At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

Wei Yong couldn't help laughing when he said this.

"What are you laughing at?"

Simpi asked curiously.

"He was asking me about the manure and why the toilet didn't stink."

"oh, I see."

Simpi smiled and shook his head.

The emperor's whimsical idea not only made the air in the city fresher, but also increased the production of food. How many people worshiped the thing that killed two birds with one stone.

Everyone admired the emperor's whimsy and wondered how the emperor came up with this idea.

But things have come to this point, not many people will go to the bottom of the matter, most people accept this sudden occurrence and enjoy it.

Manuel did not till the fields himself.

His background is not bad, he came from a big slave-owner family, and when he was a child, he didn't work hard and didn't distinguish between grain and grain. He only knew how to eat but didn't know where it came from. He was a typical dude.

He would not be where he is today if not for the great tide of Roman conquest and the tide of plague.

However, using human excrement to make fertilizer to make the soil fertile and increase food production is of great significance to the country. Although he doesn't know whether it is true or not, he feels that he must find out.

Thinking of this, he found himself walking around and saw a lot of things.

He saw a very prosperous business. In the streets and alleys of Luoyang City, it seems that as long as there are people, there are vendors, not only the shops used as buildings, but also the vendors. .

Pedestrians coming and going came and went, stopping from time to time to communicate with small vendors on the street and buy his products.

Such a large number of people and a large scale are enough to show how prosperous the business of the Wei Empire was.

The city is full of energy, just like the country, full of energy.

Moreover, there are no imperial guards on the street who are rampant and law enforcement. Occasionally, I see patrols in uniform and holding weapons. No one bullies ordinary people in the street. They just walk all the way to show their existence.

Every time he walked a certain distance, Manuel could see a small high-rise building made of stones. Occasionally, he could hear the sound of drums and trumpets from the small high-rise building, which seemed to be some kind of communication.

"What is that? Is it a government agency?"

Manuel pointed to the small tall building in front of him.

Wei Yong followed his hand and looked over.

"Oh, this is a watchtower. There are [-] watchtowers in Luoyang. They are much taller than ordinary buildings. There are usually three to five soldiers stationed on them. They look down on the surrounding area to see if there are people fighting, robbing, committing murder, and disturbing the surrounding area. normal order.

Once found, the watchtowers will immediately take action with drums and trumpets to inform the garrison in the capital of the criminal's whereabouts, and the garrison will immediately dispatch to arrest the person and transfer him to Luoyang County Government for trial. "

After exchanging a few incomprehensible terms with Wei Yong, Manuel probably understood the function of this watchtower.

"So that's how it is...then I heard the sound of drums and trumpets just now?"

"No one commits a crime, and there will be drums and trumpets between the watchtowers. They are not only responsible for arresting criminals, but also protecting important people, such as the ambassador."

Wei Yong smiled.

"Protect me? Are they... Protecting me? How to protect me? In case of a sudden attack, will they come down from here?"

"It's not like this, of course it's okay, but the main thing is that wherever we pass, these watchtowers will notify all the watchtowers that we are here, whether it is safe or not, and so on."

"Can they communicate with drumbeats?"

"There are some special methods. Anyway, these methods are secrets among secrets. Only the relevant people understand, but I don't understand. If I know, the thief will know too."

Manuel nodded, gaining a deeper understanding of Luoyang City.

After walking a lot and seeing a lot of things, Manuel felt that his eyes were wide open.

At the same time, he basically determined that the Wei Empire was a big and powerful country that was no worse than the Roman Empire in all aspects.

Through the capital, you can roughly know whether the country is strong or weak, rich or poor.

But there were no public baths, no libraries, no grand squares, no public speeches to discuss politics.

He raised such a question.

Wei Yong and Simpi had never enjoyed public bathrooms even in Rome, so they couldn't accept it.

Many people take a bath together, that feeling is very strange, not to mention that he went to the public bath, and found that it was really dirty and a bit messy, and the muddy water did not know when it was replaced, and it smelled Strange smell.

What's even more frightening is that rats and fleas can be seen inside.

Simpi was so frightened that he ran away, Zhang Liao couldn't stay inside.

That is, Emperor Caracalla entertained them to try his private baths.

The emperor's private bath is obviously different from the public bath. The wide pool, clean hot water, soaking the body in it is indeed very comfortable and relaxing.

As long as they want, there are even maids who come in to help them scrub their backs and take a bath, and provide various services, not to mention washing their bodies, they can do whatever they want.

After taking a bath, I feel comfortable and refreshed, put on a light bathrobe, and after I come out, I lean on the cushion and drink a glass of iced wine. The feeling is really refreshing.

They don't know if the royal hot spring bath that Guo Peng built outside Luoyang City feels the same way.

Even so, they are not used to showing their bodies in front of people.

"In Wei State, people don't have the custom of bathing in public bathrooms. Everyone is used to washing their bodies in private instead of washing their bodies in public bathhouses."

Wei Yong explained this, and Manuel nodded, remembering the difference between the two countries.

Chapter 1395 One thousand three hundred and five Guo's ugly face is fully exposed in these things

It is not that the Wei Empire did not have a library, but it was not public, but owned by the imperial government and education departments such as Taixue.

Rome's library is not for the general public, and the general public can't read and write at all.

No matter what era, it is not easy for the poor to get an education, even in modern times, not to mention the Roman Empire in the third century AD.

The library is placed over there to pretend that the only people who can use it are the slave owners and the children of wealthy merchant families. The meaning is not much different.

After saying this, Manuel said that he wanted to visit Taixue.

So Simpi and Wei Yong agreed to take Manuer to visit Taixue.

As for public speaking, there is no such thing.

There is a big square, just in front of the imperial palace, the largest big square in Luoyang, which is very meaningful to the students.

On the big square, posted the results of Guo's arduous struggle - the five scriptures that have been designated as national law.

Punctuation marks are added to tell the people of the world how to punctuate the sentence and how to understand it, and inform them uniformly.

Other explanations are not allowed.

This is the ultimate unification of culture, and it is posted on the big square for the students who come here to copy it, and for the common people who are willing to join in the fun.

Some enthusiastic people simply used the Five Classics as textbooks to teach people how to read on the spot.

Free education is compulsory.

In addition to the five scriptures, it is the palace announcement.

Every time the emperor made a decision to promulgate it for implementation, he would write down the specific situation and post it on the large square outside the palace for people to watch and discuss freely.

So when Manuel saw the crowds of people in the big square outside the palace, he couldn't help feeling very shocked.

A group here, a group there, I saw people gathered in groups of three or four, standing in front of a wooden board.

A piece of paper is pasted on the wooden board with words written on it, and people communicate around that piece of paper.

Some exchanges are very calm, just like chatting with friends, talking and laughing, and the atmosphere is lively and friendly.

Some communicated fiercely, arguing in a tense manner, with each other refusing to give in to each other, tit for tat.

There was also an adult leading a group of children, pointing to a word on a piece of paper, and teaching the children to read it over and over again until they could read it.

Along the way, Manuel saw that the streets and alleys of Luoyang were full of small vendors carrying out commercial activities, people coming and going, buying and selling, so lively and full of vitality.

But only here, it feels like the square in Rome, full of people's thinking and debate.

"Is this the Grand Place? Are those people debating political issues?"

Manuel couldn't understand Chinese, didn't know it, and didn't have time, so he was quite anxious at this moment.

He felt that it would be great if he could understand Chinese, so that he could directly and clearly understand what these Wei people were arguing about.

"There are also political disputes. The imperial court will publicize the policies discussed by His Majesty and the officials, and post them in the big square for people to know and discuss. People gather in groups to discuss the imperial policy. There are those who agree and those who oppose, so there will be disputes between them."

Wei Yong replied honestly: "More people are paying attention to the Five Classics, which are the official Five Classics of the Law of the People's Republic of China with punctuation marks. The content will not be changed from now on. rely.

Wei Yong is full of affection for the Five Classics of National Law and a series of social reforms made by Guo Peng.

As an official from a Lishu family, he firmly supported all of this without a doubt.

It's a pity that there was something in what he said that Manuel couldn't understand.

He doesn't know what the Pentateuch is, what punctuation marks are, or what these punctuation marks mean.

Just as awesome as it sounds.

He only knows a general idea now, and he understands a general idea. Some things cannot be explained clearly by the language that has just realized intercommunication between the two countries.

Two languages ​​that have just begun to adapt to each other need a longer time to adapt to each other's context and content, and produce comparisons before they can achieve a certain sense of intercommunication.

For the time being, even if the two sides have fully mastered each other's basic language words, it is still difficult to understand some proper nouns of the other country, which is difficult to understand.

It takes a period of life and contact to truly understand some folk customs and political habits of the Wei Empire, and then Manuel can truly understand what the current ecology of the Wei Empire is like.

Only then can Manuel say that he is a professional in the Wei Empire.

The time quickly passed from morning to noon, and Manuel had only been in contact with about one-fifth of Luoyang City, and he hadn't even been to the most lively East City, West City, South City, and North City.

Simpi decided to invite Manuel to the best restaurant in Luoyang in Dongshi for a meal.

Dongshi, Shanhai Restaurant.

This Shanhai Restaurant was the first restaurant opened in Luoyang on the eve of the large-scale spread of the restaurant a few years ago.

It belonged to Cao Hong at first, and after Cao Hong died, Shanhai Restaurant belonged to the imperial court, or the emperor.

The emperor asked the inner court organization Dongchang to send special personnel to manage and manage it. After some reforms, the dishes and taste of Shanhai Restaurant have been greatly improved.

And it is the first restaurant that introduced singing and dancing to add to the fun, creating high-end, comfortable and luxurious service quality, based on the high-end consumption field, facing Luoyang dignitaries and wealthy businessmen, so it jumped to become the number one restaurant in Luoyang in one fell swoop.

The level of consumption is high, the people who go there are either rich or expensive, and everyone knows who is behind this restaurant, no one dares to make trouble, and the atmosphere inside is very good.

Nonsense, the music is played by the court musicians, and the dancers are dancers in the palace. Who is behind the backing, do you need to think about it?

Someone Guo is also good enough.

He felt that these musicians and dancers were not needed when there were no important banquets.

He himself, including his family members, didn't like listening to music or watching dances very much, and he didn't have the time. These dancers and musicians were only needed to show up when holding banquets to entertain ministers or foreign guests.

They are not used a few times a month, but the money cannot be reduced, so it is a waste of money to keep them.

So he thought for a while, and decided to simply send them to Shanhai Restaurant to perform songs and dances in turn.

Shift shifts, morning shifts, afternoon shifts, and rest, anyway, I want to use my expertise to attract customers, increase the income of Shanhai Restaurant, and thus enrich Mr. Guo's small coffers.

In this way, when someone in Guo needs it, those who stay in the palace can also step up in time, make the most of the labor that squeezes these professionals, and insist on maximizing profits.

Mr. Guo's ugly face was fully exposed in these matters.

Mr. Guo has never supported idlers. Anyone who serves in the inner court must do things for him. Only by doing real things can he stay in the inner court, otherwise he will leave as soon as possible.

With Luoyang people's love for chasing royal preferences, Guo felt that this wave was definitely a bloodbath.

This gossip was also deliberately released, spread throughout Luoyang, and then spread to the surrounding area along with the exodus of Luoyang people, saying that the dancers and musicians who danced and sang were court dancers and musicians, and the cooks were chefs from the palace.

So the people of Luoyang and the wealthy people who came to Luoyang from other places flocked there, splashing gold, silver and jewels, all wanting to see what kind of fairy songs and dances and what kind of fairy food the emperor and his elders usually enjoy.

There are also people who deeply feel that this is a good opportunity to curry favor with the emperor, so they often spend a lot of money at Shanhai Restaurant. Shanhai Restaurant makes a lot of money and the profit is extremely high.

Guo was very happy.

The Shanhai Restaurant is full every day, and there are countless dignitaries and dignitaries who come to consume. A brick is thrown down, and none of the people are ordinary people.

It's all nobles, officials, and wealthy businessmen who have money in their families and are not short of money.

It has to be said that the musicians and dancers raised in the palace are all first-class in terms of skills and stature.