"Ryan, why are you looking like this now! And you, little Klein, have grown taller again!"
I saw Ryan wearing an old fur-brimmed hat and a shaggy beard. The blue shawl on his shoulders was full of dried wine marks and water stains. He was wearing a dirty thick linen bundle that had not been washed for a long time. Wearing a waist-long coat and wearing a pair of muddy woven leather boots.
His eyes were surrounded by thick dark circles, and there were visible bloodshot eyes in the whites of his eyes, but none of this could conceal the excited light reflected in his pupils.
Little Klein, on the other hand, looks a little taller than Simon before he left. He wears a thin animal skin hat, a thick Viking fur-trimmed tunic that was specially modified for him, and his hands are stained with blood. leather gloves, holding a gray rabbit in one hand and a hunting bow in the other, looking like a little hunter.
"Ah, sir, I, I..." Ryan then realized that his appearance was very different from Simon's appearance before the trip.
Compared with the image of a well-dressed and sophisticated intellectual young man in the summer, Ryan now looks like a greasy uncle with messy hair and rough clothes.
"Master, Brother Ryan has been busy with the construction of the village during this period. Sometimes he even lights candles at night to draw drawings and finalize plans. So he has no energy to take care of his appearance." Little Klein said Simon's doubts were solved.
"That's right, Ryan, hahaha, thank you for working so hard while I was away. But I have to say, if you put on a desert turban and a loose desert multi-layer robe now, you would be a Saracen." No one will doubt it!"
As Simon spoke, he patted Ryan on the shoulder. The latter had obviously seen the Saracens in the Kingdom of Italy, and he laughed along with Simon.
"Brother Hoffman, do you know who the Saracens are?" The confused little Klein looked at the fat man in confusion, while the fat man rolled his eyes, pouted and shrugged, indicating that he also have no idea.
"Sir Simon, during this time, I asked the new batch of refugees, or your new subjects, to compact the walls of our wooden castle with a layer of earth and sand. In this way, I can guarantee that as long as the enemy does not use large trebuchets, no one can demolish this solid fortress wall!"
Ryan said energetically, stroking his wild and wild beard with his hand.
"I see. No wonder I always felt something was different after entering the wooden castle. It turns out that the castle wall has been reinforced by a layer, making it look more solid and solid!"
"That's right, sir, after we gnawed away the hard nut of the fort wall, except for half of the workers who were left to continue completing the construction of wooden walls and church houses outside the village, the rest were handed over to the village chief and Captain Bill. , led to serve as serfs and recruits."
In this era when siege equipment was scarce, most siege battles relied on ladders and battering rams.
Such rare things as siege towers are unlikely to appear in the relatively wild northern part of the mainland. Even if it does appear, if it encounters the relatively steep slope of Fort Verde, it may fall over before climbing halfway.
Therefore, Simon was very concerned about the reinforcement of the fortress wall.
"Very good, but I have another idea. We have to find a way to build a turret on the southwest side of the village's wooden wall and set up a small catapult on the turret. This can greatly enhance the village's defense and combat large numbers of intruders. Enemy." Simon imagined all this in his mind and said to Ryan.
"I think it's very good, sir, but the last time you stayed to build the territory, the money has basically been spent, and the building materials have also been used up. In addition, unfortunately, I only know the knowledge of architecture, and I don't know how to build it." Catapult..." Ryan said with some embarrassment.
"Ha, money is not a problem. This trip to Dresden was full of rewards. Building materials are not a problem either. If you run out, you can buy them again. As for the catapult, this is simple, I know how to make it." Simon's lips curled up. He stood up and smiled evilly, watching Ryan open his mouth in surprise.
………………
At this time, in the winery next to the small church built with wood and stone in the village of Verde, a man with a "Mediterranean" hairstyle with a face as red as a ripe apple on the tree was holding a wooden wine glass in his hand and smiling happily. Had a wine burp.
"Father James, stop drinking. You can no longer be as holy as our God and His children." The wine girl Alice slapped the bald man's hand and tried to take back the wooden wine glass from his arms.
"Oh no, to be honest, I actually want to drink water, but I don't know why, but I feel far less comfortable drinking water than drinking alcohol." The bald man lay on a wooden table in the wine shop, hugging him tightly. Wooden wine glass, "I also want to know why every time I drink water, my stomach always feels as if it is full of air. However, it does not happen at all after I drink wine. There is no way, maybe this is God's will .”
This bald man looks young, probably in his late thirties, and his words have a faint English flavor.
He had the "Mediterranean" haircut of monks and wore a thin black monk's robe.
But unlike those ascetics who insisted on wearing only a thin robe to show their piety even in the harsh winter, this guy showed no signs of shivering in the ice and snow.
It turned out that he shrewdly wore an extra layer of clothes under this thin gray robe, and with the wine he had just consumed, it was strange that he was shivering from the cold.
However, it is worth mentioning that such behavior was something he would never have dared to think about when he was in the Cologne church.
"You come here every day to drink secretly. My God, you are really the most unique priest I have ever seen." Alice shook her head helplessly, but the old brewer who was busy on the side raised his head. head.
"Alice, although I think our dear priest likes to drink and play tricks, he is actually quite good. You really have never seen a more outrageous priest." After the old brewer finished speaking, he stuck out his tongue and licked I licked a little bit of botrytis wine just scooped out of the big wooden barrel, with a face filled with admiration and enjoyment.
"Yes, some of the brothers I have seen have their heads polished as brightly as glass, they are dressed more elegantly than anyone else, their faces are rich and oily, they ride thoroughbred horses that are better than the local nobles, and their harnesses are authentically made. It was polished spotlessly, and the crisp sound made by the sterling silver bell attached to it was more beautiful than the song of a lark..."
Father James was lying on the table, frowning, his eyes a little blurry, as if he was recalling something.
"Those brothers wore cloaks made of high-quality woolen cloth and had expensive coral rosary beads wrapped around their arms. They usually drank milk and ate fine white bread. They thought the rules set by St. Benedict and St. Maulus were outdated and worthless. Alas. , even I have nothing to say to them.”
"Is there such a servant of God?" Alice was extremely surprised. In her opinion, the monks mentioned by Father James lived a more luxurious and comfortable life than most lords.
"Isn't that right? Alice, we went to Bruges when you were young, and the monks there were exactly the same as the monks mentioned by Father James." The old brewer shook his head and continued to taste the fine wine in his hand.
In fact, being sent to the village of Verde to be a priest seemed like a hard job to the monks in the Cologne church.
In their eyes, although the people here defeated the fierce Norman pirates, they must have been burned out by the war and a scorched earth. How could they be as comfortable as in the holy city of Cologne?
Even if it is said that a miracle happened there, what kind of miracle is more fascinating than the holy city of Cologne where they are located?
Of course, there were some devout old monks who dedicated their lives to serving the Lord who were willing to take on the hard work of serving as priests in the village of Verde. However, in the end, the job fell to a monk named James.
Brother James can only be regarded as a half-German Kingdom. His father is the Lord of the distant Kingdom of Wessex in England, and James is his father's second son.
Years ago, the Danes overran their family's ancestral territory. James' father, who lost his home, had to temporarily take the remaining property and his family to live in the territory of relatives.
It was during this period that no one saw hope for England's future, including James's father. So his father asked someone to take his second son James on a ship to Flanders. After repeated journeys, little James finally arrived at the Cathedral in Cologne and became a dedicated child dedicated to the church.
However, in this chaotic era, being a monk does not mean safety.
Even if you are lucky enough to escape the killings of heretics, it is difficult to escape the looting of greedy bandits or even some crazy lords.
Because at this time, the church had not yet issued the "God-given peace" prohibition, that is, it was not allowed to attack priests and poor people.
Therefore, many monasteries and churches are in panic and order is on the verge of collapse.
In addition, many monks had strange thoughts when they saw that the loving and almighty God did not appear when the pagans ravaged his loyal servants, or sent down miracles to protect them.
Therefore, in this environment, some monasteries began to develop their own side businesses to make money. The original purpose was to strengthen the protection of the monasteries and resist the invasion of pagans. However, later, the income of the monasteries was lost to the monks who began to secularize with degenerate ideas. Used it to squander it.
Father James grew up in this environment.
Although the monks in the Cologne church did not fall like the monks in Flanders and Bruges, the seeds were already blooming.
When James was a child, his ideal was to be an unrestrained knight, hoping that one day he could die on the battlefield instead of being bound by the rules of St. Benedict and losing his freedom. He closed his eyes and prayed with the scriptures as his companions every day.
Therefore, when the news that the village of Verde in the north of the kingdom needed a priest spread by word of mouth among the monks of the Cologne church, James was almost the most active of all.
After all, in the safe and peaceful Cologne Church, opportunities like this to be sent to distant places are extremely rare.
So, with the approval of the bishop of Cologne, James took an iron-headed stick for self-defense and followed the soldiers, refugees, and supply wagons heading to the village of Verde.
After arriving at Folde Village, he was really surprised by everything here. Whether it was pouring excrement into the "Holy Pit" and then watering the fields, or the eyes of the people living here blooming with joy, he had never seen it elsewhere. of.
Even the relatively affluent townspeople in Cologne only have numbness in their expressions and eyes, but that is not the case in Verde Village.
Father James was very satisfied with all this. The pastoral life in Verde Village reminded him of his happy childhood.
In his hometown, before the Danes came with the flames of war, people lived as hopeful as they do now.
He hadn't seen such a scene for many years.
So, after the brothers who came with him from the Cologne church supervised the refugees after they finished building the small church in Verde Village and embarked on their return journey, he completely relaxed.
As for St. Benedict's old rules, screw them. Even the most loyal old monk who obeyed the rules and served God conscientiously, when the pagans and robbers came, God did not protect him, but allowed him to bleed with blood.
When the monks in the Cologne church discussed this matter, some people interpreted it as the old monk had committed an unknown sin in private, or simply attributed it all to the fact that people are born with original sin. James sneered at this, but did not dare to show anything.
As for the villagers of Verde Village, they initially did not agree with the new priest who often drank secretly and sometimes acted clever and lazy.
However, every time Father James could complete his job without any mistakes, and he usually had no airs when getting along with others. He was not like the pretentious and hypocritical manner of the old priest in Dorstenberg. He was straightforward and upright. It didn't take long. He won everyone's favor...
"Hey old man, Alice, and the drunken Father James, do you know that Master Simon is back!" A villager's loud voice woke Father James up from his thoughts.
He has not yet met the lord of this territory, but he has heard many stories about him and praises about him from the villagers.
"Mark, as you said, I look so drunk. To be honest, it's a bit bad and impolite to go to see Lord Simon," Father James said, burping, "Just say that Father James has nothing else." I mean, I was just drunk and drunk, and I can’t go see him today due to irresistible factors. I swear, I will go see him early tomorrow morning.”
"Hahaha, Father, you are so frank!" The villagers laughed at the priest's cute appearance, and helplessly spread their hands towards the old brewer and Alice.
