Chapter 4 Chapter Three The Two and the Farmer

Roshan is a world on the edge of the galaxy.This kind of frontier world is usually ignored and forgotten by the history of the galaxy, and they never meddle in their own business, attracting the attention of countless planets with better conditions. At the end of the Galactic Empire, only a few political prisoners lived in this barren world. In addition, there was an observatory on this planet and a very small number of garrisons, so it could not be regarded as no man's land.Years of trouble and trouble followed, and even before the time of Hari Seldon many of the people of the Liberia left the populated regions and migrated to this remote and desolate world.They are all trying to escape years of war, and are tired of the never-ending conquests, and the farce of careerists fighting openly and secretly for the meaningless throne, and changing dynasties within a few years.

As a result, several small villages gradually appeared on the cold and barren land of Planet Luoshan.Roseanne's red sun is a small star that always seems to be stingy with a little more light and heat.Therefore, for as long as nine months in a year, the world is covered with sparse snowflakes.During these freezing months, local hardy crops hibernate in the soil.When the sun's radiation finally reappears and the temperature rises to close to fifty degrees Fahrenheit, they will grow and mature rapidly at an almost crazy speed. There is a small animal like a goat in the local area. It always uses its thin legs with three hooves to kick away the thin snow on the grassland and gnaw on the grass buried under the snow.

This is where the Roshanians get their bread and dairy, and when they are willing to kill an animal, there is even meat to eat.In the equatorial zone of this planet, dangerous forests occupy half of the area.These unevenly distributed forests provide residents with solid and fine-grained wood, which becomes the best material for them to build houses.These woods, as well as some furs and minerals, can even be exported to other worlds.In the early days, the empire's space merchant ships would come here from time to time, using agricultural machinery, nuclear heaters and even televisions to exchange those local products with the local residents.The TV is absolutely indispensable, because whenever the long winter comes, farmers have to stay at home all day, not taking a step outside.

In this way, the history of the empire passed from the head of the Roshan peasants. Occasionally, space merchant ships would suddenly bring some new news, and some new refugees would arrive here from time to time.On one occasion, a large group of refugees arrived en masse and have since settled down.Every new refugee knows more or less the latest current situation in the galaxy. That's how the Roshanians learned of the changes outside—the wars sweeping the galaxy, mass slaughter, and tyrannical emperors and rebellious satraps.Whenever they gather in front of the square of the village to enjoy the warmth brought by the faint sunshine, they can't help shaking their heads and sighing, pulling their fur collars to their bearded faces, saying what you say and what I say Criticize the evil of human nature.

Afterwards, there were no space merchant ships for a long time, so life became more difficult.The imported tobacco, agricultural machinery, and delicious soft food are all gone, only the superwave band of the TV, and occasionally sporadic and vague news, letting them know that the situation is getting more and more unstable.Finally, news spread that Trantor had been looted—the greatest capital world in the entire galaxy, this glorious, legendary, inviolable, and magnificent capital, had also been ravaged and turned into ruins. This kind of thing is unbelievable.For many of the Roshan farmers who earn their living from the barren lands, the end of the galaxy seems imminent.

I don't know how many years passed, and on a completely ordinary day, another starship came to Roshan.The old men of the villages nodded smugly and raised their old eyelids and whispered that such things had happened in their father's day--but it wasn't always true. Because this starship does not belong to the empire, the bow of the ship lacks the unique "starship and sun" logo of the empire.Its shape is thick and short, and it is assembled from the wreckage of many old ships.And those who stepped out of the starship claimed to be Darcinde's warriors. The peasants were dumbfounded, none of them had heard of Dacind, yet they welcomed the warriors with traditional hospitality.The strangers asked many detailed questions—such as the natural conditions of the planet, the number of inhabitants, how many cities there were (though the peasants confused each other by mistaking "city" for "village"), and economic conditions etc.

Then many starships landed here and announced to the whole world that Darcinde has become the ruler of this planet.On the equatorial zone where people live, many tax collection stations will be set up, and a certain percentage of grain and fur will be collected from farmers every year according to certain established formulas. The Rosanians blinked their eyes seriously, not knowing what a "tax" was.However, when the tax day came, many people still paid it.Or it should be said that they all stood aside in a daze, watching the foreigners in uniforms move the corn and furs they harvested to the carts and take them away.

So, everywhere, angry farmers organized and brought out ancient hunting weapons-but nothing was done.When the tax collectors of Darcinde came again, they had no choice but to rush away reluctantly, seeing that the hard life became more difficult, but there was nothing they could do. But before long, a new ecological balance emerged.The governor of Darcinde drove away the Roshan people who used to live in the gentleman's village, and lived there by himself, living a secluded life.Neither the governor nor his staff had much contact with the locals, so they did not attract attention.Now, the work of collecting taxes has been entrusted to certain Roshan people, and those local tax collectors will visit every village and every household on a regular basis—but everyone is getting familiar with their whereabouts, and the farmers have also learned it well. Know how to hide the harvested grain, when to drive the livestock into the forest, and deliberately keep the house from being too ornate.When the taxman came to visit, no matter asked any questions about the assets, they would put on a blank expression and point to the little thing in front of them.

Later even this rarely happened again, and the tax was automatically reduced.It seemed that Darcinde was too lazy to fish for such a pitiful little oil and water from this impoverished world. In contrast, trade activities have flourished, probably because Darcinde found it more profitable to do so.Though the fine artefacts of the Empire were never seen again, Dascind's machinery and food were still much better than the natives.Besides, the Dacindans brought with them many women's garments, which were far more beautiful than hand-woven gray cloth, and were, of course, very popular. And that's it, the history of the galaxy slipped by peacefully once again.Day after day, year after year, farmers still earn food from the barren and hard land.

As soon as Narovi walked out of his farmhouse, he couldn't help letting out a breath from his beard.The first snow was already falling on the hard ground, and the sky was filled with sullen pink clouds.He squinted his eyes and carefully looked at the sky, making sure that there would be no storm for a while, which meant that he could reach Gentleman's Village smoothly.He was going there to sell his surplus grain and get back some canned food for the winter. He opened the door a crack and shouted loudly into the room: "Is the car full, boy?" Immediately a loud promise came from the room, and then Naruowei's eldest son came out.His short red beard has not yet grown, and his face is a little childish.

He said in a tone full of grievances: "The fuel in the car is full. Except for the poor condition of the axle, everything else is fine. You can't blame me if the problem can't be fixed. I have already told you that you need to find It needs to be repaired by an expert.” Naruowei took a step back, looked at his son with a frown, then stretched his bearded chin forward, and said, "Is this my fault? Where do you want me to go, and how can I find an expert?" Come to fix it? Do you know that the harvest has been poor for five consecutive years? In what year did few animals suffer from plague? When did the price of fur go up..." "Na Ruowei!" A familiar voice sounded in the room, cutting off his words.He murmured unhappily: "Look, look—your mother is going to meddle in our father-son relationship again. Get the car out and make sure the cargo trailer is securely connected." He held out his gloved hands, patted each other hard, and looked up again.The hazy red clouds gradually gathered, and the gray sky exposed through the gaps in the clouds did not have any warmth, and the sun did not know where to hide. Just when he was about to look away, his eyes suddenly froze, his fingers pointed upwards unconsciously, and at the same time he opened his mouth wide and yelled desperately, completely forgetting that the air was terribly cold. "Old man," he yelled, "old woman—come out quickly." An angry face immediately appeared behind the window, eyes looked in the direction he pointed, and then the mouth could no longer be closed.With a cry, she sprinted down the wooden ladder, grabbing an old scarf and a piece of linen along the way.When she appeared at the door, the scarf was draped over her shoulders, and the linen was loosely wrapped around her head and ears. "That's a starship from outer space," she said in a nasal voice. Naruowei replied impatiently: "Is there anything else? A visitor from afar has come to our house, old woman, a visitor is here!" The starship descended slowly, and finally landed on a piece of permafrost where not a single blade of grass grew, on the north side of Narovi Farm. "But what are we supposed to do?" the woman gasped. "Can we treat them well? Let them sleep on our dirty floor? Treat them to last week's leftover tortillas?" "Do you want to drive them to the next door?" Naruowei's face turned from red to purple.He stretched his arms out from the smooth fur and grabbed the woman's strong shoulders. "My dear wife," he was so excited that he couldn't speak clearly, "you go downstairs and fetch two chairs from our room, and then slaughter a fat little animal, roast it with potatoes, and then And bake a fresh tortilla. I'm off to meet the big shots from outer space...and...and..." He paused, pushed the big hat off his head a little, scratched his head hesitantly, and then continued: "By the way, I also want to bring the jar of wine I brewed, and have a good time with them." Drink enough." When Naruowei was giving orders, the woman's mouth kept shaking stupidly, but she didn't make any sound.After Narovi finished speaking, she let out a piercing scream. Naruowei raised a finger and said, "Old woman, what did the elders of the village say a week ago? Ah? Use your brains. The elders visit each farm in person, in person! Just imagine how much this means. Important! They are here to inform us that if any ships from outer space are found to land, they must be notified immediately, this is the order of the governor!" "Now, shouldn't I take this opportunity to make a good impression on these big shots? Look at that starship, have you seen anything like this before? Those people from outer space must be rich and noble In order to welcome them, the governor personally issued an emergency order. The elders sent messages one by one in such cold weather. Perhaps the whole Roshan received the notice that these people were the big men that the Lords of Darcinde were looking forward to. Now, they actually landed It's on my farm!" He was so excited that he danced with joy: "Now we treat them well, and they will mention my name to the governor. In this way, what can we not get?" It wasn't until this moment that Mrs. Naruowei felt the biting cold air penetrate into her thin shirt.She hurriedly jumped back to the door, and at the same time roared: "Then why don't you hurry up!" But Naruowei didn't wait for her to say this, and started to run wildly, running towards the direction where the starship landed. General Han Plijji had no worries about the coldness, desolation, emptiness, and barrenness of the world.The sweaty farmer in front of him did not bring him the slightest sense of threat. The question that really troubled him was whether their tactics were wise.Because he and Chengnis came here alone, so it could be said that they were alone and helpless. Their starship had been lifted into the sky again. Under normal circumstances, the starship should have enough power to defend itself, but he still had a feeling of insecurity.Of course, Chengnis was fully responsible for this action.He looked over to the young man, who was winking mischievously at a crack in a fur tent.It turned out that there was a pair of woman's eyes peeping out there, and a mouth that was not closed could be seen. Chengnis didn't seem to care at all.Plij gloated a little at this fact, since his game must be hitting a wall soon.But no matter what, the only connection they have with the starship now is the communication device on their wrists. The farmer smiled desperately at them, kept bowing and bowing, and said in a glib and obsequious tone: "My lord, please forgive me for reporting to you. My eldest son just told me that the elders It will be here soon. My eldest son is a fine and distinguished youth, but because I am too poor, I cannot afford to give him an adequate education. I trust that you will do your best for me during the short time we are here. Very satisfied with the hospitality that was available. I am a hard-working, honest, and humble farmer, though poor. You can ask everyone here, and they will surely say the same." "Elder?" Cheng Nisi immediately asked casually, "Is he a highly respected person in this area?" "They are indeed, my lord, and they are honest and distinguished men. For all Roshan knows that our village is a good place of integrity and order--though the life is hard, the crops of the fields and forests Chengdu is not good. Maybe you can mention to the elders, honorable uncle, that I respect and respect the guests who visit. In this way, they may help me apply for a new van. Because the one we have The old car can barely move, but the whole family still depends on it for their livelihood." He showed a humble look of longing. In order to conform to the title of "Honorable Uncle" imposed on them, Han Pliji deliberately raised his airs and nodded slightly. "Regarding your hospitality, I guarantee that it will reach the ears of the elders." After Narovi left, Priji took the opportunity to say to Chengnis, who was obviously a little distracted: "I'm not very interested in meeting the elders. What do you think?" Chengnis seemed a little surprised: "I don't have any ideas. What are you worried about?" "Rather than being suspicious here, I think we have more important things to do." Cheng Niss said quickly in a low tone: "Even if our next action will raise doubts, we must take a risk. If we just put our hands into a black cloth bag and fumbled up, down, left, and right, we will never find it." The people we're looking for. Those who rule the world with psychic powers are not necessarily the ones in power. In fact, Second Foundation psychologists may be a tiny minority of the population, as in your On that base, the scientists and technicians were just a minority. Ordinary residents might be just that—ordinary. The psychologists might be well hidden, and the ostensibly leading figures might really think they were rulers. The answer to this question may be found in this icy planet." "I can't understand you at all." "Ah, if you think about it, it's really quite obvious. Darcinde may be a huge world, with millions or even hundreds of millions of people. How can we identify psychologists among so many people? How can we just report to the mule that we have found the second base? But here, in this agricultural world, on this vassal planet, the farmer who received us has already said that all the rulers of Dacind here, all Concentrate on that gentleman's village. There's probably only a few hundred people there, Priji, and there must be one or more Second Foundation members among them. We're going to get there after all, but before that, let's meet the Elders—this It's a logical procedure." At this time, the master with a black beard came in hurriedly again, looking extremely excited, and the two hurriedly separated as if nothing had happened. "My lord, the elders have arrived. Please excuse me to ask you again. I hope you can say something nice for me..." He tried his best to flatter and almost bowed 180 degrees. "Of course we will remember you," Chengnis said, "Are these your elders?" Apparently they were, and there were three of them in all. One of them walked forward, bowed slightly with a majestic posture, and then said: "We are deeply honored, the transportation is ready, honorable sir, I hope you can move to our assembly hall for a while. The chief speaker stared at the night sky thoughtfully, with sparse clouds passing by from time to time in the hazy sky.Space, which has always seemed cold and awe-inspiring since ancient times, now looks even more obviously hostile, because of the appearance of a strange creature-the mule.The existence of mules makes space full of vicious threats. The meeting is over, and the whole process is not long.In the meeting just now, the speaker raised many doubts and questions about dealing with the mathematical problems caused by the unidentifiable spiritual mutants.Because even those extreme combinations must be considered very carefully. The mule is somewhere in space—not so far away in the Milky Way.But can they really be sure of that?And what will the mule do? It was easy to deal with his men, who were all pawns in the plan now. However, how to deal with Mule himself?