Winter in Solo City is very cold.

Especially late winter and early spring, the coldest time of the year.

The strong wind from the Gobi carries a layer of fine sand, which hits people like countless small knives.

If you are blown outside for a night, even wearing two layers of leather clothes will turn into a sieve, let alone a thin coat. Every morning, it is normal to find a few dead people with strange smiles on the streets.

It's possible that he drank too much rum, passed out drunk, and froze to death.

There are also homeless homeless people.

There are also people fleeing the war.

This year, many people have frozen to death. Every day at dawn, corpse collectors drag two-wheeled carts, randomly throw these unknown corpses together, and drag them to a corpse pit outside the city.

If you meet a kind-hearted corpse collector, you may be able to get a few handfuls of dust to cover it. If you encounter those who are numb and cold, just throw them out in the open, you don't have to wait until night to become food in the bellies of wild wolves and dogs.

When Wendel went out to dump the black flint slag, a corpse truck happened to pass by his door. When he saw several figures on it that were not fully grown, he couldn't help but cursed: "What a sin!"

The great rebellion caused by the simultaneous deaths of a large number of nobles and nobles has subsided, but its sequelae are far from over.

There are still a large number of refugees stranded in big cities like Sauron City, the territorial capital. It's not that they don't want to return to their homeland, but that although the big wars are gone, the small wars have never stopped.

Some lords and nobles who were not completely wiped out became bandits after going into exile, looking for quarrels and causing trouble everywhere.

The territory directly under the Duke of Faerûn suddenly nearly doubled, his troops were stretched thin, and he was in an awkward situation.

If too many troops are used, it is easy for the opponent to take advantage of the loopholes and lose the unstable city that has just been conquered.

If there are too few troops, they will only go out to deliver food to others. They have no choice but to guard the castles and cities and let them harm the people in remote places.

The road is not peaceful either. There are numerous bandits and robbers of all kinds. Most of them were formed after the private soldiers of the nobles fled. They have no place to make a living, so they can only make a living by robbing.

In previous years, if something like this happened, Wendell would not hesitate to lend a helping hand. Although his ability was limited, if he could save one person from death, he would be worthy of the gift given to him by the Lord of Truth.

However, the impact of this year's war is too great. His small business cannot be sustained. The family's food and drink are in question, so how can he be able to help others.

Fortunately, before winter, he found a new job, helping a big businessman dig black flint outside the city. After a hard day's work, he not only received three pounds of coarse grain, but also earned five or six coppers.

In these difficult years, such wages are considered a reasonable price. Even if digging black flint is hard work and he works overtime every day, Wendell is quite content with twelve or thirteen hourglasses at every turn.

This was done through trust and connections. There are countless people outside who want to get this job but have no way of getting it.

As for whether the black flint dug by the big businessman was transported to the Andis Mountains to trade with the Andis people, that is not what Wendell should be concerned about. He only cares about whether the daily wages can be paid on time. If there is a delay,

, their whole family will starve together.

Unfortunately, something like this happened yesterday. The grain truck had an accident on the road. I heard that it was targeted by those damn thieves. Fortunately, the guards accompanying the team were pretty good. They didn't let the thieves succeed and only lost money.

We received a small amount of food, but the convoy's journey was delayed. When we rushed back to the mine, it was already midnight, and the food could not be delivered on time.

Fortunately, the miners also have a conscience and know that everyone relies on a day's wages to survive. According to the market premium of 10% of grain, they pay wages in copper. If this was done in peacetime, most people would be happy.

However, they had just experienced a year of turmoil and a lot of land was deserted. The Manyu military leader itself was not a large grain-producing leader. Even in a good year, there was a big shortage of grain. A large part of it had to be transported thousands of miles from the Asia Minor plains.

In this abnormal year, the price of food is rising steadily. It is no exaggeration to describe it as rising day by day. Today's price is a 10% premium. Tomorrow, you may not even be able to buy 90% of today's food.

The key is that there is a price but no market. Those nobles and nobles who have the most food have dark hearts. In order to search for more wealth, the food released every day is very limited.

They are very experienced in this. They will not let the people starve to death, which will arouse a lot of public resentment and be detrimental to their rule, nor will they let everyone be fed, so that some people will buy high-priced black-hearted food.

When Wendel came back yesterday despite the cold wind, it was already dark and he couldn't buy even high-priced food, let alone low-priced food.

Fortunately, there is a virtuous housewife in the family. When life is good, she will always dig out a little grain from the corner of her mouth to save it. Last night, the whole family had a full meal of porridge. Although you can clearly see the bottom, there are only a handful of grains in it.

You can only cheat your stomach temporarily, but it is better than drinking a lot of water and wandering around.

But his stomach is not so easy to deceive, especially after a hard day's work. Before the rooster crows, his rumbling stomach wakes him up. He tosses and turns for half the night until dawn, and then goes out, and then encounters this person in front of him.

This unfortunate incident made his already bad mood even heavier.

The rich aroma of rice made him a little unable to move forward, and he knew without asking that the smell came from the house of an eccentric neighbor who had just moved in less than three weeks ago.

The reason why the other party was given the word "weird" was because the other party's behavior was completely beyond Wendell's understanding.

After all, the other party was in the same industry as him and was doing business, but the other party's business was unheard of, such as the name of the other party's shop - medical clinic.

He knew all three words and knew the meaning of each word, but when they were put together, he was a little confused.

After observing for nearly a week, I realized that feelings are the place where people are healed, but isn’t that a matter for church priests and monks in monasteries?

What's even more puzzling is that the other party actually opened a restaurant next to the medical clinic. The reason why it is called a restaurant instead of a tavern is because the other party mainly sells all kinds of food, supplemented by drinks, which is completely reversed from a tavern.

However, this also steals the business of the tavern in disguise. Recently, there are always some unscrupulous people wandering around, provoking quarrels and causing trouble, which is caused by the other party.

However, there are only a handful of people who really dare to make trouble. After all, when this kind of food is in short supply, related business can still be done. If you don't have a deep background, no one will believe it. The source of food is a big problem.

It is commendable that the food made by this restaurant is really good. Whenever they start to get angry, the whole street is filled with a strong aroma of food, which makes people's food cravings. Everyone comes out of it

The customers are full of praise and the price is relatively reasonable, but it just depends on the food market.

Wendell hesitated at the door of the restaurant, gritted his teeth, and pushed the door open anyway. He had to rush to work and couldn't wait for his family to buy the food back, but he was currently engaged in high-intensity physical work, although because of

If he can read and write a little, the mine boss will give him some preferential treatment, but it is relatively limited.

It would be terrible if he went to work hungry and couldn't hold on until the end of the day. Without food and wages, he would have to be hungry tomorrow and return empty-handed. He still understood this vicious cycle and celebrated today as a harvest festival.

, I’ll accept it even if I spend a few more coppers.

The area of ​​the restaurant is larger than Wendell imagined. The two or three surrounding houses have been opened up. There are five log tables and thick log benches on both sides. It will not be a problem to squeeze in a hundred or ten people.

Maybe because of the favorable location, he was an earlier guest. There were only three or five people in Nuo Da's restaurant, but they didn't look like guests, but they were waiters in the restaurant. They were enjoying their meal when they saw a guest coming.

, stood up one after another.

Seeing the appearance of the person closest to him clearly, Wendell turned around and wanted to leave, because it was an acquaintance, a very familiar person, a young waiter named Eller who had worked in his small shop for two years.

The meeting on this occasion made him feel very embarrassed, because the store was not managed well and he fired the other person before closing, and he always felt that he owed the other person something.

"Boss? Mr. Wendell? You are here, please come inside, please come inside."

The young waiter Elle also recognized Wendel and came over quickly with a smile on his face.

"What a coincidence. I heard that you live nearby. I have always wanted to take time to visit you, but I was afraid of being too abrupt. I didn't expect to meet you. It's your first time here, right? I don't feel used to it the first time. I'll wait for more visits.

Just a few times is enough. We have all kinds of noodles here, which are of good quality and low price. Large bowls of noodles, whole-grain steamed buns, porridge and pickles. I highly recommend the large bowls of noodles. It only costs two coppers, which is enough to fill you up and will last you a whole day.

Endless strength."

The young waiter was as enthusiastic as Wendell remembered. He was born to do this job. If his shop had not been able to sustain it, he would have been reluctant to fire him at the beginning. Everyone recognized him. If he left again, it would be even more embarrassing.

Already.

Wendell sat down nearby and said with a slightly stiff smile, "Thank you very much. I'll just have the big bowl of noodles you mentioned. I'm still in a hurry to finish the work, so I'd better do it faster."

"Okay, you'll be there soon."

The young waiter Eller's hands and feet were very nimble. Before Wendell sat down, he had wiped the already spotless log table and log bench with the linen cloth on his shoulder, and at the same time said hello inside.

"Take a big bowl of noodles, put more noodles and less soup, and have enough oil and water. This is my former boss and my family, so we must not lose money."

The young waiter Elle quickly ran to the corner where they were eating, brought a small plate over, and said in a low voice: "Sir, this is the pickle soup that was just made. The boss of this restaurant takes care of it for free. It hasn't been touched yet. Why don't you

If you don't like it, just drink some padpa pad first. I know what it feels like to be hungry, and this time of day is the hardest to endure."

"I can't do this, I can't do it, I'll eat it, what will you eat?" Wendell declined again and again.

"Sir, isn't this a stranger? What do we do here? It's a restaurant. I go to the kitchen all day long. We are all familiar with each other. You can always pick out a bite for me to eat. You see, I have only been here for a week.

, the whole person has gained weight."

The young waiter Eller gestured at his skinny arms.

"My current boss is as kind as Mr. Wendell. He doesn't care about our own food. Try it, the salty soup tastes good. I watched from behind. I can't let those cunning guys cut corners and sneak a few bites."

"Thank you." Wendell felt warm all over his body. He didn't know if it was because of the black flint fireplace in the restaurant.

…

The currency of the Byron Empire was on the silver standard. Although there were gold coins in circulation, they were of greater value. Most of them were involved in large-scale trade between nobles. Ordinary citizens did not necessarily have the opportunity to deal with gold coins throughout their lives. They more commonly used silver coins.

And copper coins, because the appearance of copper coins resembles a flat stone, they are also called copper coins.

The exchange rate of copper coins to silver coins fluctuates between one hundred to one, and the ratio of silver coins to gold coins is twelve to three to one. The fluctuation is directly related to the casting level and content of silver coins and gold coins. Although the silver coins and gold coins circulating in the market are collectively referred to as

They are Byron silver coins and Byron gold coins, but there are obvious differences between those printed by different military leaders.

The most recognized and most popular coins across the continent are not the royal gold coins printed by the Lancelot royal family, the actual ruler of the Byron League, but the twin gold coins of the Harrison family from the North Island of the Twin Islands. There is a secret society of witches.

As the backend, they have the best purification and printing technology in the continent. The twin gold coins are also called witch gold coins.

Not only silver coins and gold coins are good and bad, but also copper coins. There are exchange differences between copper coins produced by different military leaders. For example, the Manyu copper coins produced by Manyu military leaders have poor technology, have more impurities, and are easily broken.

, it is not popular in other territories and its value is relatively low.

It is normal for one thousand Manyu copper coins to be used as nine hundred or even eight hundred local copper coins in other territories. However, this kind of trouble is only experienced by those businessmen. Ordinary people have long been accustomed to the purchasing power of copper coins in their own territories, so it is difficult for them to do so.
Chapter completed!