The Southern Barbarians have actually been having a very difficult time lately.
Since Chen Qing cut off the Southeast Commandery, those countries that had cooperated with the court among the Southern Barbarians tribes have been cut off in the southeast. As Jiangnan grows stronger, the Tiannan Pass the Southeast Commandery is even more difficult to conquer than when the Flying Dragon Army was in power.
However, the poisonous insects and miasma within the Southern Barbarians lands become exceptionally deadly when spiritual energy surges. While most insect-based medicines have limited upper limits, they can be highly lethal to ordinary people in the early stages of mutation.
In this year of soaring spiritual energy, nearly two-thirds of the population of the entire Southern Barbarians were wiped out!
Most of them died from attacks by various poisonous insects. The carnivorous and terrifying insects in the fog have been a nightmare for many residents these days, but they cannot escape them.
After all, people need to eat, and even those barbarians who have grown to the Transcendent level require a large amount of food. So how is food supplied? It can't rely entirely on hunting, can it?
Humans are omnivores, and nobles especially need a diverse diet. Land must be cultivated, and those who cultivate the land must be ordinary farmers.
Farmers outside the city are difficult to protect completely. In order to keep up with the farm work, they must live outside the city, and their safety is far from guaranteed. This is also the reason why the population is decreasing. Although carnivorous insects are not very smart, they know to avoid cities that are difficult to conquer and instead choose those farmers who are alone in the fields.
Even with soldiers stationed there, safety cannot be completely guaranteed.
This also led to a large exodus of people from the lower classes.
At this point, the situation inside the Southeast Pass was the most troublesome.
"Boss, there are more and more people down here lately, what should we do?"
With the new gate gods and the accelerated construction by the Academy of Engineering, the gates of Southeast Pass are now over a hundred feet high. With the blessing of the gate gods and the powerful formation, not to mention the Southern Barbarians, even the imperial army wouldn't dare say they could easily take this pass, despite the fact that there are less than ten thousand soldiers at the pass.
The general who remained in the southeast was from one of the Tian Household family's affiliated clans, surnamed Bai. The head of the clan Bai Lie, and his current rank was equivalent to a deputy general of the first army. The garrison commander of the Southeast Pass pass also received additional subsidies. He independently commanded an army, and given that the emperor was far away, it was considered a pretty good job.
Of course, it was only "good." Compared to the soldiers in the West Sea who were close to the Imperial Palace and trade routes, their treatment was definitely much worse. However, such a good position was naturally not available to a family of average status like the Bai Family. So Bai Lie understood this and simply withdrew from the highly competitive West Sea Army. Guarding the Southeast Pass was not bad either.
This position has low casualties, not much work to do, and decent pay—not the best, but not the worst either. He recently got a break. Most of his former most powerful deputy generals are dead, and there's been another rebellion recently. Those subordinate families who were once of higher status than him have been dismantled one by one, and their leaders have been taken down. They probably won't even be able to Samsara in the Underworld.
Thinking of this, Bai Lie couldn't help but feel glad he made the right choice. Several years ago, he had seen that his old buddies had long been blinded by greed and were becoming increasingly arrogant and domineering. Sooner or later, they would get into trouble, and now it seemed that he was right.
However, I also have quite a few troubles here. There aren't any major troubles, after all, the emperor is far away here, and interpersonal relationships are simple. The county magistrate in charge of the southeastern border city is easy to get along with. Although Shen Shiyi of the Underworld is a bit arrogant, he is not a bad person at heart. As long as you give in to him a little, many things are negotiable. At least he is always very generous in the treatment of soldiers who have lost battles in the Underworld.
The biggest problem, I must say, is what my subordinates have just reported.
Bai Lie frowned as he looked at the densely packed Southern Barbarians refugees below the city gate.
These refugees are said to have been forced out by the Southern Barbarians countries, and they have no other way to survive. It is said that many of them were forced to farm outside the city, which made their survival impossible and caused many deaths. It is said that billions of people died in the Southern Barbarians countries last year.
This number was comparable to the great calamity that struck northern China years ago, which truly startled him.
Those who managed to escape from the valleys teeming with miasma, poisonous insects, and demons, dragging their children along, were considered relatively lucky. Once they reached the city walls, they had a slim chance of survival.
Whenever a demon approaches, the magic array will automatically activate. The poisonous insects are very sensitive and dare not approach the area covered by the gatekeeper, which gives the group of Southern Barbarians barbarians a place to breathe.
No one knows who leaked the news that this place was safe, but more and more Southern Barbarians barbarians fled here. Over time, the crowds piled up at the city gate were enough to build a city on their own, numbering nearly a million.
It was so densely packed that it gave him a headache!
The key character is Shen Shiyi, who appears arrogant but is actually a compassionate child.
It's problematic when children like this have relatively many rights.
He had repeatedly asked himself and others to supply food to the people below.
At first it was alright, but now there are millions of refugees down there. How can they possibly feed them all with supplies? They either need to build a town or simply incorporate them into their own forces, but how dare they just incorporate such a group of Southern Barbarians?
What if there are spies among them? Who will be responsible if something goes wrong?
I want to stay in this position until retirement, and I don't want to cause any trouble.
But to refuse would not only offend Shen Shiyi, but also leave those women, children, and other vulnerable individuals looking pitiful.
He himself had also brought his family to join Tian Shuai in seeking refuge in Jiangnan. After the family moved here, they were still uneasy. Unlike the first batch of people who settled in Jiangnan, he was the Tian Heng who came to Jiangnan later. He sent a message to Tian Heng via carrier pigeon and secretly brought his family here. That was a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of his family. At first, he didn't know how long his wife, children and parents would complain about him.
Now that we've finally enjoyed a few good years, and my wife, children, and parents are increasingly satisfied with my initial decision, I can't afford to make any mistakes.
But looking at the children below, their faces pale and sallow from hunger, he couldn't help but think of his own daughter when he was fleeing from war.
To avoid attracting the attention of the imperial court, he dared not bring any military rations. His poor daughter went hungry for more than ten days, surviving on only a little grass and water each day. Her pitiful appearance was exactly the same as that of the children below.
Looking closely now, those Southern Barbarians and the people of the Central Plains actually look quite similar. It is said that they all shared the same ancestor. It's really hard to bear watching so many children starve to death under the city walls.
Not to mention himself, even his soldiers often couldn't stand it and would secretly use their own military rations to help the people below.
"Boss, if you ask me, how about we let them in?" one of the lieutenants said cautiously.
"Are you crazy?" Bai Lie glared at the other person. "Will you take responsibility if something happens?"
"Actually, there's no need to be too cautious. How could these starving, skin-and-bones guys possibly be hiding any powerful figures?"
Bai Lie hesitated upon hearing this. As a martial artist, he knew very well that the more powerful a person was, the higher their requirements for food. For example, even if he was eating meat specially supplied by Great Azure Mountain every day, he would still consume at least 100 jin (50 kg) of it. Many of the people below had been staying at the city gate for a year, and no martial artist could possibly endure malnutrition for a year.
"Sir," another lieutenant suggested, "If you're still worried, how about we only let women, children, and infants into the city?"
"This..." Bai Lie was truly tempted this time, and finally said, "I'll consult with my superiors."