Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 637 Hans, Your Coffee Is Terrible
In the morning, Captain Lucas came to relieve the shift and found Master Hans sitting opposite the guest room. He had moved a small stove used on the ship and was cooking a small pot of black soup.

"It's burnt black. How can you still drink it? Are you asleep?" Captain Lucas asked a lot of questions in one breath.

"How could I fall asleep? On the contrary, the longer I keep watch, the more energetic I feel." Master Hans shook his head as a matter of course, and boasted: "If old mercenaries like us didn't have this habit, we would have been secretly killed long ago."

"I thought you fell asleep and overcooked the food." Captain Lucas explained, "The Italians on the ship kept emphasizing discipline to us last night, saying that all fire sources must be used in fixed locations and must not be used randomly. When I saw you, I was shocked..."

"Hey, don't worry, you're not here. Even if I wanted to sleep, I would probably be woken up." Master Hans disagreed: "You don't know how noisy this room is..."

"I heard from the soldiers who got up early." Captain Lucas scratched his head and said with emotion: "Hey, these two are really energetic. I'm almost dying because of those Slavs. Now they give me a few women for free. I'm afraid I don't have the energy to deal with them..."

As he was talking, the sea breeze weakened a little, and the smell of soup drifted over. He sniffed it and asked curiously, "It still smells a bit fragrant? What is this?"

"This thing is called coffee. I bought it at the port. The Saracens seem to like it very much." Master Hans explained as he took out a small bucket. "Look, this is it. The man let me taste it and I thought it was pretty good, so I bought some."

Captain Lucas took a look and found that they were all brown and black beans, and frowned.

"It looks so weird..." He muttered, "What kind of weird things are these pagans doing every day?"

"This is not a pagan thing either." Master Hans said, "The merchant said that this thing was discovered by the Ethiopians. There, in ancient times, there was a shepherd who found that his sheep became very excited after eating this fruit. Out of curiosity, he tried it himself and found that it could indeed refresh people, so it spread. "

"The Saracens were doing business everywhere and found this thing to be a beverage with great potential, so they introduced it to China. They were doing business everywhere every day, so they were the ones selling the coffee beans."

"I thought so. There are words on it..." Captain Lucas looked at the label on the barrel and said, "But I don't recognize it either. I don't know what it says."

"This is the name of the packaging place." Master Hans said, "I've been told that most coffee beans come from Ethiopia. The Saracens don't grow much themselves. But across from Ethiopia, there's a region called Yemen, at the mouth of the Red Sea, which is the main route from the East to the Mediterranean and Africa. Most of the coffee beans are sent there, and then repackaged and shipped for sale."

"We have seen Ethiopians in Dadu before." Captain Lucas thought for a moment and said, "But this is the first time I have heard of Yemen."

"That place is between Persia and Ethiopia. It is a transportation hub and has always been fought over by the two empires." Master Hans told him, "So the Yemenis are just like the locals we met in Lebanon and Palestine some time ago. They are all a group of cunning old profiteers."

"The Yemenis do business every day, so they have learned some experience, such as that brands can bring high premiums. For this reason, they began to operate deliberately. For example, this stamp was issued by a port called 'Mocha'. Merchants there will carry out special processing and selection after purchasing the goods, and then package them and sell them. These people travel far and wide, have a lot of experience, and have money, so their taste is actually quite good. Saracens say that their coffee is the best. Although it is expensive, it is worth the price, but there are a lot of fakes..."

"There are so many details to consider." Captain Lucas was quite surprised.

"Rich people are like this," Master Hans commented. But after thinking for a moment, he added, "Of course, not the richest people. The richest people drink tea. Coffee is probably just a cheap substitute."

"That's true." Captain Lucas agreed. "I see that all the nobles only drink Seris tea. If they drink Greek tea, they dare not let others know, for fear that people will think it's cheap. I guess it's the same with coffee - people who can't afford Seris tea but still want to make some drinks to show off will probably study these things every day."

"Yes. But I think, since we have come so far, we might as well try it. Anyway, it's surprisingly cheap in Dadu if I want to publish a book. I saved so much money, but now I find it's useless." Master Hans shook his head: "Why not try the specialties of different places and see if there are any new things."

"Are you going to publish another book?" Captain Lucas asked curiously.

"Yes." Master Hans immediately became interested: "Come, sit down. I'll tell you in detail. I found that nowadays, swordsmanship..."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute." Captain Lucas interrupted him quickly: "I still have to find the captain."

"If you have nothing urgent to do and just want to say hello as a routine in the morning, I think you should forget it." Master Hans shook his head: "They have just been quiet for a short time, how can they wake up so soon? At the earliest, we can enter the battle area tomorrow. I think you should wait a while before talking."

"Here." He took out a cup: "I'll ask you to try this, listen to me..."

Captain Lucas hesitated for a moment, and had to sit down and listen to him excitedly introducing the sword manual.

******
The sun had already risen high. Guo Kang pushed open the door and ran out in a hurry. "Oh my god, why is it so late..." He muttered, squinting his eyes to adapt to the light outside, and looked back and forth. He found that there were not many people in front of the door, only Master Hans and Captain Lucas, who were holding a cup and chatting there.

"Do you think this is refreshing? I'm not even sleepy now."

"It's strange that this bitter taste doesn't refresh me. To be honest, Hans, your coffee is really bad... eh?"

Both of them noticed him, turned around and stood up.

"It's already so late, and you didn't even call me." Guo Kang said anxiously, "Is everything okay? I was suddenly awakened just now and I got scared..."

Master Hans and Captain Lucas were both hesitant to speak. Guo Kang came to his senses and felt a little embarrassed. He quickly said, "If there is nothing else, you can go first. I still have to teach the soldiers about precautions at sea today - I will start after I change my clothes."

The two of them answered in unison. Guo Kang returned to the room, and they also hurriedly frowned, drank the remaining coffee, and put away their things. Master Hans took the stove and prepared to return it, and then rest for a while. Captain Lucas turned around to gather the soldiers.

But nothing happened that day. It was not until the early morning of the next day that an order came, saying that the corps commander had ordered everyone to get up quickly and prepare for battle.

Everyone was mentally prepared this time, so they were not panicked. Guo Kang quickly put on his armor and went to inspect the soldiers. Joanna was even faster than him, gathering her men first, asking everyone to cheer up and prepare for the response.

After the roll call, Guo Kang gave a few simple words of encouragement and asked everyone to start the action. The 200 soldiers on the ship, according to the pre-assignment, came to the designated position in the form of teams of ten, prepared their weapons, and sat down to rest. Master Hans led a dozen veterans to patrol everywhere, prohibiting the new recruits from whispering to each other or even getting up and wandering around. The atmosphere on the whole ship immediately became serious.

Guo Kang came to the deck, and Joanna came over, snuggled up to him, and advised him not to be nervous.

"I'm not nervous." Guo Kang whispered, "To be honest, that night in Dadu, the pressure was much greater than it is now..."

"I noticed that your legs were stiff when you walked." Joanna said, "You must stay calm in front of the soldiers, that's right. But you don't have to pretend like that with me."

"The boat was shaking so much that I couldn't stand steadily," Guo Kang admitted.

"That's probably because you haven't adapted to sailing yet, not because of your physical strength." Joanna thought for a moment and said, "You didn't seem to be unsteady even when it was shaking more."

"Uh……"

"It doesn't matter. You'll get used to it after a few times. We probably won't be able to get here this time anyway. And I'm here to protect you." She continued, "Those Slavs seem to admire you very much. You just need to stand here and maintain their morale."

Guo Kang was actually a little unwilling, but he really didn't know how to fight next. After thinking about it, he answered half to deal with it and half to comfort himself: "On the sea, I feel like I have become smaller. Our ship is probably equivalent to one soldier. I don't have any orders to give, so let's wait for the arrangements from the superiors."

"Your command system is a bit strange." Joanna shook her head and said, "I thought you were going to elect a fleet commander to command each fleet, but it turns out that Toghan Taiji is commanding himself?"

"Is he the nominal commander-in-chief?" Guo Kang said, "Although he has no experience in major wars, he is still very reliable. Moreover, he has professionals assisting him, and he is willing to listen to advice. This is about right."

"According to our custom, the real commander-in-chief is the commander of the Eighth Army, Zhang. When there is no higher-level command structure, the highest-ranking army general is responsible for the overall management of the war. Therefore, the 33rd Army and the naval fleet all obey his command. The other allied forces nominally obey the leader Tuohuan, but in fact, he should also be the one who issues the actual orders."

"Is that so?" Joanna seemed a little surprised: "I didn't fully understand it before, and I thought Tuohuan was giving orders to the various fleets. But forget it, as long as it can operate normally, it's fine."

"It is indeed quite confusing." Guo Kang admitted, "Before, some people thought about establishing a rank system to clarify the hierarchy and order of command between officers of the same position. However, this military system involves too many things, and we did not have the ability to take care of it before, so it has not been truly implemented until now. But in the future, it will be implemented sooner or later."

Joanna nodded noncommittally, seemingly not quite understanding the concept. Guo Kang began to think. So, there was silence for a while.

(End of this chapter)