The messenger left, leaving only Lu Yanzheng and Wei Chengzong in the room.

Neither of them spoke. Lu Yanzheng frowned in deep thought, while Wei Chengzhong looked at Lu Yanzheng, waiting for him to make arrangements.

Prince Yong's rebellion is a major event, and he is the first prince in Da Yue to rebel. The people will be filled with fear and unease when they hear the news.

Yukang Prefecture is adjacent to Qiongzhou Prefecture. In order to avoid being affected, many people outside Qiongzhou Prefecture choose to flee to other prefectures, and Yukang Prefecture naturally becomes the first choice.

But right now, the entire Yukang Prefecture is in a state of chaos, with everyone struggling to make ends meet and the people of Yukang Prefecture starving. So how should they treat the people of Qiongzhou Prefecture who have come to seek refuge?

It's likely not just the people of Qiongzhou Prefecture; it could also include those from Yunzhou and Xiangzhou to the south of Qiongzhou. This is because Qionghai Sea blocks their way further south, preventing large numbers of people from migrating south. Furthermore, Yunzhou and Xiangzhou are crucial transit points for Prince Yong's attack on the capital.

Nobody wants to be caught in the crossfire of war. Anyone with a bit of skill will try to do something before the war starts in order to save their family's life.

At this moment, Wei Chengzong looked at Lu Yanzheng, who was deep in thought, and he didn't know whether he hoped Lu Yanzheng would let the people over or not.

With more people, their responsibilities become greater, but they feel reluctant to prevent the people from settling down here.

“Magistrate Wei,” Lu Yanzheng finally spoke after some time, “I need to go to the prefectural city. As for Yongshan County, make arrangements to prepare for receiving the refugees.”

Wei Chengzong immediately agreed, "General, please rest assured, I will certainly not fail in my mission!"

Lu Yanzheng nodded. "Also, send a message to my home in Dingshui Village to tell them where I am going." He paused for a moment before adding, "As for when I will return... it's uncertain."

He had a premonition that the entire Dai Viet would descend into chaos after Prince Yong rebelled.

Life is truly unpredictable; plans can never keep up with changes. It seems that some of my previous ideas about the Seventh Prince need to be reconsidered.

...

In Dingshui Village, Jiang Qinyu was at Village Chief Li's house.

“My dear niece, you have no idea how many people have moved into our village while you were gone. There’s the Xu family from town who sell groceries, the Jin butcher’s family, and even the Qi family who do blacksmithing…”

As Village Chief Li told Jiang Qinyu about the new people in the village, he sighed, "I don't know what's wrong with God, He just won't give us a way to survive. The people in town are also pitiful, their wells don't produce water. We know most of the families who have moved here, and I know their character, which is why I agreed to let them stay."

The reason why people from the town were willing to come to Dingshui Village can be traced back to Dr. Gu's family.

Ever since Dr. Gu's family settled in the village, whenever they go to town to buy things, people ask them where they are now and how they are doing.

The Gu family had already settled down in Dingshui Village, so they were bound to tell the truth about how great the village was. As a result, many families in the town began to consider moving to Dingshui Village.

However, only a few companies have the guts to actually pack their things and come to try their luck; most others are still observing.

“Uncle Village Chief, I think it might rain soon, so you don’t need to worry so much.” Although Jiang Qinyu was surprised that people from the town had settled in Dingshui Village, she still offered a word of advice when she saw Village Chief Li looking so worried.

This day was indeed unusual, but nature has its own rules; after extreme heat, there will definitely be torrential rain.

Jiang Qinyu couldn't say to what extent it would drop, but they should start preparing.

"What? It's going to rain?" Village Chief Li looked at the bright sunshine outside and couldn't believe it. "My dear niece, you're not kidding me, are you?"

Jiang Qinyu said carefully, "I'm not 100% sure, but I came here today to discuss with Uncle Village Chief whether our village should make preparations for the rainstorm in advance."

"What else do we need to prepare?" Village Chief Li asked excitedly. "It hasn't rained heavily for three or four years. Rain is a good thing!"

Jiang Qinyu shook her head, "Uncle Village Chief, too much of a good thing is bad. It's good to have rain after a drought, but the land has been severely parched in recent years, and the outer edges of the mountains are mostly desertified. If there is a sudden downpour, it could lead to the dragon's flight, which would be another disaster."

The "walking dragon" refers to a mudslide, and the original owner's elder brother died in a mudslide disaster.

When Village Chief Li thought about the cause of Jiang's eldest brother's death, he immediately understood why Jiang Qinyu had come to remind him to prepare for the rainstorm.

“My dear niece, you’re right. Regardless of whether there’s a downpour or not, it’s always good to be prepared,” Village Chief Li said thoughtfully. “Here’s what we’ll do: I’ll gather the villagers together and we can take some protective measures for the families living near the village while it’s not so hot at night.”

Jiang Qinyu reminded everyone, "Also, every household in the village needs to pay attention to drainage. The ditches and irrigation canals in the fields must be checked carefully to ensure they are not blocked and can drain water at any time."

She had studied flood control engineering in school, so she was perfectly capable of applying it here. She immediately drew up the blueprints on how to dig drainage ditches.

"There are so many intricacies involved?" Village Chief Li exclaimed in astonishment as he looked at the blueprints. He had originally thought that digging some ditches would be enough.

Jiang Qinyu just smiled and didn't say much, only saying, "Especially Brother Meng's family. Their family lives at the foot of the mountain. If the rainstorm is too severe, it's not just a matter of whether their house will be flooded, but preventing the dragon from swimming away is the most important thing."

“Okay, I’ll talk to Lao Meng about it.” Village Chief Li nodded, then asked, “What about your son, A-Zheng? How long can he stay at home?”

Jiang Qinyu replied, "He went to the county government office, and I don't know exactly how long he'll be at home."

Mentioning Lu Yanzheng reminded her of what happened that morning, and her ears turned slightly red.

After discussing the precautions against the heavy rain, Village Chief Li took Jiang Qinyu to the fields.

Dingshui Village has now harvested all the crops planted previously, and the land has been plowed and replanted with new crops. Although the temperature is high, the fields look thriving because of timely watering.

When Jiang Qinyu saw the scene in the field, she thought of the border town.

In fact, they could try intercropping on their land to improve land utilization.

However, given the current year of disaster, Jiang Qinyu didn't mention it.

When they returned from the fields and reached the village entrance, they saw a fast horse galloping towards them.

"Hey? Isn't this Liang Xiaoshan from the county government? What brings him here?" Village Chief Li, with his sharp eyes, recognized the man at a glance.

As they were talking, Liang Xiaoshan arrived, dismounted, and headed straight for Jiang Qinyu.

"Greetings, Madam!" Liang Xiaoshan bowed to Jiang Qinyu formally.

Jiang Qinyu quickly told him not to be so polite, "Why did you come in such a hurry? Is something wrong?"

"Reporting to Madam, it was the General who sent me to deliver a message. Prince Yong of Qiongzhou has rebelled, and the General has gone to the prefectural city. He told Madam and the family not to worry..."

Liang Xiaoshan's words stunned everyone present, especially Jiang Qinyu.

Prince Yong of Qiongzhou rebelled? How come this was brought forward?