Chapter 45 The joys and sorrows of people are not connected (Happy New Year everyone)
Whether the nobles are willing to contribute to the manufacturing technology of crossbows, the answer is obvious.
The larger the territory and the larger the population, the more willing the nobles are.
However, Count Ansbach couldn't figure out why Otto was willing to sell this weapon-making technology that could bring victory to the nobles.
Otto's answer was also quite concise.
"Because it is actually very easy to imitate, and the process itself is not valuable."
"So, your ultimate goal is to sell armor?" Count Ansbach suddenly realized.
Otto spread his hands.
"As you know, armor has always been expensive, let alone one that can protect against crossbows? Of course, it is not something that ordinary nobles can own.
But don’t worry, when the new armor comes out, Sighard will definitely receive several pairs of excellent armors.”
"Otto, you are thoughtful." Count Ansbach nodded with a smile.
Regarding the technology for making crossbows, Otto shared it with his allies the Sighard family for free. As for other nobles, Otto only received a small sum of money.
On the same day, many nobles sent messengers back to their territories, bringing with them the technology given by Otto. If nothing else, they probably wanted their territories to produce crossbows as soon as possible.
After all, after witnessing the power of a crossbow with one's own eyes, who wouldn't want to own such a powerful weapon immediately?
The reason why Otto transfers technology at a low price is not for charity, but because he has his own considerations.
In fact, the main force that really resisted crossbows was the low-level nobles, mainly the knight class.
The emergence of crossbows will greatly weaken the influence of knights on the outcome of wars, thus inevitably leading to the decline of knights.
Otto thought that he could not do anything to appease the knight class. It would be great if he could appease the knights and "quasi-knights" in his territory.
Then, only by letting the lords of the knights see the benefits and turning the hostility of the targeted crossbows into a game between the lords and the knights can the crossbows not be boycotted.
After discussions with the Sighard family, the original engagement ceremony became a marriage between them.
This is not Otto's intention, but the Sighard family's strong request.
In the view of the Sighard family, since they have already reached a covenant, it is better to get engaged than to get married directly to save trouble.
There is no legal age requirement for marriage these days. As long as both families agree, even a three-year-old child can get married.
Otto didn't want to get married so early. After all, Sophie was less than fifteen years old. In her previous life, she was still a child. Otto couldn't pass the test in his heart.
But under the strong request of the Sighard family, Otto agreed.
Getting married earlier also makes the covenant between the two parties more secure.
As for Sophie's age, it would be better to have sex later.
Since the engagement is temporarily changed to a wedding, the time will inevitably be postponed for a period of time. After all, many things related to the wedding are completely different from the engagement ceremony.
Many guests did not have any objections to staying in Aargauland for a longer period of time. It was winter, and the nobles had nothing to do even in their own territories.
Now in Aargauling, there are delicious food and drinks, and there are people to drink and dance with. In those days, I simply felt like I didn't want to miss my days. Not to mention staying for a few more days, what if I stayed there forever if I had nothing to do.
The guests were happy, but Otto was not.
You know, entertaining these guests is a big expense. After all, although you don't have to provide delicacies for every meal, you still have to be able to get the ingredients.
In this era of scarcity, good food supply means huge expenses.
Thinking that it was his first time to have a formal relationship with a nobleman, Otto could only pinch his nose and endure it, even if the expense was high, and he could only speed up the preparations for the wedding.
If the wedding ends earlier, these nobles can be sent away earlier. These people are really good at eating and drinking. Otto doesn't want the little wealth he has saved up to be eaten up by them like this.
Since you are going to hold a wedding, you naturally need a significant marriage seeker.
It is not difficult to find this candidate. Bishop Valens, who lives in Emma Abbey in Algau, is an extremely suitable candidate.
Faced with Otto's invitation, Bishop Valens readily agreed.
After the Aargau Land easily defeated the Bern Land and proved its strength, Bishop Valens also wanted to have a good relationship with Otto.
After all, Otto was also close to the Luna family in the church, and there were many monasteries in the Allgäu Territory, so there was no need to make the relationship with Otto too tense.
If he can build a good relationship with Otto, maybe in the future, Otto will become a financial sponsor to support him to advance to a higher level in the church.
As for the Basel area, it is not in the hands of the Luna family anyway. Otto can take it if he wants. Could it be that after Otto gets the Basel area, he will drive away the church? This is completely impossible.
.
After Bishop Valens took the initiative to show his goodwill and was willing to acquiesce to Clare's takeover of the Basel area, and appease other voices in the church, and also sent a valuable gift, Otto also reciprocated the favor and shared the technology of the crossbow.
It was given to Bishop Valens as the other party's "performance".
Amidst the congratulations that everyone didn't know whether they were sincere or false, Otto celebrated his wedding.
Just as Argolan was enjoying themselves, in the Bar area of the capital of the Kingdom of Lotharingia, the dying King Lothair II was lying on the bed, explaining his funeral arrangements.
In fact, Lothair II had been unconscious most of the time since the sudden illness in September. At this moment, Lothair II had a ruddy complexion, spoke in a loud voice, and did not appear to be seriously ill.
But there was no joy on the faces of everyone in the room. Everyone understood that this was Lothair II's reflection before his death. It was his last will and spirit as king that kept him awake.
With the help of his servant, Lothair II reluctantly sat up against the edge of the bed, with a smile on his face and looked at his underage son Hugues.
Yuge's eyes were filled with tears, and there were still tears on his face. He stared at his father with tears in his eyes.
"My child, don't be sad. My father just listened to the call of the gods and entered the kingdom of God. You are the future king and a strong warrior. For the sake of the people of the kingdom, you cannot cry."
"Well..." Yu Ge nodded hurriedly, but the tears couldn't stop falling. He was only a child, and such things as separation and death were really too cruel for him.
Lothair II sighed softly, stretched out his hand tremblingly, touched Yuge's head beside the bed, and looked at the other nobles in the room.
"Everything about the kingdom and my son is entrusted to you.
If...if you really can't hold on to the kingdom, then you don't have to hold on, as long as you can ensure that my children can grow up safely."
Lothair II smiled sadly and his face gradually turned pale. As a member of the Carolingian family, he knew better than anyone what would happen after his death.
"If that doesn't work, just surrender. My two uncles, I'm sure, won't... won't make it difficult for you."
After Lothair II struggled to squeeze out the last few words, his eyes gradually became blurred, and the hand originally placed on Yuge's head fell down weakly.