Chapter 94:
Lord Earl is indeed not short of money, they are short of warehouses now.
This year, the output of wheat is much more than expected. Not to mention the warehouse in the castle can't hold it, even the warehouses of the three pasta factories are a little tight. The pasta factory's warehouse has stored a lot of it before buying it from other places. The wheat that came back has not been used up, and now we have to add new wheat, and the warehouse is already full.
Especially now that the warehouse is only part of the tax deduction that the tax officer has collected, and they will buy more from the people in the future. At this time, the harvest of wheat has not ended, and the part of the tax deduction is almost there. There's nowhere to put it.
And according to their estimates, this year's total wheat production has tripled compared to previous years. As soon as the result came out, Felix hugged Wei Wei and kissed her hard, more than when she knew that she had more productive wheat in her hands. Be excited.
After all, there is only so much high-yielding wheat that they don't know how long it will be before they can be planted across the county, and now their harvests are skyrocketing.
Wei Wei didn't expect the whole county's wheat harvest to be so good this year. She felt that it was God's blessing and gave Satinson good weather, otherwise, fertilizer alone would not work.
"Let's get people to build a few granaries first."
Felix nodded, he had to prepare quickly, he couldn't wait until there was nowhere to pile the wheat outside. If it happened to rain, it would be troublesome.
However, they couldn't continue to pay attention to this matter. The news came from the capital that the Pope and his party had left the capital, and when the news came back, they should have almost arrived in Princia.
But the church didn't send a letter to Felix, so I don't know if there are other plans.
For example, arriving in Sardinson County early before they know it so that they can't always drive people out.
With this kind of worry, the couple had to invite Master Raymond in advance, ordered a hundred knights and knights to escort them, and rushed to Princia ahead of time to prepare for the Pope.
That's right, we want to keep everyone in Princia, and even Sloot is not allowed to enter. After all, there are only two serfs living in a broken fishing village on Sloot's side. Although the house is already being built, it is just ordinary How can the huts where the commoners live, how can they live for the Pope and his party?
Therefore, we will not entertain you. You can stay in Princia as a guest. People who want to come there will greet you very warmly.
The nobles brought a group of knights into the territory of other nobles, naturally, they need to say hello in advance, and the (future) master of Princia is Ellen, Felix only needs to say a word to pass.
Although Alan was not in Princia, he had already written a letter to arrange everything. By the way, he asked the nobles in the territory to cooperate with Felix and keep the visiting group in Princia.
So it was true that the original plan was to bring people into the church in Madison before Felix could react, but it was a miscalculation.
The ship that the Pope was on was the most common galley in the Mediterranean before the sixteenth century, and it was also the most common warship in the Mediterranean during this period - the three-oared warship. The bow of this wooden warship is equipped with bronze rams. When encountering a naval battle, this kind of warship will rely on its speed and manoeuvrability to collide with the side of the enemy ship, and then the collision will hit the enemy ship under the waterline, smashing the hull of the enemy ship or breaking it. The oars of enemy ships.
Different from the sailing ships of later generations, the sailing ships in Europe during this period belonged to galleys. The sails on the ships only played an auxiliary role. The real power of the ships was the oarsmen on the ships. The warships were divided into upper and lower rowers on the first and second tiers are below the deck, the rowers on the third tier are above the deck, and the rowers on the same side are staggered up and order to provide it with enough power, one hundred and seventy of the four or five hundred people that a three-oared warship of nearly 40 meters can carry are members of the Pope's visiting group, including soldiers, would not go boating. That's what the poor do. So to accommodate a visiting group of a thousand people and bring enough supplies, they opened five three-oared warships. the flags of the church were not hung on these ships, and the hulls were decorated in line with the aesthetics of the church, when these five warships appeared at the pier of Princia, it would make the people on the pier think that they were attacked by the enemy.
Pope John stepped off the boat, surrounded by three cardinals headed by the church members. This 62-year-old old man has grey hair and an old face, but his spirit is very good. The priests are the same age, and their temperament is very similar. At first glance, they are all grey-haired, kind-hearted old men.
At least from the outside, Wei Wei didn't see any person as a bad person.
When Pope John got off the boat, he didn't see the group of people in Sardinson County - he was old, and he loved alchemy research, and his eyes were inevitably bad - it was only after he got off that he saw Philip standing on the pier. Raymond is next to him.
Pope John's memory is not bad. After seeing Raymond, he was stunned for a moment, then showed a surprised expression, opened his hands and stepped forward: "Oh, my dear old friend, I didn't expect to see you here. , I thought I would have to wait a few more days."Raymond was still very calm, seeing the enthusiasm of an old friend he hadn't seen for many years, he didn't care about the other party's current identity, and went forward to exchange with the other party. A hug: "Long time no see, Julio, oh no, Pope John."Pope John patted him on the back: "I still prefer to hear you call me Julio."His Majesty." A cardinal shouted, reminding him that he is in public now and not to lose the image of the John was not satisfied with the persuasion from the rear. Wei Wei and others standing in front of him captured the momentary displeasure on his face, but this displeasure was soon diluted by the joy of meeting old friends. The two old friends who had not seen each other for more than ten years ended their embrace. Raymond knelt on one knee and kissed the ring symbolizing divine right on the Pope's right hand. After completing the formal meeting ceremony, he began to introduce his employer to the Pope."This is Earl Felix Williams of Sardinsonshire and his wife Vie Wee Williams."
The authority of the Pope today is not as glorious as it was hundreds of years ago, and it is not as strong as it will be after more than a hundred years. The commoners and minor nobles need to kneel and salute when they see the Pope, but the major nobles only need to bend down and kiss the ring. Felix is in Lei Meng completed this etiquette when introducing, followed by Wei Wei who bent her knees and kissed the ring.
To be honest, she was a little against this kiss. She didn't know how many people had kissed the ring. Fortunately, Felix was in front of her, which was barely a psychological comfort.
After the introduction here, it is natural to introduce a few cardinals there, and then Felix asked about his arrangement.
"Would you like to stay in Princia for a while, or go to Sardinson now?" He emphasized "you", indicating that he was only prepared to receive Pope John alone.
Even though I know it's impossible.
Look at the neat rows of Cavaliers behind Felix, Pope John would like to say that he can go with them now, but others have told him about it several times before, and He secretly intercepted his letters, intending to enter Sardinson County in advance, forcing the owner of Sardinson County to allow them all to move in Sardinson County.
Although he is not very in charge, Pope John also has people who are loyal to him. One of the three cardinals is of the same faction as him, so he also knows that the other two are so obsessed with entering Sardinson County. for 's not because of the huge wealth that Earl Williams has earned in the past year. Others don't know the specific income of Sardinson County during this period. The fact that Earl Slot exchanged sugar formula for Thrott stimulated them even more, which forced them to try their best to think of the opportunity to find his secret in Sardinson Pope John, who wrote a letter to remind his old friend that he was about to arrive, was furious when he found out that his letter had not been sent, but it was too late, they were almost, although his letter was not sent out, the other party's news was more well-informed, and they arrived in Princia before them.
Now that the Lord is in front of him, the clergy who have evil intentions are still not ready to give up their previous plans.
The cardinal who had warned before said again: "His Majesty the Pope must be escorted by someone, and we will accompany His Majesty to Sardinson County."
"I'm afraid I can't accept such an arrangement." Felix said coldly: "Sardinson Castle is just a small castle, it can't hold so many people."
Can't live? This is exactly what they want.
A flash of calculation flashed in the cardinal's eyes: "It doesn't matter, the Knights and His Majesty's guard can find a place to live on their own."
"That's a pity, there are no cities in our county, and several small towns are already full of people. , there is no way to provide them with a place to live."
Wei Wei raised her hand, spread out the fan in her hand with a swipe, and the fan covered half of her face, revealing only a pair of black eyes regretfully.
Most of the lion's body on the black fan is hidden in the darkness, only the head and mane on the chest are exposed. This mighty beast opens its huge mouth towards the fan to reveal its fangs, and its golden eyes belong to The coldness of the cold-blooded hunter is as lifelike as it will be thrown out of the fan at any time.
This is Wei Wei's birthday present for Felix—although people in this period don't seem to have the habit of celebrating birthdays, she still prepared it—the crest of the Williams family is a lion, and she doesn't usually have much free time. , I chose this one because I couldn't embroider a large piece, and the fan of the beast would not make people feel that it was not suitable for men - after all, Prady's fans are all ladies and ladies - she originally wanted to wait for him on his birthday. Yes, because the Pope was visiting, she had to use it in advance.
The lion head of the beast, which is enough to look like a real beast, obviously achieved the effect its owner wanted. Suddenly seeing the lion on the fan, the Pope and his party were all shocked. The Pope was okay because he was looking back at the person who was talking behind him. The cardinal happened to avoid the shock at that moment, but the three cardinals behind him were so frightened that they took a step back together, and the guards on the side even subconsciously drew their weapons, the front of the sharp sword facing her.
This seemed like a provocation to the people on Sardinson's side, so when the guards of the church drew their weapons, they pulled out their weapons not to be outdone.
For a while, the atmosphere froze.
Before the people in the church could react, the person who caused this scene waved his fan and said innocently: "What's wrong? We are helpless because we don't have a place to entertain you, but you can't just do it because of this. After saying this, she complained to Pope John half-truth again: "Aren't the people in your church too arrogant?"
Pope John, who had seen the fan in her hand, was also startled at first, but Hearing her words at this moment, I wanted to laugh a little.
"No, people in our church have always been polite." Polite people don't force their hosts to entertain them.
Pope John raised his hand to signal for the guards to withdraw their weapons. Compared with the cardinal, the Knights Templar were much more obedient, and the Pope's guard always only obeyed the Pope's orders, at least on the surface.
Seeing that they all received their weapons, Sardinson's knights also received their weapons and returned to their original positions.
The atmosphere suddenly relaxed a lot.
So the reluctant cardinal jumped out again. He said that even if there was no place to live, the guards could set up their camp.
Wei Wei frowned before Felix spoke again and said, "Set up a camp? I'm sorry, our land in Sardinson County is either farming or grazing. Now it's wheat harvest time, and the open space is used for drying wheat, I'm afraid there is no room for it. You have set up camp."
"And didn't this bishop just say that they followed to protect His Majesty the Pope? But now you say that they can find another place to live. If that's the case, how can they protect His Majesty the Pope?"
Felix While laughing at his wife's slow-moving scolding, sure enough, this picture makes him feel happy no matter how many times he sees it.
—As long as it is not him who is being beaten.
He had probably never seen anyone dare to talk to him like this before. The cardinal was dismissed for a while, and another cardinal who had the same mind as him saw this scene and was about to answer when he listened to Felix. Si spoke up.
"As my wife said, Sardinson County is a small place, and it is currently in a busy agricultural period, so it is unable to host the entire visiting group. If your Excellency insists on doing so, then we have to regret that we cannot host His Majesty the Pope— - But please rest assured, His Majesty the Pope, Master Raymond can go with you to the country you visit in the future, and when you finish talking with him, he can return on his own."
Of course, it is impossible to follow, this is just Felix's It was just rhetoric, he believed that the other party would not give up easily.
Pope John's eyes lit up when he heard this. He came to Sardinson County to meet old friends whom he hadn't seen for many years. By the way, they could talk about each other's research. If Raymond could go with him, then they could reminisce. longer.
Seeing that the Pope was persuaded, the two cardinals trembled in their hearts, knowing that it would not go on like this, the one who hadn't spoken immediately rushed before the Pope and put on an old-fashioned look: "Don't be so troublesome, since you can't Receive all the staff, then it is okay to only receive a part of it? I think Your Majesty also wants to take a look at your friend's current laboratory, right?"
This was indeed the case, so the Pope was a little shaken.
The cardinal hit the railroad while it was hot: "Didn't your majesty say before that you want to do research with Master Raymond? If you go to sea together, I'm afraid you won't be able to do it."
Many clerics in this period liked to study alchemy This is especially true for high-ranking clerics—the temptation of immortality is there, and those who can become high-ranking clerics are not young. For them, the temptation is even greater, so he knows how to persuade them. pope.
Felix said: "Then I don't know how many people your Excellency wants us to receive?" The
other party thought about it and said, "How about two hundred people?" Servant, the rest are all guarded.
Felix shook his head: "It's too much, the castle can't live in it, and fifty people can't be more. As for the safety issue, His Excellency the Pope won't go out very often. Even if we go out, we can send someone to protect it."This number is too overwhelming It's low, but Felix means going back and forth if he doesn't accept it, and the Pope who has the highest status and is most likely to hold him down has refused to speak from beginning to end. In the end, there is no way. Side can only they originally wanted all three cardinals to go with them, but the Pope suddenly said that the visiting group needed someone to sit in, so among the two hawkish cardinals, the one who spoke first was left, and only The remaining two followed the Pope into the carriage prepared by Sardinson and left this time, the nobles of Princia who had been on the side came forward to entertain the cardinal and others who were left behind. The expression of the former was not very good-looking at this time, completely ignoring the hospitality of the small nobles. He turned around to summon his confidant, whispered a few words, and then walked to Princia, don't let them in, won't they go in quietly, the road in Sardinson County won't be blocked, it's not easy to get a pity that he forgot that Sardinson County will not block roads, but Sardinson Castle can. The private land of the nobles is always not allowed to enter and exit at will, and he does not know that in Sardinson County, those important needs The secret factories are all inside the manor, and outsiders can't get close. Outside the manor, the pasta practices of the pasta factory are not complicated. Now they have spread to other places. They want to ask It's random, and the precious thing about the meat sauce factory is the recipe of the seasoning, and the recipe is only in the hands of a very few people. The people who are responsible for the preparation are all people that Felix trusts and the preparation work is also in a closed space. most important thing is that most of the Pope and his party are foreigners, and their appearance is very conspicuous in Sardinson County. Even if they deliberately disguise and sneak in, the Pope will only stay for a few days, which is not enough for them to get close to the goal. character.
Of course, these people don't like the sound of canned pasta and canned meat sauce. After all, many people have learned how to make pasta and how to use canned food for long-term storage. Now they make and sell their pasta and canned food in the market. There are more and more merchants, but the taste is not as good as that produced by Sardinson, and the scale is not comparable.
On the other hand, compared to the haste when they came, the return journey was much slower. Even intentionally or unintentionally, they dragged the normal speed carriage that could be covered in four days in four days abruptly to seven days, for the same reason. I was very full, and I was worried that the road would be too bumpy and it would be bad to bump into the Pope, so it was better to walk slowly.
When he heard this answer, the Eagle Cardinal, Roberto almost vomited blood on the spot, why do you worry about bumps so you walk slowly, then what is it that you have to repair for a day every time you go to a town? They don't need that much rest time at all!
How many days can they stay in Sardinson Castle if they walk so slowly? The time of the visiting group is very precious. If their fleet has been staying in Princia, King Prady's fleet will catch up and ask about the situation.
When they don't want to go, they have to go.
It's a pity that he is the only one in this group who is in a hurry. The Pope said that he was very happy to chat with his old friends. Although he can't start to study together now, it is also a good idea to listen to his explanation and see what his hands are doing and then sit together to discuss various issues. The fun is endless, and the remaining cardinal and the pope are on one side. The doves are weak in the church. Most of them have nothing to do with the internal financial affairs of the church, so they are not willing to participate in the hawks' plan. Anyway, even if there is any benefit, it will not fall on them, and the cardinal is also an alchemy enthusiast, but his level is limited. Now that he has the opportunity to see Raymond, the alchemist master, it is too late to be busy looking for opportunities to ask for advice. Where else can you take care of others?
If he arrives too early, and the Pope abandons him and closes the laboratory with the master, how can he ask for advice?
So go slow.
And Felix and Wei Wei didn't just want to drag the time-although it's true that they meant it-they stopped for a day every time they got there and even took a little detour in the middle of the way-if Luo Berto knew that they were still detouring for fear of fainting - mainly to see the current situation in Slootshire, Melk Town and Uk Town.
Sloth's main purpose is to see how their Yanchi is doing, and how the house is being repaired. By the way, he asks if he has encountered any danger when going to sea recently. In Melk Town, he is to see the rice and watermelons that Wei Wei planted. Whether the crops are growing well, and whether the piglets on the farm in Wake Town have grown fat smoothly, they want to check by the way, not deliberately delaying the time!
If you don't believe me, you can take a look at the early-ripening watermelons and other fruits that they brought back to you. Most of the fruits are fruits that are found around the Mediterranean Sea. Even if some of them are relatively rare, they are basically not bad for high-level priests, so They were not shocked to see watermelons eaten, and the watermelons delivered to them were cut into small pieces, so even if they did not see the "diaphragm" in the middle of the watermelons of this period like a thickened version of pomegranate, they only Thought it was removed, but found no problem at all.
After being depressed at the beginning, Bishop Roberto gradually calmed down, and began to improve himself and began to send knights to secretly inquire about the specific situation of Sardinson County while the middle team stayed.
Since there is no way to reach the destination for a while, then get more information and prepare in advance.