"The other party's ship is less than two nautical miles..." Carl did not accept Hong Tao's words. He knew that he could not say anything to Hong Tao. He knew that his cousin would definitely accept Hong Tao's suggestions. This would be the least investment, the least risk, and the most obvious effect. If he was the emperor, he would choose to accept it for the survival of the empire.

"Change! Let's go back!" Hong Tao didn't want to remind the Genoa's naval guns to be so powerful. He had to be surprised. Since he wanted to kill people, try to be the most efficient. He would do whatever he wanted and be professional.

Frederick II's attitude towards Hong Tao's idea was completely different from Carl. He was more worried about the ability of the two warships. If he could not stop the army gathered by the other party, his army would be driven into the sea. In addition, he was not ready to launch an attack and did not have so many troops. At most, he could provide Hong Tao with one thousand people. One thousand to five thousand, or at the door of the enemy's house, or landing in battle. If he lost, no one could escape, and he would be compensated!

"Have you ever thought that if you win this battle, you will become the public enemy of the entire Christian world. As a Christian, the empire may not be able to publicly protect you." Another problem is the issue of justice. Even in the most unlucky time, the emperor did not dare to borrow troops from the Arab Sultan. This is a taboo and will cause public outrage.

"No, no, no, no, there are no pagans here to participate in the war. These two ships are all vassals of Knight Carl. He is not only the commander of the fleet, but also a perfect Christian. He contributed his youth to the holy war, right? He is also a clan member of His Majesty the Emperor. This is the internal affairs of the empire and is indeed not suitable for outsiders to intervene. Therefore, this is a war between Your Majesty Emperor and your cousin who is loyal to you to fight against the family enemies, and has nothing to do with outsiders."

"If I lose, I will bear all the losses. I will pay for everyone's ransom. In addition, you don't need to be returned. Both ships will be returned to you by Your Majesty. I rowed my boat back by myself. Of course, all this is only in this room. It will be between my brothers of Your Majesty and My Majesty. If I leave this room, I will change anyone. It is not something that does not exist." Hong Tao of course would not worry that he would lose. The only thing he was worried about was that the other party would not go out in full. Once he had seen the power of the naval gun, the entire turtle would retract inland and not go to the beach, and the naval gun would lose its function. We could not stop the warships in the heat every day. Then, look at it. In that way, this special economic zone would lose its meaning and become a tug of war.

"I'll command this battle myself on the battleship of the Duke!" Frederick II was very good at bargaining. This request should have been what he had always wanted to make, but he didn't find a suitable excuse, and now he has finally found it.

"If your Majesty wants to get on the ship, you can never have it! If your Majesty wants to get on the ship, you can only be my guest. All your troops are under your command, and I will not interfere. But you cannot interfere in the battle of the warship. If you can agree, I will clean the captain's room and serve as your Majesty's palace." Since you have come and become partners with the emperor, there is no need or appropriate to stop him from getting on the ship. The partner wants to go to your factory to see it. If you stop or not, then it's not a big deal to cooperate. People think you are a liar. But no matter who gets on the ship, the rules of the fleet cannot be changed. Just think about commanding.

"Carl, what do you think?" Frederick II couldn't guess what Hong Tao wanted to do, so he could only hope that his cousin would not cheat him with outsiders.

"Just do what the Duke said. I mentioned to Your Majesty on the first day of my return. The Duke is best at harming people. Fortunately, we are on the same front with him. With him, the Lombards will probably never be enemies with the empire again after this battle, but the honor of the knight will also go away." Carl was still taking eye drops in front of Hong Tao. From his heart, he was really unwilling to let Hong Tao take action. When he was rampant on Jawa Island, he never thought that doing that was wrong, but when his country came, he immediately thought more. People are all this kind of virtue. Didn't the ancients say that they didn't hurt their backs while standing!

"I have another requirement. If the Lombards are completely defeated, His Majesty the Emperor must sign an agreement with me. The content is very simple. In the future, the merchants of the Jinhe Company and the Strait Company have extraterritorial legal rights in Genoa City. They are not subject to the law of the empire. The company will set up a management agency in Genoa. Once they violate the law of the empire, they can only hand it over to this management agency. What will be handled in detail will be decided by Carl and His Majesty the Emperor. If you want to win this war, my

The company has to pay a great price. If you can do business in the SAR, then the company might as well go to Venice. I am a businessman and everything must be fair. I think this requirement is not an exaggeration. And I can guarantee that the merchants in my company are not criminals. They are just different from the people of the empire in terms of living habits. If their personal safety is not protected, no one is willing to sail so far to do business here. Please understand my difficulties."

The emperor's problem has been solved, and Hong Tao still has problems. He paid so much, but he didn't just want the management rights of a special economic zone. As long as he had money, he could get it anywhere. He wanted a concession in the practical sense. This is the Christian world, which is very strict with pagans. If there is no explicit guarantee, they can use religious arrangements to make things difficult for themselves at any time. At that time, the emperor will push the 625th again and put the blame on the pope. He can't really attack the Pope! In Hong Tao's eyes, all personal guarantees are waste paper. This problem must fall into black and white, and must be formal agreements and legally effective.

"...I need to consider it." Frederick II must have been angry this time. Although there was no major change in expression on his face, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became very depressing. Hong Tao had the urge to turn his head and run out. It seemed that the pressure did exist. He had also felt it in the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, and today he felt it for the second time in a European emperor.

"You are challenging my cousin's limits. He is a person with a tough personality. This kind of request is an insult to him." After coming out of the emperor's chamber, Carl muttered to Hong Tao in a low voice, both worried and a little complaining.

"This is how you do business. You can't negotiate without conditions. It depends on whether the interests are enough. But you are right. Your cousin is not a businessman, he is the emperor, so I'd better be careful. Go and send Hong Yu and Jiang Niang to the pier, and I'll wait for you there. Let's go back to the boat to live. It's not safe here. If your cousin has the same virtue as the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, even if you apologize to me, it will be useless. You have no brains and can't hear it!" Hong Tao did not regret his request from the concession, but he felt that Carl's words made sense and he was a little reckless. This is the palace, not the boat. It seems that you must talk about such things in the future.

"Okay, you're a coward!" Carl knew that once Hong Tao had concerns about safety, it would be useless for anyone to persuade him, but it would be okay to make fun of him by the way. This kind of opportunity is rare.

"Only cowards can live longer. I want to live a few more years and watch Hong Yu and the others grow up. You are brave, please accompany your cousin to be scolded. He must be roaring angryly in the house now. But I guess he will agree with my request. This deal is very cost-effective for him." Hong Tao doesn't care about the virtues of others evaluating him. That thing is not enough to eat or drink. Living healthy is the world's first truth, otherwise nothing will be seen. No matter how good the virtues are, can you use it?

No matter how Frederick II cursed Hong Tao, the bastard, this deal really made him unable to refuse. The extraterritorial power in a small city was exchanged for surrender to a large area that had been conquered from their ancestors. What is more important is that if the Lombards were conquered, the territory of the empire would once again surround the Pope. Gregory IX, who was huddled in the city of Rome, would definitely turn blue with anger. When he thought of the pope's angry look, Frederick II forgot all the unhappiness and agreed to Hong Tao's request with great pleasure. As long as the city of Genoa was defeated and the emperor's army did not suffer any major losses, the treaty would be signed immediately!

Is this considered traitoring the country? In essence, it is a bit of a conclusion. Frederick II's behavior is no different from Empress Dowager Cixi. In order to suppress domestic resistance forces, he seduces foreign forces into the country and also gives up the country's sovereignty. But then again, if you don't have a clear understanding of history, how many people will refuse this condition when everyone is placed in front of you? To be fair, I think it should be very rare. This is human nature and selfishness! If a person does not put his own interests first when doing things, then you must stay away from this person. He is a complete liar!

In the past, Hong Tao felt that the Song Dynasty was inefficient in its work, but now he knew what it means to have no minimum and only lower. An army of one thousand people was an imperial emperor. He actually prepared for half a month! But it was understandable that this army was not the army of the Kingdom of Sicily, but the members of the Teutonic Knights on the Italian Peninsula and some local mercenaries who rented boats in Venice.

This was also Hong Tao's bad idea. Originally, the emperor could recruit local troops from Sicily, but was rejected by Hong Tao because it was not ostentatious enough to attract the attention of the Lombards, so they could not concentrate all their troops in Genoa. Hong Tao had to give the Lombards alliance enough time to concentrate all the last person they could use, so that they could make a pot of money.
Chapter completed!