More than two hundred pounds of stones tumbled in the air, drawing an arc and falling on the wall of the fortress outside the city of Famagusta. The people watching this scene, whether they were Song people or Eastern Roman mercenaries, couldn't help but hold their breath. The boulder crashed violently against the wall, making a loud noise. The stone wall of the fortress was smashed into a huge hole, into which the boulder rolled and disappeared.

The combined forces besieging the city immediately cheered. And the Da Song personnel in charge of the return cannon immediately shouted: "Don't stop, hurry up and reload!" ”

Not long after, another boulder flew out, this time flying relatively high, and smashed directly on the top of the fortress. With a loud bang, the top of the fortress was smashed through, and all the firing ports of the fortress were spewing out this smoke and dust. This seemingly mistaken bomb seems to be more lethal.

Before the third stone projectile was thrown, someone from the opposite position came out with a white flag held high. It should come out to signify submission.

The mercenaries cheered impatiently with their weapons. According to their agreement with the Song army, these people would receive a large amount of loot. The Eastern Romans had not surrendered the enemy's cities for many years as they did today, and the mercenaries could finally open the meat properly.

The temporary army of the Great Song Dynasty did not expect that they could easily conquer the country by simply erecting a few return cannons on the side of the cities of small European countries. Everyone has heard of the Battle of Xiangyang, which was a battle in which the Zhao Guanjia once led troops to break through the heavy siege of Mongolia and aid the Song army. In order to attack Xiangyang, the Mongol army built hundreds of return artillery. The defenders of Xiangyang still fought against the Mongol army for several years.

According to the original plan, the Song army was to inform the Great Song Embassy in Constantinople of the latest news after the victory of the battle, and everyone decided on the next plan. One of the ships in the already nervous fleet sailed out of the Gulf of Famagusta and headed for Constantinople.

The envoy rushed to the embassy, only to learn that the ambassador was at the garbage disposal plant. The messenger was so excited that he rode a donkey himself and headed straight for the processing plant. Both treatment plants are on the outskirts of the city, and both are large plots of land covering more than 100,000 square meters. When I arrived at the place, I saw that the black slaves were under the command of the Great Song Dynasty personnel, collecting some white substances on the ground. These things mixed with dirt are sent to a special processing room.

The ambassador is in the processing room watching people deal with these white things. The messenger rushed in and told the ambassador, "We are victorious! We're victorious! "Gave the ambassador back.

After a few exchanging words, the ambassador was also overjoyed to learn that the Song army had conquered the city on the island of Cyprus. It's just that the ambassador has a relatively high level of self-cultivation after all, and he quickly retracted his mind to the work in front of him for the time being. Looking at the Great Song personnel who had also cheered, the ambassador said in an impassioned tone: "Everyone, if you want to hold the fortress, you have to rely on artillery. We can't get gunpowder from the Great Song Dynasty, and now we have to rely on ourselves! Do a good job and get our gunpowder together! ”

As long as the reason is reasonable, everyone can accept it. The workers in the processing room said that they would not let everyone down, so they continued to work with excited expressions.

Before the technology of synthetic ammonia, the Chinese were the first to refine saltpeter. So in the early days, saltpeter was also called 'Chinese snow' because the finished product of this thing was a snow-white powder, which looked very beautiful. The principle of saltpeter refining is the combination of nitrate produced by the decomposition of decaying organic matter by nitrifying bacteria and sodium in the soil.

In ancient times, a large amount of urine was poured into the ground, which was unable to grow crops due to the high concentration of ions. Even ordinary bacteria struggle to survive. Only nitrifying bacteria can survive on such 'fat' land, and the decomposed saltpeter forms a white substance on the surface of the land. These substances are hung up, dissolved with plant ash, filtered and then boiled.

Originally, the Great Song Dynasty Mission was thinking about it, and there were no conditions for completion. Now with the supply of the whole of Constantinople, the work of making nitrate can finally be carried out. Moreover, the Great Song Mission did not know that the climate of Constantinople in summer was quite similar to that of 'Chile' in Fusozhou.

The Great Song Dynasty fleet traveled back and forth to Fusangzhou, in addition to getting some crops and gold and silver back from there, one of the big heads was saltpeter mines. The so-called saltpeter mines in Chile are lakes in arid regions. These lakes are constantly replenished by plants and have an adequate supply of heat during the semi-dry period, and the decomposed saltpeter is deposited. As long as the Great Song Dynasty digs and transports it back to China, it is a huge benefit. And the climate in Constantinople is similar on the border, and with raw materials, the Great Song Dynasty is doing very well.

In the case of sulfur, there are sulfur mines transported from the Great Song Dynasty, and there is no shortage of charcoal. On the fifteenth day after the conquest of the island of Cyprus, more than 50,000 catties of black powder were loaded and shipped to Cyprus. There were more than 1,000 people in the Great Song Mission in the Mediterranean plus relevant personnel, and more than 800 people were directly sent this time. After having their own stronghold, everyone still wants to be able to control their own destiny.

When these people escorted supplies and artillery to the conquered city of Famagusta, the people on the side of the Great Song Dynasty were a little stunned. I saw that the people outside the city were digging pits to bury the corpses, and the Orthodox priests were fiercely directing the mercenaries to pull people into some stone houses. There were also tortured dying guys who were dragged out of the house.

"What's going on?" The newcomer hurriedly asked.

"The Orthodox guys are going to convert people here. No, in addition to killing all the local leaders first, he also began to kill the priests here. ”

"This ......," the newcomer couldn't answer at all. At least from the point of view of the morality of the Great Song Dynasty, it is just a matter of religious belief, is it necessary to get so fierce? But everyone was educated and aware of the bloody slaughter and plundering of Constantinople by the Crusaders in the west. If this is not for proselytism, but for revenge, it is understandable.

The news of the transfer of the Great Song delegation and the fleet to the island of Cyprus was also known to the locals, and the Patriarch sent someone to ask if there was anything he could do to help. In the face of such cordial greetings, the ambassador of the Great Song Dynasty resolutely expressed his desire to send the locals who served on the ships of the Great Song Dynasty to the island together with their families.

If you want to hold on to the island, the original people on the island are unreliable, and the mercenaries on the island are not reliable. Reliable only those who have an interest in the Great Song Dynasty. Up to now, there are probably only a few sailors left who worked on the Great Song fleet.

"If your country can inform us about the means to prevent the epidemic, our church can also help." The bishop smiled very elegantly.

What should come will come. At least the Eastern Romans were civilized people, and their ancestors valued personal hygiene. Since Ambassador Da Song didn't want to tell them about the technology of vaccination, he had to talk about some really useful means. The ambassador motioned to the doctor, who said to the bishop: "All merchants who arrive in Constantinople from other places must stay in the quarantine center for three days. If they fall ill and show signs of plague, then they are to be locked down immediately. There must be a source of infection, and if we control the source, we can avoid disasters. ”