Gawain smiled bitterly, although he knew that Anna's words were meant for the many peasants kneeling in front of him, but in fact, he wanted to say that Anna's self-blame was unfounded: because the curse of the agrarian society is like this, it is impossible for everyone to be rich and happy, even if the living conditions of most people exceed the subsistence line, if they can feed two people, they will not be afraid to give birth to four, and if they can feed four people, they will not be afraid to give birth to eight, so that the population will quickly and massively recover in comfort, and one day it will exceed the limit of what the national cake can bear, That would automatically turn on the "automatic overflow removal switch" - or "social slaughter" - that was characteristic of ancient agrarian societies, such as infant drowning, famine, exploitation; Or "weapon slaughter", such as rebellion, division, war, etc., Pandora's box will be unleashed, and the cry of catastrophe will be spread all over the land. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The scene of the drowning of the baby girl just now, although unforgivable in the eyes of the widow, may be the mildest of kinds when viewed in the context of "social massacre".

Gawain, however, chose to remain silent, and when the attaché began to translate the new decree of the princess in purple into German, and read it out sentence by sentence—for in any case, Anna's actions were always right, and Gawain hated the drowning of the baby girl as much, and even though the peasants had ten hundred reasons, the peculiar numbness and cunning expression on their faces now shrank over their shoulders, and although they bowed their heads to their ears, they did not change at all - in their hearts, they did not really take the princess's reprimand and edict seriously.

Soon after, the widow herself wrapped the baby girl in swaddling clothes, and gratefully half-lifted it into the arms of the little sunfish, who was in a bit of a hurry, and Anna, who was on her shoulder, looked at the widow through the curtains, and told the guards and servants to lift up their shoulders and go back to Seleucia, "You and the honorable Lady Inglana will negotiate for a while, and I will go back to the palace to find a nurse for this child." ”

"I'll be there then." Gawain bowed slightly and said, because the request of "wanting to talk to the Grand Duke in private" was said by the widow herself, and Anna actually agreed to it in person.

The few warriors of the Guards who were left behind, holding their weapons, were standing on the outskirts of the woods at the foot of the mountain, Madame Chiser was slightly dozing, leaning on her shoulder, wearing a robe to cover her body, and Gawain's falcon "Captain" was also half-open, and stood a little tired on the shoulder frame to accompany her. In the twilight, the insects chirped peacefully, and by the babbling stream, the golden-haired widow embraced Gawain's arms, "I don't want to be idle in the villa next to the Akum Bazaar. ”

"Wouldn't it be nice to have a safe delivery there, and I can visit you nearby." Gawain hugged the soft and vigorous widow, and from top to bottom, he could see the small mole on the tip of her eyebrows, pink with a little green, the same mole that Tetisius had chanted and was willing to exchange for a city or a kingdom, "How can I visit?" Immediately the whole of Seleucia will continue to fight, right? Although I don't know anything about battle formations, I still listen attentively to the conversations between the maidens and the guards on weekdays. ”

Gawain nodded, and the figures of the two of them were printed into a black cut in the setting sun, "The pilgrims have just passed the resolution to start a massive march to the holy city in May of the following year, and before that, I will continue the war to unify Cilicia, no matter what the Emperor of Constantinople and his courtiers will come up with, or how fierce the pilgrims' demands for the dispatch of troops and coordination, they will not interfere with my steps." ”

"It's good for a man to be ambitious, and I'm glad I didn't have any stupid thoughts about you when I crossed the sea to join you. Anna is the one who fights alongside you. The widow closed her eyes and continued to rub deeper into Gawain's embrace, strands of golden hair sliding between his arms, "I am going to Fort Coleadio, where the woods are beautiful, the streams are abundant, and the mountains are fertile with plains, and there are no more suitable for the laying of small water wheels, where I will build Seleucian sericulture and silk weaving and paper workshops, and I cannot rely on the money of the city of Bari. Gawain you must understand that silk, unlike other goods, is a wealth equivalent to gold and silver from the moment it gestalts on the loom, and does not need the transit of a merchant at all. ”

"I understand."

"There I will give birth to your child, with 'Mesadini' and 'Celeadio' in the name as symbols, and the baby girl adopted today is also my child, can you name her?"

Gawain thought for a moment, "She is a girl born in Germany, so her name is Alemania." ”

"That's a good name." The widow laughed sweetly, "When she grows up, she will work with all the women of Seleucia and Cilicia, and women will have more to do, and now it seems that they can weave cloth, make silk, and gather reeds and bark, and it will not be long before the women in your kingdom will be paid more daily than those of the foolish Germanic men." In fact, I also thought carefully just now, the decree of the princess in purple alone cannot completely reverse the status of women, only if a woman can earn enough dowry before the age of eighteen, then she will not have to look at the eyes of men, and no one will drown girls in the river at will after giving birth to them, which is equivalent to floating away a piece of gold. ”

"I understand, Ingrid...... You are also a piece of gold. Gawain stroked the widow's hair and said softly, "Just let it go, and I'll support you financially, and you've never worried me about that." Lady Chise, continue to be your companion, and forgive me for going to the battlefield for greater good. ”

The two kissed lightly for a while, and Gawain took the widow by the hand, sat on his shoulder, and then straddled his horse and made the way for her.

At this moment there was a noise in the bushes on the other side of the stream, and Gawain and Ingrid looked at it at the same time: a woman in simple clothes, secretly kneeling there, weeping in a low voice, saluted them, and then turned away.

Presumably, this is Alemania's biological mother, a helpless woman......

Upon his return, the Seleucian court acted quickly, and quickly took out the little money left from the treasury and handed it over to Agnes to organize the windmill and the water-powered workshop. At the same time, while Gawain was sitting in the palace and collecting and processing information from all sides, Hajib, the "plenipotentiary envoy" of the Sultan of Rûm and an old friend of the Seleucian people, quietly arrived.

Now Hajib, dressed in a Turkic goatskin shirt, looked very bitter, not at all like a minister of the Sultan, and Gawain, who was sitting on a chair to receive him, also felt a little embarrassed and sympathetic, so he gave him some coins and put on several silk women's clothes, "This is a gift to Mrs. Shah Namei, I hope you will go back and bring my blessing to her." ”

After listening to what Hajib had stated, Gawain furrowed his brows, "Although we were enemies of your Sultan in the past, now it is not an uninspirable contract trade to resist the emperor and protect this plateau together. (To be continued.) )