Gregor was deeply moved to see Thomas Mann enjoying his bacon soup so much.
Thomas Mann, one of his subjects, had suffered for far too long.
The same applies to the other subjects.
Gregor only ate half full. The more he ate, the more he felt that apart from the bread with honey, which tasted pretty good, the rest of the soup and meat had become increasingly coarse and unpalatable compared to yesterday.
However, everyone ate with great relish.
Even nobles like Ador Salot ate with gusto.
Roasted and boiled meat piled high on the large plate in front of him.
Yesterday, after Gregor kicked his opium addiction, everything he ate tasted like the most delicious food in the world.
Now he understood that it wasn't because it was really delicious, but because he was too hungry.
All kinds of meat, including wild boar and bear meat, were cooked in such large pieces that the salt didn't penetrate the meat properly. The roasted meat was slightly better, but the boiled meat in the pot was overcooked, making it tough and dry with a terrible taste. Furthermore, the chef didn't prepare any dipping sauce.
There are no dipping sauces or saucers for the boiled meat here. Furthermore, besides a knife and fork, there are no chopsticks.
In this world of civilization, the sophistication and deliciousness of food culture cannot compare to that of Earth's civilization. After all, the agrarian era's civilization of cold weapons and the internet-plus-technology era are several levels apart.
Gregor looked at the large wooden dining table: there was no MSG, no ginger, garlic, or cilantro; no soy sauce or vinegar; no salt as fine as sand and as white as snow; no chili peppers; no Pixian chili bean paste or Lao Gan Ma chili sauce. Nevertheless, salt is the king of all flavors; with salt, even boiled meat with a salty sauce would be acceptable. But the salt here contained many grains, and some even had a slightly bitter taste, clearly indicating poor quality and refining technology.
Gregor looked again outside the stone castle gate. It was pitch black. There were the sounds of frogs croaking, insects chirping, and a few tiny fireflies, but no electric lights, no streets, and no cars. There was no cell phone at hand, and no computer in the room.
A very primitive civilized society!
Gregor is somewhat nostalgic for China's new four great inventions: high-speed rail, QR code payment, online shopping, and shared bicycles.
Thinking of the new Four Great Inventions, the old Four Great Inventions come to mind: the compass; this is not difficult to make, we learned it in middle school science class long ago; printing, papermaking, and gunpowder.
Well, a compass can be used to escape, gunpowder can be used for blasting and mining, and it can also be used to kill enemies; as for papermaking and printing, in an era when the White Walkers will soon attack the Seven Kingdoms, in a 'doomsday' era where the lives of all the humans on the continent are uncertain, Gregor has no intention of spending time studying a piece of paper.
No matter what you want to do or what you can accomplish in the future, the first thing is to mine, mine gold, and privately mint golden dragons. The Seven Kingdoms will be in chaos, and Petyr Baelish, the Minister of the Mint, will leave King's Landing and disappear. The law against private minting will be rendered meaningless. This is the worst of times, but it has also created the best opportunity to privately mint golden dragons.
No one in this world has counterfeited money yet, so Gregor decided to be the first. There's a very professional business term for this: blue ocean market.
It doesn't matter if it's a black cat or a white cat, as long as it catches mice, it's a good cat.
Only the golden dragon represents the true truth.
Gregor, a modern man from a more advanced civilization, was no longer content to be a dog for a lord with a small territory and an army of only 30,000 in an agrarian civilization.
Estimating the size of the western border, it's roughly equivalent to an ordinary city in the Chinese civilization. The seven kingdoms aren't large either, stretching only a few thousand miles from north to south, and their combined military strength is only around 300,000.
Gregor recalled the history of China he had learned: the struggle for supremacy among feudal lords, the rise and fall of dynasties, and the frequent battles between armies of millions. All sorts of ingenious schemes and strategies emerged, and fierce generals and strategists battled each other in strength, wisdom, and tactics, vying for control of the Central Plains. Heroes of unparalleled skill could take the head of a general amidst a million-strong army; strategists devised plans and won victories from afar.
In ancient China, a large feudal lord or nobleman could mobilize hundreds or even thousands of men for a brawl, and an army could easily number in the hundreds of thousands. In this world, however, a legion of a thousand men is considered the mark of a great lord. Even a wealthy family like the Saloth, with its gold and silver mines, only has about two thousand warriors in peacetime, and can muster three thousand by mobilizing farmers and miners during wartime. A lord with three thousand warriors is already the strongest among the nobles of the Western Frontier. Even a renowned warrior like Sir Gregor himself, whose territory is small and whose subjects are few—only eleven households.
Gregor was determined to forge his own path and change his predetermined fate. If this world wouldn't ultimately be destroyed by the White Walkers in a few years, then he would let the flowers of Chinese civilization bloom here. If things turned against him, he would take the golden dragon and escape to the other side of the Narrow Sea, heading east without ever looking back.
*
In the morning, a troop of cavalry marched down the Golden Avenue. Leading the group was none other than Alan Salriot, captain of the guard of Alva Salriot, the man who had been frightened to death by Gregor. Beside him, the standard-bearer held a flagpole with both hands, the flag bearing a lifelike peacock in full display, representing the Salriot family of the Silver Hall.
From afar, Polliver spotted the large flag from the rooftops of Fort Criggan.
"Here he comes, Notebook, Salomon is here," Pollifer called out.
The man who was watching Deng Sen teach Julie to practice sword-wielding and turning steps in the courtyard immediately mounted his horse and asked, "How many people have come?"
"About thirty," Pollifer shouted.
The notebook addressed Raft Clegane on the stone steps: "Inform Lord Gregor that Sharlott has arrived."
Raft waved his hand, and Notebook rode out of the courtyard to check the enemy situation.
Deng Sen stopped training Julie, strode into the house, dropped his training sword, put on his armor, wrapped his sword belt around his neck, checked his short sword and steel-dagger, and hung up his longsword. He then went straight to the hall.
Gregor stood in the hall, his imposing greatsword, massive oak shield, and heavy armor hanging on the wall. Sweet-talking Ralph, the cavalryman Thomas Mann, was dressing Lord Gregor in his armor.
Julie Clegane ran in, lifting her skirt, her training sword replaced with a short sword. Gregor noticed that Julie's skirt sash was dragging on the ground.
Gregor found his armor too complicated. His size was too great; the steel plates on the front and back had to be individually fastened and secured, requiring two people to help. The back and shoulder armor also required the assistance of guards, which was cumbersome. If he were ambushed, there wouldn't be time to put on his armor.
There was no other way. In the era of cold weapons, armor was similar to bulletproof vests in previous civilizations. For safety, no matter how heavy and troublesome, one had to wear it.
However, Jolie's dress could be altered to resemble the tight-fitting trousers of Chinese civilization. All the skirt hems could be removed, and the decorative belts at the waist could be discarded, replaced by a specially made sword belt that could hold many weapons.
Julie's sleeves are too wide, which would hinder the clean and crisp movements when practicing martial arts and wielding a sword. If she used tighter sleeves, and fastened them with buttons to her wrists, it would definitely increase the speed of her sword strikes and reduce resistance.
Hmm, let's design a training outfit for Julie first. All baggy styles will be replaced with fitted ones; wide sleeves, floor-length skirts, and decorative belts are all out. She'll wear a stretchy top, a traditional Chinese jacket, and wide-crotch, tight-fitting trousers. Oh, right, traditional Chinese jackets don't exist in this world yet.
Gregor stared intently at Julie. In his eyes, Julie had transformed into a petite woman dressed in the sleek and simple training clothes he had designed, exuding the aura of a technologically advanced era. Clean, neat, and well-tailored. Every gesture, turn, leap, advance, retreat, and dodge was unhindered and burdened by any straps or skirts, minimizing the resistance and inconvenience caused by skirts during movement.
Julie thrust her dagger toward Gregor's eyes: "Hey, what are you looking at!"
Both Ma Bing Thomasman and Sweet-Talking Ralph were taken aback.
They feared Gregor's wrath.
Gregor remained expressionless. He didn't understand why Julie wasn't afraid of him at all, given his infamy. He guessed it was related to the misfortunes Julie had suffered; perhaps the little girl's soul and heart had died several times over.
She might not be afraid of death at all, or she might have already considered herself dead and think that being alive is already a bonus!
In short, Julie is not a 'normal' little girl.
"We can't let this little girl, who's not afraid of him at all, take advantage of us," Gregor said in a cold, indifferent voice. "Julie! Dunson! Bring Sir Ador Sharott out of the dungeon."
"Yes, sir," Deng Sen and Julie said in unison.
Dunsen walked in front, and Julie followed behind. As they exited through the gate, Julie turned back and winked Gregor with her right eye.