The Yona River is not wide, and the water depth is not enough in many places. In addition, the water level drops in winter, so most of the ships still sailing on the river are small river boats. From a wide perspective, there is only a three-masted boat docked at the riverside pier, which can be considered the largest.
This ship is obviously modified from a seagoing ship. The hull is seventy feet long and twenty-six feet wide. The mainmast and foresail are square sails, a triangular sail is set on the mizzen mast, a topsail is added to the mainmast, and an auxiliary sail is added below - a sail stretched at the bow or stern to increase the sailing area. Two decks, there should have been three but the bottom was flattened to adapt to the river channel, the freeboard is higher, the stern is equipped with a rudder, but the bow and stern castles are very simplified.
“Sir, this Carrack was converted from a sea-going ship and was named the Jonah after the river. It belongs to the City Guard of Paris. It is specially responsible for transporting rations for the Paris City Guard. You will take this sailing ship from Auxerre to the city of Paris along the river.” Sandra walked beside Art and briefly introduced the origin of the boat on the dock to Art, so as to reassure her employer.
Matt's understanding of the ships of this era was limited to the memories in his mind, but he was very disappointed when he saw a sailboat of this era for the first time with his own eyes. It did not have the feeling of sailing on the waves as he had imagined. The sailboats in front of him were not small, but they were in tatters, and there were signs of repairs on many places on the side of the ship. The only thing that made Art feel slightly better was that the busy sailors and boatmen walking on the deck of the ship were not as shabby and ferocious as expected. In addition to their dark skin, they were slightly neater than those city laborers.
Matt did not pay too much attention to other issues and asked Sandra: "Has the shipping fee been negotiated?"
“My lord, it is winter now, and the ship is a little slower. It takes about five days from Auxerre to Paris, so the cost is a little more expensive. Each passenger is fifteen pfennigs, the horse is twenty pfennigs, and the carriage is thirty pfennigs. If you need food on the ship, you have to pay extra, but the food for the crew and sailors is delicious. No matter what, I suggest you prepare enough food and provisions on the shore in advance." Sandra has already negotiated the price with the captain of the sailboat. Although Sandra didn't ask, talk or watch much during the trip, he was already sure that these people were not good people, so he didn't intend to work with the captain to rip off customers. The price was very reasonable.
Of course Art didn't know that the price was already very cheap, but he had more important things to deal with, and he didn't bother to pay attention to these trivial matters. Since Sandra had already negotiated, he nodded in agreement.
The group of people stepped onto the pier and walked towards the Jonah.
Walking to the end of the trestle, a man was instructing the crew and laborers to move bags of grain to the cabin for stacking. He was wearing a tight-fitting leather coat and trousers, rabbit leather boots, a cowhide belt around his waist, and a captain's hat. He looked not very tall from behind, and he was the kind of ordinary person who would never be recognized among people.
"Hadev!" Sandra shouted towards the man.
The man was overacting when he heard the sound, and his expression did not change at all.
Sandra hurriedly walked in front of Art and said to the man named Khadev: "This is the gentleman I told you about. He and his subordinates are going to Paris with two carriages and nine horses."
Looking at Art's attire and the priests and guards following him, Khadev guessed that Art must be a nobleman, so out of courtesy he took off his hat and bowed slightly to show respect.
Art had no intention of putting on airs in front of these people, he took the initiative to greet the man, "Hello, Captain Hardeff, I have been ordered by the Bishop of Burgundy to send some valuable goods to Paris, and I will trouble you all in the next few days."
"It is my honor to serve you, please. I have reserved a place for you and your entourage to board the ship after dark. However, you must be prepared. This is a cargo ship that transports food. The cabin is not very comfortable, and for reasons you know, your entourage cannot leave the cabin at will. Of course, you and the priest must come and go as you please. "
At nodded without saying much, he asked Ron to calculate the fare for the men and horses and then handed the fare to Khadev.
「多谢大人！今晚天黑，请您准时。」哈德夫说完便拎着钱袋踏着木板上了船消失在尾堡中......
............
回After arriving at the warehouse, Art sent people into Auxerre City to buy some bread, bacon, beer and other foods. He also specifically ordered them to buy some apples, frozen pears, oranges, plums and other fruits and vegetables. Although most nobles believed that these fruits could only be stewed before eating, Art preferred to eat them directly after cleaning.
"Sir, the food and drinks are ready." Dawson, who was in charge of shopping, returned to the warehouse and found Art Report in the courtyard.
“Very good.” Matt nodded.
"Ron!" Art called to Ron who was walking out of the warehouse.
"What happened to our precious cargo?" Art asked.
Ron originally planned to go into the house to rest for a while, but after hearing Art's inquiry, he quickly turned and ran to Art, "Sir, the guy who fell off the carriage and fell into the stream during the detour seemed to be sick and seriously ill. His forehead was as hot as a burning stove. Father Robert gave him some medicinal soup, no. I know if I can make it to Paris. "
Matt knew about the unlucky guy. When the convoy passed through a stream ford, he was knocked off the carriage by river rocks and fell into the cold and biting stream. As a "cargo", no one cared whether he would get sick, so they just found a piece of felt to cover him and continued on their way.
"The man is under your custody, and if there is a problem, you have to find a way to solve it yourself. I want you to ensure that there must be breath in his nostrils before the Inquisition pries the truth out of his mouth."
Ron scratched his head after hearing this. He is not a doctor, and the battlefield first aid he learned from the parish school and the officer academy cannot deal with this kind of internal injury.
"Master, this is me," Ron did not dare to refute Art's order. He was indeed responsible for the "goods".
Matt didn't intend to embarrass Ron. He said to Ron: "Go to the spice shop in the city and buy a dozen of the strongest chili peppers and boil them in a clay pot. When it's a little hot, pour it down on him and then cover him with a thick quilt. With luck, he should be able to recover, or at least be able to survive to the execution column of the Inquisition."
“Since you are responsible for the prisoners, you have to pay for the chili peppers.” Art added.
"Huh? The price of things in the spice shop~" Ron felt a little distressed.
"If you have a better way to hang his life, you don't have to spend half a copper coin." Art doesn't care about a mortal man, but now this guy still has value, so he has to ensure that the "goods" can reach the Paris Inquisition alive.
Ron lowered his head and left in frustration. A dozen expensive chili peppers cost him several days of military pay.
Just after Ron left, Stanley, who was in charge of the sentry, came in with Sandra, "Sir, Sandra is leaving and he came to say goodbye to you."
Sandra is a gambler who doesn't like to talk much. She has managed not to talk too much, not to ask too much, and not to look too much. She is a competent "guide".
"Dear Sir, I have completed my mission. Now I should go back to my casino to spend a comfortable winter. If you need me again in the future, please come to the village to find me directly." Sandra bowed to Art.
In the bottom cabin of the Yona, seven or eight task force soldiers were crowded into a small, airtight space. The cabin was very dark. Since there was no way to light the fire, all the light came from a wind lantern above everyone's head. Perhaps it had been used for too long and the lampshade had been turned dark gray by oil fumes, and the corduroy flames could not penetrate at all.
In response to the gloomy environment, there was a stench that permeated the surroundings. The grain ship transported not only grains such as wheat, barley and black beans, but also chickens, ducks, pigs and sheep. These animals must be alive before arriving in Paris, so the bottom cabin of the Jonah was used to contain these livestock, and the soldiers of the task force, together with the few Assassin prisoners, were squeezed into a space vacated in the bottom cabin.
"It's not as good as our war horses. At least the war horses can stand in the deck and blow the river breeze at any time." The soldier continued to complain.
Stanley slapped the soldier on the head and cursed: "You can't stand it. Mr. Ron is crowded here like us. Look, he hasn't complained a word. If you keep mumbling, I'll tie you to a rope and throw you into the river and drag you away."
Looking at Ron who was sitting silently in the corner with his eyes squinted and resting, the complaining guy immediately stopped talking.
After scolding the soldiers, Stanley approached Ron and said, "Everyone is really bored. Sir Ron, can you tell us about the battle with the Swabians?" In order to relieve the anxiety and depression of the soldiers, Stanley suggested that Ron tell the story of the battle.
Ron was also quite depressed. He had been on the Jonah for two days, which he felt was longer than a week. Except for sneaking onto the deck late at night and blowing the river breeze for a while, he did not see the sun at other times. Even breathing a breath of fresh air was a luxury. Fortunately, occasionally the crew came down to remind them of the morning, noon and evening time. The soldiers who were in a state of chaos did not know how many days had passed. If they were not in the army and respected military law and officers, the soldiers would have started to stir up trouble and vent their anger.
Ron turned his head and glanced at the Assassin prisoner beside him, whose limbs were bound and wrapped in a felt blanket. After eating several bowls of spicy hot soup and being covered by the felt blanket for another day, his condition really improved.
Ron stood up and kicked the guy on the ground who had spent eight copper coins on him, clapped his hands and said, "Okay, let me tell you about the battle where your Excellency led us to attack the southern manor of Biltenberg..."
A group of soldiers gathered around Ron. This was their only diversion from the boring journey.
In a small vacated utility room on the first floor of the Jonah, Art and Father Robert each had a wooden bed.
As the highest-ranking nobles and priests, the messengers of God, Art and Robert were naturally treated differently. The captain named Hardeff was stern but he did not even understand this basic etiquette. After meeting Art and Father Robert back on the ship, he ordered the crew to vacate a slightly secluded utility room as a separate cabin for the two of them.
Matt picked up a wine glass and handed it to Father Robert, who was sitting by the bed praying, and asked: "Father Robert, you are a member of the church. Do you think we can win this time?"
Robert opened his eyes and said, "Lord Art, once this matter is brought to the Inquisition, the Dean family will definitely be dead. But it will not be so easy to take the opportunity to bring down Earl Bernard. From the beginning to the end, it was the Dean family who were in contact with Assassin and provided funds. They were also raised by the Dean family, and there was no direct evidence against Bernard except that they were in Thorne City. "
"It is enough to destroy the Dean family." The tarsal maggots were about to be destroyed, and there was a strong murderous intent in Art's eyes.
In late December, before the Christian Mass, the city of Paris, the capital of the French Empire, was immersed in a lively atmosphere. People rushed to the streets to prepare the items needed for the festival.
Although for most civilians, the so-called festival only involves eating a small piece of bread spread with honey, biting into two bones without much minced meat, and drinking a sip of low-quality beer, they are already very satisfied.
At a cargo terminal called Charenton where the Seine and Marne meet, two four-wheeled iron carriages were traveling slowly along the wide carriageway leading from the dock to the Ile de la Cité in the center of Paris.
There was a cross on each of the two four-wheeled carriages, and two dying guys were tied to the cross. If you look closely, it was obvious that they were two pagans whose mouths were gagged with rags. In the second carriage, there was a guy with his limbs bound and a rag gagged in his mouth, sleeping in a ball.
The crowds watching on both sides of the road exclaimed. The Holy War had just ended, and the Holy Land was captured by the pagans. The surviving warriors from the Holy Land boasted of the barbarism and tyranny of the pagans in order to restore their heroic image. So these civilians who had heard from hearsay backed away when they saw the two pagans, and the bolder ones pointed at the two guys on the cross.
In front of the carriage, a priest wearing a long white coat, a holy cord, a holy belt, and a cross walked at the head of the team with a cross in his hand and a stern look on his face; a young man who looked like an aristocratic knight wearing mail armor, a white cloak, and a knight's sword on his waist followed the priest, and four young and strong guards carrying daggers were on both sides of the carriage.
The team swaggered along the bustling riverside carriageway, heading towards the Notre Dame Cathedral on the Ile de la Cité in the center of Paris, where the French patriarch, whose power was second only to the pope, lived. The most authoritative Inquisition in the entire French Empire was also located in the island church.
The sudden appearance of the team marched slowly for less than half a mile, and a dozen heavily armed Paris City Guard soldiers rushed to the street after hearing the news.
The guards blocked the way of the team. A man who looked like a commander walked out of the team and came to the priest. He stopped and looked at the carriage and the two pagans on the cross. He looked at the guards beside the carriage and the man who looked like a noble knight walking behind the priest. He bowed slightly to the priest in solemn vestments and asked: "Dear priest, may God bless you. Where are you from? What are you doing in Paris? What are these people behind you doing? "What?"
The priest raised his head, lifted the hood of the cross, made a cross on his chest, and replied: "I am the priest Robert Reber from the parish of Besancon, County of Burgundy. Behind me This is the knight of the court guard of the Count of Burgundy and the frontier baron Artwood Wells. By God's will, we will escort these two heretics and Judas, who betrayed the Holy Lord, to the Inquisition to receive God's punishment."
Robert raised his voice, "These two pagans were raised by a merchant family called Dean in the County of Burgundy, and formed a pagan assassination organization called "Assassins" in an attempt to assassinate all noble believers who devoutly believe in God..."
"Fortunately, the brave and pious saint warrior Baron Art saw through their plot and led his warriors to annihilate the devil..."
Robert's voice became louder and louder, and more and more Parisian citizens gathered around him, and people exclaimed.
After hearing this, the commander of the Guards knew that the matter was too serious, so he quickly sent people to the Cathedral of Notre Dame de la Cité in Paris.
After a while, a team, led by a cardinal, rushed towards the pier...
Such a sensational heretical incident occurred before the Christian Mass, and in less than half a day, the city of Paris was in an uproar.
Of course, this uproarious incident is also related to a few outsiders who suddenly appeared in Paris and spread the word...