Hmmm, they mean to cite Herod’s census????
>>Hmmm, they mean to cite Herod’s census????<<
One must assume so (or Quirinius’). And we know how great it was to have the occupier’s puppet dictate the rules of the real rulers.
No hardship, no problems, no big deal. Thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of people had to mobilize in wretched conditions. It may have been the crucible that produce Christ Our Lord, but it was cruel and hard.
And since the new chosen one is now the ruler, we need not hope for a Child To Lead us to be born.