Chapter 31 The Face of the World

At night, there is no fire in the whole slum, and the surroundings are very quiet and deserted, and there is no popular appearance. Compared with the always lively King Athos, this may be the truth on the other side of the world.

Elvin sat alone in the open space outside the house, raised his head and looked up at the shining stars in the sky. Looking at the quiet starry sky, he was shocked to realize that he had never been able to appreciate the stars in the night sky with such a stable mentality during these days of escape. Now it seems that the starry sky in this foreign land is as beautiful as King Athos, which brings a rare trace of peace to Ai Wen's heart.

At this time, Shuna also followed, looked at Aiwen looking up at the sky there, and asked curiously, "Brother Ivan, what are you looking at? I'm so fascinated."

"It's Xiu Na. Come and sit down, too." Elvin welcomed Shuna to talk to himself: "Actually, I'm looking at this beautiful starry sky now. I want to see how the starry sky here is different from the starry sky seen on the other side of the capital of Athos. When I was a child, I often heard that the starry sky in the outside world is wider, more wonderful and more beautiful than that in the capital of Athos.

"Wow, it turns out that Brother Evan, you came from King Athos, and I guessed it would probably be like this, because what Brother Evan, what you said is obviously not our western voice."

Ewen seems to have accidentally mentioned his where he came from. In order not to let Xiuna get involved, he lied: "Yes, we came from King Athos. In fact, I have always had the dream of traveling around the kingdom. This time, I started my journey around the kingdom to realize my dream. I can enjoy the scenic spots in the vast land of the kingdom.

Although this is a lie, this is also the dream that has long existed in Evan's heart. He has not left the scope of Wangdu for a long time. Except for the last time he went to the Temple of Stars to perform military affairs, this is his first official journey. Although in the current situation, along the way, It's true that I have gained a lot,

"Brother Evan is really amazing. I haven't even walked out of this Tyros City since I was born sensible." It seems that the naive and intent Xiuner has really believed that Elvin came all the way to travel.

"If it weren't for Amy's business, I would have stolen your travel expenses and spent so much that you would have lost your travel expenses and couldn't continue to travel."

The sentimental Shona seemed to be sad. Evan immediately changed the topic: "Actually, you are also very great. You know how to be self-reliable at a young age. Although I know it would be a little bad to say so, I don't know what happened to your parents in the past?"

Shuner pondered for a moment, and then said with emotion, "Actually, I don't know who my father is. What happened to him? Since I was a child, I have been growing up with my mother. My mother worked hard to take care of me and raised me. Although we live in this slum and live a very difficult life, my life with my mother is the happiest and happiest time, and also my most precious memory. ."

Talking of his mother, Shona really laughed happily, which also reminded Elvin of the days with his mother. What a happy time he really missed.

After Xiuna became sad: "Unfortunately, my mother also grew up independently and worked hard every day, which made my body weaker and weaker... Just a few years ago, my mother died of a serious illness..."

"So that's it. In contrast, I'm also a very happy person. My parents are still built, not only that, but I also have a brother, a sister, and good brothers like Mikal, Ted and Grimio. Although I can't get my father and brother very often, my mother has always been very good to me, and the crying sister, although she is already a 16-year-old girl, she is still so coquettish that I can't help her all the time. Elvin recalled the past and laughed from time to time.

"It turns out that Brother Evan's sister is so old, but it's a good thing that girls like to be coquettish. Compared with Amy, she is much more powerful. Although she is almost 16 years old, I think she can sometimes do better than my mother and has been protecting me and everyone."

Emmy is going to be 16 years old, but Elvin really can't see it.

"In that case, how old you are?" Elvin asked casually.

"Me? In fact, I'm almost 17 years old."

Hearing about Xiuna's age, Elvin was surprised and understood it himself. After all, Xiuna and others have always lived a quite poor life. Not to mention meat, even the wild vegetables and mushrooms they ate before have been regarded as a very rich meal, which is usually It's not very good to eat. Long-term malnutrition causes their body shape to match their age. Thinking that he was only three years older than the other party, in contrast, it really made Ai Wen sigh a lot.

"Brother Ivan's father is often not at home. He must be a great person, right?"

Awen asked curiously, "Why do you think so?"

"Because my mother has always told me that my father is a very kind, considerate and warm-hearted person. He is the favorite person in my mother's life, and he is also a great person. That's why he can't be with us." Speaking of his father, Shuna also looked very proud.

Aiwen also said with a smile, "My mother is the same. Although my father is often not by her side, my mother has always loved her father deeply."

Although Evan and Shuna are born and raised in completely different environments, the love of mothers to their children in the world is exactly the same, and the intersection between them increases from time to time in their conversation.

Ewen continued to chat: "You have a good relationship with Amy. You grew up together, just like Mikael and Ted and me. The three of us grew up together."

"Well, yes, Amy has been a good friend of me since I was a child. Although she is sometimes a little fierce, as the boss who takes care of us orphans, she bears this burden alone. Although I know that it is wrong for her to steal other people's property, there is no other good way for us poor people to seek work to make a living. The reality is too cruel. In fact, Amy is also unwilling to do so. If only I could be more capable. Shuna became sentimental again.

Evan himself seemed to be thoughtful and said with emotion, "Is that so? Although I know it would be strange to ask this question, I traveled all the way from Wangdu and found that the farther away from Wangdu, the poorer the local residents are. Especially in villages, many of the farmers responsible for agricultural production in the kingdom don't even have food to fill their stomachs. Now that I have come to this small border town, the situation is actually the same as those small villages, surrounded by so many poor people, which is very different from what I heard in the royal capital.

Shuna was very strange about what he said. He continued to listen to Ai Wen quietly about what was the difference between this and Wang Du.

ai wen continued: "At the annual celebration of the founding of the kingdom, a grand award ceremony will be held in the largest central square in the capital of Asos to commend the lords of those cities that have generated the most revenue in the kingdom. I visit every year, and according to the political performance reports read by those lords, their tax achievements are excellent every year, and each lord advertises that the commerce in his territory is developed, the people live a rich life, the surrounding security is very stable, and attracts more businessmen to invest and do business everywhere. I just didn't expect that what I saw and heard along this trip was completely different from the two worlds claimed by those lords, and I have always felt strange about this.

"I don't know at all what kind of place King Athos is located, but our small town, no, it's not just here. I heard from Amy that the situation in many places nearby is similar to here, and even more poor. Over the years, the lives of our ordinary people have been getting poorer and poorer year by year. I don't know why those lords say that to the people in the capital, but I believe it is not surprising that those lords pay more and more taxes every year.

He also said what he saw and heard.

"Because every year, the lords will raise the tax rate day by day, and those tax collectors bring the lord's army to collect it every once in a while. Slum residents like us are not bad, because there is no money to collect at all, so those tax officials disdain to come here. And the ordinary residents in the city are suffering. If they can't pay enough taxes, their property will be confiscated. What's more terrible is that if the tax officials are not satisfied, those residents will be forcibly taken away by soldiers of the army. I heard that they will go to other places to work as labor to fill those insufficient taxes, and then often There is no reply. In fact, many orphans here are separated from their parents because of this, and so is Amy..."

What Shuner said is not exaggerated at all, and in fact, it has the historical roots of the past. In the decades of the history of the kingdom, the current Emperor Hiloken ascended the throne 15 years ago. At that time, he was only 24 years old, which can be said to be the youngest emperor in the history of the kingdom. The previous ruler was Emperor Hiloken's brother, Emperor Qilub. However, his reign is only five years, which is also the first thing in the history of the kingdom.

Difference from today's Hiloken Emperor, the former Emperor Chilub changed the high-handed governance policy of their father, the former emperor, and the fascist emperor. The policy of Emperor Kirub's political state can be said to be the way of benevolence. Internally, in the first three years of his reign, he did not add any taxes on the people and gave them a rest to the people; on the outside side, he actively made friends with foreign nations, allowed foreign nations to settle and live in the kingdom, and relied on friendly diplomatic relations to resolve the war scars caused by his father, the fascist emperor's launch of aggression. This period can be said to be the most peaceful and stable period in the kingdom in recent years, and Elvin was also born at the beginning of this era.

Unfortunately, the good times are not long. The century-old hatred between the kingdom and the alien nation is not so easy to resolve, and Emperor Kiluber also paid his biggest price for this. Emperor Kirubim was assassinated by people from different nations. Emperor Hiloken, who immediately succeeded him and ascended to the throne, carried out a clean-up of different ethnic groups throughout the country for this reason. Such a clean-up lasted for several years, and the vast majority of the alien ethnic groups settled in the kingdom were "cleaned up" for various reasons, and even their descendants born to the residents of the kingdom were involved. Even discriminated against.

Emperor Hiloken's behavior is as tough as his father, the fascist emperor, but it is the most unique in history in terms of cruelty and luxury. At the beginning of his accession to the throne, he planned to make a magnificent palace for himself (that is, the Star Palace completed at the beginning). Unfortunately, the previous emperor's tax exemption policy made it impossible for the treasury to support this huge expense, and the forced expropriation was not wise for him who had just ascended the throne.

Although Emperor Hiloken was very young at that time, he was a very resourceful person. In order to strengthen and consolidate his dominant position, Emperor Hiloken secretly united with big businessmen from all over the world and declared that he was ready to go to war against foreign nations on the grounds of cleaning up the different nations. The army needed a lot of military food to fight the war.

And those big businessmen used this to speculate on grain prices, and grain prices soared for a while. Those ordinary people saw that they were profitable, coupled with some propaganda and confusion, the people then sold the vast majority of grain in their homes, leaving only the amount of grain left to survive. Unfortunately, the development of the situation far exceeded the expectations of the people. Emperor Hiloken, who united with the merchants, used the next method and issued a decree, claiming that due to the impact of the war, the kingdom's emergency decree could be used, that is, the forced expropriation of some materials from the people to deal with the war. There is reason to levy the people. Some materials have been transferred.

The law stipulates that the requisition of materials cannot exceed a certain amount, which was strictly complied by Emperor Hiloken, so at the beginning, the people had no objection. After that, Emperor Hiloken symbolically carried out the clean-up of the alien people, but the procrastination was completely ineffective, so there was no formal war with the alien people.

It seems that the days are still peaceful, but the disaster is slowly approaching. It was enough to support the food for the next harvest day, but this time, it was not enough. But naive people, at this time, they have not realized the future crisis and are still looking forward to spending some money to buy food at worst. Are you afraid that there is nothing to sell if you have money?

The result can be imagined that it is really difficult to buy food with money, that is, half a year later, people all over the kingdom are facing a shortage of food, and at this time, those merchants who hoard a large amount of food sell it to the people at a higher price.

At this time, the people of the kingdom woke up. Unfortunately, because the incident was led by Emperor Hiloken, such a "fair trade" of course made the people of the kingdom have no way to complain, and the army of the kingdom's army protected the "legitimate power" of those merchants to buy and sell.

As a result, the people of the kingdom also have no choice but to pay higher prices to buy back the food they sold due to a moment of greed. Of course, those who have no money to buy will be kindly given them credit, but the price after that is more terrible. The negative debts are getting higher and more, and if the family's wealth is really not enough, they will be recruited to do hard work, which is also the source of a lot of labor needed to build the Star Emperor Hall. .

So over time, the people's property is decreasing, the kingdom's treasury is increasing, and the armed expansion of military power is becoming stronger, the kingdom's rule is getting stronger and stronger, and the people's power and resistance are getting weaker, so that the people are powerless and weaker in the face of the blatant brutal rule of Emperor Hilocan. Get up.

That historical event is known as a false war, the real aggressive "snake disaster" food incident, and people are swallowed up because of their own greed. This is really ironic, and these are the historical causes under the general trend of the whole kingdom today, which is also the most real outside the prosperous capital. The true face of the world.