Chapter 1063 Early Morning in the Capital
Chapter 1063 Early Morning in the Capital
Robin, the royal capital, early morning.
Thick white morning fog crept along the outer river, and the dense moisture spread over the bridge deck, making the newly painted handrails shine. The greasy fingers of the dock worker nearby had just touched the pocket watch when six bells rolled down leisurely from above the clock tower in the old city.
“Boom…boom…boom…boom…boom…boom…boom”
The deep ringing of the cast iron bell spread, awakening the entire city from its slumber. As the first ray of sunlight broke through the morning mist, the whistles of the public carriage lines and the cries of newsboys selling newspapers along the street immediately broke through the morning mist and clearly flowed into the ears of passers-by.
It's been a long time since I last saw the morning in the capital...
Listening to the familiar yet unfamiliar noisy sounds around him, Lyon, who had paid off a whole night's debt, couldn't help but squint at the sun in the sky, and then subconsciously took a deep breath. A complex scent unique to the morning mist in the royal capital quietly spread in his nostrils.
Due to the uncontrolled and excessive discharge of pollutants over the past few decades, the air in the river outside the royal capital is often filled with the pungent and slightly spicy smell of industrial sewage, as well as a stench so thick that it almost covers the nostrils. Suspicious garbage and clusters of greasy and dirty rainbow patterns often float on the surface of the river.
After more than half a year of governance, the removal of more than 20 factories and the complete separation of the municipal sewage river from public waters, the wind blowing from the outside river was finally no longer foul-smelling, and had some of the freshness that a morning breeze should have.
Although the stench has not been completely cleared away, when the river water begins to evaporate in large quantities at noon, you can still smell some "residual fragrance of the old times" from time to time. It may take several years for it to be successfully self-purified, but you can finally smell it.
Why not go back and talk to Senior Ameen and ask her if she has any water purification potion to purify the river water in one go?
Hmm... let's just forget it. I feel that if I ask her to help, the river water will become clean quickly, but the fish that have just moved into the outer river will probably start to flee like crazy. With this in mind, it would be safer to take it slow.
After giving up the unreliable idea of using shit to deal with pollution, Leon did not move directly in the mirror world. Instead, he put his wrinkled coat from last night on his arm, crossed the bridge separating the old town and the upper town, and walked leisurely towards the direction of Bridge Street.
Although Veronica approved a large sum of funds to renovate the municipal projects of the entire old city after she came to power, such a large project cannot be completed in one or two years, and the changes in the old city are not that great compared to the past.
As soon as Lyon entered the old town, the surrounding buildings immediately became much shorter. The old coal dust seeping from the old brick walls and the slightly pungent smell of paint on the newly painted walls mixed together, and the sweet steam from the chimneys of the street bakeries began to fight in the narrow alleys.
"Give way! Please give way!"
With some urgent requests, the clerk in a bowler hat trotted past Leon, carefully avoiding the horse manure on the sidewalk, but failed to avoid the quilt that the woman on the second floor shook out, and was covered in fine fluff with fireplace ash.
"Oh! Are you blind?"
"You are blind! How can you hide when you are so old?"
"Where can I hide? Can't you see the horse manure on the ground?"
"That doesn't matter. I shouted before I started shaking anyway. Who can you blame if you didn't hear me?"
"You he……"
"..."
Well, although there have been significant changes, public health has not kept up. At least the horse manure on the roadside needs to be shoveled away...
Passing by the two people who were quarreling, Lyon queued up at the bakery nearby and bought two loaves of bread. Then he quickly walked to the public carriage stop to wait for the bus. Upon noticing his "suspicious" behavior, the old horse that was taking a nap under the arcade opposite snorted immediately.
The coachman who was licking a paper roll nearby spat out the tobacco in his mouth when he heard the noise, tapped the horse's butt twice with the whip, crossed the road amid the cursing of the morning rush hour traffic, and parked the entire sedan carriage.
"Guest, would you like to rent a car?"
"No... you just forced yourself to cross the road? I remember the Ministry of Transportation just issued new traffic regulations last month? You violated the traffic regulations, didn't you?"
"Hey, who cares about that?" After waving his hand nonchalantly, the coachman with two cigarettes between his ears reached out and touched his shiny bald head, then said with a smile:
"The traffic police haven't come to work yet. As long as you are not caught on the spot, it doesn't count. Besides, I have blocked the license plate. If someone wants to report me, I don't know my carriage number... Where are you going, sir?"
"..."
I want to report you to the Ministry of Transport... You are crossing the road against the flow of traffic, driving dangerously and covering your license plate. You are no ordinary road killer.
Oh well... never mind. The new public carriages that double the speed haven't been deployed yet, so it's not too dangerous to do this. But I really have to remind Veronica that before the carriages speed up, she must educate people about traffic rules...
"Bridge Street, Happy Apartments."
After writing down all the problems he had seen this morning, Lyon got into the carriage with a piece of hot bread, sat on the cushioned leather seat, and then looked curiously at the hanging basket on the wall of the carriage.
"Huh? Why are there newspapers in your hanging basket? Did the last customer throw them away?"
"No, that's for sale."
After manually pulling the whistle to signal departure, the coachman said with a smile:
"Her Majesty Veronica has issued a decree to reduce the cost of public transportation, so the fare for my carriage must naturally be reduced as well.
As compensation for the reduced costs, we can now sell some small commodities, or newspapers and periodicals of the day, and this part is called small amount or something, anyway, it is tax-free if it does not exceed a certain amount...
By the way, sir, would you like to buy two newspapers today? If you don’t want to buy them, you can just read them. Just pay me an extra copper wheel when you get off the bus.”
"Well... I'll buy two..."
He was somewhat interested in the news in the newspaper, but felt that it was a bit of a loss to rent a newspaper for only ten minutes for a copper wheel, so he reached into the sealed side basket and pulled out a few familiar newspapers.
New Industrial News: "Lane County's large-scale development, the mining and infrastructure industries are optimistic in the long term"
The Critic: "The minimum hourly wage has increased again! The Business Federation protested!"
Royal Mail: "Interpretation of Her Majesty Veronica's new policy of "15 points": reorganizing fiefdoms is the beginning of a strong country"
Corner Lane News: "The Queen's order? The Highways Department resists large-scale layoffs, and the Prime Minister expresses support"
The Sun: "Shock! Prince Lyon has been away from the palace for a long time, and Her Majesty the Queen is suspected of divorce!"
"..."
Divorce, oh my god! I'm busy with work! And! Damn it... How come this newspaper that wrote the news for idiot Jie Bao hasn't finished yet?
With a dark face, he threw three copper wheels into the hanging basket and took away a few newspapers that interested him. Just as Lyon was about to flip through them to see how this B newspaper described him, he felt his upper body suddenly rushed forward.
"Guest, we have arrived at Happy Apartment!"
(End of this chapter)