Chapter 445: Pork and One-shoulder Cape in the Laundry Workshop

Carrying a basket of clothes in a basket, Bonatto and his companion walked on the street of Jeanne d'Arc.

The news of the army's victorious return spread throughout Joan of Arc, and after the initial carnival, people once again returned to calm.

But judging by the citizens' rosy cheeks, they made a fortune from the jihad bonds.

Bonatto originally wanted to buy it, but because he had no registered identity, he failed to do so.

When we arrived at the outer vegetable market street, the vendors had already set up their stalls and placed fruits, vegetables, fresh eggs and meat in wooden frames, filling them up.

Since Caishi Street is guarded by Night Watchmen and Crusaders, few people dare to cause trouble, so the surrounding vegetable farmers always choose Caishi Street as their first choice when setting up stalls.

Only when the space in Caishi Street is full will they go to other places to sell their wares.

"Oranges, oranges, oranges, oranges, oranges, oranges!"

"Cabbages, cheap! Cabbages, cheap!"

"Mom, I want to eat baked potato roots!"

"This is not a cookie, this is an alchemical product. It becomes bigger and taller when it comes into contact with water... Hey, what are you doing? Why can't you sell baptism products without a qualification certificate? I don't accept it..."

A swindler selling counterfeit goods was dragged to the corner of the street by several night watchmen amid the boos of the crowd, and kicked on the butt and kicked out into the street.

"Let's buy a few pounds of pork. Ask the lady who makes egg and meat patties to make some for us. Lady Theodora seems to like it very much."

"Let's buy a few more pounds and dry them into bacon for consumption on the road." His companion agreed with Bonatto, "Pork from other places might cost more than this."

After Horn opened up the mountains and forests and implemented the land distribution plan, in order to ensure meat supply, animal husbandry was exempted from tax. Ordinary farmers did not need to pay taxes when selling livestock at the market.

As the method of detoxifying potato roots became popular, farmers generally began to use potato roots to feed pigs. Four pounds of potato roots combined with pig grass can grow one pound of pork. One acre of mountain land can produce thousands of pounds of potato roots, with a net yield of approximately 900-1200 pounds.

One acre of mountain land or wasteland can raise about two or three pigs, and it is also tax-free. The situation in the plains is better, but pig farming in the forest and mountainous areas is crazy.

The price of pork this year is more than 30% lower than the year before, and this is the result of the Papal Palace purchasing large quantities of pork to forcibly maintain the price.

Arriving at the butcher's shop, Bonato saw the centurions standing next to a carriage, surrounding the corpse of a monster field mouse.

This should have been purchased jointly by several centurions, because they were arguing fiercely over how to divide it.

You know, according to the documents issued by the Cardinals' Conference, a very important item in the performance evaluation of the captains of the Crusaders is the extraordinary rate.

The performance evaluation results of the captains of the religious army are also part of the performance evaluation rating of the centurions.

These centurions would even spend some of their own money to buy more pork so that the crusaders could quickly develop extraordinary skills and make a good show at the autumn harvest meeting.

After all, according to the gossip from the grooms and the skilled women, bureaucratic reforms might be implemented after the autumn harvest.

Who will be the grandson and who will be the grandfather depends on this.

The two had just lifted the curtain of the butcher shop when a butcher was packing up the leftovers and sending them to a mother and son. Seeing Bonatto and his partner coming, he spread his hands and said, "You're late. This was the last bit. We still have some stale meat. Do you want some?"

"Of course not." The companion asked persistently, "When will the next batch arrive?"

"I don't know. It depends on when the car comes. Usually it's around noon."

Looking at the sun in the sky, the companion said to Bonatto, "You go and deliver the clothes to the laundry first. I'll wait here and we'll meet at the riverside later."

After saying goodbye to his companions, Bonatto came to the river carrying a basket of clothes.

A one-story house divided into small grids appeared in front of me. The sky was filled with steam, obscuring my vision, and the whistling sound of boiling water on the honeycomb coal stove was endless.

In the hazy steam, people coming and going are poor women wearing thin clothes.

In the Shen Ai Empire, washing clothes 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 up the holes before washing, otherwise the small holes will immediately become big holes after washing.

After checking the holes, you need to classify the clothes according to the type of dirt and fabric type, especially woolen clothes. If you use the wrong washing method, you will pay a heavy price.

Before washing, allow a full day to soak to allow the dirt to dissolve naturally before continuing to wash.

Since there is no indoor sewage disposal facility, you need to first take the dirty water bucket outside and pour it out, and then go to the well or river to line up to fetch water. Then it is the scrubbing stage. Different clothes need to be poured with different cleaning agents. Sometimes a little blue dye is added as a color enhancer during the second wash to cover up the corrosion of the cleaning agent on the clothes.

The most important thing is that this job requires a lot of hot water, and firewood in towns is expensive, so a normal family washes their clothes once a week, and many bachelors or laborers even wash their clothes once every six months.

However, with the emergence of honeycomb coal, fuel prices dropped sharply, and the cost of laundry was finally reduced.

But it still takes too long, so many single craftsmen would entrust widows or grandmothers to help wash it.

These widows and poor women figured out that they could make a lot of money, so they started charging fees.

Some smart citizens discovered the business opportunities and rushed into the market at high speed, opening laundry workshops and successfully squeezing out the business of those widows and old ladies.

Thus, in a corner unknown to Horn, the laundry workshop business quietly became popular.

Since the laundry is done in a unified manner, cleaning agents and honeycomb coal are purchased in large quantities, the location is right by the river, and there are even special laundry women, the cost of washing a piece of clothing is much lower than that of an ordinary family.

Many citizens and craftsmen found that the money they spent on washing clothes was not much more than the original money for buying firewood, so they immediately voted with their feet.

Their wives were content because hot water for washing clothes had to be heated on the stove, which undoubtedly disrupted their daily plans for cooking and other household chores.

Many widows and poor women work in laundry rooms, but due to the conservative social atmosphere, they have to wear headscarves and work in the steam, sweating profusely.

Bonatto saw several women coughing and thought that it must be very difficult to work in such an environment.

After handing the clothes over to the laundryman, taking the number plate and stamping it, Bonatto strolled to the river.

My companions had already been waiting by the river, carrying several pounds of pork.

"What's wrong?" Seeing that his companion saw him but did not leave, Bonatto approached him curiously and asked.

"The road is closed, we can't get out, the Savior Army has returned to the city."

Amid the rapid sound of flutes and drums, cheers and the sounds of children chasing each other rang out one after another.

Under everyone's expectant gaze, 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.

The dress was designed and sewn by Madame Isolde's tailoring workshop. The top is a brown and black stand-up collar jacket with buttons on the shoulders connected to the outer sleeves.

A circle of white Xiumizi shirt lining peeked out from the cuffs, and they waved their arms as they walked, rubbing against the red ribbons and the arc-shaped sword guards at their waists.

The lower body is dressed in tight-legged trousers. Unlike the bloomers common in this era, its straight shape instantly makes every soldier have straight and long legs.

The biggest difference between them and the common military uniforms of the Empire is that they have a one-shoulder half cloak, which is only on the left shoulder and the hem just covers the buttocks.

This was designed by Isolde based on the diagonal half-sleeves of the ancient Kush people. 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.

Therefore, the ancient Kush cavalry at that time would wear an extra layer on top of their clothes, and then only wear one sleeve, putting it on when it was cold and taking it off when it was hot.

Based on this record and the sword-fighting cloak commonly used by the people, Isolde designed this half-shoulder short cloak, added a large number of braided rope settings, and added gear buttons at the shoulder buttons.

This undoubtedly makes the cloak look smart, flexible and gorgeous.

Staring blankly at the black-clad soldiers passing by, Bonatto suddenly felt a little envious of them. He wished he could return victorious and wear such clothes and walk amid the cheers of so many people.

That means he is willing to lose his hands and feet.

Bonato was not the only one who thought so. Many other citizens and workers nearby were also stunned.

Even a knight would be envious of such beautiful clothes.

It can be predicted that conscription in the second half of this year will become extremely popular.

Bonatto, with a face twisted 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 Bonatto's shoulder and said in disbelief, "Look at that boat, isn't that Cassani? How come he is here?"

(End of this chapter)