Wild North America 1846

Chapter 556 Civilian Life

Author: Portuguese toothless

Chapter 556 Civilian Life

The Jiangsu and Zhejiang restaurants were very lively at noon. Judging from the costumes of these customers, they were either nearby merchants or workers from the dock factory. The restaurant catered mainly to civilian consumption that catered to popular tastes, and its business was quite good.

Under the enthusiastic recommendation of the waiter, Richard ordered four signature dishes, a soup, and a pot of Shaoxing rice wine, and sat at the table by the window to wait patiently.

Although his eyes were looking out the window, his ears were perked up to listen to the discussions of the guests and feel the ordinary people's market life.

listened for a while

Restaurant guests mostly talk about things around them, such as which grain and oil trader has made a lot of money recently, the Chang'an Hussars of the North American Baseball League just defeated the Salem Steel Team, the strong team in the same area, and the mineral radio that the famous Chinese scientist Li Ru has just invented.

, causing a sensation...

Or how much have the prices of single-family houses in Beigang District increased? Those Chinese immigrants who bought houses in the early years made a lot of money.

Boss Guan, a wealthy businessman who runs the cement factory industry in this district, married the Chinese concubine of the sixth house. I heard that the wedding fee was nearly 20,000 Tangyuan. That is really rich!

All these

Most of the attention of ordinary people is on the people and things around them. No one pays attention to the Franco-Prussian War, which attracts international attention. No one talks about international affairs such as the end of the civil war on the Fuso Islands and the massive suppression of the rebels by the Spanish colonists. They are so far away from ordinary people.

Too far away.

"Sir, here are your braised venison, braised liver tips, cold fungus and spicy and sour radish strips. Please take your time when the dishes are ready. There is also a soup, which will be brought to you in a moment."

The waiter placed the dishes on the tray on the table one by one, along with bowls, chopsticks and a pot of warm Shaoxing rice wine, and said attentively.

Richard looked at the rich aroma of the braised venison, and the tender and tender liver tip. He also moved his fingers and said with satisfaction, "That's very good. Waiter, go and greet other guests!"

"Please be patient, sir." The waiter turned around and left.

The store is very busy now, and the waiter can't take a moment to spare.

Pour a glass of warm rice wine and pair it with the rich venison wine. Richard ate it leisurely and contentedly, feeling particularly relaxed.

He noticed;

Just a moment after entering the hotel, the police patrol on the street passed by twice.

After all, this is the imperial capital of Chang'an, at the foot of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. The General Police Administration has very strict control over public security. Richard did not see any group members shouting or shouting, and very few pedestrians were carrying guns.

Even if there are, they are only armed guards of some nobles or wealthy businessmen.

The guns of these armed escorts must be recorded, and a legal gun certificate issued by the police station. This kind of certificate requires payment of a certain fee every year, and is only available in California. It is not valid outside the province.

The empire does not ban guns, but in some large and medium-sized cities it is prohibited to openly carry them on the streets, and it is prohibited to carry weapons in public places, except for those with legal gun licenses.

The purpose of this is to protect the majority of people from situations where hot-headed people draw guns and shoot each other in the street.

In some remote provinces or ranches, it is still necessary for cowboys to carry guns.

There are many wild wolves in North America, especially in the northern provinces where there are huge herds of bison, brown bears and other life-threatening beasts. In the southern provinces there are pumas, leopards and wild wolves, which cannot be separated from the protection of guns.

It is not necessary in the city and will only cause panic among other people.

The most common patrol officers on the streets work in teams of two. They wear dark blue police uniforms with police badges on their chests and wide-brimmed cowboy hats with a very North American style on their heads.

The police uniform is a Tang Dynasty-style woolen garment with horizontal breasts and is tied with a police belt. The overall attire looks quite classy.

Patrol officers are generally equipped with a Colt police revolver, a two-foot-long baton, a police whistle, and a cowhide case.

The mounted police will be equipped with an extra long gun, because most of the areas patrolled by the mounted police are in the outer suburbs, and they must have stronger firepower when encountering vicious gangsters.

The leather wallet contains penalty slips and pens, which can be used to correct all violations of law and discipline on the street, including directing traffic, correcting the disorderly placement of vendors, open defecation on horse and mule carts, destruction of public property, drunkenness and rioting, smashing and fighting,

A series of things that go against moral customs, etc., it really covers everything.

Penalty tickets are a very effective method and are also commonly used by patrol police.

In the restaurant

At a square table in the corner, there were two middle-aged people, a man and a woman, and two girls eating, and they only ordered two dishes, one meat and one vegetarian.

The older girl was about seven or eight years old, and the younger one was only about three years old. They were sitting in the corner eating rice in vegetable soup with a timid expression. The two lesbians did not dare to raise their heads.

The middle-aged man poured a bottle of wine, placed the only meat and vegetable in front of him, and continued to eat and drink by himself. His face was already slightly red, and he looked like he had drunk a lot.

The middle-aged woman looks kind-hearted, taking care of the two girls while eating, and whispering something...

In this era, women's status was low, and it was nothing unusual.

It happened that Richard's ears and eyes were very sharp, and when he heard this middle-aged woman scolding the older girl in a low voice, he said;

"If you dare to run around again, I will break your legs and sell them to a black kiosk on the roadside..."

Richard's eyes suddenly became sharp, and he quickly lowered his head to cover it up.

Needless to say

Human trafficking does exist in the empire, but most of them are white women and Indian women plundered in previous wars, or mail-order brides from China or Europe, so it cannot be banned for the time being.

But selling children is a clear violation of criminal law.

This is because the Tang Empire has experienced economic development that lasted for more than 20 years, and the overall economy has become relatively prosperous. So far, there has never been a famine year where large-scale people fled from famine to survive, resulting in the selling of children.

So who sells children?

They must be some evil villains with bad intentions who abducted some girls from good families and trained them, just like training a thin horse in Yangzhou.

In the future, it will be sold to a brothel or transferred to a wealthy businessman's family, and a generous dowry will be collected in the name of the mother's family, thereby making huge profits.

This is an ancient and unscrupulous industry that was very popular during the turbulent Manchu Qing Dynasty. Unexpectedly, this trend also appeared in the Tang Empire.

As soon as he thought about this, Richard secretly felt angry in his heart.

What is not good to do in the Tang Empire?

As long as you work hard, you can live a peaceful, happy and prosperous life even if you start a small business, so why do you have to do such an evil thing?

He glanced at it calmly, becoming more and more sure of his guess.

Judging from the facial features of these two girls, they both have good looks. They are both children with fair skin and good facial features. They will not be ugly when they grow up in the future, and they will have a decent middle-to-upper-class appearance.

Don't think that these human traffickers will keep girls for many years, because in the old days there was a bad habit called child molestation, which is very off-putting.

Travel to this era

Richard changed a lot of history, but he was unable to completely eradicate all the dregs of the old era. He could only ban pigtails, bound feet, opium smoking, human blood steamed buns that promote ignorance, and guild organizations such as praying to gods.

To address these obvious shortcomings, clear provisions have been made.

The Tang Empire made every effort to promote education for all, publicize new customs and practices, and encourage the public to pay attention to hygiene and politeness, gradually eradicating the ignorance of ordinary people, and slowly affecting the general public.

As for some secret child molesters or the popular habit of cutting off sleeves, it is difficult to reach.

Seriously

Due to the limitations of investigation methods in this era, there are many cases of robbery, theft, and even murder. As long as the criminals are not caught on the spot, it is very difficult to detect them afterwards.

Now that he has met, Richard can't ignore it.

a moment later

He waved to the waiter and paid the bill, then took out an extra 5 cents, whispered a few instructions to the waiter, and then stood up and left.

Not long after, the waiter in the store brought two patrol policemen to conduct an interrogation of the two middle-aged men, a man and a woman.

While the two were arguing, the older girl suddenly cried "Wow...", pointed at the two middle-aged men and women, and cried out: "They are bad people."

As she said this, she rolled up her sleeves and saw that the girl's fair and tender arms were covered with bruises, which were obviously scars caused by being cruelly twisted by an adult.

By this time, the situation had become clear. The two middle-aged men and women were held down by patrol officers on the spot. What awaited them would be severe punishment under the imperial law.

At this time, Richard had already disappeared, and he did not need to come forward personally for this trivial matter.

He had already seen the faces of these two heartless middle-aged men and women. Dark shadows shrouded their eyebrows. They were destined to die suddenly soon. How easy was it to change their lives against fate?

a few hours later

In a large courtyard, with the help of a real estate agent, Richard rented a house and paid the landlord three months' rent and deposit.

This is a two-story courtyard, a European-style stone house. There is a well in the middle of the courtyard, and there are several large trees with lush leaves. Although it is noisy, the environment is acceptable.

The landlord split more than 20 houses and rented them out, and there were about 14 or 5 families renting them.

Some women were washing and washing themselves by the well, while the children were playing in the yard, and cooking was shared in the bungalows in the yard, giving it a lively atmosphere.

When Richard, the new resident, came, he attracted the attention of many women who were washing themselves by the well. Then they burst into laughter. I don’t know what they were talking about so happily.

The house that Richard rented was on the west end of the first floor. It was a suite with an inside and outside room. It had a bed and a table, but no bedding. He immediately bought some new bedding and daily necessities and moved them in. It was done.

.

The reason why he did not rent those single-family villas was because Richard wanted to experience the real life of the people at the bottom and be closer to the people in the market instead of living in isolation.

Can a villa be as big as Daming Palace, no matter how good it is?

So quiet?

Is the environment so good?

If he wanted to live in Laoshizi Villa, why would he bother to come here to experience the city life?

It would be nice to rent this room and have people come and stay here from time to time.

open the window

Letting the cold wind of winter and the laughter of children flow in, Richard sat on a chair and brewed a pot of fragrant tea with his own hands, slowly savoring the lively and fragrant civilian life, as if he had arrived in the south at the end of the 19th century.

A large courtyard in a certain city.

Except for the slightly weird white women washing themselves in the yard, this two-story building with a very Victorian architectural style, and the smell of meat that comes from the public kitchen from time to time, everything else should be about the same, right?

"Mr. Li, are you sorry?" a woman's voice came.

Standing at the door was a blond Caucasian woman about 30 years old, with a well-developed figure, wearing an apron around her waist, and spoke Mandarin with a Lunan accent.

She was one of the women who had been washing at the well just now, and she was looking at Richard curiously.

This tall and elegant young man is said to be a teacher at an aristocratic private school. This is a respected profession!

(End of chapter)