Simon woke up early the next morning.
"Hey, I finally understand why the ancients often said to go to bed early and get up early. In this boring Middle Ages, there was really nothing else to do at night except sleeping." Simon opened the animal skin curtains, looked at the rising sun, and stretched. waist.
The temperature in the early morning had not yet risen, and the cool wind blew on Simon's face, making him sober. At this time, the fat man and little Klein, who felt the change in the light source in the room, also rubbed their sleepy eyes and sat up.
"Fat man, later you go pick twenty-four strong young men to join the militia, and then divide them into two teams. By the way, pick two more agile guys to report to Hunter Bill." Simon picked up the wooden cup , scooped a glass of water from the water tank and prepared to rinse his mouth.
"Little Klein, come with me to find Hunter Bill later. Go hunting in the woods in the morning, make the prey into broth at noon, and train with the militia in the afternoon." Simon added.
Fatty and Klein agreed, and then started working on their own to prepare breakfast.
After simply eating a bowl of wheat porridge, Simon put on his equipment with the help of the fat man. He carried two hunting bows and a pot of arrows on his back, and walked into the woods next to the house with little Klein.
"You lead the way. You should be very familiar with how to get to Hunter Bill's cabin." Simon looked at little Klein.
"Of course, sir. I can say without exaggeration that every corner, every tree, and even every stone in the entire Verde Village is deeply imprinted in my mind!" Little Klein raised his head proudly. It hit his little head.
"Hahaha, I don't believe it!" Simon knew that this kid was bragging again, so he smiled and shook his head.
Not long after walking, the dew on the grass in the forest made their bodies and shoes wet.
"Sir, that's Uncle Hunter Bill's house!" Little Klein pointed to a small cabin on the edge of the forest in front of him and said excitedly.
"Oh, really?" Simon quickened his pace and soon walked to the cabin.
This is a wooden hut with ivy crawling on the outer wall. There is a strong smell of blood outside the house. Maybe hunters often slaughter and process their prey in the small open space in front of the house. On one side of the open space were several animal skins propped up on wooden shelves, and there was even an unfinished animal bone under the shelves.
There was a burning bonfire in front of the house, and a small black pot was placed on the stones used to surround the bonfire. At this time, the thick wheat-meat porridge in the pot was constantly bubbles and exuding a charming fragrance.
"How strange, where did Uncle Bill go so early in the morning!" Little Klein opened the door of the hunter's house and looked inside, but there was no sign of Bill.
Simon looked at little Klein, who was holding on to the door frame with a puzzled expression, and was also very confused.
"My Lord! Is it you?" At this time, a very strange voice came from behind Simon.
Simon was startled, immediately grasped the hilt of the sword at his waist, and turned around quickly.
A middle-aged bearded man wearing a green hood, green linen with dark red blood, and hunting boots appeared at an unknown time by the tree not far behind him, holding a handful in his hand. The sharp dagger looked at himself warily.
"Uncle Bill, what are you doing!" At this time, little Klein heard the voice, turned his head, saw the person clearly, and showed joy on his face.
"Haha! What a false alarm." Hunter Bill put away the dagger. "I was just cooking porridge here when I suddenly heard the faint sound of someone talking in the distant forest, accompanied by the crackling sound of broken branches. , and there was the squeaking sound of the chainmail swinging. I was frightened and thought it was a robber, so I hid in the dense forest. After I came back quietly, I realized it was you."
Simon broke into a cold sweat. This hunter's stealth ability was so strong that he appeared behind him like a ghost without making any sound. If this was an assassin who came to kill, there would be no need to say more about the consequences.
At this time, a small and clever hound also sprang out from behind the hunter, wagging its tail happily and rubbing against little Klein.
"Haha! Little Dachshund, I haven't seen you for a long time, but you're still so naughty!" Little Klein knelt down and kept stroking the puppy's fur.
"Lord, you came to me early in the morning. What's the matter?" Bill said as he walked towards the bonfire and took off his hood.
"Bill, I don't know if you have noticed that there have been traces of wolves in the territory recently." Simon said, sitting down by the bonfire, using the warm bonfire to dry his wet clothes.
"Yes, my lord, I even found a wolf den in the woods yesterday." Hunter Bill picked up a wooden spoon and scooped porridge into the pot.
"Do you have any countermeasures to kill or capture them?"
"If it's winter, it's relatively simple. Stick a sharp knife in the snow, cover it with snow, and then pour some animal blood on it. The wolf will think it's prey and will lick the snow outside the knife," Bill drank. Taking a mouthful of thick porridge, he continued, "When their tongues are so cold that they lose consciousness, a sharp knife will cut their tongues open. The stronger smell of blood will make them lick more crazily, and eventually they will bleed to death."
Simon looked around. It's spring now, the weather is getting warmer, and there's little chance of snow falling again.
"Is there any other way?" Simon twirled his mustache with his hand.
"Of course there is. We can tie a slip knot with a rope, find some trees with better toughness to make a trap, and then put some fresh bait next to the trap. In this way, the wild wolf that triggers the trap will be tied by its legs and hung firmly on the On the tree." Bill drank the porridge in one gulp and said confidently.
"Okay, then I'll leave it to you. By the way, two people will report to you later, and you will also be asked to teach them how to use bows and arrows to hunt and handle prey. When they can hunt alone, and become a qualified When you become an archer, I will personally reward you with two deniel silver coins." Simon said, handing Bill the two bows and a pot full of arrows on his back.
"No problem, my lord, I promise to make them the best shooters in the entire Hatuariya County!" Bill took the equipment and said with a smile.
As soon as Cao Cao arrived, two people walked faintly on the path leading to the village in front of the hunter's house. Taking a closer look, he saw two young men, wearing dirty linen turbans, short robes stained with mud, and bare feet with scars, walking towards them talking and laughing.
"Master Simon, Master Hoffman asked us to find Hunter Bill. At the same time, he asked us to send you a message that the selection of the militia and the arrangements for the remaining manpower to cultivate the public fields have been finalized."
"Very good, I'll go over now. Follow Bill and learn well, don't let me down." Simon adjusted his burqa and walked quickly towards the village.
………
When Simon arrived at the open space in the center of the village, a group of relatively robust serfs were waiting and talking in a lonely manner.
"Master Simon is here!" One serf used his elbow to nudge another serf who was squatting next to the wall. The latter's center of gravity was unsteady and he actually sat directly on the feces he had just pulled. He quickly picked up some hay and wiped his buttocks twice before lifting up his pants and angrily chasing the person who pushed him.
"Gather! Everyone stand in their own queue!" When the fat man saw Simon coming, he shouted loudly to the group of serfs who were chatting and laughing!
"Hey, Han En, are you standing here? Go to the second team, this is the first team!" A serf whose skin was reddened by the sun pushed Han En, who was standing in the wrong team, and the latter looked at him in confusion. Looking at the bustling and chaotic crowd in front of me.
"How did I line up just now? You are standing here in a panic like flies!" The fat man couldn't help but cursed when he looked at the serfs in front of him who had extremely poor memory and were running around in the line.
It took a while for the serfs to stand upright.
At this time, the fat man was walking in the queue carrying a short-headed wooden stick. From time to time, he would pick out the unlucky serfs from the queue and kick them to the other team with curses.
"Keep in mind the people on your left and the people on your right. If you stand in the wrong team for me in the future, it won't be as simple as kicking me today." The fat man said fiercely.
Several serfs talked in low voices and complained constantly. Although serfs basically had no rights, the only right they had was that the lord or steward could not harm or kill the serfs without trial. However, the lords controlled the judicial power, and this sole right was almost non-existent.
"Now, let me first announce the discipline of the Verde Village Army. First, no one is allowed to talk when they are in formation or during training. Second, everyone must absolutely obey the orders of their superiors. Third, no one is allowed to speak without approval. Leaving the team without authorization." Simon looked at the new recruits and said coldly.
"Anyone who violates the discipline will be sentenced to one to three days in prison depending on the severity of the case!" The fat man showed a cruel smile.
The two guys in the crowd who had experienced finger torture were even more outrageous and did not dare to speak out.
The so-called finger torture is to lock the prisoner's fingers into a specially made torture device. The tortured person not only suffered from unbearable soreness in his fingers, but also could not rest at all. He could only kneel in front of the torture device and was despised and despised by others.
"Now, everyone lines up, starting from here, running in the direction of Xinkse Village, and then turning back at the junction of the two villages." Simon said calmly.
Not only the new recruits, but also the fat man looked confused.
At this time, several recruits began to talk in low voices. The fat man turned his head and whipped his feet several times, kicking the people in the front row to the ground.
"Humph, the master has just announced the discipline, and you are eager to violate it, right? Remember, the first time is a warning, and the second time is a direct punishment!" The fat man looked at the few people slowly rising from the ground. The recruit who got up and didn't dare to say a word said fiercely.
"Don't underestimate running. Your strong legs and tenacious endurance will serve you well in the future." After Simon finished speaking, he set an example and ran ahead.
"Why are you standing there, follow me!" The fat man shouted loudly.
Only then did the recruits react and started running after Simon. The formation that was relatively neat just now suddenly turned into a mess.
Someone was running a little slowly and had his shoes stepped on by someone behind him. He hurriedly picked them up and ran to the side of the road to put them on again. Some people were hit by the guy next to them and fell hard, but looking at the fat man's gloomy face on the verge of an explosion, he rolled around in a panic, patted the dirt on his body, and continued to follow the team.
By the time they reached the junction with Xinkse Village, everyone was out of breath.
"Rest where you are for a while." As soon as Simon finished speaking, the recruits took off their water bottles from their waists, sat under the shade of the roadside trees, and drank.
Some guys took a few sips and then poured the water from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet, enjoying the refreshing coolness.
It was rest time, but no one was talking, only the sounds of drinking water and breathing. The recruits were so tired that they didn't even want to say a word.
"On the way back, the five people who arrived first will have an extra piece of meat for lunch. The five people who arrived last will have no meat, only broth. Let's go now." Simon said as he looked at these tired recruits, and then ignored their surprised looks. Run back the same way you came with Fatty.
At this time, a clever recruit reacted immediately, put away the kettle and ran towards the road.
Everyone scrambled to hang the kettle back on their waists and ran away one after another.
…
"What a bunch of naive young people." Old Bauch thought, and was the first to run into the village.
This group of guys started running faster than the other, for fear of falling behind and not being able to eat meat. But after running for a while, the decline was obvious, and it was obvious that the physical strength could not keep up, and some people even stopped running and walked away.
At this time, the old Baoch, who had been running steadily and at an even speed, surpassed the new recruits who had previously left him far behind.
"Thank you for your hard work, little Klein." Old Bauch took out the wooden bowl from home, held a piece of hard black bread in his other hand, and came to the big pot in the open space.
Klein and two other young men carrying bows were looking at him with a smile while holding a large wooden spoon.
"Oh, thank God!" Old Bauch couldn't help but sigh as he watched Klein take the wooden bowl from his hand and fill it with a piece of wild boar meat and a piece of pig lung.
"In addition to thanking God, you also need to thank Sir Simon. Otherwise you wouldn't even be able to drink the broth!" Little Klein added.
"By the way, little Klein," old Bauch touched his head, "I want to ask, during the fasting days..."
"Don't worry, my master has already told us that on the fasting day we will fish in the Rhine River and make fish soup instead."
"This is really great." Old Bauch couldn't help laughing and walked aside with the hot wooden bowl in his arms.
In this era, every Wednesday, Friday, or on important days like Advent and Lent, these Christians will fast according to the church's propaganda of abstaining from lust and appreciating the suffering of Christ. During fasting days, eating meat is not allowed, but eating fish does not constitute breaking the fast.
Old Bauch squatted under a nearby tree, dipped in the delicious broth and took a bite of bread. I remember the last time I dipped my bread in broth was a long, long time ago. After taking a delicious bite of meat, old Baoch suddenly seemed to remember something and walked towards home with the bowl in hand.
He wanted his wife and children to taste the delicious broth.
As the new recruits returned to the village one after another, the same scenes happened all over the village.
"Fat man, I have something to do in the afternoon and I can't accompany them to train. You can train them in the afternoon just like in the morning." Simon planned to find a few serfs working on the public fields in the afternoon, dig a deep hole beside the field, collect excrement, and prepare it to be made into farmyard fertilizer. .
"Okay, young master!" The fat man said vaguely, chewing the stew in his mouth.
"By the way, if you see little Klein, ask him to run and train with him in the afternoon. When you get to the village boundary, go directly to Xinkse Village and ask the pastor there to come and preach tomorrow. I have something to talk to that pastor by the way. Simon thought carefully.
In this backward and ignorant era, using excrement to fertilize, regardless of whether farmers will accept it or not, if the church discovers it, it will be regarded as heretical behavior, and then it will be very uncomfortable.
"Since you are superstitious, then I will use superstition to defeat superstition!"
Simon recalled that the history teacher in his previous life had expanded on some extracurricular knowledge when he talked about the development of religion in Western Europe. He said that priests in some backward places in the early Middle Ages only had to memorize the first three lines of the Bible to be qualified.
Combined with the impressions of the former owner of this body on the priests and priests in the villages of Dorstenburg and Hinkse, it is indeed just like what the history teacher said.
It was conquered by the Carolingian dynasty and forced to change the Germanic polytheism of the local Germans to Catholicism, which only lasted a few decades.
Therefore, when the church expanded its power in this barbaric land, it could only choose the next best thing and select some of the most devout believers among the local believers to act as priests and priests in the local villages.
Thinking of this, Simon gradually had thoughts in his mind.
