Naruto: I, the villain template, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 112 The Darkest Hour Before Dawn is the Hardest to Endure (Seeking Monthly Tickets!!)

"Sigh, the world these days..."

At the ferry crossing in Dawn City, Qianfu briefly explained his views and sighed deeply: "To put it bluntly, we just want to survive, but we can only go with the flow."

"Although it was hard and risky before, I could still earn some money every day. If I had work every day, I could earn much more than farming."

"However, the Land of Rain is in such a mess now that fewer and fewer merchant ships are coming here, and often there is no work for half a month or a month."

"Moreover, that Lord Hanzo is extremely warlike, and every time he attacks Sunagakure, he causes heavy casualties, and then he continues to use both soft and hard tactics to take them away..."

"That's how my son died," another porter said, his head bowed, his gray hair disheveled and weathered. He choked back tears. "I thought he could live a good life, maybe even support his family, but..."

"In the end, he did not die at the hands of Konoha and Sunagakure, but instead died from the poison gas that Hanzo unintentionally released."

The lead boatman finished his sentence, patted the man on the shoulder, and sighed, "Although they did give us some compensation in the end, that's the future pillar of our family!"

"My old friend was counting on that kid to help him out in the future, but a perfectly healthy man just died like that."

"That's why we came here, to try our luck..."

At this point, Qianfu raised his head somewhat timidly, cautiously observing Yun Chuan's expression.

"I see..." Yun Chuan lowered his eyelids slightly, concealing his sparkling eyes, and said in a low voice, "What a pitiful situation."

The words of these shovelers confirmed the intelligence that Nagato had obtained and also added many details.

The capital of the Rain Kingdom is located in the south of the Rain Kingdom. In the past, it was much more prosperous than the north where Yunchuan was located because it was adjacent to the Fire Kingdom and the Wind Kingdom.

This is why the number of merchant ships far exceeds that of the north, which is why these boatmen used to gather in the south.

However, with the war between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire becoming more and more frequent, Sunagakure is clearly aware of its weakness of lacking stamina.

Therefore, they have recently been raiding the border in a preemptive manner, hoping to slow down the consumption of their resources and buy more time to fight against Konoha.

The southern part of the Land of Rain, which had originally prospered due to the trade between the two countries, was almost entirely plundered to varying degrees by villages located along the route of the Sand Village forces.

Under such circumstances, it's obvious that no merchant ships would dare to risk staying in the south.

Meanwhile, the ambitious Hanzo took the opportunity to expand his power, taking in those who were starving, but he and his Rain Ninja did not engage in any productive work.

As Hanzo's forces grew, his power increased, but so did the money and supplies he needed to consume, which ultimately fell on the shoulders of the common people.

—Either wait to starve to death, or become cannon fodder for Hanzo.

Which would most people choose? Obviously, to become cannon fodder, at least they can live a few more days.

Even becoming cannon fodder required certain conditions; the elderly, the weak, women, and children could only wait to die.

These boatmen didn't want to wait to die, nor did they want to be useless cannon fodder, so they crossed the river from the south, hoping to try their luck in the north.

Or perhaps they heard some gossip from certain businessmen...

"..."

Yun Chuan slightly raised his eyelids to meet those evasive yet hopeful eyes, and said with a gentle smile, "If you trust me, you can join Dawn City. As long as you are diligent and hardworking, I guarantee you won't go hungry."

After saying that, he pointed to the undeveloped wasteland and the dilapidated houses left by the bandits, and said calmly, "Let's clear out these houses first, and you can stay here for the night."

"We'll send you tools tomorrow. We'll tear down all the mud walls and rebuild them. We'll collect the usable beams and chop up the rotten ones for firewood."

"Within a month, you will build the houses yourselves, and then go directly to cultivate the mountain land."

At this moment, a boatman suddenly raised his hand and said awkwardly, "Sir, I don't know how to farm or build houses, what should I do?"

The other boatmen also looked excited but uneasy.

"If you don't understand, you can learn. Someone will come and teach you." Yun Chuan waved his hand. "Don't worry about food. We will definitely not let you go hungry. As long as the land is cultivated, we will give you household registration and land deeds, and you will be exempt from taxes for three years."

The dozens of farmers in front of Yun Chuan, although few of them knew how to farm, were excited and full of anticipation when they heard that they could own land by clearing wasteland and would not have to pay taxes for three years.

"Really? Really?" The lead boatman was overjoyed and said respectfully, "On behalf of my fellow boatmen, I sincerely thank you. Thank you so much!"

Soon, they each chose an abandoned house as a family unit, and they were able to do it very actively on their own without Yun Chuan sending anyone to supervise them.

"Uncle Qiuyu".

Yun Chuan gestured for Qiu Yu to lean closer and whispered, "You're in charge of managing these new recruits. Bring them the tools tomorrow."

Don't let them build houses haphazardly; discuss and agree on whose houses to build first and whose to build later. Planning ahead will speed things up. Also, ask for stonemasons and carpenters if needed.

"Also, if hydroponics is feasible, we should start by promoting it."

Qiu Yu nodded, about to agree, but was suddenly interrupted.

"Remember, this is something you should never force!"

Yun Chuan reminded him with a serious expression, "After all, this is a technology that has never been heard of before. It's normal for them to have doubts. You can use my few experimental fields first. If there is a good harvest, they will naturally flock to it and follow suit."

Upon hearing this, Qiu Yu paused for a moment, then nodded solemnly: "I understand."

This place is some distance from Dawn City. The remaining refugees and displaced people will be settled here between this place and the city, and then gradually houses will be built and the land will be cleared to form a continuous area.

Thinking of this, Qiu Yu couldn't help but admire Lord Yun Chuan's far-sightedness.

According to the thinking of those aristocratic merchants, they should have stored all the money they earned and the grain they collected.

They would definitely choose to store up enough money and grain, then find a good piece of land to build a large house, and try to keep the land in their own hands as much as possible.

They had grain, money, land, and even mansions; they also bought servants to display their status.

But this man frantically absorbed people and reclaimed wasteland, and he even paid out of his own pocket to build it. He genuinely distributed a lot of land to them, and he had no servants in his household.

If Qiu Yu put herself in his shoes, she would never do such a thing.

"Alright."

Yun Chuan interrupted the group who were deep in thought, and walked towards the greenhouse in the distance, shrouded in rain and mist, saying softly, "We don't have much time left."

"The darkness before dawn is the hardest to bear."

There's one more chapter. I've been working on the outline lately, and I'm ready for the next climax—it'll definitely blow your mind!

(End of this chapter)