Sword of Dawn

If there is no broad vision from another world, from the point of view of most people in this world, these "clumsy people's struggles" may all be swept into the garbage dump, because any spellcaster who has reached the middle level can directly rely on various spellcasters. A kind of super magic technique to skip the steps recorded in the notes of the wild mages-they never thought about the whimsical thing of "letting inferior people who don't know magic or have low magic talent can control magic power".

Those great magicians who wield flames and thunder by themselves may be worth fearing, but in Gawain's view, until a crappy wild mage strips magic as a tool from "personal talent" and liberates himself This mystical and powerful feat was truly elevated to the day of the hands - it went from the fist to the club.

Just like the first time human beings tied stones to wooden sticks and used this crude war hammer to kill beasts many times stronger than themselves, this was a leap.

Unfortunately, after thousands of years in this world, humans are still making warhammers.

Gao Wen felt that it was time for him to install a rocket booster on this warhammer...

Leaving aside Rebecca, who was holding the original map of the magic circle to study how to construct it, on the third day after a large number of manpower was finally in place, Cecil's land reclamation work officially started.

Food, clothing, shelter, and transportation are the foundation of survival. No matter how many grand plans Gao Wen has in mind based on steamed steel and rocket-assisted power hammers, he must first ensure that the stomachs of the people in the territory are full.

In the town of Tanzania, a sufficient amount of food has been purchased, and the king also promised the supply of food and cloth in the early years of the territory, but these are only for transitional purposes. If you want to survive for a long time, self-sufficiency is necessary—although mines It is not impossible to use the resources produced to buy food from the nearby lords, but as a pioneer who traveled from the Celestial Dynasty, Gao Wen has the obsessive-compulsive disorder that most Chinese people have——

No food, palpitation and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Open up wasteland!farming!Dare to sleep without first opening up ten acres of land after arriving at the place?If you don't open two vegetable gardens behind the base, you are ashamed to say that you have a firm foothold?Since ancient times, there is one and only one standard for expanding the territory and living in a long-term security - that is to cultivate a field!

Of course, it's normal to have this idea, but in this world of superhuman powers, Gawain is very clear that he still has a lot to learn.

A very simple reason - after knowing that humans in this world can make iron with the help of runes and using straw as fuel, who can guarantee that a pile of manure can compare with the local primitive technology?

What's more, without knowing the basic rules of this world, Gao Wen is not sure how much of the earth knowledge he has memorized in his mind can be effective here. What if the microbial activities in this world do not follow the basic laws... …

But regardless of these details, the basic idea of ​​farming first is always good.

Gawain came to the place where the wasteland was reclaimed, and everything here was still at a very basic stage - Rebecca took the time to come yesterday, and set a big fireball on the wasteland overgrown with weeds and bushes for half a day, completing a perfect Burning wasteland, and today the serfs began to plow the land deeply, so as to turn the ash of plants and trees containing fertility into the soil layer, and remove the stones mixed in the land by the way.

Gao Wen was delighted to see that the system he had ordered in advance was being implemented here—a wooden sign was inserted every hundred steps on the vast wasteland, dividing the entire reclamation area into many uniform plots. People worked within the boundaries of these plots, and several other groups moved between the plots, preparing for the digging of ditches.On the edge of the reclamation area, a wooden shed was temporarily set up, and Hetty stayed there with a few people, responsible for recording the progress of the work, and registering the situation of each group of people picking up tools and returning them.

At the same time, there was a large pot and stove in the wooden shed, and the settlers' lunch was also settled near the shed.

The workers are no longer surprised by Gao Wen's appearance—this "somewhat strange nobleman" always likes to wander around the noisy and messy construction site, and he will also talk to mudlegs. At first, this made many people Nervous and restless, but now...

There was still tension, but the uneasiness subsided a lot, especially after Gao Wen fulfilled the two immediate promises of "all hard workers will have enough to eat" and "those who work extraordinarily hard will have meat to eat", The civilians and serfs in the territory have gained a lot of trust and closeness to this new lord who keeps his promise and is famous.

Gawain walked through the busy labor site all the way, and came to the wooden shed on the edge of the ground. Hetty was standing beside a dark-skinned farmer-like man. The two were talking seriously, while Philip Cavaliers The guards are on the side.

Gawain's size of nearly two meters has a full sense of presence. As soon as he approached, Hetty raised his head and then stood up, while the farmer with his back to him turned around and saw that it was the lord, he hurriedly bent over Bow: "My lord..."

"Don't be nervous," Gawain waved his hand, "I'm just checking the situation."

Then he looked curiously at the man who looked like a farmer but was discussing with Hetty: "Are you an expert in farming?"

In the lingua franca of Loren Continent, "expert" and "scholar" are the same word. When the farmer heard Gao Wen call him that, he immediately waved his hands nervously and fearfully: "How could I talk to those knowledgeable people?" Compared to the big guys... I'm just a farmer..."

"His name is Norris," Hetty introduced upon seeing this. "He is a farmer in the territory, and he is very good at farming. I was looking for someone to ask about land reclamation and farming, so I found him."

Gawain looked Norris up and down. He was a typical medieval peasant with dark complexion, thin, thick hands and feet, and a humble expression on his face. He looked about 50 or 150 years old, or older, but Gawain Not sure about his real age - heavy labor and malnutrition make every commoner on the Loren Continent age prematurely, even though the human beings in this world have a lifespan longer than the earth's people under healthy conditions, the average age of the nobles It has reached 90.00 to 20 years old (without using magic and other external forces to prolong life), but in fact [-]% of the world's population is unhealthy, and many laborers are already old when they are just in their [-]s.

The civilians in the Cecil Territory can at least maintain food and clothing, and live longer than the commoners in other territories, but premature aging caused by labor is still unavoidable.

The farmer named Norris turned his neck a little nervously under Gawain's gaze, and showed a humble smile.

But it was such a humble smile that made Gao Wen slightly startled.

How long had it been since he had seen a smile on the faces of the poor in this world?

Chapter 0056 The Problem of God

Just like the vast majority of civilians in this era (according to the nobles, they are all untouchables), Norris has a natural fear and fear of the nobles, although this generation of Viscount Cecil and the high priest who has only become the new lord these days Wen Du was friendly enough, but the habits accumulated over decades were not so easy to change. It took him a lot of effort just now to communicate with Heidi normally, but when Gawain came, the farmer became nervous again involuntarily.

But apart from the nervousness and humility on his face, Gawain saw something different from other commoners in Norris' eyes. At first he didn't realize what it was until half a minute later. Come to think of it—he didn't see the numbness of most paupers in Norris's face.

He was tense, shy, humble, and fearful, but he was not numb. In the deep sunken eye sockets that were wrinkled and wrinkled due to years of hard work, there was still a lively brilliance.

No wonder Hetty found such a farmer to discuss land reclamation. Norris did have the ability to "discuss".

"How is this land?" Gao Wen asked gently.

Norris stretched out three fingers, standing upright on his chest like a seedling, and made a gesture of prayer: "Eve, the goddess of harvest, blesses this place. I never thought that I could see arable land in the Dark Mountains—the land here The terrain is flat, water is easy to get, the land is fertile, and there are not too many rocks in the soil. There is really no place more suitable for opening up wasteland than here. Now half of the harvest month has passed, it is too late to plant rice, but Sweetwood roots and fire leaf vegetables can be planted. Sweetwood roots spend the winter in the soil, and there will be a good harvest in the next spring. Fire leaf vegetables can be planted next to sweetwood roots. Hurry up, we can still catch up with a wave of harvest before this year's foggy moon - next spring, the rhizomes of firefly vegetables and the vines of sweetwood roots will rot directly in the ground as fertilizer, and then we can plant grains - as long as the rain can keep up, Everyone can have a full stomach.”

The sweetwood roots and fire leaf vegetables mentioned by Norris are all crops in this world. In fact, most of the animals and plants that Gawain saw in this world are quite different from those in his home world. Even if the names are the same, the essence is completely different. , he can only use those "ancient memories" stored in his mind to assist in understanding these things.From Norris' answer, he confirmed that the agricultural technology in this world is not as bad as he imagined at the beginning. At least the farmer in front of him has the ability to mix specific crops to increase yield, and use waste such as roots, stems and leaves to retting. Concepts such as rotten into fat and rational use of land fertility, although these knowledge are likely to be limited to his own experience summary, fragmented and unsystematic, but this is enough to show that people in this era are not just sowing seeds and waiting. Rain and wind come and go depending on the sky.

It's a pity that the memories from Gawain Cecil in his mind are not omnipotent, and even the fiercest pioneer heroes are not proficient in everything. In terms of agriculture, Gawain found that he could not completely rely on the memory bank in his brain, so he just You can count on the experts in front of you.

He had a general idea of ​​the expected yields of several crops, and Norris answered them one by one. At the end, the old farmer added an extra sentence: "These are yields based on the fertility of the land itself and some plant fertilizers. Moreover, this kind of farming consumes a lot of land, no matter how good the land is, it still needs to be fallow for two to three years, which is actually not too high..."

Gao Wen frowned. He knew that there was no such thing as "chemical fertilizer" in this world, and he hadn't discovered the possibility of using local raw materials to produce soil fertilizer. The periodic table of elements probably didn't match up, so he asked Said: "Generally, how do you increase production and maintain soil fertility?"

It was Hetty who answered: "It would be best if I could get in touch with the churches of the three goddesses of the abundance gods—Eve, the goddess of harvest, Flora, the goddess of spring, and Gai, the mother of the earth and god of life." Ya, their priests master a lot of magical arts related to the earth and plants, but the southern border is desolate and has never been an important food-producing area, so the main temples of the abundance gods are concentrated in the central Holy Spirit Plain. The current state of the territory... I am afraid it will be difficult to attract the attention of the priests."

At this time, Knight Philip suddenly said: "There is a small church of the Mother Earth Goddess in Tanzania Town. Maybe the priests there can help? I remember that the territory used to send people to Tanzania every three to five years. Town, ask that priest to come and bless the land..."

"The priest will return to the Mother Earth Headquarters in the Holy Spirit Plain this year to receive the 'enlightenment', and he will come back in a year." Hetty shook his head, "I can't count on it."

Gao Wen frowned slightly - he didn't expect that the question would lead to the gods.

There are many gods and churches in this world. He knows this. Even when he was hanging in the sky, he saw more than one religious war. The signs and the many churches and temples can tell what's going on just by looking at it.Although this continent has gone through vicissitudes, and even the "Dark Tide" disaster that is close to the reshuffle of civilization, religion has always accompanied the mortal race like a tangled vine.

Gods are a part of the civilization system of this world.

However, as a time traveler, or a time traveler who has hung in the sky for many years, Gao Wen has an innate attitude of respecting the gods.

It's not that he is so stubborn that he still firmly denies the existence of gods in such a fantasy world-this world even has magic, and his two great-great...great-granddaughters can make big fireballs with their hands, and those priests also have mastery of magic. It is a real divine art, even if he wants to deny the gods, he can't deny it.

He just instinctively doesn't want to deal with something super-cognitive, super-experiential, and super-logic.

He hung in the sky for many years, during which he saw countless people fighting and killing in the name of God. Gawain Cecil lived for 35 years, during which he even witnessed the scene of priests performing divine spells up close. A power different from magic - no need to practice incantations and magic skills, replaced by a pious heart and a life style that strictly abides by various rules and regulations. With this behavior that is more similar to "self-discipline" and some specific "Spiritual talent", human beings can display the super-real power from the gods.

It is said that all magic arts and knowledge about the gods in the world come from the ancient "eternal slate", and that legendary slate was broken and lost after the first development, and now there are only a few "core sects" in the world. "The large churches in the headquarters store scattered fragments of the slate, but even though the slate has been broken, the knowledge and power of the gods are still effective today.

But Gao Wen had never seen the real figure of a god.

At least not on this continent, in the sky... I don't know if there is in the sky. After all, I failed to do a backstroke back then, so I'm not sure if there is really a white-bearded man holding a spotlight in space...

But no matter where the gods lived, Gawain always maintained a three-point awe and seven-point alienation towards this power that was difficult to explain clearly with logic.

The power of magic can also be studied and interpreted by calculation and reasoning. Although it is said to be supernatural, it is actually a kind of natural power that can be analyzed. Only when his personality and way of thinking are infinitely close to the "spirituality of God" can he get a glimpse of it, which means that if he wants to study God, he must first become a believer and hold infinite reverence for God. In this state... how can I study God?

Gao Wen shook his head, and put all these questions aside. In any case, it is difficult to attract the church's attention in this poor place. He looked at Hetty and continued to ask about crops. The problem of increasing production: "If you can't count on the three goddesses of abundance, is there any other way to solve the problem of production?"

"The problem of production... To be honest, based on the situation of these lands and the first year's food provided by His Majesty the King, we are not short of food." Hetty frowned. worthy."

"But we can't have only 800 people forever. In fact, I'm already planning to increase the population by buying serfs and introducing pioneers." Gawain shook his head. Hetty obviously still can't understand the preciousness of people. "The food problem is fundamental. Sooner or later have to face it.”

Hetty couldn't understand the preciousness of people, but Norris understood the importance of food. He thought about it carefully, and boldly replied: "Besides magic, another way is to ask druids for help. Forest druids The alchemy potions they make can effectively increase food production, and although their potions are less effective than divine spells, they are better at protecting the land. In addition, they usually have some plant-based spells, which are very good for crop growth. helpful."

Gao Wen listened, his eyes lit up: he likes this way!

And I heard that druids made alchemy potions to increase the fertility of the land... Could those so-called alchemy potions be the "fertilizer" of this world?Or something similar in effect?

In any case, it can be prepared by a fixed method (and may be able to be mass-produced), it can be applied easily, and it can produce a relatively stable increase in crop yield. With these conditions, no matter what the essence of the alchemy potion is, Gao Wen will decide Call it fertilizer!

What's more, this "fertilizer" actually has the effect of protecting the land!

He couldn't wait to ask: "Where can I find the Druid?"

Norris looked at Hetty with some embarrassment, and Hetty frowned slightly: "This is another problem... There are not many Druids in human society, and they are usually concentrated in the western region near the moss forest, while in the south ... They can almost be described as rare creatures. Cecil has almost never dealt with druids, and I don't know where to find them."

Gawain showed a disappointed expression, while Philip Knight said thoughtfully: "However, due to inheritance reasons, the relationship between druids and elves is very close. Almost every druid's inheritance can be traced back to elves, including gray elves." and the Silver Elf..."

The eyes of several people at the scene involuntarily fell on Hu Po behind Gao Wen, and Hu Po's pointed ears trembled.

Gawain's complexion immediately fell down: "Don't make trouble, she can be considered an elf if she is ashamed of being an elf? Which druid would sneak around like her..."

Before Gao Wen finished speaking, Amber's voice sounded: "Speaking of... I do seem to know a druid!"

Gao Wen: "?!"

Chapter 0057 Elves, Currency, and Irrigation

As soon as Hu Po finished speaking, Gao Wen suddenly turned his head and stared at her, making the half-elf thief look so hairy: "You...what do you mean by that look..."

Gawain's eyes seemed to be looking at an alien creature: "Why do you know a druid?"

"Why can't I know a druid!" Amber put her hips on her hips and said confidently, "I'm more or less half an elf, okay—all the druid factions in the world originated from elves, haven't you heard of it?"

It’s fine for any other sharp ear to say this sentence, but it’s really not convincing to say this elf’s shame. Gawain looked up and down at the lady thief who still kept a straight face, and it took him a long time to hold back. One sentence: "Is it the kind of understanding that you stole things from others before, so you were hated, and people chased and killed all over the world?"

"You are insulting my personality, let me tell you!" Amber jumped up suddenly, "How could I be found out for stealing!"

Gao Wen: "..."

I always feel that there is something wrong with the angle of this guy's rebuttal.

However, despite her doubts, looking at Amber's confident expression, this guy seems to really know a druid, and she introduced it like a salesman: "Let me tell you, I know that druid." The guy is not only a druid, but also a scholar-type druid, the kind who knows everything. His druid faction is the 'heart of the forest', who is very good at dealing with animals and plants , absolutely reliable..."

Gawain finally believed what this guy said, but he didn't ask in detail how Amber met the mysterious druid, and the origin of the other person's name, etc. It was obviously not polite to ask these things now.After listening to Amber's sales pitch, he only asked two questions: "Can you still reach him now? If so, how soon will you be able to bring him?"

"It's easy to talk about. Although the world says that druids live in secluded places and are difficult to find, I know that guy's scope of activities is very fixed, just in the southern border area. As for how long it will take to bring it..."

As Amber spoke, she kept winking at Gao Wen: "When I went to find him, I was able to travel all the way in Shadow Speed, but when I came back, I'm afraid I can only go on my way. How fast the two of us can go depends on the means of transportation. Means of transportation, you understand?"

Gao Wen immediately understood what the other party meant, and with a wave of his big hand, he took out a few copper coins and stuffed them into her hand: "Go and buy a new pair of shoes."

Amber stared at her eyes: "...I won't take you like this! And you have to give me some money as a deposit for others, right? Even if it's an introduction from an acquaintance, you have to pay the employment fee!"

"Didn't you just say that earlier?" Gao Wen was just joking with Amber. After all, it was interesting to see the girl jumping up and down, but after the joke was over, he still had to take it seriously. He took it out from another pocket. Thin bars of gold and silver pressed into uniform size, "Take it, and get this done—whatever is left is yours."

Amber immediately took those shiny babies with a smile on her face.

Since the work required for minting coins has not yet been prepared, "Cecil's coinage" is still only a concept, so Gawain temporarily asked craftsmen to make some gold and silver in the treasure house into this kind of broken gold and silver. trade with the outside world.

This kind of practice is not uncommon in this world - precious metals are used as trading chips for direct circulation, and the business system is still very primitive in the Middle Ages. Gold and silver with a certain degree of purity are themselves currencies. In many cases, gold and silver are made into coins just for It is easy to carry, inspect and count, but merchants also accept direct gold and silver transactions—it’s just that this kind of transaction requires an additional process of checking the quality and weighing calculations, so when buying goods directly with gold and silver, Prices will increase slightly.

Of course, this is also on the premise that the "currency reputation" of the nobles is still sufficient. If one day the nobles add impurities to the gold and silver coins to the extent that they can sting merchants, then the unofficial gold and silver bullion will in turn exceed The currency issued by the royal family and dukes has become a mainstream transaction item, and if you use gold and silver coins to buy things, the price will be higher.

This is why the emblem of the God of Commerce is a balance, and a pair of iron scissors and an eye are placed at both ends of the balance-the iron scissors and the balance are both things carried by merchants. The former is used to cut gold and silver The latter is used for weighing, and the eyes are the good eyesight that a good businessman must have to be able to see the fineness of gold and silver.

In fact, if it wasn't for Gao Wen's somewhat obsessive-compulsive disorder, if he insisted on casting exquisite and distinctive gold and silver coins, he could use a simpler and cruder way to "mint coins" - casting gold and silver into round rods, and then directly cutting them into thin slices, and then Just stamp Cecil's emblem on it with a stencil.In 536 Ansu, the Duke of the Western Territory used this method in order to save time and effort and reduce the cost paid to craftsmen, and the gold and silver coins of the Western Territory in that year were also jokingly called "the miser's money for buying roads" - because the Western Territory at that time According to the law, all merchants entering the Western Territory must exchange one-third of their currency for Western Territory gold and silver coins, and must use this low-quality gold and silver coins for settlement when passing through any checkpoints.

The currency and economy of this world is so magical.

Amber left happily, and the half-elf lady almost floated away from everyone, which made Hetty deeply worried: "She shouldn't have run away with those gold and silver..."

"Absconding with money?" Gawain muttered, and then deeply thought that the elf's shame might really be able to do such a thing...

Forget it, I'd better trust her a little bit at this time - there is no other hope anyway.

Can the entire camp find a second person who claims to know the druid?

After Amber left, Gao Wen turned his attention back to the reclamation project in front of him.

The old farmer named Norris kept his head down and waited quietly. He neither swayed and looked around like ordinary poor people in this situation, nor did he speak rashly, as if he had been waiting for Gawain to ask questions.

"Are there any problems with this land?" Gao Wen asked, "As long as there are possible problems, it's best to speak up as soon as possible."

"If I have to say it, the terrain is higher than the river beach, and it is difficult for the canal to divert water directly, and a canal or well must be dug from the upper reaches," Norris replied, "but it is also good, if something like a heavy rain causes the Whitewater River to rise. , but there is no need to worry about the farmland being submerged.”

Water diversion... If there is a pump or similar lifting machinery, it can be easily solved, or use the "special technology" of this world to find a mage who specializes in water elements to water the ground, but obviously the second way is unreliable ——After the camp is on the right track, Hetty can only be busy with more and more things. It is impossible for her to have the opportunity to run over to be a personal water pump, and hire an official mage to come over to water the ground...even if it is the violets in the north Neither the kingdom nor the elves in the south can do such extravagant things. Besides, even if the Cecil family's money fell from the sky, there are still a few mages who are willing to come to the fields to do this kind of "lowly talent" Can do dirty work"?

They would rather take double the reward and go to the castles of the king and the great nobles to set off fireworks for the banquet, so as to please those noble ladies and noble ladies with pale faces and ghosts who are addicted to magic drugs.

So Gao Wen immediately dismissed the idea of ​​finding a mage to be a human flesh pump, and turned to consider the solution from a mechanical point of view—of course, if the general rules of this world are followed, nobles usually solve such problems. The idea was to find more serfs to work, but for Gao Wen, it was too extravagant to waste manpower on such things.

At this time, an ancient and effective mechanism came to Gawain's mind: "Have you ever heard of something called a waterwheel?"

Hetty, Norris, and Philip Cavaliers looked dumbfounded.

Sure enough, no one has heard of such a thing.

Gawain looked at Heidi: "Is there any paper and pen?"

After getting the pen and paper, Gao Wen began to draw a simple sketch.It was a tall wheel-shaped thing, supported by spokes, and on the outer edge of the "wheel" were fixed neatly arranged inclined cylinders and wooden board structures, and on one side of the "wheel", an extended out the sink.

Due to the limited time, he only drew a part of the structure of the waterwheel, and it was a sketch, but this simple and amazing mechanism has an amazingly concise principle, which can be explained a little: "This thing is a waterwheel, and the river flows from it. The water flows below, impacts these planks, and drives the water wheel to rotate, and then the water wheel will bring the water-filled cylinder to the top, and the water will be poured into this tank. This process continues to circulate, and the water is lifted to a higher place. How high it can be raised depends on how big the waterwheel is made, as long as the material can support it.”

After speaking, he added: "Of course, this is just a sketch, and the principle is very simple. There can be more models based on this..."

Hetty couldn't care less about talking at this moment - she was completely attracted by this simple and incredible thing.

With simple reasoning, she can see that this mechanism is absolutely useful, but before seeing this sketch, she really never thought that there would be such a thing in the world:

It does not require human power, nor does it require the participation of any supernatural power. It can work day and night, and complete the work that requires many serfs to complete, and it is driven by the power of nature.

She suddenly felt "beauty" from this simple mechanism, a word that had nothing to do with the crude benzene structure.

However, Gao Wen still sighed: "It's a pity that there is no bamboo here, otherwise it would be much easier to build..."

Hetty didn't hear clearly for a while: "Ah? What did you just say?"

"No, nothing." Gawain waved his hand, "Do you have any other ideas about this machine?"