If Otto was dissatisfied with the aristocratic life these past few months, then food was undoubtedly the top priority.
Not to mention the monotony of medieval European cooking methods and the lack of ingredients, the lack of so many condiments made Otto, who was accustomed to modern life, feel a little uncomfortable every time he faced food.
In the Middle Ages, not only sugar and spices were luxuries, but the price of basic condiments like salt was also very low. Therefore, people in the Middle Ages generally had bland tastes. It was not that they paid attention to health, but simply could not afford salt.
That’s all.
For a person who has been living like this since birth, he may not feel anything wrong, but this is a bitter experience for Otto. Even though he has specifically warned the servants many times, the food in his mouth still feels a little tasteless.
Fortunately, there is no need to consider this issue for breakfast. The combination of exquisite white bread and milk is very light in itself.
"Did those wandering knights say anything useful?" Otto broke the bread into small pieces and put it into his mouth while staring at Wade.
"No." Wade held the white bread in his hand and shook his head slowly. "They insisted that they were just passing through the territory and wanted to find a noble to work for them, and they refused to admit anything else.
Master Otto, do you want to continue the interrogation?"
"No need, I didn't expect to find out anything.
If you don't want to cooperate, let's treat him like a bandit.
It just so happens that the territory is ready to clear out bandits, so treat them like slaves these days and send them to build the castle. After the castle is built, they can farm and make the bandits who covet the territory fearful."
"Ok, I see."
"After breakfast later, you follow me to recruit soldiers. There have been a lot of things recently. Judging from your state, you slept very late last night. Why don't you let others follow me? You can go well first
Get some sleep."
Otto noticed Wade's tired look and bloodshot eyes, and was a little worried about Wade's condition.
"Master, don't worry, I'm fine. Just go to bed early at night and you'll be fine."
Wade smiled at Otto and said he was fine.
"It's better that I accompany the young master. Without me by my side, I don't worry about the young master's safety."
How to select excellent soldiers, Qi Jiguang, a famous general in ancient China, gave the answer to this question.
To put it simply, the poorer the place, the stronger the folk customs, and the closer to the inland, the more obedient the people are.
Therefore, when selecting soldiers, try to select them in poor areas close to the interior.
Such conditions are not a problem for Otto.
Even though Allgäu is a fertile area in Switzerland, the oppression of serfs in this era is really too heavy. The vast majority of farmers in this era are serfs. They cultivate land that does not belong to them and pay huge taxes.
, I go out early and come back late every day, working hard, but it is still difficult to save a little money.
Taking France as an example, the taxes that serfs need to bear are as follows:
Two shillings for military expenses, and two barrels of wine need to be sent to the owner in order to raise pigs in the woods. Every three years he should hand over 100 boards and 50 meters of fence. Every winter, he should plow the land and hand over 3 pigs.
Chickens and 15 eggs, and shall work as necessary, and in addition he shall hand over two shillings for half of the mill.
It can be said that compared with the taxes in medieval Europe, the same period in the East was completely benevolent and caring for the people.
Serfs, to put it bluntly, aren't they just slaves bound to the farmland?
Therefore, when Otto saw these young and middle-aged men in front of him who were thin and weak due to poor nutrition, he couldn't help but frown.
As for these peasants, let alone professional knights, who are unable to hold weapons firmly, Otto thinks that a normal modern person with sharp weapons and well-dressed armor can fight hundreds of them while riding a horse.
Farmers are just scum with zero combat effectiveness.
Therefore, a regular knight with extraordinary strength can still only defeat a few hundred soldiers, which is not a big deal.
"No, no, no, Master Otto, I think you may have misunderstood. Regular knights can have hundreds of soldiers. I don't mean these peasants with weapons, but at least like professional mercenaries, or, like Gint.
Knight's retinue.
Can these farmers with weapons also be counted as soldiers?"
Hearing Otto's doubts, Knight Wade smiled and explained to Otto with pride in his tone.
Knight retinues or mercenaries are the retired soldiers of this era, especially knight retinues. The difference between knight retinues and knights is often just the difference in status and wealth. Knights need to prepare their own equipment at their own expense.
As for the knights' retinue, their equipment was provided by those who were loyal to them. In the Middle Ages, the price of a complete set of equipment such as weapons, armor and horses was enough to be worth the wealth of a well-off family in modern times.
That's why there were so many professional mercenaries and wandering knights in the Middle Ages. Many of them also received military training since childhood, but they couldn't find a lord to pay for them, so they could only piece together some inferior equipment and rely on their own
Use martial arts to fight for wealth.
Regular knights can defeat hundreds of such enemies, even if there is a difference in equipment, which is enough to prove the power of this extraordinary power. Looking at Knight Wade's proud expression, Otto guessed that when the opponent calculated, he would definitely measure it according to the same equipment.
of.
As a result, Otto silently calculated his combat power in his mind. Good guy, what kind of humanoid Gundam is this regular knight with extraordinary abilities?
Thinking about the knight's combat prowess and looking at the peasants in front of him, Otto felt even more uncomfortable.
In the Middle Ages, where there were extraordinary abilities, no matter how many ordinary soldiers there were, they were not enough to kill the knights. No wonder I didn’t hear of any large-scale peasant uprisings, only bandits were running around. If the peasants wanted to rebel, they had to have that strength.
However, this problem is not impossible to change. Ordinary soldiers cannot defeat knights. The most important reason is the weapons. Your weapons cannot cause damage to knights, so they can naturally hit you casually.
But, what if all soldiers were equipped with spears and heavy crossbows? The armor of this era has only the same protection against heavy crossbows. Historically, why did the nobility and the church ban crossbows in the Middle Ages? It was not because crossbows could threaten the nobility, but mainly because
The lives of the knights thus made the knights worthless.
In this world, Otto seems to have not heard of the forbidden crossbow so far. This may be due to the influence of extraordinary power. After watching Wade easily cut through wood thicker than an adult thigh with his hands, Otto felt that crossbow arrows are useful for
For a knight with extraordinary abilities, the threat may not be great.
It's also possible that the world hasn't invented a powerful crossbow yet. The real ban on crossbows in history was after the crossbow appeared. Hand crossbows still pose some threat to heavy armor.
However, even if there is no crossbow now, it doesn't matter. The knights can block the crossbow arrows, but the horses they ride cannot also block the crossbow arrows. The threat of knights who lose mobility is not that great.
"Choose two hundred able-bodied men to come out and train hard, and spread the news that I am recruiting knights and squires. In two days, we will build the Eagle Castle again! This time, I will build a bigger and better one!"