Duke Windsor left the Duke's Manor with a simple carriage, only bringing his housekeeper. He changed into a set of normal cotton clothes and entered an old horse carriage from the back door of the Duke's Manor, slowly heading into Canberra City.
The scene on the road wasn't that different from normal, but if one looked carefully, they would find that the streets were more deserted.
In the past, there were a lot fewer people hawking their wares on the streets. Naturally, there were also fewer people who were willing to stop and watch on the streets.
Looking at both sides of the street, many of the shops that were originally densely packed were now closed. Among them, there were even a few shops that seemed to have left in a hurry. They didn't even close their doors tightly. One could see that the inside was empty, with only a few homeless people lying inside. They were using this place as their temporary residence.
Seeing this, Duke Windsor couldn't help slightly knitting his brows.
"Ricken, why do you think this is?
Even if other places have business opportunities because of that damn New Flyer, that doesn't mean that our southern province doesn't have money to earn. Why would these merchants directly close their shops and leave? "
The middle aged man who looked like a butler was the Ricken that Duke Windsor mentioned. He was different from the others who were respectful and even trembling when facing Duke Windsor, this person was very calm in front of Duke Windsor. Although he was still respectful, he didn't look like he was in awe.
Hearing Duke Windsor's question, Ricken was silent for a bit before raising the whip in his hand to have the horse carriage turn.
Duke Windsor had grown up with Ricken and knew that he had always been like this, so he didn't care if he didn't answer.
But seeing Ricken turn, Duke Windsor knew that he had an answer in his heart, so he fell silent. He watched the situation on both sides of the street while sitting in the horse carriage slowly heading out of the city.
The horse carriage brought Duke Windsor and Ricken out of Canberra City's west gate. After going another two to three kilometers to the west, they saw a large village with over a hundred families in front of them.
It was late spring and the southern province was close to the south of the continent, so the wheat fields on both sides of the road were already golden.
This should be the most important time before the harvest, so the farmers should take care of the ripening wheat fields. But when Duke Windsor looked over, he only saw a few scattered farmers, not looking busy at all.
Duke Windsor couldn't help knitting his brows again.
"These lazy farmers are still slacking off at such a crucial time!
Don't they know that the spring harvest is coming? "
Ricken turned to look at Duke Windsor before shaking his head, "Old Master, it isn't that they're lazy, rather they didn't have anyone else."
Duke Windsor was surprised, "What do you mean?"
Ricken pointed at the fields in the distance. "Look, there are only some old people in the fields. I don't see any young people."
Duke Windsor calmed himself and seriously looked around the field. When he found that this was indeed the case, he couldn't help being more surprised.
"Why is that?
What about the young people in the village?
Could it be that all of them went to slack off?
Or did something happen?
Ricken, what do you know? "
Ricken shook his head and did not answer. Instead, he drove the carriage to the side of a field and jumped down.
In this field, there was an old farmer who looked to be at least sixty years old who was bending over to inspect the situation in the field. After hearing the sound, he raised his head and saw Ricken jumping down from the carriage and walking over.
"Brother, why are you here alone? Where's your family?
What about his son and daughter-in-law?
Why aren't they here? "
The old farmer looked at Ricken. Although he could see that the other side's identity was different from his, his tone and appearance were very amiable, so he let down his guard and said with a smile, "They, they all went out to work. They left this old man and this old woman to take care of the fields."
"Work?" Ricken's face revealed a surprised expression.
Ricken revealed a surprised look, "Where are they working?
They don't even farm? "
"They said that they went to a city called ….. something Neil, they said it was Xinfei ….." After spitting out these two words, there was a look of fear that appeared on the old farmer's face. He gave two coughs and swallowed the rest of his words.
Ricken acted like he didn't see the old farmer's actions at all as he continued to ask, "You're talking about the New Flyer, right?
That whatever Neil city, it should be Saranil City, right?
That place is in the Torea Province, it's a bit far from here. "
Hearing the words "Frestech Chamber of Commerce" that were taboo in the southern province, the old farmer's expression relaxed a bit. He shook his head with a smile and said, "It doesn't matter if it's a bit further, it's fine as long as we can earn money.
If we go there, we can at least earn five gold coins a month. If we go a little more, we can even earn ten gold coins. It's much better than farming at home.
If it wasn't for the fact that the old woman and I are in poor health and unwilling to leave here, I'm afraid that we would go to work with our two sons. "
"Oh?
You can earn ten gold coins a month?
That's quite a lot. "
Ricken raised his head and looked around before asking, "I see that the people in the fields are all old people like you. Are the other families in the village like your family, the young people running out to work?"
"Yes, if they go out to work, they can earn several gold coins or even ten gold coins a month. In a year, they can earn more than a hundred gold coins.
If they stay here to farm, it's already good enough that they can fill their stomachs after paying the rent. Not to mention gold coins, they won't even have a few silver coins.
If I let you choose, how would you choose? "The old farmer asked.
Ricken grunted and nodded, "If it was me, I would choose the same.
But is it really reliable to go to such a faraway place to work?
What if there's an accident … "
"Tsk, what accident can there be?" The old farmer curled his lips.
"Anyway, our lives are cheap. If there's a chance to earn real gold coins, of course we have to grab it.
Also, those factories over there seem to be Xinfei merchants … "
Speaking up to here, the old farmer's expression paused. He looked around and lowered his voice, "It seems to be related to New Flyer.
You should know about New Flyer, right?
They are a rich merchant association, they wouldn't lie to people like us. "
Ricken felt a bit strange, "You seem to know a lot about New Flyer?
How do you know about this merchant association? "
The old farmer's reaction was even more strange. He looked at Ricken with a strange expression and then looked around. This time, he forgot to lower his voice and directly asked, "Isn't your question too strange?
Why can't I know about New Flyer?
New Flyer's products are so useful and cheap. If I don't know about this, then I'm too ignorant. "
"Oh?
Where did you find out that New Flyer's products are so useful and cheap? "
"Didn't the Frestech Chamber of Commerce and the other companies come before and they brought many good things? Other than that, before the Lord Governor put down the ban, there were many merchants who brought many things in, so there are still quite a few in our village.
Compared to those unscrupulous merchants in Canberra, New Flyer's products are very useful. "
Speaking up to here, the old farmer seemed to have thought of something. He hesitated for a moment before asking, "Actually, when I heard that New Flyer came, they wanted to invest in some factories in Canberra, right?
You said that if the Governor didn't issue that ban and let those factories be built, then my two sons wouldn't have to go to such a faraway place like Torea Province to work … "
"So … You don't agree with the Governor's ban?"
"Yes, this ban doesn't have any benefits at all …" The old farmer's eyes suddenly widened. He looked at Ricken vigilantly and quickly waved his hand.
"No, no, no, I didn't say anything. Don't make wild guesses.
Whatever ban the Governor issues is his business. It has nothing to do with us. "
Ricken nodded and didn't continue to ask. He turned to the old farmer and talked about the upcoming spring harvest.
The old farmer was also a little worried about the upcoming spring harvest.
In the past, during the spring harvest, the family had to work hard for a month before they could barely finish harvesting the ten mu of land under their name.
Now that his two sons and daughter-in-law, as well as his half-grown grandson, had all left, it was likely that he and his wife, these two old men and old women, would only be able to harvest two mu of grain at most.
"But it doesn't matter.
Now that our sons are doing well, us two old men can just collect some food for ourselves. We don't have to be so tired. "
"What about the rent?" Ricken asked.
"Rent?
At worst, we'll just buy some grain.
Anyway, our eldest son said in a letter last time that the ship from the Principality of Constantine brought back a lot of cheap grain. With their current salary, they can buy several hundred pounds a month, which is enough to pay the rent. "
Ricken was speechless.
The old farmer gave another sigh before continuing, "Ai, I've heard from the relatives that came last time that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce has some agricultural magic machine. It's said that it doesn't even take half an hour to harvest a mu of land with that thing.
It would be good if the Lord Governor didn't have this ban and brought in some agricultural magic machines, we wouldn't have to worry about what to do with the fields. "
Ricken and the old farmer looked at the green wheat fields with a bit of gold. After being silent for a bit, he waved goodbye to the old farmer and returned to the horse carriage.
Duke Windsor had been watching Ricken and the old farmer talk through the curtains the entire time. Because he wasn't far away, he could hear everything they said.
After Ricken came back, Duke Windsor looked at the wide fields in front of him for a bit before putting down the curtains and falling silent.
After a while, Duke Windsor suddenly gave a sigh.
"Ricken, I'll give you something."
"Grandfather, please give your orders."
"I've heard that there is a Cantona Chamber of Commerce in the Lampari Kingdom that specializes in harvesting crops. Go and contact them."
Ricken looked at Duke Windsor before nodding in response.
Duke Windsor opened the curtains to look at the old farmer in the field for a while before giving another sigh, signaling for Ricken to start the horse carriage.