Carl listened carefully to the attendant's report. He listened very carefully. Sometimes he would interrupt the other party to ask some questions and then signal to continue.

After listening to the report from the attendant, the eldest prince slowly walked slowly while stroking his rough chin.

"Your Highness, I seemed to see your aunt and Princess Alexandra when I left," the closest servant said again, remembering something, "they seem to be near the Earl's house."

"Is that right?" The grandfather's eyes showed a hint of disgust. "My aunt always doesn't give up. She has been opposing my father a long time ago, and now she opposes me."

"Your Highness, maybe you should send her to the monastery instead of just exiling her to the territory," the attendant in a low voice instigated, "But it's not too late, she's going to leave Caniola forever."

"Are you saying she is going to be a hostage to the Sultan?" Grand Duke Carl shook his head. "It's not that simple. Although I also hope that she will leave quickly, becoming a hostage to others is always unpleasant, and this is actually not safe," he said, and he glanced at the close servant. "Don't forget that the Tsepes of Transylvania had also served as hostages to the Ottomans, but after his father and brother died, he could return to Transylvania and inherit the territory."

The close servant immediately closed his mouth. He watched the hunched grandpa walking slowly in front of him, and suddenly stopped after a while.

"Have you noticed their expressions? Are you happy or depressed?"

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, I just saw them from afar and didn't notice so much." The servant answered in panic. The grandfather punished those who did the wrong things very cruelly. At this time, he even regretted talking and reporting this matter too much.

"Oh, that's nothing," Carl rarely blamed the attendant. He waved his hand casually as if he put the matter aside. "Go and prepare. Since you want to invite the Count, you have to do it beautifully. Remember that this is just a private party, so the atmosphere should be more comfortable. You should find some fun that makes everyone happy. Go and do it quickly."

The grand duke waved his hand and sent the closest servant away, then sat down and pressed his fingers against his lips and shook his body slightly. His eyes were bright, and his hunchback seemed even more protruding because he lowered his head, and it looked like a beast hiding under a stone waiting for an opportunity to pounce on his prey.

"Let me see why you are here, what you want, and what you can give me." Carl slowly murmured to himself.

The meeting with the two princesses did not change Alexander's mind. Although the two Alexandras vaguely revealed that they hoped to get help was very strong, even Alexandra even suggested that they would use the conversion as exchange, but this did not impress Alexander except for surprise, but this did not impress him.

If he was a devout Catholic, he should have already agreed to the princess' request at this time, because it is possible to convert the lords of a region and her people to Catholicism, with this achievement, they may be sanctified in the future.

But Alexander didn't care about this. After all, it was meaningless to him that a canonization title that might have to be obtained after his death for many years. He also knew that in a few years, with the rise of Martin Luther and his Protestantism, a great division that completely divided the Western Catholic world even swept across Europe, and with this almost fatal blow, it would have little practical significance to incite a small territory in a Balkan Principal to convert the religion.

Of course, the most important thing is that he had just accepted the invitation from the Grand Duke. He would not easily place bets on either side until he knew what kind of promise the Grand Duke had made.

Alexander has decided to leave a way out for the future in Caniola. After all, the aggressive momentum of the Ottomans is uneasy. Thinking about the trouble that Sophia may be in deep, Alexander feels that although he does not want to be a head-on enemy of a talented and pride like Valicet, he at least has to make some efforts to delay his attack on Bucharest.

After all, it is still unknown whether Sultan can successfully bring Sophia out of that big trouble when he really comes to the city of Bucharest.

Those nobles who were preparing to raise the banner of resistance in the name of Greek princesses were unlikely to allow him to easily take their "Joan of Arc" away, so just to be able to run away from Bucharest with his wife calmly, he also wanted to contribute some effort to delay the Sultan's entry.

Just thinking about whether to get involved in the Balkan vortex after all, Alexander was unwilling to accept it.

The meeting with the Grand Duke was in a hunting wooden house not far from Alexander's residence.

This wooden house is quite large, with several rooms of different sizes. The whole house is made of logs. The wood is obviously taken from the forest not far away. The bark on the exterior wall is still preserved and not peeled off. From a distance, the house looks mottled and rough.

The floor of the hunting wooden house is covered with air, and walking on it will make a thud sound. A big hole was dug in the ground in the middle of the lobby, and red coals were burning in a stone-made earth furnace.

A large tin pot cradle was on the floor stove, and the water was burning hot inside couldn't help but make a gurgling sound, but a pungent smell came out of the pot. Obviously, the ones burning inside were not ordinary boiling water.

Because the wooden house was very hot, Carl, who was sitting by the fire, wore only a simple thin robe. When he saw Alexander walking in, he did not stand up to greet him, but waved his hand casually to signal him to sit over as well.

"You should try this," Carl sucked the hookah hard, then pushed another cigarette in front of Alexander who had sat down. "I added something else inside, and I promise you that it would be more satisfying than the Ottoman hookah."

Alexander took a bit curiously, and immediately coughed violently by the strange smell that was so spicy that he rushed over his head.

"Haha..." The grand duke let out a vengeful mockery. He patted his knee hard, and after a while, he handed over the wine that had been prepared next to him.

"Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to poison," Carl explained first, and then smiled bitterly with a self-deprecating smile. "Caniola now can no longer bear such consequences."

Alexander nodded and took a sip of the wine. The slightly cool and sour wine quickly calmed down the discomfort caused by the strange smell of hookah.

"I can provide you with a lot of things," Carl suddenly turned to the topic. "Your army needs supplies and trimming, and if you can get help from locals, you can also have loyal guides and sources, think about it."

"And what do you want?" Alexander looked at Carl. "You know that doing so will only delay the speed of the Ottomans' advance. On the contrary, this will cause you and Caniola a lot of trouble. The Sultan probably won't have so much patience to listen to your explanation, so tell me what you want."

No one will do things for others for no reason. The purpose of doing this is always accompanied by some kind of reward and demand, even if it is just to satisfy a certain sense of vanity in the heart.

Alexander knew that thinking this might be a bit weird, but in fact it was the same. Even those who sacrificed themselves for their faith, if you think about it carefully, that kind of faith is actually a spiritual need.

"I need to negotiate terms with the Sultan." Grand Duke Carl said his purpose frankly.

Alexander nodded slightly in understanding. He knew that although this might not be the entire intention of the Grand Duke, it should be roughly like this.

"So although I can help you, you need to 'take' or even 'rob' yourself," Carl looked at Alexander. "I am still your enemy and will have conflicts with you because you support my aunt and fiancée. You know very well that this is just a cooperation between us, and I don't know what will happen in the future."

"Let me make it clear. You want our presence to be an important and useful proof for you to prove yourself in front of the Sudan, so that you can at least retain enough power and not be replaced by the Sudanese people. Once your purpose is achieved, our previous agreement will be invalidated, and you will join the Sudan in clearing us, right?"

"Maybe you had left Caniola by then, so there would be no future happening." Carl did not answer positively, but the meaning was clear.

Alexander narrowed his eyes slightly. He looked at the person sitting opposite him seriously. He could not help but admit his "candidity" towards this person. He was really impressed.

"So what can I get if I do this for you? You should be very clear that I did not come just to resist the pagans."

Since everyone has said everything, there is no need to hide it anymore.

"Oh, the Vatican is going to summon the new crusades, and the pope issued an edict to summon European nobles," Carl said aside his previous words, and then his face darkened. "Do you know, no one believes your words, and now everyone is no longer so stupid."

"But you need your people to believe it, right?" Alexander dismissed Carl's mockery. "You also need to make this lie a reality. Only in this way can you highlight your importance in front of Sudan."

"It is true. I will use all means to protect Caniola. This is what my ancestors have left for me. I cannot let Caniola perish in my generation because of my incompetence."

Looking at Grand Duke Carl's eyes staring at the fire, Alexander could understand more or less the person's thoughts.

But the benefits that should be taken are still needed, although he himself is actually planning how to delay the Sudan's advance.

"Caniola has nothing worth taking," Grand Duke Carl whispered, but then he raised his head and showed a strange smile on his face. "But there are some places, such as in the south of Cañola, there are large tracts of land and resources. If you are willing to take risks for God, I can provide you with enough help."

Alexander's eyes gradually became colder. At this time, if he didn't understand Carl's intention, he would be a little stupid.

Where is the south of Kagnola? If he remembers correctly, it should be that a large area of ​​land has been controlled by the Ottomans.

Bosnia, which was occupied by the Ottomans and ruled violently as early as the era of Mohammed II, had a wealth of resources that all its neighbors envied and envied.

It is precisely because of its almost endless resources that Mohammed II did not hesitate to launch wars twice in succession, and finally defeated the Baolaman dynasty in Bosnia 40 years ago, and took the opportunity to occupy most of Bosnian land.

The fall of Bosnia was a sensation decades ago. It was precisely because of the occupation of Bosnia that Mohammed II opened the door to Belgrade.

However, the Sultan at that time never expected that his pace of conquering the world would stop at the city of Belgrade.

Bosnia, which had just been occupied at that time, was full of uprisings and riots, which obviously greatly affected the army of Mohammed II, who was fighting on the front line.

The poor supply allowed the Sudan's army to fight hard against the enemies who could obtain sufficient materials and a steady stream of troops at any time. When the Sudan had to retreat due to injuries, the attacks encountered along the way emerged one after another.

Among them, the Ottomans in Bosnia almost fell into the "dollar sea of ​​people's war."

However, as the occupation became longer and longer, Bosnia's resistance became increasingly powerless. The Bosnians who had originally hoped to be liberated by their Christian brothers gradually became disappointed, while the Ottoman rule in Bosnia gradually strengthened.

Of course, these are from decades ago. Now, except for some places in the north, the control is not strong enough. Most of the land in Bosnia has been firmly held by the Ottomans.

It is precisely because of this that Bayesette II decided to choose a long but quite reliable road to march towards Bucharest than to take the shortcut that is not safe enough in Bulgaria.

But now Carl actually started to instigate himself to invade Bosmia, so Alexander looked at this man a little differently.

"Duke, are you hinting that I invade Bosnia?"

"This is just a suggestion," Carl did not intend to deny it. He put the water tank of the cigarette tube into the tin pot and filled it with hot smoke, then took a sip, and then he was choked by the irritating smell and coughed and even shed tears. "This tastes really good, don't you really come back?"

Seeing Alexander just glance at the hookah in his hand without resuming it, Carl smiled: "There are still some places in the north that are not controlled by the Ottomans. These places not only have a lot of resources, but the most important thing is that many of the escaped nobles of Bao Laman fled there. Many of them want to retake Bosnia. As for the descendants of the Bao Laman royal family, they are looking for help everywhere. Isn't this very useful to you?"

"Duke, if I'm not wrong about the help you mentioned, you also include yourself, right?" Alexander asked in a calm tone.

"The people from the Bao Laman family have indeed looked for me, but we all know that I am also threatened by the Sudan. Kagnola is not even allowed to have more than 30 armed forces, so I have no choice but to ask them."

"Your idea is good," Alexander said coldly. "Do you want me to expand your territory in Bosnia?"

"I just hope you can make me more important," Karl corrected. "This condition is not harsh, you want to get rewards, and I can provide you with supplies and camps. Your army is safer in northern Bosnia. As long as it is not too deep, you can even do a big fight there. Once the Ottomans in Bosnia really send troops, if they can't stay in Northern Bosnia, you can go back to Caniola directly. Of course, I don't know all that you do, and as you said before, you must not act in the name of having any relationship with Caniola."

"Do you want me to pretend to be a robber or a horse bandit?"

"Or directly claiming that the army sent by the Vatican might be better," Carl squeezed out a smile at Alexander. "The Bosnians in the north will definitely be willing to hear this news. You must know that they have been looking forward to the brothers of Christ's world to save them for too long. A little hope is enough to ignite the fire in their hearts."

Alexander shook his head slightly. He did not believe in Grand Duke Carl's words, but did not trust this person.

He believed that Carl did want to use his power to show his importance to Sultan, but he also believed that just as he decided to sacrifice the old nobleman of Kagnola in order to clear his expression, he could betray himself in the next moment as long as he needed it.

But Northern Bosmia is indeed a very attractive place.

As Carl said, Bosnia has abundant resources. In addition to the important mineral deposits of copper, iron, lead and tin, there are also huge reserves of coal and the largest well salt mine in Europe.

The great significance of owning these things is far more than occupying several large cities, and now most of those resources have fallen into the hands of the Ottomans, and they are using them to prepare to continue to launch a larger expedition to the inland European countries.

But is this person in front of me trustworthy? Alexander thinks this is almost not a problem.

It really sounds like a very tempting idea to use Montina's army to go deep into Northern Bosnia, harass and plunder the resources prepared by the Ottomans for the arrival of the Sudanese army.

What Carl said about the North Bosnian resentment of the Ottomans is a very important part.

Any invasion war would be very rash if it could not be understood and supported by the locals. The reason why Charlie's invasion of Italy started smoothly is because the people of the Italian city-states were often indifferent to the war between the nobles.

In their opinion, this is just a new lord to pay taxes, but it is obviously not the case in Bosnia.

The collision of different beliefs and cultures, the brutal and high-pressure rule of the Ottomans, and the desire for restoration by the royal nobles of the old Bosmian family, all made the situation in Northern Bosnia complicated and changeable.

Is the person in front of me trustworthy?

Alexander asked in his heart again, then shook his head slightly with some amusement.

Trust all kinds of things is originally precious, but it seems even more luxurious in today's era. Why do you have to be so demanding on him?
Chapter completed!