Chapter 8 Artillery Research and Wanderers from Transylvania

Chapter 8 Artillery Research and Wanderers from Transylvania

"Seen the lord, may God be with you."

Peter left the training ground and came to the artillery workshop. The person in charge there saw the lord coming and immediately came to say hello.

"I just came here to see how your artillery production is going?" Peter said.

The current artillery technology is actually still in an unknown state. The biggest difficulties in developing gunpowder are fast ignition, uniform quality and powerful power. In addition, it is not easy to design a suitable artillery. If the design is not correct, it will not be able to fire immediately. Due to the limitations of early manufacturing technology, the level of danger faced by those who fired the artillery was actually not much different from that of shelling the target.

At the same time, the production of gunpowder is also a big problem. Because saltpeter was not produced in Europe, it could only be purchased through the Silk Road. Otherwise, just follow Charles I’s example and empty all the toilets in the country.

"Your Highness, the artillery is still not ideal at present, let alone its power. The manufacture of the cannon alone requires a large sum of money, and the production process is complicated and takes a long time to complete."

Peter was not satisfied with this result. Too few. The King of Hungary's army had hundreds of cannons, while Wallachia only had a dozen or so, and they were all small.

"I will find a way to deal with the raw materials, but I hope I can think of more ways to increase the power of the artillery."

"As you command, my lord."

It had been a long time since he came to Wallachia, and he might have forgotten that European artillery technology was still not very mature at this time. Although cannons were introduced during the Hundred Years' War between England and France, in addition to iron balls and lead balls, they also fired large arrows and scraps. However, because of its high cost, artillery is only a supplementary firepower and has not become a mainstream force.

Wallachia produces less coal and iron, and most of its raw materials need to be imported. There are many in the Donbas region, but they are still buried under the Golden Horde. It is still purchased from Hungary and Bohemia through the Chamber of Commerce, and part of it is used elsewhere.

Peter knew that his only advantage in this era was the knowledge in his head. He can become a small lord and spend his life safely, and through this, he can change history and accomplish a great cause with great vigor.

"It's really not easy," Peter thought to himself.

"Your Highness, Yang is back and said he wanted to give you a surprise."

Jan is the head of the Chamber of Commerce in Hungary. He made great contributions to the expansion of Wallachia's trade and was also the main contributor to recruiting refugees.

At this time, Hungary's urban economy was developing rapidly, but the situation of farmers was deteriorating day by day. They benefited little from such economic prosperity, and many peasants ran away. The legislation of Hungary's great aristocracy completely tied peasants to the land, but this caused even greater flight.

The same is true in Transylvania. People with the same ancestry as the Wallachians were squeezed by the immigrating Germans. A few decades after the immigration, more than half of the Wallachians lived miserable lives. But they could still move freely, and this was a major source of immigrants from Wallachia, and also a major source of immigrants from Peter.

Arriving at the training ground in the suburbs, Yang had been waiting for a long time. As soon as I saw Peter, I came to him immediately.

"I have met my lord, may God be with you."

"Okay, let's talk less about this. I heard you prepared a surprise for me. Where is it?"

Faced with the lord's questioning, Yang pointed at a group of people next to him. "Your Highness, this is my surprise for you."

Looking along his hands, Peter saw that these were wandering knights. And judging from their clothes, they had been kicked out by their families for several months.

In order to maintain the continuation of the family, medieval lords would continue to have children, and children were born continuously, creating an embarrassing situation where princes traveled everywhere. For these small countries, too many successors is also a headache. If the territory is divided among each successor, the national power will be weakened. Therefore, only one prince in a country can become the "king", and the other princes must find ways to develop their own lives.

Some of them will be assigned "priesthood" work by the king and queen, which is the same status as the archbishop. Others would choose to work in other people's territories, so many knights and mercenary leaders in the Middle Ages were princes. People with military exploits can often gain wealth, and can also use force to kill the old king of this territory and become the new king.

Of course, the simplest and most effective way is to intermarry with neighboring countries. Therefore, these small countries will hold grand dances every once in a while to create opportunities for princes and princesses to get acquainted. The prince can not only propose to the princess he likes, but also Propose marriage to wealthy aristocratic widows so that you can get the territory and property left by that widow's ex-husband.

Apart from this, there is only the "Prince Charming" who appears frequently in fairy tales. In fact, there was no such term as "Prince Charming" at that time. A more accurate term is "Wandering Knight", and the horse he rode was not necessarily a white horse, but could also be a black horse, a pinto horse, a bay horse, and some princes even had no horses at all. Walk around on your legs.

They don't fight dragons or evil wizards like in fairy tales. In reality, they get bonuses through various competitive competitions, or work as attendants or bodyguards for rich people, or they can fight for others or find others to duel. To obtain trophies, in other words, their purpose is purely to make a living. When you are so depressed that you have nowhere to go, you may sell your horses or weapons, or you may run into the mountains and become a bandit.

Moreover, in medieval Europe, there were a lot of counts, marquises, grand dukes, and kings. So stop imagining princes and princesses.

"Is this your surprise for me?" Peter asked.

"Yes, Your Highness, these people were all driven out by their families to make a living. I saw more of them in Buda and other places, and I also knew that Your Highness was worried about the Ottoman attack, so I asked them if they were willing to come. When I got here, I just didn’t expect so many people to come here.”

This time Yang brought back hundreds of wandering knights. Although it is insignificant compared to other places, it is still quite a lot.

There are many small and medium-sized nobles in Hungary. They cannot compete with the large nobles in Hungary in terms of strength, and their own property is not much, so they can only let their other sons go out to make a living.

Sometimes they also sign up for group operations and find some chambers of commerce to obtain escort missions. No, Yang has taken a liking to them. Aren't they people who are born to fight?

"You should know my standards for recruiting troops." Peter said.

"Of course, sir, I asked specifically before leaving. They are all willing to settle here and will always be loyal to you."

Peter also knew that these wandering knights were an excellent source of cavalry, but their loyalty had yet to be tested. It was better to stay and see first, and training and conversion were also required.

"Well, thank you for your hard work." Peter said to Yang, which was considered as recognition for him.

"Thank you, sir."

Peter directly handed these people over to Constantine and asked them to train as usual. Faced with the hard training, some of them wanted to go home within a few days, but when they thought about going back, they still couldn't finish the meal. Suddenly, he gritted his teeth and held back.

And Peter also promised them that as long as they obeyed him, they would have everything, whether it was money or anything else. And also asked the Bishop of Constanta to baptize them.

Converting from Catholicism to Eastern Orthodoxy, which is considered apostasy in the eyes of ordinary people, is not worth mentioning in their eyes. Compared with money, this is just a younger brother.