Chapter 37 Goodbye Hook
Three days later.
At noon.
Da da da——
On a road that is four to five meters wide and of much higher quality than ordinary rammed stone roads, there is a forage truck moving swaying along the southeast direction.
The creaking joints sound like a worn-out old harmonica, praising the hardships of life.
In addition to a lot of potatoes and vegetables, there were also three men sitting in the back of the forage truck.
The leader was a middle-aged man, and the rest were two young people. One of them had black hair and black eyes, and they were Mavericks, Xu Yun and William.
After receiving seven guineas from Pastor Yalin three days ago, the relatively well-off William family first spent ten shillings to buy some daily necessities and food, and enjoyed a big meal for the first time in a whole year.
Then everyone rested for another day, then found a hay truck that was on the way this morning and rushed towards Lincoln City, the county town of Lincoln County.
"County" is the second-level division in the United Kingdom, which is divided into honorary counties and urban counties.
In 1665, there were 27 of the former and just 4 of the latter - by the 21st century, that number will be 34 and 6.
Lincolnshire is a standard honorary county. There is a permanent county chief who represents the British royal family but has no real power. He only has a few functions such as geographical name and coordination of civil affairs within the scope.
The county capital of Lincolnshire is the city of Lincoln, which is a very small city from a local perspective, so small that you may not be able to find it if you search without adding the prefix "British".
The forage truck walked for a while under the sun. After about half an hour, the driver stopped the horse:
"Three gentlemen, Lincoln City has arrived."
Xu Yun and the other three looked at each other after hearing this and stood up one after another.
He shook off the potato ash on his body, picked up his baggage, and stepped out of the car neatly.
Then William took the initiative to walk to the car and took out a small piece of dried meat from his body:
"Mr. Wenger, this piece of venison is the travel expenses agreed upon earlier. Thank you very much for this trip."
The coachman, known as Wenger, was a thin old man with somewhat dark skin. After taking the dried meat from William, he opened his mouth and showed his big yellow teeth:
"Mr. William, you are so kind. Shall we meet here tonight?"
William nodded:
"See you tonight."
After taking care of the coachman, William turned around and waved to Xu Yun and the others:
"Okay, Isaac, Mr. Fat Fish, let's go into the city."
Fat Fish and Calf said oh at the same time and followed William towards the entrance.
In England in 1665, people who walked into the city did not need to pay an entry tax, but if you owned a house in the city, you had to pay a "stove tax."
In addition, there are trucks like Wenger's that come from afar. There is no charge for empty trucks, but if there are supplies, they will be stopped.
With the words "materials are not available", you have to pay for them.
Xu Yun and the others were not bothered by the city entry tax, so they walked into Lincoln City easily.
At present, the total population of the main urban area of Lincoln City is about 40,000 to 50,000. In this era of Europe, it is not big, but it is not small. This era in China is the fourth year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty. The combined population of the two lakes is only More than half a million.
At the same time, compared to the town of Grantham, the buildings in Lincoln City are much more upscale, and landmark buildings such as the Opera House and restaurants are quite conspicuous.
If you look carefully, you can occasionally see some rich people in rich clothes passing by in carriages.
In short, when you arrive at the county capital, you can feel some of the aristocratic style of the seventeenth century.
Of course.
The two tallest buildings are still the bell tower and the church.
After entering the city, William looked around, pulled Mavericks and Xu Yun to a gorgeous attic, and said:
"Little Isaac, Mr. Fat Fish, this place is very easy to recognize. We will use this as the agreed place and meet here in three hours. Is that okay?"
Xu Yun and Mavericks nodded in unison:
"No problem, Uncle (Mr. William)."
Then the three of them separated.
The purpose of William's visit to Lincoln City this time was to buy sugar. Although the right to make ketchup had been granted to Yaerlin, it was impossible for William and the others to leave no backup plan and make some ketchup just in case. Best choice.
If you want to make tomato sauce, you naturally cannot do without sugar.
Due to different sources of goods and transportation costs, the price of sugar was different between towns, counties, and even the royal capital in England at this time. The price of sugar was the cheapest in the county capital, and it would fluctuate a lot in towns.
In addition, the sugar William wants to buy this time will not be less than three guineas, which is really unsafe in a small town with a population of 1,000 like Little Grantham.
The British also understand the principle that wealth should not be revealed.
As for the purpose of Xu Yun and Mavericks coming to Lincoln City, there is naturally only one purpose:
Looking for Hook!
"Yage Hotel in the southwest of the city."
After leaving William, Xu Yun and Mavericks searched according to the address previously left by Hook, and finally stopped in front of another three-story building.
The building is located in a wealthy area in the west-south of the city. The streets are relatively clean. At least you won't have someone come over with a bucket and pour a big puddle of Ollie next to you while you are walking.
There is a cross at the top of the building's facade, indicating that it is the property of the church and belongs to the official family.
There is a plaque hanging under the cross with the words Song of Songs in Hebrew written on it.
"Yage Hotel should be right here."
There were no waiters at the entrance of hotels in this era. The so-called "lobby" was actually only twenty or thirty square meters. The two Mavericks arrived at the front desk smoothly:
"Hello, does Mr. Robert Hooke live here?"
The boss at the front desk was a short, fat, middle-aged man with a goatee. Hearing this, he raised his eyelids and glanced at the two of them:
"Mr. Hook? He lives here. Do you have anything to do with him?"
After confirming that Hook was here, Mavericks clenched the hand hidden in his sleeve a little tighter and said:
"We have an appointment with him, can you please contact him?
Just say that Barrow's student Isaac Newton had something to do with him. ”
The short and fat man put down his pen and looked at Xu Yun and Xu Yun carefully again, with a trace of hesitation on his face.
It was now noon, and without knowing whether the guests were taking a nap, he had to weigh the possible risk of complaints - this was the property of the church, and he could only be regarded as an employee with greater power, similar to the lobby manager. .
As the top hotel in Lincoln City, he has also encountered many people who have found out the names of guests from certain channels, or who want money or connections.
After more than ten seconds, the short and fat man finally made a decision in his mind.
I saw him pick up the pen from the table, write a simple paragraph on a piece of paper, and hand it to Mavericks:
"Barrow, and Isaac Newton, are these two names written like this?"
Maverick took the paper, looked at it for a few times, and nodded:
"That's right."
The short and fat man retrieved the piece of paper, stuffed it into a small basket beside him, and shook another thread.
Soon, a response came from the second floor:
Someone pulled the rope from above and slowly pulled the basket up.
After a while, there was a sound of movement on the top of the building.
Ring ring ring——
About two or three minutes later, a bell on the left side of the front desk suddenly made a clear sound.
Seeing this, the short and fat man breathed a sigh of relief:
There are two answering bells at the front desk. The one on the left represents the guest's consent or permission, and the one on the right represents negative.
Then he looked at the account book again and reported the room number to the Mavericks:
"Second floor, room 233. Someone will take you there after you go up the stairs."
Xu Yun thanked the store owner on behalf of Xiao Niu, and the two of them walked up the stairs.
The stairs in the old attic are a little wobbly when you walk on them, and it feels like a dilapidated building.
If the China Literature Platinum Writers Salon were held in this hotel, two or three authors would probably trample it if they walked by.
However, the combined size of Xu Yun and Mavericks was no bigger than the base of an ear, so they walked to the second floor easily.
As soon as he went upstairs, he was greeted by a small waiter.
Then, under his leadership, Xu Yun and Xu Yun walked straight along the somewhat narrow corridor, and finally arrived outside a house.
At this time, the door lock of the house has been unlocked from the inside, which is like a gap, and some tobacco smell can be vaguely smelled from it.
The waiter made a gesture to Xu Yun and the others to knock on the door, bowed slightly, and turned to leave.
After leaving with the waiter, Mavericks stepped forward and knocked on the door:
"Mr. Hooke, I am Isaac Newton." (End of Chapter)