The abandoned wife married into a wealthy family, and the scumbag father wailed every night

They could only watch helplessly as the people suffered.

"Don't underestimate yourself. The disaster in Yanjing City happened first, but the people of Yanjing City are still willing to listen to you as the city lord. You are a good official who can get things done."

Zhang Zhongdan's uneasy heart inexplicably calmed down after Xie Yiyao said this.

His eyes were moist, it seemed that he was not as bad as he thought.

He has tried his best to protect the city of Yanjing, but the number of people in Yanjing who are freezing to death or starving to death is indeed increasing.

Someone had to take the blame for this disaster to appease the emperor's anger, and he thought he was the sacrifice to be offered to the heavens to appease the emperor's anger.

I didn't expect that even though the Crown Princess had only been in Yanjing City for one day, she would be so positive about his hard work!

Zhang Zhongdan, a strong middle-aged man, couldn't hold back his tears at this moment.

He even felt a little aggrieved. God knows how he had survived these past few months!

He used to be a handsome middle-aged man with black hair, but now he looks like an old man with white hair.

Who can he talk to about his suffering?

After Xie Yiyao finished speaking, she did not forget to look at "Feng Junyi":

"Prince, do you think what I said is right?"

"The Crown Princess is right!"

"Feng Junyi" immediately nodded in agreement, looking very obedient!

Zhang Zhongdan always had a strange feeling in his heart when he saw Feng Junyi, who obeyed Xie Yiyao's orders.

How to put it, the prince gives people the feeling that the princess is his master.

He never seemed to object to anything the Crown Princess said, but instead relied on her to make decisions on everything.

"Come on, Master Zhang, let's have a meal together and chat while we eat!"

Xie Yiyao saw that the hot pot was ready and felt that she was indeed hungry, so she motioned Zhang Zhongdan to sit down and eat.

After hearing what Xie Yiyao said, Zhang Zhongdan widened his eyes and stammered:

"Princess...Princess Consort, you and the Crown Prince are of noble status. How can a guilty minister...a guilty minister be worthy to eat...eat...eat with you!"

After Zhang Zhongdan finished speaking, he couldn't help but swallow his saliva, which made Xie Yiyao laugh.

"Master Zhang, you are not sincere. Why are you saying these things when you clearly want to eat? What's the point of being noble or not? From today on, we are comrades in the same trench, we are allies, so what's the big deal about having a meal together?"

Zhang Zhongdan felt his blood boiling. From now on, he, the Crown Prince, and the Crown Princess were comrades in the same trench. They were allies?!

After the excitement, Zhang Zhongdan still hesitated:

"I...I really can?"

Xie Yiyao became a little impatient looking at Zhang Zhongdan who was dithering:

"Hurry! Hurry! I'm hungry! I have something important to tell you!"

Seeing that Xie Yiyao really wanted him to sit down and eat, Zhang Zhongdan sat down somewhat nervously.

After taking a mouthful of tender beef, Zhang Zhongdan’s eyes widened instantly!

A spicy taste he had never experienced before stimulated his taste buds.

"Oh my God! There is such a delicious meal in this world!"

While eating, Zhang Zhongdan smiled at Xie Yiyao in a flattering way and said:

"This is so delicious, Princess! I wish I could swallow my tongue!"

Xie Yiyao was also feasting on the food at this moment. It was such a pleasure to eat hotpot in such cold weather!

"I asked you to eat it just now, but you didn't want to! Now you know how delicious it is, right? I tell you, as long as you follow the prince well, I will prepare delicious food for you every day!"

While eating, Xie Yiyao didn't forget to make big promises to Zhang Zhongdan!

Haha, in the past it was the big guys in the base who made big promises for her, and now it’s finally her turn to make big promises for others!

You know what, she immediately understood the happiness of the base boss!

"Go! Go! Go! From now on, my life, Zhang Zhongdan, belongs to the prince!"

Zhang Zhongdan stuffed meat into his mouth while making the promise excitedly, but he was still a little afraid that Xie Yiyao might not believe him.

He continued sincerely:

"If I tell even one word of falsehood, may the heavens strike me with lightning and I shall die a miserable death!"

Xie Yiyao was shocked by Zhang Zhongdan's words:

"Master Zhang, it's just a hot pot meal, there's no need to be so serious!"

Zhang Zhongdan wanted to say something else, but the hot and fragrant aroma blocked his mouth!

It smells so damn good!

Let’s eat quickly!

Soon, the whole pot of hotpot was eaten up by Xie Yiyao and Zhang Zhongdan!

Zhang Zhongdan was still a little unsatisfied. Looking at the red soup in the pot, Zhang Zhongdan drank two more bowls of soup before touching his stomach with a satisfied look on his face.

He had never thought that there was such delicious food in the world, and he had never thought that one day he would be able to eat such delicious food!

"Hiccup~"

Zhang Zhongdan covered his mouth with a red face, and looked at Xie Yiyao embarrassedly:

"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Princess. It's all my fault that I've never seen much of the world and never eaten such delicious food. I couldn't control myself for a moment."

Xie Yiyao didn't care at all, and instead started talking about business.

"Master Zhang, I think you also know the purpose of the Crown Prince and I coming to Yanjing this time. Do you have any good ideas for Yanjing's current predicament?"

Zhang Zhongdan heard what Xie Yiyao said and said with shame on his face:

"I, your humble servant, have no good ideas at the moment!"

Xie Yiyao saw that her words had frightened Zhang Zhongdan so much that he turned from a subordinate into a criminal.

I simply stopped counting on him for advice, so I told him what I was thinking:

"There is a kind of black charcoal underground in Yanjing that can provide warmth like charcoal. I plan to mine coal on a large scale to help Da Deng survive this cold disaster."

Zhang Zhongdan's face became sad again when he heard that. Now the common people have nothing to eat and nothing to wear. If they were to perform corvee labor, they would not be able to bear it!

Xie Yiyao saw Zhang Zhongdan's concerns and continued:

"But I don't want the common people to do corvée. I plan to use work-for-relief and recruit the common people to mine coal."

When Zhang Zhongdan heard that the common people would not have to perform labor service, he was extremely happy.

God knows that ever since he learned that the prince was coming to Yanjing, he has been worried that the prince would conscript the common people to perform labor service.

Now, when he heard the Crown Princess say that she wanted to abolish corvee labor, a huge stone in his heart instantly fell.

But soon he asked Xie Yiyao in confusion:

“What is work-for-relief?”

Xie Yiyao patiently explained to Zhang Zhongdan:

"To put it simply, it means abolishing corvée labor and letting the people voluntarily sign up to participate in coal mining. The court will then distribute food and silver to those who work. The more the people work, the more they get, and the less they work, the less they get."

Zhang Zhongdan was surprised after hearing this:

"Now the people of Yanjing City have nothing to eat or drink. As long as the court is willing to provide food, many people will sign up enthusiastically!"

The thing that the people are least afraid of is doing hard labor. In this way, no one in Yanjing will starve to death anymore!

Zhang Zhongdan was so happy that he spun around in circles, but soon his expression turned depressed again:

"But is the court willing to allocate so much food? I heard that there are disasters all over the country, and there must not be enough food!"

Xie Yiyao waved her hand, very heroically:

"Don't worry about that. The Crown Prince is the person the Emperor cares about the most. If there is a shortage of disaster relief grain, Yanjing City will not be short of it. In addition, the grain grown on my farm these years has not been sold and is all stored. I have as much grain as you want. Just go and post the notice!"