Silesia, Katowice City.

The old Philpter's house was almost as tall as several of the city's churches, and from the highest vantage point, you could see the old town and its crowds in the distance (the spires of churches in this period often represented the highest point of a city). Spring came, and as was customary in previous years, weavers lined up to deliver the finished product.

It's just that the status and identity of these people determine that they are not qualified to enter from the main gate, and they can only walk through the small door on the side. Upon entering the courtyard, you are greeted by the iconic main house and a small house next to it, and through the glass windows, you can see the wooden shelves lined with woven cotton and linen.

There is a long table where weavers place their finished fabrics neatly and spread them out to be inspected by experienced masters.

The master's name was Bengt Jung, and he stuck his reading glasses in his eye sockets (I talked about how to wear monocles before, so I won't repeat them here), and then took out a ruler and compass to measure them carefully, and twisted them by hand to check whether the cloth was qualified.

After that, they were sorted into first, second, and third class and handed over to the apprentice next to him, and after the apprentice checked it again, he put the cloth on the scale, reported the weight, and recorded it by the accountant Mr. Malte, and informed the weavers of the amount of wages due to them.

It was hot outside, and the cicadas were chirping, but the inside of the house was unaffected, except for the occasional sound of the accountant reading the accounts and the occasional cry of silence, the room was enveloped in an eerie quiet atmosphere for most of the time.

The weavers in the house looked expressionless and looked like a group of walking corpses, with dull eyes and sad faces, hunched over, unable to stand upright on their legs, and in front of the auditor, they looked so anxious and painful, like fathers waiting for the birth of their children.

Bengt Jung seems to enjoy the pleasure of playing with their psyches, and he always deliberately embarrasses the other party by first classifying the goods as third-class, and then puts them back in their original position, accepting the gratitude of the other party with peace of mind.

Although Bengt Jung was once a weaver, he is no longer one of those groveling "beggars". Bengt Jung knew well what the lowly feared and feared, and he always happened to find the right moment to bully them, so he was appreciated by Lord Philpter.

The weavers also included women, but most of them seemed to be in poor health, either with flat breasts, constant coughing, or pale faces, and even young girls lacked the coquettishness of a normal girl, and the only thing that left the deepest impression was probably the disgusting complexion and withered figure.

At that time, Prussia and Austria used currencies not only with different silver contents, but also with different monetary values. In fact, Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, and Baden all have their own coinage, but this book only mentions Prussia and Austria.

Prussia: £1 = 12 guilders = 6 kingdom thalers = 36 groschen (The Prussian groschen is a silver coin, while the Austrian groschen is a bronze coin, so the price difference is large.) = 360 pfennigh (Prussian pinnish pinney uses nickel, while Austria uses copper, so the price is different)

A weaver usually earns 5-7 kingdoms of thaler a month, and some would say that this is not enough for 150 florins a year. In fact, weavers usually have other ways to make money, including but not limited to helping people herd sheep, collecting firewood in the forest, raising livestock and poultry, picking up feces, etc.

(At that time, poop was a very valuable fertilizer, and picking up was not unusual.) ）

"Sir, can I advance a few copper plates? My family is in such a need of money! A woman with a dish on her face said.

"I need money too, if only someone gave me a few hundred kingdom tales!" Bent said with a slight mockery.

"Sir, I really need money, and I beg you to be kind for God's sake." The woman said with a slight cry.

"Hey! Don't cry! I'm telling you, I can't take care of this kind of thing, and you can go and talk to Lord Philpt face to face. Bent spoke with a slight sarcasm of compassion, he had become accustomed to such situations, and usually sent them to the boss and the other party would shut up.

"Shall I meet Master Philpt then?" The woman still refuses to forgive.

Bent gave him a wicked look of displeasure, then snorted coldly.

"You don't look at what you are! Mr. Philputt has no time to see you! Walk! Walk! Walk! ”

"For God's sake, sir," the woman pleaded.

"Your stuff is worth 5 thalers, and when God comes, it's worth 5 thalers! I said it! Now you either take the five thalers and leave! Or get the money back and get out with your garbage! ”

Hearing Bent's words, the woman was silent for a long time, and finally chose to leave silently.

"A few words made that guy shut her foul mouth, it's really your Mr. Bent!"

"You're really old-fashioned!"

"Mr. Bent, don't feel guilty. I heard that woman was a prostitute, and her words were all lies! ”

"Just like her, my boar won't choose her when he's in heat!"

The apprentices and weavers in the house were tirelessly praising Bent, and on the other hand, they were degrading the poor woman to worthlessness.

Even if they are at the bottom, it does not prevent them from laughing at those who share the same disease as themselves, and the law of the jungle seems to have been engraved into the genes of this group of people.

The poor woman, who had three children and a husband with a broken leg to support, was paid only five kingdom thalers for this delivery, and after the money for the purchase of raw materials, there was only one thaler eighteen pfennighs.

Even the cheapest fodder potatoes can't make a family of five survive for a month.

Forage potatoes are potatoes that are not in good condition and taste good, but have a high yield, and are specially used to feed livestock.

(Actually, I haven't found out what it is, but it's a very cheap food anyway.) ）

The woman returned home sadly, and her children were very excited, because today was the day of the pay, which usually meant that they would have a good meal.

Two boys, a girl, the eldest of whom was five years old and whose name was Tommy, sighed in disappointment when they opened the package in the woman's hand and found that it was still the strange-looking potatoes inside.

But then a smile bloomed again, after all, there is nothing happier in the hearts of these children than to stay by their mother's side.

While the woman was away from home, five-year-old Tommy and four-year-old daughter Ellie were actually helping to spin the cloth. This frightened the woman, and she slapped her daughter in the face, and the girl sat down to the ground in confusion.

Then the woman anxiously checked the condition of the cloth, knowing that the family would depend on the linen for the next month's wages, and that Mr. Bent was notoriously vicious in his eyes, and it was almost impossible to fool him.

Once there is a defect, the grade of the whole cloth will be reduced, and the previous hard work will be in vain.

That didn't happen, thanks to Elle being a very smart and capable girl, and the cloth she weaved was even better than her mother's.

The woman hugged her daughter and cried bitterly, when the man with a red and swollen forehead and a bruised face returned. When he saw his wife crying bitterly with the children in her arms, he also unconsciously shed tears.

"Avra, I'm sorry, I'm an incompetent husband, and my relatives don't want to lend me money to this cripple, and I don't have a job that won't give me."

The man choked up at this, a veteran of the Polish uprising, who had been expelled by the army for refusing to carry out the commander's order to burn down civilian houses.

Avra said sadly when she heard the man's words.

"How do we live!"

The man's clenched fists, almost squeezing blood, gritted his teeth and said word by word.

"Go to Austria and I'll protect you." The man hugged and kissed the forehead of the woman and the child.

Thank you for the 20221014001131291 and Master Talasha for your tips.

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(End of chapter)