Caroline stopped in the middle of her words, her brows furrowed, as if she was thinking about something.

"What are you doing here, lady?" asked Caroline, holding an old woman who had just returned from buying rice, in a soft voice.

"Hehe, of course it's to buy food. The weather-faced old woman dragged her pocket, which was not much smaller than her body, and said to Caroline with a smile that the imperial princess had long represented the royal family to send medicine to the commoners, and she had developed an affinity that these old country women could not resist.

"Isn't there a grain store in this town?"

As long as there are people gathered, there must be grain stores, this is basically common sense, grain stores buy grain from the periphery of the city, sell it to the citizens in the towns who do not engage in agricultural production, people as long as there is no food will buy in the grain store, this is the same in any city, just like a daily behavior.

However, selling grain in front of me is like rushing to a market, and a large number of people gather together to buy enough food for a month, which is really rare.

"At first glance, the nobleman is from other places, and we can't plant land here, where can we come to the grain store!"

Philip calmed down and thought for a moment, since he entered Bithynia, it was true that he had rarely seen farmland, and the rolling mountains were not suitable for large-scale farming.

"Why don't you plant it? Although there are many mountains here, you can make terraces!" Caroline said the doubts in Philip's heart, terraces are not a specialty of the earth, and the civilization here has been tens of thousands of years, although after several wars, the dynasty has been built and destroyed, destroyed and built, but the basic agricultural technology of terraces should not be lacking.

"Terraces? No kidding, building a terrace requires several times more manpower than ordinary farmland, and we have more mines than Tinia, so why bother to build that thing? My son's friend's neighbor's second uncle wanted to build terraces, but I didn't expect that the mountain had already been hollowed out by the miners, and which young man fell directly into the cave when he opened the mountain, and now he can't even find the body, and besides, even if the terraces are built, can he support so many people?"

Caroline and Philip fell silent. This era. Clearing the wasteland is not a simple matter, if you are not careful, you will die, and even if the aunt said it. The terraces can't feed so many people. Most of the mountains here have been developed into mines. For the rest, it is necessary to remove the mountains that have been hollowed out, and if terraces are opened on them. It is easy to get into trouble, and even if the rest is all terraced, the food produced may not be enough to feed the people in this town and the mines.

Sighing, Caroline patted the eldest lady's hand and pulled Philip away.

It was already dark, and Caroline stood at the edge of the town, and said in a somewhat depressed voice: "In the past, I always thought that I was very talented, and when I took the throne, as long as I gave full play to my abilities, Bugas would be able to prosper in the future." However, when I really came into contact with the real situation of the Empire, I realized that there were some things that I could not solve if I was strong. ”

Caroline held out her jade finger and pointed at the still-busy crowd in the clearing in the middle of the town.

"This is actually just a microcosm, a microcosm of the current situation in Bithynia, no matter in which country, a province whose economy depends on a single industry for half of its economy must be abnormal, according to the data of the Executive Yuan, Bithynia's mining and mining ancillary industries account for more than half of the province's total economy, and as the cornerstone of agriculture, not even five percent, this province has always been the place where Bugas imports the most grain in the country, every day, there are such convoys coming in from outside Bithynia, transporting grain to various cities, I used to always wonder, why can't the Bithynian people grow their own food, until I really came here, only to gradually figure out this problem. ”

Behind the town, there are all dense mountain peaks, you can vaguely see the lights of the mines on the mountains, during the day, your eyes are occupied by the beautiful scenery, and now you find that there are so many mines here, it actually surrounds this transfer station-like town.

The lights are very clear, and the lights hanging on the mine are like stars, and the stars in the sky are intertwined, forming a gorgeous picture.

Unfortunately, in this beautiful painting, there is nothing in the farmland where people come to make a living, and the men are all accustomed to mining to make a living, although the money is not very much, but it is less dangerous than opening the mountain, and farming is to watch the sky and eat, and there is not much harvest from the hard work of planting terraces on the mountain, and not many people are willing to be such farmers.

Caroline explained these words to Philip, and the princess of the empire was really politically literate, and she could analyze so many things from a little detail.

"Forget it, don't think about it so much, it's the result of nature, you can't change it. Philip comforted Caroline, how can the Imperial Duke be regarded as his fiancée, at this time to show the intimate side of the man, in order to be harmonious in the future after marriage, although Philip and Caroline do not need to be honey and oil, but mutual care is still needed.

Her Royal Highness and Philip made it to a big rock in the meadow together, and looked at the two "bright stars" in the sky and mountains together, and before she knew it, Caroline, who was empty in her heart, grabbed Philip's arm and rested her head on the man's shoulder.

——————

This melancholy did not alleviate all the way, and Caroline sighed whenever she saw the carriage carrying grain, and as the future ruler, she was looking at the problem from the height of the empire.

In the event of a food crisis in a province that has basically been importing grain, or if the transportation roads are blocked, there will be a famine in Bithynia, which is a hidden crisis that is more serious than absenteeism and strikes, but this is something that cannot be changed by manpower.

Sitting in the rented carriage, there was a burst of shouting and shouting from the outside, Philip lifted the curtain of the carriage, and the people on the side of the road gradually increased.

Philip smiled and said to Caroline, "Don't think about those things anymore, we're going to Tomei soon, and I'll go shopping with you later." ”

Looking at Philip, Caroline hesitated for a moment, then nodded, although she didn't have much of the mood to go shopping, but the kindness from Philip still made the imperial princess obedient, and some feelings need to be run by two people.

He got out of the carriage first, and then gentlemanly reached out and helped Caroline down so that Her Royal Highness, who was wearing high heels, would not twist her ankle.

"Coachman, is there anything Tomei can do to visit?"

The coachman who threw a money bag to the carriage felt heavier than the coachman expected, and the flattery on his face became even stronger.

"This nobleman, Tomei's precious ore market is famous throughout the country, with the gradual deepening of some historical old mines, the rare ores buried deep in the ground have also been excavated, like what Mithril, Adamantite, and even Orbonic copper, which can hardly be found in the Bright Continent, can also be found here. ”

Philip glanced at Caroline, and although Her Royal Highness maintained a warm smile, her eyes were a little blank, and she was obviously still worried about Bithynia's food, and it seemed that what the coachman said did not attract Caroline.

Philip waved his hand impatiently, wanting the coachman to leave, and it was better to take Caroline for a walk himself.

When the coachman saw Philip doing this, he immediately became a little anxious, this is a rich man in front of him, and the heavy money bag just now is proof that if he can impress him, maybe he will have more extra money.

"Noble, there is another place in our Tomei that is very famous, and many nobles have come to us here to rush to that place. ”

"Oh, and such a place?" asked Philip, surprised, and Caroline seemed to move a little, and her beautiful eyes rolled to look at the coachman.

The coachman, feeling that he was so seen by the nobles, puffed up his chest and said proudly:

"Slave Market!"

——————

Without pointless rebuke, without hypocritical pretenses, Caroline walked up to Philip and looked at the coachman earnestly, her voice seeming to be without a hint of ripple.

"Where's that slave market?"

"Well, go straight down this road, and at the end of it, that's it. ”

"Philip, give him some gold. With that, Caroline walked forward, and Philip felt that the princess of the empire, who had only become a little woman for five minutes, had turned on the female politician mode again.

Throwing a few gold coins over the coachman, not paying attention to his gratitude, Philip walked briskly forward and approached Caroline.

"Are you angry?"

"Nope. ”

"I remember that although the empire did not ban slaves, it did not agree with it, such things as slave markets could not be established, and Tomei was equivalent to a clear violation of imperial decrees, aren't you angry?"

Caroline stopped, turned her head, looked at Philip, and said in a serious tone that she had never seen before: "Philip, if you want to really become a politician, you must completely abandon unnecessary morality, the more successful politicians need this, although the slave trade is one of the ugliest things in human history, but, just like there is light, there must be darkness, this kind of thing can never be eradicated." ”

Well, the reasons are really strong and seem to make sense.

How to play politics, Philip felt that he couldn't catch up with his fiancée, so he simply questioned it, but Philip still had a little doubt.

"You don't think it's weird, but what do I think you're serious?"

Caroline sighed, with a hint of worry in her eyes, "It's not strange that there is a slave market, it's strange that it's such a place that is not rich or extravagant. ”

—————— (To be continued......)