wild trail

Chapter 377 Hot Pot
He Tie looked at his frostbitten fingers, was silent for a while, and said to the monkey: "What are you going to do? Are you still going to sea?"

The monkey heard the words and said: "Go out, what else can I do without going to sea, I am different from you, I can feed the whole family by myself now, if I can live to the end, the reward is enough for me to spend the rest of my life comfortably Now, when the time comes, I will also go to find a place near the capital to build a house and find a few young ladies to be my wives. Thinking about this day, I will feel comfortable, how about you? What are your plans."

"I also plan to go to sea. Although the sea is very dangerous, the money comes quickly. I think I will go home after I finish this time. I hope I can come back alive."

Monkey nodded and said: "That's right, what to worry about so much, even if you die someday, at least you will have a future, we are comfortable day by day now."

While the two were talking, the shopkeeper came over with a strange-looking copper pot.

It was the first time for both of them to see this thing, and they stared at this strange thing curiously for a while.

"Is this hot pot?" Monkey asked.

The shopkeeper nodded and said: "This is a hot pot. You two see that there is no stove in the middle. This is used to add charcoal, so that the soup in the pot will always be hot. When eating, just put the meat and Just throw the vegetables in and wash it for a while. It is said that this food came from the palace. I used to be a chef in the capital city. This is the authentic taste of the capital city. I guarantee that you will be satisfied."

"I didn't expect there to be such a chef in Ningyuan City." He Tie said with some surprise.

The storekeeper smiled naively when he heard the words: "What kind of chef, he is just an apprentice in the capital for a few years. You two sit down for a while, and I will go get you two dishes."

The monkey swallowed his saliva and said, "Heizi, I never imagined that you and I would be able to eat something that is a must. Damn, it's good to have money."

"That's right. I've lived in the capital city for nearly ten years. I've never been in this place. It's said that if you eat a meal there, the cheapest one costs five copper coins. We ordinary people there Places to go."

"Damn, before I earn money, I have to go to the capital to see the world. He said that there are people everywhere in the capital, and all kinds of new gadgets are everywhere. Is this true?" Monkey asked.

He Tie nodded and said: "It's true, the capital city has more fights than this Ningyuan City, and it's usually fine, especially on the night of the Chinese New Year, when the people in the city watch the performance of the Royal Performing Troupe, there are tens of thousands of hot people. The fish and dragon dance together, if you don't see it with your own eyes, you don't know there are such spectacular things in this world."

After listening to the monkey, his face was full of longing, and then he sighed and said: "Oh, my luck was also unlucky at the beginning, why was I arranged to go to Tongshan City, which is not a bird shit, where apart from mining, Maodu root."

"Tongshan City is not bad either. Isn't there a bread tree there? The flour made by that thing is much more delicious than the one made by grinding, and your side must be cheaper than the capital city." He Tie said slowly.

"The shitty bread tree was okay a few years ago. Recently, there are not many bread trees left after being cut down. If there is no well, it is estimated that there will be no bread tree left. In recent years, it has been planted near Tongshan City. I don’t know how long it will take to plant a tree.” The monkey cursed.

"Is there such a thing?" He Tie looked at the monkey with some surprise.

The monkey nodded and said, "There is no river in Tongshan City, so it is impossible to plant. If there is not a copper mine, the city would have been abandoned long ago."

"Tongshan City is also an old city, and it will become like this."

"Who said no? At first I thought I went to a good place, but now it seems that I am the most comfortable in the capital."

At this time, the shopkeeper came over with a tray and placed plates of vegetables and meat on the table.

"You two, these are the ones that are used to wash the hot pot. The two bowls are for dipping sauce. You can eat it after dipping in it. At this time, the wine for you two is very strong. It is suitable for military warriors like the two of you." The shopkeeper said eloquently.

"You can talk, well, it's none of your business here." Monkey laughed.

"Then you two take it easy, call me anytime you need anything." After speaking, the shopkeeper walked towards the counter.

Since there are very few types of vegetables in Xiaguo, especially in the colder north, there are only two or three types of green vegetables, and most of them are various unknown thinly sliced ​​meats.

The monkey licked his lips, and couldn't wait to add these things into the pot with chopsticks.

The charcoal in the stove exudes this scorching breath, which boils the soup in the hot pot. The red soup looks very appetizing.

The thin slices of meat and vegetables were cooked in boiling water for a while, dipped in the dipping sauce and took a bite. This unique taste immediately made the eyes of the two shine.

The two of them didn't have time to talk at all, and swept away the food on the table like a storm.

"Shop, serve the food, serve the food." The monkey shouted loudly.

After a while, another tray of dishes was brought over.

It wasn't until the two of them leaned on the back of the chair and touched their bulging belly that they hiccupped with satisfaction.

Only then did the two of them remember that they were too busy to eat just now, and they didn't even have time to take a sip of this jar of wine.

The two rested for a while, opened the jar of Ainana wine, and the strong aroma of the wine wafted out.

Hot pot with strong wine, in this winter weather, makes people feel extremely refreshed.

The two spent ten copper coins for this meal. The rich and powerful monkey took out ten strings of copper coins from the money bag without blinking, and threw them on the table.

As soon as they went out, the cold wind outside suddenly made the two of them shiver, and the alcohol was relieved a lot.

"Heizi, brother, I'll take you to find the little lady. I've been floating on the sea for half a year, but I haven't even seen a woman." Heizi said with a wretched expression.

He Tie shook his head and said: "No, take me to the barracks, I want to get my money."

Monkey curled his lips when he heard the words, and said, "Money won't fly there anymore, forget it, I just happen to be a little sleepy, so it's good to go back and sleep."

After the two returned to the barracks, the barracks was exactly as the monkey guessed, and now less than half of the people were nesting in the barracks doing nothing.

After learning about Captain Wei Ming's residence from Houzikou, He Tie went there alone to collect the money.

After explaining his purpose to the guards outside the tent, He Tie walked into the tent.

Inside the camp, Wei Ming was carefully studying the map on the table. This map can be said to be the most mysterious thing in Xia Kingdom.

In his impression, Xia Guo's ships have only sailed around the mainland of China, and he really doesn't know anything about what is outside of China, but on this map, not only the location of the mainland of China is drawn, but even the rest of the world. The mainland is also drawn.

This almost miraculous thing, when Wu Gang handed it to him before going to sea, really shocked him for a long time.

Knowing that his next goal is to go to the mainland where he washes his face in the mainland of China and its nearby islands.

His mission is to see if there is a country of humans or dinosaurs there. If there is no land there, Xia Guo will take it as his own without hesitation.

"Crew member He Tie, meet the captain." He Tie bowed and bowed.

"Did you come to receive the reward money?" Wei Ming asked.

He Tie nodded and said: "Yesterday I was diagnosed and treated in the yamen, but I didn't receive it."

"He Tie, right?" Wei Ming confirmed.

He Tie nodded.

Wei Ming rummaged through the list of the crew and the three crew members for a while, and said: "He Tie, a native of the capital, has a wife and a four-year-old son at home."

"It's the subordinate!" He Tie said in a deep voice.

Wei Ming got up and walked to a box, took out a bag of copper coins, and threw them to He Tiedao: "Here are thirty copper coins, and they are for your expenses during this time. After the task is completed, it will be paid to you."

He Tie was taken aback for a moment, unexpectedly there would be a surprise, he quickly thanked Wei Ming, and took the heavy bag of copper coins, almost from ear to ear.

"If you don't plan to spend the money, you can store it in the fleet, but you will be charged for safekeeping," Wei Ming reminded.

"How much does it cost to store in the fleet?" He Tie asked.

"Ten Guans receive a copper coin."

He Tie looked at the copper coins in his hand, and thought to himself: "You can't spend much money at sea, but the monkey spent a lot today, and I have to repay this kid when I find a chance."

After thinking for a while, he said, "There's no need to save money. If it's reward money, it must be saved."

Wei Ming nodded, and said, "It's fine to eat, drink and have fun in the city, but you can't do illegal things. If you are caught by the yamen guards, it will be more troublesome for me."

He Tie nodded and said: "The subordinate understands! Then I will resign."

Wei Ming waved his hand to signal He Tie to back down.

With a heavy money bag hanging around his waist, he immediately felt extremely comfortable. Although he had nothing to spend money on, listening to the sound of clattering with money was also a kind of enjoyment.

Back in the tent, He Tie saw that the monkey had already slept like a dead pig, smiled, and found an empty bed to lie on.

Touching the bulging money bag, the corners of his mouth turned up, and the spirit of alcohol surged up, and he Tie fell into a deep sleep in a daze.

Yancheng.

Since Wang Lang only made the first pendulum clock, after several days of testing and improvement, he finally perfected the pendulum clock. Although there are still some errors, except for the unattractive appearance, it basically does not affect the use.

Recalcitrantly engraved twelve scales on the dial of the pendulum clock according to his own habits, and marked the time with Arabic numerals.

The first pendulum clock was placed in Wang Lang's study room. Immediately after finishing this novelty, it immediately aroused the interest of his wife, children and ministers.

From time to time, there would be officials from the court in Wang Lang's study, who would come here to take a look at this thing that can show the time on the pretext of reporting work.

The design drawings of the pendulum clock have been handed over to the Ministry of Industry for research. The pendulum clock is currently very expensive to manufacture. In the Xia Kingdom, except for officials, only a small number of people can afford this kind of purchasing power.

Of course, Wang Lang didn't want to see this kind of situation, but the cost of production couldn't be reduced even if he wanted to.

The idea of ​​building a clock tower appeared in his mind once.

Although it costs a lot of money to build the bell tower, as long as the bell tower is built, it can facilitate the lives of the people. One bell tower is equivalent to tens of millions of pendulum clocks.

As for the miniaturized pendulum clock, it is indeed a kind of luxury. This kind of luxury can make those rich people with some spare money spend their money to buy such dispensable things. , put the money in the market for circulation, rather than storing it at home and letting it rot.

Although Xia Guo thinks of a self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy and society, through perfect transportation, commodity trade between various places is also frequent.

After so many years of development, Xia Kingdom has a new class, that is, the merchant class. These merchants earn the difference by reselling goods. Although Wang Lang is not ashamed of this kind of speculative behavior, he also knows that society does not have such People can't do it either.

The class of scholars, peasants, businessmen, and businessmen has been basically formed. Compared with the other three classes, merchants belong to the lowest class in Wang Lang's eyes. Like the ancient Chinese country in another world, the merchants of Xia Kingdom are not engaged in production. A parasitic class.

Since Wang Lang comes from a modern society with a very developed commodity economy, he despises the money-oriented lifestyle very much. Since the tribal era, he has been using his words and deeds to influence human morality. Money can be earned, but it violates morality. And the law, then I'm sorry, it doesn't matter whether you are a prince, general or hero, in Wang Lang's dictionary, it means that the future is not bright.

Those who follow Wang Lang know that his Majesty the Emperor may allow you to have no talent, but he will never tolerate their despicable behavior.

It stands to reason that, as Wang Lang's cronies, it is normal for the guards to accept bribes, but since the founding of the Xia Kingdom, there have been only a few cases of bribery, and those guards who accept bribes often end up dead It's very miserable, the ubiquitous Jinyiwei will come to them the day after they accept bribes, and take them to a secret place for interrogation. The nightmare of officials and common people, because of this reason, falls into the hands of Jinyiwei. Although it will not be sentenced to death, at least it will have to shed a layer of skin, and after they come out, the stains on their bodies are destined to follow them for a lifetime, and even affect their lives. To their next generation, they will never be able to lift their heads under people's contempt and ridicule.

Businessmen are also the focus of Jin Yiwei's attention. Wang Lang believes that these idle businessmen are an uneasy factor affecting social stability.

Although there are state-run trading stations to stabilize prices, human beings are very smart and will use various means to take advantage of loopholes. After the event, the act of driving up prices and disrupting the market will be taken down immediately once discovered. Jinyiwei Prison is The best place for these people.

(End of this chapter)