Why do the people of Lingnan flee to foreign countries like Siam instead of other parts of Great Zhou? Because the law stipulates that criminals exiled to Lingnan and their descendants must remain in Lingnan for generations and cannot go elsewhere, so they can only escape to foreign lands.
Every year, a considerable number of people escape from Lingnan, but the majority perish on their journey to Siam and other countries, with only a very few successfully reaching foreign lands.
Officials in Lingnan report the number of runaway people to the court every few years, but the number they report is several times that of the actual number of missing persons. They inflate the numbers mainly for some shady business dealings.
Every year, many young men and women are sold outside Lingnan through some unsavory means. Some particularly good-looking young men and women are directly sold to foreign countries like Annan.
