After being demoted, my 300,000-strong army trampled the imperial city!

The old man being questioned was well over fifty years old. He knelt down at Chen Futu's feet with a thud and said in a mournful voice, "Sir, Chuzhou is suffering from a flood. The government doesn't care about our lives at all. We heard that the prince's rule protects the people and provides land for them, so we came to seek refuge with him."

"flood?"

Chen Futu was taken aback.

The tributary of the Xuan River does indeed lead to Chuzhou, and the area under the jurisdiction of Beijiang has always been strictly controlled to prevent flooding and manage sedimentation on both banks, thus avoiding any flood disasters.

This kind of thing is inevitable in desertified land.

The entire city of Chuzhou is rotten to the core; they can't even afford to fund the river management project.

Chen Futu ordered the porridge kitchens to be set up, and then summoned the head of the Commerce Department, instructing him to provide work relief to these refugees and to allow them to work in the development zone, paying them wages daily.

Relief efforts are in full swing, and more and more disaster victims are pouring into northern Xinjiang.

When Chen Futu reached the top of the city wall, he looked south and saw that many disaster victims were rushing towards him.

An Jingsi asked, "Brother, the Great Qian Dynasty is indifferent to the people under its rule, so why do you take them in?"

"The northern frontier is short of manpower. You will come with me to Chuzhou tomorrow."

"Although Chuzhou borders the northern frontier, it is under the rule of the Great Qian Dynasty. It would be too dangerous for you to go there yourself. You should go instead, brother."

"It's alright. With you here, what do I have to fear, even against a thousand troops?"

The following morning, Chen Futu told Zhang Liang, and then, along with An Jingsi and several guards, disguised themselves and headed to Chuzhou.

Chen Futu wanted to see how serious the flood was. If possible, he would secretly use some means to bring more people to the northern frontier, and even consider building some villages and towns, otherwise the people would freeze to death when winter came.

It took the team two or three days to reach Chuzhou city.

Chuzhou was filled with disaster victims. Farmland and houses on both sides of the Xuan River were flooded, and people who wanted to enter Chuzhou were blocked by government troops.

They even carried knives and killed people, looking like a group of evil spirits.

"Sir, please save us!"

"Our houses are all flooded. We would be grateful if we could at least find a place to stay."

The people knelt on the ground and prayed, but no officials came out to appease them; instead, there was only violent suppression by government troops.

The most outrageous thing was that some low-ranking officers of the government troops snatched seemingly attractive women from among the refugees, and cries and screams filled the air.

"These damned beasts, I'm going to kill them."

An Jingsi couldn't stand it anymore.

Chen Futu stopped him, saying, "You didn't bring Yu Wangshuo with you, so how many people can you kill? Are you trying to make an enemy of the reserve army of an entire province?"

Upon hearing this, An Jingsi could only silently retreat.

As they spoke, the woman was about to be dragged into the city. Her parents were beaten to the ground. She was in tears and had screamed until her voice was hoarse. The surrounding people were angry but dared not speak out.

Chen Futu frowned slightly and immediately walked over.

"Wait a minute, do it!"

"Who are you?" The government troops leader did not recognize Chen Futu. Seeing his wealthy appearance, he assumed he was some young master from a wealthy family and said impatiently, "Get out of the way, can't you see I'm busy!"

"Sir, this woman is quite beautiful. Would you be willing to part with her?"

Chen Futu gave him a look.

An Jingsi understood immediately and rudely pulled a silver ingot from his bundle and threw it into the hands of the government soldier leader.

The latter nearly fractured his hand from the blow, then grimaced as he weighed the silver in his hand. "You're a kind-hearted kid. Fine, she'll give it to you."

The leader waved his hand, and his men released the girl.

The girl stumbled over and hid in her parents' arms, her face ashen.

The elderly couple kowtowed repeatedly to Chen Futu, and the eyes of the surrounding people were filled with admiration and gratitude.

In times of great calamity, it is truly rare for someone to stand up for ordinary people, but it is unknown which young master it is.

"Let's hurry up and go."

Chen Futu deliberately waved his hand with a stern face.

The common people understood immediately.

They knew they had no chance of getting into the city; if they stayed any longer, their daughter might be the next one arrested.

After the people dispersed in a great chorus of sobs.

Chen Futu took the family of three away, while the girl secretly sized up her benefactor, appearing still shaken.

"Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you."

Chen Futu led his family to a secluded spot in the woods, and then An Jingsi took out some flatbread and handed it to them.

The family immediately took it and wolfed it down.

Chen Futu squatted down and looked at them. "Who is your prefect?"

"Reporting to Young Master, I think his name is Liu Wendong. He is a corrupt official. After he arrived, he increased taxes and said he was going to war, forcing the people to hand over their grain and seeds."

The old man began to wipe away tears as he spoke.

Grain seeds are the foundation of their livelihood for the coming year. Without grain seeds, even without this flood disaster, they would have no way to survive.

"Old man, I've heard that many people are heading to Dragon City. Why don't you go?"

Chen Futu asked the most crucial question.

"Not long ago, the northern border was still at war with the Daqian, so how could we dare to go there?"

"The war is over. Many people have been settled in Dragon City and are even paid wages. They have enough to eat and wear, and will be allocated land in the future."

"Really?" The old man's eyes widened in disbelief.

An Jingsi snorted, "My sworn brother is of such high status, why would I lie to you!"

"If that's the case, our family will go and try our luck."

The old man finally made a decision: Chuzhou wouldn't give them a chance, so they had to find another way out.

"Old man, I can't bear to see the people suffer. I intend to send everyone to the northern frontier to make a living. If you do me a favor, I'll make other arrangements for you when you get there. How about it?"

"Tell me what you think is best. If this old man can do it, I will do my utmost."

Next, Chen Futu revealed his plan.

In short, it uses the method of recruiting people from later generations, asking him to find some people to spread the news among the refugees, so that more people would go to Dragon City. Whoever recruits more people will receive a more generous reward.

This was not a difficult thing to do, and the old man agreed after weighing the options.

In feudal times, wars were often accompanied by the plundering of people. If an army could not hold a place for long, it would use troops to drive the people back to its own territory and then arrange for them to cultivate the land.

Northern Xinjiang is sparsely populated and has a huge demand for people. With both commerce and agriculture developing simultaneously, the need for people will only increase.

After parting ways with the elderly man and his family, Chen Futu sent a guard to deliver a message to Qin Liangyu, telling her to prepare for war.

This is a population plunder. Sun Zhengzong is not far from Chuzhou at the moment, and he probably hasn't returned to the capital yet. If he hears the news, he will definitely come to find out what's going on. He will most likely deploy military forces to stop the large-scale migration of people.

Now it's all about saving time.

Next, Chen Futu gave orders to several of his personal guards, instructing them to disguise themselves as refugees and spread the word to lure more people to Dragon City.

Chen Futu and An Jingsi then spent some money to bribe the head of the city gate and entered the city.

The purpose of entering the city was to add fuel to the fire, to make the prefect appear even more incompetent, and to thoroughly incite public anger.