The emperor faked his death? Never mind, I will ascend the throne directly!

The woman looked Li Chengfeng and Tiezhu up and down, still weaving the fishing net in her hands:

"A seafood business? Where are you from?"

Her dark face was full of vigilance and there was a hint of suspicion in her eyes.

Li Chengfeng bowed and smiled, "We are from the Tonghai Trading Company in Jinling. We have long heard that Zefeng County is rich in aquatic products, so we have come here to investigate."

The woman looked at the two of them and said, "From Nanjing? It's not a short journey."

As she spoke, she turned the wooden shuttle in her hand and continued to weave the web.

"As for business, no matter where you are, you are just running errands." Li Chengfeng said in a relaxed tone with the shrewdness of a businessman.

His eyes then fell on the woman's hand. "Sister-in-law, I see your fishing net is so beautifully woven. You must have caught a lot of fish at home, right?"

The woman smiled, her tone rather proud: "My man is a master fisherman in the surrounding villages!"

"I wonder what kind of aquatic products are available in your county?"

Li Chengfeng asked again.

The woman was quite proud of her cooking skills, with a hint of a smile on her face: "We have fish, shrimp, crabs, and turtles here, everything, especially this bighead carp, which is a famous delicacy far and wide."

After a pause, she shook her head helplessly, "It's a pity that the taxes are so high this year. Even if we catch a lot, there won't be much money left."

Li Chengfeng's eyes moved slightly and he looked at Tiezhu.

He remembered that taxes in Jiangnan had always been reduced or exempted, so how could such a situation occur?

Tiezhu turned around and said innocently, "Sister-in-law, we've come a long way. Can you give us a bowl of water?"

The woman slapped her thigh and said, "Look at me, I'm just busy talking. Please sit in the courtyard."

Then he went back into the house to get some water.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Li Chengfeng quickly observed the entire yard. Almost everything in the yard showed signs of repair.

At this moment, the woman also brought out some water.

Sitting on a stone bench in the courtyard, Li Chengfeng took the water and placed it on the stone table. Then he continued to ask the woman, "Taxes are heavy? Can you tell me more about it, sister-in-law?"

The woman sat on the stone bench opposite them and continued weaving her web while answering:

"It's not the County Magistrate, I don't know what's going on this year, but the taxes are much higher than in previous years. Life is really hard for us ordinary people."

As she spoke, her eyes dimmed and her hands slowed down.

Li Chengfeng calmly observed the woman's expression and continued, "I heard there's been severe flooding downstream this year. Has your county been affected?"

When the woman heard the word "flood", her face became even uglier.

She sighed heavily. "Oh, don't mention it! The downstream area was affected, and our upstream area was also affected. Many fish ponds were flooded, and the losses were heavy."

As he spoke, he wiped the corners of his eyes with the rough back of his hand.

Keeping the woman's words in mind, Li Chengfeng chatted with her for a while and learned about the types, prices and sales of aquatic products in Zefeng County.

The sister-in-law explained them one by one and also told them that many fishermen are no longer willing to sell aquatic products. The more money they make, the higher the tax they have to pay.

Li Chengfeng nodded with a heavy expression.

"Sister-in-law, it's getting late and we have to hurry on our way. I won't bother you anymore." Li Chengfeng stood up and said goodbye.

The woman nodded and walked them to the door: "Have a nice day, both of you."

Li Chengfeng and Tiezhu left the woman's house and continued walking along the country road.

"Young Master, the situation in Zefeng County seems to be worse than we imagined." Tiezhu said in a low voice, his burly body casting a shadow in the sunlight.

Li Chengfeng exhaled, his eyes darkening. "Yes, the taxes are too heavy, and the disaster relief is ineffective. It seems that there are serious problems with the officials in Zefeng County."

The two walked in silence all the way until they were far away from the village, and then Li Chengfeng led out the hidden horses.

Tiezhu followed closely behind, and the two of them spurred their horses and galloped towards the place they had agreed to meet with Zhao Sheng.

The agreed location was a secluded teahouse.

When Li Chengfeng and Tiezhu arrived, Zhao Sheng had been waiting for a long time.

Seeing Li Chengfeng coming, Zhao Sheng immediately stood up and saluted: "Young Master."

Li Chengfeng nodded slightly, indicating that he didn't need to be polite, and then sat down opposite Zhao Sheng.

"How's the situation?" he asked straight to the point.

Pulling out a thick account book from his bosom, Zhao Sheng presented it to Li Chengfeng with both hands. "This is the account book of corruption among Jiangnan officials that I secretly investigated. It contains detailed evidence of corruption, bribery, and excessive taxes committed by officials in various counties."

Li Chengfeng took the account book and carefully read it page by page.

The account books are densely packed with records of the officials' names, the amount of embezzlement, the items of bribes received, and how they exploited the people under various pretexts.

The more he looked, the more solemn his expression became. The teahouse was silent for a moment, with only the sound of shuffling papers.

After a long moment, Li Chengfeng closed the account book and said in a deep voice, "Thank you for your hard work. Jiangnan Prefecture needs to continue its in-depth investigation. We must make sure we hit the target!"

He handed the account book to Zhao Sheng, a cold light flashing in his eyes.

"Find someone reliable and make sure to deliver this booklet to Lord Song. Quickly!"

"Yes." Zhao Sheng answered respectfully.

Li Chengfeng stood up and said to Zhao Sheng, "I need to personally visit the hardest-hit counties in Jinzhou before I can rest assured. So, let's say goodbye now."

After saying this, he turned and walked out of the teahouse, jumped on his horse, and galloped towards Jinzhou City. Tiezhu immediately followed.

Jinzhou City, the prefectural government office.

After Chen Tingshu arrived in Jinzhou, he went to the disaster area to inspect it immediately.

He changed his depressed look of the past few days and went to the disaster site in person, accompanied by the Jinzhou prefect. The scene before him was shocking.

After the flood receded, the ground was muddy. Soldiers carried sandbags to plug the gap in the embankment where water was still leaking.

The people stood on the collapsed ruins, picking up usable wood, cups and other items.

There was a large pile of firewood in a dry open space in the middle, with corpses piled on the firewood.

An officer held a torch and waited for all the corpses nearby to be laid out before burning them.

An old woman, holding a skinny child, said numbly to everyone who passed by her: "Please have pity on us! We haven't eaten for several days..."

The child coughed weakly, his face was pale and his eyes were dull.

The old woman's murmurs and the child's coughs intertwined together, piercing Chen Tingshu's heart like sharp blades.

He turned to the official behind him and said, "Who has any food? Give it to the old man."

A young yamen runner brought a big cake and gave it to the old man.

The old man kowtowed repeatedly, then quickly broke the cake and put it into the child's mouth.

Chen Tingshu continued to move forward and inspect more disaster-stricken areas.

After returning to the government office, Chen Tingshu immediately summoned his subordinates and began to formulate a new disaster relief plan.

The subordinates were all very surprised to see Chen Tingshu, who seemed like a different person.

Seeing Chen Tingshu busying around, they were unconsciously motivated to join in the disaster relief work.