Chapter 392 New World (Part 2) [Two in one! Please subscribe! ]
However……
Before entering the city, the brother and sister's convoy was stopped by the guards at the city gate.
"Dear Marquis Soto and Miss Ferona."
The Idar guard in uniform nodded to the two guests who had come from afar and said, "I regret to inform you that according to the temporary notice issued by the Idar Government Office, between November 1st and November 15th, no convoys with more than three carriages are allowed to enter the city during the day."
"If your convoy wants to enter the city, it can do so at night. Of course, you can also choose to take a horse-drawn carriage or rickshaw from the Principality of Idar and enter the city during the day."
The leading guard pointed to several rickshaws waiting on one side of the road and spoke calmly.
Hearing this, Felona couldn't help but look slightly fixed.
This was not out of deliberate difficulty, but was due to the approaching winter and the construction of the Alhambra Palace.
As another architectural wonder that will stand in the city of Idar, the Alhambra Palace not only employs a large number of people to build it, but naturally there will be a large number of vehicles responsible for transporting construction materials back and forth.
During these few days, not only were construction materials and supplies being transported to the construction site, but it was also the time when countless refugees from all over the Principality of Idar poured into the city to work.
Therefore, the Idar City Hall temporarily issued such a traffic restriction notice.
But the Ferona siblings, who had just entered the Principality of Idar, were not aware of this.
There are restrictions on the convoys entering Idar City? And...
According to the guard, the gates of Idar city would still be open at night?
Although it seemed a little unbelievable, the convoy of vehicles waiting in line at the city gate meant that the Idar people were not deliberately targeting the siblings. The vehicles waiting in line were lined up on one side of Idar Avenue, stretching for thousands of meters!
In fact, Felona and Johann did not care about the so-called traffic restrictions, because this was the territory of the Stuart family after all. In the inland where countless aristocratic forces were intertwined, the siblings had long learned to calmly face the different treatments from various noble leaders.
But what surprised them the most was actually the greetings from the Idar guards.
Since passing the customs inspection of Stranglethorn Vale, the two men hardly made any stops along the way, and the convoy also put away the emblems and flags representing Marquis Soto and the Graf family.
But even so, the Idar guards on duty at the city gate still called out the two people's names accurately! This also means that the information from the Stranglethorn Vale Customs was already known to the Idar City guards long before they arrived!
How could one not marvel at the efficiency and speed of information transmission? Seeing this, Filona and Johann did not have the rebelliousness commonly seen in nobles, and did not argue with the guards.
After instructing the driver and mercenaries to rest outside the city under the arrangement of Idar's guards, the brother and sister simply followed the local customs and hailed a rickshaw with the assistance of Idar's guards and entered the city with several personal attendants.
They had only one purpose for this trip, which was to obtain the protection of Bruno Stuart, Duke of Idar, so that the Graf family could survive in the chaos in the interior of the empire.
After all, even though she knew that the Principality of Idar had extremely strict restrictions on the nobles, compared to the western part of the empire and a certain prince of the Norman royal family, Ferona was more optimistic about this land in the eastern part of the empire.
And what she saw and heard in this land further strengthened Firona's opinion.
You know, although the Graf family has dwindled, and only Ferona and Johann are left in the family, a marquis is still a marquis after all! As an aristocratic family that has been operating in the interior of the empire for a long time, among the many nobles in the interior of the empire, the Graf family has an intelligence network that is no less than that of the Norman royal family!
Even the many changes that took place in the Principality of Idar, Ferona also knew a little bit about it! Ferona always attached great importance to the rumors from the merchants and mercenaries. It was through those business travelers that Ferona learned about the work point system of the Principality of Idar and the changes and reforms of the Principality of Idar.
She also knew about the wonders that continued to rise in the Principality of Idar, had heard of the Idar people's ambition to sail to the sea, and even knew the name of the Idar Central Intelligence Agency! In other words...
Ferona and the Graf family she represents are the imperial nobles who have the clearest and most objective understanding of the Principality of Idar!
But,
After all, these are just hearsay, and are only information obtained after cross-comparison.
It was for this reason that when Ferona made up her mind to go to the Principality of Idar, she was conflicted, and Johann, who made the final decision, felt quite guilty.
Because...if the Principality of Idar is not what the siblings imagined, then the Graf family will not only lose their hereditary land, but will also suffer an extremely heavy blow.
Until now, she finally came to this land in person and saw with her own eyes the changes taking place on this land for the first time!
This time, she wanted to measure this land with her own eyes and see for herself whether it was worth betting all the chips of the Graf family on it.
And it is obvious that, at least so far, the Principality of Idar has given the siblings a feeling that is completely different from the inland of the empire, and it has also given Ferona some confidence.
The tentacles and intelligence network possessed by the Graf family give Ferona far more leverage than other nobles.
She hopes to use her lobbying to gain more benefits for the Graf family in this land in the eastern part of the empire.
after all……
In Ferona's opinion, the current Principality of Idar is like a huge ship that has just set sail. Only by boarding the ship as soon as possible can more benefits be gained for the Graf family!
…
The rickshaw slowly passed through the city gate, and the vast streets of Idar finally appeared in front of the brother and sister.
In the early winter, the city of Idar is still bustling with people.
Perhaps it was because the people who were engaged in agricultural production on weekdays finally had some leisure time, and a large number of civilians poured into the city to work, so the city of Idar was even more lively than usual.
Not only were there a constant stream of merchants and travelers coming and going, but many people even came from the surrounding villages and towns just to buy winter clothes in this newly opened department store in the city.
In this era, many people have worn their clothes for who knows how many years. Their winter cotton-padded clothes have long been worn out, and traces of patching are everywhere on the old clothes.
For many families, winter clothes are worn by grandfather, then father, then son, then grandson. Due to the difficulties in life, they may not be able to buy new clothes for many years.
Until… the establishment of the Idar Textile Factory.
Today, the large-scale use of the Jenny machine and the prosperity of the sea trade route connecting the Odin Empire and the Principality of Idar have directly led to a significant reduction in the cost of ready-made clothes.
Coupled with the general increase in people's income, buying a new piece of clothing for one's family has almost become a small goal that countless Idar residents set for themselves in a year.
Therefore, as winter approaches, many young people enthusiastically take their still living grandfathers to the newly opened department stores to buy clothes.
During this period, many hilarious jokes appeared in the Idar Daily.
For example...
If you can buy a new piece of clothing this year, then your grandfather's old clothes can be passed on to your father, your father's clothes can be passed on to your mother, your mother's clothes can be passed on to your wife, your wife's clothes can be worn by you, and your cotton-padded clothes that you have worn for a long time can finally be passed on to your son! In short, this is not just a joke, but the current situation of many families.
If a family can buy a new piece of clothing, it is almost equivalent to everyone changing into new clothes, which is a very happy occasion.
Maybe someone would say there are men's and women's styles, but... what time is it? It's good enough to have a thick cotton coat to wear, who cares about the style? Sitting in the rickshaw, Filona and Qiao Hann were like bumpkins entering the city, staring with their big eyes, curiously looking at everything around them.
Although they were nobles and were accustomed to luxurious banquets and jewels shining with gold, no city's appearance could compare with that of Idar.
The wide and clean roads, the distinctive shops along the streets, the poorly dressed but ruddy-faced lower-class people, and the little newsboys shouting and selling newspapers along the streets...
Compared with Idar City, even Saint Lawrence, the imperial capital, is still out of reach.
"What...what is that?"
At this moment, Qiao Hann on the side suddenly said.
His voice was trembling slightly, full of doubt and even a little bewilderment.
Hearing this, Felona quickly turned her head and saw several strange-looking vehicles passing through the crowd not far away.
Two wheels...
No livestock driven…
It even makes a ding-ding-ding sound from time to time...
What is that? "It's a bicycle, a thing that was recently made by the craftsmen of Idar Public University. It's been selling like hot cakes in Idar City recently..."
The rickshaw driver was running breathlessly while introducing this new item that had recently appeared in the city of Idar to the passengers behind him.
"bike?"
Marquis of Soto Johann Graf repeated, then he turned and looked at his sister, hoping to get a more detailed answer from Ferona.
Seeing this, Felona couldn't help but smile bitterly and shook her head.
There was no way. Although the intelligence network of the Graf family was second to none among the nobles in the entire inland of the empire, this was the Principality of Idar! Under the close surveillance of the Idar Central Intelligence Agency, most of the information Ferona collected about the Principality of Idar came from merchants and mercenaries traveling around.
It is obvious that this thing called "bicycle" should have only appeared not long ago, otherwise, this new thing that can be ridden on the street would not have been mentioned by people.
"Tell me in detail and I'll give you more money." Felona said.
"Okay!"
Hearing this, the driver was suddenly very happy.
In fact, as a rickshaw driver in Idar City, his favorite thing on weekdays is to explain the new and unique things in Idar City to the guests who have just arrived in this land.
Whenever the driver saw the shocked looks on the guests' faces or heard their surprised exclamations, he would feel a sense of pride that is unique to the Idar people.
Aren’t you noble lords all very powerful?
But in our Principality of Idar, these things are things you dare not even imagine and have never seen!
Lord Bruno Stuart, Duke of Idar, is a man that you Norman nobles can never catch up with even if you flatter him!
The driver had intended to praise the Principality of Idar, and now, the two guests sitting in the back took the initiative to add money, so the driver spoke with even more enthusiasm: "Speaking of this bicycle, it was actually only put on sale not long ago. It is said that the craftsmen of Idar Public University spent many years designing it before it was finally put into production. In my opinion, apart from the Duke, which of those short-sighted Norman nobles could have such vision?"
"This bicycle does not require animal power to pull it, nor does it require much maintenance. All you need to do is sit on it and push with your legs, and the two wheels at the bottom of the bicycle will start to turn."
"And most importantly, it's cheap! The carriages of the nobles not only need to hire drivers, but also need to take care of the horses on a daily basis. It costs at least dozens of gold coins a year!"
"But look at this bicycle. It only costs less than 500 copper coins. Even an ordinary family would be able to afford it after working hard for half a year..."
"Although five hundred copper coins may not seem like a lot, if someone in the family works, how much time can be saved on the road? If you spend less energy on the road, you can have more time and energy to devote to work. Wouldn't your income increase? In my opinion..."
Just as the driver was about to continue speaking, Filona finally couldn't help but interrupt him: "Wait... you just said, how much does this bicycle cost?"
"Less than 500 copper coins. If you buy the cheaper ones, it would probably only cost 400 copper coins..."
The driver answered truthfully.
"hiss……"
Ferona and Johan looked at each other and couldn't help but gasp.
The common people were poor, the merchants were rich, and the nobles were both rich and powerful.
This is undoubtedly the consensus of the ruling class of this era.
But……
According to the driver, in the land of Idar Principality, a family can earn four or five hundred copper coins in just half a year?! No wonder those civilians are flocking to this piece of land!
Although such income is only a negligible amount for the nobles, for the common people, it is several times higher than that in the inland areas of the empire!
Hearing the two guests' shocked gasps, the driver couldn't help but smile, and a sense of pride as an Idar suddenly arose.
Did you hear it? Did you see it? The Idar people are awesome! The Duke is awesome! So...
"In fact, it doesn't take half a year at all. If a family has two adult workers, it usually only takes three months to buy a bicycle!"
The driver began to mend his knife with great interest.
Hearing this, Felona didn't know what to say.
Why is the income of the common people in Idar so much higher than that in other places? Where did Bruno Stuart, Duke of Idar, get so much money to build this land? And how could he build this remote and desolate place into such a state in such a short time?
Perhaps other nobles would think that this was actually the accumulation of the Principality of Idar over the years, but Ferona knew clearly that this was indeed a change that took place within a few years! She couldn't understand it, and couldn't see through it.
No more, thanks to “Rotsen”, “The Sight Between the Door”, and “Wu-Kunlun” for their rewards!
(End of this chapter)
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