Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 320 Arrival in Wangdu

Colonel Manridge was somewhat surprised to see Claude come in with a big package: “What is this belt? It looks like a getaway...”

Claude laughed so hard, he didn't even think about it. He went back last night and told Aunt Natalie that he would go to Wangdu for the next two or three days. I didn't expect Aunt Natalie to come to the door with Old Zacillac at more than 10: 00 at night. Please send this big package to Wangdu and give it to the third son who is a partner in the mall. Lost Claude thought the old men weren't dying and packed their daughters into their own beds at night, so he was happy for nothing.

The package is large but not heavy, and contains spring clothes, pants and mattresses. It's February and spring is coming soon. These thick winter clothes will have to be changed as soon as the rainy season in March warms up. Lieutenant Colonel Manrich went to Wangdu Army Department this time to do business, but also for the service of military uniforms, he needed to obtain a replacement allocation for the Spring Summer and Autumn uniforms for nearly a thousand cadets trained in military schools.

Claude's heart was a little upset when he promised to help and deliver this big package to his three sons. Aunt Natalie and old Zacillac loved their sons understandably, but it seemed somewhat difficult to get Claude to help them. Because Wang is not a small town, take a walk along the way. Wang is a million-populated metropolis, the kingdom and the largest city in the eastern part of the continent. Perhaps it will take Claude half a day to find the small business company where the three sons of the old two babies are buddies...

Lieutenant Colonel Manridge told his deputy Lieutenant Longko to call in the cafeteria for breakfast between him and Claude and eat in the office. Not to Claude's surprise, today's breakfast was a bit rudimentary, with no honeyed white bread slices and bacon, a cup of black tea, a small bowl of oatmeal and just one fried egg.

After breakfast, Colonel Manridge took his deputy and Claude, as well as a driver, to Wangdu Army. The formalities are in place, with Lieutenant Colonel Claude and Major Manridge sitting in the trunk, while Lieutenant Longko sits in the front seat, preparing to rotate with the driver in the carriage.

Big packages were tied to the compartment, and Claude and Lieutenant Colonel Manridge went to the cafeteria after a whisper, and shortly afterwards they brought back another big bag and brought it directly into the compartment.

“What's so sweet?” Colonel Manridge asked with his nose twitched.

Claude opened the package, which contained dozens of breads of honey chicken protein just like last night.

“For you to bring home, I'll give three nieces a meeting gift.” Claude said.

“No, wasn't it supplied last night?” Colonel Manridge's black line: “How did you get it? I wanted to eat this in the morning, but the cafeteria said it was gone. ”

Claude laughed: "Of course not. I went to the cafeteria last night to find the two chefs and bought the rest of the ingredients to make this bread so they could bake it for me this morning so I could take it away. ”

“How much did it cost? This big bag is not cheap...” I heard Claude paid for it, Colonel Manrich relieved himself, but let Claude pay for so much delicious honey chicken protein bread to take home for three children to eat, and Colonel Manrich felt a little embarrassed.

“I told you to give three nephews and nieces a meeting gift.” Claude shook his head: “It doesn't matter if it's not in the cafeteria last night, I really can't remember what gifts to bring to your three kids. Think about it later, I still think this is more appropriate, I'm sure your kids will be happy with these delicious breads..."

Speaking of his three children, Lieutenant Colonel Manrich's face also gave a smile: "I'm sure they'll be happy, and you're very welcome to have this uncle who brings them so much delicious bread as a guest. Never mind, I wanted to taste one. Now I feel like I'm going to eat it as a gift from my father. Tie up your pockets...”

The village of Calebon is nearly seventy or eighty miles from Wangdu Road and takes twelve to fourteen hours to run at the speed of a carriage, plus parking time to feed the horses. Departure at 8: 00 a.m. and arrival is not expected until 11: 00 p.m. if the journey is smooth. First go to Lieutenant Colonel Manridge's house, they have a tavern nearby where you can open two rooms for how many lieutenants Claude and Ronco can stay, and this lodging school is reimbursable.

The next day, Lieutenant Colonel Manrich would take Lieutenant Longko to the Army Department, and Claude would be free to move. He needs to deliver this large package entrusted by Aunt Natalie to her third son before visiting Lady Maria's Baroness. If you still have time, go to Wangdu's bookstore and buy some books to bring back. Lieutenant Colonel Manridge will be able to return to military school on the third day if his official duties go smoothly, otherwise they will probably spend another day in King's Landing.

At noon, the three men had casual lunch at a pub and station next to the national highway, changed the horses of the two pull cars, and restarted their journey to Wangdu. Due to the scarcity of horses on the road, the journey was shortened by about an hour, and by around 7 p.m. Claude had seen the glorious king of the distant lights from the windows of the carriage.

“We have only reached the outermost part of Wangdu.” Lieutenant Colonel Manridge said: "When the founding king, Sterling I, decided to build the Royal City here, only Fort Black Swan and the Rose Palace were built at first, but less than a decade later it was discovered that the city was expanding very quickly, so a wall was erected along the outskirts of the residential area, which is where the Royal Court is now located.

As a result, more residential and commercial areas have gathered outside the city wall, and even the royal workshop to be set up can only be arranged outside the city wall. No way, Sterling I ordered the construction of a second wall, which is where the inner city came from. But more than a decade later, the inner city became overcrowded, and the outside of the second wall was once again an endless residential and commercial area, a workshop area. Sterling I hired more than a dozen of the most famous architectural masters on the continent to discuss the expansion and reprogramming of the entire Imperial City.

Therefore, Wangcheng once again built the third wall, which is the outer wall, and planned the layout of the thirty-sixth district of the outer city, built the perfect sewerage pipeline, water supply channels, so that Wangcheng has the basic needs to develop into a large city. By the time of Sterling III, the Imperial City had again doubled in size, when a minister had proposed to build another wall, which Sterling III had rejected.

Sterling III said that it was not a city wall that guarded the kingdom, but an invincible and heroic army, and that he would rather spend the cost of building it on the army than rely on a wall to defend himself against enemies who invaded the kingdom. Since the beginning of Sterling III, the Kingdom's army has embarked on the path of regularization, and since then the Kingdom's war against the outside has ceased to depend on the militias of the aristocracy of those territories, and the Royal Army has become the protagonist on the battlefield.

By Sterling IX, Wang Cheng already had a resident population of nearly a million, and its name had been changed to Wang Du. So much so that the original official name of Black Swan Castle was forgotten that even the address on the official document issued by the King's Court was written only under the name Wang Du.

After the arrival of Sterling IX, Wang had once again undergone a major overhaul, relocating residents from the central district of Wang Du and altering the traffic road. Now the layout of Wangdu is proportional to several rings, not the earliest inner city and outer city. ”

Lieutenant Colonel Manrich gave Claude a very detailed historical and geographic introduction as a native of Wangdu, in case Claude arrived at first sight and made a joke out of confusion about Wangdu.

“For example, the area within the walls of the Black Swan Castle and the Rose Palace, now known as the Royal Court, is a symbol of the supreme power of the kingdom, where the royal pilgrimage takes place. And the original inner city, now divided into two halves, the first half of the area became the seat of the various authorities of the Kingdom, and this time I was going to the Royal Ministry of the Army. The latter half of the area serves as a cantonment and warehousing area for the Kingsguard and is off-limits. The whole inner city area, now called the Ring Area.

The original Outer City District 36 is now completely different from the original residential and commercial areas. Sectors I and III are essentially the seat of subordinate agencies of the various sectors of the Ring region. Sectors 2 and 4 and 5 are reserves and various storage sites, where the Kingdom's arsenal and largest grain warehouse are located. The sixth district is a patrol police district, where the entire king is under the authority of the Patrol Police Directorate and other police-related departments. Sectors 7 to 10 are security areas, which serve as cantonment areas for Wangdu's various guards.

From Zone XI to Zone XXII, these twelve areas are the residence of Wang Du Guan's dignitaries, like the Baron Normanly, where you are going to visit. From District 23 to District 25, these three districts are home to Wangdu colleges and universities, also collectively referred to as college districts. There, you report the name of the college or military academy. Those carriers will get you there faster. Instead, you mention the districts and they won't know...

Districts 26 to 36, collectively referred to as business districts, are said to have more than 400 businesses throughout the business district, with new businesses opening every day and old ones closing down due to mismanagement. The thirty-second district, also known as the dock, is the starting dock to the Lake Blanópez Canal, and the thirty-third district next to it is the largest waterborne storage area. If you want to buy something, go to the business district and look for it, I'm sure you'll get something, and you won't be disappointed.

The whole outer city of District 36, now known as the Second Ring area. Outside the Second Ring area, the Third Ring area outside the third outer city wall, is now also divided into 72 districts, 28 of which are Wangdu's workshop districts and the rest are residential districts. My home is located at 122 Short Ear Dog Avenue, District 41, Third Ring, where I was previously assigned to live after the demolition of my home in the Outer City. ”

It turns out that the world also has demolition projects, but it seems that Lieutenant Colonel Manrich does not care much about demolition, and it seems that the compensation provided by the Kingdom should satisfy him more.

“What we just passed was a four-ring area, mostly the royalty of the kingdom set up in estates and villas on the outskirts of Wangdu, while the rest were essentially small farms and orchards that served fresh vegetables and fruits to the king. Wang Du residents say this is a four-ring area, so it feels better. They don't think that the three-ring area is the outermost part of Wang Du.

Last year Wang Du's most popular investment was in warm shed cultivation technology, which allows the farm to provide fresh vegetables and fruits in the winter. The blackberry you ate yesterday was made using warm shed cultivation technology, but the price is three times more expensive than it was... ”

Lieutenant Colonel Manridge looked out the window: "Now that we have entered the residential area of the Tri-ring, it should take more than ten minutes from here to my house. Speaking of which, I spent more than 20 days in military school wondering if my children would be very surprised to see me back... By the way, Claude, thank you again for the gift you brought them. ”

Claude laughed and waved, indicating that his own people didn't have to be polite.

It was almost nine o'clock in the evening when they arrived at Lieutenant Colonel Manridge's house, and all three children were very happy with their father's return, which of course was more than happy to bring them a big bag of delicious honey chicken protein bread. Claude was introduced to his family by Lieutenant Colonel Manridge, whose wife was a very gracious housewife, who thanked Claude for the gifts she had brought to the children. And the three children also came up to thank Claude at the father's urging. The youngest five-year-old girl probably kissed Claude's face for good food...

Since it was too late to see Lieutenant Colonel Manridge's parents and his father-in-law, four elderly men, Mrs. Colonel said, had already gone to bed early to rest, so Claude was not going to disturb them either. By that time, Lieutenant Colonel Manridge had dropped his briefcase and prepared to take Claude, his deputy and four carriers to a tavern not far away to have a good dinner and arrange a place for everyone to stay.

The name of this small pub in the neighborhood is a bit odd, called the Boiling Steak. Manridge says their signature is a large steak, fry it out and pour a spoon of hot halogen gravy over it, which looks like it's boiling in a pan.

Even with subsidies and reimbursements for official meals and lodging, Lieutenant Colonel Manridge did not eat and drink in the tavern. He only ordered one signature steak, some bread, fresh soup, roasted sausage and mashed potatoes, and only two large glasses of rye for each person.

He laughed and explained to Claude, not that he didn't want everyone to eat and drink well. It was mainly the subsidized expenses for official business travel, accommodation and meals stipulated by the military academy. It was just enough for everyone to eat well and not enough for everyone to eat well. If you are travelling abroad, this accommodation subsidy will cost only two thirds or one half of the cost to eat well. But Wang Du consumed it here, it would be nice to fill his stomach.

After eating, Lieutenant Colonel Manridge opened three rooms in the tavern, two rooms for Claude and two Lieutenant Longko. There is also a warehouse for the wagon man, he will stay with the wagon in the warehouse in the yard behind the tavern...

After completing the accommodation, Lieutenant Colonel Manridge returned home. He hasn't been home in over twenty days, and that's all he wants to do is sleep in his wife's arms.

Claude also felt tired after a day in the carriage and wanted to lie down in bed after a casual wash. Unfortunately, someone comes knocking on his door from time to time. Whoever it is, it's all women. They just want to know if Claude needs company. Finally, Claude couldn't help but look everywhere in the room, finally found a note in the bedside table that said no interruptions, and after hanging on the door handle outside, nobody knocked on the door.

However, Lieutenant Ronco next door, who had been in a hurry for a day, appeared to have a lot of spirit, and soon heard the sound of falling in love with men and women from his room next door. The walls were poorly soundproofed, the sound was loud, and Claude couldn't help but mute, so he went to sleep quietly...