In the evening, little Klein came back, but he was sitting on the trailer carrying the village chief and his party on their way back.
"Oh, village chief, are things going well?" Simon, who was directing the serfs to empty manure into the pit in the farmland outside the village, saw the village chief and his entourage and walked over quickly.
"Master Simon, that damn tax collector actually swore an oath to absolve himself of crime, and there are many people in Dorstenburg who came out to vouch for him! What the hell, we work so hard all year round that we may even starve to death, and this greedy guy does nothing every day You eat so much that your face is shiny, and you don’t have to bear the blame in the end!” the village chief said sadly and indignantly.
Taking an oath to absolve oneself from sin is a traditional Germanic barbarian custom. If a noble is sworn to be exempted from crime, all he needs is a sufficient number of people of equal status to vouch for him.
Ordinary people who swore to be exempted from sin had to take stones from the fire under the witness of clergy to see if their palms were burned; or they could tie the person to a wooden chair and push him into the pool to see if the person floated. If the hand is not burned or the person does not float, it is regarded as a manifestation of God and the person is exempted from guilt.
"Oh my god, I actually forgot about this," Simon scratched his head, "Then Militia Keynes should have deserved his punishment, right?"
"Of course, Master Simon, that pig-hearted man also asked to be sworn to be exempted from guilt. As a result, after swearing the oath, his hand was burned with a big blister. So he was sentenced to sawing by the angry baron, and he was sawed in half from the waist by the executioner alive. , I screamed there for more than ten minutes before there was no movement." The village chief and the few young men behind him smiled cruelly. Apparently, they took out all their anger on the tax collectors on the militia Keynes.
"By the way, little Klein, what did the priest of Xinkser say?" Simon looked at Klein on the trailer behind the packhorse.
"Sir, the pastor said he would come back to preach this Sunday afternoon." Little Klein sat up from the haystack in the car and said slowly.
"It doesn't matter. In this early spring when the temperature is not very high, it will only take a week for the feces to ferment in the pit and turn into farmyard manure." Simon thought to himself.
In fact, fresh manure cannot be used directly for fertilization. The bacteria on it will be absorbed by the crops and become harmful to the human body. For Simon now, thinking about what to say in front of the pastor in the past two days is the key.
"Master Simon, what are you doing?" The village chief noticed the two serfs behind him who were adding straw and pouring excrement into the pit, and was very puzzled.
"You'll know in two days!" Simon smiled mysteriously.
…
"Practice running every day, when will it end! Is the Lord practicing our escape skills on the battlefield?" Under the sunset, a young serf squatting under a tree and eating broth bread complained dissatisfiedly.
"My child, all you can think of is running away," Old Bauch rolled his eyes at this young and energetic guy and said slowly, "I once served in the army in Lorraine and followed the local lord to join the Earl's army. , the mission was to relieve a besieged castle. As a result, the march was protracted, and the soldiers asked for a rest after walking for a while. By the time they arrived at the castle, it had been captured by the enemy for two days. "
Old Baoch took a sip of the soup with solemnity in his eyes.
"So our mission changed from attacking the enemies besieging the city to attacking the enemies garrisoned on the city wall, resulting in heavy casualties. I still pretended to be dead under the city wall in the afternoon, and crawled back to the position under the darkness of the dead, and then barely managed to escape from that terrible scene. He survived a battle that seemed like a death blow." As he spoke, old Baoch scooped up a piece of offal and chewed it hard. The despair and fear of that day were still in his mind.
"Oh my God." This passionate young man who grew up listening to countless romantic war stories by the fire pit swallowed and made the sign of the cross on his chest.
"So when Mr. Simon first asked us to train running, I was surprised, but I soon understood. Sometimes, fighter opportunities are more important than the personal qualities of soldiers. And being good at grasping fighter opportunities requires a pair of strong legs. Let's begin." Old Bauch regained his composure and said expressionlessly. Looking at the young recruit who still had a dull expression in front of him, he shook his head helplessly.
…
In the past two days, Simon continued to train the new recruits to run, and these new recruits were not as out of breath as they were at the beginning, and gradually became accustomed to it.
Generally speaking, Sunday is a day of rest. Whether it is the serfs working in the fields, the women weaving in the cloth mills, or the recruits running along the village roads, they finally get some sleep early this morning. Had a good sleep.
In the lazy afternoon, a shout came to everyone's ears.
"The pastor of Xinkser Village is here to preach!" a woman shouted excitedly at the top of her lungs.
With a pious heart, the villagers opened their doors one after another and walked towards the central square of the village.
At this time, Simon, the fat man and little Klein also happened to come down from the hill. At a glance, they saw a man with a shaved Mediterranean mushroom head in the village square where Simon often stood. He had a small wooden cross hanging around his neck and was wearing a black full-body mask. in robe and hood.
"Hello, respected pastor of Xinkser Village, thank you for coming all the way to preach to my people!" Simon greeted the pastor.
"Hello, Lord of Verde Village, may the Lord bless you. These are all what I should do, no need to thank you. But by the way, the believers in Verde Village need a church so that the glory of the Lord can always be seen. Shrouded here, we can save the lost lambs at any time." The pastor replied expressionlessly.
"Yes, I will definitely build one when the village becomes rich in the future." Simon squinted his eyes and twirled his mustache.
"You are truly a devout believer, my lord." The priest smiled.
"By the way, dear pastor, I have something to tell you. The villagers who happen to be present can also listen." Simon showed a mysterious smile to the pastor.
"Oh? Sir, you just say it's okay." The priest became interested, and the villagers also pricked up their ears, speculating and discussing in low voices.
"When I was hunting near Dorstenberg a year ago, a monk wearing white robes and holding a wooden staff came up from the forest path." Simon raised his voice so that everyone present could hear it clearly. Chu, "The monk kept saying that he had seen God appear with his own eyes. I was a little shocked and immediately went to ask."
At this time, the fat man behind Simon frowned slightly. He had been with Simon every time he hunted before, but he didn't remember Simon having such an adventure.
But it was obviously unwise to interrupt Simon at this time.
"The monk spoke an obscure Anglo-Saxon language and said that he had come from England to worship in the Holy Land, Jerusalem. But one night when he was camping by the river, he witnessed God descending on the river in front of him." Simon After a pause, the pastor and some villagers opened their eyes wide, as if they were immersed in the scene.
"God exuded a charming holy light, suspended on the river, and said to the monks that he could not bear to see the suffering in the world. He wanted to tell the monks a method to increase crop yields, and hoped that he could spread it to the world. ," Simon suppressed a smile, "The monk later saw me wearing noble clothes and thought I was a lord. So he taught me the method God taught him, hoping that I could apply it to my own territory."
"Sir, are you sure he is not a lunatic who talks nonsense?" At this time, even the priest's face was a little dull.
"No, dear priest, I knew he was an old monk as soon as he spoke. I once had the honor to visit a monastery in Friesland, so I know that the feeling of a devout servant of God cannot be imitated by a madman. It has to come out. I will testify with my honor that what I said is absolutely not a lie." Simon continued to lie confidently.
"Oh, my Almighty Lord!" The priest closed his eyes and made the sign of the cross on his chest.
"In any case, we have to try this new method taught by God himself. No matter how weird it is, as a devout Christian, I decided to take the lead in practicing it in my territory. I am always looking forward to God's The gospel can lift our poor village of Verde out of poverty, and no one will starve to death again!" At this time, Simon said loudly.
At this time, the superstitious villagers also exploded and asked Simon to use the method taught by God.
"It's incredible, Sir. Can you tell me what kind of method this is that can greatly increase the yield of crops?" The pastor asked curiously with emotion.
"To be honest, if I hadn't heard it from the devout monk with my own ears, I wouldn't have believed it myself. The method is to dig a hole, pile up human and animal excrement in it, cover it with hay straw, and insert a big Oak cross. After a week, these original filth can be transformed into fertilizer that can increase crop yields." Simon felt a little uneasy, but continued firmly.
If you don't pass this test, you won't be able to use farmyard manure to irrigate the ground in the future.
"My God, Master Simon, are you kidding me?" A serf in the front row opened his mouth in disbelief. The villagers in the back all looked suspicious. After all, it is really unacceptable to use excrement to pour on the food that will enter their mouths in the future.
"We must believe in the devout servant of God and the power of God. Today I will also ask the priest of Xinkser Village to pray for exorcism in the fertilizer pit and pray for God's manifestation and blessing," Simon continued.
…
Everyone followed the steps of Simon and the pastor to the fertilizer pit beside the farmland outside the village. At this time a large cross made of oak had been erected on it.
Although the priest was doubtful about this, he saw that Simon swore on his honor and spoke very sincerely, so he still followed Simon to the "Halloween Pit".
Then a strange scene appeared. A priest was holding a Bible and reading the Gospel loudly in front of a cesspool with a cross inserted in it. Behind him, a group of villagers crossed their hands on their chests and prayed together.
When it came to the exorcism step, Simon's eyesightened. The priest took out a handful of precious salt from the small cloth bag he carried and sprinkled it into the cesspool.
Salt represents immortality, and the devil hates immortality. Therefore, salt is regarded as the devil's nemesis and a weapon for exorcism.
"May the merciful and almighty Lord bless this land and prevent His believers from suffering from hunger. Lord, Amen!" The pastor ended the exorcism and turned around.
"Sir, I am not sure who the monk you saw is, but at least I did everything I could. If God appears by then and the crops in this land increase significantly, then this place will be destroyed. Regarded as the place where God’s miracles appeared, you and I will be remembered in history books.” The pastor said with some excitement.
"But if this method has no effect, then please give up this method forever," the priest said with a face. "Because that so-called pious monk may be a lunatic who is good at disguising, and may even be here to mislead you." The devil in the world. Then we can only ask the bishop to exorcise the devil and evil black magic."
"Of course, respected pastor, thank you again for everything you have done for Verde Village today!" Simon thanked him, but sneered secretly in his heart.
"Oh, if this pure natural farmyard manure can't increase production, my surname will no longer be Dorsten!" Simon thought.
Watching the pastor's retreating figure, Simon knew that the major hidden danger in his short-term agricultural production was finally over.
