living in 16th century england

Chapter 6 The Pampered Matthew

The blacksmith shop seems to have nothing to say, at least it is profitable.

However, just when Matthew was about to say something.The blacksmith had something to say, and he was about to quit.

This half-dead... Matthew was not surprised, but he still asked, "Can you tell me the reason?"

Blacksmith: "At the beginning, it was agreed to focus on weapons and swords, but now I am working on shovels and hoes all day long. I even feel that my craftsmanship has regressed..."

At the beginning of the 16th century, blacksmiths were definitely high-tech talents, and there were not a few famous and wealthy weaponsmiths.

The upper limit of this profession is also very high, at least the lower limit does not need to carry a big bag.

No matter what the book says about the history of Western ironware.In the 14th century Edward III's treasure list, iron cooking implements are listed impressively.

In other words, if you have an iron pot, at least in terms of "treasures", you can't lose to Edward III.If there are still a few spoons, it's terrible, he can only bow down to you.

Matthew didn't stop the resignation request of the core talents, anyway, the few apprentices of the agricultural tools could handle it.However, it is a pity to let talents leave.

So he threw out a bait: "I'm very sorry to hear this news, but I will not stop you by force. As I said, you are free to come and go. I originally wanted to ask a technical question today, but it seems that I can only find someone else gone."

technical problem?The blacksmith came interested.He still has a good impression of the young master of the Hawkins family.

"What is it?...I haven't left yet, I just said my thoughts."

Matthew smiled inwardly, and said with a blank expression: "Next year, I plan to expand the scale of the blacksmith shop so that it can produce cast iron shells. I want to ask some questions about cast iron... You know, many captains will buy some spares now."

Cast iron shells appeared in the 15th century, but at this time countries still used stone shells in large quantities.Compared with stone cannonballs, cast iron cannonballs are much easier to manufacture.

Cast iron is two to three times denser than stone.Therefore, under the same volume, the impact force can be imagined.

But if you think about it with your knees, you will know how much work it takes to make the stone round, and the cost is actually not low.

Cast iron requires at least a special furnace to melt a certain composition of iron into molten iron, and then pour the molten iron into a special mold to cool and shape it.Open the model, clean and polish the corners and burrs, and you're done with a round cast iron shell.

It can be seen that this is different from the process of making swords with iron materials, and cannot be regarded as the same type of work.Whether this one understands or not is still doubtful.

Scale up?Cast iron shells?
The blacksmith coughed: "Mr. Hawkins, you know, I am from Sussex, which is the first place in England to master the technology of cast iron cannonballs. I started as an apprentice by trimming cast iron cannonballs, although I have never presided over the work , but I know the entire production process like the back of my hand.”

Sure enough, technical talents are easier to get, as long as he is happy with Lie Xin.Have you never eaten pork but only seen pigs running?No problem, better than a pig you haven't even seen.Besides, Matthew really doesn't think this thing has much technical content.

He smiled and said, "So, you don't plan to resign?"

The blacksmith stuck his neck: "Yes, but I insist that the production of swords cannot be given up. On the contrary, the production of farm tools and plows should be separated from these. When customers see these exquisite swords, they suddenly find a pile of farm tools over there. What a good review."

Not bad, actually know consumer psychology.Matthew never felt that these things were advanced.After all, the vision is different.Due to conceptual problems, he even felt that farm tools were more important.

Blacksmiths are hired, unlike distilleries.But more than a year has been able to see a person's disposition.

It has to be tied tight.

Matthew: "Are you still single?"

The reason why the blacksmith is far away from home is firstly because he is the second son, and secondly because his wife died of illness and has no children yet.The third is that the Hawkins family is willing to pay for employment.

"I want to introduce you to a marriage. You have lost your wife, and some women in the Hawkins family have lost their husbands. As long as you agree, someone will talk to you."

"First of all, maybe it's one of my cousins ​​or a little further away."

It's not Matthew's idea, it's the usual practice in this day and age, and direct.

I want to marry you, do you agree?
As for women, unless they have enough wealth and "freedom", their marriage is decided by their parents.But it also depends on whether the woman's family has a strong family relationship.Many parents also ask their daughters for advice.

Some religious people pointed out..."A woman's chastity is not controlled by herself but by the elders headed by her father, so she cannot be allowed to decide on her own marriage"...

As for why Matthew can decide a widow's marriage?It's very simple, in a world where even queens can remarry within half a year, the concept of marriage is different from modern times.

Good news for the Hawkins widow.Blacksmiths belong to the high-paying class, and it is not difficult at all to continue.

Usually widows are happy to find another man.Things like eating out of households are not limited to the East.Without the protection of men, women will only have a hard time surviving.

Not "life", life is hard.

So it's not that people are ruthless, but that the world is ruthless.

Matthew once heard a story: A young fisherman was fishing in the sea, and when a storm came, he drove home in a small fishing boat.Not far from home, however, the boat capsized.

His wife watched her husband drown on the shore.In grief, she also jumped into the sea and died.

In this day and age, death is often a relief.But no matter how fragile the oath is, it is much better than being helpless.

The blacksmith immediately agreed.The previous resignation was inherently risky, and the ghost knows what will happen if you refuse this.Although this young master is nice, his father is not a good person.

"I don't want to forcibly stop you" is not a pretentious empty phrase.It's just "don't want to".

Besides, he didn't want to say no.The Hawkins family is a nice big tree.

Then Matthew took out a piece of parchment from his arms: "This is a design drawing I got by accident, you can try to build it if you have nothing to do."

On the parchment is a slender long sword with a gorgeous gauntlet. The blacksmith is illiterate, but he can recognize numbers.

"Blade length... 44 inches?"

Matthew shrugged: "Maybe a little longer, maybe a little shorter, you can figure it out."

The blacksmith smiled and said, "This sword looks... gorgeous. Who designed it? Is the gauntlet too complicated?"

Matthew shrugged: "Only if you are gorgeous can you sell for a good price. Simple may be more practical. You can figure it out."

The blacksmith is already in the mood: "Can I get some decorations on it. I even have a pattern in mind."

Matthew: "You can figure it out, I think...uh..."

The blacksmith ignored him, turned around and started picking iron materials.

Matthew is very tolerant of those who can concentrate on their work.After leaving the blacksmith shop, he was going to sit in the tavern.

Suddenly the blacksmith shouted: "Master, this weapon's center of gravity is too far behind, and the front end is too slender, so it has almost no armor-piercing ability. Are you sure the blueprint is okay?"

Matthew laughed: "Don't worry, it's a decoration."

The blacksmith wondered: "Watt!? Ornament? ... Well, can I have a gold coin? ... It is more appropriate to decorate it with gold."

Matthew took out a gold coin, raised his hand and threw it over.

The blacksmith caught it, but walked over again: "There is one more thing."

Matthew: "What?"

The blacksmith was a little embarrassed: "It's so unique, can I name it?"

Matthew thought for a while: "Are you sure there is no such sword in the world?"

Blacksmith: "It's a bit like an Italian rapier, but I'm sure there are no such long swords in Europe."

Matthew said with a smile: "Maybe it's a waste, it's useless at all. What if it becomes a joke?"

Blacksmith: "No, it won't."

He raised the iron material in his hand, as if he already had a long sword in his hand: "I imagined a lot of one-handed weapons just now, but none of them should have an advantage in front of this long sword."

It's just the name, Matthew doesn't care: "It's up to you, you can figure it out."

The blacksmith was overjoyed, and then it happened again.

"This iron material is not suitable for it. I think better material should be used. It may be better to use the one produced in Toledo."

Matthew finally couldn't help it: "You can figure it out, as long as the cost is not too outrageous... I suggest you use this to practice your hands first."

Away from the busy blacksmith, Matthew is going to the tavern to meet the master of swordsmanship.

This is not a tavern specifically, but a tavern was a rare place where nobles, businessmen, scholars, workers, sailors and other social classes gathered in the long period from the European Middle Ages to the 19th century, and it is a public space.

In the early 16th century, spirits were out of reach for ordinary people in England.All kinds of spirits in the church are only aimed at the rich and wealthy in the upper class, in order to obtain the maximum profit.Whiskey even the king of Scotland is reluctant to drink more, and there are only a few pubs in England that sell spirits.

However, Matthew didn't want to drink any alcohol in this tavern. He brought his own beer and glasses.

Because he really can't drink, and he doesn't want to use those surprisingly dirty "drinking utensils".Glasses were still a luxury item at this time.Many cups are carved from wood, so they cannot be cleaned naturally.

What makes him even more unbearable is that the same glass of wine may be "enjoyed" by several people, who may not even know each other.No matter how careless Matthew is, he can only keep a respectful distance.

Rejecting people thousands of miles away became his only choice.If there is a choice, he doesn't want to enter this ghost place at all.

The spoiled and spoiled son of Andrew's family, who is dressed in strange clothes and has a weird personality.It was him.

(End of this chapter)