They wandered all the way to the stables and found many people there waiting for the horses. Roger motioned to the maid to come over.

"Let me tell you,"

A tall and heavy man was holding a stiff brush in the stable and was brushing the neck of a horse. His horse was tall and big.

"A good war horse must be able to carry heavy loads. The best war horses can carry four fully armed knights at the same time."

The man next to him bent down, picking the dirt and stones off the horse's hooves with a hoof pick, and interrupted: "Are you talking about a horse? It's an elephant with a long trunk, right?"

The tall man kept brushing his hands and said: "My horse will do. My Shire horse was given to me by a relative of mine. This relative of mine followed William the Conqueror to England. He had a horse farm.

I have raised a lot of Shire horses, and this horse is very powerful. Look, it’s so strong, and ordinary horses can’t carry me.”

On the other side of him was a slightly thinner man who looked similar to him. He was brushing away the dust and dander from the horse's hair with a brush. He was combing the hair in small sections along the direction of the hair.

The thin man said: "You are too fat. Your Shire horse cannot run fast, and it cannot be used as a war horse. If you ask me, it must run fast. I have a relative who also went to England with William the Conqueror..."

"Aren't your relatives my relatives?"

"Don't interrupt,"

The thin man held a brush for brushing the horse's body in one hand and a metal horse brush in the other hand. He used the brush for brushing the horse's body to brush on the teeth of the metal horse brush. Every time he brushed it a few times, the metal horse brush was brushed.

Tap the brush gently on the ground to shake out the dust.

He was busy with his hands and kept talking: "His horse is a purebred horse. It runs like a gust of wind and no one can catch up."

Someone in the stable opposite the thin man said with a smile: "He must often use it to escape, haha."

This funny man is feeding the horse.

His horse nodded its head and made a deep, short neigh, as if it was yelling for food. But when the man came close to it, the horse didn't eat. It turned its head to the man and licked him with its tongue.

, and seemed to want to bite him.

So the man touched the horse's neck and played with it.

"Look at my 'Fa Yi Rule'. She is the best horse. Look, she has a beautiful body, a medium build, a well-proportioned structure, a sharp and docile temperament. Is there any better horse than her?"

Roger followed the sound and saw a knight in a long robe bathing his horse in the sun on the clean flat ground in front of the stable.

Roger noticed that he was not using a cloth but a natural sponge used by nobles for bathing.

The knight put the sponge into the bucket and dipped it in water to wipe the horse's body. He wiped the horse's back and said with satisfaction.

Someone on the side mocked: "You are talking about your mother-in-law, hahaha."

The knight was not annoyed. He rubbed the horse's belly and said cheerfully: "My horse has speed, endurance, smartness and gentleness. Where can my mother-in-law be better than my horse?"

"If you ask me, you still have to run hard. You can run a hundred and eighty miles without panting. Look at my Persian horse. Oops, why is it knotted?"

A bearded man in the stable was combing the horse's mane and forehead hair with a bristle brush. He started from the horse's ears and combed the mane to one side. He combed it as if it was knotted and difficult to comb.

place.

"A horse that doesn't breathe is a dead horse," someone joked.

The bearded man had no time to pay attention. He was trying to comb the hair from the root to the end bit by bit.

"My 'Fa Yi Rule' can also run long distances. She can run long distances without eating or drinking, but I can't bear to let her go."

The knight on the ground began to wash the horse's head. He was careful not to get the water into the horse's eyes. His horse remained obediently motionless and allowed him to do whatever he wanted.

"What's the use of just being able to travel long distances? It's not a pack horse for merchants. If you ask me, the key is to be able to fight, such as a big horse like mine."

There is a separate cubicle in the corner of the stable. A man with red hair and a red beard is feeding water to the horse. His horse is tall and burly, with dark hair all over its body without a single hair.

He said: "I went to Hanover specially to buy it. It cost me 10 pounds of silver. Look, the chest is broad, the back is broad and flat, and the four legs are so strong. It must be more than a circle bigger than your horse."

"You fool, you were slaughtered. A war horse is only worth 6 cows and 3 pounds of silver at most." Someone interrupted.

"Am I an ordinary war horse? Open your eyes and take a closer look. How big are the nostrils, how broad are the wings of the nose, and how clear and bright are the eyes? It is worth the price!"

The man with the red beard said excitedly and his voice was a little louder. As a result, his horse became unhappy and kicked the bucket away.

The person watching on the side suggested: "Your horse is too hot-tempered and not very obedient. Let's castrate it."

The horse seemed to understand human nature and couldn't hear the word "castrate". It neighed and jumped in the stall, panted heavily, and snorted from time to time.

"Huh, uh" the red-bearded man was busy soothing his horse, but he didn't forget to reply: "Go geld your horse, I like its bad temper, uh uh, uh~"

The maid was a little afraid of the horse, so she held Roger far away and walked to the other end of the stable.

Roger saw two people here directing the attendants to get on the saddle and put on the bridle.

"Look at the horse I bought in Iberia. The face and hooves are white, and the fur is shiny and fine. It's no better than your brown horse." One person said proudly.

The other one said unhappily: "What a fool, you are not a pure white horse, and your horse is a female. Why don't you ride a male horse?"

"The female horse is good, docile and easy to train. When she runs, she can go wherever she is told."

"Can she jump over a 4-meter-wide ditch?"

"Why not?"

"Try to go for a walk."

"Just try it, no one is afraid of whom."

When the maid saw them getting on the horse, she was afraid of bumping into Roger, so she turned away and walked to the open space in front of the stable.

Roger noticed that the knight who was washing the horse was already washing the horse's tail. He placed the bucket on a stand so that the horse's tail could naturally be immersed in the water in the bucket.

"Hey, be gentle." A shout from the side made Roger turn his head.

He saw a man sitting on a small stool, holding a horse's leg, holding a sharp knife, and was using the knife to flatten the horseshoe.

The other person standing next to him must be the owner of the horse, and the shout came from him.

At this time, the knight who was washing the horse spoke: "I told you not to whine. If the horse is frightened, be careful of getting kicked."

After the knight completely wets the horse's tail, wipe it gently with a sponge, and then rinse it clean.

"Don't worry, Sir. My hands are steady and I won't hurt the horse. If the horseshoe is not flattened, shoeing it will hurt the horse."

The man who was sitting said that and stabbed him down again. The horse stood obediently, motionless.

The knight who washed the horse finished washing the tail, took a dry towel and carefully wiped the horse's body, drying every part from head to tail.

Roger looked at his horse carefully. This horse was chestnut in color, with a short head, a long neck, high and plump mounds, a short and strong back and waist, well-developed limbs and tendons, a smooth and hairless body, and a high tail base.

The tail is raised high.

The knight looked at his horse basking in the sun with fascination and satisfaction, and exclaimed: "How beautiful my 'Fayir' is!"

The maid carried Roger and left the stable. Roger was very satisfied with today's inspection.

But on the way back to the stone house, he discovered something new.

A group of people gathered in the middle of the courtyard. This was a temptation that Roger, who loved the excitement, could not refuse.

So he patted the maid with his little hand and asked her to squeeze in and take a look.

The maid looked a little tired. Roger had gained weight very quickly and he spent more time shopping today than usual.

The knights blocking the road in front were all tall and thick, and they were the ones that the maid usually did not dare to disobey, but under Roger's insistent look, the maid had no choice but to step forward.

The few knights blocking the road noticed Roger. These arrogant and undisciplined guys always hugged each other, no matter drinking or fighting. They never looked at people outside their circle and rarely looked good.

.

But when they saw Roger, they all grinned and said with a smile: "Hey, Roger the alcoholic."

They squeezed to both sides to make way for Roger to join.

Roger showed no gratitude for this and stuck out his tongue at them in response.

The maid holding Roger was sweating, and she didn't know whether it was because she was tired or afraid.

The maid walked into the crowd, and Roger noticed his father, sitting on a Roman square stool with a proud look on his face, showing his aristocratic style.

But in Roger's opinion, with the group of muscular men around him, he was simply the gang leader in the village, with the imposing manner of a mountain eagle.

Old Roger saw little Roger and waved the maid over. He took Roger and put it on his lap.

Roger then saw three strangers in front of him.

On the right is a skinny old man with no hair on his head and no beard on his chin. He is wearing a brown barley robe made of unbleached coarse wool. He has a wooden cross hanging from his neck. He is leaning on a wooden stick in his hand and has a sense of humor.

Sheep smelled bad, but in Roger's opinion, he didn't look like an ordinary shepherd, because there was no flinch in his eyes, but a kind of calmness in which everyone was equal.

In the middle is a Saracen businessman, wearing a typical Arab robe.

On the left is a woman, beautifully dressed and well-groomed. The strands of white hair on her head show that she is older, but her youthful beauty can still be seen in her brows and eyes.

"My Lord Count."

The person speaking on the right was Mayo from Messina, whom Roger knew. Roger didn't pay attention to him just now, thinking that he was also one of the onlookers.

Mayo introduced: "These three citizen representatives hope to get your ruling."

"Let them speak for themselves." The count said in a majestic tone.

"Dear Count Roger, I am Philip, the shepherd of God, abbot of the Messina monastery. I come on behalf of the monastery, the village and the market. Your soldiers have stolen the monastery's sheep and robbed the villagers of their food.
To be continued...