Chapter 219 The mantis stalks the cicada and the oriole follows
Just like other vassals of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, with the severance of a family lineage, the kingdom took back its territory in the name of royal power.
Because of the close ties between the Tripoli area and the Kingdom of Jerusalem, this is not an unacceptable fact.
To be precise, for the princes of Tripoli, there was not much difference between direct obedience to the King of Jerusalem and indirect obedience to the King of Jerusalem.
Garris presided over a last sacrament for Raymond, brought bread and holy oil, and promised a tomb underground in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Raymond responded with a will, which should have the seal of the Count of Tripoli. Raymond affirmed the claim of the king of Jerusalem to the territory of the Count of Tripoli.
In other words, a joint rule is about to begin.
And just like in "Europa Universalis 4", in order to stop the old enemy United Alliance, the Principality of Antioch also led its army southward.
Now, in front of Garris, there are five thousand people, with flags in confusion and people shouting, and they are setting up military camps indiscriminately, just like an outing.
Behind Garris, there were fifty soldiers. Although there were few in number, they were orderly and carried out orders and prohibitions, exuding a strict law-abiding temperament.
As for "Stutterer" Bohemond, he didn't seem to care about the quality gap between the two armies, and seemed to believe that his side was the superior side.
At the beginning, Gaelis invited Prince Antioch to come to the castle for a chat.
But Bohemond III refused, and then Bohemond backhandedly invited Geillis to his military camp for negotiations.
Garris frowned at this proposal, but he readily agreed and only brought fifty people to serve as his guard of honor.
If there were too many people, he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to protect them. .
However, when such a group of people was about to arrive at the Antioch military camp.
Antiochus sent a messenger to ask that all 50 people not go in, and only allowed Gellis to bring up to 4 followers to the meeting.
This made Alexandros and Jos very angry.
Both the Paladin group and officers like Jos felt that Garris was being humiliated.
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, I can go in alone."
Garris actually didn't mind whether he was humiliated or not. Rather, if Prince Antioch had evil intentions, he would be humiliating himself.
At this juncture, Priwan took the initiative to stand up again.
"Sir, please allow me to enter the camp with you."
"I am the Lord of Bertram. I will bear witness for you, and it will be convenient for me to say something for you that is not suitable for you to say in person."
Garris glanced at Privan, then nodded.
The meeting between Gareth and Bohemond began with the entourage claiming their respective names.
When Privan reported the long list of claims, Bohemond's mind was buzzing.
The Holy One of Jerusalem, Lord of Tripoli, Plenipotentiary of the Second Kingdom, Head of Cyprus...
All he had to do was directly say that Garris was a child of Jehovah, the brother of Jesus, and he came to Jerusalem to fight for the family property.
But just this long list of names can be regarded as intimidating Bohemond.
After all, Garris still holds in his hands the royal staff of the Archbishop of Cyprus, the royal seal ring of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the crown of the Earl of Tripoli.
These things and accessories are not something ordinary people can wear.
The combination of the three could truly tell Prince Bosmond of Antioch that there was an equal to him standing in front of him, and that the other person had the courage to go to the meeting alone without any fear.
After the two sat down, they stared at each other for a long time without speaking.
In Garris's eyes, Bohemond had brown hair and black pupils. He had a typical Norman appearance, and his ancestors came from the Kingdom of Sicily in southern Italy.
Once upon a time, the Normans, whose ancestors were Vikings, had already ruled from Normandy to England, Italy, and Antioch...
Completed the transformation from a gangster to another kind of "gangster".
In the end, Bohemond couldn't help but get to the point: "In Tripoli, I...we, one and a half, my son Raymond will inherit the county of Tripoli, and then...then he will pledge allegiance to the kingdom."< br>
Hearing the conditions proposed by Bohemond, Garris twitched the corner of his mouth. Bohemond couldn't explain clearly, but he was really good at drawing cakes.
Half per person? What a joke...half of him refers to his son inheriting the county of Tripoli, and half of Gairis has the allegiance of his son?
No, historically speaking, and from a legal perspective, even the Principality of Antioch should pay tribute to the Kingdom.
Although there is a saying in the feudal system: As long as I fulfill my obligations of taxation and service, my personal identity has nothing to do with the lord.
According to the logic of feudal society, Gairis, as the king of Jerusalem, obviously needs feudal lords to manage Tripoli. Anyway, lower-level lords are indispensable.
Therefore, whoever served as count of Tripoli would have little impact on the royal power of Jerusalem as long as he could fulfill his feudal obligations.
But having said that, can your descendants of the Poitiers-Antioch family really fulfill their feudal responsibilities to the Kingdom of Jerusalem seriously?
It can be said that what Bohemond proposed was to take off his pants and fart.
Whoever believes it is retarded.
So Gehrys responded without hesitation.
"I refuse."
This meeting or negotiation reached a deadlock.
Garris holds in his hands the will left by Raymond, the former Earl of Tripoli, and actually controls the city of Tripoli and the Castle of St. Giles.
As for the Principality of Antioch, there was Raymond's theoretical heir, and he brought an army of five thousand.
At the same time, Bohemond also followed at least half of the princes of Tripoli.
You must know that the reason why Bohemond came relatively late these days is that he spent a lot of time, leading his army, to visit the princes north of Tripoli one by one, forcing them to stand in line.
Bohemond believed that his side was the dominant side, so he wanted to get the most practical benefits no matter what.
If the noble council of the County of Tripoli were convened to discuss who should serve as the Earl of Tripoli, Bohemond would have a good chance of winning.
However, no matter how tense the atmosphere was, even if the negotiation broke down, Bohemond did not directly detain Gehrys.
After that, Garris and others conducted negotiations with Bohemond again and again.
Most of these negotiations were actually nonsense, but Garris didn't care. After all, he needed time to recuperate, while Bohemond had five thousand troops to support.
In the absence of plunder, Bohemond's side should be the eager party.
However, the development of things was beyond the expectations of everyone present.
Even Gareth was unexpected.
A messenger from Antioch brought a piece of news that caused Bohemond's expression to change suddenly. On almost the same day, someone in Tripoli brought a message to Garis from the port.
[Reynard appeared in Antioch and raised a rebel flag. He has now invaded the city of Antioch and asked the lords of the Princely Kingdom of Antioch to recognize his identity as the Prince of Antioch.]
When the new round of negotiations began, the atmosphere became strange, and both sides seemed to realize that the other party had information.
But is the information that each other has the same piece of information?
"You...you also know?" Bohemond's voice was low, realizing that he was facing an irreversible situation.
"Probably knows more than you do."
"Exchange information?"
"Okay."
The two of them each took out a piece of paper, wrote their own information on it, and exchanged it with each other.
Bohemond took the note from Garris, and his face instantly became as gloomy as frost. He understood that the news came from the sea.
The sea route meant that he could get news faster than the land route, which meant that the information provided by Garris was the latest.
The note in Gallis's hand said in Latin: Leonard rebelled and was preparing to attack the city of Antioch.
Therefore, when two pieces of information are combined, the order should be.
About six days ago, the city of Antioch sent word overland that Leonard had rebelled and was preparing to invade Antioch.
And about three days ago, he invaded the city of Antioch and asked the lords of the Principality of Antioch to recognize his identity as the Prince of Antioch.
The two pieces of news confirmed each other.
This means that while Bohemond, Prince of Antioch, marched southward with thousands of troops to show off his power, his home base was taken away by his adoptive father.
Once Leonard stabilizes the situation in Antioch, he, Bohemond, will become the former Prince of Antioch.
In this situation, rather than seizing the County of Tripoli, his more important priority was to return quickly and defend his position.
"Tripoli?"
"It's yours." Bohemond's words were concise and powerful.
He stood up and left, leaving the princes of Tripoli with bewildered faces.
Originally, they were planning to choose sides, and even planned to start a fight. However, the situation suddenly changed at this moment, leaving them looking at each other in confusion, not even knowing what happened.
After Garris announced Bohemond's current predicament, the expressions on the faces of the princes were quite exciting.
When Bohemond gathered his army and marched north, Privan also came to Garis. The two looked at the army heading north and communicated.
"I feel there is a problem. Can Leonard capture the city of Antioch in three days?"
Although the city of Antioch in this era is far inferior to that of Antioch in its heyday, it still has an area of 3.5 square kilometers, which is three times the size of the Holy City of Jerusalem. How could it be captured so easily?
"Tell me about your analysis?" Garris was actually aware of the problem, but rather than pointing it out directly, it would be better to look at Privan's thoughts.
"So far, we have received a total of two messages. One is from the Principality of Antioch and the merchant ships at the port of Latakia, saying that Antioch has been captured and a large number of lords obey Leonard."
"The other message was from a messenger sent by the city of Antioch, which only expressed that Leonard rebelled and was preparing to attack Antioch."
"Captured in three days? Then Antioch is too vulnerable!"
After listening to Privan's words, Garris smiled. Privan's logic in thinking has begun to be perfected, and he knows how to question.
"Secondly, no matter how you look at these two pieces of information, they cannot be generalized."
"The information we received here is essentially just hearsay from merchant ships coming from Latakia. The information Bohemond received from his own messenger is reliable information."
"When reliable information and unreliable information are mixed together, the originally unreliable information will look particularly real."
"And the unreliable information relayed by you will also appear more reliable because of your authority."
"People are like this. They will subconsciously believe because of authority speaking, and they will give the illusion that all information is true because of the authenticity of other information."
"My lord, I think you have thought of all this."
Facing Privan's words, Garris deeply realized that Privan was indeed a talent.
Then he concluded: "Priwan, someone is fighting a cognitive war, and I don't mind adding fuel to the fire."
News about the fall of Antioch has spread, along with all kinds of gossip.
Rumor has it that all of Bohemond's heirs were brutally massacred by Leonard.
Others claimed that Bohemond's wife and daughter were kidnapped by Leonard and even became his playthings.
It is said that even Bohemond’s mother was pressed to the bed by Leonard...
Considering that Leonard is Bohemond's adoptive father, the last rumor actually doesn't matter.
The more Garris compiled this information, the more interesting it became.
Regarding the liquidation of the Church in Tripoli and the reform plan in Tripoli, he also continued to communicate with Tyre at this stage.
……
Ruoslan pushed open the heavy wooden door and stepped into a quiet farmer's yard.
This area is surrounded by solid stone walls. Although it is summer, it is not as exposed to the sun as the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
The climate here is much more livable, and there are lush forests everywhere.
In those forests, Ruoslan caught a good thing. He was holding a plump rabbit in his hand. The fur was shiny and looked particularly plump in the sunlight.
In the corner of the yard, Leonard was concentrating on drawing on the ground with a slender branch. On it were various calculations and a simple map of Antioch.
"I just heard the sound of horse hooves, have you solved it?" Leonard looked back at Ruoslan.
Ruoslan nodded and handed the rabbit in his hand to the attendant beside Leonard.
"Solved, this is already the fourth one. But I still don't quite understand why you are so sure that those messengers will definitely pass by here?"
"Because I am the prince of Antioch and I know this land well."
"Because all the messenger roads in the country of Antioch were originally measured by me and my people. Any attempt to bypass this place will add an extra day to the journey, and the messengers cannot afford to delay."
More updates as I promised
(End of chapter)