People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted - Chapter 858 Coup

To the north was Bohemia, a powerful neighbor; to the west was Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, who had just settled down and was quite dissatisfied with my escape from vassal status; and to the east was the ambitious Bella III.

Since I took the throne, I have worked hard day and night without slacking off, and I have finally made some progress in Austria."

Leopold led Losa into the cabin and began to complain.

Lothar smiled and said, "I remember that you were chosen as the successor of Ottokar IV, Count of Styria in southern Austria, in your early years. After his death, you will inherit the County of Styria. When you add Austria to the main part, it will be no problem for the Babenberg family to become a prince that is not inferior to the 'Four Major States in the Empire'."

Even if he had no intention of challenging the Hohenstaufen throne like Henry the Lion, there was no guarantee that the emperor and Leopold's neighbors would not take action against him out of fear.

In addition, Leopold had an ambition that he had never made clear to outsiders, which was to be granted the title of "King" like the Duke of Bohemia, even if it was only the nominal King of Austria, not really upgrading the Duchy of Austria to a kingdom. This goal was enough to make the successive heads of the Babenberg family devote their entire lives to it.

Lothar smiled and said, "Well, since you said so, out of our personal friendship, I am willing to reduce the tariff by half for any merchant ship under your command that leaves from Alexandria."

Leopold's expression suddenly brightened: "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. I will not let you down. Here, I am also willing to make a promise that all caravans under your name will be granted tax-free concessions in Austria."

Naturally, Leopold took advantage of this business. After all, the merchant fleet under Lothar was still small, and the main trade route was from Egypt to Lower Burgundy, which is Provence in Gaul.

On the contrary, Vienna was originally a trading hub for supplying goods to the imperial principalities such as Bohemia in the north. Overseas goods imported from Egypt were simply in short supply, and a 50% reduction in tariffs was of great significance to him.

Losa did not warn Leopold not to be clever. He was a man who knew when to advance and when to retreat. He would not abuse this tax reduction concession. For example, he would put the name of the Venetian fleet on it and then collect 30% or 20% of the tariff to snatch meat from Losa's mouth. That would be purely asking for trouble.

He invited Lothar and his entourage into the reception room on his cabin, where servants came in an endless stream to serve them wine and delicious food.

The Duke of Lower Lorraine was just a declining figurehead duke. The power within his territory was extremely dispersed. Also, because it was located at the border between the Western Empire and the Kingdom of Gaul, the lords of various places were like fence-sitters, swaying between the two sides and often using this as an excuse to refuse the Duke of Lower Lorraine's orders.

Otherwise, the Duke of Lower Lorraine would not have chosen the eldest son of an earl as heir for his youngest daughter.

It was just that in the past, the Habsburg family was marrying up. Now, after the Habsburg family of Aargau had a king like Lothar, the status of both parties had been reversed.

"That's not bad. I still have some time. I plan to attend."

If he led the army on a long journey, it would take at least half a year to return to Argau. However, if Lothar did not bring any followers with him, rode a dragon into the sky, or simply flew by himself, it would not take much time to return to Argau.

The red-robed witch beside Leopold also came forward to toast: "Your Majesty Lothar, since we last met, the entire supernatural world has been spreading your legend for this year. It's my fault that I didn't have enough foresight at the time and almost offended you."

Lothar knew that the Red Witch was referring to the fact that she could not control the side effects of studying Transfiguration in the middle of the night and turned into the Midgard Serpent.

Naturally, he would not care about these things and just brushed them aside.

But Lothar had the experience of killing the legendary master Shemaier. Even though he himself is still not regarded as a legendary master by the extraordinary world, the power he represents is already equal to that of a legend.

As a spellcaster, you still need to maintain basic etiquette when facing legends.

...

It was the day after Losa and his crew set sail.

"Ira, what are you doing?"

The queen frowned slightly, as if she had not yet realized what was happening.

"Stop putting on that air."

Princess Ira showed a hint of satisfaction on her face: "Isn't it obvious what I am going to do? Lady Lagaia, I didn't want to take this path, but this is a God-given opportunity that I can't give up. You forced me to do all this."

The Queen sneered.

"You disregarded the dignity of the royal family, colluded with the heretical Latins, and gave the sacred title and half of the empire to outsiders. Do I need to repeat it again? Now that the Latin king has left in a hurry for some reason, isn't this the only chance to save the empire from the clutches of the Latins?"

"So that's what you thought."

The queen smiled bitterly and looked at the princess with a look that contained both contempt and disappointment.

Behind her, a lazy and elegant female voice sounded: "Sorry to bother you, but if I'm not mistaken, you guys are trying to harm Her Majesty the Queen, right?"

The female knight wearing a fallow deer hood walked out slowly.

She was the person in charge who Losa specially left in Constantinople to organize the necessary books with Eve.

After all, in terms of knowledge, no one under Lothar can compare to Viviana, who received aristocratic education since childhood and is proficient in multiple languages.

They did not know the name Hohenzollern, which was still insignificant at that time, but they had all seen with their own eyes what kind of terrible power was hidden in the body of this seemingly gentle and pretty female knight.

Their faces were ashen as death, and they looked towards their leader.

Ira clenched her teeth, fear making her whole body tremble.

But soon, she burst into hysterical laughter: "Swear? Guarantee?"

The purple-robed queen looked at Ira with a complicated expression: "You said I was as cruel as Irina, then I will follow your wishes. Everyone, in the name of the Empress of the Empire, I demand that you tie up Princess Ira immediately."

Her voice paused slightly, and then she opened her thin lips and said, "Blindness punishment."

Komnenos' guards hesitated and whispered "I'm sorry, your highness."

Many of them did not support the coup in the first place because it was too hasty.

The princess threw down her co-ruling crown in a frenzy, tore off her luxurious purple robe, and cursed like a venomous snake: "Lagaia, you will not have a good end."

"I...I, it won't be Irina."

The weakness on Lagaia's face was quickly replaced by strength.

In her opinion, Queen Irina, who once ruled the empire under the name of "Basileus", a master of power and palace fighting, was not worthy of being compared with herself.

The next moment, a large number of guards rushed in from outside the hall.

The Royal Steward looked at the pale-faced Komnenos guards and sneered, "Kill them all, leaving no one alive."

It was not until then that the Komnenos guards realized that Lagaia's orders were never meant for them.