Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 89

Seeing that Guo Kang could no longer control his expression, Shi Huizhen laughed awkwardly and walked away again.

"My God, at first I thought historians were too harsh, and I didn't use Mulan." Zhu Rangna said with emotion: "How did she survive until now without being beaten to death? Could it be that her father never cared about it?" What's the matter?"

"Don't say a few words!" Zhu Wenkui hurriedly stopped, "You have sharp teeth and a sharp mouth, and you are not much better than others."

"She pulled my pig!" Jeanne complained loudly.

"Okay, okay, sister will take care of her for you." Theodora had no choice but to appease Rangna, and then said to Zhu Wenkui: "It is true that her father died in battle very early. She and Stan were brought up by their mother. Shi Dan was later educated by her uncle, so she was basically... really left alone."

"That's it..." Zhu Wenkui sighed: "During this time, I seem to have heard that many noble families have had similar experiences. Looking at it this way, it's actually not very peaceful here."

"You don't need to sigh. For the real Romans and real Greeks in ancient times, death in battle is not a sad thing. It's just that we are too cowardly now." Theodora persuaded.

"Sacrifice is the cornerstone of the Roman Empire, and we can't just let ordinary citizens sacrifice. Every commander has to face his own destiny. Prince Zhu will get used to it slowly, and he will know."

"That's a good sentence. Did someone say it?" Zhu Wenkui asked.

"He told me." Theodora pointed to Guo Kang, and said with a smile: "He may have said it when he was a child, and he was never stage fright when speaking in front of everyone. I don't know how he became a boring gourd when he grew up. gone."

Guo Kang really wanted to tell her that it was only because the second period of secondary school that had just traveled to this world had passed.

But this remark, to others, sounds too secondary in itself.As if I was the Messiah who was thrown down from heaven by my heavenly father and my brother, and who claimed to save the world, I really couldn't say it, so I had to hold back.

"Then, brother Kang, have you really tasted nitrate?" Jeanna didn't know if it was on purpose, and she started to bring up this topic with a smirk on her face.

"Don't worry." Before Guo Kang could decide what to say, Theodora spoke.She looked at Rangna, smiled gently, and said, "I didn't care when I kissed him, what else does Princess Rangna care about?"

"Woo—" Rang Na blushed and let out a cry of grief.Seeing that the whole person was languishing, he was not in the mood to play tricks on Guo Kang anymore.

"Sister, sister, what's wrong with you, aren't you feeling well?" Zhu Wenkui felt something was wrong, so he hurried to comfort her.

It seems that Jeanne studied theology in France, but she is not as good as Theodora in other aspects, and it was solved in one sentence.

"Hey, you too, why are you playing with these things?" Theodora looked at Guo Kang and shook her head: "I heard that the development of firearms is very dangerous. Before, there were engineers in various countries who were killed in accidents. These Basic work, you don’t need to watch it yourself.”

"Now is a critical period, and I'm afraid that the technology will go wrong." Guo Kang explained.

"The technology you are talking about is the Franks who piled up dung?" Theodora didn't seem to want to mention this word: "Well, the barbarians are really proficient in this. After all, their cities are made of dung. I guess The innate conditions are better in this respect.”

"I don't think we should look down on them too much." Guo Kang said: "The group of people in Western Europe who believe in the Roman Catholic Church—that is, the Franks you collectively call, have actually done a lot of research in this area."

"I estimate that if things go on like this, it won't take long before their firearms will rise the fastest. Maybe by then, we will all have to learn their firearm technology."

"Why do you think so?" asked Theodora.

"I heard that there is a great shortage of saltpeter mines in Western Europe." Guo Kang said: "They collect saltpeter, and it is indeed through such a little accumulation. In England, the king ordered that it is forbidden to place pedals in defecating places to facilitate the collection of saltpeter; In France, there are special 'toilet scrapers' in various government offices, who often break into residents' homes and scrape off the nitrate on the walls."

"In their church, there is also a 'bench tax'. Because the various ceremonies are too lengthy, believers often pee on the legs of the pews in the middle. , to collect the saltpeter from the benches as part of the tax.”

"Compared to these, our nitrate fields are considered clean and hygienic—at least those places are managed centrally and cleaned carefully." Guo Kang spread his hands.

"It's really vulgar and barbaric." Theodora sighed: "Then why do you say they can develop firearms?"

"Let me tell you directly, you may not believe it, but I can give you another example with results." Guo Kang said: "Everyone should know about the iron pot exported by Seris."

"Indeed, many people miss them." Theodora didn't know why he changed the subject suddenly, but nodded anyway.

"In fact, the iron ore in Serris is very poor." Guo Kang said: "Although the quantity is quite large, the quality of the iron ore there is not suitable for early development."

"Let's put it this way, in the forests of France, we can still find the slag piles left by the Gauls who smelted iron. And the iron content of those slags is higher than the iron ore in Serris."

"So, the problem facing the people of Seris is that if they don't try their best to explore and improve their technology, they don't even have enough iron."

"The quality of the early iron over there was really bad, and everyone couldn't stand it. But soon, they developed superb technology. Until now, they have used the worst iron ore to create a best-selling known world. Iron products. Moreover, in a short time, no one can catch up with them."

Of course, Guo Kang knew in his heart that this "short time" was a very conservative statement.

In his world, ironware has always been one of the most important bulk export products of the Central Plains, its status and total value are not lower than porcelain, and it is even more than the other party in terms of freight weight.The iron pot is the main export method of ironware.

Since at least the Song Dynasty, iron pots have been the main cargo of merchant ships going to sea.Until the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, at least 70 iron pots were exported every year, and there were almost no merchant ships who came to China without purchasing iron pots.Even in the reign of Emperor Guangxu, iron pots were still an important export product-this has formed brand dependence.

"On our side, we can also smelt iron, and the Greek craftsmanship is relatively good in Europe. But there is no way, the merchants are not fools." Guo Kang shook his head: "They have insisted on importing iron pots from the East for so long. It can only show that the ironware over there is indeed exquisite in craftsmanship, high in quality and cheap in price, so much so that it is cheaper than the local ones even with such a long-distance high shipping fee.”

"And this kind of technology, to put it bluntly, was forced out back then."

"You mean, the gunpowder of the Franks, too?" asked Theodora.

"That's right. Their wars can really be stopped due to insufficient gunpowder." Guo Kang nodded: "I suspect that it is also because of the lack of gunpowder that they did not make all kinds of weird things like they did in the Central Plains. Blank explosives, but preoccupied with barrel firearms—that is, muskets and cannons.”

"It looks very shabby now, but they spend a lot of time tossing saltpeter and making firearms every day, and they are forced to become familiar with these items. After this, although they started late, it is not surprising that they develop faster. After all, people are forced from."

"It's shameful for a barbarian to play with shit every day, but if the Romans can't beat the barbarian who plays with shit, it will be even more shameful." Guo Kang pointed out: "I heard that saltpeter caves were also found in southern Romania, but I didn't know this. Is it the kindness of the heavenly father, or is it a test for us. So, let’s not dislike these things. What should be studied, let’s continue to study.”

(End of this chapter)