Above the mage

Chapter 40 It's Not Easy to Live There

After leaving the potion shop, Gao De wandered around the commercial district, purchasing consumable ingredients such as honey water needed for brewing potions.

These auxiliary materials are not expensive, costing less than 3 silver coins in total. The main problem is that they are very tedious and time-consuming.

The most troublesome thing is that in this world's monetary system, the actual purchasing power of the lowest-level copper coin is roughly equivalent to four yuan and two jiao in Gao De's previous life.

That's too much!

In daily life, such a large and imprecise monetary amount can cause many inconveniences.

To meet the needs of daily transactions, the people of the Principality of Sien invented a method: cutting the round copper coin in half for small transactions.

This practice would lead to currency devaluation and is prohibited by the Chinese government.

However, because the situation was so common, it gradually became a tacit, unspoken rule.

These round copper coins, cut in half, are called half-dollar copper coins, and their actual purchasing power is equivalent to two dollars.

With the addition of the half-dollar copper coin, daily transactions became much more convenient than before, but it was still not sophisticated enough.

In such cases, it's necessary to round up the amounts and break down the accounting units for summary settlement.

Like this moment.

"Rye bread is one pound and one and a half copper coins, wheat bread is one pound and four copper coins," the bakery clerk announced loudly in a melodious tone.

The bread in this world, especially rye bread, is much more substantial and substantial than the bread in Gaode Maps' perception.

In scientific terms, it has an extremely high fiber content, making it more filling.

One pound (about 450g) of rye bread is enough for an adult to eat for about two days, and enough for the apprentices in the herb garden to eat for two and a half days.

Eight people would need to consume about three pounds of rye bread per day.

The bread-making techniques of this era were relatively primitive, without the addition of modern chemical preservatives, resulting in a relatively short shelf life; the bread would become dry and spoiled after about a week.

Buying a six-day supply would be ideal, which is eighteen pounds of dark bread.

Gao De couldn't help but glance again at the wheat bread, which was much whiter and more tender than the rye bread, and had an overall light golden color.

He took a deep breath of the aroma emanating from the wheat bread—a blend of wheat, caramel, and a hint of smoke—and finally turned his head away resolutely.

"Give me eighteen pounds of rye bread," he said to the clerk.

Wheat bread undoubtedly tastes much better than rye bread.

Similarly, the price is also much higher.

This is because wheat has higher requirements for planting conditions, prefers warm and fertile soil, and its yield per unit area is not as stable as that of rye and barley, so its price is much higher than that of rye.

Wheat bread, a processed product of rye bread, is more than twice the price of rye bread and is mainly consumed by wealthy merchants and upper-class farmers.

In contrast, rye bread is the staple food for most ordinary people.

To be honest, Gaode Maps isn't someone who can't afford wheat bread these days.

The problem is that, given his modern education and the resulting moral compass, he is not in a position to discriminate against others for the time being.

The output in the herb garden is now a result of everyone's efforts. Although he is the main contributor to the output, he feels embarrassed to enjoy the wheat bread all by himself while letting the other apprentices in the herb garden continue to eat rye bread.

He can only shed this moral burden if he owns his own private property.

However, if everyone's staple food were changed from rye bread to wheat bread, the daily expenditure on staple foods alone would increase significantly.

Gao De subconsciously started doing mental calculations.

The difference of four minus one and a half, multiplied by three, equals seven and a half copper coins. In a year, that's multiplied by three hundred and sixty, equaling two thousand seven hundred copper coins.

Converted to silver coins, it's 225 silver; converted to Sean gold coins, the non-decimal monetary system is truly anti-human.

While complaining about this outrageous currency system, Gaode Maps came to the answer: eleven gold coins plus five silver coins.

This only covers the extra expenses for staple foods.

As the quality of staple foods improves, other aspects naturally need to follow suit.

Just like during famine, everyone ate cornbread with pickled vegetables. When life got better and people could afford rice, the side dishes naturally had to be upgraded as well. They couldn't just eat pickled vegetables anymore, could they?

One reason.

Well, the "team" is still in the startup phase, so it will be tough.

Gao De nodded seriously and said to himself.

"Eighteen pounds of rye bread, that'll be 27 coppers!" The clerk deftly packed thirty-six loaves of rye bread into a paper bag while quickly calculating the price.

Gao De carefully took out two silver coins and three copper coins, which he had received as change from buying potion supplements, from his pocket and handed them to the shop assistant, while also taking the paper bag containing the bread.

Eighteen pounds of bread weighs about eight kilograms, which isn't an particularly exaggerated weight.

But the thought of carrying an eight-kilogram load for an hour to get back to the herb garden still gave Gao De a headache, as he was noticeably thin due to long-term malnutrition.

The task of purchasing food was previously assigned to two of the older apprentices in the herb garden.

If the two of them share the load, the weight won't be a problem.

"Let's take a horse-drawn carriage back," Gao De made a luxurious decision.

Since we've decided to take a horse-drawn carriage back, there's no need to worry about the weight.

After leaving the bakery, Gaode headed towards the "Pea & Lamb" market, which was just one street away from the commercial area.

According to Gaode Maps, the "Pea and Lamb" market is a vegetable market.

There are many simple stalls here, mostly run by local farmers who sell crops they grow themselves, with a few permanent storefronts mixed in.

Here, Gao De first spent 1 silver coin to buy two pounds of the cheapest pork, and then bought six days' worth of tender peas, turnips, potatoes and cabbage.

These are all vegetables that are easy to preserve, and by intentionally rounding them up, it cost another 3 silver.

Carrying large and small bags of items, Gao De stood at the street corner for a while. A sharp-eyed coachman spotted him and judged that Gao De was likely a potential customer. He drove his two-wheeled carriage over and stopped in front of Gao De.

There are two types of carriages in the city: four-wheeled box carriages and the two-wheeled light carriages in front of us.

The two-wheeled carriage has an open design with no top cover, only a low panel around the seat, which makes the carriage lighter and faster.

The coachman, wearing a distinctive hat and holding the reins, greeted him warmly, "Sir, would you like a ride in my carriage? My horses are the strongest and fastest."

"How much does it cost to go to the Saida Medicinal Herb Garden?" Gao De asked.

The herb garden has always been named after the monk Seda. Over the years, it has gained a certain reputation in Hogan City. At least for the coachmen who are very familiar with Hogan City, it is not an unfamiliar place name.

"The starting price is 7 copper coins for the first two kilometers, and 3 copper coins for each kilometer thereafter. In suburban areas, it is 6 copper coins for each kilometer."

"It's a little over five kilometers from here to the Seda Medicinal Herb Garden by the main road. The last kilometer is in the suburbs, and that costs 19 coppers." The driver calculated the total price deftly.

It's only four kilometers from the herb garden to here on foot, but there are some narrow paths that horse-drawn carriages can't take, so you have to take a detour, which lengthens the journey.

"Okay, let's go." Gao De took out two silver coins from his pocket and handed them to the other person.

After receiving the five copper coins as change, Gao De boarded the carriage.

The carriage has two seats facing each other, comfortably accommodating two adults.

There was storage space under the seat. Gao De put his purchased items in there and then sat down comfortably. The coachman flicked the reins and whip and the carriage set off.

"I only have 1 silver and 5 copper left. It's true what they say, you earn money in the city and spend it all in the city, without even thinking about taking a single penny home," Gao De thought to himself as he enjoyed the carriage ride.

It's not easy to find a place to live!

New book recommendation period, please read it!

(End of this chapter)