Lady of the Lord From the East

"You have misunderstood the count." Umberto's smile was gentle and cordial when he spoke, with the peculiar sacred temperament of clergy (when fooling people): "Neither I nor His Majesty the Pope intend to interfere in the internal affairs of your country, we and them It's different, I don't like to be too exposed to some things that can easily corrupt people's hearts and make people fall into devils."

such as rights.

It may seem a bit hypocritical to say this, but there were indeed clerics in the church during this period who did not care about power and did not seek pleasure. They walked out of the hustle and bustle and lived a pure and simple life in a monastery far from the hustle and bustle, telling God about their loyalty.

Unlike the monastery that became filthy later, the current monastery is still a truly pure place. The people living in it are all ascetic hermits. They are alone and hardly participate in disputes outside the monastery.

But neither the Pope nor Bishop Umberto is an ascetic, nor are the doves headed by them.

Umberto's so-called difference does not mean that they are truly devoted to their beliefs, just because their hobbies are different from those of hawks.

Hawks support war because they want higher power and unique status, while doves, it's not certain whether they love peace or not, and it's a fact that they don't want to spend their time chasing power and waging war.

The clergy of the church can be said to be the most literate group of people in Europe, from the most common monk to the highest pope. Basic conditions, otherwise what if you don’t even understand the Bible?

Many people think that people in the Middle Ages were ignorant and addicted to superstition, and that scientific explorers were always persecuted by the church. This was true in the middle and late Middle Ages, but in the early Middle Ages, before the church was completely broken, they were not interested in scientific exploration. The attitude of the people is actually not that hostile.

Within the church, the members of the dove group have a completely different attitude from the hawk group in regard to the Eastern Church. Most of them have something in common, that is, they love research.

This research includes but is not limited to alchemy. They study alchemy, medicine, astronomy, and everything else that they love. Of course, the most important thing is the study of theology.

It can be said that within the church, many people’s research hobbies are heretical behaviors that are explicitly prohibited by the church after hundreds of years.

But in this period, this was just the personal hobby of most clergymen and was not expressly forbidden. There were even small groups within the church based on the same research direction.

Most of the doves come from these small groups, and they love their own research more than their power.

But probably because these studies take up a lot of their time, the doves often have little real power within the church, and they are also a minority among high-ranking clergy.

Felix clasped his hands and pressed his chin to ask him, "Then what do you want me to do?"

"Just like what other businessmen want." Umberto said: "Ordinary business cooperation is fine."

The goods in Sardinson County are very tight now. They are in short supply in the Prady Empire, and some of them are sold abroad, and they can even sell for more than ten times the price, but unfortunately, the production speed is not as fast as No, Felix currently has no intention of opening overseas markets.

And because of Wei Wei's resistance to the church, and Felix's dislike, their business can cooperate with businessmen and nobles, but the church is never allowed to intervene, and even the bank that they choose when saving money is the one with the least power in the church.

It is also because of his disapproval of the church that Roberto and others would not even have any intention of seeking cooperation, and would directly use those shady methods when they came up.

As I said before, the doves basically have no access to the important matters of financial power in the church. Naturally, they are completely inferior to the hawks in terms of wealth, and the party with power and money is naturally more likely to attract vassals.

Now the Pope is their dove. Although he is often just a puppet, his appeal is still very strong. If there is another lure of wealth, there will be more people who are willing to stand on their side. It will not be so passive in the church.

It is a pity that they have no access to profitable businesses, and most priests do not have the talent for business, so they have never thought about how to accumulate wealth.

Until they found out that the hawks were eyeing Felix, and that Pope John's old friend was serving him, there was such a relationship, not only the hawks thought they could take advantage of it, but even the doves thought it was a way to seek cooperation chance.

Helping Sardinson to stop the visiting group is the first step to release their goodwill, and the second step is to investigate the kidnapping clues in the capital.

Since it's not about making trouble in Prady, Felix's attitude is milder, but the so-called cooperation is not easy.

"At present, the production of various products in Sardinson is in bottleneck and cannot be improved. If you only need a small amount of goods, I can think of a way, but if you want a lot, I can't supply it here."

The current output of Sardinson County is all rounded up by those merchants. As the master, he can reserve some, but it is impossible to break the contract because of the church. He and those merchants have signed the contract, and the order can be placed in the first place. Years later, even if the church wants to jump in the queue.

Umberto is not a businessman either. He can't learn the way of a businessman. He was still worried about how to cooperate. Now he has an idea after seeing the wheat harvest in Sardinson County.

He told Felix directly that what they wanted to change was a way to make the land productive.

Hearing that he wanted this, Felix readily agreed. Originally, these things are not secrets. The nobles around Sardinson County will send people to learn secretly. His name is not blocked, but he does not care about spreading these methods. go out.

He thought very clearly that Sardinson County is already a big tree now. If you try to hide this kind of thing that can't be hidden, the other nobles may not be as good as they are now, and the king will not stand by him. here.

So whether it is the composting and use of manure, or the management of wheat fields, Felix had already handed it over to the king when he went to the capital last year. The current high-yield message has long been passed on to the capital.

Seeing that he agreed so readily, Umberto showed a happy smile, and without waiting for him to take out what he promised, he directly told him the clues in his hand.

"We found the remaining three of those kidnappers, who are now hiding in a monastery outside the capital of Prady."

As an outsider, it was not easy for Umberto to find out this news. A wanted mercenary could actually hide in a monastery, where there was obviously someone to answer them, but in the case of being wanted by the whole country, it was indeed only They can only hide in an inaccessible place like a monastery.

Felix didn't expect that his clue was to find someone directly, he frowned: "The monastery? Is it related to the church?"

Umberto kept his mouth shut, it was really inconvenient for him to answer this topic.

But this is the truth. If there is no connection with the church, how can ordinary people enter the monastery? According to the information he has obtained, the three people are now monks transferred from other monasteries. Without the help of church people, they would not be able to He entered the monastery smoothly, and has not revealed anything so far.

Umberto told him the exact location of the monastery: "I sent someone to watch them at that monastery. If you want to arrest someone, you can find him."

As a bishop, it is just a matter of saying that he wants to mobilize the lower clergy. Although the monks of the monastery are far away from the crowd, it is common for people from different monasteries to transfer to each other. For example, when a certain monastery is going to be repaired, They would go to other monasteries for a while.

Since no one suspected that the monks would be fake mercenaries, no one would find out that the new monks were spying on people.

You don't even have to worry about being asked too much, because the monks in the monastery believe that silence is golden. Except when praying, they must remain silent most of the time, and their daily communication basically relies on self-contained sign language.

Of course, what they can do is limited to this. This clue is enough. Since the church is involved, it is even harder for them to intervene in the follow-up investigation.

"Thank you for the clue." Felix couldn't wait to deal with the matter when he got this news. He didn't say any more to Umberto: "I'll have someone send it after you want."

Umberto heard the meaning of seeing off in his words, so he didn't stay any longer, stood up and nodded at him, and left by himself.

When the servant standing at the door saw him come out, he respectfully escorted him back to his room.

Felix took a piece of letter paper and started to write a letter. He left someone in the capital to investigate the matter, and now he naturally wanted them to arrest him.

As for whether the arrest process will annoy the people of the monastery, he is not worried at all. Although Prady is relatively more tolerant of monks who are doing asceticism in the monastery compared to other clergy, but those who harbor criminals are more tolerant. This kind of tolerance is unnecessary.

Write the letter, put it in an envelope and seal it, and send someone to the capital as quickly as possible.

After doing this, he took a deep breath, leaned back on the chair, put his hands on the armrests and meditated.

Wei Wei knocked on the door and didn't hear a reply. She opened the door and walked in. She saw Felix like this, staring ahead as if in a daze.

"What's the matter? What did Bishop Umberto tell you, like this."

"It's okay, just Umberto told me that the mercenary who kidnapped you first found it."

"This is the important thing he said." Wei Wei understood: "So, what did he ask for?"

She put the tray in her hand on the table, poured him a cup of tea, put a plate of cut watermelon and two stacks of snacks on it, sat across the table and poured a cup for herself, ready to open it Looks like a tea party.

Of course, she didn't eat much herself, and the fruit snacks were basically prepared for Felix.

As July is approaching, even the temperature in Sardinson Castle has risen to more than 30 degrees. Although the castle is relatively cool, it is still sultry, especially everyone is wearing robes and there is no fan air conditioner. Sweat profusely.

The watermelon was chilled with well water before it was taken out of the well and cut and served. Eating it is the best way to relieve the heat. Felix ate two pieces in one go before he felt satisfied. He took the third piece and was ready to continue. Plan to drink tea.

"Changed your way of growing wheat."

Wei Wei smiled: "Then we took advantage of it. Didn't you write a brochure before, just give him a copy."

What Felix thought too. Originally, they intended to promote the planting. Wheat, as the most common food, is the key target of promotion. Before, Wei Wei wrote a new booklet and had it printed several copies to find people who could read. Various villages and towns in the county went to publicize, and even the five barons sent people to them after they knew about it, and they all gave generously. Although the implementation of the baronies was a bit slower, and the management was not as good as them, but this year, I think they can increase production. Quite a few, and because of this, those barons have been quiet recently, and there is no sign of trouble.

The paper mill also left a pile of pamphlets. After the news of the harvest in Sardinson County recently spread, the nearby nobles also wrote letters, asking Felix about the rumored yield per mu. Is it true? How did they achieve a large-scale increase in wheat production? I hope he can reveal a little of the mystery. Of course, it is not for nothing, they are willing to pay.

Every time Felix encounters an inquiry, he will send a booklet, and then he will get a lot of gold coins. At the same time, some people find that paper is easy to use. By the way, they want to place an order. Of course, because the current output of the paper factory is only Enough for their own use, so they did not take the order, but the sale of the brochure for money is still very worthwhile.

Oh, and now there is an important news back, which is a pleasant surprise.

Seeing that he only ate watermelon and snacks, without touching the cup of tea, Wei Wei pushed the tea cup and motioned him to try it.

There may be some tea leaves in it, it would be a pity for him not to drink it.

Felix didn't want to drink hot tea in this weather, even warm herbal tea, but Wei Wei asked him to drink it, so he could only drink it.

As a result, when he picked up the cup, he felt a chill in his hands, and the hot tea in the quilt was not what he thought.

This really surprised him. He lowered his head and took a sip. It was lemonade made of lemon and honey. There was a hint of bitterness in the sweetness and sourness, but this bitterness was mixed with a special aftertaste. He was no stranger to it. It is the taste called tea that Wei Wei has only recently started drinking.

But what surprised him was that this cup of tea was very cold, even colder than the watermelon he had just eaten.

"Have the kitchen bought ice cubes today?"

There are many high mountains with snow all year round in the northern area of ​​Prady. Many people living at the foot of the high mountains will collect ice blocks and transport them to merchants and nobles. Because the mining and preservation are not low, the price is naturally not low. In the past, Sardinson County was too remote and no one wanted to sell ice here, but now it is different. Their territory is very popular among merchants.

Wei Wei: "Didn't I see someone selling saltpeter on the way back and I bought a lot of it? I made some ice with that."

More than a lot, she directly rounded up a carload of saltpeter in their hands. Saltpeter was mainly used as paint and fireworks during this period.

Fireworks in Europe were brought by nomads in Asia in this century. They have not been in contact with fireworks for a long time, but they are not unfamiliar with gunpowder, their relatives of fireworks. They used gunpowder and firearms when they attacked Europe. That scene has shocked and terrified Europeans to this day. Countries that have seen that scene have always hoped to get information on gunpowder. Even because Great Mongolia does not prohibit the export of firearms, it was once possible for Europe. It’s a pity that they want to go further. When inquiring, Song Meng started the war again, the former still prevailed, and the Great Mongolia had to call back all the people stationed in Europe, so the opportunity to inquire about firearms was cut off. Naturally, no one in Europe knew that saltpeter was made. The raw material of gunpowder, so they only use this thing as paint.

Of course, Wei Wei didn't buy saltpeter to make gunpowder. She remembered that this thing can be processed into medicinal materials, and it can also be used to make potassium and nitrogen fertilizers. Before, she thought that she could try to make chemical fertilizers. She happened to see it on the way back, so she naturally wanted to buy it back. .

It is easy to make ice. Of course, the ice cubes with saltpeter are not edible. Her honey lemon tea is made by placing a metal basin in the water with saltpeter, and putting the drink in it to chill it out.

"Can saltpeter be used to make ice?" This was the first time Felix heard of it.

"Yes, but the ice with saltpeter added cannot be eaten directly. It takes more effort to make edible ice. I have already frozen some of it. If you want to eat it, you should be able to taste it tomorrow."

Felix became interested. He drank tea and ate watermelon snacks. If he had to go to the scene to see it, Wei Wei took him there.

He probably had the idea of ​​selling ice, but Wei Wei had to hit him.

Although this thing can be reused, there are few natural saltpeter mines, and the price has not been low. The amount of saltpeter needed to make ice is quite large, and the saltpeter needed for large-scale production is something they cannot buy for a while, although it is not impossible to purify , But Sardinson doesn't have nitrate-containing soil, and there are no raw materials, let alone purification.

And now this car of saltpeter is not only used to make ice, the rest of Wei Wei plans to use it to study how to make fertilizer. In her opinion, selling ice is not as important as fertilizer.

It's really not as important as fertilizer. Although Felix doesn't quite understand what it is, since it is related to fertilizer, he knows that things must be very good, looking at the degree of Wei Wei's attention.

So the idea of ​​selling ice fell apart, and the next day Pope John and the two cardinals tasted a smoothie made with milk jam and grated ice after lunch.

After the meal, Bishop Roberto, who couldn't sit still since he arrived at the castle yesterday, took the opportunity to ask to visit the manor.

He had already visited the castle yesterday, and found out that the production site of perfume and essential oils is not in the castle.

There is a sugar-making workshop in the castle, but at this time there is no more sugar beet to boil sugar, so the workshop is also closed, and the slaves in it are all assigned other jobs. When he visited with the butler, he did not know the tight Behind the closed dilapidated door is one of his goals this time.

So now he made a request to take a tour of the manor first.

At this point, the Pope is not interested. He made an appointment with Raymond to do experiments together. Yesterday, he followed Raymond to see her laboratory, and got to know each other with several other alchemists. If it wasn't for him, the Pope would have It was another guest and had to dine with the host, so he just stayed at Raymond's place to eat, and their food looked pretty good anyway.

Having completed the task, Umberto wanted to follow the Pope, but after hesitating for a while, he still said that he would also visit the manor first.

No matter what Roberto wants to do, he is always there to help.

Felix has been away from the castle these few days, and he has accumulated a lot of official duties. It was when he needed to work overtime, so he turned to look at his wife.

He said politely: "Then let my wife show you around. She knows the affairs of the manor very well. You can ask her if you have any questions."

Wei Wei nodded and smiled at the two bishops: "I'm honored to have this opportunity to receive you, but I'm afraid I'll ask you to wait for a while, I need to make some preparations."

Of course, Bishop Roberto wanted to set off immediately, but he also knew that the woman had a lot of preparations before going out, so he waited.

Wei Wei dragged herself into changing her clothes. When she came out, the Pope and Felix had already left, and there were only two bishops in the hall.

Oh, it's the three bishops, and Father Matthew, who didn't dine with them because of his cultivation, was also present.

Wei Wei was not surprised to see him. In fact, it was she who sent people to find the priest. Yesterday, seeing the way the priest greeted the Pope, he knew that he was well-trained, and it would be no problem to follow him.

However, Bishop Roberto's expression was a little gloomier than when she saw it before, probably because she felt that there was one more person hindering her.

On the contrary, Umberto and Father Matthew got along very well. They seemed to have some friendship before and got along very well.

The area of ​​the manor is very large, and walking at their speed may not be able to complete it in a day. The three bishops are too old and can't stand the bumps of riding, so naturally they can only go out in a carriage, with their guards accompanying them. .

The four of them sat together this time, and Wei Wei was in charge of the explanation along the way. It was uncomfortable to go out during the hottest time of the season, and there were many people in the carriage. Even if the curtains of the carriage were opened for ventilation, the effect of heat dissipation would be limited. Fortunately, it rained this morning, which lowered the temperature outside a little.

Along the way, when Bishop Roberto saw the building, he wanted to ask where it was. From time to time, he would ask to get off the carriage to have a look. At first, what he wanted to see was only the villages of serfs, but Wei Wei did not refuse. But later, when he passed by the factory built around the essential oil factory, he asked to go in again, but Wei Wei refused directly.

"I'm sorry, it's a commercial secret, and we don't provide tours." Wei Wei smiled: "And now the workers in the factory have gone back to harvest wheat on vacation, and there's nothing to see in it."

Roberto probably didn't expect that she would reject it so directly, without even saying a bit of euphemism, this attitude suddenly made him unable to step down.

But soon he relaxed.

Nobody is there? Wouldn't that just give his people a chance to go in and take a look.

Thinking so in his heart, Bishop Roberto, who did not reveal the slightest expression, changed the subject: "I found a special place in the upper reaches of the river in the castle. Is that also a factory?"

Of course, the old man's eyes couldn't see that far, and that was what his knights told him.

Wei Wei said lightly: "Oh, that's a villa that was built recently. We're going to stay for a while in the fall. It's close to the woods, and the Count likes to hunt, so it's very convenient."

When Roberto heard what she said, it basically matched the words of the servants in the castle, and immediately lost interest and stopped mentioning it.