The scorching sun baked the earth, wisps of steam mixed with the rotting smell of corpses filled the air, mixing into a suffocating smell.

Covering her mouth and nose in sackcloth, Seema carried the corpses to a deep pit next to the temple under the command of the Blue Saints.

When the pit was filled, the Unsullied threw torches and igniters into it.

A raging flame rose up, and the scorching air currents made Sima involuntarily take a few steps back.

Saints dressed in various robes chanted prayers around the crematorium, and indistinct rituals in Giscali rose into the air with blackened smoke.

There were three of the same cremation piles inside the city, and even more outside the city, wisps of smoke slowly lifted into the air with the heroic spirits of the dead Meereans, Yuankai people, Astabos, and mercenaries from all over the world, but I don't know if there are really gods in the heavens to lure their souls.

It took two busy days before all the corpses inside and outside the city were cleaned, but the blood stains left on the streets and walls were not washed for a while.

Just then a heavy rain came, enveloping the ancient city of Meereen, and the streets and alleys became streams, and the pale red blood carried away the stumps and rubble in the corners.

When the rain stopped, Meereen seemed to have a new lease of life.

Sima strolled barefoot on the slippery masonry and walked cautiously through the streets.

Seeing a group of unsullied people patrolling ahead, he subconsciously gave way to the side of the road, and was about to kneel before realizing that he was already a free citizen.

The thought made him panic and overwhelmed him.

I'm free, but I still have to eat.

"Grown-ups." Sima plucked up the courage to ask, "Do you still have a body to carry today?" ”

"The body has been cleaned up." The Unsullied Ones.

Hearing this, a look of disappointment uncontrollably appeared on Sima's face, and his mouth moved, as if he wanted to ask something but did not dare to speak.

"There is a referendum on the brick square today, you can go and vote." The Unsullied said again.

"Referendum?" Sima didn't understand what this meant, but she didn't dare to ask more questions when she saw the cold appearance of the Unsullied, so she had to nod her head again and again, "Okay, okay, I'll go......"

The Unsullied will not say much, and will continue to walk, stopping when they meet pedestrians to inform them of the referendum.

Sima watched for a while, and came to the colored brick square with curiosity and apprehension, and saw that thousands of people had gathered here.

Two large wooden boxes were placed in front of the copper pillar in the center of the square, and people lined up in front of the wooden boxes and threw something into them one by one.

On the outside, a group of young men in gray robes were handing out wooden sticks to the newcomers and giving explanations.

Sima leaned over and listened for a while, only to realize that this so-called "referendum" was for all Meereen people to vote on whether or not to restore slavery.

Those who agree to restore will throw the sticks into the box on the left, and those who oppose it will be thrown into the right.

Sima looked and saw that there were obviously more people lining up on the left than on the right.

Do you want to continue to be slaves?

He thought with mixed feelings.

Then the gray-robed young man approached and shoved a wooden stick into his hand:

"Do you know what this is for?"

"Know, know ......"

"Okay, then go to the line, leave after voting, and don't come in again."

"Okay, okay." Sima nodded repeatedly, but when he was about to step forward to vote, he hesitated.

Truth be told, if you can be a free man, who wants to be a slave?

But after being a free man for a while, Sima only felt panic and confusion after experiencing the initial excitement.

He didn't know what he was supposed to do.

Before the dragon queen called everyone to plant beans, he went, but the seedlings that were planted all died within a few days, some said it was due to lack of water, some said it was bad soil, and some said it was the curse of the gods......

Sima didn't understand, he hadn't farmed before.

Later, someone persuaded him to grow olives, but this time Sima kept an eye on it and asked the wise man about it.

Only then did I know that after the olives were planted, they could only ripen and harvest in three years.

Sima knew that she would never survive the harvest in three years, and she would have starved to death.

At this time, he missed the days of serving the good lord very much.

Although he was a slave at that time, at least the good lord would give him food.

Now that he is free, he has to find a way to fill his stomach, and this is so difficult, even more difficult than being a slave.

So, Sima pinched the sticks and joined the longer group on the left.

After about half an hour, Sima threw the wooden stick into the box and suddenly felt the urge to cry.

"Misha......" he muttered, the figure of the dragon queen in his mind.

On the large pyramid on the west side of the square, Daenerys stood on the terrace of the middle floor, looking at the voting scene below, and her heart was slightly sour.

She had just given these people freedom, but now they themselves had to put their shackles back on.

"They can't be blamed for that." Samwell walked up to her and whispered, "Freedom and bread, Meereen still has to choose bread after all." ”

"Bread with blood." Daenerys said.

"The necessary price, the helpless choice."

"They call me Misha, but I can't save them, I let them down......"

Samwell took Daenerys into his arms and comforted, "You can't be blamed for that. It is not difficult to break the old order, what is really difficult is to rebuild a new one. ”

"I don't think there's anything wrong with the old order." Zaro Zanwang Dassus walked over with the guards in his hands.

The business tycoon from the world of Shame bowed gracefully and said:

"Your Majesty the Storm King, Your Majesty the beautiful Dragon Queen, please forgive me for my rudeness, but I do think that the old order of Slave Bay is the most appropriate."

Daenerys glanced at him in disgust and said coldly:

"Of course you say that, because the slave trade makes you a lot of money."

"Nope. You misunderstood me. "Dear Maj. Daenerys, you have a sentimental heart, but you are still a little naïve about the world. A lot of what looks evil is actually the most appropriate. Like rainwater. ”

"Rain?"

"Yes, when the rain falls on our heads, we curse it, but without it the world will fall into famine. The same goes for slaves.

Don't be in a hurry to refute it, think of Quells, and think of what it has achieved in the fields of art, music, architecture, trade, and so on. It is these achievements that distinguish us humans from wild beasts, and make us thirteen giants, just like you, sit at the top of the pyramid.

But instead of the bricks that supported the magnificent Quels, it was the backbone of countless slaves.

You ask yourself, if everyone lives their lives facing the loess, who will look up at the endless starry sky?

If everyone is struggling to survive, who will build a magnificent temple that praises the gods? Who will create beautiful oil paintings and compose beautiful music?

For the sake of human greatness, there must be a part of the human population who became slaves. ”

"No, slaves are not the same as rain." Daenerys frowned, "I've been wet in the rain and I've been sold, and it doesn't feel the same. No one wants to be enslaved. ”

Zaro proudly pointed to the colored brick square and said with a smile:

"If I'm not mistaken, there are obviously more Meereen who are willing to be enslaved."

Daenerys was speechless, and it took a long time before she said:

"There are no slaves in Westeros, and the Seven Kingdoms have splendid civilizations, magnificent castles, and great music."

"I haven't been to your hometown, though." "I've also seen a lot of merchants and sailors from Westeros, and I've heard from them that the peasants of the Seven Kingdoms are no better off than slaves."

Yes, they are free, but so what? It's not that I'm still trapped on the land all my life, and most of the grain harvested has been taxed, and the rest can be filled. If there is any catastrophe or war, it will be the end of a broken family, even worse than a slave.

So, what good is freedom in doing for them? ”

Daenerys tried to refute, but couldn't.

Moreover, she had never been to Westeros at all, and her impressions of it came from her brother's story.

She looked at the man beside her, hoping that he would refute the businessman's fallacies.

Samwell finally spoke, but instead of directly addressing Zarrow's remarks, he asked a seemingly unrelated question:

"Your Excellency, how long do you think it will take 10,000 men to build a stone castle that covers an area of about five acres and is about eighty feet high?"

Zaro thought for a moment, "About two or three years." ”

"I've only used it for less than a year." "And even when there is an invasion of foreign enemies that interrupts the progress of construction." If you don't believe me, ask the sailors from Westeros how long it took for Hawksbill Island in the Bend to be built. ”

"I trust you." "But what does this have to do with the topic we discussed?" ”

Samwell still didn't answer, and asked again:

"How long do you think it will take to build a man-made river that is more than 700 miles long?"

"Seven hundred miles?" Zaro's eyes widened.

"That's right. The 700-mile man-made river can irrigate nearly 50 million acres of arable land along the way. Samwell laughed, "Don't think about it, you've never seen anything like it." ”

"I haven't seen it."

"I've mobilized nearly 100,000 workers, and that number will increase to 500,000 in the future. Believe me, this artificial river will be completed in five years. But if this project were to be done by the same number of slaves, I am afraid that it might not be completed for tens or even hundreds of years. ”

Zaro frowned, looking unconvinced.

Samwell didn't care either, and added with a smile:

"Whips and shackles are not necessarily the most effective tools of domination."

These words made Zaro fall into deep thought, but after a few moments, he woke up:

"Your Majesty Caesar, you won't go back, will you?"

"Nope." Samwell gestured to the plaza in front of him, "I respect the Meereen people's own choice. ”

"That's good." Zaro breathed a sigh of relief.

(End of chapter)