Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 804 Rebuilding Lotalingia

Upon receiving the order, the officers quickly arrived at the meeting place. There, Princess Jeanne explained the prepared plan to everyone and instructed them to begin preparations.

Because everyone had already gained enough time, the assembled team now appears much more organized compared to when they first started.

When the King of Wu fled the Parisian court, he traveled eastward to Lorraine, a border region, for refuge. This area, situated between France and the Holy Roman Empire, was home to numerous noble families, many of whom frequently oscillated between the two major powers. The French king had long desired to annex it, but the Duchy of Lorraine theoretically belonged to the Holy Roman Empire, making it a lawless zone. This presented him with a very convenient advantage.

To the east of the pro-French Lorraine lies the Rhine River basin, also teeming with feudal lords. These lords, nominally belonging to the Holy Roman Empire, have long remained outside the control of the major families vying for the emperor's favor. Moreover, unlike regions that have only begun to show signs of independence in the last century or two with economic development, the chaos here is a legacy of European history.

In those days, Charlemagne's son, Louis the Pious, was weak and incompetent, so his sons also gathered strength and began to oppose him. Louis's first wife, Emmanuel of Esby, bore him three children: Lothair, Pepin I, and Louis the German. According to tribal tradition, Louis appointed Lothair as the important King of Italy and made him his advisor; Pepin was appointed King of Aquitaine, and Louis was appointed King of Bavaria.

Later, Louis remarried, and his new queen, Judith, gave birth to a younger son, Charles the Bald. Louis was overjoyed with his newborn son and immediately announced that he would also grant him a kingdom, which aroused strong resentment from his three older sons. They conspired with the Pope to launch a rebellion, arresting their father Louis and Charles the Bald. The plan to grant him a kingdom was thus thwarted. Charles earned the nickname not because he was actually bald, but because his brothers all had crowns, while he did not.

However, Louis's sons were not only unfilial to their father, but also clearly lacked fraternal affection for one another. Just a year later, the three began a civil war. Pepin and Louis the German, jealous of Lothair's largest and richest territory, joined forces to attack him. To suppress their elder brother, they also released their father, Louis the Pious, and Charles the Bald, thus restoring a balance of power.

But Louis the Pious was still alive, while his second son, Pepin the Pilgrim, had already died. The family wanted the bald man to succeed him, but the local nobles supported Pepin's son. Thus, another civil war broke out. After finally subduing the local nobles, Louis the Pious also died. Lothair, who succeeded as "Emperor," immediately turned his attention to his two brothers, starting with the weakest, Charles the Bald.

Charles, unable to defeat him, disregarded past grievances and quickly sought help from his third brother. The two joined forces against Lothair and clashed in a decisive battle at Fontenoy. To secure victory, they mobilized almost all their available troops, bringing their entire nation's strength. It is said that both armies numbered over 150,000, and on the day of the battle, more than 40,000 were killed or wounded—a record that stood for a long time after Rome, remaining unbroken in European history.

The long and brutal war had exhausted all sides, and after two years of stagnation, they had no choice but to sign a treaty, formally dividing the empire into three parts. The territory Lothair received was a narrow strip of land stretching from Italy to the Low Countries, which was the territory he had always managed, and it was known as Middle Frankish.

Lothair's wife was Emmanuelle of Tours, who also bore him three sons. After his death, these three sons followed his example, refusing to acknowledge any other "illegitimate" children, and once again divided the country into three parts. The eldest son, Louis, received the Kingdom of Italy; the second son, Charles, received the Kingdom of Burgundy; and the youngest son, Lothair, received the region north of the Alps and along the Rhine River. Because he was also named Lothair, this area became known as "Lotharingia."

However, Charles died first, and the Kingdom of Burgundy was annexed by Louis. Later, Lothair also died, and Louis wanted to take further action, but at that time, the Middle Franks were the strongest economically and militarily. Fearing his reunification, both the East and West Frankish kingdoms intervened, forcing Louis to relinquish Lotharingia and retain only Burgundy. Lotharingia was then divided between the two kingdoms and was never unified again.

Considering the length of European history and the fact that most nobles and territories today can only be traced back to the Carolingian dynasty at most, the fragmented state of this area can even be described as "since ancient times".

The local economy has always been relatively developed, so although it is small and fragmented, it still has a certain strength to resist the annexation by powerful forces on both the east and west sides.

Because of the constant infighting among the powerful nobles and their permissive plundering of their forces, the local people had been trying to unite. Around the 13th century, cities along the Rhine River began attempting to form an alliance. In 1254, cities in the middle Rhine, such as Cologne, Mainz, and Strasbourg, initiated the "Confederation of the Rhine," which at its peak comprised more than 50 cities. In 1331, 22 cities in southern Germany and Switzerland also initiated the "Confederation of Swabia."

Besides cities, they also recruited a large number of small and medium-sized lords and knights to join them in fighting against the powerful nobles. The covenant stipulated that members could not take military action or provide weapons or loans to the enemy without the consent of the alliance. Economically, they aimed to unify the currency, establish common settlement standards, build a joint merchant fleet, and share market information networks.

The locals had always relied on the Rhine River network for transport, but powerful nobles frequently set up roadblocks and extorted money from merchants, acting like bandits. Caravans had to pay a mountain of various taxes every short distance, often repeatedly, causing immense hardship. Therefore, the alliance specifically stipulated that each city should provide armed personnel proportional to its population and collectively fund the maintenance of mercenaries specifically to combat these "bandits" and counter the powerful nobles' tax collection practices. A common customs policy was also established, requiring all parties to adhere to customs exemption clauses to maintain unimpeded trade routes.

These alliances initially proved effective. The cities united, even forcing the powerful Paris Guild to concede and grant them authorization to transport supplies to France. Because the region was indeed relatively wealthy, it could hire more professional mercenary groups and was not afraid of the armies of the high nobles. The local nobles elected the Archbishop of Mainz, the highest religious lord, to oversee the suppression of the alliance and also enlisted the army of the Elector of Brandenburg, but all efforts failed.

However, as time went on, this hastily formed alliance led to the intensification of internal conflicts.

Frequent wars against the powerful nobles also drained the alliance's resources. Moreover, when distributing the burden, the dominant large cities shifted the main responsibility to smaller cities and territories. When the Archbishop of Mainz and others returned, these lightly burdened large cities were the first to waver, violating the alliance and declaring military neutrality, saying they could coexist with the nobles and there was no need for fighting and eliminating them. Under such internal and external pressures, by the late 14th century, the various alliances in the Rhine region had shrunk significantly, essentially confined to a few valleys along the river, and were on the verge of collapse. The nobles were even too lazy to spend money on military campaigns, preferring to persuade them to surrender on their own.

It was at this time that Zhu Yunwen arrived in this region and began working at the grassroots level.

Initially, they mainly wandered between villages. Zhu Yunwen himself fled Paris disguised as a priest, and he continued to use this disguise to "preach" and try to persuade people to support the Ming Dynasty. After gaining some followers by showing off his "advanced administrative knowledge," he began to enter towns and gradually made a name for himself.

During this period, due to the failures of previous attempts, the locals desperately needed a strong ruler to maintain justice. Not only ordinary people, but also guilds in small and medium-sized towns and local minor lords were eager for a strongman to emerge. Therefore, Zhu Yunwen's team, who boasted in the tavern every day, actually gained a lot of support and sponsorship, and gradually began to move from empty talk to real action, actually starting construction.

At this time, the main waterways were controlled by powerful lords and large cities. However, Zhu Yunwen's team didn't know much about shipping and instead focused on persuading people to organize and build roads. The paths they built were initially of poor quality, but they successfully connected many isolated settlements, allowing supplies to circulate.

Within the Wu King's team, a basic strategic plan was established at this time. Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng, and others believed that the Rhine River basin, stretching from Switzerland to Mainz, comprised several narrow strips of land. These were flanked by mountains, with relatively fertile valleys in the middle—though the mountains weren't high, they were sufficient for defense in Europe. Historically, this had been the case; even the powerful Kingdom of France had faced considerable resistance when confronted with these smaller mountains.

Therefore, this place, with its beautiful landscape and strategic location, is actually quite advantageous and could be a good starting point for a business. Europeans describe it as a battleground, likely due to their own limited strength. With skillful management, there should be a chance to turn things around.

While the paths they oversaw the construction of had little immediate economic impact, they successfully connected many small settlements and villages in the mountainous region. The mountain dwellers and knights here actually possessed considerable combat skills and could be organized and trained. After they completed some integration efforts, the towns in the valley began to actively welcome them.

The various measures implemented by the King of Wu's team, such as unifying the military, currency, weights and measures, and implementing a unified tax system in all cities, were precisely what the locals were striving for. Therefore, it didn't take much effort to persuade a large number of people to join them—after all, these people clearly had Eastern features, were neither tyrannical nor harsh, and immediately proposed such an ideal governing program, making them appear as noble and civilized people from the East. In this way, they quickly gained widespread support, like a snowball rolling downhill. And once the locals united, their strength was indeed sufficient to protect themselves.

Therefore, the ordinary people here hoped that King Wu would continue to implement his policies and consolidate more power in order to preserve their peaceful lives; while the more ambitious intellectuals had begun to argue and propose the revival of Lotalingia to liberate everyone from the tyranny of East Frankish rule. Moreover, this view had gained considerable support, even finding some supporters in Swiss cities.

Through years of activity, the Wu Prince's Palace had established the strongest foundation in this region. After the mobilization order was issued, in addition to the first batch of soldiers dispatched from the garrisons on the right bank of the Rhine, others began to be mobilized. Large numbers of people also mobilized on the left bank of the Rhine, all the way to the French-speaking Lorraine region.

Officials stationed in the cities began urging them to provide supplies, as required by the law. Because there was a unified imperial court in charge, rather than rules being set solely by large cities, this system of levies was more readily accepted. Various small and medium-sized cities also dispatched caravans to transport soldiers and supplies steadily along the waterways of the Meuse and Rhine rivers.

In the countryside, activities also began. Besides the regular soldiers in the various chiliarchies of the Rhine Left Guard, local officials began recruiting more men. Towns provided professional soldiers as required, and rural military households also started contributing. In each territory, officials, armed with household registers, searched far and wide for military households and knights, urging their families to send men to fight. Thus, more people emerged from the mountains and valleys to join the army along the riverbanks.

In just one month, more than 10,000 people have been gathered here again. Coupled with the southern army that came from a detour, the scale is now quite large.

They marched eastward along the Ruhr River with great fanfare. Along the way, the local nobles dared not utter a sound; even the Archbishop of Mainz could only ignore the "illustrious" southern army, pretending not to see anything and not seeking revenge for his comrades. When the main force of the Wu King arrived along the road from Hanover to Dortmund, they joined forces again, setting up numerous camps. For a time, their momentum was immense.

However, not long after the armies were combined, Princess Jeanne once again carefully selected her men. She felt that these men were too few to deal with Sigismund and the other princes, yet too many for tactical maneuvers. So, from the assembled 30,000 men, she chose 12,000. She sent the rest to continue building momentum, while she led the remaining men eastward at a river's watershed.

Here, she prepared to ambush Sigismund's army.

(End of this chapter)