My British Empire

  Chapter 303 Thomas' London Experience

  ps: At the end of the month, ask for tickets, ask for tickets

  London in February is still as cold as ever, but the arrival of spring has not brought any warmth to the big city of London.

  Thomas Marne has a deep understanding of this.

  The original roads in London are full of potholes, some are moss-covered floor tiles from the Roman period, some are stone slabs built by the city of London itself, and more roads are composed of gravel.

And since William Selsey's governance, the most prosperous area in London, that is, the area preserved in the Roman period, the roads are all piled up with stone slabs from the suburbs of London, and the width reaches 20 feet, enough for three carriages to run side by side. pass.

   In addition, the remaining areas were all required to be cleared and expanded. Although no good stone slabs were used to pave the ground, under the instructions of His Majesty the King, fired bricks were used to pave the ground.

  Although it doesn't look very good-looking, at least it is smoother and cleaner than before, and the rainy day will no longer form the kind of excrement and urine mixed waterlogging.

  Yesterday, he was brought to London by Marquis William. After resting overnight, Thomas did not stay in the Marquis’ mansion all the time. Instead, he came to the streets of London early in the morning under the protection of a servant of His Excellency the Marquis, or under the guidance of a guide.

  Wearing a light black cloak, with a black hat on his head, matching his clean face, plus an attendant, he looks like a gentleman no matter what.

  Thomas walked step by step, looking around again, like a country bumpkin who just entered the city, full of surprises everywhere.

  The wide road was relatively light in the morning, so the cold wind was blowing, and a few drops of drizzle came along with it.

  If you don’t wear a hat, your head will look chilly, and if you open an umbrella, it will be troublesome. At this time, the role of the hat is reflected.

  The rain fell on the hat, but disappeared after a while.

  England's unique and unpredictable weather has promoted the popularity of hat culture.

   It can be said that if you want to know a person's status, you can directly look at his hat. The higher the hat, the higher the social status.

  So, on the street, the shops that Thomas sees most are clothing stores. There are all kinds of hats, and hats are the face of a man.

  On the broad road, there were only a few people walking at this time, it looked empty, and the wind was blowing head-on, Thomas noticed. I still underestimated the coldness of London.

   Stamped his feet, glanced at the newly laid stone slabs under his feet, and then looked at the seemingly empty road. He found that the king still had a vision for the appointment of talents.

  Continuing to walk, Thomas saw a middle-aged man in thin clothes, who was carefully sweeping the street with a broom.

And when he was bending over to clean, there was a square stone pile about one foot high with three low walls at the corner not far from him, and there were all kinds of garbage scattered inside, which looked a bit unnerving. nausea.

   On the contrary, the streets are clean and tidy, which makes people feel pleasing to the eye.

  Although Thomas has never been to Paris, the central city of Europe, or the prosperous Florence, he has heard a lot of rumors about these two places from the mouths of businessmen.

  Dirty is the most common word in their mouths.

   But this word has disappeared in London, which has to make Thomas sigh.

At this time, beside him, suddenly passed a strange team wearing simple military uniforms, windbreakers, and daggers on their waists. Most of them were injured, either missing arms or ears. , extremely weird.

   Seemingly seeing his doubts, the attendant who followed him bent slightly and whispered in his ear.

   "Sir, this is the inspection team of the City Management Office of the city government, which specializes in dealing with illegal shops and vendors, as well as incidents that destroy London buildings. It is also called urban management.

   It can be said that they are composed of wounded veterans. Regardless of their injuries, they are full of combat effectiveness. They can be compared with the police in London, full of majesty! "

   Hearing this, Thomas had doubts in his eyes again.

   "Well, the police are the group of people who specialize in dealing with law and order situations in the city of London. They also belong to the City of London government. Their clothes are similar to theirs, except that the upper body is red and white."

   Seeing this appearance, the young attendant continued to explain.

  After listening, Thomas suddenly realized, and watched the group of inspection teams called urban management leave before moving on.

  Suddenly, he saw a street with a concave shape. On the side of the street, there was a wooden sign with English engraved on it, which directly aroused his curiosity.

  Unable to bear the confusion in his heart, Thomas took a step, walked over, and took a closer look.

  The attendant behind him glanced at his back, and followed him in desperation.

  Thomas approached the wooden sign, about five feet high, and focused his eyes on it.

I saw that on the wooden signboard, there was a big letter "C", and below it were words, which seemed to be the place names of London, connected in a series by strange symbols, and finally formed an "S" shape. Looks like a lot of fun.

   Seeing that the master was also interested in this, the young attendant felt helpless, but his face was still full of smiles.

   "Sir, this came out of London last year. It's called a four-wheeled public carriage. Everyone only needs to put in a penny to get on the bus and ride to the stop on this wooden sign!"

"These words are all marked as the place where the stagecoach named 'S' passes. You can get off at any place, but you can only get off at the stop, not halfway. !"

  At this time, a large four-wheeled carriage slowly drove over. On the carriage, a capital 'S' was very eye-catching.

   "You're saying that as long as you put in a penny, you can get on this carriage, no matter who it is!"

  Looking at the extended version of the carriage, Thomas' curiosity became more and more intense.

   "Yes, sir!" Hearing this, the attendant nodded without hesitation.

   "Then, let's go up and have a look!" After getting what he needed, Thomas said without hesitation, and cast his eyes directly on the arriving carriage.

   "This..." The young attendant looked at the carriage at the station and hesitated.

  Public carriages are generally used by ordinary people and small businessmen, and an attendant like him can ride a public carriage, but it is very inappropriate for Mr. Thomas, a guest of the Marquis, to ride a public carriage.

   "It's nothing, let's go up, I'll pay for you!"

   Seemingly seeing the reason for the attendant's hesitation, Thomas just smiled, and after saying a word, he quickly boarded the public carriage.

  (end of this chapter)