Chapter 611 (1/2)
Reality proved that Feng Yu Heng had overestimated Prince Lian as the evildoer. This guy’s voice really was not that loud. It really was not capable of shaking this large hall. The reason that the hall seemed to be shaking earlier was that: “Your Highness, there was a collapse of heaven!”
Qian Zhou viewed the snows as the heavens, thus a collapse of heaven was an avalanche. At the same time, it was accompanied by an earthquake.
This avalanche was centered in Qian Zhou and spread all around. Every part of the nation began to tremble. Even the cities furthest South, Bin City and Luo City, were not spared.
For three full days, Luo City continued to shake. Fortunately, the distance was quite far. Aside from some shaking, it did not cause any other distractions. The citizens’ hearts were fluttering with fear, and they gathered every day in one location. They would then discuss this avalanche.
Ever since making the decision to make a clear distinction between himself and Qian Zhou, Prince Lian truly stopped viewing himself as someone from Qian Zhou. He stayed in the imperial residence all day long, eating and drinking when he wanted. He also sang and listened to songs when he wanted. Not only did he act arrogantly, he even gave an order to the city lord of Luo City to not interfere in any of Qian Zhou’s matters. The city’s gates would be closed tightly, and not a single refugee would be accepted.
Feng Yu Heng respected his desire to act wholeheartedly like a citizen of Da Shun, but the waves of refugees that came to the gates caused her to feel a little troubled.
She discussed with Xuan Tian Ming: “Should we think about a strategy to handle the refugees?”
Bai Ze said with a smile: “Master just thought of a good idea. Princess, do you want to hear it?”
Feng Yu Heng raised an eyebrow, “I want to hear the details.”
Xuan Tian Ming spread a scroll in his hands and pushed it over to her: “Luo City and Bin City already belong to Da Shun. Even if the city lord is the equivalent of a prefect, Qian Zhou’s residential register will become Da Shun’s residential register. If the refugees outside the city wish to enter, they can. Either way, we have so many soldiers set up here. Just free up some tents for the refugees to live in is not impossible. The people can also continue to disperse further South toward Bin City, Jiang Zhou, Song Zhou and Guan Zhou. If that’s still not enough, we can open up the central region to the public for the refugees. There is only one requirement. When entering the city, they would be naturalizing as citizens of Da Shun. Once they set foot in Luo City, they are no longer citizens of Qian Zhou. From this day forward, they would be citizens fo Da Shun. The prosperity of Qian Zhou will be completely unrelated to them.”
Feng Yu Heng’s eyes lit up. While fiddling with her fingers, she began to count, “The avalanche occurred with the capital at its center. That is to say that it started from the liveliest part of Qian Zhou. The more people there are, the worse the disaster, especially if the capital fell into disarray. The people would immediately lose their pillar of support. That would be why the first thought in the minds of those that had survived would be to escape. In order to survive, they first had to escape from the capital and get as far away from the epicenter as possible. Of the four cardinal directions, South was naturally the most reliable choice because the wind and snow were weaker the further South they traveled. This also increased their chance of survival the most. When attacking Qian Zhou, it would be better to hollow out Qian Zhou by taking away their citizens and leaving the imperial family within the borders. Without citizens, how could a ruler still be called a ruler? There would come a day where they would be driven insane.”
Xuan Tian Ming praised: “Heng Heng is one that knows me.”
Xuan Tian Ming’s grand plan was very quickly put in place. With the Luo City’s city lord taking the lead, a registration post was set up outside of the city. All of the refugees that wanted to enter the city had to willingly give up on their Qian Zhou citizenship then sign to become a citizen of Da Shun.
The citizens did not argue too much over whether they belonged to Da Shun or Qian Zhou, especially at a time like this. Whoever could provide them with warm water, food and could allow them to live peacefully would be their master. That would be who they viewed as their ruler.
This large migration of people began to spread rapidly. Before a full three days had passed, 100 thousand citizens had entered the city. Under Xuan Tian Ming’s guidance, they were split between Luo City, Bin City and the three northern provinces. At the same time, they spread the word that Luo City had opened its gates to help the refugees. All of Qian Zhou’s refugees began to head in that direction. Those that were not affected by the disaster could also choose to live in a warmer Da Shun. As long as they wished, and as longa s they could give up everything in Qian Zhou, Da Shun would bring them to a place where Spring was warm and flowers bloomed. They would be able to see colorful flowers and green trees.
These sorts of conditions were truly too tempting, thus more and more people that had both been affected and not affected by the disaster began to gather in Luo City. When Qian Zhou’s imperial family reacted to try and stop them, a third of the citizens had already completed their registration procedure. There were also soldiers from Da Shun leading these people further into Da Shun’s territory.
Qian Zhou had fewer and fewer citizens, and it was becoming a deserted country.
Xuan Tian Ming ordered the soldiers bringing the people from Qian Zhou to Da Shun to not concentrate the people from Qian Zhou too much. Each area could only have five to six families living there. Either way, Da Shun had a large territory. All of Qian Zhou’s people had to be dispersed all over. They definitely would not be given the opportunity to gather together. This was called assimilation! If assimilation could not be completed in one generation, then there would be a second, third and fourth generation. Qian Zhou’s impression would begin to fade from their minds, and they would eventually become people from Da Shun in their entirety.
Xuan Tian Ming and Feng Yu Heng worked together. With Prince Lian adding fuel to the fire, the plan to hollow out Qian Zhou was a great success. As the number of refugees dwindled and the majority of the people had already pledged their allegiance, Xuan Tian Ming finally gave another order to the army: “Continue marching North!”
This time, Prince Lian went with them, bringing along General Hei and the 100 thousand troops that belonged to Feng Yu Heng. Having received Feng Yu Heng’s promise, Prince Lian finally felt a bit more certain, thus his back did not feel sore, and he did not feel out of breath. His legs didn’t even cramp up. He had improved drastically. As if he was an information officer, he offered Xuan Tian Ming some advice: “Head straight toward the capital. Although an avalanche has occurred there, it’s where the Feng family’s lair is located. Feng Zhao Yu must be feeling reluctant to leave. Even if he did leave, the Feng family has been in power for a few hundred years. Just moving would require half a year. If we move faster, we can completely surround the capital and encircle them successfully.”
Xuan Tian Ming was very puzzled, “Aside from the ruler of Qian Zhou, the other people with the surname Feng are also your relatives. Could it be that you have some hatred for them too?”