Chapter 445 Pork and One-Shoulder Cape in the Laundry Workshop
Carrying a basket of clothes, Bonato and his companions walked on the streets of Castle Joan of Arc.
The news of the victorious return of the army spread throughout Fort Joan of Arc, and people returned to calm again after the initial revelry.
But judging from the rosy cheeks of the citizens, they made a fortune from the jihad bonds.
Bonato originally wanted to buy it, but because he did not have a registered identity, he could not buy it.
When we came to the vegetable market street on the outskirts, the vendors had already set up their tents, placing fruits, vegetables, fresh eggs and meat in wooden frames, and they were filled with them.
Since the vegetable market street is guarded by night watchmen and skitarii, few people dare to cause trouble, so the vegetable market street is the first choice of the surrounding vegetable farmers when setting up stalls.
Only when the market street is full, it will go to other places to sell.
“Oranges, oranges, oranges, oranges, oranges, oranges!”
“Cabbage, cheap! Cabbage, cheap!”
"Grandma, I want to eat roasted potato roots!"
"This is not a biscuit, this is an alchemy product that grows bigger and taller when exposed to water... Hey, what are you doing? Why are you not allowed to sell baptisms without a qualification certificate? The product is gone, I don’t accept it..."
A liar selling fake goods was forcibly dragged to the street corner by several night watchmen amid the boos of the crowd, and they kicked him in the butt. Outside the street.
"Buy a few kilograms of pork? Ask the aunt who makes egg patties to make some. Sir Theodora seems to like it very much."
"Buy a few kilograms more and let it dry. Eat bacon on the road.” My companion agreed with Bonato’s statement, “The price of pork elsewhere may be higher than this.”
After Horn opened up the forest and implemented the farm division plan, in order to ensure meat production, the livestock industry was exempted from taxes. Ordinary farmers did not need to pay taxes when selling livestock at the market.
Due to the popularization of potato root detoxification methods, farmers have generally begun to use potato roots to feed pigs. Four pounds of potato roots mixed with pigweed can grow one pound of pork, and one acre of mountainous land can produce thousands of pounds of potato roots. Net yield is approximately 900-1200 pounds.
One acre of mountainous or wasteland can raise about two or three pigs, plus tax exemption. Plain areas are better, but pigs in forests and mountainous areas are crazy.
The price of pork this year is more than 30% lower than the previous year. This is the result of the Papal Palace purchasing a large amount of pork to forcefully maintain the price.
Arrived at the butcher shop, Bonato saw hundreds of household heads standing next to the carriage, surrounding the corpse of a monster vole.
This should have been purchased jointly by several heads of households, because they were quarreling over how to divide it.
You must know that according to the document issued by the Council of Cardinals, a very important item in the performance evaluation of the captains of the Skitarii is extraordinary rate.
The results of the performance evaluation of the captains of the Guard Corps are also part of the performance evaluation rating of the heads of the 100 households.
These heads of households would even put some money into their own pockets to buy more pork, so that the Skitarii could become extraordinary quickly and make a good appearance in the autumn harvest conference.
After all, according to gossip from the grooms and technicians, it is possible that bureaucratic reforms will begin after the autumn harvest.
It depends on who becomes the grandson and who becomes the master.
The two of them had just raised the curtain of the butcher shop, and a butcher was packing the leftover scraps to give to a mother and her son. Seeing Bonato and his wife coming, he spread his hands and said, "I'm late, it was just the last bit. There is still stale meat, do you want it?”
“Of course not.” My companion asked reluctantly, “When will the next batch arrive?”
“I don’t know, look. When does the car come? It's usually noon."
Looking at the sun in the sky, the companion said to Bonato: "You go and take the clothes to the laundry first. I'll wait here. Let’s meet at the river.”
Saying goodbye to his companions, Bonato carried a basket of clothes to the river.
A house with a height of more than one storey and divided into small grids appeared in front of us. The water vapor in the sky obscured the sight, and the scream of water boiling on the briquette stove was endless.
In the hazy water vapor, there were poor women wearing thin clothes coming and going.
In the Shenai Empire, laundry in the city is a very time-consuming and labor-intensive task.
Because the quality of clothes at this time is very poor, you need to check the clothes and sew the tears before washing them, otherwise the small holes will become big ones immediately after washing.
After checking for holes, you need to sort them according to the type of soiling and the type of fabric. Especially for woolen clothes, if you wash them incorrectly, you will pay a heavy price.
It takes a full day to soak before washing to allow the dirt to dissolve naturally before continuing to wash.
Since there are no indoor sewage facilities, you need to take the dirty water bucket outside to dump it first, and then go to the well and the river to queue up for water. Then comes the scrubbing process. Different cleaning agents are poured into different clothes. Sometimes a little blue dye is added as a color enhancer during the second wash to cover up the corrosion of the cleaning agents on the clothes.
The most important thing is that this job requires a lot of hot water, and firewood in towns is expensive, so normal families wash it once a week, and many bachelors or laborers even wash their clothes. Wash every six months.
However, with the emergence of briquettes, fuel prices dropped sharply, and the cost of laundry was finally reduced.
But it still takes too long, so many single craftsmen will entrust some widows or grandmothers to help wash them.
When these widows and poor women combined, they found that they could actually make a lot of money, so they started charging fees.
Some smart citizens discovered the business opportunity and entered the market at the speed of light. They opened laundry workshops and successfully squeezed out the business of widows and old ladies.
So, in a corner unknown to Horn, the laundry business quietly spread.
Since the laundry is carried out in a unified manner, cleaning chemicals and briquettes are purchased in large quantities, and the address is right by the river, and there is even a dedicated washerwoman, the cost of washing one piece of clothing is much lower than that of an ordinary household.
Many citizens and craftsmen found that the money they spent to wash clothes was not much more than the original money to buy firewood, so they immediately voted with their feet.
Their wives are satisfied because hot water for washing clothes needs to be heated on the stove, which will undoubtedly disrupt their daily cooking and other household plans.
Many widows and poor women work in laundry rooms. However, due to the conservative social atmosphere, they must wear headscarves and work in the steamy sky while sweating profusely.
Bonato saw several women coughing. It must be quite difficult to work in such an environment.
After handing the clothes to the laundry man, taking the number plate and stamping them, Bonato strolled to the riverside.
My companions were already waiting by the river, carrying several pounds of pork in their hands.
"What's wrong?" Seeing that his companion saw him but didn't leave, Bonato walked up to him curiously and asked.
"The road is closed and we can't get out. The Salvation Army has returned to the city."
Amidst the rapid sound of flutes and drums, cheers and the sounds of children chasing each other sounded in turn.
In the expectant sight of everyone, a neat row of Salvation Army war monks appeared in everyone's sight.
They changed their clothes outside the city and entered the city first as a guard of honor.
This dress was designed and sewn by Mrs. Isolde's tailoring workshop. The top is a brown and black stand-up collared jacket, with buttons on the shoulders to connect the outer sleeves.
A circle of white Xiumiz shirts peeked out from the cuffs. They waved their arms as they walked, rubbing against the red ribbon and the arc-shaped hand sword around their waists.
The lower body is made of leggings. Different from the common bloomers of this era, its straight shape instantly gives every soldier straight and long legs.
The most different thing from the common military uniforms in the empire is that they have a one-shoulder half cape. This cape is only on the left shoulder, and the hem just covers the buttocks.
This is Isolde's design based on the ancient Kush people's oblique half-sleeves. Because the temperature difference between day and night is large in the Kush River grassland, and the cold wind can easily take away the heat when riding a horse.
So the ancient Kush cavalry at that time would wear an extra layer on their clothes, and then only wear one sleeve. They put it on when they were cold and took it off when they were hot.
Isolde designed this half-shoulder short cloak based on this record and the sword-fighting cloak commonly used among the people, and added a large number of braided rope settings and added gear buttons on the shoulder buttons.
This undoubtedly makes this cloak look powerful, flexible and gorgeous.
Staring blankly at the black-clothed soldiers walking by, Bonato suddenly envied them. If he could return victoriously and wear these clothes and walk by with the cheers of so many people.
That is, he is willing to cut off his hands and feet.
It was not just Bonato who thought this, many other citizens and workers nearby were dumbfounded.
Such beautiful clothes, I’m afraid even the knights would be envious.
It can be expected that the recruitment in the second half of this year will become extremely popular.
Bonato, whose face was distorted with envy, stared at the passing crowd and did not notice Saint Sunhorn coming from the port in an open carriage.
Horn was still waving happily to the people.
"Hey." The companion patted Bonato on the shoulder and said in disbelief, "Look at that boat, isn't that Cassani? Why is he here?"
(End of Chapter)