"Cows can go to war, but they can't be used for fun, Mr. Hill."
"Are you bragging? Why should I brag about a cow? Are you mocking me?" The angry old Hill stood up, "My cows are different! You will see, they are the bravest.
Warrior, I will lead them to crush the enemy’s positions!”
Reggie poured a glass of wine for Old Hill to calm him down as soon as possible. With the last hope, Reggie asked tentatively: "Besides the twenty-one bulls, do you have any other cows?"
"I don't have a cow, and I won't let a cow go to the battlefield. This is the same reason that women shouldn't go to the battlefield!" Hill put down the cup, pointed at Bachelo, and said, "Ask your Grand Bachelor to get it.
Go to the cows, he should have quite a few."
Yes, since the Grand Maester loves milk and cheese so much, he must have a lot of cows at home.
Reggie turned his eager eyes to Batchelor. In order not to attract Reggie's attention, the Grand Bachelor had not spoken for a long time.
"Grand Maester, I need your cow."
"Lord, I only have some cows at home. If you want, you can go to my place to eat some fresh cheese. My yogurt is very delicious, but my cows are really not suitable for going to the battlefield..."
Reggie hugged Batchelor tightly in his arms. He cherished his bachelor now. He felt as if Batchelor had a four-dimensional pocket in his body, and he could take out the props he wanted at any time.
"Grandmaester, let's go to your home first to talk. Not just the cows, but also your flower garden. The chrysanthemums there are so beautiful, as beautiful as your smile. There are also those craftsmen in your family. I like them very much.
, especially the smartest one, he should be called Calaf, I have many things I want to discuss with him, we have to prepare the prince’s gift, and this little ale alone won’t do it.”
…
Kalaf is a special craftsman. If he had lived in Reggie's previous life, he could have become an excellent craftsman and mechanical master.
Of course, he cannot produce high-precision standard parts like a lathe, but judging from manual skills alone, he can outperform most excellent fitters.
What's even more valuable is that he can understand Reggie's drawings. In this world, for normal people, there is no difference between the three-dimensional diagram and the heavenly book. But Reggie only gave a simple explanation, and Khalaf was able to fully understand the drawings.
content.
Last night, Khalaf led the craftsmen to spend a whole night making an inner sleeve for each ale barrel. The exquisite craftsmanship made it impossible for others to see any flaws visually.
Out of trust in Khalaf, Reggie gave him a more complex task today, making a "Transformers".
In the Grand Maester's basement, Reggie and Calaf worked hard all afternoon, and the first finished product was completed.
From the outside, it looks like a wine barrel over two feet high. Open the lid of the barrel and it will contain mellow wine.
But if you open it from the bottom of the barrel, there is a foldable crossbow hidden inside. Then unfold the barrel from the middle, and the thick wooden boards form a strong shield.
"Calaf! You are such a genius! Even better than I imagined!"
That's Khalaf's talent, he always knows what Reggie wants.
After the crossbow is deployed, the first arrow is automatically placed on the bow string. The first arrow is the most important to the cavalry. Shooting the first arrow in the shortest time is the key to determining the outcome of the battle.
Reggie pulled the trigger of the crossbow, and an arrow hit a column twenty feet away. The speed and power of the crossbow surprised Reggie. He wanted to pull out the crossbow, but half of the arrow was shot into it.
It was made of solid wood and even Reggie couldn't pull it out even though he tried his best.
This is unscientific. Such power is almost comparable to that of a pistol.
"How is this done?" Reggie stroked the crossbow body in surprise. At least mechanically, he didn't see anything special.
"This is a steel crossbow, my lord," Kalaf replied, "it is much stronger than an ordinary wooden crossbow."
"I recognize the steel crossbow. Knight Gusta has one," Reggie knocked on the steel crossbow arm and shook his head. "Even the steel crossbow shouldn't be so powerful."
Khalaf said: "This is not ordinary steel, it is my secretly made refined steel, which is smelted with some crushed snowstone powder. The amount of powder is difficult to control. If too much is used, the refined steel will become very fragile."
It seems that Khalaf is also very accomplished in metal smelting.
"You were an alchemist, right?"
Calaf lowered his head and said: "That is my dream, sir, but it is a pity that I am just a humble craftsman."
Reggie smiled and said: "You are not humble at all. You are an amazing person. After the war is over, your dream will definitely come true."
Reggie played with the crossbow carefully. Although the workmanship was so exquisite, Reggie still felt that something was missing.
The crossbow body was too big. The fully extended crossbow was two feet (sixty centimeters) long. It was difficult for the cavalry to light the cotton wool on the arrowheads.
"It would be great if this thing could ignite automatically." Reggie was muttering to himself, and Khalaf responded from the side: "It's not impossible, it just requires the permission of the grand maester."
"Grandmaester's permission?" Reggie asked in surprise, "Does he have any good ideas?"
"The Grand Master has collected some urine wax. As long as the urine wax is applied to the arrowheads, when the crossbow is opened, the oil cotton of the first arrow can be ignited. However, the urine wax is very precious and I have no authority to use it."
Urine wax? What is this new thing?
Reggie is a little confused. It seems that he needs to re-evaluate the technological level of this world.
Just hearing the name "peeing wax" is enough to shock you. Who can be so stubborn that he can actually pee wax?
Reggie walked to the basement door excitedly, but found that the door was locked.
There was a buzz in his head, and the hairs all over Reggie's body immediately stood up.
The door was locked outside, and the Grand Maester locked him in the crypt.
Reggie took a few steps back and came to the two guards. The nervous guards immediately drew their swords.
The wooden door didn't look that strong. It should be able to be opened with a sword. Reggie was just about to let the guards take action when Calaf stopped Reggie and whispered: "Sir, calm down, there may have been an accident."
"Yeah, it's really surprising," Reggie gritted his teeth, "This damn old thing betrayed me!"
"A grand maester would not do that. He is a smart man and he knows who to stand behind."
Reggie nodded and said, "If I guessed correctly, he was standing behind the political officer from the beginning."
There was a faint chatter and laughter outside the door. Reggie signaled everyone to be silent. He carefully put his ear against the wooden door and listened quietly.
"Grand Maester, my old friend, I haven't been to your place for a long time."
Sure enough, it was Sarn's voice, and a wave of coldness rushed over Reggie's head. He only brought two guards with him. Sarn must have come well prepared, I'm afraid he would have brought at least dozens of followers.
"Administrative Officer, you are too busy," Batchelor greeted Sane warmly, "Sit down quickly and please try my cheese."
"You don't have to be so polite, my old friend. I don't like the taste of cheese very much, and there are more important things at the moment." Sane had no intention of sitting down. He walked around the living room twice, and the door to the basement opened.
Behind the bookcase, "I want to hold an emergency meeting. Do you know where the lord is?"
There was only a door between Reggie and Sane. Anyone else would have been scared to death, but Batchelor was very calm. He poured a glass of wine, brought it to Sane with a smile, and replied: "
After coming down from the city wall, the lord returned to the castle. I have never seen him since then. I am old and it is difficult to understand the lord's thoughts. Although we have all sworn allegiance to the lord, sometimes
I really don’t want to see him.”
Sann frowned and looked at Batchelor. His eyes seemed to be able to see through everything, but not the dying old man in front of him.
Batchelor always maintained a peaceful smile. He had lived in Broken Snow City for seventy years, and he had been a bachelor for more than thirty years. If he wanted to lie, no one could expose his lie.
The two looked at each other for a long time, then Sane took the wine glass and drank the wine in one gulp.
"You have been with the Lord for the past two days. I would like to know what he did on the top of the city?"
Batchelor sighed, picked up the wine can and poured another glass for Sann.
"What else can be done is to persuade those soldiers to hand over their weapons and prepare to surrender."
Sann took a sip from his wine glass and said, "Did he succeed?"
"That's right." Batchelor took a big sip of wine. "Those soldiers agreed. In fact, they didn't want to fight. They were not for Broken Snow City or the lord. They were all for their own property, houses and
Women, they are all civilians, you should understand their thoughts."
Sann said: "Prince Sean is not that kind of person. He once promised not to harm the civilians in the city."
"To be honest, I'm a little scared too," Batchelor sighed. "I'm old. Maybe the prince thinks that Shattered Snow City needs a new grand maester."
Sann smiled and said: "You are not old. A bachelor must have enough knowledge and experience, and young people need more training."
"I hope so." Batchelor wanted to give Sann another glass of wine, but Sann put the glass aside: "Remember my words, now is the most critical moment. Don't go out before the prince enters the city.
What a mess."
After Sane left, Batchelor made it all the way to the gate of the manor. As he was sure that he would not turn around and come back, Batchelor hurriedly asked someone to open the basement.
Reggie was still standing at the door. The moment he saw Batchelor, he smiled.
"It seems I have misunderstood you, my Grand Maester."
"This is really a pity, my lord," Batchelor sighed. "You should know that I have always been on your side."
Reggie said: "I thought you would only stand on the side of the winner."
"You are right," Batchelor smiled. "You are the winner, my lord."
Barcello prepared cured meats and cheese, and after a simple dinner, Reggie mentioned urine wax.
Batchelor's face looked a little unnatural, obviously he didn't want to give this precious thing to Reggie.
Of course, he did not put up unnecessary resistance. He took out the sealed clay pot from another basement, and carefully opened the seal on the lid with a candle and a knife.
A smell of rotten garlic wafted out. Reggie looked at the slightly yellowed wax and smiled bitterly: "I thought it was something rare."
These so-called urine waxes are actually white phosphorus. The ignition point of white phosphorus is very low, only about 40 degrees Celsius. It can burn with a little friction. Early white phosphorus was extracted from urine. Perhaps this is why the name urine wax is derived.
source.
Seeing Reggie's disdainful expression, Calaf felt it was necessary to show him the magical effects of white phosphorus.
"Sir, we just need to take out a little bit and rub it gently..."
"No need to demonstrate," Reggie said, pointing to the jar, "Do you only have this much urine wax?"
Batchelor looked at Reggie slightly sullenly and said, "My lord, do you know that this jar of urine wax can be exchanged for three times the weight of gold?"
"Really?" Reggie said with a smile, "After the war is over, we will have business again."
A small can of white phosphorus gave up Reggie's idea of making white phosphorus bombs. Khalaf carefully applied urine wax on the arrowheads and made some improvements to the wine barrel. When he opened the barrel, the arrowheads rubbed against the wall of the barrel.
A cluster of light green flames burst out, and the oilcloth on the first arrow was successfully ignited.
"Well done!" Reggie patted Calaf on the shoulder. This time he didn't show too much surprise, "Let's go see how the other craftsmen are doing."
…
Reggie didn't sleep a wink all night until dawn. The craftsmen only rushed to make four crossbows. Reggie called Erwin and asked him to take the crossbow that looked like a wine barrel to the city wall first, and told him: "
It must be handed over to the best marksman among the cavalry."
Batchelor prepared a dark robe for Reggie, and while the waiter helped Reggie dress neatly, the university scholar said: "My lord, it's time for us to set off. The auxiliary minister is coming soon. Do you remember him?"
What does it look like?”
Reggie thought for a while and said: "Gern Hidriver, I remember him somewhat, he is a very annoying guy."
"Today he will become even more annoying," Batchelor put on his coat and said, "Gwen is very cunning, and Prince Sean has great trust in him. Only after he is sure that everything is safe, will Gwen tell the news
Report it to the prince, otherwise the prince will never accept your surrender. Sir, what you want is victory. Before that, you must be patient and have impeccable patience."