Sure enough, the Crown Prince took a deep breath and said, "Father, this is an urgent memorial from Li Jiaren, the magistrate of Fengshan County near the southwestern border. A Maitreya sect has suddenly appeared near Fengshan, instigating and inducing the people to storm the county town, under the guise of opening the Taiping Granary to distribute grain, in order to seize and plunder the city."

"The magistrate of Fengshan County led the city defense battalion to repel the rioters and captured a leader of the Maitreya Sect. Upon questioning, he learned that a large number of Maitreya Sect followers would be traveling to Xindu with the refugees."

The magistrate of Fengshan County suggested intercepting and destroying the Maitreya Cult as soon as possible, otherwise its influence would grow stronger and it would be difficult to deal with...

mob?

Maitreya religion?

The emperor and his court officials were all greatly shocked, and the emperor immediately took the memorial.

A courtier standing nearby, for reasons unknown, muttered, "The magistrate of Fengshan County has truly neglected his duty. Why didn't he stop the Maitreya sect, but instead allowed them to enter the capital?"

The Crown Prince glanced at the man indifferently and replied, "A county's garrison has only about five hundred men. How can they protect the people and the city while also stopping tens of thousands of rioters and religious followers? If you have a good idea, you can write to the magistrate of Fengshan County and offer some guidance."

The courtier immediately shrank back and dared not utter another word.

Soon, the emperor and several important officials had read the memorial.

The Emperor thought for a moment and said, "The magistrate of Fengshan County opened the Taiping Granary in time, appeased the people, and gathered them into the city to prevent them from being coerced into causing chaos by the Maitreya Sect. This is a very good way to deal with the situation."

"But this is only treating the symptoms, not the root cause. If this continues, even if the Maitreya sect doesn't reach the new capital, it will certainly cause great losses to other places."

"My esteemed subjects, do you have any good ideas?"

The high-ranking officials exchanged glances, their minds completely blank.

But if they don't speak, the emperor will get angry.

Having no other choice, the group could only pick the safest approach to talk about.

"Your Majesty, in principle, a mob should not be relied upon. However, given their large numbers and the natural disaster, they must be dealt with properly, otherwise it could easily disrupt the stability of the Tianwu state."

"Yes, Your Majesty, the city defense battalions of each prefecture are probably not up to the task. We should send more troops to intercept them."

"The Northern Expeditionary Army is still north of the Yangtze River, thousands of miles away, and it is not easy to mobilize them."

"The riverside docks only have 10,000 people. If they are transferred, what if the barbarians launch a counterattack? Wouldn't that threaten the safety of the new capital?"

"Moreover, the new capital is a thousand miles to the southwest. Even if troops are dispatched, it will take half a month. By then, the Maitreya sect will probably have even more members, becoming too powerful to control..."

Everyone offered their opinions, and while they all made sense, it was ultimately useless.

The emperor's expression grew increasingly grim as he listened, and the court officials gradually fell silent, looking pitifully at the crown prince.

The crown prince felt contempt, but still offered words of comfort.

"Father, this matter is far-reaching and cannot be decided in a short time. Let's have lunch first and then think of a solution later."

"Yes, Your Majesty's health is of utmost importance."

"Your Majesty's health is of utmost importance."

The court officials echoed their sentiments, appearing to genuinely care for the emperor.

The emperor stood up, snorted coldly, and went to the back hall with a flick of his sleeve.

The crown prince smiled with the others, and then followed them away.

The remaining court officials all breathed a sigh of relief, and then gathered together to whisper among themselves.

"What exactly happened in the southern prefectures? Why didn't they stop them and let the refugees escape to the outskirts of the new capital?"

"Yes, there wasn't a single word from them, they didn't give us any time to prepare."

"What else could it be but passing the buck! Everyone thought that someone from the next prefecture would take care of these refugees, but they just kept passing the buck and no one took care of them! In the end, they all ran to Xindu!"

"These damn things are a real pain!"

"Stop talking, let's quickly send someone to check outside the city. Otherwise, if the Emperor asks about it this afternoon, we won't know how to respond."

After a brief discussion, the group dispatched their own men and servants to scout ahead.

Actually, things are in complete chaos outside right now.

In just half a day, the number of refugees outside the city doubled, and the streets were sparsely populated, like ants carrying food, with countless more heading towards the new capital.

The prefectures, counties, towns and villages can ignore them, but the emperor is the Son of Heaven and the head of Tianwu. He absolutely cannot watch his people starve to death!

This is the heartfelt sentiment of all the refugees, and the belief that supports them as they walk hundreds or thousands of miles!

Now that they've reached their destination, the refugees are unwilling to leave easily.

When they were not allowed to enter the city gates, they followed the example of their predecessors and gathered under the city walls to build shacks.

It's summer, and there's no rain, so we can just set up a shady spot and the whole family can have a place to stay.

As for food, begging is the obvious first choice.

Anyone entering or leaving the city gates, whether a nobleman in a carriage, a commoner carrying a load on his shoulders, or even a soldier patrolling with a sword at his waist, was a target for their begging.

In the face of hunger and death, nothing is more important than scolding, contempt, or even kicking!

Soon, the area outside the city became increasingly lively, with cries and curses frequently heard.

The city dwellers were also curious, and they would often go to the city gate to take a look, and then run back to tell everyone about what was new.

"Do you know that there are five or six thousand people gathered outside the city? The city gates are blocked, and it's impossible to get out!"

"Of course, I saw it with my own eyes. Those refugees were in such a terrible state, their clothes couldn't even cover their skin, and they were so sunburnt that they were just skin and bones."

"I heard they traveled almost a thousand li! That's terrifying! That's even farther than when we moved our capital!"

"How could such good days suddenly turn out like this! Those people are so hungry that their heads are big and their necks are thin, they are so pitiful, it's truly a tragedy!"

“I originally wanted to steam some cornbread to share with these people, but the vegetable delivery boy next door said that half of his load was taken away and he could hardly get in. I got scared too, so I decided to just see what the court would do.”

"Yes, there's the imperial court. Even if the imperial court can't help, there are still wealthy families distributing porridge. It's not our place to worry about it."

As they were talking, two teenagers pushed a wooden bucket in a wheelbarrow to a nearby shop and started selling it.

"A cool and sweet fruit juice! With ice crystals on it! One bowl will keep you from getting heatstroke for half a month! It's only two cents a bowl, cheap and affordable!"

The crowd was parched from talking, and they couldn't bear to listen to this anymore. So they called over a wheelbarrow and shared a bowl of soup to cool themselves down.

And the two boys were not exaggerating or lying; a bowl of sweet and sour, refreshing juice made everyone feel cool and refreshed!

So, a second bowl was quickly prepared, and some was taken home to his wife and children.

For a time, business was booming next to the small wheelbarrow.

There are more than a hundred of these wheelbarrows in the new capital city.

All the elderly and children in the relief department, as well as the employees of all the businesses under the Li family's name, were wheelbarrow owners...

Leaving aside the lively discussions among the common people, the wealthy families were now in a state of extreme anxiety.

Yesterday, the Liu family, the Jia family, and other families were busy packing up their belongings, making quite a commotion, which was naturally noticed by everyone.

Some people were confused and couldn't understand, some guessed but were reluctant to part with their things, and some thought these companies were cowardly.

As a result, they all regretted it today.

Even before the refugees started looting, the sight of red-eyed "hungry wolves" swarming around the manor was truly frightening.

Almost every household immediately decided to rush to harvest!

Two updates today!