In the afternoon, Chen Hansheng and Kalanda were walking on the streets of the town. In this small town with many merchants, they were not very conspicuous. In addition to them, Glade and Leo also brought a group of people to collect information.
It was not enough to just listen to the innkeeper's one-sided words. They had to go deep into the town to understand the real situation. Chen Hansheng watched and compared the differences between the two towns with Floro Town.
Obviously, apart from the Baron's mansion, which was large and solid, made of fine materials and looked like a fortress, most of the houses here were even more crude than those in Floro Town, and many of them could only be described as shacks. Compared with the townspeople in Floro, the people here also looked sicker, with many of them having thin cheeks, sunken eye sockets, sparse hair, and thin bodies, all of them looked like they were malnourished. Especially the children here, most of them were short and stunted.
"It seems that the taxes here are heavy, for sure. Compared with the people in Floro Town, these people are not only physically weak, but also mentally weak. Look at the way they stare at us blankly. They are really devastated by life." Chen Hansheng sighed.
"Frollo is a special case. Count Carlos left it alone for many years to show that he had no intention of governing the land, just for the inspectors from the capital to see." Kalanda was more accustomed to such small town scenes. "But it is indeed very oppressive here. You can see that there are many residents who have no pants to wear and only a piece of rag. There are not many towns in the kingdom that are as free as Floro, and there are not many that are as embarrassed as this one."
"Hey, let me be frank. The worse it is here, the better it is for us to carry out our work. If they don't do a bad job, how can we show that we are good?" Chen Hansheng shook his head gently. "This is a world with magical powers that can increase food production and simplify manufacturing. But it ended up like this."
"But, can these... these residents really be changed? Although I sympathize with them, but, look at their eyes, it seems that they are not thinking about anything..."
Chen Hansheng put his arm around Karanda's shoulders and said, "You still haven't looked at the problem from the perspective of a noble lady. You haven't really experienced their feelings."
"I'm not a noble lady." Kalanda said with a straight face.
"Yes, yes, you are not, but the education you received is no worse than theirs."
"In the past, there were always people in our area criticizing these lower-class people for being numb, ignorant, and short-sighted. At first, I thought it made sense. But later, as I went to more places and met more people, I realized that it was all nonsense.
Did you see that old man? Would he not love his grandson? Did you see that girl? Would she not have someone she liked in her heart? Did you see that child? Would he have any idea of what he wanted to do
If you get in touch with them carefully, tear down their defenses, and have a good chat with them, you will find that each of them has their own ideas. But the problem is that they have no money, no ability, no vision, and they can't do it.
They are numb because they don't understand, they are ignorant because they don't know, and they are short-sighted because no one tells them what will happen after they climb over the mountain ahead. But when we come, everything will be different."
After Chen Hansheng finished speaking, he saw a hint of admiration in Kalanda's eyes when he looked at him, and he felt so proud.
The two wandered from one end of the town to the other and back again, and no one paid any attention to them. Chen Hansheng said, "I thought the baron would contact us soon after hearing the news of our arrival. I didn't expect him to stay put."
"You are quietly observing this town, and he must be secretly observing you."
"After spending so much time with me, you start to speak more and more like a poet."
The two of them passed by a place that was obviously a small square. He saw from a distance that there were quite a few people gathered there. He thought he would find some vendors selling things here, but in fact there were no stalls. The people gathered together were waiting for the two people to be punished.
There were two men tied to the rack in the square.
A man who looked like a steward was announcing the charges: "... Tuchin and his son Sova evaded the baron's transit tax and commercial tax. Each of them shall be whipped fifty times."
The steward was obviously in no mood to explain anything to these serfs, so he waved his hand and ordered the two guards to beat them. Both men's mouths were blocked, but they still made muffled noises.
"This whip is wrong. It will kill people." After only three whips, Kalanda discovered the problem.
Chen Hansheng saw an old man at the end of the crowd shaking his head and sighing, so he went over to him and said, "Old man, do you think this father and son were wronged?"
The old man took a look at Chen Hansheng and saw that he was a simple middle-aged man, dressed like those merchant mercenaries. Although he looked a little strange, he did not suspect anything. He covered his mouth and whispered, "Tuqin is a well-known good man. He is willing to help anyone in need. He is also honest in business, so how could he evade taxes? He must have offended the baron, so he was arrested for a random crime. Alas."
"Are there many such things?" Chen Hansheng asked.
The old man turned his head and looked at him, and asked curiously, "Don't you know whether it's a lot or not? Which master doesn't kill people whenever he wants?"
Chen Hansheng nodded in agreement and then winked at Kalanda.
Karanda understood what she meant and flicked her fingers a few times. A few rays of light that could not be seen by the naked eye shot out from her fingertips and hit the two guards who were carrying out the execution. They shook their bodies and the direction of the whips changed naturally, and each of them hit the steward standing beside them.
"Ah~~" The manager covered his face and screamed, then fell to the ground.
"What's going on!" The captain of the guard behind the steward rushed over with a long sword in hand. Kalanda shot out another wisp of fighting spirit and hit his leg. The captain of the guard's feet softened and his body staggered. The long sword happened to pierce the steward's thigh. After the steward let out a short howl, he simply fainted.
The steward held a high position in the Baron's mansion. The guards were so frightened that they were in a panic. Some stopped the bleeding, some bandaged the wound. Two guards removed a door panel from a nearby house, and a group of people carried the steward up and hurriedly sent him back to the Baron's mansion for treatment.
Tuqin and Sowa were whipped seven or eight times, their skin was torn and their flesh was exposed. They were left on the execution platform without anyone to take care of them. Chen Hansheng and Kalanda walked up to them calmly, cut the ropes and let them down. None of the onlookers came up to stop or question them. Chen Hansheng and Kalanda carried the two on their backs and went to the hotel.