CHAPTER 9 Strength in Numbers
When Zimmermann heard that his eldest and second sons were going to follow a knight as squires, he hurried back. Upon seeing how young Marin was, he couldn't help but have some doubts.
However, the strict social hierarchy of medieval Europe meant that he dared not voice any objections. Moreover, someone was willing to take on his eldest son, who had a large appetite, which made him somewhat pleased. He only hoped that this young knight wouldn't be bankrupted by his eldest son's eating habits. Otherwise, his eldest son might be dismissed again.
After the two sides reached an agreement, Marin naturally planned to have Kahn carry the heavy plate armor, lance, and horse armor (although it was made of wood), making things easier for himself and his horse.
However, despite Kahn's strength, carrying dozens of pounds of gear constantly was quite burdensome. At the moment, Marin couldn't afford to buy pack horses for Kahn and Kohler, and the cost of keeping horses was also high. So, after some thought, Marin decided to have Zimmermann, who was skilled in carpentry, make a wheelbarrow for him.
Why choose a wheelbarrow? It wasn't just because a wheelbarrow could carry goods. When it comes to carrying goods, a two-wheeled cart can hold more. However, two-wheeled carts have a drawback—they don't handle complex terrain well.
A wheelbarrow, on the other hand, can ignore terrain issues and can easily navigate mountain paths. Since there were many mountain roads from southern Germany to Vienna in Austria, an all-terrain wheelbarrow was more suitable than a two-wheeled cart.
Marin and Zimmermann returned to town and went to the carpenter's shop where Zimmermann worked to start building the wheelbarrow.
Although Europe also had wheelbarrows, the wheels were positioned at the front, making it harder to lift the cart, which limited the load capacity. The wheelbarrow that Marin instructed Zimmermann to build was modeled after the Chinese-style wheelbarrow. In the Chinese design, the wheel is in the center, so most of the load is borne by the wheel, making it easier for the person pushing it. A European-style wheelbarrow might carry the weight of two or three people, but a Chinese-style wheelbarrow could carry the weight of six people, making it much more efficient and easier to use.
After the Chinese-style wheelbarrow was built, Marin loaded the armor, lance, and horse armor onto it. The 70-80 pounds of weight didn't seem to bother Kahn at all.
Kahn was naturally strong and accustomed to long walks (a necessity in the Middle Ages, as the poor could not afford carriages and had to walk everywhere). So, pushing the wheelbarrow was easy for him. Sometimes, when his younger brother Kohler was tired, Kahn would let him rest on the wheelbarrow while he continued to push it, following Marin who rode on horseback.
Marin felt much more at ease, as did his horse, Karl, who seemed ready to gallop if not for Marin controlling the speed.
Kahn had a big appetite and ate at least 6 pounds of food daily (mainly normal black bread without dirt or wood shavings) and some vegetables, occasionally eating some meat, which cost about 10 Pfennigs daily. Marin didn't have much money, so he stayed in low-end inns with Kahn and Kohler. If the room was big enough, he would let them sleep on the floor. If it was small, Kahn and Kohler would share a room, and Marin would have a room to himself.
Marin wasn't satisfied with the dirty blankets provided by inns of this era, so he bought himself a new goose-down quilt (as cotton was not available in Europe at the time). He carried it in a waterproof pigskin bag, stored it in Kahn's wheelbarrow, and used it whenever they stayed at an inn. Kahn and Kohler, being products of the medieval world, didn't mind the dirty blankets and had no issues with Marin's insistence that they bathe regularly. Eventually, they got used to being clean and free of lice, although it was quite an adjustment since they had been used to being dirty.
With two extra mouths to feed, one of whom had a voracious appetite, Marin decided to restart his hunting activities.
Marin's plan was simple. The journey from the town to the depths of the Black Forest was quite far. Traveling on foot would be exhausting, and time would be short. If night fell while they were still in the forest, they might be attacked by wolves.
So, Marin decided to leave Kahn at the inn to watch over his armor and lance, while he took his bow and arrows and rode with Kohler to the depths of the Black Forest.
Kohler, still a 15-year-old boy, was small and weighed only about 70-80 pounds. Riding with Marin was not much different from Marin being fully armored and armed, and Karl, the warhorse, could easily bear the weight for a certain period.
If Marin had ridden with Kahn, the sturdy horse would have struggled.
Upon reaching the depths of the Black Forest, Marin dismounted and had Kohler lead the horse while he quietly approached a herd of deer with his bow and arrows.
Using the tall grass in the forest as cover, Marin successfully got within 30 meters of a herd of red deer. He drew his bow and shot a strong stag, but missed the other fleeing deer.
Still, Marin wasn't discouraged. Getting a large stag was already lucky. He also managed to shoot two wild hares.
By midday, Marin tied up the deer and hare carcasses and placed them on the horse. He and Kohler then walked back to the inn, leading the horse.
At the inn, Marin had the cook roast the two fat hares. Kahn ate an entire large hare by himself, while Marin and Kohler shared the slightly smaller one.
The next morning, Marin had Kahn use the wheelbarrow to push the deer carcass into the nearest city to sell it.
This deer was smaller than the one Marin had previously caught, and its hide was slightly damaged by the arrow, so he only got 800 Pfennigs for it, but he was still pleased.
Seeing how easily Marin made money, Kahn was eager to try hunting himself. The next day, at Kahn's request, Marin left his armor and lance in the innkeeper's care and took Kahn and Kohler back to the Black Forest. Due to the limitations of the horse's load capacity, they couldn't go very deep into the forest. However, they were lucky enough to encounter some prey.
Kahn thought shooting deer with a bow would be easy, so Marin handed him the bow without comment, letting him try.
As expected, Kahn had no talent for archery and missed every shot, failing to hit even a single deer hair after shooting 30 arrows.
Kohler also tried but couldn't hit anything either, although he was more accurate than Kahn.
Shooting a bow, especially at a deer 30-40 meters away, requires skill. While someone might be able to hit a target 10 meters away with practice, shooting a wild animal from such a distance is much harder. And wild animals, being highly alert, wouldn't let anyone get within 10 meters. It's challenging for a novice to hunt with a bow. Crossbows are easier to aim at, but many places in medieval Europe banned them. Even though the ban was less strictly enforced in the 15th century, it was still difficult for ordinary people to obtain crossbows, as the nobility feared they might be used for assassination. Only the military was allowed to use crossbows. Ordinary people owning crossbows could be accused of planning to assassinate nobles.
After their failed attempts, Kahn and Kohler had to admit that Marin's archery skills were impressive, and were in awe of his prowess as a knight.
In reality, Marin's archery had nothing to do with being a knight. He had honed his skills in his previous life by practicing in the mountains behind his home. Most European knights wouldn't waste their time on archery practice. Only countries like England, knowing they couldn't compete with France in terms of knights, developed longbowmen.
On the European continent, only experienced hunters mastered archery, and with the advent of the matchlock gun, many hunters who kept up with the times switched to firearms, abandoning the difficult art of archery.
After giving up on archery, Marin resumed his hunting activities. Kohler, being smart, suggested that after Marin made his first shot, Kahn, who was good at running, should appear from a specific direction to drive the deer toward Marin's ambush. This way, Marin could get a second shot. Previously, after killing the first deer, the rest would simply flee.
Marin agreed to the suggestion and had Kahn pre-position himself on the opposite side of the deer herd. After Marin's first arrow was fired, Kahn would suddenly appear and drive the deer toward Marin's ambush.
Their first attempt wasn't very successful because Kahn drove the deer in the wrong direction. But after a few tries, Kahn got the hang of it, even using thrown stones to correct the deer's path when they veered off course.
Marin discovered that while Kahn wasn't good at archery, he was quite accurate with stones. Soon, the deer, after being startled by the first shot, ran toward Marin's ambush.
Facing the oncoming deer, Marin drew his bow and killed another one. The deer hesitated, realizing they had run into a trap, and started to change direction. However, the momentary pause in their flight allowed Marin to shoot another one.
In the end, after working together for half a day, the three of them managed to kill three deer.
The first attempt at cooperation was not very successful because Kahn drove the deer herd in the wrong direction. However, after several attempts, Kahn gradually mastered the technique of herding the deer. He even used stones to correct the direction when the herd strayed from the intended path.
Marin noticed that Kahn wasn't good at archery, but his stone-throwing accuracy was decent. After the first successful shot, the herd indeed ran toward Marin's ambush spot.
When Marin faced the approaching deer, he quickly drew his bow and took down another one. The deer, realizing too late that they were running into a trap, tried to change direction and flee.
However, stopping suddenly and changing direction takes time, especially for deer, whose brains react more slowly than humans. In that moment of hesitation, Marin seized the opportunity and shot another deer.
By the end of the day, the three of them had managed to hunt down three deer through their teamwork.
"Indeed, teamwork is powerful. What's that saying? Many hands make light work!" Marin thought with great satisfaction.
Thinking back to when he used to worry about his warhorse being stolen during hunts, he realized how much more efficient things had become. Now, Koehler looked after the horses, while Kahn helped drive the prey, greatly increasing their efficiency.
The next day, Marin took the three deer back to the town and sold them for 1,900 pennies, which was quite a considerable sum. At least, it was enough to support Kahn, who ate a lot, and young Koehler.
Afterward, considering that Kohler wasn't very strong and tired easily from long walks, Marin spent 1,000 pennies to buy a half-grown calf and outfitted it with a saddle for Kohler to ride.
Cows are different from horses. Horses are more delicate and require regular feed, while cows can usually just graze. Only during heavy labor, like plowing, do they need additional food.
Raising cows is much cheaper than raising horses. This was one of the main reasons why ancient Chinese farmers preferred to use oxen for plowing rather than horses.
Marin decided to buy a cow for Kohler mainly because of the lower cost. His own warhorse cost him ten pennies a day to maintain. Buying another horse would have significantly increased his expenses, so a cow was the best choice.
The calf Marin bought for Kohler initially had a stubborn temperament and refused to be controlled. Marin got it drunk with strong liquor and then put a copper ring through its nose, which immediately made it obedient.
From then on, Marin would usually leave his equipment at the inn and, together with Kahn and Kohler, head into the depths of the Black Forest on horseback and with the cow. The routine was that Marin and Kohler rode the horse, while Kahn rode the cow. When they reached the hunting grounds, Kohler would watch over the horse and cow, while Kahn assisted Marin with the hunt.
In this way, the three-person team wreaked havoc in the Black Forest, hunting many animals and earning a good amount of money. By the time they reached the banks of the Danube River in the eastern part of the Black Forest, Marin had earned over 100 marks from selling the game and had converted most of it into gold coins.