Chapter 400, Lesson 2 of François
When the group came to the ancient tomb belt of Kuileu, two hundred knights led by Francois were already waiting here.
This is a large low-lying basin, which is covered with a large number of stone buildings. Judging from the patterns of these stone buildings and the marks on them, there is no doubt that this place was once the ruins of the high elves, even after thousands of years. At that time, the buildings of the high elves still bloomed with moving art, but most of the buildings and towers collapsed, and the walls were covered with vines.
Mixed among the high elf buildings are graves, a large group of tombs, surrounded by various skulls, many stone chamber tombs with open doors, filled with cobwebs and dust, the wealth inside has long been destroyed by greenskins and humans Looted.
There are hundreds of such stone chamber tombs in the entire basin. Under the cold winter wind, the glory of human beings seems to be in the past, and the future of the world is only countless bones and endless desolation.
The entire army of knights passed by this ancient tomb belt. Francois, wearing a full set of mithril blue and white plate armor, a Holy Grail cloak on his back, and a unicorn sword hanging from his waist, squinted his eyes. Looking at this area of ancient tombs, I was silent for a long time.
"The things left by the high elves are obviously not as strong as those made by dwarves." Bellegar looked at the tombs and the decaying scenery, and he felt very sad. The king of the Eight Peaks Mountain thought of the fallen Eight Peaks Mountain, where the ancestors were also placed. Shrines and ancestral temples.
Bellegar was never willing to show weakness, so he had no choice but to speak out.
"Here, it looks like a settlement? Humans used the towns left by the high elves when they retreated from the old world, but why did they become a group of tombs?" Ryan felt the desolation and bleakness of the whole area, and still There were those animals that remained extremely hostile to the outside world. Unexpectedly, Francois signaled the knights not to attack. He just sighed and let the army pass quickly.
"These animals are not enemies, they are all the witnesses and defenders of the Principality of Kuilau, Ryan, Suria, Yuli, Jerrod, you must have heard of it, there were dozens of cloth The Brittany tribe crossed the Gray Mountains and came to settle in Brittany, but when Arthur established the Knight Kingdom, there were only fourteen duchies left, right?" Francois said to everyone looking at the gloomy sky.
"I would like to hear more about it." Suria said in a low voice. She and Julius both knew the whole story. Francois wanted to tell Ryan more of a story, and the female knight said with empathy.
"It was about a thousand years ago that the Bretons crossed the Gray Mountains. In the next two hundred years, small tribes were destroyed or merged, and sixteen Breton tribes were divided in Brittany. The sixteen duchies, apart from the well-known duchies of Artois and Aquitaine that were destroyed by the vampire incident, there were actually two duchies before the founding of the first king of knights, His Majesty Arthur. Buried in the dust, few people know now."
"That is the Principality of Kuilau and the Principality of Grand Boyle."
Francois raised his hand, pointing to all the buildings and tombs in the entire low-lying land: "This is the original site of the Principality of Kuilau."
"..." Everyone was speechless.
"Hundreds of years after coming to Brittania, these tribes who produced the best riders in the old world fought with the Greenskins and Beastmen for a long time with the Estalians and Tyrells in the south. Immediately, A huge greenskin invasion came about a thousand years ago, and the whole of Brittany fell into a huge crisis. The greenskins ran amok on the land of Britannia, destroying everything, burning down villages, destroying Everything I saw." Francois continued: "It was at that time that the Duchy of Kuilau and the Duchy of Grand Boyle were both facing the attack of the wave of green skins, and both duchies concentrated all the knights to resist. , the ending...you have also seen it now."
"then,
The entire territory of Brittany is a beacon of war between humans, greenskins, and beastmen, but all principalities are fighting on their own, and the empire on the other side of the mountain is in decline. At that time, it was my ancestors, the Duke of Winford and the Duke of Berleon, who led the army to support them, but they saw the end of the Duke of Kuilau, so the two ancestors decided to use the championship duel. Decide to whom the land of this duchy belongs. "Francois had a refined smile on his face.
"Obviously, the Duke of Winford won." The result is not difficult to guess. Now the land belongs to the Duchy of Winford. Ryan followed the old man's words and said, "And then?"
"Twenty years after the demise of the Principality of Kuilau, the crisis facing the Bretanians has become more and more serious. The greenskins are rampant, the northern barbarians are plundering, and the beastmen are attacking. Chaos has spread throughout the land of Brittania. At this time, many duchies have left a few isolated cities, and the population has been greatly reduced. Facing the enemy's attack, many dukes can only sit in the isolated cities and watch the greenskins and beastmen destroy the villages and people."
"At this time, the Duke of Bastogne has become famous in Brittany. He killed the huge red fire dragon by himself, and became the dragon-slaying champion warrior who is famous in the kingdom. His name is..."
"Arthur." Gerald said: "The great first knight king, the king of the Bretons themselves, the real Breton, Arthur-le-Breton."
"That's right." Francois looked at the cloudy sky and the white forest and snowfield, and continued: "Arthur's rise made people see hope, but Brittany was still in a state of division at that time, and that's it. Another twenty-five years later, Brittany ushered in the largest invasion in history. The Principality of Grand Boyle was razed to the ground in the attack of the Greenskins. Under the call of Arthur, Brittany The Nians united for the first time, with Schirrouf from Lyonnaise and Landouin from Mousillon joining Arthur's 'Anti-Green Alliance', the 'Fight for Brittania' The slogan sounded for the first time on this land...you all know what happened after that."
Everyone nodded, and then Arthur fought fiercely against the Greenskin tribe but fell into despair, and met the fairy in the lake by the fairy lake, and then there were the twelve greatest epic battles, the establishment and launch of the "Holy Grail Brotherhood" The Kingdom of Litania is born.
The twelve holy grail knights are the dukes of the twelve duchies, and their great deeds will be remembered and praised forever until the end of the world.
The young people are fascinated.
Ryan felt that Francois had something else to say, and he tried to continue asking: "So, we must unite and resist the invasion together, otherwise we will end up in ruins and tombs like the Principality of Kuilau. Just leave it for everyone to admire?"
"No, how could you not understand such a simple truth." Francois smiled, and he reached out and patted Ryan on the shoulder: "Think again! Ryan."
"Uh..." Ryan had to continue to think: "It is fame and strength. Arthur's huge reputation accumulated through dragon slaying and the powerful strength he displayed gave the entire Britannians a reason and belief to unite."
"It's still not accurate enough, Ryan, you can't fail to figure this out." Francois was still laughing, and the elegant duke just smiled at his son-in-law, and signaled the anxious Suria to be quiet: "Think about it." , why would Sylruf and Landuin join first? Why not Agilgar of Palaion? Why not Balduin of Berleon? Why not Rumbad of Carcassonne? Why not Wen Ford's Duke at the time, Arthur's distant relative Redmond?"
"Because Sirruf, the Duke of Lyonnais, is the husband of Arthur's sister Rosalind, that is, Arthur's brother-in-law, and Landuin has fought side by side with Arthur countless times. The relationship between these two people and Arthur The most familiar..." Ryan immediately grasped something.
He began to understand.
The champion of the fairies in the lake smiled, and Francois taught him another lesson: "No matter how great the strength is, it is useless if no one knows it. Even if there is a common enemy, the combination of childhood playmates and marriage The relationships brought about still played a decisive role in Arthur's early days in the alliance."
"Very good." Francois smiled and stroked his beard again and again. He really liked his son-in-law more and more: "It's good that you understand."
There are two meanings that the old man conveyed to Ryan.
First, from the founding of Arthur to the present, the unwritten standard for promotion among the nobles is still to select capable people from acquaintances, or to select acquaintances from capable people. The most effective, even in Ryan's view, is the same in previous lives.
Second, the easiest and most convenient way for two people who are not related to each other to be able to trust each other is to fight side by side many times in the war to establish a comrade-in-arms friendship, or through family marriage.
It seems that since Francois let Suria and Ryan marry, not only the Duke regards Ryan as his own family, Ryan also regards Francois as a reliable elder and a firm ally, starting from the marriage of Ryan and Suria , the Earl of Glamorgan and the Duke of Winford's family are both prosperous and ruined.
This is the power of marriage, and this is the means by which nobles form alliances through blood.
More importantly, the mutual benefit and mutual trust brought about by this marriage is what both parties need.
Ryan's personal strength is strong, and with the support of the fairies in the lake behind him, it is shrouded in a veil of mystery. The family of the Duke of Wenford is a noble family that has been passed down for thousands of years. Francois, who realized the disadvantages of serfdom, also needed to use Ryan's practice to observe how to make changes.
Ryan's foundation in the kingdom is still young. The champion of the Fairy of the Lake knows how to fight and is outstanding in martial arts, but he doesn't know the rules of the court and nobles. He also needs the help of the Duke of Wenford's family.
Therefore, the shrewd, wise and far-sighted Francois has long been in love with Ryan, who has outstanding character and talent, as his son-in-law. After Ryan was promoted to earl, although there were some excellent young knights in other noble families in the kingdom, Francois had already recognized Ryan, because the marriage between Ryan and Suria was beneficial to Ryan and the Duke family, and Su Leah also has a crush on Ryan.
Therefore, from the expressions of son-in-law Ryan and daughter Suria, it can be seen that this marriage is very happy.
At the same time, Francois was still telling Ryan that not all marriages are boring, and your marriage with Suria is not. You don't need to carry such a big burden in your heart, just enjoy your married life.
Lane's head turned in a big circle, and it took him a long time to realize that there was so much that François was conveying from this story.
There is a lot of information, the earl himself and his wife looked at each other, and then nodded to express their understanding.
Ryan still wanted to say something, but Francois signaled Ryan to continue listening: "My story is not over yet."
"Okay." Ryan lowered his head, truly listening to the father-in-law's teachings as his son-in-law.
"After the thirtieth year after the founding of the Knight Kingdom, that is, the second year after the second-generation knight king Lewis the Reckless took over the throne, and the sixth year after Arthur's death, Silruf and Landuin had a battle. The reason for the championship match is said to be related to the affair between Xierluf's wife, Arthur's sister Rosalind and Landuin, and also to the long-term territorial dispute between the Principality of Lyonnaise and the Principality of Musillon."
"In this duel, Landuin defeated Sylruf and left Sylruf with a terrible scar on his face. The deep friendship of fighting side by side for decades has since disappeared, and the duel is over. Afterwards, the sad Landuin returned to Musilon for self-isolation and never left his castle. Forty-three years after the duel ended, Landuin was found dead in his sleep. The Grand Knight of the Holy Grail above Arthur, the Duke of Moussilon, was less than 150 years old when he died." Francois continued.
The Great Holy Grail Knight had an extremely long lifespan, and the other Holy Grail Great Knight, Shirruf, lived to be close to 350 years old before dying on the banks of the Sandnes River.
Speaking of this story, several people sighed. In the past, fellow human beings, close comrades-in-arms of chivalry, partners of the Holy Grail, Silruf and Landuin fought side by side and participated in the twelve great battles of the founding of the country, but in the end For some reasons, they turned against each other, which made the knights feel very sorry.
"...The enthusiasm brought by dreams will always cool down, but the desire is never-ending, even the Holy Grail Knight. Presumably, His Excellency Landuin must have suffered in his heart when he defeated Silruf." Ryan said in a low voice: " So he never left his castle again. He knew that it was not what he wanted to duel with Sirruf, but he was not only a Holy Grail Knight, he was also the Duke of Mu Silon! When he is violated, when his reputation is violated, he must stand up and use all his strength to defeat Shirruf to end this dispute, otherwise this is the greatest blasphemy against chivalry!"
"This is the second lesson I want to teach you, Ryan." Francois stared at Ryan with sea-blue eyes, and he said softly: "A group gathered simply with dreams and personal prestige cannot last long. And to maintain harmony, only mature rules and regulations can guarantee the operation of the kingdom's court. Since that duel, the second-generation knight king Lewis, who was deeply admonished, began to formally draft the first draft of the knight's law, establishing the rudiment of chivalry and It was perfected, and at the same time established a complete noble enfeoffment system and kingdom laws, and since then, no Holy Grail knights have dueled due to differences."
"Thank you for your teaching!" Ryan bowed deeply again, he was taught.
"Well." Francois accepted Ryan's courtesy frankly, the Duke hesitated, and finally said.
"'Tiger' Richard is about to abdicate. The person he wants to appoint as the successor to the king is the Duke of 'Lionheart' Lawn. The matter of the king's abdication has already been put on the agenda of the royal court. Ryan...what are you going to do?"