"This fake county magistrate used the reputation of the government to withhold everyone's food, leaving us hungry. Today, I have had people find out where the food is and have had it transported back."

"The food will be delivered back in about an hour. No matter how late it is today, we will distribute the food that belongs to everyone so that everyone can take it back and have a full meal and have a good New Year."

When the people heard that there was food, their eyes turned red. At this time, someone finally stepped forward to vent his anger on the fake county magistrate.

Seeing this, Ji Yingying didn't care. She noticed that many people were dressed very thinly, so she asked Rong Yi to prepare some down jackets. Anmin County also had down jacket factories, and they had a lot of stock. After all, the government had many places to operate, so there was a large quantity available.

As the down jackets arrived, she immediately had them distributed.

Each household can only receive two items. After all, there are not too many, and two items can keep the people present warm.

Everyone was beaming with joy when they got the clothes, and they immediately knelt down to thank Ji Yingying.

Ji Yingying quickly asked everyone to stand up and said, "Uncles and aunts, uncles, grandpas, grandma, sisters, brothers and sisters, next, we have to rid Anmin County of this evil! Unity is strength. I believe that we can overcome this and ensure that our families have enough food and drink!"

"I believe that in the days ahead, with County Magistrate Li taking the lead and all of us brothers and sisters working together, we will surely overcome these difficulties and restore the sun to the sky."

“Wherever there are difficulties, we will be there!”

"Go for it! You can do it!"

Although everyone didn't understand what it meant, they still shouted: Come on!

Privately, some people asked, "What does '加油' (jiāyóu) mean?"

But the response was a shake of the head: she's a princess, she's an official, she understands.

After the food was delivered, someone was immediately asked to cook a pot of it, and at the same time, five kilograms of food was distributed to each household.

This was also counted during these two hours. No matter how many people there were, they all received five kilograms, with no extra food. In addition, some wealthy businessmen and gentlemen were escorted out to prevent them from seizing the people's food.

"Everyone, the food has been distributed. Let's go home. It's getting dark, and your families must be waiting anxiously."

The people all bowed their heads in thanks and went back. It was getting dark and it was already eight or nine o'clock. After eating and drinking her fill, Ji Yingying discussed with County Magistrate Li and Ji Jiayu about meeting the wealthy businessman tomorrow.

The imperial court has already distributed grain, and the rest depends on whether these wealthy businessmen can contribute.

"Oh right, let the people who make the kangs... the people who make the floor heating systems, go and make them for the people. They'll charge five copper coins per household. It has to be five copper coins. Also, we'll add another factory to make down jackets, hiring workers from the general public. Also, we'll have to restore these two streets to their normal business model..."

Ji Yingying gave a lot of instructions, and everyone thought they were appropriate and listened.

"What about those people in the brothel?"

"Girls who are willing to live will be sent to Huanchenju, and those who are not willing..." Ji Yingying waved her hands. She didn't know what to do.

"Those who want to go home, let them go back; those who are bad, interrogate them and then behead them all."

"Rong Yi, go get the emperor to allocate funds to repair the dike. That dike must be repaired. Jiangnan City has abundant rainfall. If it is not repaired in time, not to mention winter, even spring will be difficult. Don't let that place become a river of death by then."

"yes"

“Magistrate Li, when you collect corvée labor, you should specify that two meals will be provided, each person will be given a set of warm work clothes, shoes, hats, etc., and each person will receive ten copper coins per day. In addition, a batch of gloves should be transferred from the factory. I will design these gloves for you, and you can have the factory make them for the corvée laborers to wear.”

"The wages are ten copper coins a day, paid according to the work points. You only need to record the work as much as you do, and then you can pay it all at once after the work is completed. I'll pay for this."

Ji Yingying knew that people who performed corvee labor did not receive any wages, and it was already good enough for them to have a few steamed buns to eat.

"But this is a huge sum of money."

"Calculate how much it is and I'll give it to you."

[I have quite a few banknotes on me, so it should be possible.]

"Yes, I thank the princess on behalf of the people of Anmin County."

"Don't thank me. I'm also working for the emperor. I'll ask him to return the money to me sooner or later. This is his business."

Ji Yingying had made up her mind that she would ask the emperor to reimburse her when she returned. She was just a subject and could not do such a thing.

"You can thank the emperor later, especially with good words. Say more. I still need the emperor to reimburse me."

"Yes." County Magistrate Li wiped the sweat from his forehead and kept his promise to get things done.

"It's not snowing here. Here are some seeds of watercress. They're easy to grow. All you need is water. Give them to the people to plant. They don't have any food to eat, and they can't even get some."

"yes"

"Well, there's another thing. Tomorrow, ask Physician Liu to conduct a free clinic to treat the people and keep an eye on the epidemic. No one is going to the flood-stricken area right now, but that doesn't mean there's no one to do the corvée labor. So, have Physician Liu make disinfectant and go there twice a day to disinfect."

"Rong Yi, remember to notify Judge Liu. This is a top priority. Don't let an epidemic break out and we'll all be dead."

"yes"

The discussion was almost over, County Magistrate Li left, and An Yi came back.

"Has all the food been distributed in that place?"

"Sir, no, there are still about a few hundred pounds."

"Keep it. See if you need it again. We need to keep some backup food."

Without backups, if something goes wrong, it's like trying to quench a thirst with water from afar.

[Host, you seem so serious lately, I'm not used to it.]

Haha, who said I was serious? I'm anything but serious!

[Host, those common people can't even afford clothes, how could they possibly spend money to build a kang (heated brick bed)?]

[How can you do it without spending money? If you don't spend money, people will think it's a bargain and become arrogant.]

What about corvée labor? You paid for it.

[If we don't spend money, why would people be willing to come? Even if they're forced to come by officials, they'll end up resentful, and we'll be the ones who get into trouble. It's better to spend a little money to avert disaster.]

But you've given too little.

"That's still not enough. Everyone's poor these days. If they had ten copper coins a day, they'd probably be willing to work. And they'd only work until before the Lunar New Year. Think about how many copper coins they'd have left for the New Year. Who wouldn't be happy?"

【Yes, yes, you're really amazing.】

Now all that's left is to deal with those wealthy businessmen and the brothel owners, and oh yes, the army in the mountains.

[This is such a mess. Who on earth would try to harm me and lure me here?]

It was almost dawn when Ji Yingying finally went to bed. She had been busy all night.

When she woke up again, King Qi arrived with a troop of men. He was quite happy to see her and insisted that she take his pulse.