The Ming Dynasty: The opening scene features Zhu Di angrily accusing him of illegitimate succession.

Lin Yue quickly stepped forward, reached out to help the old man up, and said gently, "Please get up, sir. I am Lin Yue, and I am only acting under orders."

He shook his head and rejected the proposal to build a shrine for living people.

"Forget about building a shrine to live people; if you're going to build one, build a shrine to His Majesty the present."

"It is His Majesty's concern for the people that led him to send me here to provide disaster relief and eliminate evil. I am merely acting on His Majesty's behalf."

Upon hearing this, the old man repeatedly kowtowed towards the direction of Nanjing, exclaiming, "Your Majesty is wise!"

Lin Yue looked at the grateful people and felt a surge of emotion.

His methods of killing officials and forcibly seizing property from local gentry along the way were radical and had long exceeded the bounds of convention. He would certainly be beheaded upon returning to Nanjing.

Emperor Yongle was concerned with his image, and now he attributed all the credit to him, satisfying Zhu Di's vanity.

Even if the imperial court were to settle scores later, Emperor Yongle might treat the people of Wu County better and allocate more disaster relief funds, out of consideration for the local people's praise.

......

After handling the disaster relief matters, Lin Yue set off again, leading a large group of refugees directly towards Suzhou Prefecture.

Lin Yue reached out to steady the saddle, but as soon as he lifted his leg, the fabric tore at the raw, chafed flesh on his inner thigh, sending a piercing pain through him.

He staggered back half a step, his brow furrowed.

"Scholar Lin, you've been riding too much these past few days, so please don't push yourself any further." Li Da quickly stepped forward to support him. "We've already arranged for a carriage, so please make do with it for now and take care of your injury."

Lin Yue nodded upon hearing this and was helped into a vermilion carriage by Li Da.

After he settled in, he suddenly said, "Bring Pang Mian's head and place it on the carriage pole."

Liu Zhong responded and left. A moment later, he tied Pang Mian's head with a hemp rope and fixed it to the top of the wooden pole in front of the carriage, his unseeing eyes facing forward.

Lin Yue shouted to the refugees surrounding the car.

"Those willing to come with me to Suzhou will be provided with meals along the way. When we reach the government office, I will seek justice for you and demand relief grain!"

A stir immediately arose among the refugees, and the response was enthusiastic.

Several young men exchanged glances, and one of them, his face covered in mud, asked, "Sir, what are we going to Suzhou for? If we go with you, will we really get any food?"

"Enough with the nonsense!"

"The imperial envoy said he'd provide meals, so we'll go with him! Staying here will surely mean starving to death, but following him offers a chance of survival!"

"Exactly! Who cares where they go, as long as they have food to eat! Lord Lin killed the corrupt official and opened the granary, do you think he'd lie to us?"

The refugees packed their meager belongings and silently followed behind the carriage, gradually forming a vast and bustling crowd.

The road was crowded with refugees, the old, weak, women and children helping each other, while the young and strong carried tattered mats and held children, their steps faltering.

Amidst the swirling dust, a long line of people slowly moved towards the Suzhou prefectural seat.

Lin Yue leaned against the carriage, watching the refugees slowly passing by, his thoughts churning.

After his actions, the flooding in Jiangnan will definitely be impossible to suppress. How will history write this story?

In the first year of the Yongle reign, the Jiangnan region suffered from severe flooding, resulting in widespread famine and even cannibalism.

If these words were to get out, it would be the epitome of a tyrannical ruler, and Zhu Di would surely be furious.

Zhu Di spent his life fighting and seizing the throne. He valued achievements and reputation above all else, thinking every day about how to leave his mark on history and become a sage ruler for all time.

Thinking of this, Lin Yue chuckled.

Since that's the case, let's bestow upon him the title of a wise and enlightened emperor praised by millions of disaster victims. Emperor Yongle would surely be overjoyed.

A wise emperor will surely treat the disaster victims well, and thus the people of Suzhou and Songjiang can be considered saved.

The carriage didn't travel fast, but it took only an hour to arrive outside Suzhou Prefecture.

The city of Suzhou was tightly shut, with several Suzhou guards in leather armor standing guard on the city wall.

Seeing the massive procession of refugees approaching, his expression changed drastically, and he shouted warily, "Stop! Don't go any further!"

During the Ming Dynasty, the Suzhou Prefecture government was located in the same city as Wu and Changzhou counties. The prefectural government and the Wu County government were basically in the same city. Wu County was not only the western half of Suzhou City, but also an administrative unit covering a vast area outside the city.

This situation, where the county seat was located in the prefecture but the jurisdiction extended beyond the prefecture, was very common in the Ming Dynasty. Essentially, it was also Zhu Yuanzhang's practice of decentralizing power to the prefect and prohibiting officials from going to the countryside.

The reason they were able to capture the magistrate of Wu County outside Suzhou was purely because the magistrate was greedy and wanted to sell Wu County's grain and annex its land, which is why Lin Yue caught him red-handed.

Lin Yue stood up and shouted loudly towards Suzhou City.

"I am Lin Yue, the Imperial Envoy appointed by His Majesty, and I have been ordered to thoroughly investigate the floods in Jiangnan and impeach corrupt officials!"

"Open the city gates immediately and let us in. Anyone who dares to obstruct us will be considered disobeying an imperial decree and will be punished by beheading!"

The Suzhou garrison soldiers looked at each other in bewilderment, and the leading junior officer mustered his courage and shouted.

"You claim to be an imperial envoy, but do you have any proof?"

Besides, with so many refugees gathered outside the city, opening the gates rashly might cause trouble. We must first report to the prefect!

Lin Yue pointed to his own robes and said loudly, "You may not recognize the imperial sword, but you can't see clearly the third-rank official robe I'm wearing either."

"Open the door immediately! Can you afford to take responsibility if this delays the investigation and disaster relief efforts?"

The soldiers and the arriving constables hesitated. The junior officer gave a signal, and one constable turned and ran into the city, while the rest guarded the city gate passage.

According to regulations, when an imperial envoy arrives, his identity should be verified before he is allowed to pass. However, the large number of refugees accompanying him is highly unusual, and they dare not make a decision on their own.

A moment later, the city gate of Suzhou opened a crack, and a group of people in official robes escorted a middle-aged official out.

The official, dressed in a scarlet robe of the fourth rank with a jade belt around his waist, had a thin face and was none other than Tang Zong, the prefect of Suzhou.

As soon as Tang Zong came out, his gaze fell on the head in front of the carriage, and his expression changed drastically.

He glanced at the vast procession of refugees, then looked at Lin Yue in the carriage, his brow furrowed, and stepped forward to question him sharply.

"So you're the imperial envoy? You have quite the nerve, inciting refugees to storm the government office. Are you planning a rebellion?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Yue burst into laughter.

He jumped off the carriage, ignoring the pain in his thigh, and strode up to Tang Zong, shouting angrily.

"Rebellion? Prefect Tang, open your eyes and see!"

These people are displaced and starving. The fields in Wu County are flooded and the ground is littered with corpses of the starving. As the prefect, you turn a blind eye and refuse to provide disaster relief!

I ask you, do you even know that the people are barely surviving?!

Lin Yue's roar was so loud that it made the surroundings buzz. The refugees stopped their commotion and all turned their eyes to Tang Zong.

Tang Zong raised his hand to his jade belt at his waist, his forehead wrinkled, feeling that Lin Yue's attack was unreasonable.

"Your Excellency is mistaken. After the flood in Suzhou, the arrears of rent amounted to more than one million shi. I have instructed the wealthy people in the area to provide rice to pay off the arrears and relieve the disaster victims of the burden of rent collection."

Natural disasters are unpredictable, and people are displaced; this is not what I wished for.

Lin Yue was furious, his anger rising to his head, and he started cursing.