Iron Powder and Spellcaster

North, far north.

Climb over the Shade Mountains, pass through the Holy Empire, and head towards the end of the horizon to the rough Narrow Sea to reach the true north.

The Venetians complained about the cold, wet winter and dug out long-sleeved clothing from the bottom of their trunks;

The Platuan people cursed the biting winter winds and hid in houses with closed doors and windows.

Little did they know that fate has been gentle enough for the Senas people - the towering shady mountains block the cold air from the south, and the huge inland sea is a natural heat storage pool, so the land sandwiched between the two mountains does not freeze almost all year round.

In the true north, the God of Winter will show another ruthless side.

A blizzard swept across the sky, turning everything in the world into a vast white color. The water vapor exhaled by animals froze on their hair, and preserving body temperature became a matter of life and death.

In this world where dripping water turns into ice, a group of people are holding a ceremony.

A waterway was carved out of the glacial lake, and a naked boy shivered into the icy water.

The body heat was losing rapidly, and the boy struggled to swim to the end of the waterway.

There were many people watching, but no one helped.

Thin ice is constantly forming on the water surface. If the guards with long sticks had not broken the ice in time and fished out the ice floes, the sharp ice fragments could have killed people.

The mothers closed their eyes, and the men whispered: The rite of passage is usually held at the age of fifteen, and even then misfortunes often happen. It is too early for an eleven-year-old child to swim across the glacier!

But the boy eventually swam to the other side. When he stepped out of the ice water, the crowd surrounding the glacier burst into cheers.

The grandfather walked up to the boy, took off the cloak from his shoulders and tied it for the boy.

Later, the grandfather hung a dagger inlaid with rubies on the boy's waist.

Dagger, cloak and sword belt - in the understanding of the people participating in the ceremony, when a boy gets these three things, it means that he is no longer a child, but a young man and a warrior.

From this moment on, the boy gains full power as a "free man."

Next, the guests should offer congratulatory gifts to the boy.

But the boy's grandfather made an unexpected move: he took off the iron crown from his head and placed it on the boy's head.

"Karl, I had a dream." The grandfather rubbed the boy's soft blond hair, his eyes full of love: "I dreamed that you would eventually get it all."

A dream does not mean anything, it is just a good blessing from a grandfather to his grandson.

But at this moment when dark clouds were overwhelming the city, the prophetic words of the old king ignited a glimmer of hope in people's hearts.

The nobles who were watching the ceremony piled the gifts at the boy's feet in order.

They still have an existential battle to fight.

…

The vast majority of Catholic and Protestant believers do not know that there is a group of people living in the Far North, and they do not care.

And in the eyes of those with a little better knowledge of geography - such as Winters Montagne - the inhabitants of the Far North were undoubtedly savages.

The popularity of this perception was largely due to the empire's "long-standing deliberate use of images of [savages] and [barbarians] to distort its northern 'neighbors'".

Belittling the enemy is a consistent narrative method of the empire. Describing the northern kingdoms as "barbarians" is exactly the same as emphasizing that the Senas Alliance is a "traitor".

In fact, since the Catholic Church sent missionaries to the [narrow sea coast] on a large scale four hundred years ago, the society in the north has quickly gotten rid of the original form of [tribe-region], and various tribes have entered the feudal era.

After all, the missionaries not only brought scriptures, but also advanced technology and culture - how could they convince the barbarian chieftains to convert if they didn't come up with something good?

However, what happened next quickly went beyond the expectations of the Catholic Church.

Scripture, culture and magic, with these three magic weapons, the Catholic Church can expand its territory without any disadvantages.

But in the north...the Catholic Church miscalculated.

Unlike the old paganism that collapsed at the drop of a hat, the pantheistic faith in the North has shown a tenacious vitality beyond imagination.

Because when the Catholic Church marched into the north, both sides of the Narrow Sea were still in the "mythological age" when demigods walked the world.

The priests of the Northern Territory absorbed elements such as the "Battle of Good and Evil", "Heaven and Hell", and "Eternal Life" from the Catholic faith, straightened out the originally messy Northern Territory mythology, and rebuilt a complete belief system.

Generally speaking, the weaker the party with the right to speak, the more conservative it is.

For example, when many dynasties were at their peak, they were open to all rivers, but when they declined, they often fell into the fear of "everyone looks like a traitor." When religions rose, they forced pagans to convert, and when they declined, they started arguing about who was more pious.

If there are miracles in the world, the Nirvana and Rebirth of the Pantheistic Faith in the North is one of them.

The war of faith has been going on for two hundred years. The Catholic priests faced off against the demigods in the north, and the monotheistic religions fought against the pantheistic beliefs.

Marked by the successive conversions of the kings in the north, the Catholic Church won.

However, the then Pope Pius II had no time to celebrate because he discovered something even more terrifying - heresy.

The problem lies with [the second-generation missionaries].

Second-generation missionaries generally refer to the first northerners to convert to Catholicism.

Most of them were monks on the way, without complete theological education, and they preached in the language of the northerners.

It should be noted that "a wrong translation of the scriptures may lead the Lamb to go astray", not to mention that the second-generation missionaries "paraphrased" the doctrines they understood in a foreign language.

It was precisely the second-generation missionaries who were born and raised in China who made great contributions to the victory of the Catholic Church.

During the two hundred years of the war of faith, the second-generation missionary group, which had repeatedly encountered obstacles, learned from the experience and gradually combined Catholic teachings with northern traditions to assist missionary work.

The worship of saints gradually replaced the worship of monotheism, new chapels were built at old sacrificial sites, and festivals of pantheistic beliefs were transformed into Catholic festivals...

Relying on various "localization" strategies, the second-generation missionaries achieved great success.

Then... they were all labeled as heretics by Pope Pius II.

If we say that in the first two hundred years, the mode of struggle between pantheistic beliefs and the Catholic Church was still “persuasion” in the literal sense.

Then in the next two hundred years, "weapons of criticism" completely replaced "weapons of criticism."

Because the two hundred years of Catholicization in the north were also the two hundred years of rapid development when the [tribal-regional] structure was shattered and the feudal country was formed.

At the same time, the once ravaged and fragmented Holy Empire was once again unified under one banner, known in history as the "Eagle Castle Dynasty".

[Note: The same dynasty is not the same as the ruling dynasty today. The Eagle Fort Dynasty has ceased to exist, and the current crown of the empire belongs to the Lieyang Dynasty]

The war continued, but lords replaced priests, swords replaced scriptures, and more and more political factors were mixed into sectarian struggles.

In the end, "crushing heretics" has become a high-sounding reason, and only two powers are left attacking each other in the name of holy war.

Hit, hit, stop, stop, hit. In the past two hundred years, one can count on one hand the years when there was complete peace between the imperial princes and the "barbarians" in the north.

But this is all coming to an end - maybe?

…

Three days have passed since the boy's coming-of-age ceremony. No, he is a man now.

The little man "Karl" stood beside the bed blankly, holding his grandfather's cloak in his arms.

And his grandfather, who tied the cloak for him with his own hands, was lying on the bed, no longer breathing, and the sheets were soaked red with blood.

A shot fired from a forty-eight-pound cannon knocked the charging old king off his horse. The old man died before he was carried back.

However, for the old king, dying in the final charge may be the best way to die, so that he does not have to witness the sad scene of the collapse of the army and the demise of the country:

The new cast-iron cannon destroyed the walls of the old days, the spear and musket defeated the shield and the sword, the disciplined army defeated the brave army;

The warrior-bishop, who wore heavy armor, wielded a page hammer, and killed like a demigod, was beheaded by the "nobody";

Battalion-level square formations, light artillery, and medium-mounted cavalry that combine impact and speed shine.

The sound of boot spurs hitting the ground came from the corridor.

The bedroom door was pushed open, and a magnetic and impatient voice sounded: "Where is Karl Eleven?"

The owner of the voice suddenly stopped when he saw the old king's body on the bed.

He took off his helmet, revealing light blond hair and a handsome face.

If it were a countess's banquet, the owner of this face must be the favorite of married and unmarried ladies.

It's just that this face is a bit too young for a general commanding an army. Thirty? Maybe not yet?

The young general with light blond hair bowed deeply to the old king's body.

"Are you Wang Sun?" The pale blond man bent down and asked little Karl gently: "Where are the others?"

Little Carl shook his head.

The pale blond man sneered and ordered the accompanying military attache: "Capture the palace manager and prepare the king's funeral for Carl XI."

The accompanying military attaché hesitated to speak, but turned around to carry out the order.

The other deputy took off his helmet, revealing chestnut hair.

The chestnut-haired man said helplessly: "The Duke of Congreve is the commander-in-chief. In any case, you should 'solicit' his opinion."

"Okay, you go." The light blond replied casually: "I have other things to do."

The chestnut-haired man sighed, turned around, and left to be friendly.

"There is something that I originally wanted Karl Eleven to do personally." The pale blond looked at little Karl and said, "Now it's up to you to do it."

Little Carl was led out of the castle, and he watched in horror as the silver-covered city was defiled by blood and fire.

The imperial soldiers who invaded the city looted, set fire, and raped without restraint. This army had just fought a difficult siege in the bitterly cold winter. The soldiers' pent-up negative emotions only needed a spark to explode.

In the central square of the city, a temporary execution platform has been erected.

The clergy, who were usually holy and inviolable, were now being herded like sheep toward the execution platform.

The ax fell mercilessly, and the "heretic priests" were killed one after another.

The pale blond clearly didn't like what he saw, but he clearly wasn't going to stop it either.

Some dizzy imperial soldiers rushed into the light-blond guard, but they woke up the moment they saw the light-blond flag and knelt down to salute.

The light blond man took little Carl out of the city unimpeded.

After leaving the city, they turned northwest and reached the shore within a short distance.

The Narrow Sea is right in front of you.

The pale blond man waved, and the attendant took out a simple wooden box and presented it carefully.

The pale blond man untied his neck protector, took off the key hanging around his neck, and solemnly opened the wooden box.

In the middle of the silk and cotton, two bottles were lying.

Two very ordinary bottles, made of nothing more than glass;

But they are two very delicate bottles, because the glass has no trace of color and is pure and transparent glass.

"Go." The light blond hair looked at little Karl: "Put a bottle of sea water and a bottle of sand."

"You can rest assured that His Majesty will not kill you. It's just that you have to live in the Eternal City for the rest of your life. But the Eternal City is much better than the North..." There was no hypocrisy in the light blond's attitude, and he was a little lost in thought. Said: "At least it's not as cold as here. It's really cold."

Carr hugged his cloak, looked at the turbulent narrow sea, looked at the land that was disappearing and appearing on the other side of the sea, and responded in a low voice: "I like the cold."

The glass bottles filled with Narrow Sea water and Narrow Sea sand were sealed tightly with lacquer and put back into the wooden box.

Immediately afterwards, a group of capable cavalry escorted the wooden box and flew south.

After crossing thousands of mountains and rivers and passing through numerous obstacles, the wooden box was sent to the heart of the empire-Wuyou Palace.

The transparent glass bottle filled with Narrow Sea water and Narrow Sea sand was finally gently placed on a simple desk by a pair of hands.

"Your Majesty, congratulations." Count Narzia put down the glass bottle and saluted deeply: "The two-hundred-year-old Great Northern War has been brought to an end by you. And the Northern Route - will also be completely connected."

The man sitting behind the desk put down his pen and made an action he never did normally - he slowly turned around and looked at the portrait hanging behind his back.

A dignified old man in uniform looked into his eyes.

…

Meanwhile, far to the south.

Don Juan is angrily "criticizing" Winters Montagne.

No matter what earth-shattering events are happening in the far north, to the people in Tiefeng County, they are nothing more than the rumblings of an unknown land.

People in Tiefeng County don't know what the world looks like, and no one cares.

The issue that people in Tiefeng County are most concerned about today is survival.

Where is the food? Where is the drink? Where do you live? When can I go home?

"My thighs are all worn out! Both sides! It hurts to pee!" Don Juan pulled out the arrow clusters from the corpse angrily: "How can anyone be so bossy!"

Andre pretended not to hear, turning over and over to inspect the holes in the gold embroidered jacket.

In front of Andre was a camp strewn with corpses, and the 1st Cavalry was cleaning the battlefield.

Because of the "Goddess Scattering Flowers" organizational structure of the Hed tribes, Taichi could not fully control the Teldun people in Tiefeng County.

In fact, when Taichi's troops invaded Zhongtiefeng County, there was still a group of Teldun people who had crossed the river in advance and did not join Taichi. Either because of poor communication; or simply because they have already grabbed enough money and don’t plan to take any more risks.

All in all, this part of the Terdun people were acting alone, as they were stranded in Lower Tiefeng County because they had no boats to cross the river.

And because they did not follow Tai Chi, this part of the Terdun people naturally did not surrender.

Unless this part of the Teltown people are cleaned up, Winters will be unable to organize the Tiefeng County refugees to return home.

Winters asked Taichi to send people to recruit surrender - as long as they handed over the loot, they could leave safely. If they can't reach an agreement, the suppression cavalry will come next.

The cavalry detachments in Tiefeng County are currently engaged in the "big battle" to wipe out the remnants of Terton, and Andre and Don Juan's cavalry are of course no exception.

Andre looked at the horizon and touched the stubble on his chin: "Senior?"

"Huh?" Don Juan was applying wounds to the corpses one by one to make sure no one pretended to be dead.

"It's so cold. I feel a little homesick."

Don Juan raised his head and suddenly smiled: "I thought about it too."

…

Two sea blue people are homesick, where is the third sea blue person?

Whether Winters misses home or not is unknown to others. After all, he has no one around him to talk to.

But one thing is for sure - someone in the family misses him.

Winters stood outside the door and took a deep breath because he didn't know how to face the person behind the door.

[It looks like a pigeon, but actually I don’t have a pigeon, it’s also a kind of pigeon]

[Thanks to book friends for their collection, reading, subscription, recommendation votes, monthly votes, rewards and comments, thank you all]

[This is actually only half of the "water and earth" meme. The other half is Operation Bagration. The Soviet tank soldiers who first rushed to the Baltic Sea coast in the Gulf of Riga packed three bottles of seawater and sent them all the way back to Moscow as evidence of "reaching the sea\