Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

"The school in Fengjing is different from ours?"

"Yes, the proportion of artisans in our area is much higher than here. If you calculate it, 70 to 80 percent of them are paid by the court. So we don't have centralized schools like the ones in Mount Wutai—Wen Yuan and the others had to travel a long way to go to Mount Wutai to attend school, right? We don't need that. We can just go to school nearby, and most of their parents work in nearby units, so we've been in the same class since we were little."

“Is the difference really that big?”

The situation in Yujing was exactly as she had described. The two schools in Wutai Mountain, Shangluo, were only a minority; most schools, like the Imperial College's affiliated schools, had open enrollment. But those schools required an exam to enter.

Every morning, students from Yujing would take buses and trams to various locations, heading to the elementary and middle schools they had been admitted to. The pinnacle of these schools within Beijing was prestigious schools like the Imperial Academy Affiliated High School, while outside of the capital, there were also prestigious schools like the White Deer Grotto Academy.

Exams are the last and only challenge facing children in Kinai. They begin with learning to read, continuing throughout childhood, even taking Formula One cars. While competition is fierce, while children in Kinai face the "fire and rain" of tests in the exam hall, children in many other parts of the world face a more unpredictable fire and rain.

Moreover, everything that can be obtained with just a stroke of the pen cannot be obtained outside, even under fire. The Kingdom of Heaven and Man is about to be built. Even the German president cannot easily obtain a milliliter of spiritual fluid, let alone under fire.

As for why you can get all these just by writing - it's because our ancestors had already completed the work of this generation when they launched the great war eight generations ago.

Of course, if the parents' generation works harder and can obtain the status of a craftsman or a military household, then their children can avoid most of the exams and only need to face the final college entrance examination. They don't have to do anything before graduation.

Therefore, Shangluo could continue his studies at the Wutaishan Training School after returning, because the position was his. This position would be reserved for him until the end of the college entrance examination. This was part of the benefits of being a craftsman.

This benefit takes a different form in Fengjing. While the schools in Wutai Mountain are excellent, they're out of options in Yingtian City. No matter how far away, you have to come here to attend. In Fengjing, you can enroll nearby, as the number of artisans there far exceeds that of Yujing.

"Speaking of which, why is Fengjing a little different?"

"Hmm," Gao Qingyu thought for a moment, "it would be strange to say they're the same. After all, we each have two sets of six ministries. You have one in Yujing, and we have one here. It's an old rule from the Yongle era. We each draw up our own financial estimates and have two different sets of policies. That's why you have more civilian households, and we have more artisans."

“Is there any general difference?”

"Yes. You have to buy your car here, but we have cars issued to us. When you turn 18, you can take the test and get a driver's license."

"Huh? You guys send out cars?"

"But you distribute the soda here, while we have to buy it. After all, it's basically a soda-for-car trade between us. Your soda for our car. Cars are our local product, just like your soda is a local product."

"This is a car, don't talk like it's a carrot in the field."

"The car factory is built on the land, and the ore used to make the cars is dug out of the ground, just like a radish. Besides, cars aren't expensive. We only ship large items over there; small items are more expensive. I prefer the fact that you can drink soda and eat watermelon as much as you want here."

"So, how much is a monthly subway pass?"

"We only have the national railway. A monthly ticket for the national railway is about the same everywhere, 85 yuan a ticket."

"That's pretty close, then."

"Although Fengjing looks different from here, everyone drinks Coke and eats McDonald's, so there's not much difference. But there are also some differences," Gao Qingyu suggested. "We're honored by your hospitality this time. Next time you come to Shuntian, we'll treat you. You've been eating Yingtian roast duck here all day, so you haven't tried Shuntian, have you?"

"I've actually eaten there. Quanjude, right?"

"Eh? You know? I thought Quanjude wasn't very famous. Do you know how to eat it?"

"Your roast duck is roasted in a hanging oven, which is different from the roast duck we have here in a stewing oven. Your roast duck doesn't get soaked in braising liquid, and the skin is crispy, right? Do you also dip it in sugar when you eat it?"

"You're an expert! I didn't expect you to know all this. Nowadays, when it comes to roast duck, everyone only knows about the roast duck from Yingtian. Actually, our roast duck from Shuntianfu is also very delicious. It's a pity that so few people know about it."

"Hey, wait a minute." Shangluo suddenly remembered, "You said Quanjude Roast Duck is delicious, right? You want to promote it too?"

"Yes, and there are also pickles from Liubiju, which are really delicious. That plaque was written by old man Yan Song, and even Emperor Jiajing loved to eat them."

Boom~~

Invisible waves sounded in Shangluo's ears.

"??? You really do love it. Well, I was just about to ask you about this."

Shangluo sent him a screenshot of the forum:

"Look, the forum is open now. Why don't you post something about the differences between Yingtian Roast Duck and Shuntian Roast Duck?"

Chapter 376 Swallowing Tie

"Can forums be used like this?"

"Yeah," Shangluo replied, "I've discovered that there are many differences and interesting things about life on both sides. I can post about them."

"Ah!!! I was just about to ask. Are all the siomai in Yujing filled with glutinous rice?"

"???" Shangluo was stunned for a moment. "Yes, of course siomai are filled with glutinous rice. Are there other fillings?"

"Of course siomai have to have meat filling. I ate siomai yesterday. Although the shape was the same, I was shocked to find it was all glutinous rice. Gao Shiyu had no idea what he was eating and thought he was eating a zongzi."

"Ah," Shangluo touched his forehead, "This touches on my blind spot in knowledge. But I seem to have heard that there are indeed meat-filled siomai, but I've never tried them."

He had never eaten this before. Although he knew there were meat-filled siomai, he didn't react immediately.

"And why do you guys always eat carbs wrapped in carbs here? Glutinous rice wrapped in fried dough sticks and sugar. What a horrible way to eat it. You're trying to wrap every form of carb I can imagine in one ball, right?"

Shangluo hesitated a bit, "Why do I feel like if you post this, there will be a fight?"

"Can't I send it?"

"Post it, post it, you can post it," Shangluo replied. "It's a forum, so it's quite interesting to talk about this. I think everyone will be very interested."

He knew that many people in Yujing didn't know that siomai could be stuffed with meat, because from the first bite, siomai was filled with carbohydrates.

"So I posted it? But will anyone read it?"

"Don't worry, someone will be here soon. See you later."

After saying goodbye to Gao Qingyu, he opened another group.

Group title: "Everyone in Yongshou Palace is hungry"

It’s Fu Yuanshan’s dinner group.

"Senior Fu, Senior Fu, I have a question for you." Shangluo sent a message.

"?" Fu Yuanshan replied with a question mark.

"Senior Fu, have you ever eaten pork dumplings?"

Before Fu Yuanshan could answer, the group exploded:

"And the meat-filled siomai?"

"Of course not," Captain Lin replied, "If you go to Guangdong for dim sum, the siu mai they have are filled with meat."

"That's fake. Have you been to Guangdong? How come you weren't eaten?"

"That Guoxing is from Fujian. He often goes to Guangdong and I've never seen him get eaten!"

"What? Cantonese people eat Fujianese? @Guangzhou Neptunes team leader, do you eat them?"

"There's no such thing. How could we possibly eat Fujianese food? And the siu mai we have for morning tea are indeed filled with meat."

A joking person who came out of nowhere started to add fuel to the fire: "Don't listen to his excuses. He is afraid that the Fujianese people will not go and they will have nothing to eat. See what he said? The steamed dumplings for morning tea are filled with meat. Everyone knows where the meat comes from, right?"

The nameless fire was ignited by the siomai. Shangluo, who lit the fire, smiled.

"There are interesting people everywhere."

Suddenly, the phone vibrated. Fu Yuanshan privately messaged him:

"Is your forum ready?"

"Eh? How did you know that, Senior?"

"Because I saw you coming over here to stir things up. It's funny. Those guys never say a word except when it's time to eat, and now they're all blowing up. Where did you learn this trick? I want to have some fun, too."

"You can find fun like this by browsing forums more often~ Senior Fu, is your forum available now?"

"Wait a minute." Fu Yuanshan paused for a moment. "I opened it. Is that the one with the pineapple pattern? Oh? Someone has already posted. 'How to use the forum', was that posted by you?"

"Well, look down there."

"'Where Are the People'? Isn't this Gao Shiyu? And there's another one below. Hmm?" He was stunned for a moment. "Wait, let me take a screenshot."

He sent a screenshot of the post to the dinner group:

"Have you ever tried oven-roasted duck? Does it taste like this? Is there a Quanjude restaurant in Yingtian?"

"I think I've been there before. It seems to be some unknown store. Eh? What's this screenshot?"

Shangluo pushed the forum module link in the group at the right time, appropriately and inadvertently.

Nine p.m.

"Okay, that's all for today. Keep up the good work."

He had already sent the link to everyone he knew, and people were already posting on the forum. It was currently in a trial period, and use of the forum was free. After the eight-hour trial, access would become mandatory at eight wen per hour. The price was the same for both the forum and the "Gate of All Aspects."

However, if you're just browsing the forum, you won't spend as much as 8 wen per hour. This is because Tar is very intelligent, consuming only when sending and receiving messages, and this is how the billing is calculated. Only the moment you refresh the forum is charged, not the browsing itself. So even if you browse for a whole day, you might not even see an hour of loading time.

Of course, if you play the Gate of All Aspects, the data is indeed transmitted in real time, and tar is continuously lost every minute and every second, which is indeed 8 cents per hour.

"Apollonia, how are things going over there?" he asked. Apollonia used to live next door, so he could just ask. Now she was working overtime, so he had to type it out to see what was going on.

【Ah, what time is it?Is it already nine o'clock?I'm tired. Let's finish building today's ship.I'll hang up.How much tar is left in stock? 】

"There are still 500 kilograms in the container."

It'll still last a long time. No rush. I'll speed it up a bit. I'm calculating. 5 liters per hour is the current speed. 500 kilograms of tar is about liters, which means a little over hours. Okay, let's speed it up to five times the speed. The boat should probably be finished by tomorrow morning.

"Is everything okay with the beans? After you adjust the speed."

It doesn't matter. Time doesn't mean much to Bean. You've noticed before, right? When Bean is watching, time doesn't move. Whether it moves faster, slower, or even stops, it makes no difference to them. After all, they don't have a real form. Ah, I'm tired, I'm back to sleep. Turn off the lights, good night.

The next morning, during the break of the second class.

"Hey, Shangluo." Qi Yuan sat next to him mysteriously.

"Is there something wrong, Captain? Is it about the fleet?"

"No. I wanted to ask, have you heard of the Pineapple Forum?"

"Ah, I heard, what happened?"

"Have you ever heard anyone say~~" she lowered her voice, "I heard that joining this forum can improve your cultivation!"

"Huh???" Shang Luo was stunned. "How come I didn't know that joining this forum could improve my cultivation?"

This statement sounds like eating oysters can enhance male sexual function.

"You haven't heard of it, right? I'll send it to you. Check your phone, do you have it? Then hurry up and help me push this post. I believe zongzi must be eaten salty."

"You just want me to help you post it! How can it increase your cultivation?"

"Hey, hey, don't worry about it, just give it a thumbs up. You know what a thumbs up post is? It's just a post like 'sofa' on the second floor, and that'll make it go up!"

"Ah! So that's how it is. I didn't know that! Thank you, squad leader!"

"No need to thank me, just give me a hand. Eh???"

Suddenly, Qi Yuan was stunned: "Where is my post?"

"The post is gone? Maybe it was deleted."

[There's no function to delete posts. My ship is still on the way, and I haven't reached the Tower of Babel yet.]

Before he finished speaking, Qi Yuan suddenly screamed:

"Ahhh! My post! My post was eaten!"

"Ah, Squad Leader Qi, actually, I don't know how to do that now."

"Look!" Qi Yuan sent a video over -

A white jelly hovered over his title, devouring her post bit by bit.

With a "puff", the post turned into ashes and was swallowed up.

"Huh?!" Shangluo immediately opened the forum. Jelly, jelly, jelly everywhere. Lumps here and there, the forum page was completely blank. Even several pineapples had been eaten.

"Ahhhh! Shangluo!" Gao Shiyu sent an urgent message, "Shangluo! I can't live anymore! My 3000-word post was deleted! How am I going to live my life from now on? My future is bleak. Please take action! I've already paid for hours of internet! Ah, I can't post anymore. I'm going to die. Please save me!"

Chapter 377 Repair

"What's going on now?"

Something seems off. It started appearing in the forums around the time we woke up this morning.

"Have you observed anything over there? Inside the Tower of Babel."