Chapter 15

The last eight years have been mostly peaceful. Shortly after we annexed Flanders and Holland to Normandy, the Duchies of Brabant, Luxemburg, and Brittany sought permission to join what has become known as The Kings’ Council, even though many of the participants are Counts and Dukes. Upon receiving unanimous permission to join, Brabant and Luxemburg immediately withdrew from the Holy Roman Empire or “The Empire” as they preferred. There were threats by the Empire of trade embargos against the two Duchies, but they were sure the trading partnership with the Kings’ Council members would be the better one if forced to choose. It never came to that.

Several months later, Burgundy shocked the Empire as first the County and then the Duchy of Burgundy received permission to join the Council and withdrew from the Empire, causing a huge uproar from the remainder of the Empire. The Pope sent a personal envoy to each member of The Kings’ Council complaining that I held too much power, suggesting that I was trying to form an empire to rival the Holy Roman Empire. The Pope’s envoy couldn’t understand why every one of the members burst into laughter at the suggestion.

Two months after that, another Papal envoy attended The Kings’ Council, producing a document signed by the Pope himself demanding that I lead a Crusade to the Holy Land in the name of the Church to disprove allegations that I was a heretic practicing the dark arts. If I succeeded, he promised me the Crown of the Holy Roman Empire. With everyone else in the room laughing hysterically, I refused. “I have never attacked anyone who did not first attack either me or an ally and have no intention of starting now. Besides, I have no desire to ever wear a crown, and pray every night that my King lives a long and healthy life so that I don’t have to wear his crown for even a day,” I explained angrily.

“Then the Pope will have no choice but to issue a decree that you are to be brought to Rome by whatever means necessary to be tried as a heretic,” he threatened sternly.

“Then you may consider us at war. My troops will invade and level Rome, killing the Pope and every priest, bishop, and cardinal we can find before laying waste to what remains of the Empire until nothing is left but smoldering ruins and dead bodies,” I countered furiously.

“Call every man in Lancaster, York, and Normandy to arms immediately. I want an army of 250,000 men ready to march on Rome in a week,” I ordered the guards at the door.

“I can add 100,000 men,” King Eric interjected.

“I’ll have another 200,000 men ready,” King Edward added. The rest of them pledged another 500,000 men while the envoy continued to get paler.

“I will tell the Pope that such an action is not advisable,” the envoy promised nervously, heading rapidly for the door, hoping to escape.

“Change those orders,” I told the confused guard. “I want every one of my nobles notified to be ready to arm every man at their disposal and to have them ready immediately if called upon,” I said before the door closed.

“And have Ru prepare everything he possibly can,” I added to a different page after the door closed.

The poor envoy must have personally helped row his ship back to Rome because it was barely four weeks later that another messenger arrived, promising that the Pope would not be issuing any such decrees and that the previous messenger had made the threat on his own, without permission. I knew better than that. No envoy would dare make such an extemporaneous threat in the name of the Pope, and I still had the signed proclamation in my possession, complete with a Papal seal.

I’m glad that we kept the archbishop’s gaudy carriage. We keep it near the harbor, ready to use at a moment’s notice and have built three others that are very similar. When visiting nobles arrive via ship, they usually prefer to ride a horse to the castle from the docks, but the Queens, Duchesses, and other noblewomen accompanying them frequently enjoy the ride in the carriage. Some of the noblewomen, however, have shocked their subjects and have taken up riding a horse alongside their husbands, a little something they apparently picked up from my wives.

Unofficially referred to simply as “Rouen” or “GRTC” and officially as Grand Rouen Trading Company, we are now the most influential trading force in Europe and the Mediterranean. The port of Ronne on Bornholm is now the most visited and most influential in the Baltic. We extended the breakwater well offshore to accommodate the increasing number of ships buying and selling trade goods there and continue to expand the port and facilities. The port is currently four times the size it was when Bornholm became part of Normandy. The town is five times the size it was then, and every major trading company has at least one warehouse there; most have more. When weather permits, they are digging a new basin in the harbor and dredging the shallower sections to make them deep enough for more ships.

Even though it is still under construction, as is Rouen, New Aragon has quickly become the most important Atlantic port in Europe, serving as a transfer point from the bigger ocean-going vessels to smaller ones designed to navigate the Seine to Rouen and Paris. The original shipbuilding facility planned for New Aragon was inadequate even before it was finished. A second has been finished and a third is nearly complete. A fourth is well underway, with each successive facility larger than the previous.

Their fishing fleet has grown even faster than the city. Taking a cue from Rouen, New Aragon includes icehouses as they build up the city. Their icehouses are underground near the port facilities as well as beneath a considerable portion of the commercial district of the city. From the time the first ice forms in the winter until the spring thaw, farmers inland with no other way to earn a living during the winter cut blocks of ice to sell, filling the massive vaults of the icehouses. Boats delivering fish and other goods upriver in the winter return from Rouen with any extra space filled with blocks of ice. During the coldest months, dozens of cargo wagons full of ice arrive daily from nearby towns and villages. Once the weather warms up, fishing ships take some of the ice with them to keep their catch fresh, but most of the ice is used by larger ships taking part of their catch to distant ports.

Rouen has become the political, cultural, and trade center of Europe. The actual city of Rouen has grown much larger than even my original optimistic plan. The entire oxbow across the river, now fully enclosed by levees, is planted in orchards, grains, and other crops to feed the burgeoning population of the city, as well as to sell. On his many trips to the Arab world and beyond, Baha searches for new foods for us. He has brought back seeds and cuttings for dozens of varieties of fruits and vegetables. Many won’t grow here, but many more do. Besides the miles of apple and pear orchards, we are planting the hills to the north of us with thousands of acres of peach, apricot, plum, and cherry trees Baha brought from Persia and other places. Nearly every one of his trips includes at least one new variety of fruit, vegetable, grain, or herb, as well as different domesticated animals. He’s brought slaves from all over the area who are knowledgeable in herbs, bringing seeds and samples of the herbs with them. I was thankful that he decided against bringing an elephant from India as one of the many new domestic animals he’s brought back.

While rice does not grow as well here as in other places, we still have a sizeable rice harvest every year to accommodate our rapidly growing Chinese and Hindu populations. Exotic vegetables of every shape and color dot the landscape and are picked and shipped along with our fruit harvest to other ports in Europe.

Proving my initial concern unfounded, Baha has proven himself repeatedly, returning with tons of Indian Wootz steel on his first trade expedition. I was surprised when the first shipment arrived only two months after he departed. The message he sent with it explained that he was able to purchase a large quantity in Damascus before proceeding to India. He also sent back two slaves he’d purchased who knew how to forge blades with it.

I’d mistakenly thought that his trip would take more than a year each way via horse, having no idea that the Chinese had regular sea routes all the way to Ethiopia and every major port between the two. The Arabs sailed from Indian ports to the east coast of Africa. Baha went (by horse and by boat) from Damascus to Cairo, then overland to the Red Sea where he caught a ship to Madras, India. After buying all the Wootz steel available in the port, he traveled across southern India on horseback buying all the Wootz steel ingots he could get his hands on and contracting for even more.

Realizing that I’d given him far more money than he would need, he also bought a number of other things he was sure we’d enjoy, knowing that they would be easy to sell at a substantial profit if I didn’t want them. He bought pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, rice, sweet salt (sugar), silk in many assorted colors, and ivory, along with nearly two hundred different books, although the books were in Hindu. Most importantly, he picked up a dozen Indian master swordsmiths, all experienced at working with Wootz steel.

With food scarce in India due to a protracted famine, the chance to save their families drove the men to agree to leave their current homes for a distant country, the promise of a better life, and new homes. Word of our prosperity, fairness of our laws, and openness to different cultures and religions had spread everywhere Baha and Pease visited, and helped many of those families decide to join us. With more than fifty swordsmiths to choose from, he chose only the absolute best. Mindful that the Chinese had needed interpreters, he found four men who could function as interpreters from Hindu to Arabic who were willing to relocate with their families to Rouen. They would also be able to translate the books he bought into Arabic so they could be further translated from Arabic to English. He brought back more silk thread than I’d ever seen in one place before, easily enough to last us two or three years.

When he got back to Egypt, he added bolts of material made from Egyptian cotton, more ivory, seeds for a sweet melon, and several other new fruits and vegetables for us to try to grow here. He also found over three hundred books and manuscripts in Arabic to add to our growing book collection and another six men who could interpret from Arabic to English to act as interpreters or to translate books into English.

Almost exactly six months from the day he left, Baha returned. Nervous about my reaction to his extemporaneous purchases, he came directly to the castle to find me and to explain. His purchases and the people he brought back excited me, and I made him my official purchasing agent for the Arab world and beyond. Pease was excited to have a contact who could deal directly with Persia and India, rather than having to deal through intermediaries who always raised the price.

Since then, our quickly growing number of swordsmiths made Damascus steel swords and knives for the Demons. When those were done, production began in earnest on swords for the Iberian cavalry. We brought blacksmiths from all over to help, and assigned more than two hundred boys from among the Holland slaves to begin an apprenticeship with the blacksmiths. A couple of blacksmiths who were master craftsmen made special hilts for a large number of the swords, many specially engraved with the coat of arms of The Kings’ Council member they were meant for and bearing seven small gemstones to represent the original seven Kings who founded the Council. The extra hilts that weren’t yet engraved were kept in readiness in case anyone else joined the Council.

I also agreed to Baha’s proposal to start a University, one that has grown rapidly in the ensuing years and is quickly becoming the most prestigious University in Europe and beyond. We currently have seventeen princes and princesses attending as well as over a hundred sons and daughters of Earls, Counts, and Dukes. What they pay each year for board and instruction helps offset most of the University’s operating cost. The rest is covered by the churches in Rouen. Part of the responsibility of the churches is to see to the welfare of widows and orphans. Since there are practically no orphans or widows, they have quite an excess cash flow each year and have opened schools, two large hospitals, and they jointly oversee the operation of the University even though it is largely secular.

In the meantime, Ru and Rolt have been busy. They tried grenades made in small iron pots since we don’t have the bamboo they use in China, although we have planted an area with bamboo that Baha brought back. Both men laughed when the lid from one of those pots was blasted high into the air and not found for days. That started them thinking about replacing the bamboo tubes the Chinese used with iron ones.

It took the better part of a year of experimentation before they found a design they were happy with, and another year before they felt it was ready to use. Once they thoroughly tested and were satisfied with their cannon, they made one from Wootz steel. Then the cannon was twice tempered. The first time it was heated and dropped into water to cool. That made the steel strong, but brittle. The second tempering was atop a specially made, thick steel plate that graced the foundry, and the cannon was cooled slowly. That made the cannon retain its hardness, but not the brittleness.

After a few more months of testing and trying to find ways to make the cannon more accurate, Ru suggested pre-measuring the powder for each shot and wrapping it in the coarse paper we produced. We had begun making both coarse and fine white paper from the bark of the paper mulberry trees now covering several slopes near Ru’s gunpowder works, as well as several other places. With the amount of powder carefully pre-measured and with the paper acting as wadding, the shot traveled farther, and the aim was much more accurate.

In addition to round iron balls, they use a wide range of smaller projectiles including gravel and the small, jagged chunks of slag left from smelting ore. Eventually, they began wrapping those in paper, too, to keep the weight of each round consistent. It also made loading the cannon faster and easier, and the small pieces didn’t fall out of the cannon mouth if it were angled down slightly, like when it was fired from a rise down onto approaching troops.

Finally, they made a sturdy sled for the cannon designed to be pulled behind a horse across snow and mud, and sand we eventually discovered. Sturdy wheels could be added to the sled to use on roads. Once they were satisfied, they began making dozens of cannons. We again remodeled the walls around the inner city with square towers added along the inside of the walls to provide a large enough space to put a cannon, powder, and ammunition. More powder and ammunition were stored inside the lower part of the tower, raised up to the firing platform in a small hoist operated by men using a rope and pulley.

News of my refusal to lead a Crusade and of the Pope’s attempted threat (he continues to deny it vehemently) spread through town. From there, it spread to the rest of Europe. I got an idea of how far it had spread when Baha asked about it after getting back from another purchasing expedition. Evidently, Al-Nasr Muhammad, the Mameluk Sultan in Egypt, heard about it and sent for Baha asking him to explain. I reiterated the conversation to Baha, explaining that the Pope was upset about his Empire slowly falling apart and joining The Kings’ Council.

Even Baha laughed knowingly when I told him they offered me the Crown of the Holy Roman Empire. He left a few days later (I think he was still laughing) on his next excursion, stopping first in Cairo to see the Sultan to explain the details of my refusal before continuing on his way to meet the captain of a Chinese ship. The captain wanted to get his family out of China ahead of the continuing Mongol advance and heard about Baha taking several groups of Chinese expatriates to safety. When Baha agreed to take his family to this new country, the captain left to collect his relatives. Baha asked him to bring seeds for every unique herb, fruit, and vegetable they could acquire seeds for, and to see if they could entice a Chinese herbalist, and one or more swordsmiths from Japan to join them.

Knowing the man to be honest, Baha gave him about £6,000 worth of silver, since silver was the preferred currency in the Orient. Evidently, the captain would have to buy a swordsmith and his family from his contact in Japan.

Baha continued to send back a steady stream of Hindu refugees, as families across India sold daughters and sons so they could afford food for the rest of the family, or increasingly, even indentured their entire family for the trip to a land promising plenty to eat and plenty of work for everyone. Our entire grain surplus was ending up in Kakatiya (the southern two-thirds of modern India), and the price we got there was more than double what we got anywhere in Europe or the Mediterranean. Baha used the profits to buy more Wootz steel, silk, spices, mahogany, ivory, and other valuable trade items.

Considering how much money we made when Pease sold Baha’s purchases to the rest of Europe, I considered his giving the money to the Chinese Captain, Xun, to be well worth the gamble if he could get one of the swordsmiths from Japan.

Grand Rouen Trading Company was quickly gaining a reputation for the quantity and quality of goods we sold. Dishonesty and deception were not tolerated in our ports. Anyone found to be dishonest was fined or forced to be a slave for a year for the first offense and permanently barred from our ports for the second--after being fined and forced to spend two years as a slave. Baha and Pease had agents in each of our major ports and in every major foreign port to take requests from customers for the goods they wanted to buy. Those requests would be forwarded to the port most likely to have the items. Frequently Baha would send twenty or more fully loaded ships back to our ports on his return from one of his trips.

Pirates now avoided our ships. Since losing our first ship to pirates, each of our ships carries five archers, easily enough to protect the ship from raiders. In addition, we found and destroyed the particular haven of the pirates who had taken our ship, salvaging four additional ships and their cargo. Any time there are complaints of pirates in a specific area, we send our troops on a cargo ship under another country’s flag inviting an attack. When they attack, we then raid that pirate’s enclave. We have gained dozens of ships and made hundreds of pirates our slaves that way and overall reports of piracy have diminished markedly.

On one especially memorable trip home, Baha returned with quite a surprise. Now aware of me standing up to the Pope, and in an effort to solidify relations between us, Al-Nasir Muhammad, the Sultan of Egypt, sent his nephew Anuk, hoping that we would allow him to attend the University here. Baha introduced Anuk, explaining that Anuk had learned English, understood our culture was different (especially the way our women were treated), and hoped to learn more about us and about our culture in addition to what he learned at the University.

To sweeten the deal, Sultan Al-Nasr Muhammad sent a gift of a beautifully jeweled Moor sword, ten beautiful female slaves, twenty-five male slaves, and a ship full of cotton cloth in addition to the standard cost of tuition and boarding. Having only recently discovered cotton cloth, it had quickly become my favorite and I had begun outfitting my soldiers with cotton uniforms, since they were so much more comfortable than wool or linen.

I graciously thanked Anuk for the gifts from his uncle and told him he was welcome to attend the University. When he and Baha left, I was left staring at the rest of my gift. Aside from the fact that the women were stunningly beautiful and nearly naked, they were all as tall as or taller than I was and were all black. I’d heard of the black people from lower Africa but had never seen one before. I sent for Antoinette or Gisela to translate and told the messenger that the rest of my wives might want to come see the gift the Sultan sent me. I also requested to have food and beverages delivered for the thirty-five slaves, not sure when they last had a chance to eat.