King of German Mercenaries

After the formation of the mercenary group, Marin went to Vienna to make a report. This is also normal. Although this is the chaotic Middle Ages, it’s okay for you to carry weapons alone or with a few people, but if you have to carry weapons, you will definitely be exterminated as robbers if you don’t report it.

The officials in Vienna obviously knew that the emperor would definitely expand his army in the future, so he did not reject Marin. However, after he gave Marin a certificate, he asked Marin to accept the supervision of the local sheriff in the place where he was stationed, and not to loot the local people. Otherwise, it will be regarded as a bandit, and the army will be destroyed.

In order to prove the legitimacy of the mercenary group, Marin paid a huge sum of 1 mark and a bribe of 5 marks, and obtained a document issued by Vienna to prove the legitimacy of his mercenary group. Then, Marin officially launched the banner - Hoffman Mercenary Corps.

After obtaining legal status, Marin began to prepare for military training. The first is the choice of location. Vienna is impossible, this is the capital of the country, not to mention that there are many rules here, just the high price is the first to be ruled out by Marin. He pays himself to support 80 strong men, and in Vienna, where prices are high, he would have to go bankrupt.

At the beginning, he chose the Vienna Woods in the west of Vienna and the northern foothills of the Alps. This forest is very large, covering thousands of square kilometers. It is relatively quiet and suitable for military camps.

However, as soon as Marin was about to set up camp, he was chased away by the forest guards...

It turned out that the Vienna Woods was the hunting ground of the Habsburg royal family and belonged to the royal garden, and ordinary people were not allowed to enter and approach. Especially since this is a small army, Marin can't get close. Because they were afraid that the Marin group would assassinate the royal family members who came here to hunt.

In desperation, Marin continued westward with the group and came to a small town called Robach. To the south is the Alps and there are forests nearby. In addition to low prices, Marin also considers hunting in the mountains to get some meat, and at the same time, reduce the cost of living.

Not only that, in the future, if you enter Italy, you will definitely have to cross the Alps. Moreover, there are many mountains on the Italian peninsula, and Marin brought everyone here to train everyone's ability to climb mountains and mountains.

During the long march, Marin was depressed to find that many people's shoes were worn out due to walking. However, they are also reluctant to buy a new shoe.

why? It turned out that European shoes, in this era, are mainly leather shoes and clogs. The soles of leather shoes are sewn with multiple layers of cowhide or pigskin, and the shoe body is also made of leather. These shoes feel good and sturdy.

The problem is that leather is expensive. A pair of leather shoes costs as much as 3 shillings. The average person earns 2 pfennig a day. That is to say, a pair of leather shoes can only be afforded by ordinary people after 18 days of labor.

As for clogs, they are much cheaper, but not practical in some situations. Wooden-soled shoes are fine for walking on the plains, but once you walk on the rugged stony mountain road, the soles will break in minutes...

Of the 80 Marin recruited, 50 wore relatively cheap clogs. But this kind of shoes, when Marin took them on the road, because of some mountain roads, the soles of more than 20 people broke...

As usual, they should have bought a new pair of shoes. However, this group of poor people who come to work hard to eat, how can they have the money to buy new shoes...

At this time, Marin suddenly remembered the magic trick he learned from the old man in the village many years ago when he was in the countryside in his previous life - weaving straw sandals...

Straw sandals are one of the ultimate inventions of the ancient Chinese. It looks inconspicuous, but it is very important. Although the ancient Chinese were richer than the ancient Europeans, shoes were also more expensive products. For example, although many ordinary people can make cloth shoes with multi-layer Buna soles, cloth shoes are considered decent shoes for ordinary people. Only when you go out or visit relatives, you need to be decent,

Only wear the cloth shoes of "thousand-layer bottom".

But when you go to work in the field, if you wear cloth shoes or clogs, you are simply looking for abuse. Because, when working, the feet often exert force. If the clogs, it is easy to break. And the cloth shoes can't stand the toss.

Therefore, the wise Chinese ancestors thought of a good way - weave shoes with grass...

Straw sandals are breathable, lightweight, soft, non-slip, and cost-effective. For poor families, straw sandals are definitely more important than the Four Great Inventions. Because the poor can also afford straw sandals, and they can be replaced frequently.

For example, if the Red Army walked the 25,000-mile Long March, if you wear leather shoes, you don't know how many thousands of pairs of leather shoes will be damaged. That cost is simply unacceptable.

But straw sandals are different. Just pull some tough weeds from the roadside, and you can make straw sandals on the spot. If you run out of a pair, then weave another pair...

Moreover, straw sandals are particularly advantageous for walking on mountain roads, not only that they can be replaced at any time when they are worn out. Moreover, the straw sandals are very non-slip, which can fully avoid people accidentally falling down the mountain when walking on the mountain road, causing unnecessary casualties. The wooden soles are the most unsuitable for mountain trails. As for leather shoes, it is too extravagant for walking on mountain roads.

Straw sandals are so practical that they occupy an important position in Chinese history. For example, the famous Uncle Liu Huang during the Three Kingdoms period started his business by weaving straw sandals.

What makes Marin strange is that there seems to be no straw weaving technology in Europe. Many serfs were so poor that they could not even afford wooden shoes. Even if you buy relatively cheap wooden-soled shoes, you only wear them when you go out to visit relatives and friends or go to church. And usually work, mostly barefoot. It is no problem to walk barefoot in the fields, and it is no problem to walk on the Roman Avenue, but if you want to walk on the mountain road, it is absolutely impossible. Walking barefoot is afraid of slipping, and also afraid of stones poking your feet. However, walking on the mountain road in wooden-soled shoes is easy to break the bottom, and wearing leather shoes is too extravagant.

All but 10 of Marin's 80 poor men wore leather shoes. Of the other 70, 50 wore clogs. As for the remaining 20 people, they simply walked barefoot...

For this, Marin really can't stand it. So, after arriving at Robach and setting up the tent, Marin did not rush to train, but asked everyone to get a lot of straw and started teaching everyone to weave straw shoes...

"Lord Marin, grass can also be used to make shoes?" A group of European hillbillies were surprised.

However, they saw with their own eyes that under the skillful weaving of Marin's hands, the grass stems were first twisted into thin straw ropes, and then woven into soles and shoe bodies...

This scene made everyone feel very magical, and everyone was amazed.

After trying on the straw sandals woven by Marin, everyone felt very comfortable. The straw sandals woven by Marin belong to the winter version, which are thicker and colder. It is winter now, wearing thick straw sandals can effectively resist the cold. Moreover, even thick straw sandals are relatively breathable. Warm and breathable, it feels great to wear.

But to Malin's dismay, he taught his 86 men (including his 6 followers) to weave straw sandals. After two days of teaching, only 8 people finally learned, including Kohler...

As for why these 8 people were so "talented", it was because these 7 people (except Kohler) had been apprentice tailors or shoemakers before, but they were fired because of their poor talent. But even so, their weaving level is enough to weave straw shoes.

In desperation, Marin arranged for these 8 people to weave straw shoes to supply everyone's needs. After training, there must be cross-country running. High-intensity training, the wear and tear of shoes is too great, only with enough straw shoes to spare, can you survive. Marin watched war movies in his previous life, and all our soldiers had one or two spare pairs of straw sandals hanging on their backpacks. The thing about liberation shoes was created after liberation. Before liberation, millions of troops of our army were all wearing straw sandals to fight...

To this end, Marin announced that these 8 "technicians" who can weave straw shoes can eat more food than others, and give priority to them if they have meat...

As for Marin's mercenary group, everyone put on light, comfortable and low-cost straw sandals. Even those who wore leather shoes also changed into straw sandals. Because leather shoes are precious, and if they are worn out during training, it will not be worth the loss. And straw sandals are really cheap, even if they are worn out, they don't feel bad. It can be said that cheap and practical straw sandals are definitely a rare "artifact" for the army with a modest family background...

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