Chapter 2403 The Kingdom of the Ring (Part 1)

At the beginning of the 17th century, the Portuguese ships rarely installed cannons. Their ships were piled with goods used to make money. When the two armies faced each other, they still indulged in medieval hand-to-hand combat. The Dutch tried to avoid close combat.

, preferring to use cannons to bombard from an appropriate distance, no cargo is piled on the upper deck, and the cannons are manned by professional personnel.

It's hard to say which way of fighting is more effective. Newton had not yet been born at that time, and there was no way to calculate ballistics. The gunners who controlled the cannons almost relied on experience and luck to shoot. The Portuguese did not have enough weapons and equipment, and even if they had weapons,

Neglected management, no maintenance and left to rust.

These two fighting methods respectively influenced the other two countries, Britain and Spain. The British naval warfare method was closer to the Dutch, while the Spanish were closer to the Portuguese. Their ships were built like fortresses on the sea. During the battle,

There will be advantages.

Unlike the sea, inland rivers cannot distance themselves or set up formations, and the draft of ships will also be affected. At this time, the advantages of Spanish ships are reflected, not to mention that in addition to ships, there are also bunkers, forts and the like on land.

fortifications.

It is also water, and salt water is much more corrosive to iron than fresh water. Even if iron is forged into steel, it is not resistant to corrosion. Therefore, it needs to be coated with anti-rust paint, or copper is used like the bow of the "Alert".

Fresh water is relatively easy. Stainless steel is indeed corrosion-resistant, but it is expensive to forge, and it cannot be built without cheap steel.

In the Middle Ages, iron and steel were mainly used in weapons such as armor and swords. However, during the Thirty Years' War where Gustavus lived, those armors and swords had been gradually replaced by matchlocks, and line tactics gradually became the mainstream.

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Compared with the British Industrial Revolution, Sweden's industry seems mediocre and not as eye-catching as the steam engine and textile industry. Especially after entering the 18th century, Sweden gradually weakened, but it is indeed an industrial power.

The latitude there is high, and agriculture is subject to natural conditions. The tomahawk used by the Vikings was also their production tool for logging in peacetime. Its usage and popularity far exceed that of expensive swords.

But the sword is still the most revered weapon of the Vikings. Making a sword is much more difficult and costly than making an axe. It is not available to ordinary people, not to mention that it is troublesome to maintain, and is usually used by nobles.

A good Viking sword can be exchanged for a house and a small piece of land. It was popularized from Northern Europe to Europe in the Middle Ages. This kind of sword was made wide and thick to increase the strength of the sword and make the sword more effective in battle.

It will not break due to bending. King Arthur's broken steel sword is taken from the ancient Celtic word "excalibur". The ancient Celtic people were a people who once lived in Northern Europe. Legend has it that they were the builders of Stonehenge. During Caesar's conquest of Gaul

There were battles with them, and in the end the Romans captured most of Britain and Spain from them.

By the time of the decline of ancient Rome, the Celts occupied northwest France, Ireland, Wales and parts of Scotland. In the Middle Ages, only a few settlements remained in Ireland. By the time of the Vikings, their power was concentrated only in Dublin. Celtic legends

The book records the story of the invasion of the Fomors. Legend has it that they were huge, ugly, and cruel in nature, representing the power of evil. The Patlans fought fiercely with them to compete for the dominance of Ireland, and eventually drove them to the North Sea.

Around that time, an Irish tribe invaded southern Scotland and named the area after their tribe, "scoti". Hundreds of years later, this word was used in English to represent the entire Scottish region.

The Vikings have always believed that swords are magical and have self-awareness, so they have always called swords in an anthropomorphic way. In Nordic mythology, both the main god Odin and the thunder god Thor are the gods of forging, and even the god of lies.

Loki is also the god of fire.

Tyr is the god of war and the protector of oaths and glory. When the gods wanted to use magic chains to lock the giant wolf Fenrir, Tyr tied up the magic wolf at the cost of his right hand. From then on, Tyr became

One-armed, except for the Twilight of the Gods, there are almost no descriptions of him personally fighting, but he still carries a sword at all times. The ancients had the custom of swearing an oath with a sword, and some people also engraved the "Tyr Rune" on the hilt of the sword.

Pray for victory before going to war.

The Broken Steel Sword is also known as the Sword of Oath and Victory. Equally famous as this sword is the Knight of the Round Table, Merlin.

After experiencing so many things, if Edgeworth hadn't mentioned the stories circulating among Irish folk, she would have almost forgotten what kind of "dream" she had had. She saw Napoleon as King Arthur, and herself as King Arthur.

"Merlin".

In mythology, when Ireland was in dire straits under the rule of the Fomors, they prayed for a hero to save them. But the Irish, at least the Archbishop of Troy, did not expect the French to come.

The Irish were afraid of the French Revolution, especially what they had done to the church. When they first heard that the French were going to invade across the sea in 1794, it caused quite a bit of panic.

Troy is a name that appears in another myth. This is not surprising. For example, there are many women named Helen, but not every one of them is as beautiful as Helen who started the Trojan War.

In many stories, the female role is just a decoration, and their only function is beauty. But Edgeworth felt that girls also need to read. When Maria was about five years old, he read through more than 40 children's books, but there was no

Find a book that suits her, until he discovers a book written by Priestley's friend, Dr. Aikin's daughter Anna, who unfortunately was a Rousseauian and had a disaster with a Frenchman

Sexual marriage, which her brother blamed on her reading "New Héloïse".

Abelard and Héloïse is as well-known to the French as Romeo and Juliet is to the British. However, unlike Romeo and Juliet, the story takes place between two feuding families in Italy. Abelard and Héloïse

The story of Eloise is a teacher-student love story that took place in the Middle Ages. Moreover, when Heloise's uncle learned about their relationship and ordered them to break up, Heloise was already pregnant.

Abelard sent Héloïse back to his hometown in Brittany, and he stayed in Paris to face Héloïse's uncle's wrath. In order to restore the woman's reputation, Héloïse's uncle agreed to the marriage of the two.

, when their son was born, the two held a secret wedding. But this did not satisfy the uncle. The uncle spoke harshly to Eloise and sometimes used fists. Out of protection, Abelard decided to marry Eloise.

Eloise was sent to a monastery, but his uncle thought that Abelard wanted to abandon Heloise completely, so he tortured Abelard inhumanely.

Eloise, who was sent to the monastery, also suffered from mental torture. She converted to God, but not because of her love for God. In the next 15 years, Abelard did not write a letter or visit Eloise.

Is.

Fortunately, both of them have complete, independent personalities and souls. Even though they suffered great torture, they still did not get depressed. Arabel resumed teaching after recovering his health, and Eloise also became a woman with a high status in the church.

One of the abbesses, both of them won the respect of the people for their extensive knowledge.

Later, they began to correspond again, but Arabel's letters were full of philosophical and ethical discussions, almost avoiding his past feelings, ignoring the love in Eloise's letters, and appearing as a condescending leader.

This is where Edgeworth reminded Georgiana that she had not actually asked Padma if she was willing to go to London to investigate before making arrangements for her without authorization. Even though they had a teacher-student relationship, Padma has now graduated.

Georgiana should be treated as an "equal" as an adult.

As a father, how does it feel to see that his daughter is more successful than him? Especially since he has been married four times, his bride is one year younger than his daughter, his telegraph career is not going well, and he has received a death warning because of his political stance.

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In the past, Edgeworth was also a Rousseauist. He even educated his first son in the way of "Emile". But after seeing everything about the French Revolution with his own eyes, he chose to support the integration of Ireland into the United Kingdom. He believed that at least

The British navy can protect Ireland.

Rousseau's thought is a question of authority. If Georgiana intends to cultivate a free, equal, and independent natural person, she should not respond to other people's doubts with "I am her teacher."

Later, Edgeworth used "You look young" to overturn the authority she had tried to establish. She endured this tone and did not argue with him.

At the same time as Edgeworth, there was also a young man with personal Rousseauism, but he did not choose to reconcile science and industry like Edgeworth. He advocated nature. Rousseau's naturalism was "returning to nature", and nature

There is a beautiful and magical side, as well as a cruel and chaotic side. Edgeworth's friends become more and more radical, and finally become opponents of the rise of industry.

But despite their different philosophies, they were still friends. Together they looked for a way to coexist harmoniously, and eventually they chose agriculture.

The story said that devils and wizards would turn feces into food and trick people into eating it, so people in the Middle Ages stopped fertilizing.

It was not until the Renaissance in the late Middle Ages that people began to simply fertilize, excluding human excrement. The piles of excrement outside Paris were getting higher and higher. It was not until the authority of the church was overthrown during the French Revolution that people "began" to accept that excrement could be used for fertilization.

, its main function is to extract materials for making gunpowder.

Now that Georgiana's identity as a witch has been "exposed", some people may say that the witch turned feces into food for them to eat.

When people get together, if they don't know what is right, they will act based on other people's opinions and follow what others do.

Some people will also deliberately cater to those people and gain their recognition. When Muggles are worried because of natural disasters and reduced production, some people say that they are dedicated to fighting those bad wizards who destroy crops. If they win, the harvest will be rich, and wizards win.

If it is eaten, there will be no harvest. Even werewolves join in the fun, saying that they are the dogs of God and specialize in biting wizards.

"Sometimes little girls have unrealistic fantasies and think they really have magic powers."

"How can Georgiana be a prophet? She is just talking nonsense."

This is what Edgeworth said every time someone asked him a question.

Edgeworth does not believe in magic, even though he lives in Ireland, a land full of ghosts, fairies, and vampire legends.

Rather than using Swedish steel to make the lock doors, Edgeworth suggested using these high-quality steel materials to make the lock links. In fact, in addition to being used as chains to bind slaves, it is more often used as door pins.

The lock-opening spell "alohomora" is recorded in the first-grade "Elementary Spells". In fact, as long as the lock is opened, it doesn't matter whether the chain is broken or not. There is no need to risk breaking the sword by forcefully splitting the chain.

But "alohomora" only works on low-level locks and spells. The higher the level, the harder it is to unlock it. Georgiana broke free from the chains on her feet and used Animagus. There are many people who transform privately, but cannot return to their human form.

Animagus is actually dangerous every time.

But now she wanted to try it, so after Edgeworth left, she opened the window. The fresh air was cold but refreshing. She couldn't wait to know what it was like to fly at high altitude.

Then she thought of the swans in the ballet, where the dancers imitate the wings of the swans with their hands, which is anatomically impossible.

But that still doesn't stop people from imitating and imagining.

As a large bird, a swan needs a run-up before it can fly, but the purpose of doing so is to generate airflow, similar to an airplane. In other words, it needs wind.

Before starting her run, she cast a spell on the window and the wind from outside blew into the house.

She rushed forward against the wind, and when she reached the edge of the window sill, she suddenly jumped up...

Two seconds later, no sound was heard. After a few more seconds, a snow-white feather blew in along the wind and landed on the ground. In the quiet room, the only sound was the crackle of wood burning in the stove, and the curtains followed.

The wind flutters gently, like the hem of a formal dress, whirling with the dance steps.
Chapter completed!