As the day of yellow sand passed and a new month of ordinary days arrived, everyone either stocked up on goods or went out to find work. Qin Yiyi's territory was also bustling with activity.
She had purchased a lot of goods, but she didn't have enough gold coins. She needed to earn money to invest in her territory and then make money from its development. This would create a virtuous cycle.
but....
She considered many methods, but all of them were risky to implement. For example, she made food, but the food she made was all zero-pollution food with added benefits. Such food has a very short shelf life, and if it were put on auction, it would inevitably attract the attention of those with ulterior motives.
Now we have our own rice separator, which can separate low-pollution rice. Now the people in our territory receive low-pollution rice every day.
Could she also sell low-pollution rice? After all, buying rice paddies, producing rice, and making a profit from the price difference could be a decent income.
but....
There's only one town nearby, Chaos Territory, which is incredibly chaotic. If she keeps dumping rice, someone will likely target her and then...
Ultimately, it's because we don't have enough combat-type talents. If we had enough orcs, even if they weren't like Sid or mercenaries, some normal young adult orcs would be fine!
My territory is still too weak!
Meanwhile, the elderly and children in the territory finished their day's work. There weren't many of them, and their rations were paid on a daily basis, but in just one week they had accumulated quite a bit of food, all saved from their own mouths.
Several older boys, around fifteen years old, gathered together and pooled their money for rice.
Each household contributed a little rice, which added up to a total of five or six jin (2.5-3 catties) of rice.
"We'll set off at night and arrive at Mom and Dad's territory by dawn, where we'll deliver the rice to them!"
"Last time I went out, I inquired about the news from the noble territory. They not only sent our parents there to do hard labor, but they also whipped them every day. They were starving and cold, and they were worse off than us slaves!"
"Exactly, they're all territories, so why is there such a big difference?"
"Our lord is different, isn't he? Our lord is the best lord in the world!"
"But Mom and Dad are originally from our territory. Why don't we let them come back? They don't need to go to the Viscount's territory anymore. They can eat and dress well in our territory, and we will work hard to earn money to pay taxes to the lord!"
"That makes sense, let's bring the parents back!"
They were not slaves, they had no slave papers, and they were not branded on the territory. Even laborers could leave the territory on their own. The viscount was simply exploiting them and threatening them with the old people and children in the territory. If they didn't work, they wouldn't get any money, and without money, they wouldn't be able to scrape together enough food to pay taxes for the old people and children here.
In other words, the parents of the viscounts all assumed that they had to pay taxes for both territories. However, they had been cheated badly in the past, and if things continued like this, they would not only be unable to pay the taxes for both territories, but they would also be unable to fill their own stomachs!
Within the Viscount's territory, after a day of hard work, the couple received one ounce of highly polluted rice. They had to use a homemade filter to grind and separate the highly polluted rice. After two hours of hard work, the rice was transformed into rice with just 49% low pollution. Half of the one ounce of rice was cooked, and the other half remained.
Both the men and women were already skin and bones from hunger.
The man looked at the woman's pale and thin appearance.
“This can’t go on. If we don’t have enough to eat, we can’t work well. If we don’t work well, our food will be cut back. Then we won’t be able to pay taxes for our children and the elderly. It’s a vicious cycle. When will it ever end?”
The man gave up one or two grains of his own rice and poured them all into the pot.
"My half-orc body is more resilient than yours. You finish your food first, and I can hold out for another day or two!"
The woman shed tears.
"If you don't eat it, I won't eat it either. Let's just scoop out the rice, wash it, and save it to pay the children's taxes!"
"No, you can't hold on if you don't eat!"
【Coo coo coo~】
"A pheasant?" The man's eyes lit up.
"A pheasant?"
The viscount's territory is around a lake, and there's a forest next to it. The wild animals have all been hunted and eaten by these people, so how could there be pheasants here at this time?
The man sat down, his face wary. Could it be that the unscrupulous lord had come up with some new trick to withhold their grain? Last time, someone caught a pheasant and claimed it as his own. After eating the pheasant, the lord threatened to withhold their grain. When the pheasant was taken back, the lord claimed that the man didn't know the rules. In the end, both the pheasant and the grain were gone.
After listening carefully, the woman covered her chest.
"That voice, that's Xiongzai's voice!"
Bear Cub is their son. The half-orc has a pair of bear ears because they have another child who inherited their mother's genes and is a bird. Their little daughter is only three years old, so they often imitate the cooing sound to amuse the little girl. Bear Cub is fifteen years old.
Could it really be the bear cubs?
"I'll go out and take a look. Don't worry, I won't catch any pheasants, but if it's a bear cub..." Could it be that the lord of that territory kicked them out because they couldn't pay their taxes?
Fortunately, he slept outside the territory; there was no house, only a tent for shelter from the wind and rain.
Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to hear the bear cub's calls at all.
The man came out and, following the sound, saw several little brats hiding outside the territory.
A few radish heads huddled in the jungle.
"dad!"
It's Xiongzai, it really is his son's voice.
He grabbed his son's hand through the iron bars.
"What are you doing here? Do you know how dangerous it is to be out at night?"
"Father! Go to our territory and become a slave for our lord!"
What?
"Father, we've already become slaves!"
"Yes, Uncle, being a slave has a better future than being a laborer!"
? ? !
The children chattered away, and then Moonlight Bear's dad noticed that Bear had actually gained a little weight. The children then handed over six kilograms of low-pollution rice.
The cool touch of rice flowing through my fingertips.
Bear Cub's father was startled.
"Where did this come from? Did you steal the lord's grain? Do you know that's a capital offense!"
They'll be hunted down by the main city's army!
Paying taxes to the territory is equivalent to paying protection money. The main city will not only give you crystals, but will also provide support to the territory's army when necessary.
"Father, this was given to us by our lord!"
"Yes, Uncle, after we become the lord's slaves, we can get an ounce of low-pollution rice for working ten hours a day. Uncle, please call my dad and let him join us!"
"Yes, being a slave in our territory has a promising future!"
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