Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 319 One bottle is water, the other is sand

   North, far north.

   Climb over the shaded mountains, across the Holy Empire, towards the end of the horizon, to the turbulent narrow sea, and you will reach the true north.

  The Veneta complained about the cold and wet winter, and found long-sleeved clothes from the bottom of the box;

  The Paratus cursed the bitterly cold winter and hid in houses with closed doors and windows.

   However, 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 between the two mountains will not freeze almost all year round.

   And in the true north, the **** of winter will show a cruel and ruthless side.

  The blizzard swept through the sky, everything in the world turned white, the water vapor exhaled by animals froze on the hair, and the preservation of body temperature became a matter of life and death.

   In this world where water drips into ice, a group of people is holding a ceremony.

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

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

   There were many people watching, but no one offered a helping hand.

   Thin ice is constantly precipitating out of the water. If the guards with long sticks hadn’t smashed the ice surface and fished out the floating ice in time, the sharp ice **** would have killed people.

  The mothers closed their eyes while the men whispered: Mitzvah is usually held at fifteen, and even then there are often misfortunes, and it is too early for an eleven-year-old to swim across a glacier!

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

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

   Then, the grandfather hung a ruby-encrusted dagger around his waist for the boy.

   Short sword, cloak and sword belt - in the perception 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, a warrior.

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

   Next, the guests should congratulate the boy.

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

   "Karl, I had a dream." Grandfather rubbed the boy's soft blonde hair, his eyes full of love: "I dreamed - you will get all this eventually."

  A dream doesn't mean anything, it's just a good blessing from a grandfather to his grandson.

   But at this moment when the dark clouds overwhelm the city, the prophetic words of the old king made people's hearts ignite a glimmer of hope.

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

   They still have a life-and-death battle to fight.

  …

  The vast majority of Catholics and Protestants 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—Winters Montagne, for example—the inhabitants of the Far North are unmistakably savages.

The popularity of    is largely due to the Empire's "long and deliberate use of the image of [savages] and [barbarians] to distort the northern 'neighbors'".

   Demeaning the enemy is a consistent narrative style of the Empire, describing the northern kingdoms as "barbarians" is the same as emphasizing that the Senus Alliance is "treason".

   In fact, since the Catholic Church sent large-scale missionaries to the [Narrow Sea Coast] 400 years ago, the northern society quickly got rid of the original form of the [tribe-region], and the tribes entered the feudal era.

  After all, missionaries not only bring scriptures, but also advanced technology and culture - how to convince the barbarian chiefs to convert without bringing out some good things?

   But what happened next quickly deviated from the Catholic Church's expectations.

  The scriptures, culture and magic, with these three magic weapons, the Catholic Church will be able to expand its frontiers without going anywhere.

   But in the North... the Catholic Church has miscalculated.

  Different from the old pagan religions, which collapsed at one touch, the pantheistic beliefs in the north have shown a tenacious vitality beyond imagination.

  Because when the Catholic Church marched into the north, the two sides of the narrow sea were still in the "mythical age" when demigods walked on earth.

  The priests in the north have absorbed the elements of the catholic beliefs such as "Battle of Good and Evil", "heaven and hell", and "eternal life", straightened out the original messy northern mythology, and reconstructed a whole set of belief system.

   Generally speaking, the weaker the voice, the more conservative it is.

  For example, many dynasties were able to accommodate all kinds of rivers when they were at their peak, but they often fell into the fear of "seeing everyone like a traitor" when they declined; when religions rose, they forced pagans to convert, and when they declined, they began to argue about who is more pious.

  If there are really miracles in the world, the rebirth of Nirvana in the pantheism of the North can be regarded as one of them.

  The battle of beliefs has been fought for two hundred years. The priests of the Catholic Church confronted the demigods in the north, and the monotheistic religions fought against the pantheistic beliefs.

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

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

   The problem is with [second generation missionaries].

  The second generation of missionaries generally refers to the northerners who were the first to convert to Catholicism.

   Most of them were half-way monks, without a complete theological education, and preached in the language of the northerners.

   It should be noted that "any wrong translation of the scriptures may lead the lamb to go astray", not to mention that the second generation of missionaries "recited" the doctrines they understood in different languages.

   It is precisely the second generation of missionaries who were born and bred who made great contributions to the victory of the Catholic Church.

During the two hundred years of the Battle of Faith, the second-generation missionary group, who had repeatedly hit a wall, had been remorseful and gradually combined Catholic teachings with northern traditions to assist missionary missions.

  The worship of saints gradually replaced the worship of monotheism, new chapels were built in the old sacrificial sites, and the festivals of pantheism were transformed into catholic festivals…

   Relying on a variety of "localization" strategies, the second generation of missionaries have achieved great success.

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

   If we say that in the first two hundred years, the mode of struggle between Pantheism and the Catholic Church was still literally "persuasion".

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

  Because the two hundred years of catholicization in the north were also two hundred years of rapid development when the [tribe-region] structure was shattered and the feudal state was formed.

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

  [Note: It is not the same as today's ruling dynasty, the Eagle Castle dynasty has died out, and the current crown of the empire belongs to the Lieyang dynasty]

  The war is still going on, only the lords have replaced the priests, the sword has replaced the scriptures, and more and more political factors are mixed in the sectarian struggle.

   In the end, "crusade against heretics" has become a high-sounding reason, and only two powers are left to attack each other in the name of jihad.

  Stop, stop, stop. In two hundred years, the years in which the princes of the empire and the "barbarians" of the north were at peace can be counted on one hand.

   But it's 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 "Carl" stood beside the bed, holding his grandfather's cloak in his arms.

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

   A shotgun shot from a forty-eight-pound cannon knocked the charging old king off his horse, and the old man died before he was brought back.

   But for the old king, dying in the final charge was probably the best way to die, so that he did not have to witness the sad sight of the collapse of the army and the demise of the country:

  Brand new cast iron guns smashed old city walls, spears and muskets ripped shields and blades, disciplined armies triumphed over brave and fearless armies;

   The warrior bishop, who was wearing heavy armor, wielding a page hammer, and killed like a demigod, was beheaded by "nobody";

   Battalion-level phalanx, light artillery, and medium cavalry with both impact and speed shine.

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

  The bedroom door was pushed open, and a magnetic, impatient voice sounded: "Where's Carl Eleven?"

The owner of the    voice saw the old king's body on the bed and stopped abruptly.

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

  If it was at a countess' banquet, the owner of this face must be the darling of married and unmarried ladies.

   Just for a general commanding an army, this face is a little too young. Thirty years old? Maybe not yet?

   The young general with pale blond hair gave a deep salute to the body of the old king.

   "Are you the grandson?" The pale blonde stooped and asked little Carl gently: "Where are the others?"

   Little Carl shook his head.

   The pale blond sneered and instructed the accompanying military attache: "Retrieve the palace chief and prepare the king's funeral for Carl Eleven."

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

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

   The chestnut hair was rather helpless: "The Duke of Congreve is the commander-in-chief. In any case, you should 'ask' his opinion."

   "Okay, you go." The pale blonde replied casually, "I have other things to do."

   The chestnut-haired sighed, turned to leave, and went to be nice and friendly.

   "There is something that I originally wanted Carl Eleven to do by himself." The pale blond looked at little Carl: "Now you can only come."

   Young Carl was led out of the castle and watched in horror as the silver-clad city was stained with blood and fire.

  The imperial soldiers who entered the city looted, set fire, and raped recklessly. This army has just fought a hard siege in the cold winter. The soldiers' accumulated negative emotions only need a little spark to be detonated.

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

   The clergy, who were usually holy and inviolable, are now driven like sheep to the execution platform.

  The big axe fell mercilessly, and the "heretic priests" were killed one by one.

The   light blond obviously didn't like what he saw, but he obviously didn't intend to stop either.

   A fainted imperial soldier rushed into the light-blond guard, but the moment he saw the light-blond flag, he woke up and knelt down and saluted.

   The pale blond left the city with little Carl unimpeded.

After    out of the city, they turned to the northwest and came to the shore not far.

   The Narrow Sea is right in front of you.

   The pale blonde beckoned, and the attendant took out a plain wooden box and carefully served it.

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

   In the center of the silk and cotton, there were two bottles lying impressively.

  Two very ordinary bottles, the material is nothing but glass;

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

   "Go." The pale blond looked at little Carl: "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 will 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 blond's attitude. Said, "At least it's not as cold as it is here, it's so cold."

   Karl hugged the cape, looked at the turbulent narrow sea, looked at the land that appeared and disappeared on the other side of the sea, and responded in a low voice: "I like cold."

   The glass bottle filled with the water of the narrow sea and the sand of the narrow sea was sealed tightly with lacquer and put back into the wooden box.

   Immediately afterwards, a powerful cavalry escorted the wooden box and flew southward.

   Crossing thousands of mountains and rivers and passing through many barriers, the wooden box was sent to the heart of the empire - Wuxuan Palace.

   And the transparent glass bottle filled with the water of the narrow sea and the sand of the narrow sea was finally placed gently on a simple desk by a pair of hands.

   "Your Majesty, congratulations." Count Narzia put down the glass bottle and gave a deep salute: "The two-hundred-year-long Great Northern War has come to an end for you. And the Far North Route - will also be completely penetrated."

   The man sitting behind the desk put down his pen and made a movement that he never usually does - he slowly turned around and looked at the portrait hanging behind him.

   A majestic old man in uniform looked at him.

  …

   Meanwhile, far to the south.

  Don Juan was "criticizing" Winters Montagne in a frenzy.

  No matter what earth-shattering events are happening in the far north, to the people in Tiefeng County, it is no different from a dream coming from an unknown land.

  The people of Tiefeng County don’t know what the world looks like, and no one cares.

   The most important issue for people in Tiefeng County today is survival.

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

   "My thighs are rubbed! Both sides! It hurts to pee!" Don Juan angrily drew arrows from the corpse: "How can someone call someone like that!"

  Andre pretended not to hear, and checked the holes in the gold embroidered coat over and over again.

   In front of Andre was a camp full of corpses, and the first cavalry was cleaning the battlefield.

  Because of the "Heavenly Girl Scattering Flowers"-style organizational structure of the Heard tribes, Tai Chi could not completely control the Teltown people in Tiefeng County.

   In fact, when the Taichi troops invaded Zhongtiefeng County, there was also a group of Teldun people who crossed the river in advance and did not join Taichi. Or because of poor communication;

   All in all, this part of Teltown people is in a state of independent action, because they are also stranded in Lower Iron Peak County without a boat to cross the river.

   And because they didn't follow Tai Chi, this part of Teltown didn't surrender.

   If this part of Teltown people is not cleaned up, Winters will not be able to organize the return of the Lower Iron Peaks refugees.

   Winters asked Taichi to send someone to surrender - as long as you hand over the loot, you can leave safely. If we can't reach an agreement, the cavalry team of the Qing Suppression will come next.

   The cavalry detachment of Iron Peak County is currently engaged in the "big battle" to destroy the remnants of Teltown, and the cavalry troop of Andre and Don Juan is no exception.

  Andre looked at the sky and touched the stubble on his jaw: "Senior?"

   "Huh?" Don Juan was filling the corpses one by one to make sure no one was pretending to be dead.

   "It's so cold, I'm a little homesick."

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

  …

   Two Hailan people are homesick, what about the third Hailan person?

Whether   Winters wants to go home or not, no one else knows, after all, there is no one around him to talk to.

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

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

   [Looks like a pigeon, but I don't have a pigeon, it's a kind of pigeon]

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

   [This is actually only half of the "water and soil" stalk. The other half was Operation Bagration, the first Soviet tank troops that rushed to the Baltic coast of the Gulf of Riga packed three bottles of seawater and sent them all the way back to Moscow as evidence of "arrival at sea"]

   [By the way, because the author is not very familiar with it: when Mr. Mao Dun wrote an example for "Nordic Mythology", he mentioned that "Nordic mythology was destroyed by the Christian faith before it was preserved by the poet". There is an event involved here - the Christianization of Scandinavia]

   [In the ninth century, the images of Northern Europe were still Vikings, pagans, dragon-headed ships, savage ah savage]

   [In the 16th century, Northern Europe (Denmark, Sweden) suddenly became equal players, fighting with Poland and Russia, and participating in the Thirty Years' War in the future. One moment he was a vicious pagan, the next moment he became an international friend who can talk]

   [Christianity brought some progress to northern Europe, and also cut off the roots of Norse mythology. Norse mythology known today is also due to the arrangement of Catholic clergy, and Norse mythology is inevitably influenced by Christianity]

   [But what if in a parallel world, in a similar situation (not exactly the same as this universe), the priests of pantheism really have "divine power"?

   Suppose the missionary priest was horrified to discover that the other party also had "divine magic", then... what should we do? ]

   (end of this chapter)