Bringing the Railway to Daming

Bang bang bang!
Amid a series of crisp sounds, just as Zacree had guessed, the short, thick iron pipes fired iron bullets, which struck the castle gates and walls, creating small craters and sending wood chips and dirt flying everywhere.

Bill's expression changed slightly, but he quickly regained his composure and said, "These firearms are indeed quite powerful, but if they are only at this level, it would be wishful thinking to break through Gangri Castle."

Zacre said, "If we encountered them in open field battles, even heavily armored cavalry would probably not survive a single iron bullet like that."

Bill emphasized, "Now it's time to attack the castle."

Zacree fell silent, but he felt that the Jin army had far more tricks up its sleeve.

Sure enough, when the garrison on the castle walls was bombarded by those iron balls and dared not show their faces, Zheng Jian sent four men to carry a large wooden box to the castle gate and began digging a pit.

They didn't dig for long before they half-buried the wooden box.

Then, Zacree noticed that the four men had lit something on fire, and he turned and ran back.

As they ran back to the Jin army's position, a blazing fire suddenly erupted at the castle gate, followed by a deafening explosion!

boom!
The earth trembled as well.

Bill was so frightened he almost fell over, but his eyes were fixed on the castle gate. He saw that the heavy double oak door had been blown open, and the entire castle gate was almost half collapsed!
Then he heard Zheng Jian shout in a language he couldn't understand.

"The city gates have been breached! Soldiers, attack the city!"

"Kill!"

More than a hundred Jin soldiers, wielding swords and shields, charged toward the castle with shouts, nimbly passing through the half-collapsed city gate and pouring into the castle.

Gangri Castle, which Bill had just described as invincible, was so easily captured by the Jin army.

It wasn't until Zheng Jian ordered dozens of scouts and musketeers to hunt down the escapees outside the castle, and then leisurely led the remaining men into the castle, that Bill, Zacre, and the others came to their senses.

Bill then couldn't help but mutter, "Do these Jin soldiers know magic?"

Zacre replied in a dry voice, "This must be some kind of firearm—it's incredibly powerful, capable of breaking through such a thick castle gate!"

Bill became more lucid, and then looked at Gangri Castle, which had been breached by the Jin army. He felt inexplicably panicked and sad, and said, "The Jin army actually has such powerful weapons. I'm afraid that from now on, there will be no castle that is difficult to conquer."

Since he was neither a lord nor owned a castle, Zacre did not feel the same sorrow as Bill, but said, "Your Excellency, there is no castle in the world that cannot be breached."

"You don't understand, you don't understand."

Bill said a couple of things, then turned his horse around, determined to go back.

Zacre said, “Your Excellency, shouldn’t we go inside Gangri Castle and take a look? The vast majority of Baron Gangri’s wealth is there.”

Bill said, "We didn't contribute to the attack on the castle, so what are we going in for? Do we expect the Jin army to give us a share of the spoils?"

"The wealth we plundered from the manor and village is enough. Let's go back to Milhaud."

Bill planned to write to the Archduke of Bourbon after he returned.

He wanted to remind the Grand Duke of Bourbon that the Kingdom of Jin, possessing such powerful firearms, was in danger. Although their country was on the southern coast of the Mediterranean, there was no guarantee that one day they would cross the Mediterranean and bring the wealthy France under their rule.

···
···
After Zheng Jian captured Gangri Castle, he did indeed find valuable spoils there.

Putting aside everything else, the various gold coins alone weighed several hundred taels, and the various silver coins numbered in the thousands. Of course, the most important assets were food and other supplies, as well as people. The people here included the relatives, servants, and knights of Baron Gangri whom they had captured, and the largest group of people, the farmers.

Zheng Jian inquired and learned that these farmers were nominally free men, but in reality, the land they cultivated belonged to Baron Gangri. According to the understanding of the Ming Dynasty, these farmers were tenants of the large landowner, Baron Gangri.

They were even worse off than tenant farmers, because the baron had various privileges over these peasant families, such as the right of first night. In most noble territories, the right of first night was merely a pretext for taxation, but Baron Gangri would actually take the virginity of certain peasant women.

Zheng Jian had heard from the older generation that some of the Mongol Tartars stationed in the village used to sleep with Han Chinese women who were about to get married. He never expected that the French would have such a bad habit. They really were barbarians.

After Zheng Jian and his army had been resting for a day at Baron Gangri's castle, he gathered several hundred farmers from Baron Gangri's territory and had an interpreter translate his words.

"We are mercenaries sent by the Kingdom of Jin to help the Duke of Bourbon. We are not only strong in combat, but also well treated."

"We are now recruiting a retinue. Although the pay is not as good as that of regular mercenary members, it is still quite generous. In addition to food and clothing, you can receive one livre in the first month!"

"After three months, you can receive two Rivers per month! If you participate in battles, there will be rewards for every battle; the rewards will be even greater for meritorious service!"

The farmers who had been captured and taken to the castle were initially indifferent, as most of them believed that with the fall of Gangri Castle, they would simply be farming for another lord.

The new lord might even treat them worse than Baron Gangri—although Baron Gangri was harsh and lecherous, he was, after all, a nobleman whose tastes they were already familiar with.

And who knows what the preferences of the newly arrived nobles are?
Not to mention, many of these people look significantly different from them and possess terrifying "magic".

After the translator finished speaking Zheng Jian, the farmers were first stunned, and then they all showed expressions of disbelief.

You can get 1 River in the first month?
Will I be able to receive 2 Rivers in three months?
Today, France also has three currencies: gold, silver, and bronze. The gold coin, which only became popular a few decades ago, has the highest unit value, followed by the silver coin, also known as the livre.

One livre was roughly equivalent to one pound of silver coin or twelve copper coins! (At this time, there were still many privately issued coins in France by nobles, and the names and conversions of the currencies were relatively chaotic, so they were simply referred to as silver coins and copper coins.)
These farmers had heard merchants and bards talk about mercenaries before, and knew that although mercenaries were living on the edge and risked their lives at any time, they could indeed make money, even a lot of money.

But they didn't expect that the mercenaries who breached Gangri Castle would have such good basic treatment!

It should be noted that in the past, even after a year of hard work cultivating the fields in Gangri, they could not save up half a River. At most, they could save up some copper coins, and they had to be lucky.

Now that the opportunity to earn tens of livres a year is right in front of you, only a fool would miss it!

Thinking of these things, dozens of resourceful and bold farmers immediately voiced their opinions.

"General, I am willing to join your army!"

"I do too!"

"Me too! I can do anything, I've even been a militia member!"

"···"

Led by these few dozen daring farmers, almost all the other farmers also expressed their desire to join the mercenaries.

Seeing this, Zheng Jian breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself: With this situation, the task assigned by Military Advisor Wang should be completed.

Then he shouted, "Quiet down!"

Once the farmers had quieted down, he continued, "Not just anyone can join our mercenary force; certain conditions must be met." (End of Chapter)