To the west of Cecil City, there are many forests and lush plants. The vast jungle here provides the new Cecil Territory with a steady stream of building materials and industrial raw materials - even food sources. In this forest, In the north, next to the Baishui River, Shuanglin Village is gradually becoming lively as the sun rises.
This is a new village, but it is orderly and vibrant. The neatly arranged wooden houses are shrouded in smoke, and "new homes" made of cement and bricks are dotted between these wooden houses. , the wide cement roads connect several major buildings in the village. Due to frequent cleaning and strict sanitation system, these roads are clean and tidy, and there is no common urine and urine on the roads in other areas of this era. .
These characteristics are all manifestations of the "Cecile Order".
The lumberjack Buddy went out in the morning sunshine. He carried with him the heat accumulated after a hot meal at home, which helped him resist the cold wind of early spring in the forest. This woodcutter The man who had been a tree his whole life walked to the street, wiped his nose that was slightly itchy in the cold wind, and then walked towards the registration office.
While crossing the street, he glanced at the houses on both sides, and the appearance of this place last year vaguely emerged in his mind.
He still remembered that when Cecil's eight hundred refugees first came to this land, it was just a pathetic logging camp - dozens of loggers and a small team. The soldiers arrived here armed with axes and swords, set up tents and laid down fences. The initial camp was not as big as the square in the center of the village today, but now in less than a year, it has become a village, and it is also a beautiful and large village. The village - the tents turned into lumberjack huts, and the lumberjack huts were expanded and increased into streets. Support materials from the city were continuously sent here, just like the wood cut here was continuously sent to the city. , cement appeared, shops appeared, and this logging camp-turned-village even got a name—the lord himself named it Frostwood Village.
If he hadn't experienced all this personally, Buddy couldn't believe that it all happened under his nose.
More lumberjacks appeared on the street. Buddy greeted these friends and everyone walked forward together talking and laughing. On the way, someone suddenly sighed: "This place What a big change."
"That's right, after all, we are not idle in winter," a lumberjack with a big beard laughed, "we even built a bell tower."
“I don’t know what changes have happened in the city recently,” Buddy muttered. “The changes there are faster than here.”
“Last time I entered the city, I saw the west side of the city facing the They are building new houses. It is said that two thousand people in the buffer camp have obtained what is that called... Oh, they have obtained citizenship," the woodcutter who spoke first said, "But I haven't been to the city recently..." < /p>
There are convenient roads and roads between Frostwood Village and Cecil City.River transportation, but in fact the lumberjacks here do not often go to the city - ever since this place became a fixed settlement and various village facilities were established, Shuanglin Village gradually gained the ability to sustain itself, and the workers who came here also They became settled villagers. Due to a large number of work tasks, and there is nothing to do in the city on weekdays, the people in Shuanglin Village usually only go to the city once or twice a month. They are very interested in Cecil. The changes that have taken place in the city are often described by people who occasionally enter the city after returning, or by the convoy guards who transport supplies between the village and the city.
While chatting, everyone's topic gradually turned to guessing about the changes in the city and whether the lord had come up with something new. However, they did not chat for too long, and they had already arrived at the registration office.
Buddy wiped his nose and looked at the shack at the registration office. According to the work process, he would pick up the tools after reporting here, and then follow the foreman to the designated area in the forest to start work, but Something seemed to have happened at the registration office today - he saw many people gathering in the small open space in front of the registration office, and even his own foreman was standing there.
Buddy and a few lumberjacks curiously walked over and found that a convoy of supplies had arrived - although Shuanglin Village had become a village, it was only a new village after all. Things like this still have to be transported from the city. Basically, at least one such fleet comes from the city every week.
It is indeed a good thing for the convoy to enter the village, but it is a bit strange for everyone to gather together - in order to unload the goods and hand over the things that the villagers personally ordered, the convoy has to stay here all day, so everyone came early Are you gathered here because the team brought something new?
Buddy was just wondering when he saw his foreman squeezed out of the crowd with a smile on his face. Moreover, the foreman was holding several sheets of paper printed with words and pictures and distributed in the air. Large paper that smells like ink.
"Boss," Buddy hurried over, "What good things did the team bring?"
"Oh, Buddy," the foreman was obviously in a good mood and quite happy. With a bit of show-off interest, he waved the paper in his hand and said loudly, "Look, the newspaper! Something new in the city!"
"Newspaper?" Buddy was stunned for a moment, and the team was indeed He brought something new, and it was just like every time before - as long as it was something new from the city, it must be something that everyone had never heard of. "You mean these pieces of paper? This... is dry "What?"
"Common people can also buy books to read," the foreman glanced at Buddy, with pride in his eyes and tone - even though he was just a little earlier than others. He could buy a newspaper, but he was very proud, "There are a lot of things written on it, including the recent changes in the city."
"Where is it?" When Buddy heard this, he immediately moved forward. He went over and asked, "Where is it written... What is it written?"
"Here, the 'Baimu Street' community in Xicheng District has been built, and the new immigrants who have obtained citizenship are moving.And here, it is said that the prices of wheat and fur will be reduced recently, because the trade route with Glenland is opened, and here - darling, is the Holy Light Church in Holy Spirit Plain crazy... They all started burning other people's Church? "
The foreman pointed to each section of the newspaper, with a surprised expression on his face as he spoke, and then he read the news seriously. Buddy's eyes widened next to him. As he watched, he suddenly felt frustrated -
He couldn't read it...
He could recognize the words, but he could only recognize a small part, and at most he could spell himself. name, age and address, as well as understanding the form on the work registration card. This is the result of attending night school for a few days - there was a night school in the village last year, and a teacher from the city came to teach everyone five days a week. Buddy went to the class several times, but he didn’t listen at all.
He looked at the newspaper full of words and couldn’t help but feel annoyed.
The foreman was there. He read the contents of the newspaper seriously, not caring about Buddy's annoyance at all, and he burst out laughing after reading half of it - there seemed to be some interesting jokes or funny stories written in the newspaper, but for Buddy , everything is unforeseen.
Even if the newspaper is said to only cost a few copper coins, he knows that he cannot ask the foreman to read the newspaper to him, even if the foreman usually has a good relationship with everyone. Well, this kind of request is also unrealistic.
A few familiar workers squeezed out of the crowd. Buddy raised his eyelids and saw that one of them was holding something in his hand. A newspaper, and they were splitting the newspaper in their hands and handing it to others as they walked.
They may have bought a copy together - although a newspaper is as cheap as only a few copper coins. But for many loggers who just have some spare money, spending money to buy a few pieces of paper to read is probably still an "unworthy" behavior. However, they are curious about the contents of the newspaper after all, so they pool their money to buy it. The possibility is very high. Anyway, a newspaper contains several pieces, and these people can take turns to read them.
Buddy looked at those people with a little envy, and murmured in his heart - all of them. He was a poor man who was born as a coolie and worked with axes and saws. Now he straightens up and walks like a scholar. He also rolls up the newspaper and puts it under his arm like he is holding a book. It's really...
How decent...
Buddy touched his pocket, suddenly gritted his teeth, and turned towards the direction of the motorcade.
The foreman was reading some at this time. Something, looked up and saw Buddy’s actions, and couldn’t help but shouted curiously from behind: “Why are you going? It’s almost time to call the names! ”
“I’ll buy a newspaper! "
"Can you read it? "
Buddy didn't look back: "I'll buy it back and study it slowly - at worst, wait until Mr. Bernard comes and ask him for advice! "
"Mr. Bernard" is the teacher who was sent to Shuanglin Village to give lectures, a person who works in the Government Affairs DepartmentMr. Clerk II.
Looking at Buddy, who seemed to be angry when he walked, the foreman shrugged, lowered his head and glanced at the newspaper in his hand.
He said to himself: "I have to put it away properly when I get back, save a few more copies and stick them together... I have a book at home."
...
In front of the Rock Fortress in the Holy Spirit Plain, Wright Aviken raised his head and looked up at this ancient fortress standing in the southernmost part of the Holy Spirit Plain.
The high black wall of the fortress glows with a slight grid-like brilliance in the sun. It is the copper poured in the cracks of the bricks of the city wall that is glowing. The builders of the Rock Fortress melted the copper and mixed it in the copper juice. Mixed with fine gold and copper, this magical alloy will absorb the magic power from the sun when it shines, and slowly release it throughout the day and night, making the entire city wall extremely strong, and this magnificent and solid fortress is... It was the product of the civil strife in the Fog Moon a hundred years ago.
It stands between the mountains at the junction of the Southern Territory and the Holy Spirit Plain. It controls the only way from the Southern Territory to the Holy Spirit Plain. Even the Dorgon River that connects the north and the south must be accessed from the side of the fortress. The pass flows through - it is a huge irony, symbolizing the kingdom's complete blockade of the entire southern region - for a full century after the completion of this fortress, the southern region became a land of deliberate exile. The dynasty was afraid that the ancient and huge Cecil family would come back and destabilize the royal family, so while constantly dividing and weakening the southern border, they also built this fortress, as if to regard the Rock Fortress as the new "southern frontier" of the kingdom, and to The wasteland that the survivors of the Cecil family abandoned to the south.
This extremely strong fortress was built to protect the founding family of this kingdom.
However, in the past century, the Cecil family has never crossed this threshold. They silently suffered the price of failure in the Brumaire civil strife, and silently accepted the separation and suppression of the royal family until Last year, after the resurrection of ancestor Cecil, members of this family crossed the Rock Fortress for the first time and headed to the Holy Spirit Plain.
Wright looked up at the high black wall of the Rock Fortress. The history of this fortress and the short time he had experienced in the incredible pioneering land in the South came to mind, and then he looked back. , tidied up his old priest robes, and stepped towards the checkpoint.