When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 942: Shenglian Village in 1453 (Part )

"arrive."

When the horse's hooves hit the horseshoe-stone pavement, Alexei knew it without Gloev's reminder.

The small town of Lafvé, near the High Castle, now lies across the road.

There are many differences between Shenglian and other places, even the small town is different.

It is different from the common towns in Xiongbao Territory, where houses are made of mud and wood, and roads are made of sand, stone and wooden boards.

The central driveway of Lovetown is paved with large rough masonry blocks, while the sidewalks are paved with smaller, more compact bricks.

As for the houses, they are built with large pieces of limestone and slate tiles, and are basically two-story single-family buildings with gabled attics.

There is not only a small courtyard surrounded by a fence in front of the house, but also a mailbox locked with an iron belt and a house number painted green in front of the fence.

Housewives in white aprons were hanging linens on the clothesline, and several children in linen clothes were running around among the clothes.

As Alexei walked, he often saw some men with tall and straight figures.

When he turned his eyes, the men immediately noticed him.

Only when they saw that it was Alexei, would they retract their vicious looks and occasionally take off their hats to greet him.

"Who are these people? Town guards?"

"No, many of them are retired soldiers returning home. The Holy Alliance usually arranges a house for them in a small town."

For the Holy League, the financial pressure of more than 40,000 standing troops is still too great.

Therefore, over the past four years, the Holy Alliance has gradually laid off more than 10,000 people. Except for the Guards, only half of the strength of each regiment was maintained.

Of course, if there is another war in the future, they will be the first batch to be called back.

As for their livelihood, during periods of no war and no training, they are required to learn to read and write.

Moreover, the literacy rate and level are related to the indicators and bonuses of corps commanders at all levels.

If you can’t learn it in school, at most you’ll be punished by the teacher by standing in the corner and slapping your hands.

If you can't learn it in the regiment, you will have to be promoted by the captain, corps commander or even the military chaplain in turn.

Even the regiment commander was promoted to corps commander, and the corps commander was promoted to team leader.

By the time the veterans retire in three or five years, they will have enough education to become a scribe or even a clerk.

Of course, most of them were sent directly to the countryside to serve as centurions or captains of the religious army.

"...And you know what? Many of our troops in Beefburger are retired soldiers and officers."

After listening to Gloev's explanation, Alexei finally understood where his own shooting corps came from.

But he looked around and was still puzzled: "This Holy Alliance has only been established for six or seven years. This town, these houses, and these roads don't look like they could have been built in six or seven years."

"They know magic," Gloev answered briefly.

It wasn't that Gloev was being perfunctory with Alexei; it was indeed the case.

Isn't the mortar magic? Isn't the clockwork crane magic?

Even the knights who came to carry the bags were captured using weapons made of magic.

But to Alexei, it sounded like Gloev was just trying to please him, and he was treating him like a child.

He curled his lips.

Sensing Alexei's unhappy mood, Gloev could only smile bitterly: "I'm not lying to you. When you go to the Holy See, you will know everything."

After all, he is a loyal old minister. Alexei cannot keep a straight face towards him. It is enough for him to express his attitude.

"Okay, you, go ask for directions and where the market is."

The follower responded and wanted to leave, but was stopped by Gloev.

“No need to ask for directions.”

Putting the wine bottle in his arms to avoid being reported for drinking in the street, Gloev pointed in a direction: "That's it."

"You came before?"

"No."

Alexei was curious: "Then how do you know where it is?"

"These priest towns in the Holy League all look the same. I've seen a lot of them," said Gloev proudly.

Generally speaking, a town is built or transformed when a priestly order is established.

Unlike old towns, a priestly town often has two roads: the Via degli Filipino and the Via Victori di Santi.

The four corners of the intersection where the two roads meet are the central area of ​​the town.

Pointing to the intersection in the distance, Gloyev pointed out the buildings to Alexei one by one.

At the tip of the northeast corner sits the church, a square tower with a pointed bell tower and a basilica gallery hall.

On both sides of the church are a three-story brick and stone building, a town hall with a bronze plaque, and a two-story elementary school with a playground.

Although the distance is quite far, I can still hear the sound of reading.

Opposite the church was the night watchman's hall with its own dungeon. Several bruised and battered men were being escorted into the building by the night watchmen in black. On both sides of the night watchman's hall were a white-painted clinic and an armory with tall walls.

A large area in the southwest corner was the old market place in the past, which has now been transformed into a warehouse, post office, Enqing Market and Xinmin Square.

Leading the horses and under the instructions of Gloyev, the four of them soon arrived at the market in Xinmin Square.

Gloev actually likes this kind of market very much. During the four years he traveled to Holy Union, he would always go shopping in these small town markets.

Compared to the experienced Gloev, Alexei and his two guards were a little overwhelmed.

Since they arrived quite late, the first peak of the morning market had already passed, and the flow of people on the street was nearly half less than in the morning.

So Alexey did not see the carts loaded with cabbages rubbing against each other's wheels, nor did he see the peat piled as high as a tower and the exhausted horses.

After all, the unit price of peat is low, so of course the more you transport, the better.

Even so, when Alexei stepped onto the stone slabs of the square, a strong hot breeze with the aroma of oil and charcoal blew on his face.

Under the clear and transparent sky, there were night watchmen in black woolen clothes patrolling back and forth, farmers wearing waistcoats and hoods, and accountants holding writing boards under their arms...

Before I could look over, I heard all kinds of hawking sounds.

"The last three hundred pounds of peat, sold at a low price! Two dinars, take it away directly!"

"Here is the finest woolen cloth. A full yard of it for only three dinars!"

"Do you need any fried bread? Do you need any fried bread?"

"The Holy Sun roared, and the devil's lackey, Jinigis, was so frightened that he pissed and shit all over..."

"Everyone, look carefully, this is a real knife. I put my hand here, don't blink, miracle...ah——"

"Doctor, doctor!"

Although this market is lively, it is not much different from an ordinary market except that the things sold there are things I have never seen before.

Alexei was not some country bumpkin, and after looking around and walking around, his interest waned a bit.

Looking at the last building with the sign "Enqing Market", he took a step and wanted to walk in.

But before he walked in, Gloev grabbed his arm and said, "Your Highness, it's time to eat at noon. Have you ever tried the fried bread that is unique to Gaobao Township?"

"Fried bread? What is that?" Alexey's curiosity was aroused again.

Walking into a wooden room with ventilation on both sides, the striped oilcloth was covered with black grease, and oil would come out if you twisted it.

In the middle of the wooden house, several honeycomb coals were stacked together, burning a large black pot full of oil, which was bubbling.

"What would you like to eat, my friends?"

"Twelve pieces of fried bread, star anise soft crust cake, four basins of mutton soup, two plates of boneless meat, a plate of brown sugar mixed with purple eggs, and a pot of spoiled sour plum water..."

The attendant knight stopped Gloev and nodded in the direction of Alexei: "...We are here, there is no need to be so frugal, we don't want to drink spoiled..."

"Hey, you don't understand. You'll know after you drink it." Pushing the attendant away, Gloev continued to order, "Ask for stick bread, don't fool people with long loaves of bread."

"It depends on what you said."

Soon, a wicker basket filled with elbow-long pieces of fried bread was placed in front of Alexei.

The originally soft bread is fried until it becomes golden and crispy, and when two pieces are rubbed together, they will fall into crumbs.

"What a luxury." Looking at the black oil in the big black pot, the attendant on the side couldn't help but sigh, "You dare to use so much oil to fry things and sell them, aren't you afraid that you won't make back the money you put in?"

"How can I not make back the money? Do you know the price of rapeseed oil in Upper River County? I'll scare you to death if I tell you!"

"How many?"

"Less than two dinars, one pound!"

The knights who followed him hadn't reacted yet, but Alexei exclaimed: "So cheap, this is almost a half cut, right?"

Standing up, Gloev pointed to the distance and said, "Do you see that waterwheel? I just saw it. It's an oil mill, used for oil extraction."

"Even if there's an oil mill next to it, the price shouldn't be this high, right?"

"You don't know this. Upper River County has a large number of oil fields."

The two Thousand Valley Wars caused extremely severe population decline and village decline.

Especially in Gaobao Township, there are still more than a dozen households in the big villages, but only three or five households in the small villages.

Finally, the local church president and county governor made their own judgment and determined that it would be difficult for the existing population to cultivate the remaining land.

They simply concentrated the population in river valleys that were convenient for farming, unified management, and reduced administrative pressure.

As for the vacated areas that are difficult to cultivate, they can be temporarily used to grow low-maintenance rapeseed and graze dairy cows.

This is why the prices of milk, butter and rapeseed oil in Upper Riverside are so low that even ordinary restaurants can fry food.

Seeing the three men holding the fried bread and not knowing how to start, Gloev smiled.

"Don't know how to eat it?" He wiped his hands with a handkerchief, picked up two pieces of fried bread and a corner of soft crust cake, "How do you eat fried bread in Upper River County? Today I'll give you a mother-level tutorial."

As Alexei looked at him curiously, Gloev shouted to the boss, "Give me some meat wrapped in flour. Remember, five by five!"

(End of this chapter)