Zhao Rui didn't care so much. He immediately sent a signal to the eight hundred cavalry in the distance and followed the old man to the village.
Different from the surrounding scenes with lush water and grass, this village looks extremely dilapidated, and it can even be said that there is no life at all.
"Your Highness, this village is a bit strange!" Ziyun hurriedly approached Zhao Rui: "In such an environment, are they too poor?"
Zhao Rui also frowned. Indeed, even if the surrounding land is utilized a little, considerable profits can be made.
"Perhaps it is really the fault of the local rulers!"
Ziyun's face was still full of vigilance. Although he had seen places that were too strong to look like when he was fighting in Khwarezm and other places, the natural environment there accounted for a large part of the reason.
There is indeed something unjust about this place.
On the sand mound at the entrance of the village, several children in rags and dirty clothes were playing with the mound.
In the freezing weather, many children wore clothes made of linen.
When Zhao Rui and the others entered the village, they had extremely simple smiles on their faces.
Zhao Weirui seemed to have seen her old self. She immediately dismounted and divided the dried meat she carried with her.
Unexpectedly, these children knelt on the ground one after another as if they had seen gods.
When the people in the village saw the stranger, they all came out.
It's just that most of them don't have any clothes, and the best they can get is a sheepskin.
In a relatively large house at the head of the village, the elderly village chief brought out a jar of bitter wine and served it up with a smile.
At the same time, there was a large amount of air-dried bacon.
"You are all distant visitors!" The village chief smiled very honestly: "We are a small place that can't produce anything good, so we still need three generals!"
"It's already very good!" Zhao Weirui grabbed a handful of bacon and stuffed it into his mouth: "I haven't eaten such delicious bacon in a long time."
Zhao Rui poured a glass of bitter wine and almost vomited it out as soon as he drank it.
This is bitter wine fermented from the milk of various animals, plus potatoes and sweet potatoes from the fields.
The taste was quite strong, but seeing the village chief's expression of enjoyment, Zhao Rui immediately understood that this was the best wine they had here.
"Village Chief! I see that the water, grass and land here are very fertile. Why don't you go graze?"
Zhao Rui couldn't help but ask.
The smile on the village chief's face completely disappeared, and there was more resentment in his eyes.
"When I was young, you could still graze freely in the nearby pastures. But later, when the new princess came to power, they changed the rules and no longer allowed grazing. Even the family's cattle and sheep that were slightly fatter were forcibly taken away.
Don’t give us any way to survive!”
Zhao Rui was in a daze. He didn't expect the Turkic people to live such a life.
"Then are you the slaves of the principality master?"
The village chief's face was full of confusion: "What is a slave?"
Zhao Rui frowned. Although the Turks did not have the concept of slaves and the villagers all owned their own property, their lives were not as good as those of slaves.
"Village chief, do you want to have your own pasture and land, where you can graze and farm freely?"
"Of course I have!" The village chief's eyes shone: "Which Turkic herdsman doesn't want to own cattle and sheep all over the mountains and plains! That way, the children can also wear decent clothes and avoid freezing to death!"
Zhao Rui thought for a moment, then raised his head, his eyes full of solemnity.
"Village chief, if you can trust me, take all the people from the nearby villages to Huacheng early tomorrow morning. I can give you pastures, land, cattle and sheep!"
The village chief stood there frozen like a statue.