At 9 o'clock in the morning, after breakfast, Mawei took Yunia, Laiwen, Daniel, and Edward to borrow a Frederick family carriage and set foot on the road to the East End of London.
Baron Frederick went out early in the morning. Together with Mr. Smith, Mawei estimated that he should have taken the mercury blood to discuss with the second prince Shukri. As for the result, it will be clear soon.
"Brother, look!"
On the carriage driving in the mist, Laiwen suddenly shouted with a few newspapers: "The fourth prince Arthur was mentioned in the Times Morning News a month ago!"
"Oh? Has he come to London too?"
Mawei put down the newspaper and looked over it with Daniel. Sure enough, he saw a report about the fourth prince Arthur in the October Times Morning News.
It said that the fourth prince opened an orphanage in the East End of London and rescued many homeless orphans. This kind of charity was also published in the newspaper, but it was very far back and not conspicuous.
Since going to the Romanov Kingdom, Mavey has rarely contacted New Ross City. Firstly, there is nothing major, and secondly, he is afraid of being exposed, so Mavey does not know how the fourth prince is doing. This time, let him Fat Orange and Little Black returned to New Ross City partly to inform the fourth prince, Arthur, that they were back.
Now it seems....
It seems that this is no longer necessary.
The fourth prince, Arthur, has returned to London, the political and economic center, through his own efforts.
There was no other information about Arthur published in the newspaper. Mavey did not know Arthur's specific location and had no intention of looking for him.
The three Manstein brothers now are not helpers in Arthur's camp. Since they are acting, they must be more realistic.
"Dad, where are we going?"
Looking at the bustling street outside the window, Yunia was eager to go out and play, but the carriage kept going and never reached her destination. She had missed several of her favorite shops.
"First we go to Hamletts in the East 2nd District. There is a good shop for sale near Whitechapel. Then we go to Newham in the East 3rd District. There is also a house for rent near Petticoat Lane..."
In the newspaper in Mawei's hand, he has screened out several suitable rental advertisements, all of which are in the East End of London, very close to the city center and close to the Thames River. The quality of the houses is pretty good and meets his requirements.
Daniel was a little surprised when he heard about the East District. He got up late and didn't hear the discussion between Lai Wen and Ma Wei about the East District, but he didn't ask much. The main reason was that the first group of members who came to London on this trip was too luxurious. To say that the most unstable factor in the entire Eastern District...
It must be them, not the thieves and gangsters on the street.
The carriage engraved with the Frederick family crest crossed the Central District without anyone blocking it, and soon entered the boundaries of the East District.
Different from the luxurious and majestic West District and Central District, the houses in the East District give people a heavy and depressing feeling. They are all old buildings. Clothes are hung outside the window to dry. The streets are lined with vendors with sheds, which makes them not spacious. The streets are even more crowded, with people in plain clothes walking around mixed in. Garbage is everywhere, and there is a smell of excrement floating in the streets.
No matter how luxurious a city is, there will always be urban areas and slums. Where there are rich people, there will be poor people. If there are no poor people, how can we define the boundaries of the rich?
The accurate name of the East End of London should be the industrial area and workers' residential area, only the northeastern part, but the slums among the London population should be the northeastern part of London and the south bank of the Thames River, which were rapidly marginalized and slummed during the Industrial Revolution. The famous Flower Street (Whitechapel), Petticoat Lane and Newcoat Street are all in this area.
In addition to the nickname 'Fog City', London also has another nickname: the city made of meat.
The origin of this title is due to the serious social phenomena under the surface of London's exaggeration and luxury. It is no exaggeration to say that in the city of London, there is one prostitute for every five women. In the East End, almost every street corner There are one or more brothels.
Clients only need to pay 1 shilling for a service, and if they are lucky, they can also encounter prostitutes for just a few pennies.
Mavey has seen with his own eyes the prosperity of West London and the dilapidation and filth of East London. In his eyes, this giant city is divided and broken, like an apple.
Underneath the ruddy and shiny skin is a dark, poisonous core.
Hamlets district, Flower Street.
The carriage slowly stopped in front of a boarded-up shop. The coachman opened the door and said respectfully: "Mr. Nicholas, No. 27 Flower Street has arrived."
The shiny leather shoes stepped onto the slippery and muddy road. Ma Wei and the others got out of the carriage and smelled a trace of rotten smell in the air, like the smell of dead rats. It has not rained in London in recent days, but there is no sun. , and people like to pour dirty water on the street, causing the ground to never dry.
"Wait for us here."
Ma Wei popped out a silver shilling, and the coachman caught it, nodded and said, "Yes."
No. 27 Flower Street is a closed shop. I didn’t know what it was doing before. The shop is all boarded up with wooden boards, so you can’t see the condition inside. There is a small door next to it that leads directly to the apartment above the shop. Before Ma Wei could wink, Edward opened the door. Take the initiative to step forward, raise your hand and knock on the door.
Dongdong!
Winter winter winter!
Not long after, there were rubbing footsteps inside the door, and the door lock clicked. The door opened a gap, and an old man with a short beard and heavy bags under his eyes poked his head out. His hair and beard were pure. His white, exposed skin was covered with age spots. He looked at Ma Wei and the others with sinister eyes and asked, "Who are you?"
"You are..." Mawei glanced at the rent request information in the newspaper: "Mr. Hamlet Fouts?"
Seeing the newspaper, the old man seemed to understand something: "Do you want to rent a house?"
"Yes, can we take a tour first?"
"...come in."
The old man got out of the way. When he entered the door, Ma Wei discovered that one of the old man's feet was lame, so when he walked, he made a scraping sound against the floor. His clothes were also sloppy. The clothes obviously didn't fit. They were a few sizes too big and the styles were very old. , looks like a style from more than 20 years ago.
Dragging a lame leg, the old man led Ma Wei and others to the restaurant, opened a small door leading to the shop next door, lifted the kerosene lamp on the table, and walked in first.
Just as Ma Wei was about to follow, Lai Wen suddenly stopped him and said, "I'll go first, brother, follow me."
"....good."
There was no light in the boarded-up shop, except for the kerosene lamp held by the old man in his hand. The wooden boards completely sealed the surrounding area, leaving only a small door leading to the kitchen.
Judging from the remaining tables and chairs around it, it seems that this place was once a restaurant. The space is not small. The lobby alone covers more than 100 square meters. There are tables, chairs and counters. Wipe off the dust and simply decorate it and it can open for business.
After a brief visit, Mawei was quite satisfied with the place. "Mr. Hamlai, I read in the newspaper that you plan to sell this shop and the apartment above it?"
"One-off, packaged and sold." The old man said in a hoarse voice: "No selling separately, no bargaining, 100 gold pounds."
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Ma Wei suddenly smiled. This price cannot be said to be cheap, it can only be described as cabbage price.
This is London!
The capital of the Kingdom of Windsor!
How much does a 50-square-meter, two-bedroom apartment in New Ross City cost?
100 gold pounds!
In London, an apartment of the same size would cost at least three times as much! This is still a conservative estimate!
Now, a shop of this size and an apartment upstairs is equivalent to a small building. The total price is only 100 gold pounds?
Do not make jokes....
Either there is a ghost in this store, or Ma Wei has a problem with his ears and eyes.
"Mr. Hamlet, you have been advertising your store for sale in the newspaper every day for the past week. Although this is East London, at such a cheap price, I am afraid it can be sold in half a day. As a result, the transaction has not been successful for so long. I Can I ask the reason?"
"Do you want to buy it or not? If you don't buy it, get out!"
The old man suddenly became angry, pointed at the door and shouted:
"Get out! Get out of here!"
