Chapter 6

By the time our harvest was complete, I had already made a quick trip (for this time period, anyway), sailing from Rouen to Valencia and back. In Valencia, I found an estate I liked and hired a man named Andagus to run it. Andagus was excited about the scope and the enormity of my plan. When I left, fields were already being prepared for crops, and orchards were being planted. The two hundred potted trees we had of each of the two types of orange trees (Valencia and Navel) were at least five feet tall (after heavy pruning). We planted each variety in a separate orchard.

In another location, we planted the one hundred lemon tree saplings. It would still be three more years before the lemon trees bore a full crop and several years beyond that for the orange trees. In the intervening years, we would graft buds from these trees onto the rootstock we were growing to provide us with thousands of acres of citrus trees throughout Hispania.

I had Andagus send someone to Greece or Rome to procure five thousand pruned olive tree branches. The branches should be the thickness of his thumb. Several branches should be planted in a single amphora filled with soil, and watered regularly until he got enough to warrant shipping them to Valencia. He hired a man named Tullius, son of a Roman father and a local woman. I gave Tullius an additional shopping list of things I wanted if he could find them. Several of my troops would accompany him and carry the gold I left for the purchases.

Despite not being in an ideal climate, the original pots of sugar cane had grown and expanded to forty pots by now. All were planted near my new estate before I left. I also instructed Andagus to acquire and plant as many grape vines for as many different varieties as he could.

Rice paddies were being planted along the west shore of the huge lagoon a few miles south of the city. Unfortunately, the rice in Soissons hadn’t prospered nearly as well as the other grains. Still, there was more than enough to plant a hundred acres. We planted jute along the southern end of the same lagoon. I planned to use that for making rope.

The cotton hadn’t prospered, either, but still did well enough to provide us the seeds to plant one acre. Next year, the crop from our one acre should provide enough seeds to plant three thousand acres, and the area we could plant would increase exponentially each subsequent year. I hoped to start planting cotton in other locations, too.

Hemp for making rope, paper, sailcloth, and bowstrings was planted as well as paper mulberry trees. I left six thousand pounds each of wheat and corn, and three thousand pounds of oats and barley for them to plant in the early spring, and six thousand pounds of winter wheat to plant this fall. Many of the forty plows I brought were in use almost immediately, although it took the men time to get used to them.

At the harbor, I claimed enough unimproved land to build a stone wharf with wooden docks extending out into the bay. I would build warehouses on the wharf once it was finished. When I finished my move here, I intended for someone to start making capstan-powered winches and block and tackle winches, both to use on our docks and to sell.

In addition, I started men building a shipyard just north of the existing harbor. I planned to build Chinese-style junks to use in the Mediterranean for trade. The ships would be bigger, faster, and safer than the current myriad of merchant ship styles. I felt that I could quickly become a leader in shipping in the Mediterranean. Among other things, I tasked Tullius with importing cedar wood to use for making the ships.

On my instructions, Andagus begin hiring all types of craftsmen, especially blacksmiths, bowyers, leather workers, and fletchers, and began collecting horns from mountain goats, mountain sheep, and antelope, dried sinew from large game animals and livestock, and birch wood suitable to make bows. I had him begin construction of twenty-six stone beds like I used in Soissons to hold the manure we used to make black powder, instructing him to begin filling a different bed with manure every two weeks, and to add any urine the local tanner didn’t need. The first bed should be filled with bat guano if there were caves nearby, and with existing, year-old manure.

I left all the new goods I brought and most of the gold. On the way home, I stopped in Cartagena and arranged for the construction of an extensive salt works where they would evaporate the highly saline water of the lagoon. Salt was a commodity in great demand, the demand outstripping the supply in most places. I also had them start a set of manure beds in Cartagena, and told them what to do with them, but didn’t explain why, beyond telling them we composted the manure to use on our fields. The real reason would remain a closely guarded secret for as long as I could keep it that way.

Upon my return to Soissons, it again took several days for me to make up to the women in my life for the time I had been gone. No sooner had I caught up than Clovis showed up with four people in tow. He introduced an emissary from King Bisinus of Thuringia, here to discuss joining us like the Alemanni did.

The other three were brothers, each ruling one-quarter of Burgundy. The three brothers were also interested in joining the Frankish Kingdom. They were convinced that their remaining brother, Gundobad, intended to take their territory from them by force.

Having received word of her brother’s arrival, Audoflede quickly rallied the castle to prepare rooms and a meal. Even though she virtually ran my territory, and was the appointed governor of Hispania, she would not interrupt us unless and until she was called for. Once the initial introductions were completed, we went inside to meet the women.

By the time dinner was finished, we had an agreement with the Thuringian emissary. After dinner, I talked with Clovis, suggesting that he reach the same agreement with the three brothers, and then warn Gundobad that he would face Clovis’ wrath if he interfered with any of his brothers. I verified that in the future I knew that Gundobad had, indeed, killed all three of his brothers. Then I stunned Clovis by suggesting that he arrange to marry the daughter of King Chilperic II, who was one of the three brothers, when she was old enough.

I explained how he had originally married her in a few years. He met her after Gundobad killed her parents and exiled her. I also told him that the daughter was the one who originally introduced him to Christianity. Clovis didn’t appreciate some of the gorier details of Gundobad’s takeover. “I want that rodent dead,” Clovis hissed about Gundobad between clenched teeth when I finished my tale.

Four weeks later, welcomed in Avignon as a friend because of the unique goods I brought to the city to sell and the gold I brought to buy their goods in return, I found myself greeted by Gundobad himself. My gift of our finest porcelain dishes was greatly appreciated and earned me a place at his crowded, boisterous dinner tables.

From twelve feet away, after everyone else was well on the way to being inebriated and talking boisterously, the nine-inch clay blowpipe accurately delivered the tiny glass dart that I had previously dipped in poison. Gundobad subconsciously swiped at his neck, knocking the tiny dart loose while paying no real attention to it. Seeing that, I kept the blowpipe rather than dispose of it by breaking and crushing it as I’d originally planned.

Ten minutes later, Gundobad started having trouble catching his breath and had his physician summoned. By the time the physician arrived, guards were ushering the guests out, and Gundobad was lying on top of the table. By morning, he was dead; the city was stunned. His guards made the servants test the food he ate and the wine he drank for poison, finding none.

A day later, we were on our way home. We quickly sold everything we had left, even the wagons since we had many offers to buy our new style. All we had left when we departed was supplies for our return trip. The ten guards with me were happy to be sans wagons so we could more than double the distance we traveled each day. Fourteen days of travel found us back in Soissons. I dispatched a pair of messengers to Clovis as soon as we left Avignon to let him know of our success.

Once we were back, it took two weeks in Soissons to relax, to verify once more that everything was as it should be, and that everything we wanted was packed before we bade Soissons an emotional adieu. Even having taken much of what I wanted to Valencia on my first trip, the procession heading for Rouen via Paris was nearly a mile long.

Two thousand troops and their families had left a month after I returned from the first trip. Aside from their personal belongings, they also took the rest of the extra seed from the last harvest, five hundred frames to make bows, and half of my blacksmiths, bowyers, and fletchers. We had several apprentices who were reasonably qualified, and we had started training even more apprentices to leave behind once I decided it was time to move. I made sure to leave more than enough grain to plant next year’s crop and to feed the people of Soissons and vicinity.

The same day we left Soissons for Paris, a small group of men left going the opposite direction, headed for Thuringia and Burgundy. They were heading to search for the mining sites I had described for them--mostly iron and coal, but three gold mines and two silver mines were on their list, as well as two more mines for the ores I needed to add to make faux Wootz steel. It took us six days to reach Paris and I shuddered wondering how long it might have taken if I hadn’t already sent so much and so many ahead. In Paris, I promised Clovis I wouldn’t be a stranger, reminding him of our master plan for the entire area, which would definitely necessitate me being here periodically. We hugged emotionally, almost like brothers. Audoflede also hugged her brother, and we headed for Rouen.

Getting started so late in the season due to my unexpected expedition to Avignon meant we were hit with two days of snow between Paris and Rouen. Fortunately, it was a light snow, and the road was a good one--thanks to the Romans. Even with so much already in Valencia, once we reached Rouen, it took us three days to get the rest aboard the numerous ships we had contracted, and another day to reach the sea. The weather this trip wasn’t as calm as my original round trip, but the first trip was during the late spring. Winter storms lashed at us for a week before deciding we weren’t going to turn tail and run. The last two weeks of the trip were relatively calm. The weather warmed slightly, and the water quieted considerably once we passed Gibraltar.

Aside from appreciating having our feet back on dry ground, our eventual arrival in Valencia was unremarkable. The girls were looking forward to seeing the estate I chose, and I was looking forward to seeing what had been accomplished in my absence. I could see work progressing on the wharf, although it looked like it would be at least a year before it neared completion.

As I sought transportation to the estate, I noticed that the mood in town seemed more upbeat than last time. Obviously, the blacksmith had already learned something from our people who had arrived earlier since he was busy making horseshoes, something he knew nothing about during my first trip. When the women walked around the corner of the building to where he could see them, the poor blacksmith noticed me and nearly had a coronary, before almost falling on his face trying to kneel. “My Lord, I apologize for not recognizing you,” he gasped to me. He just stared at my hand when I proffered it.

“I take no offense. You have only met me once and didn’t know we had arrived,” I said trying to soothe his shattered nerves. “Also, when I am in town, unless I am accompanied by the Governor or King, I do not expect people to bow to me. You have work to do and a family to support. I hope you will spread word to everyone. If they absolutely feel they must recognize me, quickly nodding their head in recognition will suffice,” I added.

“Thank you, My Lord, you are most gracious,” he answered. I didn’t bother explaining that the Governor was with me.

I explained that we needed transportation. He didn’t have any wagons handy--they were in use at my estate. Instead, he sent his eldest son galloping to the estate to let them know we had arrived. Nearly an hour later, the beginning of a grand procession of horses and wagons approached, bringing everyone they passed along the way out to see what was going on. When we finally reached the estate, the first of our cargo was unloaded from the wagons which returned several times for the rest of the cargo while we rested from the long and taxing sea voyage.

Somehow, the women were recovered enough from the ordeal of the trip the next morning to take two wagons into town. The rest of the wagons were still busy unloading our ships. While some of my wives raided the marketplace, the rest invaded the shops to see what was available to purchase. By the time they finished, everyone in town knew who they were, and many had thanked them for everything we did to improve things here. As with elsewhere in Europe, the economy here sucked when I first arrived. Now, suddenly, everyone had work and business was booming. Many of the businesses had learned new techniques from our craftsmen who had been here for a few months already. I could see that the concept of hygiene had been stressed, as the streets were clear of human and animal waste.

While the women tried unsuccessfully to spend all the gold we brought with us, I met with Captain Brunaz, the commander of my troops here, to review their readiness. He reported that they were completely ready and were already training more than six hundred locals who had joined. Bowyers were hard at it, making more bows and training new bowyers. Fletchers were just as busy. Blacksmiths from Soissons were busy working with a dozen local blacksmiths we hired, teaching them how to work with the manmade substitute for Wootz steel.

I laughed at myself, realizing I had been thinking of it as Wootz steel all along--which it wasn’t at first. Wootz steel was crucible smelted steel, which is mined in an area of southeast India. It had a natural mix of tungsten and vanadium in the mined iron ore. The addition of scheelite from a mine in St. Die (near Soissons) and magnetite from a mine in an undeveloped area in modern Haucourt-Moulaine, made it possible for us to produce a true substitute Wootz steel, one even slightly better than the original.

We then processed the steel using several unique techniques, including quenching the blades in urine instead of water, and using olive oil another time. Quenching the red-hot blade in a barrel of salt water was a third. Only then was the blade allowed to temper while simply resting on a warm, steel surface. The only problem with calling the end result Damascus steel was that Damascus wouldn’t start making it for another five or six hundred years. I decided that we’ll call it Soissons steel instead.

Andagus was excited. Even though it was December, the rice was nearly ready to harvest. In addition, the first shipment of one thousand olive branches of two different varieties had arrived from Iraklion in Crete and Andagus had planted them a month ago. Andagus also acquired and planted a thousand cuttings of a different variety of olives from local trees. Tullius went from Kalamata (large city in Southern Greece), to Athens, and then to Iraklion, arranging for one thousand each of two different types of trees in each of the three ports. The cuttings from Iraklion were ready to ship first, hence their arrival and planting. The ones from Athens and Kalamata should have shipped by now and should arrive within the next few days. We would end up with a thousand trees each of seven different varieties of olives.

In the meantime, two loads of cedar arrived from Lebanon and two from Cyprus. Included were thousands of the cedar seeds I had asked for. I knew from my studies that the cedars from Lebanon and Cyprus would someday be nearly extinct from over logging, a problem common in each of my fantasy lessons. To help alleviate the problem, I had researched where the trees could grow around the Mediterranean and intended to plant them everywhere I could in areas under my control, hoping to take some of the pressure off Lebanon and Cyprus in forty to fifty years when the new trees had matured enough to use.

Andagus had secured and planted vines for four different varieties of grapes from existing vineyards within a hundred or so miles. The fruit trees (including avocado) we had started in clay pots were planted about twenty miles inland along the eastern slopes of the mountains there. The alfalfa was growing well, and the livestock loved it. He bought cattle, horses, pigs, goats, chickens, and sheep for us to raise. I had sent some of our Soissons cattle here aboard ship with the first group of troops. Soldiers spent nearly three months herding more than four thousand horses overland, even managing to buy nearly a thousand more along the way.

We could plant fields of grain and vegetables anytime. In my original time, it rarely got below forty degrees here, even in January. I told him to go ahead and start planting around February 1. In the meantime, they should continue to prepare and plant new rice paddies. I also wanted a small wooden dock built in the lagoon so we could launch a couple of small fishing boats to provide more fish for us. They already had three boats plying the shallow offshore waters of the Mediterranean.

Thousands of paper mulberry trees had been planted in the hills, along with a couple hundred white mulberry trees, just in case I could someday get live silkworms. The hemp and jute were growing well. Next fall we should be able to start making paper here.

Sichar and Hartmut, the powder maker’s two top assistants in Soissons, had been busy here. They already had a good collection of grenades, as well as small casks of black powder. Once we were able to manufacture a steady supply of paper, we could begin making ammunition and rounds for crude cannons and mortars. I sent Hartmut to Cartagena to manage the manure beds there. He wouldn’t be making black powder there, just refining the niter from the manure beds, and shipping it to Valencia. Eventually I was sure I would have black powder works in several places in Frankish territory, but I wanted the formula closely guarded for as long as possible.

Even in Soissons, only a handful of workers actually knew how to make it. A wagon delivered sulfur periodically. It went straight to the powder works without stopping anywhere else, minimizing the number of people who knew the necessary raw materials. The charcoal was prepared at the neighboring estate, and the saltpeter was made at that estate. I planned to do the same thing here. Fortunately, there was an existing sulfur source only two days away by wagon. Since sulfur had numerous uses, mining and transporting it didn’t raise any suspicions.

I spent a day at the harbor, first checking on the construction of the docks, and then checking on the shipyard. Several men wanted to know when I would build the first ship. Turns out, they had been unemployed shipwrights, not carpenters. While happy to have paying work, they were anxious to get started building a ship rather than a shipyard.

I spent the next morning with them, going over the drawings I had for the ship. There were detailed enlargements of every complicated detail. At first, they laughed at the absurd design. “Whoever heard of building the frame before the hull?” they queried. They were stunned when I told them the Chinese used this type of ship to sail from China to Africa. They weren’t quite sure exactly where, or how far China was, but knew it was a very long distance to the east. When I explained that one round trip from China to Africa was the same as five or six round trips from here to Alexandria, they were staggered.

I explained each part of the ship they were unfamiliar with and what it did. I explained how this ship would be much more stable in stormy seas, as well as faster in both light and heavy winds. I talked about the different ways to adjust the sails, and about having actual rooms inside the ship that they could seal off in case there was a leak in a particular room. I could tell they still weren’t completely convinced, but they decided it was my gold to do with as I pleased. They had already heard stories about how well my other strange ideas turned out.

The next day two ships arrived. The first was the olive cuttings from Athens. I was surprised that the ship from Kalamata arrived the same day. Tullius explained that the ship from Athens made one more stop on the way here than the one from Kalamata. Either way, workers at the dock were scurrying, trying to get the ships unloaded. They filled the wagon I had with me while a messenger hurried to the estate for more wagons. The driver took my wagon to the estate once it was loaded.