Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

In front of the Yangzhou City government office, there was a large crowd of displaced people coming to apply for "disaster relief certificates".

"What?"

"Sir, we are the people of Haizhou who have been affected by the disaster. We have come here to ask you for a certificate so that we can go to Yuezhou to collect relief grain."

At a table, an elderly man with a full head of white hair, accompanied by a five-year-old child, looked at the junior official with a mustache with an extremely humble and obsequious expression.

The clerk glanced at the old man dismissively, picked up a register, and casually spread it out.

"What is your name?"

"My name is Old Man Li, from Yuncheng, Haizhou Prefecture."

"how old are you?"

"The old man is sixty-two years old this year."

The minor official dipped the brush into his tongue twice and casually wrote down his name.

"Okay, I've noted your name. Go back and wait."

Old Man Li was bewildered: "Sir, where is my disaster relief certificate? I'm in a hurry to get back to Yuezhou City to ask for grain."

Upon hearing this, the clerk looked impatient: "Do you think you can just issue these disaster relief certificates as you please?"

Look around you, with so many people, who knows if you're posing as disaster victims to fraudulently claim disaster relief supplies?

"We're just registering you now. Once the government verifies your identities as disaster victims, they'll issue you certificates."

Old Man Li immediately became anxious: "How long will that take?"

Upon hearing this, the official pointed to the large number of disaster victims beside him and said slowly, "See? There are so many people waiting in front of you. I reckon it will take at least two months."

"What? Two months!"

Old Man Li's face was filled with disbelief.

"Sir, we haven't eaten for three days. We've run out of food. We're afraid we'll starve to death in two months!"

The minor official beckoned to Old Man Li to come closer: "There's nothing we can do about it."

However, getting the certificate immediately isn't difficult; it just depends on your sincerity.

I see you're not having an easy time either, so how about this, you give me five taels of silver.

"I'll make an exception and give you the disaster relief certificate so you can start receiving relief food sooner. What do you think?"

Old Man Li was on the verge of tears: "Sir, do I look like someone who can afford to take out money? If we had money, we wouldn't be forced to flee the famine."

"Since you can't come up with the money, then just go back and wait. Hurry up and leave; there are other people waiting to register. Don't interfere with my official duties."

As the minor official was speaking, a wealthy man dressed in brocade came up to him.

Upon looking up, the clerk immediately stood up and flashed a fawning smile: "Manager Huang, you've arrived?"

Manager Huang glanced at the old man and said to the clerk, "Yes, has what we discussed this morning been taken care of?"

"How could I forget what you asked me to do? Our magistrate specifically instructed that it be prepared for you long ago."

As he spoke, the clerk took out twenty disaster relief certificates from the drawer in front of Old Man Li and respectfully handed them to Manager Huang.

"Manager Huang, are you satisfied with what you see?"

"Hmm, not bad, thank you for your hard work."

Manager Huang took the voucher and gave a glance to his companion.

The scholar's companion immediately took out two ten-tael gold ingots and stuffed them into the clerk's hand.

"Our manager said that of these twenty taels of gold, ten taels are for your Magistrate Zhang, and the rest is for you and your brothers' hard-earned money."

"Thank you so much, Manager Huang! Thank you so much, Manager Huang!"

The clerk repeatedly bowed deeply in the direction where Manager Huang had left, then smiled and pocketed the gold.

"You, you all... cough cough cough..."

Upon seeing this, Old Man Li felt as if the sky was about to fall. He couldn't hold his breath and collapsed straight down.

"Grandpa, what's wrong?"

When the children saw that Old Man Li had collapsed and was not getting up, they immediately started crying and shaking his body.

But at that moment, Old Man Li had already stopped breathing.

Seeing this, the minor official seemed unfazed and simply waved his hand, saying, "Hey you, quickly drag him out and deal with him. Damn it, what bad luck."

Soon, two constables lifted Old Man Li's body onto a cart and pushed it toward the city gate, ignoring the children's cries.

The other refugees watched silently, their hearts already numb.

……

Inside Yuezhou City, Lu Fang, the head of the Ministry of Revenue responsible for escorting the disaster relief grain, delivered the first batch of 60,000 shi of grain to the Yuezhou Prefectural Governor's Office on time, right in front of Zhao Shoucheng.

"Prefect Zhang, this 60,000 shi of disaster relief grain was personally inspected by Lord Gao, and it has now all been transported to Yuezhou City."

"Please review it. If there are no problems, please sign the document so I can go back and report to Lord Gao."

"With Master Lü personally escorting the grain, what could I possibly worry about? I'll sign the document right away."

Zhao Shoucheng readily signed the document.

After glancing at it, Lü Fang said solemnly, "His Majesty is benevolent and has specially allocated disaster relief grain to save the people from dire straits."

The imperial court has entrusted you with such a heavy responsibility; you must think carefully before acting.

When people are suffering, we must not be greedy and keep even a single grain of disaster relief food; we must ensure that all the food is distributed to the disaster victims.

May you get through this difficult time soon!

Zhao Shoucheng immediately stood up straight and said righteously, "Please rest assured, Steward Lü, although I come from a merchant family..."

However, since they receive a salary from the imperial court, they should be responsible for relieving the court's worries and would absolutely not plunder the people's livelihood during this time of national crisis.

Chief Lu nodded: "It is a blessing for the country to have a public official like Lord Zhao who is so devoted to the people. Remember, the disaster relief grain is of great importance and must not be used for personal enrichment."

Zhao Shoucheng said with righteous indignation: "Please rest assured, Steward Lü, the Emperor personally supervised the distribution of the grain. Even if I had a hundred lives, I would not dare to take a single grain."

But the next second, he immediately leaned close to Steward Lü and whispered, "Brother Lü, I'll have someone replace your share with gold, silver, and antiques and send it to you later."

However, with the current chaos and bandits roaming the land, carrying money on the road is far too dangerous.

In my opinion, it would be better to simply exchange this grain for land.

The land in Haizhou is all abandoned; one mu (unit of land area) only yields five liters of rice. We'll have to wait until the floodwaters recede next spring.

Plant all the trees with mulberry tea, and you're guaranteed to make a fortune.

"The extra grain can be exchanged for several maids; just two liters of coarse grain are enough for one, it's a good deal."

Lu Fang quickly cupped his hands to stop him: "I don't understand business matters, so you can handle it for me. But I must remind you, you must not cause any trouble, since life is not easy these days."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. We'll do as Lü Xiong says. The grain will be sold to the surrounding grain merchants in a few days; the price has already been agreed upon."

The price is a full six taels of silver per shi (a unit of dry measure). Go back and tell Old Xu that I will deliver his share to him on time.

The two men discussed how to convert the grain into personal profit, completely disregarding the lives of the disaster victims.

A commoner secretly recorded everything he saw in a notebook.

Once he was sure no one was watching, he quietly went to the city gate and handed the booklet to another person.

"Quickly send this booklet to the capital and personally hand it to Commander Jiang."

……

Late October, Jinling, Weiyang Palace.

Jiang Mengxuan received intelligence about the Wu Kingdom from the Jingwei Division. She carefully read the contents and couldn't help but frown.

Shen Lang, on the other hand, leisurely sipped a salted apple.

After a long while, Jiang Mengxuan placed the booklet in front of Shen Lang and sat down opposite him.

"I never imagined that the state of Wu would be so corrupt, with officials, merchants, and even the royal family colluding to blatantly embezzle disaster relief grain."

Those poor people haven't received a single grain of food yet; they're truly not treated like human beings.

Shen Lang casually flipped through it and glanced at it, then said with a smile, "This is how it is before a dynasty falls. The Wu Kingdom, from the moment Wu Li's reforms failed and he was forced to step down..."

It was already destined for destruction; three million bushels of grain would bury this corrupt kingdom—a very worthwhile deal.

"Ah Lang, I'm planning to open the border now and welcome the disaster victims from Wu Kingdom into the country. What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang nodded: "Is my wife planning to win people's hearts in advance?"

Jiang Mengxuan did not deny it: "I did have such thoughts, but more than that, I wanted to save them. After all, they will all be my subjects in the future, and I cannot just sit idly by."

Shen Lang: "Let's wait a bit longer. Military reform has already been put on the agenda. It's not too late to implement it after the first batch of new recruits enlist. Of course, the food in my Chu Kingdom isn't that delicious."

Jiang Mengxuan thought for a moment and replied, "Military reform is urgent. Ah Lang, I don't want to hide it from you, I want Chu to become the center of this world."

Honestly, this thought has grown stronger ever since I met you. Will you think I'm too ambitious?

Shen Lang smiled slightly: "That day will come, and I'll be with you."

At this moment, Qingwen came to report.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, there is a person outside the palace who claims to be from the Heavenly Dao Sect and requests an audience."