Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1047 Neighborhood
Shangluo strolled to the street corner.

Before he knew it, he had been back for quite some time, but he seldom took a good look at the place where he lived.

This is a good place. It is located in the city center of Yingtian Old Town, very close to the subway entrance and the commercial street. You can walk 200 meters to the metropolitan landscape, but you can still stay quiet in the streets.

Everyone around is a neighbor. The so-called "neighbor" is a group of people who basically never move away. There are not many floating populations in Beijing, and there are almost none here. Even tourists are rarely seen. And because everyone, including the police, knows each other, there are almost no problems here.

The paving stones in the middle of the street were worn smooth and round, and dark green moss grew on the edges. Any stone on the ground was older than the history of many countries. Under the eaves of the houses on the street, there lived the swallows who returned every year, because no one would touch the swallows' nests.

Even stray cats have a fixed place to live here. Every stray cat has a registered "name" at the police station, and a label indicating "sterilized" is stamped on their ears. In the morning, these "registered" stray cats come out of their cat beds, lie down in the sun and turn their bellies up. The aroma of fried dough sticks and glutinous rice cakes wafts from the breakfast shop on the roadside, but they don't bother because they are already full.

The cat lay on the ground, not even looking at the people passing by, and even the passing police dog ignored them.

"It tastes so good." Director Huang squatted on the roadside with Phaethon. The black spaniel from the police station was wagging its tail and eating the sausages that Phaethon brought.

"I've never seen it taste so good. What did you cook it with? Raw meat and bones?"

“It’s a specialty of Rome.”

"Oh, you feed the dog at your house too, right?"

“No, it’s for human consumption.”

"Oh sorry." She glanced at Phaethon and noticed her backpack. "Are you going home?"

"No, it's still early. I just have to go on a long trip with my employer."

"Oh, you've had a hard time." Director Huang lowered his voice, "So your Shangluo, is he very powerful? Does he know magic?"

"Ah? Why do you ask this suddenly?"

"I saw it in the newspaper. But I didn't tell anyone. Is he very powerful? There are always some very powerful things happening in your place. Although others may not notice it, I can always see it here - there are still hundreds of people living in your house now, right? That room is crowded with five people. You must have used something, some magic weapon or something like that?"

"Yeah." Phaethon nodded. There was nothing to hide now.

"But." Phaethon asked again tentatively, "Head, we have known each other for a long time. We have often met since I moved in. I want to ask - from your perspective, if one day the imperial court becomes the heaven, what would you think?"

She plans to help Shangluo do an investigation and interview. On the eve of the world's great changes, one very important thing is to take care of everyone's mentality.

After all, even a minor surgery for appendicitis would be a major event that would change everyone's daily life, not to mention ascending to heaven. This would completely change everyone's life, and would also put an end to the history so far and start a brand new chapter. This part should be the work of the heaven. But Shangluo alone is obviously unlikely to take care of the mentality of billions of people. He needs to collect the opinions of the people and understand their mentality before this work officially begins, which is the so-called "collecting folk songs".

Phaethon felt that she had to step on the wind for Shangluo. The police station chief who managed the surrounding area was obviously a very good subject for collecting folk songs. In theory, she was the one who "protected" this street.

——Although there is actually nothing to cover, at least she understands everyone.

"If you want to say that, do you want to hear my opinion, or the opinions of our grid - or the residents around us?"

"Let's listen to the surroundings first?"

"Then maybe everyone doesn't care. Almost all the residents in our grid area are military craftsmen of the Wugong Zuowei, which means that almost everyone works for the court. Everyone has a job passed down from their ancestors, uses land passed down from their ancestors, and lives in a house passed down from their ancestors. Everyone here knows something about the inside story of the court."

"So everyone knows, right?"

"I think even if we don't know everything, we know most of it. Wugong Zuowei is under the management of both the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Industry. The positions here are related to the military industry. This includes the nearby Longjiang Shipyard, and the armory and arsenal on Qingliang Mountain. Almost everyone's work involves confidentiality to some extent. In addition, there are other colleagues, classmates, friends, etc. that everyone knows. Everyone has their own set of intelligence channels just by listening to gossip." As she spoke, her voice was lowered a little:
"After all, there are quite a few Jinyiwei. There are hundreds of imperial guards, right? Ordinary imperial spies are even more numerous. Everyone here knows a few Jinyiwei and can more or less know some news about the court."

"What about you, Director?"

"I don't know. I'm not from here."

"Ah, where is your home, Director?"

"You may not know this, but my hometown is Digang. Digang Industrial City. It is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry, not the Ministry of Households. It is located a little upstream of the Yangtze River in Yingtian, about an hour or two by tram. The entire city is a big steel plant, with chimneys everywhere on the streets. Every day, big ships bring in iron ore, and big ships and trucks take away steel coils."

"So what's something you're not used to living here?"

"It's about the same." She thought for a moment. "Because it's right next to Yingtian, the life here is not exactly the same, but at least 80% similar. They are all long-term, stable residential areas, and there are not many outsiders. Everyone receives a salary inherited from their ancestors, and as long as they study hard and inherit the position, they won't have to worry about anything else for the rest of their lives."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because I can't make beads. Some people have a natural fear and aversion to industrial machinery, like me. Since I can't find a job near my home, coming to Beijing is also a good choice - the salary is the same anyway, and the cost of living is about the same. It's just that there are fewer high-rise buildings."

She thought about it and said, "But the density of McDonald's stores is about the same. Yeah, basically, they are all about the same."

(End of this chapter)