kingdom of nations

Chapter 170 The Isaacs' New Year (7)

The Isaacs' New Year was rather bleak and quiet.

Indeed, on the first day of the new year, they blew horns made of goat horns three times, recited scriptures three times, ate apples dipped in honey to pray for a sweeter future when their families gathered, ate pomegranates to give thanks to God, and ate fish heads to ensure that their work or business would be unparalleled.

In the afternoon, they gradually left the city. By a small lake outside Bethlehem, they prayed and threw the things in their pockets into the lake, symbolizing that they had repented for their sins and discarded them.

In the past, however, they would discard large pieces of bread, and some Isaacs would even throw away spices, gold coins, and jewels. They generously threw these precious things into the bottomless lake, as if their souls were also freed.

However, in the eyes of Christians, this behavior is extremely despicable, and it turns their previous good deeds into a joke.

“They did give us bread, but they used it to throw into the water, and they gave us far more of it,” the poor Christian who had been watching them said indignantly.

But this was indeed the doctrine of the Isaacs and what the "wise men" required them to do. At first, they would only put sand and stones in their pockets, but at some point, this behavior turned into showing off. The more valuable the things they threw down, the easier it was for that person to gain the respect and trust of the other Isaacs.

No matter what business he does afterward, he will surely have a smooth and successful journey. Even if he goes bankrupt due to an accident and becomes penniless, there will be plenty of people willing to lend him money.

Some people saw Haredi standing by the lake, but he only threw a hardened piece of mud into the lake.

The man's face immediately darkened with displeasure: "Haredi, what are you doing?" he scolded. "Do you think your soul is worth only a piece of dirt?"

Haredi glanced at him, but didn't answer. He walked past him in silence. The man was also a goldsmith, but his skills and imagination were no match for Haredi's. He was already somewhat jealous of Haredi, and now he had found a handle to use against him.

He reached out to grab Harry and have a good argument with him, while mocking his stinginess and miserliness, but his friend immediately grabbed him. "Don't cause trouble at a time like this," his friend whispered.

Everyone knew that Lego and his men had displeased the lord. After being taken back to Bethlehem, they were forced to confess their crimes to everyone who had given them alms, and were then whipped.

That night, several people developed high fevers, and one person even died as a result. They were not even able to come to the lakeside to complete the ceremony themselves; instead, their wives and sons performed it on their behalf.

“It’s all their fault. I told you before that this scheme wouldn’t work. Neither Christians nor Saracens would even look at us. They despise us, loathe us, and would want to hang us on the cross as soon as they see us,” an Isaac merchant complained in a low voice. “We’ve already lost so much money, and Lego is acting like a madman, trying to scheme against our new lord with such a small amount of money.”

As you can see now, the result was that our wise man was hanged, and Le Guau and his associates didn't fare any better.

By the way, have you heard? Jacques, Le Guau's son-in-law, although a Christian, was also caught up in it. While he wasn't whipped, he was expelled from Arazars. Do you think their family can still continue in Bethlehem?
If not, we should at least try their business—I mean soap, wine, and olive oil—and get one or two samples.

“This is no simple matter. Come to my house tomorrow, and I’ll have my wife treat you well. Then we can discuss this further,” another merchant said.

Haredi was already quite far away from those people, but his keen hearing and the howling wind still carried these vicious and despicable words to his ears.

He was not afraid of the jealousy and threats from his peers.

He was a hermit, and what might surprise others is that among the Isaacs, those who followed this sect might indeed be ridiculed for being too old-fashioned and unreasonable, but all Isaacs acknowledged that they were the purest branch of Isaac's descendants.

Although they do not advocate it, they still keep the hermit Isaacs hidden as one of their most important trump cards.

In the areas where the hermits lived, Isaac caravans would regularly visit them to trade and provide them with things that could not be produced in those remote places.

They would even select the smartest children every now and then and send them over to see if they could become students of one of the wise men.

While they wouldn't be particularly close to a stubborn person like Haredi, they also wouldn't harm him casually unless there was sufficient benefit or a life-or-death situation. Just like what he encountered in Damascus.

What chilled him even more was the gloating in their words. Lego had indeed done two foolish things, but it wasn't his idea alone. He couldn't control all the Isaacs. Whether it was raising gold to redeem their lord or using the lord's name to provide relief to the poor, these were decisions made by the Isaacs who had prestige and influence after discussing them together in the synagogue.

Lego and the few Isaacs who were exposed did not reveal their names, or perhaps their crimes were not worthy of the lord's attention, but this could not be a reason for them to take advantage of Lego's misfortune and annex the property of Lego and the others.

This is perhaps why Haredi ultimately abandoned his teacher's instructions and did not use the hidden ancient scrolls as a stepping stone to return to the secret place in the desert. They were expelled as losers—the open and covert attacks, the intrigues and schemes there were no less than those in Bethlehem or Arrassa Road, and he was filled with disgust whenever he thought of it.

He would rather wander and spend the rest of his life quietly in Saracen or Christian cities than return there, even if those ancient scrolls could make him a guest of honor among them. They would immediately forget the severe accusations he had suffered and accept him with joy. He would become a sage. They might still have conflicts, but the worst outcome would be imprisonment.

After Haredi returned to his workshop, he sat there for a long time. The apprentices assigned to him by the synagogue of Isaacs came to his side and asked with concern if their master had encountered any unbearable difficulties.

They were all children of Isaac, and their parents and elders did indeed carry some weight and had a voice in the synagogue, but Haredi merely raised his eyes and said, "I'm fine, I was just thinking about an order a customer placed with me."

The children's bright, round eyes widened immediately. "A new order?" one of the older children asked excitedly. "Is it a Christian or Isaac?" "A Christian? But he's generous and not a demanding fellow. It's just that what he needs to do is very, very meticulous. I can't let you help him with this." Haredi pondered for a moment and said, "If anyone wants to visit me after the New Year and hopes I can do something for them, please politely decline for me. I'll be spending the next few days working on this order."

His words made the two children even more curious. In the workshop, the master was like the student's parent, or rather, the slave's master.

In this era, whether Christian, Saracen, or Isaac, if parents send their children to a master as apprentices, they must sign a written contract.

The contract states that a certain person voluntarily entrusts their child, [name], to a certain master. For a period of time, the child must completely obey the master's orders. The master can scold, beat, and arbitrarily command the child. Even if the child unfortunately dies, the parents have no right to pursue the matter.

Even after the child grows up, or when his master deems him ready to leave the workshop and work independently, he will still have to continue working for his master for eight, ten, or fifteen years for free.
It can be said that once a child becomes an apprentice, their future is almost entirely in the master's hands.

His master even had the right to sell him to another person as an apprentice.

Of course, Haredi wouldn't do that; after all, these two apprentices were his people. But since he had said so, the two children had no choice but to obey, though their eyes were still full of curiosity.

“What could it be?” Harryd was still listening to their murmured discussion as they left the room with their candles. “It should be a water clock.”

"It could also be a necklace."

"It could be a reliquary, or it could be a crown."

Harry listened to their pattering footsteps fading into the distance, and a faint smile appeared on his face. Children's innocence is always quite comforting.

He returned to his workbench and lowered the lamp holder on top of him a little.

This lamp stand was also designed and built by himself. It uses several pulleys and has clips on the crank handle to fix it in place, so he can stop it at any height as he pleases.

He also lavishly used glass lampshades, which not only increased the brightness but also ensured that sparks and grease inside would not contaminate the drawings and models on the workbench.

He pulled the parchment from his pocket, but it wasn't the original Cesar had shown him; it was a hastily copied copy. He held it up to his eyes and examined it carefully, over and over again, making sure every detail was etched into his mind. Only then did he stand up and immerse the entire parchment in water, causing the charcoal marks on it to become blurred instantly.

Not only that, he quickly took out scissors and cut the entire parchment into shreds, then set it aside to dry before throwing it into the fireplace. This was the best way to keep it a secret.

So, where should he begin?
On New Year's Day and the Sabbath, Isaac cannot do any work, but he can first simulate it in his mind.

Let's start with the syringe. The syringe is a minor matter, since he had already made it before. The needle that pierced Sultan Nur ad-Din's body during the Battle of the Sea of ​​Galilee was one he had carefully crafted—but when he made it, he didn't intend to use it to take someone's life.

Doing it again now is just repeating the previous steps, and it's not difficult.

Haredi was initially inspired by the hollow glass tubes used by the ancient Romans, who used them as a tool to treat cataracts through extraction.

Later, people also used animal bladders and reed tubes to make simple syringes for enemas. He had seen people use thinner hollow bird bones and goose feather tubes, but to use such a syringe to inject the medicine into the blood vessels, it was necessary to make an incision in the animal or human body large enough to accommodate the tube.

Although he had deliberately acted as if he admired or even feared Cesar's ingenious ideas, he had actually already tried it. Otherwise, how could he have known that the hollow arrow he shot would take Nurdin's life?
Although he knew that the priests would much rather hear that he used this thing to take other people's lives than that he used it to save people.

If he were discovered, regardless of whether he implicated Cesar, he would face only two fates: either he would be secretly and quickly executed, or he would be subjected to endless torture before being executed.

It depends on how much fear the churches have of this strange healing method. This fear may increase or decrease depending on how much they can control. They will be interested in giving this Isaac the most severe punishment if they can control all or most of it. If they control less, they will be eager to kill him to prevent this human scourge from causing more trouble.

The method Haredi used was almost identical to that used by inventors in another world hundreds of years later. He first cast an alloy rod, about the thickness of a little finger, with its outer wall polished quite smoothly.

Then, thin sheets of gold were wrapped around the outside of the metal rod, and the rod was hammered into shape little by little with great patience. The rod was then removed, and the hollow tube was placed on a stretching machine to be slowly stretched.

During the stretching process, the hollow tube also continued to lengthen and become thinner—of course, there were many failures, such as breaking or getting blocked, but after hundreds of failures, he finally obtained a hollow syringe that was barely acceptable, which was almost the same as the one he used on Nurdin.

This is not a finished product. He first needs to make a rough prototype of the entire device before he can determine how to assemble it.

The most difficult part is the part that holds the liquid and applies pressure. Using an animal bladder would be the simplest option, but César has specified that glass, gold, and silver are all acceptable, but not animal bladders.

He has no way to thoroughly disinfect animal bladders, nor can he prevent impurities from entering the medicine, both of which could cause systemic infection, coagulation disorders, and multiple organ failure.

(End of this chapter)