Chapter 39: Chapter 37: Goodbye Hook
Three days later.
At noon.
Da da da—
On a road about four or five meters wide, which was of significantly better quality than ordinary rammed stone roads, a hay cart was swaying along in the southeast direction.
The creaking joint sounds resembled an old, worn-out harmonica, singing the hardships of life.
Besides potatoes and vegetables loaded on the back of the hay cart, there were also three men sitting there at this moment.
Leading them was a middle-aged man, and the other two were young, one with black hair and black eyes, namely Little Niu, Xu Yun, and William.
After receiving seven guineas from Pastor Yarlin three days ago, William’s family, now relatively well-off, first spent ten shillings on some daily necessities and food, enjoying a hearty meal for the first time in a year.
They then rested for a day before finding a made-to-order hay cart this morning to head towards the county city of Lincolnshire, Lincoln City.
"County" is the UK’s second-tier division, classified into ceremonial counties and metropolitan counties by nature.
In 1665, there were 27 of the former and only 4 of the latter—by the 21st century, this number would change to 34 and 6.
Lincolnshire is a standard ceremonial county, with a county chief representing the British Royal Family but with no real power, serving only for geographical designation, coordinating civil affairs, and a few other limited functions.
The county chief of Lincolnshire is in Lincoln City, a city considered very small by the locals, so small that you might not find it without searching with the ’UK’ prefix.
The hay cart continued under the sun for a while, and after about half an hour, the driver pulled the horse to a stop:
"Gentlemen, we’ve arrived in Lincoln City."
Upon hearing this, Xu Yun and the other two exchanged glances and gradually got up.
Brushing off some potato dust from their bodies, they grabbed their belongings and deftly dismounted from the cart.
William then deliberately walked to the front of the cart and took out a small piece of jerky:
"Mr. Wenger, this piece of venison is the agreed fare, thank you for the journey."
The carter, referred to as Mr. Wenger, was a small, skinny old man with somewhat dark skin. He accepted the jerky from William and opened his mouth, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth:
"Mr. William, you’re too kind. Shall we meet here again tonight?"
William nodded:
"See you tonight."
After settling with the carter, William turned around and waved to Xu Yun and Little Niu:
"Alright, Isaac, Mr. Feiyu, let’s enter the city."
Fat Fish and Little Niu both responded in agreement and followed William to the entrance.
In 1665, England did not require people entering the city on foot to pay an entry tax, but if you owned a house in the city, you had to pay a ’hearth tax.’
Apart from that, long-distance freighters like Wenger didn’t have to pay if they were empty vehicles, but if they carried goods, they’d be stopped.
With a statement like "resources not allowed," you’d obediently pay up.
Xu Yun and the other two didn’t face any entry tax issues so they easily walked into Lincoln City.
The current population of Lincoln City’s main district was about forty to fifty thousand, which wasn’t large for Europe in this era, yet not too small either—back home, in the Qing Dynasty’s fourth year of Kangxi, the population of the Two Lakes area barely exceeded half a million.
Compared to Grantham Town, Lincoln City’s architecture was much more upscale, with landmarks like opera houses and taverns being quite prominent.
If you looked closely, you could occasionally see some well-dressed wealthy individuals passing by in carriages.
In short, in the county city, one could somewhat feel the noble atmosphere of the seventeenth century.
Of course.
The tallest structures were still the clock tower and the church.
After entering the city, William looked around and brought Little Niu and Xu Yun to a luxurious attic, saying:
"Little Isaac, Mr. Feiyu, this place is quite recognizable, let’s use it as our meeting point and meet back here in three hours, okay?"
Xu Yun and Little Niu nodded together:
"No problem, Uncle (Mr. William)."
After that, the three of them parted ways.
William’s purpose in coming to Lincoln City this time was to buy sugar—although they had granted the rights to make ketchup to Yarlin, William and his team couldn’t completely leave themselves without a backup plan. Making some ketchup just in case was the best option.
To make ketchup, one naturally couldn’t do without sugar as an ingredient.
Due to different sources of goods and transportation costs, at this time, sugar prices varied among towns, counties, and even the capital within England, with the lowest prices in the county chief’s location, fluctuating considerably by the time they reached towns.
Since William was buying sugar worth no less than three guineas, it was far too insecure to do so in a small town like Little Grantham with only a thousand people.
Even the British knew the wisdom of not flaunting wealth.
As for Xu Yun and Little Niu’s purpose in coming to Lincoln City, there was only one:
Finding Hook!
"Yage Hotel in the southwest of the city....."
After parting with William, Xu Yun and Little Niu followed the address Hook had previously left and finally stopped at another three-story building.
The building was located in a wealthy area in the southwestern part of the city, where the streets were relatively cleaner, at least you wouldn’t suddenly have someone dump a bucket of waste next to you while walking.
A cross on the façade indicated that it was church property, belonging to an official source.
A plaque with Hebrew lettering hung below the cross, with the words "Yage" inscribed on it.
"Yage Hotel, this should be the place."
In this era, hotel entrances didn’t have attendants, and the so-called "lobby" was only about twenty or thirty square meters, so Little Niu and his companion easily reached the front desk:
"Hello, is Mr. Robert Hooke staying here?"
The front desk owner was a short, chubby middle-aged man with a goatee. He raised his eyes to glance at the two before speaking:
"Mr. Hooke? He lives here. Do you have any matters with him?"
Once they confirmed Hooke’s presence, Little Niu clenched his hand, hidden in his sleeve, a bit tighter and said:
"We have an appointment with him. Can we contact him?
Just say that Isaac Newton, a student of Barrow, is looking for him."
The chubby man put down his pen and once again scrutinized Xu Yun and Little Niu, a trace of hesitation appearing on his face.
Since it was noon, and uncertain if the guest was napping, he had to weigh the risk of potential complaints—this was church property; he was merely a higher-ranking employee, like a lobby manager.
As Lincoln City’s top hotel, he had encountered his share of people who, through various channels, had learned guests’ names, hoping to either extort money or forge connections.
After more than ten seconds, the chubby man finally made a decision in his heart.
He picked up a pen from the table, scribbled a message on a piece of paper, and handed it to Little Niu:
"Barrow and Isaac Newton, are these names written correctly?"
Little Niu took the paper, glanced at it, and nodded:
"Correct."
The chubby man retrieved the paper, placed it in a small basket nearby, and shook another string.
Soon, a response came from the second floor:
Someone above tugged the rope, slowly pulling up the basket.
Moments later, footsteps could be heard from the top floor.
Ring ring—
After another two or three minutes, a bell on the left side of the front desk suddenly rang crisply.
The chubby man saw this and let out a slight sigh of relief:
There were two response bells at the front desk; the left one signified guest consent or permission, while the right one indicated denial.
Then he glanced at the ledger again and reported a room number to Little Niu and Xu Yun:
"Second floor, room 233, someone will escort you there after you go upstairs."
Xu Yun thanked the proprietor on behalf of Little Niu, and the two headed upstairs.
The stairs to the old attic were a bit shaky, giving off a sense of dilapidation.
If the Yuewen Gold Writer Salon were held in this hotel, it would likely collapse after just a couple of attendees walked over it.
However, the combined size of Xu Yun and Little Niu was smaller than Ear Root’s, so they easily reached the second floor.
As soon as they got upstairs, a small-statured attendant came to greet them.
Following his lead, Xu Yun and Little Niu proceeded down a somewhat narrow hallway straight to a door.
The room’s lock had already been opened internally, left ajar, with a faint scent of tobacco wafting out.
The attendant gestured to Xu Yun and Little Niu to knock on the door themselves, bowed slightly, and left.
After the attendant’s departure, Little Niu stepped forward and knocked on the door:
"Mr. Hooke, I’m Isaac Newton."