Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

The decoration of the Ring Society is simple and rustic, with no threshold, few furniture inside and only two or three ornaments.

Diwu Nazheng sent someone to contact Aunt Qiong and invited Shen Zheng into the tea room.

There was also a young man entering with them. Shen Zheng thought the man looked unfamiliar and it was probably someone she had never seen before.

The man was in his early twenties, six feet tall, with a handsome face and elegant manners.

Unlike Lin Fanyun who pretends to be mature, this person's steadiness comes from within. At first glance, he is a well-educated and experienced person.

After Shen Zheng sat down, the man boiled water and made tea beside him. Diwu Nazheng introduced, "Sir Shen, this is the Chang family of Jingzhou, Chang Yueer, whom I mentioned to you before."

Upon hearing this, Chang Yueer put down the tea can and saluted, saying, "My name is Chang Yueer, and I'm honored to meet you, Lord Shen."

Shen Zheng nodded, "Mr. Chang, there's no need to be so polite."

Chang Yue'er was born into the Chang family of Jingzhou and was an old merchant in the Great Zhou.

Although the Chang family's business is not as big as the fifth one, it also involves multiple fields. The bulk of Jingzhou Prefecture's annual tax revenue comes from the Chang family.

Long before, Diwu Nazheng had mentioned to Shen Zheng that the Chang family in Jingzhou had strict requirements for their children and had a clean and upright family tradition.

He also said that there was a descendant of the Chang family named Chang Yue'er, who had a good reputation, was a steady person, and had an intelligent mind, and that the Xianhuan Society could recruit him.

Shen Zheng didn't expect to meet someone at the Xianhuan Club today.

Diwu Nazheng smiled and said, "Xiao Chang is tall, but he has a delicate mind. Just now, he was suggesting to me that the shelter should accept women first, and then men."

"Oh?" Shen Zheng couldn't help but glance at Chang Yue'er. "That coincides with our thoughts. Since Master Chang has joined the Ring Society on behalf of the Chang family, why don't you sit down and discuss matters together?"

"Yes." Chang Yueer poured tea for the two of them before smoothing his robe and sitting down.

Shen Zheng sipped her tea and said, "I came here today, firstly, on the orders of the Empress, to bring the palace maids here. Secondly, I wanted to ask if the meeting had finalized the details of the relief center's location?"

Diwu Nazheng stood up upon hearing this and took a small drawer from the bookshelf.

"Please look, sir." He pulled a roll of blueprints from a small drawer. "This was sent by a clerk from the Ministry of Revenue two days ago. He said there aren't many wastelands outside the capital, and the relief center would occupy a considerable area. The only places we can choose from are the ones circled in red."

This is a simple map of the suburbs of Beijing. Six places are circled in red ink, which are the places that the court can give to the Ring Society for use.

The Xianhuan Association would select a location and report it to the court before construction could begin.

"What does the Fifth Master think?" Shen Zheng asked.

Diwu Nazheng pointed at the blueprint and said thoughtfully, "This place won't work. The terrain here is low-lying and prone to disease and epidemics."

Shen Zheng nodded and pointed to another place, "This place won't work either. It's close to the dock and might disrupt traffic."

The two looked at each other and then looked at the remaining red circles.

After discussing for a while, four of the six places were eliminated, leaving only two to be chosen, and the two fell into deep thought.

Just as Shen Zheng was analyzing the pros and cons of the two locations, Chang Yueer suddenly spoke up: "I think this is the right place to choose."

Shen Zheng looked at where his finger was and nodded secretly.

She actually prefers this.

"Mr. Chang, please tell me in detail," she said.

Chang Yue'er thought for a moment before speaking in a clear voice, "This place has convenient transportation and does not disturb the people; the water source is clean and easy to get; the terrain is high and the drainage is smooth; and I think... the relief site should be located in a spacious area to be prepared for any eventuality."

Diwu Nazheng was convinced by him and turned to look at Shen Zheng.

Shen Zheng asked, "Master Chang is from Jingzhou, why are you so familiar with the suburbs of Beijing?"

Chang Yueer smiled faintly and said, "Your Excellency and I took the Spring Examination in the same year. During the days we were waiting for the results to be announced, I wandered all over the capital."

Diwu Nazheng immediately turned around and asked curiously, "I only knew that my nephew had achieved great success, but I didn't know that he...had taken part in the Spring Examination?"

As soon as he said this, he immediately realized that if Chang Yueer had passed the imperial examination, he would have been a Gongshi by now, but he was only a Juren, a complete failure...

Of course, failing the exam will not be publicized, as it is not a glorious thing.

"Ahem..." Feeling awkward, he changed the subject, "But my nephew and Lord Shen are also destined to meet. We've met before."

Shen Zheng smiled slightly and did not respond.

Chang Yueer smiled and shook his head, "There were many candidates for the Spring Examination that year, and I seem to have had bad luck and didn't get to meet Lord Shen."

Shen Zheng followed suit, "I've just thought about it, and it seems I've never met Master Chang before. But the fact that we're meeting at the Ring-Hearing Club shows that we're destined to be together. We can be considered colleagues in the future."

After the "imperial examination in the same year" incident was revealed, the three of them discussed it again and finally decided on the address of the relief center.

"Since our ideas coincide with Master Chang's, let's choose this place." Shen Zheng looked at the place, and the more she looked at it, the more familiar it looked. Suddenly, she remembered, "But this place... seems to have some people living there."

"Is there a house?" Diwu Nazheng shook his head. "No way... When the Minister of Revenue sent the blueprints, he said these places had been abandoned for a long time and no one lived there."

Shen Zheng carefully examined the blueprints again and confirmed, "The house is abandoned, but someone does live here. It's fate, after I met them, I submitted a memorial to His Majesty regarding the abandoned baby outside the capital. Let's put it this way. I'll reply to the Ministry of Revenue, and I'll send someone to inform them about the shelter."

Chang Yueer took the initiative to say: "Master Shen, why don't you go down."

Shen Zheng looked at him for a while.

He has a handsome and scholarly appearance and is not very aggressive. The only bad thing about him is that he is a man.

"How about this," Shen Zheng pondered, "That family is made up of girls. You go with a maid from the palace so they won't be wary of you."

Chang Yueer nodded in answer and left quietly.

Shen Zheng and Diwu Nazheng discussed the matters concerning the Ring Association again.

The relief center covers a large area and the construction cost must be high. Some construction materials are already available at the imperial court, so they can be reported and applied for, but some materials cannot be allocated by the imperial court in time, so they can only be purchased by themselves.

Shen Zheng held her chin in her hand and pondered. The next moment, she had an idea: "For those construction materials that need to be purchased, we can... invite investors to sponsor them."

"Attracting investment?" Diwu Na was puzzled. "What is sponsorship?"

Shen Zheng smiled and said, "We ask merchants to support the Ring Association and provide in-kind assistance, which is called sponsorship."

Diwu Na was pondering for a moment: "So... let them give away the raw materials for free?"

"How can something that benefits the people be given away for free?" Shen Zheng said righteously, "If merchants can sponsor the association, we will erect a monument outside the relief center. The monument will be engraved with the merchant's family name and the details of the sponsorship as a token of gratitude. As long as the Xianhuan Association exists, this monument will remain. If we do a good job, who knows, we may all be remembered for generations to come."