Standing in the open space in front of the cathedral, Uliuu looked up at the building, which had apparently just undergone a catastrophe, and several birds flew out of the hollow windows that seemed to have gaping open mouths, hovering over the clearing for a while, and then flying back to land on the windowsill, pecking at some of the grains of wheat scattered on it.

On the steps in front of the church, a flock of wild birds were also picking up grains of wheat on the ground, which had been landed on the ground by the mob that had looted the church.

Ulliu watched this scene with amusement, he had been to many places, but this was the first time he had seen something like Montpellier.

It was clear that the locals were very disrespectful, or hostile, to the church, and they no longer even had the least respect for the church, much to the surprise of Uliu.

As a Moorish, this scene would not have made him feel any emotion or discomfort, but what happened in Montperier was somewhat beyond his and Alexander's imagination.

This forced Uriu to reconsider his plans to come to Montperier, and Anne of Brittany was surprisingly intransigent from what they had previously thought, and although this did not affect Alexander's plans, Ulrius felt that things might change a little differently.

Louis XII's crushing defeat in Italy came as a surprise to the French, and even the most pessimistic people thought Louis would repeat the mistakes of his predecessor.

And in fact, many people are also looking forward to such an outcome.

After the Hundred Years' War, the French royal family's means of containing the power of the aristocracy have become more and more obvious, and Louis XI, nicknamed the spider, cunning used the castles of the Loire Valley to firmly control most of the southern French aristocracy from Brittany to Nice, and his son Charles VIII used an expedition to Italy to envelop the nobles from all over the world.

Louis XII clearly intended to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors, and these tactics were already well known to the French aristocracy.

Therefore, many hoped that the king would not be victorious, so that he would not be able to enjoy his reputation as a conqueror, nor be able to buy off a large number of nobles with large sums of money and spoils, and a defeat might force the king to relinquish his increasingly tight control over the nobles' domains.

However, despite this, all people wanted to see was a setback for the king, but no one wanted to see a great defeat for the French army.

This is a huge blow to France, and may even attract strong enemies who already covet French territory.

So Anne of Brittany's hard-line attitude was supported by the big nobles around her, but they didn't think about what the revolt at Montpellier meant.

Ulliu, who had a bag on his shoulders like a vagabond, walked towards the town hall, and from a long distance he could see a large crowd of people coming in and out of the street in front of the town hall.

It seemed that everyone had something to squeeze into, which forced the two guards standing in the doorway to block the door with their spears in their hands, while pushing hard outward against the people who kept shouting.

Even from a distance, Ulliu could hear discontent protests, mixed with cursing in the local dialect he didn't understand.

Ulliu saw an opportunity to find the young woman, who seemed to be a good talker, and asked her what was going on, and when he heard the woman say that the people were asking the delegates for food, Ulliu was like this woman who split her slightly thick lips and showed a mouthful of white teeth

Ulliu did not know what the situation of the Montperier people was in now, but he believed that it would be wonderful, although the noble armies from all over the country had not yet fully arrived, but the road to the outside of Montperier had been blocked.

Because the nobility of the various realms had decreed that they were forbidden to do business with the people of Montpellier, the city that had been an important transportation hub in the south of France was in a difficult situation.

Montpellier was not a grain producer, and the city, built almost on a large limestone hill, was a major trade route between Gaul and Rome in its early years, and although it has since declined, it still carries links with many cities on the Mediterranean coast of southern France.

However, Montpellier is not close to the sea, and there is not enough land, which makes it very likely that the city will be in trouble due to lack of food once it is blocked.

Ulliu stood at the town hall from afar, and instead of hurrying back, he seemed to be thinking about something, and after a while he whistled slightly, turned and walked down the street.

There are no major rivers near the city, and the water in Montbilier is not abundant compared to the cities that have been built along the five largest river systems in France, but there are one or two small rivers running through the city, including the Cenotto River, which meanders through the southern part of the city and then flows into the Mediterranean.

The Senotin River is not wide or fast, but because of the topography, the river has formed several rugged and tortuous bends in the city, separating part of the southern part of the city from most of the city of Montpellier.

Most of the area is filled with shops of all kinds, and merchants have spontaneously built a riverside market on the bank of the Senodin River, where many people will set up stalls and sell their wares, and some business is negotiated here.

Two small arched bridges connect the two banks of the Senodin River, and Ulliu now has his home in a bridge under one of them.

Fortunately, it was cool and pleasant by the river in August, so Uliuu simply cleaned up the bridge and hole a little, and then took out the dry food from the package and sat in the shade while eating while looking at the market not far from the river bank opposite.

From time to time, you can hear the noise of the locals clashing with the merchants, some shouting curses, some arguing, and some shouting for the city's self-defense forces.

The merchants, fearing that it would completely anger the locals, refused to sell their scarce grain at a low price, and Montpellier was already panicked by the blockade, and those who had declared the city free from the king's rule clearly did not know what to do next.

The negotiations they longed for did not come, but the blockade of the nobles and the subsequent series of failures, and now they could no longer supply even the food of the people in the city, which made many merchants see an opportunity, but as the shortage of food became more and more serious, even those merchants began to feel uneasy.

Uliu took a hard bite of the jerky, which he had brought with him when he left Valencia, and had been cured and smoked in spices, which was not pretty, but it was a rare delicacy in the mouth.

A figure flashed from the light, and Ulliu saw two children standing in the light outside the bridge, and they looked at the jerky in Ulliu's hand with a look of hunger that was about to drip saliva.

A smile appeared on Uli's dark face, and he handed the jerky in his hand, watching a child snatch it and put it in his mouth and chew it vigorously, and then with a look of disbelief, the Moors couldn't help but laugh.

"Do you want it?" Uliu took out a few more pieces of jerky and shook them at the other child who didn't grab them, "Do something for me, and I'll give it all to you." ”

Watching the two children hurry up the riverbank, Ulliu sat down comfortably and continued to eat, until it was nearly dark when he heard someone stepping on the gravel on the bank of the river and descending onto the riverbank.

It was a middle-aged man who looked like a typical merchant, his sparse hair swaying above his head in the evening breeze, and when he saw Uliu, the man looked visibly surprised, and then, as if remembering something, he bent down and walked into the bridge to take a closer look at the Moors in front of him.

"I'm sorry, if I didn't guess wrong, you should be ......"

"Yes, it's me," Uliu Mali stood up and patted the dirt on his body, and then said to the middle-aged man with a smile, "I am Uliu, the servant of the Duke of Thesia, and I am willing to serve you." ”

For a moment, Uliu saw the other party's complicated expression mixed with "sure enough" and "unexpected", which made the smile on his face even thicker.

Montpellier's town hall is a typical local style building, the façade without decorative poles is made of local gray limestone, this kind of stacked stone houses looks dull and slightly dull from a distance, this typical southern French architecture always surrounds the town hall with a dull atmosphere, just like the mood of the delegates who are now sitting together.

The representatives of the people, who had impassionedly declared their independence from the rule of the French king, were now staring at the barley wine in front of them, which they had scavenged from the cellars of the town hall, and at first no one cared about the barley wine, and the people preferred to celebrate their victory with wine, but now with the shortage of goods in the city, not only has the wine long since it is gone, but even the barley wine can only be supplied to the people's representatives to relieve their sorrows.

"People everywhere else are cowards!" A person suddenly slammed the glass in his hand, and the wine splashed on the table, making the person next to him show a look of pity: "We thought they would do the same, didn't they go bankrupt, or did they think that this kind of unfortunate thing would not happen to them, but look at what they did, they called us a mob!" ”

"The nobles' army has not yet arrived, but we will not last long," said another man, who did not smash the glass, but clenched the glass with both hands as if he was afraid that someone else would snatch it, "why does the queen refuse to negotiate with us, we just want her forgiveness, as long as we order an amnesty, we can go home." ”

"Bang", a man in a slightly shabby robe slammed a punch on the table, his face was flushed with anger, seeing everyone looking at him, his gaze swept over everyone at the table and finally fell on the face of the person who said he wanted to negotiate: "We all know what we did, do you think the characteristics can make those noble lords let us go, we executed the archbishop, and also dropped the king's municipal magistrate on the door frame of this house, do you think the queen will forgive us for this?" ”

"It wasn't what we intended, and it was too much chaos for us to stop it," another man defended, a little panicked, as he looked around as he tried to get a response from them, but all he saw was an unusually ugly look on everyone's faces.

It was clear that the words of the previous man had pierced their weakness, and they both knew that even if the queen did issue an amnesty, perhaps those who followed the riot would have escaped punishment, but they would obviously face the trouble that followed.

"We shouldn't have come forward, I'm just a painter, my greatest wish is to go to Florence to learn painting, I never thought of going against the king," one of the few began to complain in a low voice, and when he saw the angry eyes cast by others, the man glared back in the same rage, "Isn't it, who thought about the current situation when he first stood up?" ”

"Oh, that's so sorry, we didn't expect that," said the man in the old robes, sarcastically, "but I remember you standing outside the cathedral and telling everyone that God will punish the greedy priests, and you were not the one who suggested that we should use the Picture of Our Lady of Mercy as a banner?" ”

The painter's face instantly turned red, and he didn't know whether it was excitement or fear, and his trembling hand reached for the wine glass on the table, but after getting the glass, he let go of his hand and leaned back in the chair and let out a sigh.

This sigh touched everyone's hearts at once, and the room, which had been a little angry because of the quarrel, was instantly enveloped in an atmosphere of despair, and everyone fell silent, and one person even let out a low cry.

It was at this time that there was a knock on the door, and the knock made several people in the room seem to startle, and their eyes turned to the door, and their minds flashed at the same time, "Is there any bad news?" thoughts.

It is no wonder that these people's representatives are so desperate, because there has been no good news since Montperier was cut off from the outside world, and several successive defeats have already terrified Montperier, and if it were not for the noble army besieging the city because it was too small and still waiting for reinforcements from other places, perhaps the city of Montperier would have been captured by this time.

"Someone wants to see you, delegates."

It was clear that the guards who had taken up their posts in a hurry did not know how to follow the rules, so before the deputies could react, the two men who followed closely followed had already walked in.

It was a merchant and a young Moorish man, and under the inexplicable gaze of the delegates, the two men very unceremoniously found a chair and sat down not far from the table, and then looked at them silently.

"Who are you?" The man in the old robe, who was the leader of the delegates, looked at the two uninvited guests vigilantly and unpleasantly, and at the same time wondered if they were the negotiators sent by the queen, and when he thought of this man, his eyes could not help but show a trace of eagerness.

"We're here to do business with you," the thin-haired merchant stood up and bowed, then sat down again, and seeing that the Moor next to him didn't seem to be about to speak, he had to continue, "I wonder what you can do in return if I can supply you with enough food, weapons, and money to be able to hire mercenaries?" ”

The delegates looked surprised, first standing up excitedly, and then all looking at the merchant cautiously.

"What do you want?" The leader tried to keep himself quiet, but this was apparently unsuccessful, and he simply walked around the table to the merchant, "We have nothing now, the priests have robbed us of the last of our savings, and the greedy exchange merchants who have ruined us of our fortunes. ”

The merchant touched his nose slightly embarrassed, and at the same time reminded himself inwardly not to let the other party know that he was one of those greedy exchange merchants, but when the corner of his eye swept over the Moore next to him again, he saw his encouraging eyes.

"You still have what we want," the merchant said slyly, he didn't really know what the royal official of the Duchy of Rome Thesia next to him had in mind, after all, as the Fugol family was under the command of Montpellier, their task was only to exchange as many Radia gold coins as possible, or to buy those goods at the cheapest price that they could not afford to pay for the huge difference in price because they were paid for with Radia gold coins.

In fact, what really matters is the goods, although only Montpellier or a few French cities in the Mediterranean, but this is enough to be called an eye-popping astronomical amount.

Some people think of the hoarding of goods that occurred in the port of Amsterdam in the winter a few years ago, but it is not possible to compare which one is more extensive and involves more money and wealth than this one.

"I can rearm you, whether it's food, weapons or money, you should know that Louis lost the battle, and all I need you to do is to finally make the queen willing to negotiate with you."

The merchant looked at the suspicious look on the faces of these representatives and had to look at Ulliu with some helplessness, in fact, even he didn't know why he was doing this at this time.

Feeling the suspicious gaze, Uliu stood up helplessly, he wanted to tell these people that he was just a servant of the duke, but looking at their suspicious eyes, he knew that it was safer to tell the truth with acquaintances.

"I am the royal official of the Duke of Rome Thesia," Ulliu said first, seeing the blank looks of these people, he reluctantly admitted that the master's current cards did not seem to be big enough, at least these French poor and rural soil buns were still very unfamiliar with the name of the duke, "My master is the elder brother of the Queen of Naples, and he leads other countries to win your king." ”

"Oh~"

A low cry of surprise rang out in the room, and everyone's eyes instantly became different.

"So, my master has sent me here to ask you, will you make an alliance with him?"

Looking at those people, Uliu smiled again.