Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

Emperor Jing walked to the porridge distribution tent, lowered his head and saw that the porridge inside the pot was fairly thick.

Then he picked up the large spoon beside the pot and stirred it a couple of times, nodding in satisfaction and saying, "Not bad, this porridge is cooked quite well."

With this kind of consistency, two meals a day should be enough to keep people alive without too much trouble.

Du Shun stood beside Emperor Jing, his face full of smiles.

Of course it's good! Fang Zheng came to Jianjiang and immediately beheaded the prefect.

It's obvious that this was Your Majesty's intention. We're all neighbors, who would dare to play tricks?

If I can't even handle this porridge distribution properly, wouldn't Fang Zheng come over with his sword and chop me too?

Emperor Jing was still stirring with the big spoon, wanting to see how much rice had settled at the bottom.

He scooped down and flipped it over, and his expression immediately changed drastically!

In the yellowish porridge, there was a shocking mixture of sand and gravel!

Emperor Jing was immediately furious and shouted angrily, "Du Shun! What is going on?! Is this what you're feeding the people?!"

"Even after Liu Xun's death, there are still people who dare to embezzle grain? They even dare to mix sand and gravel into the grain!"

Du Shun was shocked and quickly stepped forward, saying, "Your Majesty, please don't be angry, Your Majesty, please don't be angry!"

"This... this is intentional!"

Emperor Jing frowned and his voice softened: "Intentional? Tell me the details."

Du Shun smiled awkwardly, "Grain is precious, and the grain in the government treasury is actually a bit scarce."

"Some people are not actually disaster victims, but city residents who come out to freeload for the sake of taking advantage."

"And some people are not that hungry, so in order to make them eat less and distribute more to the old, weak, women, and children."

"Adding sand and gravel to the porridge ensures that only those who are truly hungry will be willing to drink it."

"Those who aren't desperate won't want to drink a single mouthful."

"In this way, the efficiency of porridge distribution is improved, and those who really need it can get porridge to drink."

Zheng Qiao and the other escorts nodded secretly behind Emperor Jing.

Indeed, this is a good method. It seems that Du Shun is capable, and the disaster victims outside the city are arranged in an orderly manner.

The porridge distribution is well-managed, and Yunlu Prefecture is indeed well-managed!

Emperor Jing's expression also eased slightly: "Well, not bad, there's some sense to it. Did you come up with this method?"

Du Shun wiped away a cold sweat.

He hesitated for a moment and replied, "No... this method was passed down from Jianjiang."

"There are many people from Jianjiang in the city who have been promoting something called the 'Jianjiang Model'."

"I called someone to the yamen to ask about it and only then did I learn about this method."

There was no way to lie about this. Today, His Majesty is in Yunlu, and after the inspection, he will probably go to Jianjiang.

There was no way he could claim credit for this.

Fang Zheng!

The name of someone disgusting popped up in everyone's mind.

That dog thing is the only one who would play such dirty tricks!

Emperor Jing smiled and said, "Not bad, how are grain prices now?"

"Grain prices have recently fallen a lot. Jianjiang has lifted price controls on grain, and many foreign grain merchants have poured into Jianjiang. Yunlu's grain is all bought from Jianjiang."

"There are many disaster victims in Yunlu City, and I am afraid of causing dissatisfaction among the people and causing civil unrest, so I am still suppressing grain prices."

Emperor Jing nodded, didn't say much, and said faintly: "Well, let's go into the city and take a look."

Du Shun breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly invited Emperor Jing into the city.

The group followed closely behind and entered the city.

The city was nothing special, except that a considerable number of disaster victims had been allowed into the city.

Emperor Jing walked and asked, "How many disaster victims can work-for-relief currently help?"

Du Shun stuttered immediately upon hearing this, "This... hundreds... there should be thousands.

"Too few. With tens of thousands of disaster victims, if work-for-relief can only accommodate this many people, then it's better not to do it at all."

"Find a way to mobilize the power of the people and use wealthy merchants to build projects."

"If it is only a small-scale construction by the government, it will only waste money and manpower!"

Du Shun smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, this is also something that can't be helped."

"The silver in the treasury is limited, and there are many other places where silver needs to be used."

"Buying grain has already cost too much silver, so naturally we can only do a little construction."

"The wealthy households are also unwilling to build projects. No one is willing to spend money at this time. I have talked to the local gentry several times."

"They did agree, but they are all small repairs and small constructions. No one is willing to spend a lot of money!"

"I... I can't just rob them, can I."

Emperor Jing was silent. Du Shun's words made sense.

The imperial court is not a god, and cannot make the people do whatever it wants.

If pushed too hard, it will definitely lead to officials forcing the people to rebel, losing popular support, and creating even bigger problems.

After a while, Emperor Jing asked, "You mentioned the Jianjiang Model, does Jianjiang have any other methods?"

Du Shun nodded and said, "Yes, but I only heard a little about it and felt that the risks were too great."

"I heard that Jianjiang City also gathers wealthy merchants together, and the government gives the power to build roads and dams to the merchants."

"I didn't inquire about the specific situation."

"This... this concerns the people's livelihood, and I would never dare to do such a thing!"

The accompanying ministers all nodded in agreement.

The right to build roads and dams must not be handed over to merchants.

Merchants are meticulous and will do anything to save costs.

If the road is repaired and breaks down soon after, the impact is not too great.

But if you dare to hand over something like a dam to outsiders, then you are really tired of living.

If something happens one day, will you still have your head?

However, it seems very reasonable to put it on Fang Zheng.

That guy has the guts of a dog, and it seems like there's nothing he wouldn't dare to do!

Emperor Jing also nodded helplessly: "Not bad, this matter should be handled more cautiously. Continue to find local gentry to talk to."

"Whether it's building temples or building gardens, as long as it can absorb disaster victims, just do it."

Speaking of temples, Du Shun seemed to remember something: "Your Majesty! I don't dare to say anything else, but temples should be easier to build!"

"A monk named Master Huijue has recently come to the city, and many people regard him as an honored guest."

"I heard that many gentry are extremely convinced by him, and many families are gathering together to raise funds to build a temple."

"It should be in the near future!"

Emperor Jing nodded.

He had no good feelings for monks and other religious people.

However, at this critical moment, it would be a good thing to absorb more disaster victims.

The group walked down the street, and a small alley appeared at a street corner.

Many people who looked like disaster victims, ragged and half-naked, were sitting in the corner of the wall to cool off.

As soon as Emperor Jing saw them, he stepped over.

Guo Tianyang made a gesture behind him, and the sentries followed closely.

The disaster victims were resting, chatting idly.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of them, dressed very exquisitely, and they immediately became nervous.

They asked, "This sir... do you have something to ask of us?"

Emperor Jing often wore a stern face, but facing the disaster victims, he tried his best to adjust his expression, making it much gentler, and asked, "Are you disaster victims from outside the city? What is your name?"