Chapter 498 Ludwig's Attitude
December 1445, 10 in the Imperial calendar.

The autumn wind finally blew away the smoke from the cooking fires over Fort Jeanne. Horn had just arranged Pettier's work when he received news from Rapid City.

Ludwig, the current abbot of the monastery of Blago and a senior Juano monk, finally arrived at his pious Chateau Jeanne d'Arc on October 10th.

Three barges with a displacement of about 50 tons slowly approached on both sides of the river, carrying thick smoke from burning straw.

This flat-bottomed boat is the most common merchant ship on inland rivers. It is about 5-7 meters wide. Before Horn got close, he could see the black asphalt and pine tar on the hull.

The white sails were rolled up, the long oars were retracted, and the longboards were extended from the side of the ship and placed on the plank road of the dock.

The first to come down were three or five monks wearing coarse cloth and knee-length armor, with broken daggers and short-handled whips hanging on their waists.

Then, surrounded by two monks holding crow-pecking hammers, were three monks in black robes with neatly shaved Paul-style Mediterranean hairstyles.

The one on the left is naturally Horn's old friend Martin, who is smiling and nodding at Armand who is waving at him.

On the right is a short, fat, hook-nosed old monk. His loose monk robe is bulging with fat, tight as a giant onion.

He lifted his robe with some disdain, afraid to step in the feces and urine on the dock, although under Horn's public toilet law, feces and urine on the dock were basically eliminated.

The old man in the middle looked to be in his seventies, with his withered white hair combed neatly, and he was stronger than the two monks next to him.

He has a pair of inverted triangle eyes and a thin scar on his eyebrow. When he was young, he must have been a Juano double-flowered red stick-level figure.

But now he is old, with raised brows and squinting eyes, but he looks kind and benevolent.

"Welcome to Chateau Jeanne d'Arc."

Horn hurriedly brought Jeanne, Armand and Catherine to greet them and began to introduce and greet each other.

Ludwig had obviously done his homework with Martin and knew the Holy Word's handshake etiquette, so he immediately shook Horn's hand with his big right hand.

"I thought you would be very young, but I didn't expect you to be this young." Patting Horn's hand, Ludvik turned his head and smiled at the monks behind him with a slurred voice: "It is true that young people have always been born in this place."

The monks all laughed along.

Horn didn't know whether he was senile or joking, so he just laughed awkwardly: "The Salvation Army has always respected the wise. Dean Ludwick has arrived, and we have finally met him today."

"I'm really sorry, things are very busy at Blago Monastery. We originally agreed to meet in mid-September, but it has been delayed until now." Abbot Ludwig held Horn's hand tightly and said apologetically.

"It is better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early. The abbot of Long Dyke Abbey has arrived in Heitao Town and will be able to reach Jeanne d'Arc Castle tomorrow."

The so-called abbess of Long Beach Monastery is actually Lulos.

Many years ago, most of the monastic systems in Black Snake Bay were hollowed out by local secret parties.

The church basically turns a blind eye, because sometimes they need to seek help from the secret party through these middlemen.

The Black Snake Bay secret party does not cooperate with the church, but they can cooperate with religious orders.

Although it seemed like an attempt to cover up one's own fault, it was unanimously agreed upon by both parties.

After all, doctrine is not as big as business, so it’s good enough.

"That's great. We haven't seen each other for at least ten years, uh, twenty years." Seeing that Ludwig almost let the cat out of the bag, Martin almost "corrected" him.

At this time, old Ludwig finally let go of Horn's red hand and introduced the two protectors on the left and right to him.

"Martin, you have met this man, Jean Blo, the liturgical priest of our monastery in Blago."

"May the Lord bless you." Horn shook hands with him.

"May the Lord bless you." The short and fat Jean Blo looked Horn in the eyes, put on a professional fake smile, and shook Horn's hand.

Horn blinked and said nothing more. Instead, he turned around and continued to introduce Ludvik to several important people behind him.

Old acquaintances including Madeleine, Armand and Jeanne, Catherine and Mitternich naturally chatted with Ludwig. At this time, the other two barges came to the shore, and more than a dozen Juano monks got off each barge.

Most of them are a classic hot-blooded comic trio consisting of a middle-aged experienced monk and two or three young monks or nuns.

Horn immediately understood that these were probably the first group of fifty monks who came with Ludwig to provide support.

If Ludwig's meeting goes well, there will be a second group of fifty monks, and there will be about three groups in total, with a total of 150 people.

This was the result of Juanno's decades of adopting orphans and providing free education, but it was taken away by Horn.

"Dean Ludwick, are you planning to take a tour or rest first? I have prepared some ingredients for the dinner."

Abbot Ludwig put his arm around Armand's shoulders kindly and said, "One concert today and one tomorrow is such a waste. Now that the abbot of Long Beach Monastery is here, let's combine them."

“Ahem…” He moved closer to Ludwick, causing Blo to cough.

Ludwig seemed not to hear anything. He held Armand in his arms and walked towards the carriage while talking to Horn.

Seeing Martin's half-smile, Blow snorted coldly and climbed into the carriage with great effort, grabbing the door.

There was certainly a reason why Ludwig was sent to a country house on the outskirts of the city instead of staying in the city.

In terms of security, it would be best to send them to Kush Castle, but it is damp, cold and gloomy there, and a stove must be lit for heating all year round except in summer.

Horn sent Ludwig in because he was afraid that he would catch a cold and die at his old age.

Just from the look on the monk Jeanbulo's face, he could roughly guess that there were also disagreements within the Blago monastery about Horn.

News from Xiaochi City indicated that in the previous wars, a large number of nobles and knights' families fled to Kasha County.

Naturally, these fugitive nobles would never say anything good about Horn. They slandered and smeared him all day long and made up all kinds of outrageous rumors.

Under Juanno's governance, Casca County was mainly composed of rich farmers and small landowners. The number of poor people was not large, but they could still enjoy tax cuts similar to transfer payments.

This means that although Cascia County was the pioneer experimental site for Juanno's reforms, its feudal structure was actually more reasonable and solid than that of the other counties.

When facing Horn, the locals' illusions had not yet been shattered, and they even had the intention of moving closer to the knights and the church.

They are all old people with families, land and jobs. All the order before they were born is the absolute truth.

For these rich peasants and small landowners, they still have the opportunity to become squires, knights or even counts. Why should they let the Salvation Army, which advocates "equality for all", rule them?
But they fail to see that the status of these rich peasants and small landowners is based on the suppression of the church and secular aristocracy.

It mainly relies on the power of the monastery integrated by Juanno, the support of the secret party behind it, and the economic, political and military support of Catherine and Meliati.

Once Juanno died and Catherine and Meliati rebelled, they would inevitably become the main targets of the nobles.

This is not an era in which meat-eaters are vulgar, but an era in which both the upper and the lower are vulgar.

Strategic thinking and vision are absolutely rare in this era, and many nobles may not have them.

Fortunately, Ludwig in front of him was a smart man and took the initiative to come closer.

Whether it is sincere or insincere, it is an absolutely correct move.

"The city is noisy and crowded, so let's send you to a country villa to rest. I'll come to visit you again after I change my clothes." Standing on the side of the carriage, Horn made a cross at Ludwig.

"Okay, okay, don't come so early. I need to take a nap." Ludwik waved at Horn and put his head back from the carriage window.

Looking at the departing carriage, Horn turned around and instructed Gilo and Rafael, "Strengthen the security these days. Many important people are coming. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Your Majesty."

(End of this chapter)