On a road that is four to five meters long 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 placed in the back of the forage truck, there were also three men sitting at this time.
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 Arling 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 only 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 Sheriff who represents the British royal family but has no real power. He only has a geographical name and a few functions such as coordinating civil affairs within the scope.
The county capital of Lincolnshire is the city of Lincoln, a very, very small city from a local perspective, so small that you may not even be able to find it if you search without adding a 'British' prefix.
The forage truck walked like this for a while under the sun. After about half an hour, the driver stopped the horse:
"Three gentlemen, we have arrived in Lincoln City."
After hearing this, Xu Yun and the other three looked at each other and stood up one after another.
I shook off the potato ash on my body, picked up my 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 journey."
The coachman named William was a thin old man with somewhat dark skin. After receiving the dried meat from William, he opened his mouth and showed his big yellow teeth:
"Mr. William, you are so polite, 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 shouted 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 a city 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 Europe at this time, 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 small 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 headquarter, you can feel some of the aristocratic atmosphere 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 has been granted to Yaerlin, it is impossible for William and the others to leave no backup plan and make some ketchup just in case.
the 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, but 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 the affluent area in the south-west of the city. The streets are relatively cleaner. 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, which means it is the property of the church and belongs to the official family.
Below the cross hangs a plaque with the words Song of Songs in Hebrew written on it.
"The Yage Hotel should be right here."
In this era, there were no waiters at the entrance of the hotel. The so-called "Datang" 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 we contact him?
Just say that Barrow's student Isaac Newton has 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. Is this how they are written?"
Maverick took the paper, looked at it a few times, and nodded:
"That's right."
The short and fat man took back 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 no.
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 walking, 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 crush it if they walked by.
However, the combined size of Xu Yun and Mavericks was less than the size of an ear, so they walked to the second floor easily.
As soon as we went upstairs, we were greeted by a small waiter.
Then, under his leadership, Xu Yun and Xu Yun walked along the narrow corridor and finally arrived outside a house.
At this time, the door lock of the house had been unlocked from the inside, and it was like a thin cover. You could vaguely smell some tobacco smoke coming out of it.
The waiter made a gesture to Xu Yun and the two of you knocking on the door, bowed slightly, and turned to leave.
After leaving with the waiter, Mavericks stepped forward and knocked on the door:
