Chapter 90 Your name will be Otto from now on (for further reading)
"My Lord Bishop, the latest information is that the Stade area has also been attacked by Count Otto. The local church... I'm afraid..."
A church knight entered the room, bowed respectfully to Jason and reported the latest battle situation.
"Hmph!" Jason snorted coldly. He just managed to show a trace of pride but was defeated by the ruthless reality.
Yes, his previous plans were indeed very successful.
The rebellion of the Saxons really caused a headache for the Duke of Franconia. If the situation continues, even if the Saxons cannot establish an independent country, they will still be able to obtain a certain degree of autonomy.
And when that time comes, the church that provides help to the Saxons will undoubtedly reap huge rewards.
You must know that the Frankish nobles have always been wary of the Saxons, and there are not many strategic materials that can flow into the Saxony region. In fact, in the Saxony region, even some so-called knights are not even equipped with war horses.
If it weren't for the church operating from it, transporting a large amount of materials into the Saxony region, and handing them over to these Saxon nobles for sale or giveaway, I'm afraid this rebellion would have ended long ago.
Originally, everything was developing according to Jason's plan. Seeing that the Saxons had elected their own leader and were not far away from declaring the founding of the country, Jason was ready to use his connections in the church to get the Holy See to recognize the founding of Saxony. He never thought that
However, the situation of the war took a turn for the worse.
First, the Duke of Bavaria, the regent of the kingdom, got into trouble and actually sent the kingdom's army to support the Duke of Franconia.
Damn idiot, don't you know the tradition of internal strife in the Carolingian family? Aren't you afraid that your brother will threaten your throne after taking control of the Duchy of Saxony?
At the same time, the offensive method adopted by Otto and Werner to support war with war completely changed the situation of the war, causing great damage to the economic foundation of the entire Saxony region, and even the church suffered huge losses.
These two damn little earls actually dare to do such a thing that destroys the foundation of the Principality of Saxony. Doesn’t the Duke of Franconia know how to stop them?
Could taking over a broken Duchy of Saxony make up for his losses?
What a bunch of idiots they are.
Thinking of this, Jason couldn't help but feel a little irritable, and his tone became a little impatient.
"Where's Werder Bremen? How's the situation?"
"Most of Bremen has been captured by the Franconian army, but the city of Bremen has not been captured yet."
After hearing the knight's report, Jason curled his lips and sounded a little disdainful.
"Hmph! What kind of new genius in the kingdom is just a fool who only knows how to bully the farmers.
Even this kind of fool can't be defeated. The church has raised you losers in vain.
Okay, go and call Dean Moran."
The Church Knight was lying on the gun for no apparent reason, and his face became ugly. After all, he was also from a noble family, and now he was being accused of being a waste, so he was naturally very unhappy.
He wanted to get angry for a moment, but after thinking about the identity of the person in front of him and his own identity, he finally suppressed his anger and lowered his head.
"Okay, Bishop."
Watching the knight walk out of the room, Jason's eyes were filled with contempt.
The trash is indeed trash, and it is impossible to defend the church with this kind of trash, even if it is pointed at and scolded.
It seems that the establishment of an elite military force that truly belongs to the church is about to begin.
Well, I will write a letter to the Holy See later and ask His Majesty to think about this issue carefully. Otherwise, it will be impossible to protect the wealth and power of the church by relying on these knights who were selected by the nobles.
During this period, apart from knights with fiefdoms or official positions, there were only a few options for "quasi-knights".
The top ones have undoubtedly taken refuge in various nobles, hoping to rely on their own abilities to secure a future. For example, the hundreds of "quasi-knights" that Otto easily recruited were because they took a fancy to Otto's potential and generous rewards.
The worse ones became mercenaries. Although the status of mercenaries is not as good as the knights of the nobles, they still have freedom. At the same time, as long as they are lucky and save a lot of wealth, they can eventually buy a manor or a small knight's collar. It is possible and impossible
Become a noble.
As for the last ones, it is those who are not strong enough or have the attitude of just eating and waiting to die, so they will seek refuge in the church in exchange for a lifetime of food and clothing.
During this period, the church did not have many major knights. As a knight of the church, his status was quite embarrassing, not much higher than the servants maintained by the church.
If it weren't for the fact that most knights were born into noble families and were so concerned about this, I'm afraid the church knights would be no different from servants.
Therefore, "quasi-knights" who are truly powerful and ambitious will never consider becoming a church knight.
Except for the very few who want to integrate into the church with the help of church knights and eventually follow the path of promotion to priests, the idea that church knights are a bunch of waste is not completely wrong.
As for those who want to gain status within the church, they usually have to be the second son of a baron or an earl, and they have the support of the nobles behind them.
In the church, the priests had to be polite when talking to them. They would not be like the church knights in front of them, who would let Jason order around like he was commanding servants.
It was precisely because he knew that the combat effectiveness of the church knights was mostly unreliable that Jason did not choose to stick to Bremen.
Although I heard that Otto did not attack strong castles and fortresses during his march, given Bremen's strong city defenses, most likely Otto would choose to bypass them.
However, after all, he and Otto had a "revenge for killing their father". Jason did not dare to risk his own safety by betting that Otto did not know about this and that Otto did not dare to attack Bremen.
He became a principality-level bishop in his forties. He had a bright future in the church and could not take risks.
Not long after, Moran, the abbot of the monastery, walked in.
"Yes." Jason nodded slightly. "Here he is. How about it? What did the Earl of Brunswick say? Are you willing to send troops to assist Bremen?"
Jason doesn't care about the life and death of the priests in Bremen. What he cares about is the large amount of wealth in Bremen that belongs to the Saxon Diocese. Most of this wealth belongs to him, Jason, and is what he plans to use in the future.
Those who seek higher positions in the church must not fall into Otto's hands.
"This..." Moran hesitated.
"What's wrong? Tell me! Did the Earl of Brunswick not agree to send troops?" Jason suddenly understood. Looking at the other party's expression, there was a high probability that the Earl of Brunswick did not agree.
"It's not that..." Moran said cautiously. "The Earl did agree to send troops, but..."
"Just what? You can't even speak?"
"He proposed that he needed a little money to lobby other nobles to send troops with him!"
"How much does he want?" Jason breathed a sigh of relief. He wanted money, that would be easy.
However, when he heard Moran say the number that Earl Brunswick wanted, Jason couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
Sure enough, nobles are all the same, whether they are Saxons or Franks, they are all the same greedy people.
"Promise him!" Jason gritted his teeth.
He can still distinguish clearly between losing part of his wealth and losing it all.
"Master Bishop, please calm down." Moran also felt Jason's anger, took a step forward, and whispered.
"The bishop has been working hard recently. I have found a devout believer. He wants to listen to the bishop spread the glory of God. I hope the bishop can use this to extinguish the fire."
As he spoke, Moran coughed twice, the door to the room opened, and a little boy about seven or eight years old with fair skin and a delicate face was pushed in by a pair of big hands.
After taking a look at the little boy, Bishop Jason's eyes lit up and he nodded with satisfaction.
"Yes, yes, you are very understanding. I think there are many regional bishops vacant this time. See if there is a place you like and tell me later."
"Thank you, Lord Bishop." Moran smiled happily.
"Then I won't disturb you and I'll take my leave now."
After speaking, Moran quickly left the room, closed the door, and took away the two servants outside the door.
"May I have your name?"
"My name is Sheen...Sir..." The little boy was a little scared and didn't dare to look at Jason.
"Sean...this name doesn't sound good. From now on, you can call me Otto." For some reason, such a name came to Jason's mind.
"Also, don't call me sir in the future.
Come, I heard that you want to listen to the church of the gods, let me see if you have this blessing..."
As he said that, Jason's eyes flashed with lust and he slowly walked towards the little boy.