforms standing here.

The Norman army was on standby. Facing more and more villagers and small lords and nobles coming on horseback, Rurik had to whisper a few words to Ragnar.

"Is it appropriate for you to do this? We are so noble, and you actually want to act with that little Nassau." Ragna was very unhappy.

"Just cooperate with him in acting. When we get to Utrecht, we will reveal our true identity."

"This is unnecessary."

"But it's going to be very smooth. We'll see."

The original title of baron in Nassau was already higher than these fief knights. He spoke with great confidence, which specifically stated that he was the "Earl of the Netherlands" and that the army behind him was his own mighty army.

As for the situation of the Baron of Utrecht, that baron was loyal to Count Baudouin of Flanders. What does this have to do with the Count of the Netherlands?

Nassau lied like this: "The King of East Francia has decided that I, Nassau, will inherit the emerging County of the Netherlands. This is an order, and you must be loyal to me. As for the Baron of Utrecht, he must leave. If he doesn't If he is willing to go by himself, my army will drive him away.”

Nassau became more and more energetic as he talked, as if the Norman army behind him had transformed into his own "Netherlands Army."

Many knights believed it to be true. They had no ability to distinguish the authenticity, but what was visible to the naked eye was that they saw the largest army they had ever added in their lives.

Is a thousand men considered an army? That's just the way it is.

Although they did not immediately kneel down and pledge allegiance to Nassau, these six knights organized the onlookers in their villages on the spot and gathered the men among them. The farmers who were holding scythes to cut grass and reserve immediately turned into militiamen. Under the leadership of the knight, they formed a team of more than 200 people and followed the so-called "Army of the Earl of the Netherlands" for the last part of the journey.

Some women and children also followed this overly colorful team. Rurik asked the army to throw some more dry food to stabilize people's hearts and continue to maintain the appearance of the coalition forces as good people.

The world is full of absurdities, and the army holding high a large number of cross flags is approaching the city of Utrecht.

This riverside city with only low wooden walls has good residents. The limited people can't help but become more and more nervous when they see a large group of people approaching.

Things were getting strange. They were a group of white-toned armed men, marching by land and water, like the army of a certain great noble.

The size of the army was too large. It seemed that it was the army of the King of East Frank.

right! That must be it. The soldiers wore the same white cloth robes with blue accents, and they also held cross flags to declare their identity.

From the civilians in the city to the patrolling soldiers, even the Baron of Utrecht who came out of the palace after hearing the news, and even all the priests in the cathedral, everyone in the city continued to increase their awareness based on the news they heard - the army of the King of East Frank was coming again. .

A few years ago, Ludwig's "personal expedition" eradicated the remaining Norman forces in Durist Port. At that time, the Frankish army was moving south along the Rhine River. Ludwig stopped by to pay a visit to the Utrecht church and had an in-depth conversation with his successor, Bishop Albert II.

Today, the Bishop of Utrecht is still Albert II. He especially remembers the encounter many years ago, when Ludwig came to the confessional alone and redeemed him.

Ludwig confessed that he had been too indulgent towards the Norman pirates, which had caused them to become more greedy, and his tolerance for adultery finally led to rebellion.

"Those evil people who came across the sea occupied Durist. They appeared to be converted, but they said one thing and did another. If the king can punish them, God will not regard punishment as a sin." Words from Bishop Albert II What he said from his mouth was his extreme disgust for the Normans, specifically the Danish pirates.

With the bishop's comfort, Ludwig let go and ordered his elite heavy cavalry to carry out retaliatory killings.

Four full years have passed since this incident. After the bloody storm, the pirate problem in Durist has disappeared, and nearby Utrecht has also become quiet. Peace has been restored to the people, and life is back to what it should be.

But this time, why did Ludwig's army come again?

"Children, let's go see the king. God help us, and hope he doesn't ask for more."

Bishop Arbery II was also half a century old. His predecessor was his brother. He took over the post after he died of illness, and the Archbishop of Reims confirmed the legal succession.

The Diocese of Utrecht reaches as far south as the northern part of the city of Antwerp, including Antwerp, and to the south is the Diocese of Ghent. Therefore, the Diocese of Utrecht covers most of the Netherlands a thousand years later, but in today's era, the entire diocese covers a very small population.

In other words, because large-scale land reclamation has not been carried out, the entire lowland area is not suitable for life, and the limited population is highly concentrated near the mouth of the Rhine River.

Utrecht is the demographic, economic, political, and religious center of the region. As long as we capture this place, it will be a matter of course to control the entire area.

The bishop immediately talked with Baron Martini of Utrecht. He persuaded the anxious baron: "Don't worry about anything. The king is here. If he asks for military rations, you can give it to him."

For this matter, the baron has summoned all his followers in the city and ordered them to wear decent clothes and carry appropriate weapons to act as his guard of honor. Time was running out, and the knights settled in the villages could not be mobilized for the time being, just because this powerful army had already arrived at the city.

He complained to the bishop: "Four years ago, the king emptied my warehouse on the grounds of crusade against coastal pirates. Is he planning to attack King Lothair in a roundabout way from here this time? We don't want to join the civil war. After all, we still have to Are you going to join? I have to pay tribute to the earl, and this time I have to pay tribute directly to the king. We are not rich to begin with. From now on, don’t I have to live like a commoner by eating sour black bread? ?”

The bishop didn't want to hear any more and retorted bluntly: "Why can't you live like an ascetic? We priests can live by eating bread and never ask for too much. You don't have to eat fat at every meal and live a life of poverty. Your soul will also be saved.”

This is indeed the case. Although the Utrecht church collects most of the gold and silver in the region and uses it to make sacred vessels for worshiping the faith, the life of the priests is still miserable and monotonous. In particular, priests in the Flanders region voluntarily organized the Benedictine order. This order emphasizes asceticism, which is reflected in simple meals. It guarantees that all the energy can be used for faith practice at one time.

The priests all advocated peace, and even Arbery II tried his best to persuade Martini to obey the demands of King Ludwig's army.

"It's really strange. The king was passing through us. Why didn't he inform the earl first that they had arrived in my barony? I suddenly knew it."

"Don't be confused anymore. You lead the army to meet the Frank army. We can't afford to offend them. Remember your identity and stay humble. I will handle the etiquette matters myself."

The bishop's words were reasonable. After all, the Earl of Flanders was too big, and it was impossible for Count Baudouin to manage the entire northern part of the territory properly with just a few barons. The count actively cooperated with the clergy, and the bishop of Utrecht also enjoyed high political power.

When people saw the bishop and all the priests, carrying crosses and even some pure gold holy vessels, lining up to the city gate. Seeing this, the people's nervous hearts relaxed and they followed their footsteps.

The entire city of Utrecht entered a completely undefended state, and almost the entire population left the city.

Baron Martini was eager to arrive suddenly. The Frankish army came and went in a hurry. He made the worst psychological prediction, which was to hand over the taxes collected this year, mainly the food tax, to this army in exchange for peace.

It is even necessary to do this. If the other party asks for money, then give it. It would be bad if they, because of their poor hospitality, asked around for information, and once they learned that the entire county of Flanders was betting on both sides in the civil war in the kingdom.

Because, in a kingdom under civil war, the three warring princes have become jealous.

As long as this army is not taken care of well, the monarch behind it may unleash the wrath of thunder. What is a baron? The king could easily bypass the Count of Flanders and remove himself as a minor baron without being able to reason with him.