If you traveled back to ancient times, while others ate Guanyin clay, you would actually have giant

Prince's Mansion.

After Li Junren left the court, he immediately sent someone to summon Zhou Wu.

"Zhou Wu has a very urgent matter that requires your attention."

"Your Highness, please give your orders."

As the Crown Prince's tutor, Zhou Wu was naturally under the control of the Crown Prince's residence, and he could not refuse the Crown Prince's requests.

"The torrential rains in Qingzhou have caused many people to be displaced. I recommend you to serve as an imperial envoy to Qingzhou for disaster relief. His Majesty has already approved this. Prepare immediately and depart this morning."

It's true what they say, "The boss talks, and the subordinates run themselves ragged." Don't you ever ask me, the person directly involved, for my opinion?

Although Zhou Wu inwardly complained, he could only agree, since it was disaster relief and he couldn't refuse.

. . . . .

Zhou Wu led his troops, escorting the money and grain allocated by the imperial court, and set off towards Qingzhou.

Starting from the capital, the scenery along the way gradually changed from bustling to desolate. Just as they entered Qingzhou, many displaced disaster victims began to appear by the roadside. Zhou Wu wanted to stop to provide disaster relief, but was stopped by his deputy.

"My lord, no! If we release the grain now, we probably won't even make it to Qingzhou City."

The speaker was Su Jing, the deputy that Li Junren had specially arranged for Zhou Wu. Both were officials in the Crown Prince's Palace and had been there for many years. They were deeply trusted by the Crown Prince and had more experience in handling such matters than Zhou Wu.

"Why?"

“The area outside the city is now full of refugees who have been starving for days. If we distribute relief food now, it will easily lead to looting by the refugees, or even riots. We simply cannot handle it with our limited manpower. It would be more appropriate to set up soup kitchens after we enter Qingzhou City.”

After listening, Zhou Wu felt that Su Jing's words made a lot of sense, but he couldn't bear to just watch these refugees go unattended.

"My lord, why don't we go ahead to Qingzhou first, and then leave a few people behind to spread the word that the imperial court's disaster relief has arrived in Qingzhou? That way, everyone will surely head to Qingzhou City."

"it is good."

Su Jing saw through Zhou Wu's thoughts and came up with another idea, which Zhou Wu thought was feasible, so he agreed.

Qingzhou City.

Just as Zhou Wu had imagined, it was dilapidated and even worse than Zhou Wu's hometown, Qingyang County.

"Your humble servant, Ji Yongfeng, the magistrate of Qingzhou, respectfully welcomes Your Excellency, the Imperial Envoy."

The leader was the magistrate of Qingzhou, who led a group of Qingzhou officials to greet Zhou Wu and his party at the gate early in the morning.

Zhou Wuguan, though a county magistrate, was sallow and thin, his official robes were patched all over, and the rest of his body looked malnourished. It seemed that Qingzhou City was indeed very poor.

"My lord, you have had a long and tiring journey. I have prepared a small feast for you. Please do me the honor of joining me."

Zhou Wu glanced at Su Jing, who nodded to himself.

"Let's go."

Perhaps it was because he watched too many TV dramas, but Zhou Wu had been suspicious since earlier. No matter how poor and shabby this man was, he was still the magistrate of Dalong County. Surely his official robes weren't patched up. Besides, he wasn't the emperor, so there was no need for him to pretend to be honest and upright in front of him.

However, when Zhou Wu saw the welcome banquet that Ji Yongfeng had specially prepared, he realized that things were not as he had thought.

The eight dishes were mostly wild vegetables that Zhou Wu didn't recognize, and the only meat dish was a fish.

"This is going too far in a year of great disaster."

Zhou Wu really didn't know what to say, so he could only utter a classic line.

"Your Excellency has come from afar, and our small county has nothing to offer. We hope Your Excellency will not find it distasteful."

Ji Yongfeng had served as an official for many years. Although he was honest and upright, he was not pedantic. Although the dishes on the table were the best he could offer, they were still rather meager in front of the imperial envoy from the capital. Fortunately, the envoy did not embarrass him in person.

"Lord Ji, please tell us about the disaster situation in Qingzhou."

Faced with such heartfelt gifts, Zhou Wu found it difficult to swallow and could only change the subject by mentioning work.

"Your Excellency, Qingzhou has been affected by torrential rain and flash floods. All farmland in the county has been destroyed, and almost all houses outside Qingzhou City have been washed away by the flood. Almost no one in the county has been spared."

As he spoke, Ji Yongfeng suddenly burst into tears.

"Lord Ji, there is no need to be too sad. His Majesty sent us here to help you, to provide relief to the disaster victims, and to help everyone rebuild their homes."

"We have been eagerly awaiting your arrival, and now that you have come, we can finally relax."

In the afternoon, Zhou Wu arranged for Ji Yongfeng to set up soup kitchens at several locations in Qingzhou City. The disaster victims had been starving for so long, so distributing soup was the most important thing. After making the arrangements, Zhou Wu asked Ji Yongfeng to take him around to inspect the disaster situation.

Unlike the roads inside the city, which were paved with bluestone bricks, the roads outside the city were full of puddles and mud after the rainstorm, making it difficult to walk. In the entire afternoon, they had only passed through two villages. However, it was only two villages that shocked Zhou Wu.

After the disaster, the village was basically unrecognizable, with only ruins and mud everywhere. Occasionally, you could see some villagers picking through the ruins, seemingly trying to find something still useful.

On the way back to Qingzhou, Zhou Wu's expression was very solemn. Before coming, he thought that simply transporting some grain and money would be enough to complete the mission, but the situation at the disaster site made Zhou Wu unable to calm down for a long time.

The child's distress and the elderly's helplessness made Zhou Wu realize that he couldn't just leave like this.

After news spread that the disaster relief team sent by the imperial court had arrived in Qingzhou City, almost all the people in Qingzhou flocked to the city, which was now overcrowded.

The disaster victims, who had been starving for several days, were finally able to eat a bowl of hot porridge.

In the county government office.

"Lord Ji, the extent of the disaster has far exceeded the expectations of the imperial court and myself. It can be said that, apart from Qingzhou City, the entire territory of Qingzhou has been destroyed and needs to be rebuilt. This is a huge project, and the disaster relief funds allocated by the imperial court are far from enough."

The Great Dragon Empire had just been extorted by the Da Zi Kingdom, which emptied its treasury. It had not yet recovered, and with construction needed in various places and too many expenses, Li Tiancheng did not provide Zhou Wu with much food and money this time, which put Zhou Wu in a difficult position.

That evening, Zhou Wu and his group were arranged to stay at the Qingzhou Inn, where Zhou Wu and Su Jing were discussing how to carry out disaster relief work.

"Hey~~"

Zhou Wu felt he had been tricked by the Crown Prince. The disaster relief work was impossible to carry out because there was no money and no manpower.

"Sir, now you know how difficult this disaster relief work is, right?"

Su Jing saw Zhou Wu sigh and knew what the other was thinking.

"Old Su, it seems like you knew all along that this job wouldn't be easy?"

"Haha, in the entire capital, I bet you're the only one who doesn't know why no one volunteered to take on the tasks His Majesty assigned. It's because the disaster relief funds and food provided by the court were simply insufficient each time. And yet, they still had to worry about being impeached for incompetence or embezzlement."

"So now this unfortunate task has fallen on my shoulders?"