open sea

Chapter 1006 Auspiciousness
The nights in Bilbao are not peaceful.

Chen Jiujing, who was sitting on the balcony on the second floor, put down his teacup, raised his hand and tapped his breastplate, took back his military boots that were sticking to the limestone railing, and turned his head to complain to Carlos: "It's strange, I heard that French armor is very good. , why do you feel that the quality is not as good as the one given to me by the king?"

Carlos, the general of Xiyong Battalion who was holding a teacup next to him, was looking at the teacup angrily with his eyes, combing his wet beard with his hands around his mouth.

Hearing Chen Jiujing's question, he smiled and said, "General, I'm afraid the king didn't send you that. In Spain, people generally think that the stationing of the Xiyong Camp in Bilbao is the king's payment for the general's attack on Bordeaux. "

Chen Jiujing raised his eyebrows, noncommittal.

He did not go to Madrid in person. Shortly after he wrote a letter to the monk Acosta who was still in the palace, he came with the merchants who were sending wool to Bilbao this year, and the Spanish royal family allocated him six. Hundreds of war horses and armor capable of arming two thousand men.

"It doesn't matter whether we send it or not. We deserve it. I'm a soldier. He shouldn't drag me into a conspiracy, not even a conspiracy against the enemy."

Speaking, Chen Jiujing sighed, rubbed his face suddenly and said: "I found out that I did another stupid thing. I shouldn't have written that letter, let alone asked for this little thing."

this point?

Carlos doesn't think these weapons and horses are "a little bit".

But in Chen Jiujing's view, compared with these soldiers, he should teach the King of Spain a lesson and let him know that his troops cannot be controlled.

But his approach was just the opposite. I'm afraid it would encourage Fei Laoer's practice of silently counting the Baishan Camp into his own armed forces, as if offending Chen Jiujing is not terrible-as long as he gives money.

The young General Chen shook his head and muttered in a low voice, "My adoptive father misunderstood me."

Now that the armor and horses have arrived, it is too late to return, so he brought the topic back: "You haven't answered me why the Spanish plate armor looks better than the ones we seized in Bordeaux."

"Didn't you notice that the plate armor we took off from those knights was of excellent quality, while the soldiers' armor was slightly inferior?"

"I know that the armor of those nobles was purchased from other places by themselves, and the armor worn by the spearmen is not as good as that made in Spain. Although the workmanship looks more detailed, they are not as good as the breastplate sent from Madrid."

Chen Jiujing's doubts come from Margaret. Although she is the sister of the King of France, her relationship with Heng Lao San is not good.

Four years ago, one of her lovers, Joseph Boniface de La Mole, was guillotined by her brother Hum and their mother.

After the execution, Margaret asked the executioner for her lover's head, put it in a bag containing pearls and flowers, and took the blood on her body and the head bag to the court ball held by Hum Lao San.

Of course, that's another story.

The most important thing at the moment is that from Margaret, Chen Jiujing knew that France is the country with the best armor in Europe, and they often export breastplates and plate armor to distant eastern countries.

Yes, there is Ottoman among them.

General Chen, who was already confused about the situation in Europe, was even more confused by the side-to-side movements of France, the filial son of God.

Before he came here, he thought it was the same as the Asian continent. For example, Spain was the enemy. Okay, then catch Spain and beat him to death, and it's over after the beating.

But that's not the case—even if a French royal princess is sleeping next to you, you can't be sure where she's standing.

You thought she was a French princess. After all, apart from blood, everyone can sometimes reach a consensus on dealing with her husband Bourbon Henry; but when she woke up, she complained that you robbed Protestant Bordeaux, And complaining about why you didn't go to Paris to beat up her brother.

All the European royal families that Chen Jiujing knew or knew were running around in his mind. Their power and strength came from the kingdom and family, but the kingdom and family did not mean their interests.

A pirate from the Ming Dynasty went out to sea and conquered a piece of land. The small kingdom he established was named Han.

A Portuguese pirate went to sea to lay down a piece of land, and the king of the small kingdom he established was Shalian.

That's the local place name.

When the Mongols and Japanese outside the Great Wall asked merchants of the Ming Dynasty where they were from, they would answer Ming Dynasty; and when Chen Jiujing asked anyone in Xiyongying, they would answer someone Chen Jiujing could not find on the map. small place.

Even if it was Margaret, her answer was Valois... After describing it for a long time, Chen Jiujing finally understood that it was the earl's territory.

While getting to know Margaret in depth, Chen Jiujing also got to know this land different from his hometown. What he saw and heard made him scribble a conclusion—these Europeans had no concept of country or nation at all.

By the way, Chen Laojiu self-righteously found out the reason why the royal families of all countries all kissed the Pope's feet.

On a continent where the king may not be a local, the books in each country are different, the cars are different tracks, the laws are different, and the hearts of the people are not the same. If there is no religion that allows the people to find a sense of collective honor, these patchwork The 'Kingdom' is not as good as there are no Naadam Mongols on the north side of the Great Wall.

"The general also said that it's part of it." Carlos corrected Chen Jiujing's concept very seriously, saying: "There are tens of thousands of towns in Spain, and these different noble territories have blacksmiths with different skills. It only takes three or four to make a pair of half armor. sky."

Chen Jiujing was noncommittal to this sentence. He really didn't want to tell his most trusted and valued generals in the Xiyong Camp that more than 99 of the tens of thousands of towns he called were just villages.

"The cost of these half-armors is only one and a half taels of silver. Adding labor, the royal family needs less than two taels of silver. Some half-armors are used by local adults to arm soldiers, and the rest are handed over to bigger nobles. Passed up layer by layer, and the last part fell into the hands of the king."

"Now the king gives them to the general, and they are of course good; and most of the armor used by the French legionaries in Bordeaux is also half armor, and their quality is not as good or bad as those made in Spain. No matter where the armor comes from, they are The quality is almost the same."

"Like this."

Carlos picked up a silver coin that had nothing to do with the plate armor. It was Sol they got in Bordeaux, but it could be spent in Spain: "They even have better workmanship than our silver coins, and only half a tael can be used. Worth their money."

Chen Jiujing deeply agrees with this: "Their money is like their cannons and their armor. They are all hammered out... Let's go to Navarra on the other side of the mountain next time. You can't buy these things, you have to buy them yourself." go get it."

Carlos frowned when he heard the words. He thought it was not in their interests, and reminded him very carefully: "In places where warships cannot enter, I am afraid that the situation of the war will not be good for us. The Ming Empire casts half and two coins in the New World. The king There is no need for these tools.”

"Of course the king doesn't need it. He thinks that everything can be bought with money. I didn't get these for him. My emperor likes making metal things as much as Margo. I have to find a way to see how they do it." , if it’s a new item... take it back and present it to the emperor as auspicious omen.”

　Good morning!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)