The villagers were obviously nervous about Hong Tao, a big man dressed strangely, and several young girls who were helping their parents in the fields ran away with their heads down, and the rest of the men and women didn't know what to do, only shaking their heads and not speaking, and it was estimated that they couldn't understand Hong Tao's Latin. Seeing that he had become an imperial army and no one cared about entering the village, Hong Tao was not depressed at all, he walked directly to the door of a farmer's house, and looked into the house.

The house is not large, more than 30 square meters, it is made of stone and wood, and the roof is full of bundles of straw. The furnishings in the house are simpler, a large bed, a wooden table, a few clay pots...... Gone! The big bed is really big, and Hong Tao estimates that he can sleep three or four people with a wide and loose body like himself. Oh no, there's also furniture, a big wooden box under the bed, much more like the rest of the furniture, with metal bars and corners on top. Hong Tao has also seen this kind of thing in the palace, it should be packed fine and soft, and Europeans seem to be ready to run away at any time, and they like to pack all the valuable things at home into boxes.

It's rude to probe other people's homes, and it's even more inappropriate to break in rashly. Hong Tao didn't plan to enter the house, because the smell in the house was very strong, both smoky and livestock, and there seemed to be animal feces on the ground, and it seemed that the family lived with their livestock, like sheep dung. Hong Tao also explored the two outer huts, one was full of straw and the other was a chicken coop, a large and two small three houses, and there were no walls or fences, just like a rural family in central France.

According to Hong Tao's understanding of the Great Song Dynasty, the living standards of European peasants at this time were lower than those in the same areas of the Great Song Dynasty. It is also for the landlord to farm the land. The houses of the tenant farmers of the Great Song Dynasty were similar to those of European peasants. But there is more furniture inside, the hygiene is better, and the farm tools used are more advanced. All the way. Hong Tao didn't see many iron tools, and there were only two oxen in the ploughing field, which seemed to be used by each family in turn. As for the food, Hong Tao didn't see it, and it didn't get much better if he thought about it, it was nothing more than coarse bread, beans and other things.

After walking around the village, no one came to disturb him, at most he hid behind the crack in the door and peeked secretly. Hong Tao shyly enjoyed the feeling of the aristocratic lord for a while. I thought it was quite boring, and there was no one to talk to, so I began to walk back, and when I passed by the farmland, I found two pigs eating seeds in the field, and immediately howled and rushed over. Where have the pigs seen such a vicious person, screaming and running towards the village, screaming so badly, I guess I won't dare to wander around here for many days in the future. This action also gave Hong Tao the smiles of the two farmers who were working in the fields, and Hong Tao was very satisfied, and felt that he should have a bad spirit in him. Otherwise those two pigs can't be scared like that.

Speaking of pig farming, Friedrich II also told a little story to Hong Tao. It is said that a French prince rode a horse through the city of Paris. As a result, two pigs suddenly rushed out, and the prince's horse was startled, and the prince was directly lifted off the horse, and the unlucky prince actually fell headlong on the stone road and died. The authenticity of this story Hong Tao is not sure, but it is certainly a fact that Europeans in the Middle Ages raised pigs in the city, Hong Tao has seen it in Palermo and Rena, one is the imperial capital and the other is a commercial city, and there are pigs running all over the streets, and other places can be imagined.

When he returned to the monastery, Friedrich II had already gotten up and was eating breakfast, very simply, milk and coarse bread, and Hong Tao had made do with it, and then continued on his horse. After walking out for about ten kilometers, there were suddenly more people on the dirt road, not only knights on horses and servants, but also many female nobles wearing skirts covering their heads and faces.

"Which do you want to hear first, a good news or a bad news?" It is said that it is easier to learn bad than to learn well, and Friedrich II is inevitably vulgar as an emperor, and after staying with Hong Tao for a long time, he becomes very unreasonable, willing to joke, and the answers asked by the accompanying knights He still has to show off before he is willing to tell Hong Tao.

Speaking of these knights, although Hong Tao and them don't speak the same language, they finally figured out some things about knights along the way. For example, what is it like to wear knight's armor, and why should knights prepare more than two horses.

The kind of chain mail worn by the knight that dragged all the way to the top of his feet Hong Tao tried it, and it was very uncomfortable, the weight was put aside first, and the temperature alone was unbearable. In order to avoid the chain mail from abrasion on the body, a cotton robe is put on before piercing, and then the chain mail is put on, and then the coat is put on outside. The same goes for helmets, which also have a hood underneath. As soon as this set of things was put on, within ten minutes, Hong Tao began to sweat all over his body, this is just a slow horse, if there is a fight, it is estimated that it is no different from taking a sauna.

But wandering around without armor was dangerous for a medieval knight, and once he met an enemy, it was too late to wear it, so what to do? This problem was solved by the knights themselves. They formed a chivalric culture by convention, which was recognized by the church. No knight can attack an unarmed knight, the opponent must be given time to put on his armor, and he cannot bully too much, and can only fight one-on-one. In this way, the knights can go out and wander around with peace of mind, riding one horse by themselves, carrying armor and weapons on the other, without worrying about someone sneaking up on them, and not having to wear the sauna in their armor all day.

As for being attacked by a farmer, this is a very extreme situation, and you basically don't need to think about it. The peasants of this era did not have this ability or courage, and under the double constraints of law and the church, the peasants of medieval Europe were very docile and did not have the risk of peasant revolt at all. Robin Hood's kind of hero of the woods is just a beautiful legend, and there is no record of him in any historical document, and if he did, he would have become the enemy of the entire Christian world, and the Pope would have to jump out against him first.

Then why does the knight have to go out and wander around if he's fine? Friedrich II told Hong Tao the answer, it is not that these knights are idle and have nothing to do, but that going out and wandering around is an essential part of the knight's life. Young knights, in particular, must ride around in jousting tournaments to improve their prestige and meet other noble girls, no one will know you in your own territory, not even a girlfriend. Hong Tao thinks it is very reasonable, in this era, the transportation is inconvenient, and the communication between people cannot be replaced by television, the Internet, and newspapers, so he can only go out by himself.

What is a jousting tournament like? Don't worry, you'll see it right away. The good news for Friedrich II was that he could meet King Louis IX of France without having to go to Paris, and the bad news was that the Pope and Louis were together, and they were in Vernon to watch the biggest jousting of the year, and they were about a mile away.

"Pope! What is he doing here? …… Oh, I see, he's here to plot with Louie how to deal with you. Hey, hey, William, you're in for a big deal. Why don't we go back, I don't really want to see the tournament. As soon as Hong Tao heard that the Pope was also there, he immediately retreated. He didn't want to take this risk, in case Yi Yi really reached some kind of consensus with the pope, and even the emperor took him to arrest him, the emperor didn't dare to execute them, and his pagan would be finished in minutes!

"I'm the emperor, and I'm the same emperor when I get to France, you can't escape me. But don't be afraid, there are many nobles from all over the world who come to participate in the tournament, and the Pope and Louis can only treat me politely, even if I killed his queen before, he can't touch me now. Go, Lord Duke, you are too timid to live up to your name, and you are now the Devil's spokesman. You say that if I reconcile with the Pope and hand you over to the Pope, will he burn you in Rome? Friedrich II grabbed Hong Tao's reins for fear that Hong Tao would turn around and run, but his mouth was still trying to scare people.

"Cut, then I'll expose all the things you did in my cabin, and there are human and material evidence, neither of us can feel good!" Hong Tao really didn't want to join in the fun, but he also understood that the emperor would definitely not turn around and leave, maybe the Duke of Normandy's butler had already sent someone to inform the Duke or King Louis that the emperor was coming, and in this case, it was better to commit suicide directly, it was too embarrassing, and he couldn't get mixed up, and he would be ridiculed by the nobles. Since the emperor dared to get on his own ship and go to the North Sea to explore, he could only take risks, and sometimes he couldn't help himself when dealing with these people.

The history of the Knights' Tournament is more than 100 years old, and its origins are partly due to the promotion of the Church. Christianity opposes all battles aimed at plundering property, and it advocates the spirit of "peace of God" and "divine truce", and not only private fights are evil, but wars between feudal lords are also strictly limited. From this point, we can also see the difference between Europe and ancient China, there is only one imperial power in China, but in Europe there are two emperors, and sometimes their opinions are contradictory, so they will restrain each other, which is also a kind of balance. In the Middle Ages, before the decline of clerical power, there were few large-scale wars in European countries, and the reason for the change of dynasty was often not because of war, but because there was no male heir to the family.

"I will not attack unarmed clergy and monks; I will not attack the peasants, the peasant women, and the merchants, nor steal their money, nor take them for ransom; I will not burn the house unless I find an enemy armed knight or nobleman inside. I will not cut or pluck the grapes of others; I will not attack aristocratic women who travel without their husbands. From the beginning of Lent to the end of Easter, I will not attack an unarmed knight and will not plunder his finances. ”

This is a medieval oath made by knights and nobles to the Church, and in medieval Europe, where oaths were generally regarded as their own lives, once they had made such an oath to God, almost no one would break it. Because they firmly believed in the existence of God, even an emperor who rebelled against the Church like Friedrich II did not dare to deny God Himself, he was only dissatisfied with the Church's nonsense and deception.

(To be continued.) )