At the beginning, I became a county magistrate with greed of 500 million. The empress asked me to be

"My lord is back!"

Xia Yun's appearance immediately caused the servants to exclaim in surprise, and soon, Xu Wan'er, Jiang Wenzhong and others all appeared in the lobby of the government office.

Everyone first saw the eight women Xia Yun brought back and a dozen boxes of gifts on the ground.

However, before everyone could ask the reason, Xia Yun spoke immediately.

"Pass on my order. Immediately dismiss all the officials in the government office and reward them with silver so that they can return home."

"From now on, all patrol and defense matters of the government office will be under the charge of Jiang Wenzhong. Without my order and that of the master, no one is allowed to enter or leave the government office at will. Violators will be punished by military law!"

"Starting tomorrow morning, we will use the food we brought with us to set up eight porridge stalls at the four city gates of Jiangning to provide relief to the victims."

Xia Yun issued three orders in one breath.

When they first arrived in Jiangning, the first and most important thing they had to worry about was their own safety.

At this critical juncture, Xia Yun would not trust any outsider.

He must take the safety of his group into his own hands.

In addition to this, the second thing he had to do was to provide relief to the victims and prevent the famine in Jiangning from continuing.

Of course, this is not in Xia Yun’s own interest.

But he was not a greedy person, and he could not bear to see the starving people everywhere in and outside Jiangning.

"Yes, my lord!"

Xu Wan'er and the others responded in unison, their eyes filled with enthusiasm.

……

Late at night, the entire Jiangning city had fallen silent.

The moon is bright and the stars are sparse, and crows are crying.

Xia Yun appeared in a pavilion in the backyard of the government office.

From the time he gave the order until now, Jiang Wenzhong has taken over the defense inside and outside the government office.

And he dismissed the original servants in the government office.

In addition to the light and dark firepower equipment, the entire government office cannot be said to be impregnable.

But relying solely on the abilities of the officials and merchants in Jiangning City, there is absolutely no way they can break into the government office.

"Those guys are used to colluding with officials and businessmen. If you want to cut their flesh, you have to use tough measures."

Sitting in the pavilion, Xia Yun was thinking secretly.

Providing relief to disaster victims is not a simple and easy task after all. The food and supplies he brought on this trip will eventually be consumed.

Just as Xia Yun was thinking, Xu Wan'er came to the pavilion.

"How's the situation?"

Noticing the arrival, Xia Yun raised his head. He had already asked Xu Wan'er to check the account books of Jiangning government office.

"According to the account books kept in the government office, the court has allocated a total of 2 million dan of disaster relief grain to Jiangning over the past six months. However, there are only 30,000 dan of disaster relief grain left in the government treasury."

Xu Wan'er reported.

"30,000 dan?"

Xia Yun was somewhat surprised to hear this number. He thought that the relief grain in the Jiangning government office should be at least 100,000 or 200,000 dan.

I didn't expect the difference to be so big.

Obviously, the city of Jiangning, even with the people who fled in from outside the city, could not consume two million dan of grain in half a year.

So, where did the food go?

Xia Yun raised his eyebrows.

"Also, I have a piece of news here that was just delivered from the court tonight."

"The former Jiangning Fourth-Rank Prefect Chen Dengming committed suicide out of fear of punishment while being escorted to the capital."

After Xu Wan'er finished speaking, she placed a letter in front of Xia Yun.

As the saying goes, one wave has not yet subsided when another wave arises.

Xia Yun instantly linked Chen Dengming's death to the missing disaster relief rice.

"Are you sure it was suicide out of fear of punishment?"

Xia Yun asked while holding the letter.

"At least that's what the court says, but maybe some people don't want him to live."

Xu Wan'er expressed her guess.

Xia Yun thought about it and felt that what Xu Wan'er said made sense.

After Chen Dengming's death, the two million dan of grain and fodder allocated by the imperial court to Jiangning became worthless.

Good trick!

A sneer appeared on Xia Yun's lips.

"What should we do now? This place is a complete mess."

Xu Wan'er asked cautiously.

"Tomorrow morning, report to the court immediately and request that the court allocate more relief grain."

Xia Yun thought about it and decided that asking the court for food would be a good idea.

Of course, he didn't hold out much hope for this.

It would be great if the court could allocate grain, but even if it couldn't, he wouldn't be too disappointed.

"Is there any movement from the Governor's Office and the Provincial Governor's Office?"

After a moment's silence, Xia Yun asked again.

"No, up to now, the Governor's Office and the Governor's Office have not sent any official letters."

Xu Wan'er continued to answer.

At this point, Xia Yun has already understood his current situation.

At the same time, a ruthless plan had quietly emerged in his mind.

……

Jiangning Governor's Office.

In the back hall, the lights were on and the sound of men laughing could be heard from time to time.

"Master Chen, you didn't see Xia Yun from Dai County today. He is just a country bumpkin who has never seen the world."

"A bunch of worthless gifts and a few women have already made him so obsessed that he has no idea what he is doing. Haha!"

Seven or eight figures gathered in the back hall.

Four of them were dressed in official uniforms, and the other three were dressed in silk and fine clothes, like businessmen.

The person who just spoke was a bearded official.

If Xia Yun was present at this moment, he would definitely be able to recognize at a glance that this bearded official was one of the officials who had welcomed him during the day!

"Humph, a young man in his early twenties, what abilities and means can he have?"

"If His Majesty had not been so angry this time, he would have had the opportunity to become a fourth-rank prefect."

Another official echoed, his words full of disdain for Xia Yun.

"That being said, Xia Yun was sent by His Majesty himself, so we still need to make some preparations early."

At this time, the official in charge spoke.

This man was wearing a red official robe and had a white beard. He was none other than Chen Hanzhi, the current governor of Jianghuai Province.

"Don't worry, Master Chen. We have plenty of ways to deal with this kind of person. Now that he has received our money, he has to do things for us."

"Otherwise, we only need to file a lawsuit and report his corruption and bribery to the court. By then, his life will be in danger."

A fat businessman wearing blue clothes laughed.

"Don't be careless. The message sent to me yesterday said that His Majesty was very angry about the famine in Jiangnan."

"If it weren't for the elder's protection in the court, I'm afraid all of you present would have been sent to the capital in prison."

Different from the joking mentality of the other people present.

Chen Hanzhi was in a high position and was more aware of the disputes in the court. If he was not careful, he would fall into an abyss from which there was no escape.

However, just as Chen Hanzhi finished speaking, another voice was heard in the hall.

"Master Chen, I have a plan that will definitely allow us to completely control Xia Yun."

"Since he was sent by His Majesty himself to provide disaster relief, even if the relief work is ineffective, it will be Xia Yun's fault, and it has nothing to do with us."

As soon as these words were spoken, they instantly attracted the attention of everyone present.