In the blink of an eye, Marin has been in Texel for more than 20 days. And Christmas in 1495 came...
When he left Hoffman Manor before, Marin promised his cheap parents that he would go home for Christmas and New Year. So, on the morning of December 23, Marin had to prepare to set off for home.
Of course, the affairs of Texel mattered too. Therefore, Marin left Schwartz to manage the group of leather monkeys, and asked Kohler to allocate funds to buy a few beef cattle on the mainland, kill the cattle to make beef, and feed the group of rice buckets. After all, these guys can't spend Christmas and New Years with their families, and they have to be appeased. As for sending someone to pick up their family members, that will have to wait until after the New Year.
Then, Marin took Kahn, Kohler, Sauer, and Garland, each with three horses, and hurried to Hoffman Manor.
One person and three horses are not built, they are all high-quality horses produced in France, and their endurance is very good. Five people, including Marin and Kahn, each rode a war horse and two draft horses. In order to save weight, Marin and his entourage only wore two-thirds of the breastplate and iron helmets. In addition, equipped with a cavalry light sword. In this way, the weight on the horse can be much lighter. Only Kahn, a bastard, thought cavalry light swords were not easy to use, so he brought his beloved mace...
The five of them hurried back to Hoffman Manor on the morning of the 25th. It's a pity that I was scolded as soon as I came back:
"You brat, you came back so late, why didn't you come back yesterday? You missed the Christmas Eve mass!" Old Hoffman reprimanded dissatisfied.
"Oh, aren't you busy? I have to worry about a lot of things on the island. The castle is a few inches thick in dust, and the furniture inside is almost rotten. I'm busy, and I even sent people to Amsterdam to buy furniture. It's exhausting to spend money and effort." Marin didn't want to be scolded, so he changed the subject.
"Brother, is your castle beautiful?" Annie poked her head out and asked.
"Well, it's okay. Now it's been cleaned thoroughly and limewashed. It looks fresh."
"Stone structure or brick?" Old Hoffman was distracted and asked.
"It is made of pure stone. After all, it used to be the earl's palace. Although it is not big, it is very strong."
"That's right, if it's a brick structure, it will probably collapse after hundreds of years."
"Okay, the child must be tired when he comes back from riding a horse. Go take a hot bath first, and then rest for half a day." Mrs. Mary came out and said.
Now, the members of the Hoffman family are all in love with taking a bath. Even the serfs in the manor fell in love with hot baths. However, they could not afford to buy large oak barrels or build dedicated bathrooms. Mrs. Mary thought about it, and simply built 6 special small single bathrooms, each with a large oak barrel, open for everyone to use. In addition, a boiled water room with a fire was set up to supply a large amount of hot water. As for the fuel for heating hot water, it is naturally the surplus coal produced by the Hoffman estate. This thing is completely worthless in Hoffman Manor.
Moreover, under the persuasion of Marin, the whole family no longer drinks raw water, but only drinks boiled well water, and their health is guaranteed.
After taking a shower, Marin went back to his room and fell asleep for a long time. As for Kahn and Kohler, after taking a shower, Adler arranged for a place to live.
In the afternoon, Marin woke up hungry, and it was already three o'clock in the afternoon, so Marin hurried to find something to eat. So, he walked into the kitchen, opened the cabinet, found a piece of higher-grade black bread, and gnawed on it. However, just eating bread will make you thirsty. So, he asked his servant to help him heat a pot of milk.
People in the Middle Ages were very unhygienic. They drank cold milk and were not afraid of stomach upset. Marin is a modern person and dare not be irresponsible for his health. Therefore, he decisively chose to drink hot milk.
After eating and drinking, Marin ran to the living room and talked with the Hoffmans. Adler, on the other hand, began to humbly ask Marin for his knowledge of leading troops to fight.
Marin glanced at Adler:
"Brother, what do you do when you learn to lead troops to fight? Wouldn't it be nice to be your coal boss with peace of mind? You have food and drink, how comfortable you are!"
"Isn't this thinking of making contributions..." Adler said shyly.
"Don't, war is not fun. People will die. Your brother and I were forced to do nothing. After all, we will be kicked out at the age of 18, so I risked my life to fight. You have the right to inherit, and you will be full if you are full. to go to war?"
"But didn't you also earn the title of baron through meritorious service?" Adler said unconvinced.
"Please, boss, I was lucky. I met the French who were eager to retreat to the country. They didn't want to fight at all. If they wanted to go all out, maybe my life would be entrusted to Italy. Do you think the war is so good?" Marin said angrily.
Of course, what he said was not accurate. He had the guts to ambush the French only after he knew that the French had no intention of fighting and were busy escaping.
In fact, Marin was also afraid of death. Therefore, he chose to ambush the French army on the hillside instead of blocking the French under the hillside. If he fights against the French in the mountains, Marin is 50% sure that he can support the arrival of the Italian coalition forces. Then, Charles VIII couldn't escape either.
However, if he did that, Marin couldn't guarantee that he would die in battle. After all, in order to survive, the French will also desperately attack the defense line. Even if he wins in the end, Marin himself may die in battle. Even if he didn't die in battle, out of the 1,100 people in his hand, he didn't know how many would survive. Moreover, at that time, he couldn't guarantee whether the group of recruits under his command who had never seen blood would have the courage to fight the French army to the end. Therefore, he chose the safest method of ambush on the hillside.
Even Marin didn't expect that 4,000 French would surrender. Originally, he only intended to capture a few hundred stragglers. Even if hundreds of French knights are captured, it can be regarded as a great contribution. Because the 20,000 Italian coalition forces only killed 1,000 French infantry. In the end, he did not expect to capture so many Frenchmen. Also, a large number of war horses. Even Marin himself was afraid of the loot. Therefore, he ran away decisively, fearing that he would be hacked by the Italian coalition forces.
In retrospect, Marin was also a little scared. The scene of the French sending people to forcibly climb the mountain and slaying a bloody road with their lives is still in his mind. If he had chosen to block it head-on, he might have been killed by the desperate French.
After Marin finished speaking, the atmosphere in the living room suddenly became a little dull. Because war is indeed not an easy topic. Fortunately, the two younger brothers and sister Anne, three little ghosts, came out to create an atmosphere:
"Brother Marin, brother Marin, I want a present, a Christmas present! You didn't come back yesterday, and you didn't put a Christmas present in my socks this morning. We are very unhappy!"
"Yes, very unhappy!" Sanxiao nodded desperately, amusing everyone.
"Oh, Christmas gifts..." Marin was a little embarrassed. He only thought about coming back for the holidays, but never thought about preparing gifts for his younger brothers and sisters...
Kohler helped him bring back a bag of gold coins, but with money alone, he couldn't buy anything on Christmas Day. Because, on Christmas, those shops are closed, everyone is going to celebrate the holiday, who is doing business
"Ahem, Simon, Albert, Annie, do you like gold coins?" The local tyrant Marin decided to play with gold coins...
"Gold coins? Which is worth the Finny silver coins given by my mother?" Annie asked with her head tilted, sucking her finger.
"Khan... of course gold coins are valuable, one gold coin is worth 60 pfennigs!"
"Wow, a lot of money, brother, I want gold coins! I want gold coins!"
"Yes, a lot!" Simon and Albert also assisted.
"Well, this is from my brother." Marin took out a handful of gold coins from his arms and distributed them to his younger brothers and sisters. Even Adler envied that local tyrant's rush.
You know, although Adler is the heir of the manor. However, the heir is still waiting to inherit and is still unmarried. Now, Adler still receives "pocket money" from Mrs. Mary, 4 pfennies a day, which is only enough to buy wine and drink.
However, of course Marin would not give Adler gold coins. Only the younger brother asks the elder brother for a gift. How can the younger brother give it to the elder brother
In the evening, in the dining room of Hoffman's house, Mrs. Mary personally cooked a "big meal" for a table. However, this "big meal" made Marin frown.
why? It turns out that Mrs. Mary eats the apples boiled, but eats the cabbage raw... This... This is a typical European practice in the Middle Ages... However, it may cost a lot to get apples and cabbage in winter...
"Mom, didn't I teach you how to cook Chinese food? Why do you still make such unpalatable food?" Marin said dissatisfiedly, and the younger brothers and sisters also nodded to assist.
"Today is Christmas, a traditional European festival. Traditional festivals must be done in traditional ways!" Madam Mary said seriously.
"Okay... okay..." Marin dejectedly used a fork to fork some cooked apples and put them in his mouth. Looking at the table, only the roast suckling pig dish is considered normal. However, the roast suckling pig was occupied by younger brothers and sisters. Marin was too embarrassed to fight with the kids, so he could only eat boiled apples and raw cabbage depressedly, so he didn't touch them...