The same moving scenes are playing out everywhere in Mountain and River Pass.
With the border cities on the front lines breached, Mountain and River Pass will soon become a battlefield, and those people who do not want to be affected will naturally choose to move.
The government of the Chen Kingdom provides certain policy support to people who relocate, and it will not have a catastrophic impact on their lives. Therefore, except for a very few special reasons, most people will choose to relocate.
"Sir, we caught several illegal immigrants on the border."
What should we do?
Below the city gate tower, patrolling soldiers escorted several men and women dressed as civilians to the officer, who bowed and pleaded for his orders.
The officer was a burly, middle-aged man. He glanced at the men and women who were trying to cross the border illegally, his expression unfriendly.
"Hasn't the Chen Kingdom treated you well? Why did you choose to cross the border illegally?"
Upon hearing this, the stowaways' legs buckled and they all knelt down.
"Sir, I... I also heard it from my elders."
The Haotian Empire beyond the Great Wall is blessed by the gods and is a chosen nation.
He said that the Chen Kingdom would be destroyed by the gods sooner or later, and if we didn't run away now, we would be punished after the Chen Kingdom was destroyed, and then we wouldn't be able to escape even if we wanted to."
The young man, his face trembling with tears, kept begging for mercy.
"Hmph! You're all so foolish!"
Don't you ever think about what kind of life we lived in Mountain and River Pass in the past, and what kind of life we live now?
Everything you eat, live in, and even practice your cultivation methods—is it not a blessing from the government?
If our Mountain and River Pass were still under the rule of the Haotian Empire, how could we be in this situation today?!
The middle-aged officer grew increasingly angry as he spoke, and the veins on his neck bulged out.
However, he quickly calmed down because he knew that these illegal immigrants were all under thirty years old, had never experienced the turbulent times of the past, and could not possibly understand his feelings for the Chen Kingdom.
"Take him away! Detain him for eight days."
Check them for any contraband; if so, confiscate it.
Upon hearing the middle-aged officer's sentence, the stowaways were not saddened but rather delighted. They quickly kowtowed in gratitude and were led away by the soldiers.
"Sir, aren't we being a bit too lenient with those who cross the border illegally?"
I've heard that if the Haotian Empire catches any people who have illegally crossed into our Chen Kingdom, they'll be imprisoned for at least a year, and all their property will be confiscated.
After all the stowaways had been sent away, a guard complained to the officer, looking bewildered.
The government of the Chen Kingdom is very generous. Not only does it send a large number of robots to assist in reclaiming and expanding the land, but it also collects light taxes from the people and promotes cultivation scriptures through the Spirit Network Realm. It truly 'hides wealth among the people'.
Nowadays, the people's quality of life has improved, and even in a small county town, True Spirit Realm cultivators are starting to appear in large groups. However, this does not mean that all the people will necessarily be loyal to the Chen Kingdom.
An ancient saying goes, "A knight-errant uses martial arts to break the law!"
When the people become stronger, it becomes more difficult for the government to govern them, especially during times of war. Powerful cultivation sects and martial arts gangs can be even more difficult to deal with than the army outside the city if they cause trouble.
This is why, for tens of thousands of years, government agencies have kept cultivation texts on high shelves and strictly controlled their dissemination.
In the present Chen Kingdom, many people rely on the support of the Chen Kingdom government to earn money and improve their strength. After reaching a certain level, they sneak back to the Haotian Empire.
If they were just returning to the Haotian Empire to enjoy their newfound wealth, that would be one thing, but some of them even turned against the Haotian Empire and helped the military fight against the Chen Kingdom. How could this not infuriate the soldiers guarding the city?
"I had no choice!"
Legally speaking, I can only detain them for a maximum of six months.
Recently, Emperor Chen personally issued an edict, saying that he would treat these people who did not want to stay in the Chen Kingdom with leniency.
Now, unless it's too outrageous, they're usually detained for a few days and then released.
The middle-aged officer sighed, his eyes filled with a mixture of resentment and relief.
"Emperor Chen is merciful!"
"I'm a guard," he said, his eyes filled with longing.
Chen Kingdom, within the Spirit Network Space.
At this moment, only Chen Mu, Chen Hongjie, and several important officials of the Chen Kingdom in charge of internal affairs were present. They were pointing at the population distribution map displayed on the screen and having a heated discussion.
In the past three years, the Heavenly Court has maintained the upper hand in its attacks on the Chen Kingdom, which has naturally brought tremendous psychological pressure to the people of the Chen Kingdom.
Therefore, more and more people are now smuggling themselves into the Haotian Empire, including many highly skilled cultivators.
In response to this situation, the Chen Kingdom not only did not stop it, but even relaxed the punishments, allowing more people from the Chen Kingdom to go to the Haotian Empire.
The reason why Chen Kingdom does this is very simple: Chen Kingdom has advanced Rune Technology and does not need to exploit the people to obtain income. The income from automated factories and interstellar trade is more than ten times that of taxes.
The loss of population has a negligible impact on the national strength of the Chen Kingdom, but sending people to the Haotian Empire can play many unexpected roles.
"Have you noticed that since more people have been smuggling themselves into the Haotian Empire, more people have also been risking their lives to smuggle themselves into our Chen Kingdom from the Haotian Empire?"
Although the people who illegally crossed the border were not of high quality, they were all very enterprising. After obtaining legal status, they played a greater role in local economic development than the original inhabitants.
Not only did we not lose money, we actually made a huge profit.
Minister of Revenue Nan Yuanshan pointed to the ever-rising curve on the screen and said with a smile.
"Yes! But I heard that the Haotian Empire has increased the penalties for smuggling, and now it's common to be sentenced to more than ten years in prison."
If this continues, fewer and fewer people will dare to illegally cross the border.
"It's no use. Unless information is blocked between the two countries, someone will always take the risk..."
Nan Yuanshan was not worried at all about the news Kong Yu received; he was full of confidence.
"Alright! Let those illegal immigrants go wherever they want; it's none of our business."
I've gathered everyone here today to cause them some trouble within the Haotian Empire. We've been laying this plan for many years, and now it's time to unleash its power.
After Chen Hongjie finished speaking, he reached out and pulled out a semi-transparent control panel in front of him, and tapped it a few times.
Whoosh!
Two new people appeared in the Spirit Network Space. One was Gu Zi'an, the deputy commander of the Shadow Guards. As for the other burly man, none of the internal affairs officials present had ever seen him before.
"Brother Duan, it's been a long time."
Chen Mu spoke first, greeting everyone warmly.
"Haha, it's been a long time, Brother Chen Mu."
The burly man was Duan Tianlong, the president of the Dragon-Toppling Society. It was his first time participating in the Spirit Network meeting of the Chen Kingdom, and he was looking around with curiosity in his eyes.