Human Shackles

Longyang County is one of the five largest cities in the Kingdom of Star and Horses. It has a population of hundreds of thousands and various industries are extremely developed. The industrial zone under its jurisdiction can manufacture advanced steam rail cars and super cannons. It is the most important industrial town in the Kingdom of Star and Horses. , the county is adjacent to the Nilongjiang River, has an extremely excellent commercial terminal, and the freight transportation is also extremely developed, which can radiate to the entire Star Horse Kingdom.

The entire main urban area of ​​the city is surrounded by a huge city wall about ten meters high. The streets in the urban area are crisscrossed and high-rise buildings are everywhere. Being in it makes people feel like they are in another world.

Luo Kai was lying under an overpass and dozing. There was a dilapidated second-hand tricycle next to him. This was his tool for making a living. He couldn't stand the constraints of factories or other units. If he wanted to support himself, he had to fend for himself. This tricycle He spent two hundred stars to buy it. He can sell goods or people. If he is lucky, he can earn more than a thousand stars a month. With his food intake, he can barely fill his stomach with this little money.

He had been staying in this city for more than two months. He originally wanted to go directly to Shangjing City in the Eastern Yuan Kingdom, but found that it was not easy to travel long distances in this world because the Star Horse Kingdom had extremely strict management of population movement. To go abroad, you must apply for an entry and exit pass, which is a passport from a previous life. This passport can only be obtained by those who work for some large business groups. It is extremely difficult for ordinary people. Of course, if you have money, anything can be done. Ordinary people can entrust some business groups. The price is around 100,000 Xingyuan.

Xingyuan is a common currency of human countries after the great catastrophe. It is issued by the most powerful country, the Eastern Yuan Kingdom. In order to prevent the economy from being controlled by the Eastern Yuan Kingdom, other lord countries also have a metal currency, which is a mixed currency. Some gold and iron coins of precious metals are also common currencies.

This is actually a kind of financial plunder, but other lord countries often fall into turmoil, their political power is not stable enough, and their credibility cannot support credit currencies such as paper money, so they have no choice but to bear it.

The annual income of a middle- and lower-class household is between 20,000 and 30,000 Singapore dollars, which means that an average family would have to go without food and water for several years to earn enough money to apply for a passport.

The transportation in this world is extremely developed, not inferior to the previous world. Various railways, highways, and waterways among human countries are well connected to each other. Of course, there is also air transportation. Large steam airships can transport hundreds of guests at a time, and they are not affected by terrain or Other factors influence.

With developed transportation, there are also many types of bandits and road tyrants. Among them, pirates in the South China Sea are the most famous. The navy of the Kingdom of Star and Malaysia is not strong. In addition, last year's big defeat, almost all offshore shipping is controlled by pirates, and merchant ships must pay a fee every time. A huge amount of money is needed to pay for the road.

The main means of transportation in the city are rail cars, a small number of steam-powered taxis, and the others are human-powered tricycles. This is what Luo Kai does, that is, a coachman. He is too lazy to solicit customers, so his business is very poor and he can't even support himself. It's very difficult for myself.

Of course, if it's particularly difficult, he can go to Nilongjiang Pier to carry bags and work as a porter. He can earn 180 yuan a day, so survival is not a big problem.

The sky is getting dark, and at night, the luminous stone lamps emitting a bright white light at various street intersections in the city begin to light up, making the entire city shrouded in a hazy white light, which is extremely beautiful.

…

Unknowingly, he slept for another day. Luo Kai stretched out, got on his tricycle, and rode towards his rented house. Along the way, he looked at all kinds of people on the street, and finally felt that he was still alive in this world. a feeling of.

I don’t know why, but he has become very sleepy since the last time he used his energy and blood surge ability, and his head was in a drowsy state all day long. This lasted for more than two months, and it has only recently begun to ease slightly. This is also One of the reasons why he doesn't work hard to make money.

He lives in a place called Lobster Alley in the outer ring of the main city. It is at the junction of the town and is surrounded by various small industrial workshops. Housing prices there are low and a large number of low-wage workers like him live here.

Passing through the gate of the city wall, we arrived at the outer city. An hour later, accompanied by the clanking of old tricycles, a dilapidated street appeared in front of us. There were big holes everywhere on the cement road, and various shops on both sides of the street. , there are shampoo rooms, restaurants, bathhouses, clinics, etc. The facades are all old iron doors, the fluorescent stone lamps are dim due to being full of dirt, and all kinds of stray cats and dogs are running around in the streets.

This is the southwest corner of Longyang County. It used to be a cemetery. In recent years, with the expansion of Longyang County, it has become a distribution base for various small handicraft workshops.

Walking deep into the alley, a two-story building appeared in view. Four old ladies were playing mahjong in the corridor on the first floor. Nowadays, the sport of playing mahjong has become the most important entertainment activity for modern humans. At night, , the whole street will resound with the sound of mahjong, making people sigh that this sport will not disappear even if civilization changes.

Luo Kai said hello to one of the old ladies with a big mole on the corner of her eyebrows, and then he struggled to carry the tricycle on his shoulders. With a series of complaints from these old ladies, he passed by and locked the tricycle in the courtyard. Walking towards his room on the second floor.

This two-story building is a self-built house for residents. Find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com. There are more than thirty rooms in total, each room is only forty or fifty square meters. There is no toilet, and of course there is no kitchen. The ceilings and walls were darkened by oil smoke, but the residents didn't care because they were cheap, with rooms here costing just over a hundred stars a month.

Of course Luo Kai didn't care. It was much better than the prison on Nanya Island. At least it had a bed and a broken coal stove with a long chimney leading outside. The coal stove was a tool for cooking. , it is already winter, and the small coal stove still has the function of heating.

He started cooking on the fire. Dinner was very simple. He simply made a big pot of dried noodles, sprinkled with some vegetables, oil and salt. He slurped the tasteless vegetable noodles as he ate them. He ate a lot and often had no appetite just after finishing his meal. You'll be hungry again within an hour, and any food will taste delicious when you're hungry.

After eating, he fell into a deep sleep. The only good thing about his sleepiness was that he was finally no longer dreaming.

Early the next morning, Luo Kai queued up at the nearby vegetable market. He came to buy meat. Strangely enough, meat is very expensive in this world. The price of ordinary pork is about eighty stars per catty, and It is limited, and each person can only buy three kilograms per month. Other beef and mutton prices are even more expensive. The vegetable market only has a small supply every month, and all of them are booked by some large hotels.

Of course, if you have money, you can go to restaurants to spend money. Those large restaurants have channels connected with the farms. As long as you have money, you can eat unlimited amounts.

Luo Kai's current body needs to eat high-energy, high-protein meat to keep him energetic, so he has to buy cheaper meat every month. If he doesn't have meat, he has to eat a lot of carbohydrates such as rice and white flour. To replace protein, it is not easy for him to live in this city.