open sea

Chapter 1439 The Gardener
In May of the 12th year of the Wanli calendar, London was turning warm and cold.

At this time of the year, England is about to enter the busy farming season, and the unemployed hooligans on the streets of London will go to the countryside to find some hired work to make ends meet.

It's just that at this time, the city is much emptier than in previous years.

The war has brought countless indelible scars to this huge city, like the feces that have been walked on every street a thousand times-you can't even tell what the yellow-brown roads are made of.

It looks like dirt, and it looks like dirt, but it is there, silent and silent, under the rutted grass beside the road, on top of the mounds piled up in front of every house .

The people of this city think that they are used to the atmosphere of London, but the half-century-old manure that has been buried in the ground inadvertently will still try their best to break through the shackles of the ground and mix with fresh The smell of horse dung rushed into the nostrils.

The defeat of the Tudor and Stuart forces in Nottinghamshire seemed to signal the end of the war.

This doesn't mean that the people are willing to accept such a result, it's just that the reality is cruel and they have no strength at all.

In the countryside outside of London, there lived an actor named James Burbage. He was once the best actor in London. He ran his own theater on the south bank of the River Thames where there were brothels, hooligans, and every inch of land.

The name of the theater is the theater, which was established in 1576, because it was the first theater in London. It has no peers, and it can be distinguished from other brothels only by the theater.

Although there were no good drama scripts in the first few years, and there are no artists who write scripts these days, they are all bards who work in taverns. In Novelty, business is good.

In the final analysis, thanks to the blessing of no war, the wars in the Middle Ages have ended in England. People have nothing to do. After giving birth to children, farming, and raising sheep, they have time to think about how to satisfy the needs of the empty spiritual world.

Relying on theater and excellent performance talent, Mr. James made a lot of money, but when people saw him making money, their minds became alive. In recent years, "Rose Theater" and "Swan Theater" have popped up .

But even so, his theater is still what people call an 'old theater', and it has been operating in a fairly good state for eight years, and it has won the hearts of the people.

"I was in the theater the night the Ming army entered the city. Everyone knows that London can't be defended. Her Royal Highness the Queen has gone to the north, but I can't bear it. The old theater is my painstaking effort."

These days are always gloomy, and there is not much sunshine even in the afternoon. James sat on a tree stump in the yard by the entrance, holding a logging ax in front of him with one hand, and propping up the wild smoke with the other on his lap, saying: "Finally Still gone, the Ming army and the defenders fought fiercely on the north bank, the hooligans on the south bank ransacked the guests at the door of the brothel, and some people broke into the theater to snatch the newly ordered costumes."

"So Will, what's your name? Yes, William."

James raised his hand with the wild smoke and pointed forward to the young man standing in the yard, "It's really not a good idea for you to take refuge in London because you shot a deer on the land of the nobles."

"There are no performances or chores. The Ming army only allows useful people to stay in the city. We actors are all expelled. You can stay with me temporarily, but I'm afraid I won't be able to keep you for too long."

As James said, he tapped the burr-covered stake under his buttocks, and said with a miserable smile, "I bought this house just because I wanted this tree. Now the house hasn't been repaired yet, but the tree is gone."

The young man named William looked at the tree and thought it must be a hundred-year-old tree. He couldn't even guess how tall the tree used to be, but now the tree is gone, leaving only A giant tree stump.

He looked up at the house behind James. It was a standard old aristocratic stone house with a wide garden and several beautiful servant houses and stables outside. It seemed that the renovation of the main house was continuing. Glass is used on half of the east-facing windows of the small stone building.

The house on the west still has the old wooden shutters.

William, who had walked all the way to London from Stratford-upon-Avon, had seen too many houses like this.

Normal living mansions have only appeared in the past 100 years. In the past, the nobles lived and died today and tomorrow, and they had to live in military fortresses to feel safe. In the past century, the country has become more and more peaceful, and sheep and shearing have become beneficial. A profitable business leads to a decent house.

But building a house is a difficult task. Like gambling, alchemy, litigation, and luxury, it is the best choice for the prodigal and the best recipe for no future.

There are a lot of houses that have stopped working halfway through repairs. They went to war while they were repairing, they ran out of money while they were repairing, people died while they were repairing, and their owners went to France to seek refuge during repairing...there are some half-repaired houses left , it does not affect living.

Just like James's house today, it looks like there are twelve or thirteen rooms inside and outside, and there are plans to build corridors on the outside. Corridors are the latest trend in the construction industry in England.

Before this trend appeared, the poor did not divide their rooms into different rooms. A room with guests was the living room, dining room was the dining room, and sleeping was the bedroom.

The rich have several houses, where they have food and sleep, so the level is obviously higher.

Now that people are getting richer, they also have a need for privacy, so it is necessary to build corridors and separate houses.

Like this courtyard, it is obviously the residence of the nobles in the past, otherwise ordinary people would not have the leisure to arrange gardens outside the house, let alone so many rooms to entertain guests.

William asked, "Why did you cut down the tree?"

"Zhao En from the timber factory is buying."

William was puzzled by this obscure name: "Zhao En?"

"Yes, his name was John in the past. When the Ming army entered the city, his daughter was in the city. Later, he made a coffin for the Ming army and asked someone to change his name to Zhao En. It's good to call him Zhao En."

The tone of James’s compliment can’t be called sincere, but he is indeed a little envious: “Other places are also buying timber, but those people pay with pennies. Only Zhao En can get Tongbao and Daming’s money.”

William frowned, and his tone couldn't help showing a bit of contempt, but it was well concealed when he opened his mouth, and said, "Da Ming's money, they came from afar, and they will be repelled in a short time, right? What kind of reason do they have?"

"The jurisprudence...William is still French."

James laughed mockingly, and said, "Of course it's William the Conqueror, not William Shakespeare in front of me."

"I know, you said in your letter that you came to London not only for asylum, but also to gain fame and get the help of nobles, and apply for the title of gentleman for your father, so you are angry that the Queen fled north."

"But to be honest, I don't think the people of Ming Dynasty will leave. If you insist on getting the medal, you'd better find a way to get the officers of Ming Dynasty to accept you."

James put out his cigarette, spread his hands and said, "I have a nephew who lives in Winchester. Everyone was given fields by the Ming army. Many people joined the Ming army for this. Chester's, Bass', Yeovil's recruits are training, and they're more numerous than you think."

William took a deep breath and shook his head slowly. He wanted to say something but couldn't say it. In the end, he could only frown and look at the garden in the distance, and sighed: "Anyway, I can't go back now, I can give you As a gardener, even if you don't have to do any gardening, it's better to have a helper when you're cutting trees, right?"

　Good morning!I was not satisfied with what I wrote yesterday, so I deleted it and re-wrote it, so I posted it late, sorry.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)