The speech left the common people flushed with excitement and enthusiasm.
Wen Zixin, the county magistrate, and the others were flushed as well—but from shame and frustration.
Even Qi Pingwei was in a complicated mood. After working alongside the Jinyang Army during this time, many of his views had quietly begun to change.
Xie Nanxiao paid no attention to what they were thinking. He turned to the refugees. “We were ordered by our lord to come here and provide disaster relief. Now that you have received initial aid and the epidemic is under control, we are about to leave. After all, this is Sizhou, not a place under our lord’s jurisdiction. We have no way to stay here permanently.”
The moment the common people heard this, they grew anxious, their eyes filled with desperation.
“Please, don’t abandon us!”
“That’s right! What will we do after you leave? Please, if you’re going, take us with you. We’ll do anything!”
Seeing the agitated crowd, Xie Nanxiao pressed down with one hand. Only after everyone had quieted did he speak.
“Our lord is merciful and cannot bear to see you left homeless and destitute, so he has specially prepared work for you developing islands. As long as you are willing to work, you will have enough to eat.”
“Those who want the work may continue registering. It is entirely voluntary. We will not force anyone to go.”
“We’ll go!” the refugees shouted, smiles returning to their faces.
Xie Nanxiao smiled in satisfaction and turned to Gao Zheng and the soldiers handling the registration. “Continue registering them. Once they are registered, have them proceed to the seaside and board the ships.”
The journey from Bilan County to Keyuan Island took more than a day each way, making the round trip roughly three days.
Fortunately, quite a few ships had gradually arrived with the Jinyang Army. Keyuan Island also had a garrison, so there were plenty of vessels available for transport.
The refugees moved quickly. After registering, they returned home to collect their few belongings, then lined up under the Jinyang Army’s direction and headed for the temporary pier in Bilan County.
Wen Zixin felt as if he were about to lose his mind. “You—you can’t do this! I’ll report you to His Majesty!”
Xie Nanxiao glanced at him. “Go ahead.”
Then he shook his head, putting on an expression of profound pity. “You cannot possibly be unaware that if these people remain here, they will only be facing certain death.”
“My lord can save them, yet you continue obstructing us. In your eyes, what do the lives of eight hundred thousand people amount to?”
According to the statistics compiled during this period, only around eight hundred thousand people remained alive in Shankang and Tao Prefectures combined.
Wen Zixin and the others were left speechless. For a moment, they did not know how to respond.
The surrounding common people glared at them furiously, as if they wanted to tear them apart. The sight made their hearts tremble.
Since when had these lowly commoners dared to look at them like that?
Xie Nanxiao sighed. “To you, the common people are probably nothing more than a number. But to my lord, they are living, breathing human beings.”
“We are merely providing people who have suffered terribly and lost their loved ones with a job that will allow them to survive. We are not stealing your people. If they wish to return to Sizhou, they may do so at any time. We will never stop them.”
Zhou Leng looked at Wen Zixin and the others, a trace of mockery flashing in his eyes. “If you’re truly so idle, why not deal with the corpses in Shankang and Tao Prefectures? Don’t you think the land of Sizhou reeks of corpses?”
“How dare you!” Wen Zixin felt his blood surge.
On the surface, this man was talking about the stench of corpses caused by the floods, but in truth he was saying that the entire administration of Sizhou was rotten and foul. As if anyone couldn’t see through him!
Zhou Leng sneered. “Not only do we dare—we also have a sense of righteousness. Unlike certain people who are full of talk about benevolence and morality while behaving like petty villains. As for the stench of Sizhou, who can say whether it comes from corpses or from people?”
Xie Nanxiao could not help laughing. “You shouldn’t put it so bluntly. Otherwise, Lord Wen will accuse us of slander again.”
Wen Zixin, who had just been about to angrily denounce Zhou Leng for insulting Sizhou, nearly spat up blood.
“You—you…”
Xie Nanxiao waved a hand. “This is merely a suggestion from us to Sizhou. If you are worried about the epidemic, you can exchange money and provisions with us for the prescription.”
Jiang Jin had never intended to keep the prescription secret in the first place. After all, it was medicine meant to save lives.
However, the aristocratic clans of Ze’a Prefecture earlier, as well as the First Prince of Sizhou now, had both behaved in ways that made her deeply displeased.
Besides, even if the First Prince obtained the prescription, getting him to spend money on medicine and treatment would be extremely difficult.
For people like the First Prince, who stood high above everyone else, the most likely outcome was that they would use the prescription to make money.
Wen Zixin’s face shifted from green to purple with rage. “You’ve treated the common people for free. You should provide the prescription free of charge as well, so that more people can be saved!”
He then turned toward the common people and spoke sternly. “If you leave now, don’t ever expect to be registered as residents of Sizhou again. The land you own will also be confiscated by the government!”
The two prefectures of Shankang and Tao were now in complete ruin. If all the refugees left with the Jinyang Army, there would truly be no one left to clean up the aftermath.
At his words, the common people stopped in their tracks.
There were not many among them who owned land, and the soil was not particularly fertile, but it was still land granted to them by the government—land that could be passed down from generation to generation.
Moreover, without household registration, they would become vagrants.
Xie Nanxiao, Zhou Leng, and the others were not in a hurry. They simply watched as events unfolded.
Qi Da suddenly called out, “May we register as residents of Fengzhou?”
He had originally rented land from the Zhang family to farm. Other than the house that had been washed away by the flood, he actually owned nothing.
Now that his house was gone, if he returned and continued renting the Zhang family’s land, he would even owe them a year’s rent. It would be better to leave outright.
Xie Nanxiao smiled. “Naturally.”
Qi Da was overjoyed. “Wonderful! Thank you, Her Highness the Princess! Thank you, good sir!”
The people who cheered along with him were those in the same situation. As long as there was somewhere willing to take them in and they would not be turned into vagrants, they were willing to go anywhere.
Besides, from what they had heard, Fengzhou was far better off than Sizhou.
Wen Zixin ground his teeth. “Think carefully. Here in Sizhou, you can still rent land and farm. Fengzhou doesn’t even have aristocratic clans. How will you make a living there?”
“For the sake of a few months of work, you’re willing to ruin your own future and that of your descendants. Is it really worth it?”
At that moment, Xie Nanxiao genuinely felt that Lord Wen was an excellent ally. Whatever they needed, he seemed determined to deliver it straight into their hands.
He raised his voice so everyone could hear. “It is true that Fengzhou has no aristocratic clans, but we do have land, and we likewise need people to farm it. We don’t charge rent; we simply pay wages. Depending on the work, you can earn between one hundred and eighty and three hundred copper coins a month.”
“Besides farming, there are many other kinds of work to choose from. You can pave roads, build bridges, construct houses, or work in factories. As long as you are not lazy, you will have enough to eat in Fengzhou.”
The common people erupted into an uproar, their eyes blazing as they shouted their responses.
“I can work! I’m not afraid of hardship. As long as I have food, I’ll do anything!”
“Me too! I’m not lazy. As long as I can eat my fill, I’ll do whatever’s needed.”
“That’s right! I’m strong, I know how to farm, and I can build houses too!”
