Chapter 273 Conrad: The pot fell from the sky
Unlike the previous royal families in Jerusalem who had difficulty in having heirs, the Lusignan family had an advantage that other families could not match - having many children and grandchildren.
Guy himself had four daughters, and Guy's brothers totaled six.
Moreover, these seven brothers were all born to the same mother, and only one did not survive to adulthood.
Given the sanitary conditions of the Middle Ages, this was already a miracle.
With the help of so many brothers, whether in France or Jerusalem, it can be said that "brothers fighting tigers, father and son fighting in battle".
Now that the goal has been set and to keep the throne of Jerusalem no matter what, it is necessary to formulate a careful plan to seize the fruits of victory.
In the original history, the Lusignan family moved towards success step by step and established the Lusignan dynasty.
Counting from the coronation of Guy in 1186, there were two Lusignan dynasties, which lasted until 1472 (the beginning of the EU era). The titles they accumulated were so extensive, not only in France and Jerusalem, but also in Cyprus. , Armenia and even Antioch...
Of course, what should have happened may never happen again.
"So, apart from Balian and Geillis, Conrad is also worth noting?"
"Yes."
The Lusignan brothers took out pens and paper after the discussion began, and recorded all the people in the Kingdom of Jerusalem who needed attention.
Among them, the important figures of the Balian faction and the objects that need to be cleaned up have been sorted out.
Apart from Isabella and Gareth, there is also Conrad.
Compared with Yi Yi, Jeffrey's plotting ability is much stronger. After careful combing, some problems were discovered.
The system of the Kingdom of Jerusalem is a bit too complete and does not look like a broken kingdom that has experienced war.
Even compared to France, it is more orderly, clearer and more centralized.
This entire parliamentary system, coupled with the central departments of the kingdom performing their own duties, has a beauty that is not in line with the feudal system.
In Europe, there are actually only a few countries that can achieve this level of using bureaucratic groups to govern the country.
There is no doubt that the Papal State is one, the Eastern Roman Empire is also one, and the Republic of Venice is actually one.
As for the Holy Roman Empire, although under the influence of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, an imperial parliament has been born that can discuss legal, diplomatic and military affairs, it is still far behind those three.
The HRE Empire Council these days is essentially a negotiation body between noble lords and church bishops.
Who is Gareth? He's just a country bumpkin born in the Levant. He's just good at pretending to be a ghost. He's never seen big events.
In this way, among the Balian faction, Conan, who was born in Northern Italy and had close ties with Venice, allied with the Pope to defeat Barbarossa's expedition, quelled the noble rebellion in the Eastern Empire, and even obtained the title of Caesar. Ladd became particularly conspicuous.
The Italians were familiar with Venice, had served as allies of the Pope, and were also the "Caesars" of the Eastern Empire.
This suddenly involved all three countries with the most complete bureaucracies in Europe.
Compared with Gareth's resume, Conrad's life is much clearer and more dazzling.
If we say who among the Balian faction is most likely to lead the Kingdom of Jerusalem to reform, then it must be "Caesar" Conrad!
There is nothing wrong with the reform itself, but the power of reform is significantly strengthening the Balian faction. After Balian passes away, Isabella and the others continue to control the bureaucratic group. What should they do?
Jeffrey, who had just arrived, actually didn't know how the bureaucracy of the Second Kingdom was born, nor did he know that there was a religious order after the bureaucracy.
He just blindly believed that it was Conrad who caused earth-shaking changes in Tire.
Therefore, how to deal with Conrad needs to be put on the agenda.
……
Conrad didn't know that he was being targeted. How could he have imagined this?
He just acted as a representative of the Italians, hanging around in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the pot fell from the sky, and inexplicably became the reformer of Jerusalem in the eyes of Jeffrey.
Of course, strictly speaking, this is not wrong.
It's just that his status and importance are not as critical as Jeffrey thought.
Conrad and his father William V were indeed deeply involved in the changes in the Second Kingdom.
William V himself served as the Speaker of the House of Lords in the King's Landing Parliament at the age of 74, not to mention much.
Conrad himself, because of his wide knowledge and familiarity with business, also personally participated in the establishment of some enterprises.
Garris tried to promote more efficient papermaking through Conrad, and then hoped that the other party could use his contacts to help the kingdom establish a distribution system in Europe, especially the distribution of the Bible that was about to start printing.
Papermaking is basically recognized as originating from the Celestial Dynasty, regardless of the region, country or nation.
In the 8th century, papermaking technology was introduced to the Islamic world, and craftsmen in Baghdad made certain improvements in the papermaking process, enabling mass production of paper in the Middle East.
This laid the foundation stone for Arab culture to move towards a glorious era.
However, the history of printing had many twists and turns, and it was only much later that it was successfully spread to the west.
To be precise, it was not until the Mongol Expedition that printing spread to the West, but it did not spread quickly. On the contrary, it was not until Gutenberg's movable type printing began that there were signs of large-scale emergence.
In other words, for the Second Kingdom in this era, the problem of paper was relatively easy to solve, but the problem of printing required investment in manpower research and development and the training of new technicians to build a new industry.
Moreover, the future of this industry is actually quite unclear.
It’s not that books in this era are not expensive enough. On the contrary, the essence is that Europe in this era lacks both the demand for books and the population that can afford them.
Take the Christian classic "Bible" as an example. Before Gutenberg's printing press was started, the Bible was usually made of fine parchment.
A complete Bible requires 300-600 pieces of parchment, equivalent to the skins of 50-100 sheep.
The scribes who copied the Bible took an average of one year to complete a complete Bible.
Such a Bible, with its exquisite leather cover, gilded ornaments and intricate images, would cost around 300 gold dinars, or even more.
It is difficult for ordinary churches to afford a complete set of Bibles. Only bishops and even large noble families can own them.
But excluding the nobility and clergy groups, in terms of the whole of Europe, only the Italian region and Constantinople were probably slightly richer and had relatively more wealthy merchant groups trying to buy.
As for people at the lower levels, why do they buy Bibles?
Can it be eaten? What's the use? Can it change poor lives?
So what if you are literate? Is it possible that literacy can change class?
Even if printing technology could suppress the high price of books, it would be meaningless to the impoverished European poor. What's more, even after Gutenberg's printing press was launched in Europe, a relatively sophisticated set of Bibles was actually worth 30 gold florins.
The real poor cannot afford any price of knowledge.
But on the other hand, the Italian region, the Venetians, Constantinople, or the Second Kingdom, which is now becoming rich.
Indeed, a group of people who have the ability to spend money to pursue spiritual enjoyment are beginning to emerge.
Even if it’s not much, you can actually give it a try.
When Garris was in Tire, he mentioned this matter to Balian, hoping that the other party could find some trustworthy craftsmen to tackle this technology.
And it may be necessary to keep the manufacturing process of the printing press secret for a long time, thereby buying time for the Gallis sect.
From a religious perspective, mass printing of the Bible was actually a necessary prerequisite for the religious reform.
On the one hand, only when the number of Bibles is large enough to be accessible to middle-class groups, can middle-class clergy or citizens be able to propose the reform program of "Scripture alone" and implement it.
Otherwise, groups that have never been exposed to the Bible would have no way of using the authority of the Bible to refute the Holy See.
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It will only be the group of bishops who essentially own the Bible, who will become more authoritative and corrupt and go their own way with the help of their monopoly on the Bible.
This is one of the reasons why Hussite teachings in the 15th century, despite their desire for religious reform, did not spread on a large scale and did not clearly propose "Scripture alone".
Moreover, according to some undisclosed meaning of Gairis, large-scale printing of the Bible or the Quran is essentially an opportunity for personal gain.
When the flashing technology matures, it will essentially be another time to compile the Bible.
As long as the quantity of the Garris version of the Bible or the Quran can be distributed to more people than other sects, then who is the orthodox one?
To control this timing, you need to be prepared.
The early technical reserve can be carried out by the religious order alone, but the subsequent distribution of goods cannot be separated from the trading city-states in the Mediterranean.
Naturally, Conrad was also needed as a middleman.
After such a year of experimentation and production, Tire's movable type printing technology is almost mature.
Unlike the Chinese Empire, printing did not spread significantly after it was introduced to the West during the Mongols' Western Expeditions.
Regarding woodblock printing technology, whether it is the Arab civilization or the Christian civilization in the Middle East, they are somewhat acclimated to the local environment and are only used in a relatively narrow range.
It was not until Gutenberg adopted and improved the movable type printing technology that unimaginable sparks broke out.
The reason for this is actually very straightforward: too many Chinese characters and not enough letters.
Therefore, Garris's suggestion to the Order was to skip engraving and use metal movable type printing directly.
This technology is said to be complex, but in fact it is not simple at all.
For the blacksmiths affiliated with the sect, it took nearly a year of effort to come up with a barely usable version based on the plan left by Garris.
The screw press machine is not complicated at all. It just uses the screw press principle of wine juice pressing. It is a ready-made technology.
But the ink formula and the manufacturing process of movable type are the most laborious.
Later Gutenberg developed an oil-based ink suitable for printing, which was mainly mixed with vegetable oil, rosin and carbon black. This ink is more viscous than traditional water-based ink and adheres evenly to the surface of metal type.
Garris didn't know what this ink was about. Although he knew its approximate composition, he obviously didn't have time to restore it himself.
As for movable type, this is even more true.
Compared with the movable type printing technology of the Chinese dynasty, the European printing press in the 15th century had an innovation in materials science.
Gutenberg was familiar with metal knowledge and had produced a large number of metal mirrors. He was also the first professional craftsman to use an alloy of lead, tin and antimony to make movable type.
This alloy, called type metal, printing lead, or printing metal, was essential for making durable type blocks and producing high-quality printed books, proving more suitable for printing than the clay, wooden, or bronze type used in East Asia.
You can understand the progress of materials science. In a sense, it’s just a matter of drawing cards based on your face...
In fact, Tire's Order, until now, has only achieved a relatively passable level and has not truly reproduced Gutenberg's movable type.
Although there are some more simplified production methods, considering that the customer groups Garris faces are basically either rich or noble, at least they are merchant families or knights.
Then you still can't fool people too much, as it might in turn affect the reputation of the Garris Sect.
In a workshop in the new city of Tire, a Paladin who had received training in metal skills was concentrating on his work.
In his hand was a steel metal punch, with the engraved letters on it slightly smaller than the fingernail of his little finger.
Beside him, many similar metal punches have been prepared.
The next step is to hammer these steel metal punches into the softer copper strips to form a mold similar to the incised characters.
After this process is completed, it is placed into a hand-held mold, filled with molten type metal, and the finished type is cast.
This process must be repeated countless times until the workshop can officially start printing.
Next door to this workshop, three of the twelve apostles were gathered here.
Watt, Puldock, Caffey...
These people, who are not yet famous in this era, but are destined to leave their names in history, looked at each other in this small room, and the atmosphere was particularly solemn.
"So, are you sure?" Walter, who has experience in blacksmithing, looked at Pudock and Caffey.
"Do we really want to print it like this?" Pudock looked quite confused.
"This is the meaning of the prophet." Kafei also expressed his opinion.
What was placed in front of the three of them was actually a manuscript left by Garris. This manuscript could also be said to be Garris's guidance on the printing of scriptures for various religions.
(End of chapter)