Jiang Ruoya left, and He Jiuniang went back to tell Old Man Lu and Madam Sun about the money to be collected when entering the city.

"The imperial court is trying to drive people to their deaths!"

Sun sighed angrily, about to unleash a torrent of profanities, when Old Man Lu covered her mouth.

"There are too many people around, you can't just say anything!"

Sun slapped Lu's hand away in annoyance, but managed to keep quiet, muttering under her breath, "I'm not wrong! When the weather was good, we paid taxes to the court every year, giving them all the good things! Now that we're in trouble, why doesn't the court think of helping us? The common people are suffering!"

He Jiuniang remained silent, but she agreed with what Sun said. In this era, few people in power could truly care about the people's livelihood.

Or perhaps, the higher authorities are considerate of people's livelihoods and are willing to lend a hand, but it's not impossible that the favors are intercepted by lower-level officials.

"Alright, alright, stop talking. No matter what, our family can still go to the city. Let's see what the eldest brother and the others say when they get back."

Old Lu advised Sun with the attitude of "better safe than sorry," but his expression wasn't much better.

It costs three taels of silver for adults and two taels of silver for children to enter the city. If this were before, even if their family survived to get here, they wouldn't have the money to go in.

Fortunately, after the third son's wife died once, the family's luck suddenly improved. In addition, with these adventures on the road, they saved up a lot of money, so going to the city was not a problem.

The problem is that it costs money to enter Ganzhou City, but what about Anzhou?

Will Anju charge a fee? Or how much?

If Anzhou also costs money, then what's the point of them risking their lives to go there?

The way the imperial court is doing this is truly disheartening!

Meanwhile, in the main hall of the palace, the emperor angrily threw the memorial in his hand to the ground, looking at the kneeling officials below, too angry to speak.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. Don't upset yourself."

The eunuch Zhao, who was standing nearby, hurriedly stepped forward to pat his chest to help him catch his breath, in case the emperor passed out from anger.

"Nantai is simply going too far!"

Once the emperor had caught his breath, he wished he could raze Nantai to the ground right then and there.

Just now, we received news from Nantai that the drought situation in Beiyan has been leaked, and the people of Nantai are plotting to launch a sneak attack.

What's most infuriating is that not a single one of these court officials stepped forward to do anything practical.

"Your Majesty," I say, "in my opinion, Nan Tai's actions are undoubtedly a test of us. If we panic now, we will give Nan Tai an opportunity to exploit us. The most important thing right now is to resolve the issue of resettling the refugees. As for Nan Tai, as long as we don't express our stance, they won't dare to act rashly!"

When a minister stood up to express his opinion, he practically drooped his head to the ground in an attempt to minimize his presence.

“Father, I think Lord Liu is right.”

Prince Chen, who was ranked third, also stepped forward. Lord Liu was the one who had just spoken, and he was also one of Prince Chen's men.

He glanced at the old emperor's face and continued, "If we panic now, Nan Tai will know that Bei Yan is indeed suffering from drought. But if we remain still and deal with the refugees first, Nan Tai will not be able to figure out the situation and will be able to buy us an opportunity."

Currently, most of the Northern Yan country is suffering from drought, and the national treasury is severely depleted. If war were to break out at this time, the consequences would be unimaginable.

South Thailand is not the only neighboring country. If a war were to break out, other countries would inevitably get involved.

"Then tell me, how should we deal with these refugees?"

The old emperor sat on the throne for quite a long time, but he accomplished little during his reign, focusing all his energy on maneuvering around his sons and paying little attention to state affairs.

"Father, our dynasty is beset by internal and external troubles, and those refugees are causing such chaos. Naturally, they should be sent back to where they came from. Otherwise, we should suppress them by force. I don't believe they will disobey us!"

Before Prince Chen could speak, the sixth prince, Prince Jing, arrogantly spoke first. He was always unruly and didn't care about the lives of the people, so he was unaware of the hardships of the people's lives. Therefore, he could say these words without any pressure.

"Sixth Brother, the people are suffering, this is not a joke for you to make light of!"

Prince Chen looked very angry and cupped his hands, saying, "Father, Sixth Brother's words are utter nonsense! If we weren't unable to make a living in our original place, who would willingly wander and flee famine? Not to mention the hardships of the journey, sleeping in the open, not having enough to eat or wear, and even encountering attacks from bandits and horsemen! Your son begs Father to open the national treasury to provide disaster relief and stabilize the people's hearts. This is the only long-term solution!"

"How can you call that nonsense? It's true! If those unruly commoners dare to come to the capital, I'll teach them a lesson!"

Prince Jing was unconvinced and glared fiercely at Prince Chen. He wanted to speak again, but when he heard the emperor cough deliberately, he had no choice but to shut up.

He knew he had to know when to stop courting death, otherwise his father would be angry.

The fifth prince, Lin Wang, seized the opportunity to step forward: "Father, what my third brother said is absolutely right. However, our treasury is empty. If we keep allocating funds for disaster relief, I'm afraid even if we empty the treasury, it will be of no use. The army is recruiting soldiers right now, so why not let those refugees serve in the army? In this way, we can solve the refugee problem and expand our army. Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?"

The crown prince thought this was a good idea, and to avoid being questioned by the emperor alone, he quickly chimed in, "Father, Fifth Brother is right!"

"army……"

Just as Prince Chen was about to retort, Lord Liu quietly shook his head at him, signaling him not to say anything more.

Prince Chen was angry, but he quickly regained his senses and realized that it was not the right time for him to step forward, otherwise it would only be detrimental to him.

The emperor thought it was a good idea, as it would save money and increase the number of soldiers. He readily agreed, issued an edict, and then happily left the court.

The sixth prince, Prince Jing, gave Prince Chen a provocative look before turning and leaving.

Prince Lin walked over somewhat helplessly: "Third brother, don't be angry. The national treasury is empty right now. It's already good enough that we can use this method to deal with it for now."

Prince Chen and Prince Lin had a decent relationship, so he didn't want to embarrass him too much. He just sighed and said, "Not just anyone can join the army."

Joining the army means going to the battlefield, and those who go to the battlefield naturally have to be able-bodied men. But how many of those who flee can be able-bodied men?

Prince Lin didn't know how to comfort him, so he patted him on the shoulder and left first.

Upon returning to his residence, Prince Chen immediately summoned his advisors and launched into a tirade against the Emperor's handling of the matter.

“Your Highness, you must not say such things anymore. His Majesty’s actions are for the sake of the national treasury. Now it seems that conscription is not a bad thing. At least they will not starve to death for the time being.”

The advisor Guan Chong tried to comfort him, but he also felt uneasy. Of all the princes, only Prince Chen truly cared about the world.

The others, including the Crown Prince, are... well, let's not talk about them!

"That's true, but only men are likely to join the army. What about women and children?"

Prince Chen felt utterly overwhelmed. Why didn't his father wait for the court officials to come up with a solution?