Chapter 279: Final Purpose
While the foreign kings stared at the newly arrived prince, Louis the Stammerer reached the center of the room. He looked at Ragnar and smiled.
"My friend, I see the demonstration was successful!" Louis said, his voice clear despite the title given to him by his political enemies.
"It was very successful. The kings are currently trying to outbid each other for the right to own your work..." Ragnar replied, gesturing toward the massive crossbow resting on the table.
The kings witnessed the friendly greeting between Ragnar and Louis.
"I offer 45,000 gold coins!" King Erik of Norway shouted loudly, breaking the silence in the room.
Erik wanted to use the weapon, and he wanted to prove his loyalty to Ragnar by offering the highest price.
"I offer 50,000 gold coins!" King Aedh MacNeill responded.
The kings began bidding and debating again with intense energy. They started shouting larger numbers of gold and silver coins. Despite their previous arguments about honor, they all recognized that the Grappling Crossbow granted an overwhelming tactical advantage.
While this bidding was happening, Louis the Stammerer walked over to the table. He picked up the heavy iron and wood weapon.
"The price is 50,000 gold coins," Ragnar announced loudly. "As usual, King Aedh MacNeill won with the weapon."
Gyda, who stood near the display tables, looked at Ragnar. He nodded to her, confirming that it was time to reveal the final piece of military equipment.
"We have one final item for the auction," Gyda announced to the tired but attentive audience.
She gestured toward the last wooden box resting on the stone floor. This box was larger than the previous ones.
The guards stationed near the wall stepped forward. They grabbed the edges of the woolen cloth and pulled it away.
The item resting inside the large wooden box was not a weapon that a single man could carry. It was a complex machine made of iron, wood, and brass components.
...It possessed a long metal tube, similar to the hand cannon, but it was much thicker and longer.
The metal tube was mounted on a heavy wooden carriage with two large wooden wheels.
’This looks like a cannon, but it is massive. How can a man lift it?’ King Donald II thought.
Leofric stepped forward to explain the final invention. He placed his hand on the smooth iron barrel of the machine.
"This is the Field Artillery Cannon!" Leofric stated clearly.
He then provided a detailed recounting of the machine’s capabilities. He explained that the large wooden wheels allow it to be pulled by horses across the battlefield. The thick iron tube is designed to withstand a massive explosion of black powder.
"If you fire this cannon at a stone wall, it will not just break the wooden gate. It will shatter the solid stone blocks and create a hole large enough for cavalry to ride through!" Leofric told the kings.
The range of this weapon was far greater than any catapult or trebuchet.
After hearing this explanation, the kings were completely silent.
"The opening price for the Field Artillery Cannon is 200,000 gold coins!" Ragnar announced.
And so, the silence remained unbroken for many long moments. The kings, the dukes, and the princes stared directly at the massive machine resting on the stone floor.
Ragnar remained seated on his chair on the raised wooden platform, and he looked at the object with a feeling of deep satisfaction.
Ragnar remembered exactly how this weapon came into existence. Of course, the field cannon that Ragnar had envisioned building, and which he had tried to devise a method for constructing, experimenting with Louis many times, was finally realized one day when Ragnar awoke to the sound of a successful shot.
This came after Louis had spent days trying to replicate the design Ragnar had drawn and explained.
This field cannon was undoubtedly very primitive, and the reason for this was its extreme difficulty in construction. The workers in the iron foundries had to melt a massive amount of iron and pour the hot liquid into a large mold, ensuring that the metal did not crack as it cooled.
Then, they had to drill a straight hole down the center of the heavy iron block.
Moreover, Ragnar had remarked in his mind that the first field cannon ever made, in his previous lifetime, had been built in the 13th century. Therefore, this field cannon was certainly far more rudimentary, yet it served its purpose perfectly.
It did not possess aiming sights, and the wooden wheels were heavy and difficult to turn, but it could shoot a solid iron ball fast enough to break a stone wall into small pieces.
This factual reality drove everyone wild, and they began bidding against each other with intense energy.
"I bid 210,000 gold coins!" King Erik of Norway shouted loudly, hitting the bench with his fist.
"I bid 230,000 gold coins!" King Aedh MacNeill of Ireland responded immediately.
"250,000 gold coins!" King Donald II of Scotland roared, standing up from his seat.
"My friend, they look like hungry dogs fighting over a piece of meat." Louis said to Ragnar, laughing a genuine sound from his throat.
"They are fighting for their survival, Louis..." Ragnar replied, looking at the deposed prince with a smile. "Because you built an iron tube that makes their old methods of war completely useless."
"I merely followed the drawings you provided!" Louis stated, shaking his head slightly. "But seeing them shout these massive numbers of gold coins makes the long days in the hot forge entirely worthwhile."
"280,000 gold coins!" King Erik shouted.
"300,000 gold coins!" King Aedh countered.
The loud voices filled the large building. The guards holding iron spears near the doors tightened their grips, ensuring the kings did not draw their iron swords in anger.
The kings were giving Ragnar their wealth, and in return, Ragnar was giving them a single primitive cannon.
King Donald II of Scotland took a deep breath. He looked at his son, Daniel, who sat on the bench beside him. Daniel nodded his head.
King Donald looked directly at Ragnar and raised his right hand into the air.
"350,000 gold coins!" King Donald shouted loudly. "I will empty the treasuries of every duke in Scotland to pay for this machine! This weapon must belong to me!"
When King Donald shouted this massive number, the entire room fell completely silent. The sum of three hundred and fifty thousand gold coins was a factual limit that the other kings simply could not surpass.
King Erik and King Aedh sat back down on their benches. They did not have enough gold stored in their strongboxes to bid any higher. If they offered more money, they would not be able to even feed their people or pay their guards during the winter months!
And so, the auction for the Field Artillery Cannon was finally over.
The scribe sitting near the wall dipped his feather pen into the liquid ink and recorded the final numeric value alongside King Donald’s name in his paper ledger.
"The auction is over!" Ragnar announced, "King Donald the Second has purchased the Field Artillery Cannon for 350,000 gold coins!"
"You have all acquired great power today," Ragnar continued, "You will return to your lands with weapons that your ancestors could never have imagined. You will shatter stone walls, sail dark oceans, and conquer your enemies!"