King of Mercenaries - Chapter 60: Christmas

In a blink of an eye, Marin had been on Texel for more than twenty days. And it was Christmas in 1495, and it came …

When leaving Huffman Manor before, Marin promised his cheap parents that he would go home for Christmas and New Year. So, on the morning of December 23, Marin had to prepare to go home.

Of course, Texel matters too. Therefore, Marin left Schwartz to manage the group of skin monkeys, and asked Kohler to allocate funds to buy a few beef cattle on the mainland, kill the cattle and make beef, and feed the group of rice buckets. After all, this group of guys can’t be with their families for Christmas and New Year, so they must be comforted. As for sending someone to pick up their family, it will have to wait until after the new year.

Then Marin took Kahn, Kohler, Sauer, and Garland, each with three horses, and hurried to Huffman’s estate.

One horse and three horses are not covered, they are all high-quality horses made in France, and their endurance is very good. Five men, Marin and Kahn, each rode a warhorse and two armoured horses. To save weight, Marin and his followers wore only two-thirds of their breastplates and iron helmets. In addition, it is equipped with a cavalry rapier. In this way, the horse can bear much lighter weight. Only Kahn, the second goods, the suspected cavalry rapier was not easy, and brought his beloved mace …

The five hurry up and finally rushed back to Huffman Manor on the morning of the 25th. Unfortunately, he was scolded as soon as he returned:

“You bear boy, come back so late, why didn’t you come back yesterday? You missed the Mass on Christmas Eve!” The old Huffman reprimanded dissatisfied.

“Ah, aren’t you busy? I have to worry about many things on the island. The castle has a few inches of dust inside and the furniture inside is rotten. I’m busy and I send someone to buy furniture in Amsterdam. Spending money and effort is exhausting. “Marin was unwilling to be trained, so he changed the subject.

“Brother, is your castle pretty?” Annie asked, leaning out her head.

“Well, it’s okay. Now I have cleaned it thoroughly and brushed the lime. It looks refreshing.”

“Stone structure or brick?” Asked Old Huffman, distracted.

“The structure of pure stone, after all, was once the earl’s palace, although it is not large, but very strong.”

“Yes, if it is a brick structure, it will probably collapse in hundreds of years.”

“Well, the child must be tired when he comes back from the horse. Go to a hot bath and rest for a long time.”

Now, everyone in the Huffman family is in love with bathing. Even the serfs in the manor fell in love with taking a hot bath. However, they couldn’t afford large oak barrels and could not build a special bathroom. Mrs. Mary thought for a while, and she built six special small single bathrooms, each with a large oak barrel, which is open to everyone. In addition, a boiling water room was set up to supply a large amount of hot water. As for the fuel for hot water, it is naturally the excess coal produced by Huffman Estate. This thing is completely worthless at Huffman Estate.

Moreover, after being persuaded by Marin, the whole family now no longer drinks raw water, but only boiled well water, and their health is guaranteed.

After taking a bath, Marin went back to his room and fell asleep for a long time. As for Kahn and Kohler, Adler arranged the accommodation after taking a shower.

In the afternoon, Marin woke up hungry. It was three o’clock in the afternoon, and Marin hurried to find food. So he went into the kitchen, opened the cabinet, and found a piece of black bread that was more advanced and stunned. But eating bread alone is thirsty. So he called his servant to help warm a jug of milk.

People in the Middle Ages were very unhygienic, and they drank cold milk, and they weren’t afraid of making stomach sick. Marin is a modern man and dares not take responsibility for his health. So he decisively chose to drink hot milk.

After eating and drinking, Marin ran to the living room and spoke with the Huffmans. Adler began to humbly ask Marin to lead his soldiers to fight.

Marin glanced at Adler:

“Brother,

What do you learn to lead soldiers to fight? Is it not good to be your coal boss? Eat and drink, feel free! ”

“Isn’t it thinking about building a career …” Adler said embarrassedly.

“But do n’t war, it ‘s not fun, it ‘s dead. Your brother and I ca n’t be forced, after all, I ‘m going to be kicked out when I ‘m 18 years old, so I ‘m gambling to fight. To go to war? ”

“But don’t you come back and earn a baron’s title?” Adler said indignantly.

“Come on, boss, I was lucky. I met French people who were in a hurry to withdraw from the country. They didn’t want to fight at all. If they wanted to work hard, my life might be in Italy. Do you think the war is so beautiful?” Marin said angrily.

Of course, what he said is also inaccurate. He knew that the French had no intention of fighting, and was busy running away before he had the courage to ambush the French.

In fact, Marin was also afraid of death. Therefore, he chose to ambush the French army on the hillside and did not stop the French in the mountains. If he fights with the French in the mountains, Marin has a 50% certainty that he can support the arrival of the Italian coalition. Then, Charles VIII could not run away.

However, if he did that, Marin could not guarantee that he would die. After all, in order to find a way to survive, the French will not hit the line of defense. Even if he finally wins, Marin himself may die. Even if he does not die, the 1100 people in his hand do not know how many can survive. Moreover, at that time, he did not dare to guarantee whether the group of recruits who had not seen blood would have the courage to fight the French army to the end. Therefore, he chose the safest method of ambush on the hillside.

Even Marin didn’t expect the French to surrender 4,000. Originally, he only intended to capture a few hundred people who had fallen behind. Even the captives of hundreds of French knights can be counted as great credits. Because, the Italian coalition 20,000 people also killed 1,000 French infantry. In the end, he did not expect that he had captured so many French. Also, a large number of war horses. With so many spoils, even Marin was afraid. Therefore, he fled decisively, afraid of being eaten by the Italian coalition.

In retrospect, Marin was also a little scared. The fact that the French sent someone to forcibly climb the mountain and use their lives to open a blood path was still in his mind. If he chose to block directly, he might be killed by the desperate Frenchman.

After Marin’s remarks, the atmosphere suddenly felt a little stuffy. Because war is indeed not an easy topic. Fortunately, two little brothers and three sisters, Annie, came out to create an atmosphere:

“Brother Marin, brother Marin, I want presents, Christmas presents! You didn’t come back yesterday, and I didn’t put Christmas presents in my socks in the morning, we are very unhappy!”

“Yes, very unhappy!” San Xiao nodded desperately, making everyone amused.

“Oh, Christmas gifts …” Marin was a little embarrassed. He just wanted to come back for the holiday, but never thought of preparing gifts for his brothers and sisters …

Kohler helped him bring back a bag of gold coins, but even with money, he couldn’t buy anything on Christmas Day. Because, at Christmas, those shops are closed. Everyone is on holiday. Who is doing business?

“Ahem, Simon, Albert, Annie, do you like gold coins?”

“Gold coins? Which one is worth the Fanny Silver coins that Mom gave?” Annie asked, sucking her fingers, crooking her head.

“Khan … Of course gold is worth it, a gold coin is worth 60 Finneys!”

“Wow, a lot of money, brother, I want gold coins! I want gold coins!”

“Yes, a lot, a lot!” Simon and Albert also assisted.

“Well, this is from your brother.” Marin took a handful of gold coins from his arms and distributed them to his brothers and sisters. The local tyrant’s rush, even Adler was very envious.

You know, although Adler is the heir of the manor. However, the heirs are still waiting for inheritance and are still unmarried. Now, Adler still receives “pocket money” from Mrs. Mary, 4 Finnies a day, just enough to buy wine and drink.

However, Marin certainly won’t give Adler gold coins anymore. Only his brother asked his brother for a gift.

In the evening, in the Huffman’s restaurant, Mrs. Mary personally made a table for a “big meal”. However, this “big meal” made Marin frown.

why? It turned out that Mrs. Mary boiled and ate the apples, but took the cabbages raw … This … This is a typical medieval European practice … However, it is estimated that the apples and cabbages can be obtained in the winter.

“Mom, haven’t I taught you how to cook Chinese food? Why is it so bad?” Marin said dissatisfied, and his brothers and sisters nodded to assist.

“Today is Christmas, a traditional European festival. Traditional festivals, of course, use traditional methods!” Madam Mary said seriously.

“Okay … okay …” Marin dropped his cooked apple with a fork in his mouth and put his mouth down. Looking at the table, only the dish of roasted suckling pig is considered normal. However, roast suckling pigs were taken up by younger siblings. Marin was embarrassed to grab it with the children, so he could only eat the boiled apples and raw cabbage in depression, so he didn’t touch them …