"Zheng, where are we now?"
Kylor poked his head out of the car window and asked Su Cheng who was driving.
"I'll take a look..."
Su Cheng drove with one hand, took out the map with the other hand and began to look carefully.
Su Cheng's driving skills are quite good. Even with one hand, he can easily drive a carriage pulled by two horses.
"We are now in Soma County."
"Soma County..." Alyssa chewed on the name, "I seem to have heard of this name...and I have heard it more than once."
"It's normal that you've heard of this name." Su Cheng smiled, "Soma County is a well-known and wealthy place in southern my country. It is said that the economy is so developed that it is the best in southern my country."
Su Cheng's words immediately increased the expectations of everyone in the car.
Even Su Cheng's chest was filled with anticipation, and he was full of expectations for this wealthy place that had long been revered to Daming.
...
...
"Mom, look."
Teresa pointed her little finger out the window.
"Someone!"
The carriage is now driving on a relatively wide field.
On both sides of the fields are neatly cut rice fields.
What Teresa refers to is the farmers who work on the rice fields.
"Um……"
Looking at the farmers working on the rice fields, Su Cheng's brows gradually frowned.
Because Su Cheng noticed something strange.
Those who noticed something strange were Kylor, Alisa and Alan.
Only Teresa and Maria, who were uneasy in the world, were lying on the car and boat, looking at the farmers working in the rice fields with curious eyes, as well as the young rice seedlings.
"Brother..." Alan whispered to Su Cheng, "Why... are all old guys working in the fields...?"
What Su Cheng and others noticed was that the people working in the rice fields were middle-aged and elderly people who were 40 or 50 years old.
You can even see several figures with white hair among these middle-aged and elderly people.
Looking around, I didn't see any young man.
"Ah, Su Cheng, look, there is a village ahead."
Alisa, who has the best vision among the people, said as she pointed forward.
Su Cheng narrowed his eyes and looked forward intently.
It was discovered that as Alisa said, the horizon ahead showed faint, angular lines.
Only buildings have such lines.
Su Cheng could barely see a few ripples of smoke rising from these lines.
"... It just so happened that our horse was about to rest." Su Cheng whispered, "Let's go to the village in front to get a foot."
...
...
The villagers in this rural area are very friendly.
After seeing that Su Cheng and others were just ordinary travelers, they generously let them into the village and provide Su Cheng and others with a place to rest.
After entering this village, Su Cheng's brows remained tight and never relaxed.
It is not difficult to see from the outside that this village is a very wealthy village.
The houses were all solid wooden houses, the roads were clean and neat, and the villagers were all wearing decent and neat clothes.
But - a certain scene in this village is exactly the same as what I saw in those rice fields just now.
That is - there is no young and middle-aged figure...
Only middle-aged and elderly people and children shuttled through the village.
Su Cheng had just parked the carriage in an open place designated by the villagers. An elderly man with white hair and beard and about 60 years old welcomed Su Cheng and others with a warm smile.
"Travelers, welcome to Owo Village. I am the village chief of Owo Village - Kev Myso."
"Good afternoon, Mr. Jung." Su Cheng responded to Kefu with a smile, "Thank you for providing us with a place to stay."
"It's just a small matter, there's no need to express our gratitude to us with such great difficulty." Kefu smiled and waved his hand, "We are still very happy that you can come to our village. We haven't seen young people for a while."
“Having young people like you patronize our village can also make the atmosphere more energetic.”
Hearing Kefu's words, Su Cheng couldn't help but pursed his lips.
"...My Excellency, I have a question to ask you."
"Well, ask me as much as possible, I will know everything I can ask."
Seeing that the village chief said this, Su Cheng was no longer polite and asked the village chief directly:
"Village Chief, why are there no young people in your village?"
After hearing Su Cheng's question, the smile on the village chief's face suddenly froze.
Just as Su Cheng began to blame himself for saying something wrong, the village chief slowly put away the smile on his face and sighed softly.
"...why...it's not because the country has been fighting wars over the years..."
"About half a year ago, all the young and strong laborers in our village, both men and women, were pulled away by the people of the country."
"It seems that they were all taken to the east to transport supplies."
"It is said that the war has ended, but I don't know when these children will be back..."
"I just hope that these children who were pulled away by the country can come back safely..."
After saying that, the village chief sighed again.
"Has I been taken to transport supplies?!" Su Cheng widened his eyes and exclaimed, "My Excellency, Village Chief, this place is Soma County, right?"
"yes."
"Soma County is the richest county in southern my country, right?"
"Is it the richest county in the south of the country? I don't know whether it is the richest county in the south of the country, but compared with other surrounding counties, our Soma County is indeed relatively wealthy."
"Have even the richest villagers of Soma County taken to the battlefield to transport supplies?" Su Cheng's face was filled with shock.
"Yes..." Kefu's face was filled with a wry smile, "The city that governs our village is Kangcheng not far from this."
"At the beginning of the war with the Frank Empire, the city lord of Kangcheng came to various villages under his jurisdiction and told us: The labor required by the country is sufficient at present, so we don't have to worry about the young and middle-aged people in the village being taken to the battlefield to transport supplies, so that we can continue to live a peaceful life."
"However... just half a year later, the city lord suddenly told us that the country has not used enough civilians, and the young and middle-aged people in our village have to be recruited to the battlefield to transport supplies..."
"Although we don't want to, we can't do anything..."
Chapter completed!