Throughout the stone streets, wanderers lying quietly under the shade and starving to the point of being only skinned and bones remained.They just lay on the stone slab in a decadent way, allowing their bodies to slowly become moldy and smelly.Compared to the homeless, the life of the poor who own a hut is slightly better.At this time, the men had not finished their day's work and hurried back from outside.Most of the women sat under the eaves with tattered fishing nets on their bodies.A young woman was still holding her baby in her arms, the baby was sleeping quietly in her arms, a large bowl of water was placed in front of her, two shells floating in the soup in the bowl, her thick lips were a little chapped, her eyes were looking at the mouth of the alley, her eyes were full of anticipation.Helena gently covered her mouth and whispered, "Why don't they go to the beach and pick up some food?"
Even if it's some seaweed, there should be no problem to fill your stomach!
”Becky, who was next to her, felt the same way, and asked Joan, "Won't anyone here catch the sea?"
Even if there is no white sandy beach, is there no shellfish on the reef?
Look, the oyster shells on this wall are so big!
You might also be able to catch some fish and shrimp in the shallow waters. ”Joan pointed to the wall in the distance and said, "Go over there, and maybe you'll find the answer you're looking for." ”Hearing Joan say this, Noah did not hesitate to walk over, and the Rand knight, who fell behind the team, hurriedly caught up and followed Noah's side closely, he pressed one hand on the hilt of the sword, vigilantly scanning the people around him.There were so many homeless people in the streets that they looked listless, but the Rand Knight was still very cautious, probably worried that there were some outlaws hiding in them.Passing by a fish shop, I saw that this fish shop was the only one on the whole street, and there was a row of stone slabs outside the shop, which were full of all kinds of dried fish and salted fish, but there were not many fresh fish, and they were very small, and a few small fish with a palm length were placed on the stone slabs, exuding a fishy smell, and a group of green-headed flies made a buzzing sound, circling around these stinky fish.On the opposite wall of the fish shop was a group of children, dark-skinned and skinny, each with a big head on their thin necks, squatting at the corner of the wall and staring at the small dried fish on the stone slab.The stall owner was a burly man, who was sleeping on a wicker chair in the shade, snoring like thunder, and by the wall stood a three-thorned harpoon, the edge of which was sharpened so that the children did not dare to act rashly.The group passed through the alley, as if watched by countless pairs of eyes, and those eyes carried some fear, some envy, and some hope.Suddenly, a middle-aged woman ran out of the doorway with a young girl and stopped the Rand Knight.Perhaps in the eyes of this middle-aged woman, the Rand Knight, who was burly and extraordinary, and wore a gorgeous demonic pattern armor, was the most powerful one in our group.The Rand Knight stood in front of the mother and daughter with a calm face, the woman's eyes were full of fear, but she still mustered up her courage, and said to the Rand Knight: "Lord Knight, please take my child, as long as you are willing to give her a bite to eat, she will do all the housework for you." ”The woman stretched out her cracked hand and gently brushed away the tears that hung from the girl's face.He also said: "The child has grown up and the family can't afford to support it, please have mercy on us!"
”The girl hung her head and stood beside without saying a word, and the woman brushed away the scattered hair on her face, revealing a young face, which was very delicate except for a slightly darker skin, and whose skin was as delicate as brocade.The woman said to Rand with a flattering face, "She's so young, she only attended the coming-of-age ceremony last fall.She is very sensible and will not cause you any trouble at all. ”The Rand Knight looked a little embarrassed, and it was clear that the upright knight was thinking about how to refuse, and for him, it was against a knight's code to refuse a weak man's request.Joan glanced at Jacques pleadingly, and whispered in Jacques' ear, "Is there a way you can ask the knight to take Janet?"
”Jacques immediately shook his head and said to Joan, "Please let that woman give up this idea, the knight of Rand will not agree." ”"I'm here on an important mission, and I'm sorry, I can't help you with your request."
The Rand Knight rejected the woman.Noah watched the excitement with great interest, constantly looking at the girl who was standing quietly beside the woman.Shirley.
Newman hurriedly approached Noah, nudged him, and asked Noah, "Do you want me to let that woman deliver that girl to your arms?"
”"Hey, you know, I only like fair-skinned girls.Ah, I think about it, it seems that I haven't eaten dinner yet, and I said why my stomach is starting to growl, let's go!
”Noah immediately looked away and looked at Shirley.
Newman said.For Noah's reaction, Shirley.
Newman gave him a sweet smile, reached out and gently grabbed Noah's arm, and walked at the front of the group together.At this time, Joan immediately ran to the woman's side and whispered a few words of persuasion before the woman obediently took her daughter to the side of the road, watching the Rand Knight and his team of Constructed Knight pass quietly.Ying Li has been standing beside me silently, with some confusion between her eyebrows, I have never seen Ying Li think so seriously, Bei Yan bit her soft lips, her eyes have been looking at her toes, there is no smile, the pear vortex on her face has become very shallow.Maybe she had lived in a coastal city, and she couldn't understand the difficult life of the civilians of Galapagos City.Caterina and Karantso, who were standing behind me, looked indifferent.Born into a poor family, Caterina was accustomed to the hardships of the poor.Karantso's life is also very bumpy, not only caught up with the catastrophe of the orc tribe, but also suffered a lot in El City, so naturally his mood will not be affected because of the poor life here.Jacques frowned all the way, and I wondered what was going on in his mind, as if he had a lot of words in his heart.Joan didn't seem to want to show us around the Galapagos, she just showed us around the ghetto, which I don't think were a good place to eat.Now she took us to the city gate, there is a restaurant next to the city gate, but at this time, the city gate is very lively, many men have returned from outside the city, all carrying some harvest, see them all salty, the net pocket is bulging, the footsteps do not stop for a moment to rush home, let me feel that the people here, life is really a little hard.A man carrying wet seafood on his back came out of the crowd, stood outside the door of the restaurant, and stretched out the net pocket to reveal some fish inside, which was really varied, seaweed of various colors, a few unshaped marine fish, and some shellfish, large and small.The waiter standing at the door of the restaurant looked inside, reached out and picked out a few large conch conchs inside, threw them into the wooden basin on the side, and then took out a few copper plates from the money bag and slapped them into the man's palm.The man opened his mouth wide, showing joy, waved his arms excitedly, tied up the net, picked it up again, and disappeared into the crowd.It seems that there are many people who return from the sea, and they will choose the best things to sell as soon as possible, and the rest will be taken home.It turned out that it was not that no one went to catch the sea, but that the people who rushed to the sea were almost bursting the city gates.Joan told us, "If you want to taste some of the unique seafood of the Galapagos, come to this restaurant, where the food is very average, but the seafood is the freshest." ”Since Joan had been recommended by the innkeeper and was a friend of Jacques, she recommended this restaurant to us, so there was no reason to refuse.As we entered the restaurant, Joan pointed upstairs and asked the waiter, "Is there any place up there?"
”The waiter immediately greeted us cordially and led us upstairs.Joan helped us choose a quiet corner, near the window, if it weren't for the high walls, we might have seen the sea outside, and now we can only see the noisy scene at the city gate, maybe this is what a city should be.Joan told us that there was originally a dock outside the gate that was about to be abandoned, but there were a lot of reefs and rocks in this area, and many merchant ships would knock down on the reef if they were not careful.Many people who returned from the sea stood in line at the city gate, and the city gate guards would check the net pockets of every man who returned from the sea, and often the best seafood would be selected by them before they were allowed to pass through the city gate.Seeing a poor man carrying a net full of seaweed stopped by the guards at the city gate, they savagely poured the seaweed in the net to the ground, and found that there was not even a small fish in it, and they were furious, and threw the net on the man, and kicked him several times, and drove him out of the city.The waiter came over and asked what we needed, and Joan said a very tongue-in-cheek name, and then waved him down to get ready.I've never seen such a quick order, and I even wonder if Joan is ordering just one main course.However, our minds were no longer on dinner, and we were a little puzzled by the sight at the gates, the guards had treated the poor people too roughly, but they seemed to be accustomed to such a life.Joan said to us, "Isn't it strange that those people are waiting in line?
”Noah and I looked at each other, and Noah said, "Is this paying taxes?"
”The Rand knight and his companions at the table next to him were also curious, looking at the city gate."
That's right."
Joan replied.Then she added, "But the taxes here are a little bit special!"
”Joan's words succeeded in attracting our attention, and she became the center of attention at this moment.She stood by the window, pointed to the people at the city gate outside, and said: "These sea catchers are roughly divided into three categories, the first type is the commoners with tax certificates, after they return from the sea, as a tax, the city gate guards need to take out a part of the seafood, and the value of this part of the seafood will account for about thirty percent of the total value. ”I didn't expect the tax rate to be so high, and the archon seemed to have considered that these people had no way to pay for taxes, so he chose to use goods to deduct it.Just thinking about it, I heard Joan say again: "The second type is the poor people who do not have tax certificates, they not only live in poverty, but also cannot pay taxes, so there is no way to get tax certificates.So they have to pay half of all the goods after they catch the sea. ”Then Joan added: "The third group of people are the vagrants who have no right of residence, and they even have no permanent residence, that is, beggars who lie in the streets.If they want to go to the sea, when they return, they must pay eighty percent of the harvest to the city gate guards. ”Probably because of this, those wanderers would rather lie in the city and wait to starve to death than run outside the city to catch the sea.After this tax, I'm afraid there won't be much seaweed left."
What exactly do they want?"
Noah slammed the table.It seems that the city's consuls will bear a large part of the blame for the city's depression."
That's not what they said!"
Jacques finally spoke the words that he had held back in his heart."
Damn it, these scumbags, how can they not be true to their word?""
They?
Who is it?
”Noah asked, staring at Jacques."
Boris promised me, he said that as long as I am willing to return to the city of Illinas, he promised me to open the coastline near the dock to these wanderers, and will send troops to clear the nearby sea beasts of the low-level sea beasts."
Jacques clenched his fists tightly and said angrily."
So you returned to Illinas City with infamy?"
Noah asked Jacques."
But what else can I do, I wanted to help them and make their lives better, but there is nothing I can do!
I had to go to Boris and ask him to ease the taxes on the poor and vagrants, and Boris promised me!
”Jacques said to us.Joan on the side sneered and said, "You are really real, if a dog says that it has a stinky problem of eating, will you believe it?"
”"I think tomorrow, I should go and see Uncle Boris!"
Noah said."
Maybe I can change some of his minds!"
Book friends have written a book, the name is the Golden Avenue of Entertainment, there are currently more than 60,000 words and 30 chapters, guests who like entertainment themes, you might as well go and see it, it's not bad.