I wrapped the cape around my head and tied it tightly

It was overcast and snowy, and although the brim of my hat blocked most of the snow, there were still a lot of snowflakes hitting my face, and my breath made the inside of the cloak damp, and my eyes were a little blurred, and the fields were white, shining like washed sheets, and the farmers had already trodden a shallow path in the fields, along which we could proceed cautiously

The roads are very slippery, and the snow melts away around noon, but before the ground is exposed, the sun will sink in the west, and at that time the north wind will freeze these snowy paths into a thin sheet of ice, and the horses will keep slipping when walking on such ground, and the horses will always widen their eyes and nostrils, and carefully look at the ground under their feet

The fields full of wheat stubble are covered with snow into small snow mounds, which can remind people of the days before autumn, some farmers walking on the road with grain on their backs, and these people take advantage of the coldest time to sell food to the people of the city, so that they can get more coins than usual, a few rats shivering in the snow, and some sparrows surround these mice, and these gray little things are all right together

Not far behind us was the convoy led by Joey, they walked smoothly and slowly, and I even envied the soldiers who sat on the carts, who could comfortably put their hands in their arms and wrap them in a thick flannel cloth, so that not a single wind could blow them

And those who drove the cars were not so lucky, they had to walk next to or even in front of the livestock, even if they encountered the mudiest roads, these people had to bury their heads in the past, their shoes were rolled up in rags, and they were wrapped in a thick layer of skin on the outside, but it was doubtful whether such boots were warm or waterproof, the tips of their noses were red from the cold, and their cheeks turned pink, and every once in a while they had to untie the flask on their chests and pour themselves a sip, and this was their only measure to protect themselves from the cold

I know the price that Giovanni has negotiated for them, go from the barracks to the city of Dadonghu and give them one hundred and twenty silver beans each, and half of the money for the livestock, even if it is such a small price, the price of only a few baskets of turnips is enough for these people to fight forward in the ice and snow, these people's pants are not very long, some people's legs are even bent and exposed, and they are very thin, as if the wind can blow them, and they are the ones who can pull the reins and hold the horses as if it were easy

At a fork in the road, we took a break

We're miles ahead of Joey behind them, and it's going to be a little bit before they catch up

There are some small hotels here, said to be hotels, but in fact it is just a grass hut The outside of the grass hut is a thin muddy field, half-melted snow and mud are mixed together, it is impossible for anyone to walk into the house cleanly, when Giovanni turned over and dismounted, two leather boots stepped directly into the soft mud, I learned from him when I jumped down together, I also felt the mud overflowing, once the clothes were wet, I no longer worried about getting dirty, I followed him into the tavern

The floor inside the tavern was fairly clean, although it was damp, but there was a shallow pit dug in the middle of the hay-covered house, and in it there was a pile of firewood burning in it, and a group of men were roasting a rabbit with a chopped head on an iron fire rack, and a man with a few broken fingers was pointing and poking at the rabbit, and seeing that it was cooked, there was a chill that we brought in after we came in, and two or three men turned back angrily, wanting to curse the people who came, but when they saw Giovanni's chain mail and saber, they obediently shut up

"What do you want, sir?" The only man with a fairly clean face wiped his hands and stood up, "I have wine and barbecue here, do you want some?" ”

"No," Giovanni sniffed, "I don't want your rancid water" He untied the wine bag from his waist, "Warm it for me, I want it, you rabbit, I want it, if there is any other meat, I'll have it, roast it for me in half an hour"

"That's what I wanted first," shouted a bearded man

Giovanni walked to the fire, the men sitting on the straw moved their positions one after another, Giovanni took off his gloves and stretched out his hand to bake the fire, "Now I want my people to hurry, you can bake the fire here, you wait a while"

"Even if you're a lord, you can't" the man reached out to defend his roasted rabbit

Giovanni drew his sword, plunged into the rabbit's flesh, and picked it up

"Can't it be?" Giovanni tore off a piece of rabbit meat, stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it, probably because he didn't think it was ripe enough, so he threw the rabbit back into the grill, "This rabbit meat is ordinary, what do you say human flesh tastes like?" Giovanni wiped his sword twice on his wrist armor and rubbed the oil on his sleeve, then he looked at the man, "Do you sell your hands?" I want to try it."

The farmer muttered 'madman,' and then stood up and walked out of the tavern, followed by several men who were cooking the fire, and the tavern's owner turned a little pale

"My lord," said the tavernkeeper, "half of my guests are gone."

"It's okay," Giovanni thrust his sword into his scabbard, "there will be a lot of people coming later, you prepare wine and meat to warm my wine in advance, don't mess with anything else"

"Understood, sir," the man took Giovanni's wine bag, turned to the side, took out a few wooden cups from the cupboard, scooped a glass of snow from the windowsill, rinsed it with a wool brush, and dried it with a thick black cloth, and then, he took a pot, poured Giovanni's wine into it, and put the pot on the fire with a wire

"What's the smell?" Giovanni asked

Although this place is a little dilapidated, it is located at a fork in the road, the road on the left leads to Dadonghu City, and the road on the right leads to Xiaodonghu City and Nan'an Town, if these cities are separated by a farther distance, this place should be more prosperous than now, but these towns are too close to each other, and people in a hurry can often reach their destination in one day, so no one will stay here for too long, and business here can often only rely on passers-by who drink low-quality soju

"What else can there be, the weather, the price of food, it's still the same old"

The boss's head was gray and hung down on his face, and when he sniffed, the flesh on his face would flutter loosely, and he looked old

"What about Xiaodonghu City? I heard they bought all the food here? Giovanni asked, consciously or unconsciously

The boss smiled, "It's not true, but it's about the same, my lord, if you are here for this business, then you are asking the right person, this year, Xiaodonghu City has collected grain, carrots, radishes, turnips, wheat, oats, rye, they are like opening a hundred bakeries, they have taken away all the grain here, and the price of grain has also risen little by little, and now it is half higher than the price of grain in the autumn, and the people who sold grain at the beginning regretted their death, and now the farmers around here are very rich."

The boss sniffed the wine boiling in the pot, and his nose fluttered excitedly, "So you see, even in today's ghost weather, there are still a lot of people here who are drinking, and their purses are much more than in previous years, this is a time to make people happy, only when they have more money, will there be extra money sprinkled into my shop, to tell you, when I come to spring next year, when the country people who work part-time workers come, I will prepare to build a wooden house and replace this straw shed."

Giovanni looked around critically, "You're pretty good in this place, too"

"Your Excellency, are you laughing," the boss stirred the wine in the pot with a spoon, dipped it a little, licked it, and felt that it was ready, so he poured half a cup into a cup, "Do you want to add butter, sir?" ”

"Okay" Giovanni nodded, "Just be hot"

The boss turned around to look for butter with hot wine, and he continued while rummaging through the cabinets, "Although it is just drinking, you see, many adults like you, or just ordinary people, don't want to come in when they see that my tavern is too broken, and the people who come in are just farmers who can't afford to drink good wine, and they don't make any money at all."

A farmer who was roasting the fire was a little unhappy, and he said, "I could have bought you a bottle of sweet shochu last year, but if I didn't buy your good wine, I would have wronged people."

"That's right," said another, "I remember the year I married my wife, my father-in-law drank barley wine from you, and finally went back and foamed at the mouth for half a year, people said that there was a problem with the wheat in your wine, and he was poisoned, obviously you didn't have good wine."

The men argued in a mess, and Giovanni listened for a while, not paying much attention

"Then do you know where the people of Xiaodonghu City sent all this food?" Giovanni asked

"It's hard to say," the boss copied out a ladder, climbed up a few grids, and took a few frozen rabbits from the top of the hut, he untied the rope around the necks of these rabbits, and then chopped off the rabbit's head with a big sickle, and threw it to a shepherd dog who had been waiting for a long time, "We don't go to Xiaodonghu City very often, but I heard from the horsemen passing by that the grain is probably going to be transported to the river, because the lake is densely packed with boats, and the riverland has been fighting a few days ago, and the fields must have been destroyed, It is estimated that the price of grain is very high, and the farmers think that since the people of Xiaodonghu City collect grain in this way, they will definitely be able to make a fortune."

"Nonsense," muttered Giovanni, "it would be nice if one of the ten farmers of the Riverland went to war, and those riverland nobles, shrewd like monkeys, would let someone walk through their fields?" In total, a few thousand soldiers tossed and turned there, and after a few battles, they did not fight again, and the fields there did not destroy too much, and the grain production of the river land was not reduced to the point where they needed help."

Giovanni said this, but I was a little unimpressed: the Lepnin family was almost wiped out

"Then I don't know," the boss didn't want to argue with Giovanni, "Anyway, that's what others say, wouldn't it be better if you went to Xiaodonghu City to see it yourself?" ”

This sentence silenced Giovanni

At this time, a farmer outside walked in with his arm crossed, "My lord, there is a team of people here, is it your people?" I can help you with that."

Giovanni threw him a silver coin, and the man bit it with his teeth and rushed out in high spirits

Soon after, Joey patted the snow on his shoulder and walked in, exhaling the cold air behind him, and the soldiers came in one after another, shining the eyes of the boss who was sitting here full, and constantly taking out things to entertain the soldiers, who were also frozen, and at this time it was better to stretch by the fire than anything else

The barbecue and hot wine were brought over by a plate, and they disappeared into the mouths of the soldiers at once, and after the soldiers were full and drunk, Joey ordered the boss to heat more than ten catties of broken bread and vegetable soup and give them to the drivers outside

An hour later, when the well-fed and well-fed soldiers came out again, they jumped into the car and urged the driver to walk towards Dadonghu City

Giovanni and I stood in the snow and waited, and when the convoy had gone away, Giovanni suddenly reined in his horse's head and walked to the other side

I was puzzled, "My lord, that's over there."

"Little East Lake City," said Giovanni, "come with me, maybe we'll have to go around the river".

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