An Ning originally thought that if she wore a French military uniform and asked German-speaking people for water, she would be looked down upon.
But what was unexpected was that the people did not show even the slightest bit of hostility when they saw An Ning.
When An Ning approached the farmhouse, an old farmer happened to come out of the house with a hoe. When the old man saw An Ning, he stopped, put the hoe on the ground, looked at An Ning with a dull expression, and waited quietly.
Even though the French army fought a big battle with the German-speaking army just one night away from here yesterday, the old farmer still just looked at An Ning dully and did not show any hatred at all.
An Ning was a little confused for a moment, because the memory in his mind showed that the French army marched straight into the German-speaking area, and then was beaten by Frederick the Great's Prussian army.
That should be the case. To the people in the German-speaking areas, the French army should be the invading army.
Could it be that because it is the 18th century and modern nation-states have not yet been established, the people do not have national consciousness?
But An Ning vaguely remembers a saying that since the Hussite War, Europe has begun to awaken its national consciousness.
The Hussite War was in the 15th century, and now it's the 18th century.
It stands to reason that An Ning should be facing the Prussian peasants who have become nationally awakened at this moment, but this is not the case.
In any case, when the old German farmer saw the silver coins that An Ning took out, he immediately agreed to sell bread and water. He even asked An Ning if he needed a bullock cart and a driver to drive the cart - the driver was probably himself.
After a while, the old farmer had followed An Ning's request and took out the black bread from his room. Then he pointed to the well in the yard and said, "If you want water, draw it yourself."
At this time, a woman with patches on her body came out of the house, hurried to the well, fetched a bucket of water, then took a ladle and handed it to An Ning.
An Ning took the water ladle and returned to the bush at the door with the bread.
"Come on, let's have some."
"I'm almost starving. I only had breakfast yesterday. I thought I would have a celebration banquet in the evening after winning the battle." The young master sighed, took the water ladle and took a big sip first, but ended up spitting the water directly on the ground.
, "This water is bitter!"
An Ning took the water ladle and took a sip. It was indeed bitter and had an earthy taste.
The young master picked up the bread again, broke off a piece and put it into his mouth, and immediately spit it out: "Damn it! There are sawdust! They deliberately gave us bad things to eat!"
An Ning shook his head: "Master, I don't think so. They don't care at all who wins between us and Frederick, at least I think so. They are just a group of yeoman farmers and don't care who their king is an enemy of."
I don't know why, but An Ning is so confident, probably because of the extraordinary indifference the old farmer showed during the conversation just now.
In addition, An Ning now remembered that when he was at home, he also ate this kind of bread with sawdust.
Maybe this is what people in this era eat.
As for An Ning himself, he ran around with the young master all night. He was almost starving and couldn't care less.
Eating bread with sawdust, An Ning couldn't help but think of the famous scene in Ji Xiaolan's "Iron Teeth and Bronze Teeth": Heshen and the adults said to Ji Xiaolan: Have you ever seen hungry people? Hungry people are no longer human beings, but bran is a good thing.
They are satisfied as long as they have to eat.
An Ning has not yet reached the point of competing with the animals for feed, but it is almost there. The hard bread with sawdust is actually quite fragrant in his mouth.
Of course, it's possible that An Ning's body has become accustomed to this kind of whole grain.
However, Crotz, the young master of the Tollestaire family, was not so lucky. He tried to take another bite of bread, but ended up vomiting it all out again.
"This bread has a weird smell..." Crotz complained, "How do you eat this kind of thing..."
An Ning: "Actually, the bread provided by the army is not much better than this. It tastes like wood. If you want it to be easier to swallow, you can only throw it into vegetable soup and eat it."
An Ning recalled other people's memories of joining the army, and then advised: "You'd better eat a little. If you don't have anything in your stomach, you won't have the strength to walk. If the Prussians catch up, you will have to be a prisoner."
.”
In fact, An Ning felt that it was okay for the nobles to be taken prisoner. After all, they were nobles, and Prussia would treat them well if they were captured. At most, they would only ask for a ransom from the Duke of Orleans.
However, Crotz shook his head: "I can't be a prisoner, otherwise everyone in the club will look down on me!"
"Club?" An Ning couldn't help but frown. This was a very unfamiliar word to Andy Frost, the son of a cobbler.
After all, Andy Frost only had the little knowledge he learned in Sunday school when he was a child, and he could only read the words on his own order. Such a sophisticated vocabulary as a club has nothing to do with the boss of the cobbler's family.
No.
But An Ning is different now. Not only does he know the word club, he also knows that it is a popular thing in France recently.
With the spread of Enlightenment ideas in France, France is now in a state of contention among a hundred schools of thought, and the emerging intellectual class has formed various clubs around different trends of thought in Paris.
When the Revolution broke out, these clubs became the prototype of various factions later.
For example, the Jacobins were originally the "Brittany Club" composed of a group of local intellectuals in Brittany, and later gradually evolved into the Jacobin Society of Friends of Liberty and Equality.
It seems that Crotz has also joined a certain club, and being captured on the battlefield will cause him to lose face in front of his colleagues in the club.
Damn it, An Ning thought, I risked my life to save you, but it turned out just to save your reputation in the club.
People like you who don't have to worry about being abused can just just bear it, you bastards.
Of course, An Ning didn't say this.
He had already finished his half of the piece of bread, but his still empty stomach made him think about the half piece of bread in Crotz's hand.
An Ning: "My young master, if you can't eat the food of rough people, give it to me so that I can carry you on my back when you run away."
Crotz glanced at the bread in his hand and said with a painfully determined expression: "No, I want to eat it. I must return home alive. I have already troubled you too much."
With a determined look on his face, he tore off a piece of bread and stuffed it into his mouth.
As he chewed the bread, Crotz's face looked like that of an ascetic on a pilgrimage.
At this moment, An Ning suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves.
He immediately stood up, gripped the saber he borrowed from Crotz, and stared warily in the direction of the sound.
The cavalry arrived in an instant.
From a modern perspective, this group of cavalrymen seemed to be poorly dressed, wearing half of their coats and the other half as a cloak.
But An Ning knows that this is now the standard uniform of hussars.
Hussars originated in Hungary, and the first hussars in various countries were basically Hungarians, so they inherited Hungarian traditional costumes.
The top that is worn half-unzipped and half-unzha used as a cloak is called pelisse, which is generally translated as "leather jacket", but when this word appears together with dolman, it refers to the traditional Hungarian outfit.
Because hussars from all countries have the same outfit, hussars from different countries are generally distinguished by the color of their uniforms.
An Ning recognized this group as French hussars through the color.
But Tranquility did not relax.
Because he knew that the hussars generally had poor military discipline, and they might kill An Ning as a deserter in order to plunder money.