Chapter 225 Shocking change! (Thank you to the leader of Zemengsheng for the reward!!!)
Because of the presence of Elva, a village elder with great status.
Therefore, the replacement process of the carriage spindle was very smooth, and all adjustments were completed within half an hour.
Of course.
This also has a lot to do with Thomson’s willingness to pay:
The original price of such a spindle was probably just over one pound, but Thomson doubled it and bought it for two pounds and one shilling.
To know.
In 1840, the income of ordinary British workers was about 15-20 shillings a week, and a month's salary was just over three pounds.
As a carpenter, Stirling's income is just over four pounds a piece during the peak season, let alone the current off-season.
However, Thomson was not simply taken advantage of - this time he left London with a mission, and the funds were naturally fully provided by Cambridge.
Not your own money.
The words won't sound so stringent.
It's just a pity that they spent too much time on the way here. They couldn't walk far into Whitecombe Mountain at this time, and it was impossible to get out of the mountain before dark.
Therefore, Thomson and Xu Yun could only stay in Mendisolo Village for the night and set off again early tomorrow morning.
Fortunately, although Eibar looks short, he has inherited the boldness of the Celtics.
He specially arranged three guest rooms for Thomson and Xu Yun. The rooms are fully equipped with bedding and beds, as well as hot water, hot food, etc.
A night of silence.
Early the next morning.
Xu Yun and the others woke up as usual, packed their luggage and prepared to set off.
At this time Eivar was already waiting outside the door.
Seeing the arrival of Thomson and Xu Yun, he first asked someone to open the village gate and let the carriage drive out smoothly.
Then he walked up to Thomson and asked with a smile:
"Mr. Thomson, did you sleep well yesterday?"
Thomson rubbed his neck, nodded heavily, and said:
"The room is very comfortable. Thank you very much, Mr. Eibar."
"It's just a small thing."
Eivar waved his hand indifferently, a trace of recollection flashed in his eyes, and he looked outside the village:
"Scotland has a vast territory and is sparsely populated. It is easy to get lost or encounter difficulties when going out alone. Especially in late autumn, the wilderness is even more dangerous."
"I was injured when I was hunting when I was young, and I survived with the help of another village."
"So since then, if I encounter a traveler who comes to ask for help, I will mostly help as much as I can."
Thomson nodded in agreement.
Although he was Irish, he moved to Scotland when he was seven years old.
During the crucial growth period of life, I was baptized by Scottish culture, and now I have taken on the shape of Scotland.
So he knew it.
Although the Scots are at odds with the English, their internal relations are still very friendly.
Or it can be said that this is a human instinct to swarm.
Of course.
Except for Xiao Xiba and Xiao Baga.
Then Elva raised his head and glanced at the sky.
Compared with yesterday's clear sky, today's weather is a bit gloomy, with a gray sky.
This situation is worth at least five points of reading comprehension in the Chinese language test paper, and so on if you ask about the role of weather description.
See this situation.
Eivar couldn't help but look at Thomson and said with a hint of concern:
"Mr. Thomson, the weather seems a bit bad today. Do you want to stay in the village for another day?"
Thomson was silent for a moment and then shook his head.
If there is no mission, he may be willing to stay for a day or two longer, but now is obviously not a good time to make friends:
"Sorry, Mr. Eibar, we are pressed for time and must leave."
"When I come back from England, I will definitely come to see you again, and I will bring you some bottles of good wine then!"
Evar saw that he no longer pressed, and gave Thomson and others a few bottles of wine and some dried meat sticks, and sent them several hundred meters away before waving goodbye.
And just as Eivar returned to the entrance of the village, he suddenly bumped into a person.
This is a big, stout man with a gray-brown scar on his forehead, and he looks quite sinister.
This man's name is McCall, and he and his brother Kurtz are both well-known hunters in the village and have hunted grizzly bears.
However, in the past few years, the two brothers disliked the unstable income from hunting, so they borrowed a lot of money to buy a batch of goods and went to Glasgow to start a fur business.
As a result, the local wool merchants made a fool of themselves and the two brothers lost all their money. Now they can only return to their old business to pay off their debts.
Seeing McCall's furious look, Eivar quickly stopped him and asked:
"McCall, are you going out this early in the morning?"
Eivar was a cadre elected by the village council and had the right to question people entering and leaving the village. McCall had no choice but to stop, raised the crossbow in his hand, and said:
"Well, I plan to go to the mountains to see if there are any prey."
"Hunting?"
Elva repeated in surprise, then thought of something again, and continued to ask:
"What about Kurtz? I remember seeing him at the gambling table at noon yesterday, but he was nowhere to be found in the afternoon."
McCall's face froze slightly when he heard this, and he hesitated and said:
"Brother went to the mountains yesterday to visit. We made an appointment to meet in the morning. Forget about Father Elva, the time is almost up. I'm leaving!"
After McCall leaves.
Eivar glanced at the gray sky, and the doubt in his eyes became heavier.
Going hunting in this weather?
When did these two brothers become so diligent?
And the other side.
Thomson and others who left Mendisolo Village did not know about the conversation that took place at the entrance of the village, nor did they know that a person in the village had disappeared for most of the day.
At this time, they were speeding towards Whitecombe Mountain according to their original plan.
Although Scotland, or the British island where the United Kingdom is located, is not small, it still belongs to the category of "island", so there are not many high mountains in its territory.
For example, the highest mountain in the UK is Ben Nevis in Scotland.
The height of this mountain is only 4406 feet, which is more than 1300 meters.
There are three-digit mountains in the country with an altitude of over 1,500 meters. If Ben Nevis had mediocre marketing methods in China, it might not even be considered a famous mountain.
This is true for the highest peak in Britain, let alone Whitecombe Mountain.
The highest peak of Whitecombe Mountain is about 570 meters above sea level, which is nearly half lower than the highest peak of Xu Yun's hometown, Guya Mountain.
Even if you look at it from the ground, you can still see it at a glance. Ahem, you can see the top of the mountain at a glance.
However, Whitecombe Mountain is short, and its area is not small at all.
It is like a high wall from west to east, spanning the towns of Edinburgh and Dumfries.
If you want to connect the two places, you must pass through this barrier.
If not.
Thomson had already chosen to take a detour.
More than an hour after setting off from the village of Mendisolo, the carriage arrived at the foot of Whitecombe Mountain.
Thomson identified the map, then pointed to a winding mountain road and said:
"We enter the mountain from here. This is the shortest way to cross the mountain. You can reach the other side by climbing over two partial peaks."
"Today our goal is to pass through Whitecombe Mountain, rest outside the mountain for a night, and arrive at the outpost closest to the town of Dumfries tomorrow."
Thomson and the others are currently in a rather delicate location, right at the junction of England and Scotland, which is an absolutely sensitive area.
Although the two sides have not officially broken up yet, their vigilance against each other has become much stricter these days.
At this time, the town of Dumfries was actually somewhat similar to the ancient Chinese ‘Qiangchang’, and was strictly an intermediate area.
A Scottish outpost was therefore established in the area between the town of Dumfries and Whitecombe Hill, housing a detachment of the Royal Scottish Borderers Battalion.
The team consists of fifty people and is responsible for verifying the identities of traveling businessmen.
corresponding.
In areas further south.
England is also stationed with a 50-man border patrol unit belonging to the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards.
These two outposts are somewhat similar to border checkpoints, forming a natural one-way corridor with Whitecombe Mountain. It is impossible to avoid it unless you take a long detour of hundreds of miles - and in doing so, you may encounter other people. outpost.
Therefore, these two outposts are also the only gathering points that Thomson will pass through in his plan.
According to his plan.
After passing the Dumfries Town outpost, he could drop Xu Yun down and let him go to Dumfries Town along the way.
As long as Xu Yun spends some money, he can find an English caravan in Dumfries Town to go back - after all, the smuggling and inspection these days are supplies, and a lone traveler can still get through with money.
Actually.
in the original history.
Three more years.
The largest military conflict between Britain and the Soviet Union in the 19th century would break out at the camp at Dumfries Outpost.
The entire conflict involved more than 500 people, and nearly 100 people died.
Although this number seems a bit small.
Students who are familiar with border conflicts should know that firearms are not allowed in border fights until the war officially begins.
Most of them are hand-to-hand combat, with wooden sticks and crossbows.
In short, no one would dare to fire the first shot in this kind of border conflict where there is no openness.
Whoever brings the flintlock firearms will bear the blame, and this is no exception at all times and in all countries.
Therefore, the number of deaths of 90 people is indeed not a small number.
However, Xu Yun is not a history major after all, so he does not know the stories that happened in this area in history.
At this time, he was sitting leisurely in the front room of the carriage, watching the horse that seemed to be possessed by Brother Donkey pulling the carriage forward step by step.
"Luo Feng."
After walking for a while.
Will glanced lightly at the car, turned sideways, and said in a low voice:
"I asked Mr. Thomson last night. It is true that the empire has not fought with the dynasties in China, but..."
Xu Yun glanced at him and asked:
"But what?"
"But it is said that that dynasty was very corrupt. What was it called? Tartar invasion?"
Xu Yun was stunned for a moment, and many thoughts flashed through his mind.
The Tatar invasion in Will's mouth is obviously the Qing Dynasty, but it sounds different because of the pronunciation.
However, the word "Tatar invasion" seems to be unexpectedly consistent with historical facts?
That is to say
The world in the East should have developed as usual and was not affected by the Mavericks timeline, let alone the Northern Song Dynasty copy.
Is it just that Europe seems to have slowed down the invasion that was supposed to happen due to some reasons?
Think of this.
Xu Yun couldn't help but shook his head gently.
If the local people at this time were the Ming Dynasty Guozuo, it would be okay. If the protection is not complete, maybe he will find some way to extend his life.
But now that the Qing Dynasty was still in power, he completely gave up the idea of rescuing it.
After all
It was a foreign dynasty that was extremely decadent.
If it doesn't fall down, the spark won't be able to burn.
Although I don’t know why, in recent years, there have been more and more online articles about purging people and not rebelling.
But for Xu Yun personally, he has no impulse to help that country.
Moreover, 1840 is considered standard modern history. If you intervene rashly, it will easily trigger the punishment of historical nihilism.
So.
That country in the east should just let it develop as usual.
As the saying goes.
Nothing can be broken or established.
No matter how strong the sea breeze blows from the west, it can never blow away the sun.
Therefore, what he should consider now is not the East, but what to do to stay with Thomson.
Think of this.
Xu Yun couldn't help but touch the inner pocket of his chest. Did he really want to use that trump card?
I’m a little reluctant
The Sharma's pulling force was as high as five tons, so even though the mountain road was a bit winding, the carriage still moved forward at a very smooth speed.
The carriage entered the mountains for the third hour.
Passed the first side peak.
Seventh hour.
Passed the second side peak.
Finally around 3:30 in the afternoon.
The carriage passed through Whitecombe Hill smoothly.
Then Thomson and his party rested for a night in a remote place at the foot of the mountain, without encountering any harassment from poisonous snakes, grizzly bears, Nie Xiaoqian or vampires.
Early the next morning.
The group finished washing and continued to set off.
Today's weather continues to be gloomy from yesterday, and is even a bit more depressing, as if a well-fed man is sitting towards you.
Just after the carriage traveled for a long time, there was some movement next to the official road.
Swish——
Several Scottish soldiers suddenly appeared in the woods on the roadside, looking like they were possessed by the Viet Cong.
These soldiers all held flintlock guns in their hands, wore black leather boots, all white undershirts, and red coats on their upper bodies.
It is a very typical British military uniform. Historically, the British army at this stage was called the Red Army.
As a member of the British political system, Scotland's army also continued the English style in clothing at this time, with only slight differences in hats.
As for the famous kilt, it was still a cavalry uniform at this time, and it would not be popularized in the army until World War II - except for bagpipers and drummers.
Of course.
When the Boer War breaks out in a few years, the British will suffer a big loss because of their red clothes:
In that war, the British army entered the battle with a strength advantage of 5:1. As a result, they were too conspicuous in the jungle and were repeatedly attacked by the ununiformed Boers.
After summing up their experience, the British gave up the red military uniforms they had worn for nearly 200 years and replaced them with earth-colored tops and trousers.
By the way.
Churchill was once captured during this war as a war correspondent, and later successfully escaped from prison
His gaze returned to its original position.
There were seven Scottish sergeants who stopped the carriage. Soon, one of them, a middle-aged officer who looked like a leader, walked up to the carriage:
"Border inspection, gentlemen, where are you from?"
Thomson poked his head out of the carriage and said:
"Sir, we are from Edinburgh."
"Where to go?"
"Stamford Bridge."
"Which way to go?"
"Avenue of Holy Flowers."
"Stamford Bridge, that's in London?"
The middle-aged officer was slightly startled. He thought Thomson was a businessman going to Dumfries Town to do business.
Going to the middle ground and going to England are two different concepts.
Now that he learned that the other party planned to go to London, his expression became more solemn and he saluted again:
"Carriage crossing the border. Sir, do you carry cross-border official documents?"
Thomson nodded, took out a roll of brown paper from his body and handed it over.
Before the advent of driver's licenses and passports, identity management and registration in Europe was actually very loose.
For a long time, it was the church that was responsible for coordinating identities, so there were so many family crests.
The brown paper in Thomson's hand was a commercial volume issued by Parliament, and the seal was authentic. The officer quickly returned it to Thomson:
"There is no problem with the official document."
Then he looked at Xu Yun on the groom's seat, his eyes stayed on his black hair for a few seconds, and muttered:
"Why are you an Oriental again?"
The officer's voice was very low. Thomson couldn't help blinking and asked:
"Sorry, Mr. Officer, what were you talking about just now? I didn't hear it clearly."
The officer shook his head and said it was nothing serious, and then said:
"Mr. Thomson, please come with us to the outpost now, and you can only go up to the official road after getting the stamp stamped."
Thomson nodded with understanding:
"No problem, by the way, Mr. Officer, I don't know your name yet"
The officer turned back and walked away without looking back, leaving a name in the air:
"Francis Mason Sado-Yi."
Sa moral?
Hearing this surname, Xu Yun's eyes suddenly moved slightly.
This surname is rare, if I remember correctly.
Have you heard it somewhere?
However, Xu Yun was not very familiar with European history. After trying hard to think about it for a while, he still couldn't think of the corresponding figure, so he could only give up.
Then, under the leadership of Sa Daoyi, the group quickly arrived at a post that resembled a military camp.
This military camp is backed by the foot of the mountain and surrounded by obstacles similar to Juma stakes.
There are two towers at the entrance, and the interior is mainly tents and lofts. Many soldiers on duty can be vaguely seen.
After a while.
The carriage arrived at an open space outside the post,
At this time, there were dozens of people gathered in this open space. Their clothes and appearance looked very rich, and they were chattering and exchanging things.
Sa Daoyi took a wooden number plate from the soldier on duty and handed it to Thomson:
"Mr. Thomson, please wait here. When the number is called, just go up and register and get stamped. After stamping, go straight along the avenue and you will reach the town of Dumfries."
"Merchants doing business can stay in Dumfries for seven days. If you want to go to London, you can go directly through the town, but remember to register at the sentry point in England."
Thomson thanked him, took the number plate, looked in front of him a few times, and frowned slightly:
"God, there are so many people."
Sa Daoyi shrugged and said:
"There is no way, the situation on the border is tense, and businessmen are rushing over to make a fortune - it is said that the current profits are more than three times the usual amount."
Thomson was stunned for a moment, looked up at the supplies lined up in front of him, and said inexplicably:
"But Mr. Sa Daoyi, winter is about to begin now. Even if a fight is really going to happen, it will never be possible to start a war in this season, right?"
Sa Daoyi snorted coldly and moved his chin in the direction of the businessman. It was obvious that he was indifferent to the people in front of him:
"Mr. Thomson, those businessmen know this better than you and I, but don't forget that the civilians in the rear cannot control the trends on the front line."
"As long as they spread some rumors and build momentum, even if a few people still question it, the supplies will still be robbed by blind followers."
As he spoke, Sa Daoyi sighed, pointed to another camp not far away, and said:
"Forget it, don't talk about this."
"Mr. Thomson, there is only a little more than an hour left before dark. You will probably not be able to make it by the time registration is completed. The camp over there is a rest area specially built by the post for travelers."
"Although there is no tent or quilt, at least there is a fence for protection and some other caravans for company."
"In addition, the camp of the outpost is also nearby, which is much safer than camping in the wild."
"Well, I wish you a safe journey, Mr. Thomson."
Finished.
Sa Daoyi waved his hand and left the scene.
After he leaves.
Thomson turned over the number plate in his hand and looked at the fat businessmen in front of him.
He sighed heavily.
I don't know if he felt pity for the civilians in the rear, or he was worried about having to spend another night in the gathering place.
British border inspections in the 19th century were not as cumbersome as later generations. There were actually only two items that were really strictly inspected at the outpost:
Gunfire and drinks.
Needless to say the reason for the former, we should strictly investigate the latter
It was because of the high alcohol tax in the UK at this time.
Beginning in the early 18th century, the British government began to impose high tariffs on alcohol.
Among them, in 1874, the highest tax rate even reached 240% of the prevailing price of alcohol.
Scotland has long been an ideal place for illegal whiskey distillation because of its pure water, abundant barley and abundant peat.
So throughout the 19th century.
The most smuggled goods in Scotland are not guns or wool, but whiskey.
The limited size of Thomson's carriage left little room for concealing liquor or guns, making it easy to inspect.
Two hours passed.
"Mr. Thomson, please keep the official documents."
"Thank you, beautiful lady."
Thomson took the brown paper from the sergeant responsible for sealing it and politely thanked him.
After leaving the inspection post.
Thomson glanced at the completely darkened sky, shook his head, and completely gave up the idea of continuing on his way.
Then he returned to the carriage, ate some dinner prepared by Xu Yun and Will, and then returned to the tent to rest early.
As for outside the tent.
The traders who were about to make huge profits were not in a hurry to take a break. They were happily holding a bonfire dinner.
Darth Mar is a grain seller from Inverness and a former cook.
Inverness is the northernmost city in the UK, and this geographical advantage represents huge profits in trade.
Therefore, the income he can obtain this time is also among the best among many caravans.
Under the excitement.
Darth Maben drank a few more glasses of barley beer.
Beer is a diuretic, so after a while, Das Ma felt that his abdomen was bulging.
"Hiccup——"
Darth Ma burped heavily with alcohol, stood up with difficulty, and said:
"Sorry, I have to go outside to pee."
After saying that, he loosened the waistband of his pants with one hand and walked crookedly towards the entrance of the camp.
Walk, walk.
Thinking of the huge profits he could make this time, Das Ma couldn't help but have a greedy smile on his fat face, as if he would ascend to heaven:
"Take off"
The words just fell.
Phew——
Only an undetectable sound was heard breaking through the air.
Das Ma suddenly leaned back heavily and fell to the ground with a snap, causing a puff of smoke and dust to rise up.
When several other vendors not far away saw this, they couldn't help but laughed and mocked:
"Hey, Darth Mar, you're too drunk!"
"You still brag that you are a gold medal chef!"
"How about we take advantage of him while it's hot?"
Right now.
A middle-aged businessman who looked more prestigious coughed lightly, stood up, took out a flashlight from his body, and said:
"Forget it, I'm going to help him with his account. What's going on?"
As the middle-aged businessman spoke, his face suddenly became frightened:
I only see this moment.
Das Ma, who was more than twenty meters away from them, had a stick stuck in his forehead.
arrow!
Perhaps it's because the flashlight's light source is so conspicuous in the dark.
The next second.
Phew——
Another sound broke through the air,
"Ah!"
The middle-aged businessman dropped the flashlight, covered his arm, and howled in pain.
All I saw was on his arm.
At this time, there was also a slender object inserted!
You can see by the dim light of the flashlight that this thing is not an arrow, but
crossbow!
After a while.
A burst of panic suddenly broke out:
"Enemy attack, enemy attack!!!" (End of chapter)