The Marquise: I Earn My Own Worship

"Mr. Guo is really praising me. I just made some simple remarks. I still need your help to make a decision. After all, resettling the disaster victims is a big deal. Without your help, I'm afraid I won't be able to move forward."

Duan Jing'an took the opportunity to respond, firstly to show his humble attitude, and secondly to share the cake in his hand. After all, he couldn't finish the whole dessert by himself.

When Mr. Guo heard Duan Jing'an say this, he felt even more relieved. He felt that Duan Jing'an was indeed the person he had chosen.

"Don't be too modest. His Majesty has high hopes for you. You must show your abilities and don't let His Majesty down."

Duan Jing'an's expression became extremely serious, and he bowed his hands respectfully.

"Yes, I will do my best to complete the task and live up to your Majesty's love and respect."

The two of them exchanged words, making it clear to everyone that Duan Dushi was a person the emperor valued. If anyone wanted to interfere in this matter, they would have to look at who was sitting at the top.

Now everyone had some idea in their minds. Everyone had their own considerations, but they all appeared to be in a friendly mood.

Everyone moved to the side meeting hall, where everyone discussed and decided things on a regular basis.

Zuo Xiang brought Duan Jing'an with him, and was followed by Ding Haimo and a group of people. Many people were shocked when they saw him. The Duan family was not as transparent as outsiders said.

Among his in-laws are the only prime minister of the current dynasty and the Ding family, who are highly regarded by the Minister of Justice. If nothing unexpected happens, when Mr. Guo retires, Ding Haimo will be the next Minister of Justice.

Now, two important officials in the court are related to the Duan family by marriage. Looking at the emperor's intimate attitude today, it is likely that the emperor also values ​​Duan Si very much. Moreover, the Sixth Prince, the son of Concubine Ning, is quite close to the eldest grandson of the Duan family.

The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became. Duan Si had so many people supporting him, so it must be only a matter of time before he became a rising star in the court.

When Song Shengfu heard the news, her tense nerves finally relaxed. This way, the refugees in Nanyang had more chances of survival.

She has done what she should do, and the rest is up to fate.

After that, good news kept coming in. Many refugees who had finally made it to the capital were very reluctant at first when they heard that the soldiers were taking them to other places, but when they heard that they would be given food and silver, they all rushed to sign up.

However, most people were unwilling to go to Beiyang. Many families who had some savings used a little money to bribe the registration clerks and went to relatively prosperous places such as Dongyang.

Those who had no money and whose clothes were only short summer clothes could only wait to be assigned to Beiyang.

Now they don’t care about where they go, they just want to be thankful to have something to eat.

Duan Jing'an looked at the old people and children shivering in the cold outside the city, and felt a little sorry for them. He walked over to a head official from the Ministry of Revenue who was giving orders to the government servants and asked:

"Master Qi, I'd like to ask if there are any cold-weather products in the warehouse that we can distribute to these disaster victims. Seeing how frozen they are, I'm afraid it will be difficult for them to walk to the resettlement site."

Manager Qi was interrupted and looked unhappy. He turned around and was about to scold someone when he saw the person in front of him clearly, and the curse words were stuck in his mouth.

Looking at the disaster victims hugging each other not far away, Qi Zhushi replied with some disapproval:

"Oh, it's Duan Dushi. The warehouse is out of warm clothing. This year's batch has already been sent to the army."

"Then can we spend some of the money to buy some winter clothes?"

The people in the Ministry of Revenue were all very cunning. When it came to money, Director Qi immediately became indifferent. However, considering Duan Jing'an's identity, he still said two words lightly: No!

Duan Jing'an had a headache. He had experienced in recent days how difficult it was to get money from the Ministry of Revenue. Even withdrawing one hundred taels required approval from various levels.

In this way, Duan Jing'an returned to the mansion with a thought in his mind. After submitting the memorial, he would feel relieved. All that was left was to implement it step by step according to the plan.

"You've been so busy these days that you've lost a lot of weight. Come and have some pork elbow to replenish your energy."

Song Shengfu felt a little distressed when she saw Duan Jing'an, whose face was so thin that no flesh had been removed.

Duan Jing'an restrained his expression and responded with a forced smile.

Song Shengfu saw that Duan Jing'an looked worried and thought that he must be troubled by the affairs in the court.

"Have you encountered any difficulties recently?"

Song Shengfu asked tentatively, and Duan Jingan told her about the warm clothes.

After hearing Duan Jing'an's description of how pitiful the refugees were, and how they didn't even have thick clothes in such a cold day, everyone in the hall felt a little sad.

The first thing Song Shengfu thought of was crowdfunding, which could involve gathering people from the capital to donate. However, this had a big disadvantage, which was that she would become the target of public criticism.

"If there are no clothes, can Kang Ge give the clothes he used to wear to those children?"

Kang Ge'er shrugged his nose. The temperature had dropped so much recently that he had a cold.

Yes! If you don't want to donate money, you can donate goods. Everyone has unwanted clothes, and donating them to the disaster victims is much easier than donating money.

Duan Jing'an now understood the reason. Before Kang Ge'er could react, he was picked up by his fourth uncle while he was gnawing on his elbow.

"Brother Kang, you've helped Fourth Uncle a lot. Wait for Fourth Uncle to bring you the storybook when he's free."

Duan Jing'an looked surprised, laughed, hugged Duan Chengkang and rubbed his head hard.

After saying this, he stopped eating, apologized to Song Shengfu, and hurried back.

Duan Chengkang: What's Fourth Uncle so happy about?

This night was brightly lit by candles again.

The next day, he submitted the prepared memorial, but the eldest princess took the initiative and mobilized the servants in the mansion to voluntarily donate their unnecessary winter clothes.

In just half a day, everyone in the capital who knew the direction of the wind followed suit. In just one day, tens of thousands of sets of winter clothes were collected, and more clothes were continuously delivered, as well as a lot of silver and money.

The Princess's Mansion alone donated more than 4,000 sets of winter clothes and 10,000 taels of silver.

Now the entire capital city was mobilized. Those who had money donated money, and those who had things donated things.

Since they were all winter clothes that no one would wear, many families donated the ones they didn’t need, and some even donated pots, pans, and utensils.

Duan Jing'an looked at the warehouse, which was almost full, and his eyes felt warm.

Without further ado, Duan Jing'an reported the matter to Ding Haimo, who smiled and praised Duan Jing'an for doing a good job.

He couldn't handle the distribution of the items by himself, so he had to ask high-ranking officials to organize and arrange it.

As expected, it is easier to get things done when you are in a high position. Ding Haimo quickly established good relationships, and Duan Jingan could continue to implement the plan.

"Sir, I..."

Ding Haimo knew what Duan Jingan was going to say, so he just shook his head and said:

"Don't worry, just handle this yourself. I'll help you with the connections later. Just do your best, and if you do it well, it will be a great achievement. You know what happens next, so there's no need to explain."

Ding Hai assumed that he was serious about the instruction. Duan Jing'an didn't know what to say and just nodded slightly.

On the importance of workplace relationships!

Duan Jing'an was so busy that he found a high ground. Looking at the disaster victims huddled together on the ground, he suppressed his discomfort and said:

"Thanks to your Majesty's grace, I am here to visit you all today on your behalf. Your Majesty worries about the people of Nanyang day and night, and personally organized families in the capital to donate winter clothing. Your Majesty, please line up to receive your winter clothing later. Each person is limited to one set..."