At the entrance to a small fishing village in North Sea Commandery, more than sixty fishing households returned to the village they had been away from for a month, hauling large and small bundles through the faintly salty sea breeze, their families in tow, supporting the old and carrying the young.
The lifeless, deathly silent fishing village suddenly filled with human voices. Before long, cooking smoke rose into the air, as though it had come back to life.
With the alarm lifted, the fishermen who had been forced to evacuate the coastal regions more than a month ago began returning to their seaside villages one after another.
Although the officials of the North Sea Prefecture Duke's Mansion had provided porridge so thick a chopstick could stand upright in it, along with a large white steamed bun at every meal, everyone still longed for their own doghouse, where they could sleep soundly.
The moment they returned, the whole village filled with laughter and joyous voices.
The same scene played out again and again in the fishing villages along the coast of North Sea Commandery.
Yet beneath the laughter and joy lay hidden worries.
For even as it announced the lifting of the alarm, the North Sea Prefecture Duke's Mansion issued another order, laying a huge stone upon their hearts.
Though the alarm over a Water Clan attack had been temporarily lifted, the Water Clan still might invade the land. Under the rule of the North Sea Prefecture Duke's Mansion, both North Sea Commandery and Le'an Commandery were vast and sparsely populated.
Therefore, the North Sea Prefecture Duke's Mansion ordered that any fishing household willing to relocate inland would receive a set amount of resettlement money, as well as fifty mu of farmland per household member. The authorities also encouraged the cultivation