"Little one, would you like to learn medicine from this old Taoist priest?" Wu Xu asked, clinging to Bai Su from behind.

Bai Su was busy taking people's pulses and said helplessly, "Old Immortal, I'm not in the mood to think about this right now. How about I get back to you after this epidemic is over?"

Wu Xu flicked his sleeves and snorted, "It must be your master. You wouldn't dare to do it without her permission, would you?"

Bai Su sighed, "If that's what you're saying, I can't agree to it even more. My master treats me very well and wouldn't be so unreasonable. The main problem is that I really don't have time to learn from you."

Please, the prince might see this, how could she dare say anything else?

Moreover, one cannot simply take on a master at will; one must first ask the prince.

Wu Xu flicked his Taoist robe and said, "Alright, I'll go and tell her myself that I've decided to take you as my disciple."

Bai Su ignored him.

Xiao Zhixing thought to himself, "Good thing she came. This time she'll definitely uncover all his secrets."

As soon as the prescription was released, the Da Sheng Daily immediately reported the good news on its front page in large print.

This can be considered as dispelling the dark clouds over the southern lands and the Great Sheng.

Master Wuxu became famous again, while Bai Su officially became known throughout the world.

The people of Xiaoyongli, having survived the calamity, wept with joy.

With Xiao Zhixing's full support, the growth trend of the number of infected people in Xiaoyongli was successfully curbed, and more and more patients were saved and were just waiting for continued treatment.

In particular, Li Jun's condition was brought under control after taking the medicine immediately.

His newlywed wife, Li Weining, boldly went to his side and stayed with him through the difficult times.

There's good news and bad news.

"People infected with the plague have also appeared in other places."

Feng Zhen'er's voice was hoarse from working so hard. "Just received news that there are confirmed cases in four different locations."

Perhaps seeing a glimmer of hope, various regions actively investigated similar cases, and any discoveries were promptly reported. The members of Junziyuan each guarded their respective locations and delivered the news immediately.

After the floods subsided, temperatures rose, and summer arrived. This hot and humid weather is most conducive to the growth of epidemics.

Even though large-scale disinfection with lime and mugwort has been carried out, the effect is not high and the environment is extremely harsh, so it is impossible to prevent the re-emergence of the epidemic.

A large-scale plague had just begun to break out.

Xiao Zhixing gulped down a cup of cold tea to keep his mind clear. "Use medicinal herbs throughout Dasheng and send a message to His Majesty, asking him to order the mobilization of medicine merchants from all over the country to support Huzhou."

"We will purchase the relevant herbs at a price 20% higher than usual, but warn them not to take this opportunity to raise prices. Anyone who dares to profit from the national crisis will be punished by me afterward, and their infamy will be published in the Da Sheng Daily, so that they will be remembered for their evil deeds for eternity."

Li Wenxiu immediately wrote down the record and then relayed the order word for word.

"Xiao Zhen, go contact them again. Make sure everyone is safe. We came out all together, so we have to go back together."

Feng Zhen'er sighed and rubbed her eyes, "This humble official understands."

"Besides herbs, there is also grain. The reserves of the eight southern prefectures of Huzhou are basically 70% destroyed. The seven northern prefectures need to protect themselves and cannot spare much grain. Recently, His Majesty and grain merchants from various places have successively sent 200,000 dan of grain."

"It's still a drop in the ocean."

To maintain order and social stability, food supplies must be sufficient.

With so many people to feed, and enough to sustain them until work and production resume, that's an astronomical number.

Xiao Zhixing frowned and pondered, "The subsequent batches will total less than 500,000 dan, so we are still short about 200,000 dan."

One dan of grain is about 100 jin. If each person is guaranteed half a jin to one jin of grain per day, and there are 1 million people, the supply will be guaranteed for 70 days, which would amount to 700,000 dan.

This is just a rough estimate; the food shortage is only getting worse.

Even if you have silver, you can't buy grain, because the national output is limited.

In ancient times, the biggest shortage was food.

Therefore, once a natural disaster occurs, there will inevitably be widespread famine and death.

The rapid delivery of 500,000 dan (a unit of weight) was largely due to the three-year land reclamation project in the four northern prefectures.

Xiao Zhixing came up with a plan: "Send messages to all the people and the northern regions, ordering them to purchase large quantities of dried sweet potatoes, sweet potato flour, sweet potato rice, corn flour, and even bran rice, and transport them to me."

People must not starve to death.

These crops were first promoted in the north, and last year was a bumper harvest, with many people storing up a lot at home.

In order to promote them, Xiao Zhixing did not include those crops in the tax grain list.

The people of the North know how to cherish them and will definitely keep them safe.

This is estimated to save the lives of the people of Huzhou.

Actually, they could also buy from the Southern Barbarians. They grow rice three seasons a year, and the Southern Barbarian nobles and grain merchants definitely have a lot of grain in their hands.

However, Xiao Zhixing could not make a large-scale purchase; that would be giving the Southern Barbarians an opportunity to extort him.

However, normal buying and selling between private merchants is still allowed.

Speaking of this, Zhao Xianyin reported, "Indeed, some grain merchants from the Southern Barbarians have secretly transported grain here to sell."

They made their money by selling at high prices during the disaster.

"As long as the price increase isn't too excessive, we'll just pretend we don't see it."

She also had Ning Jin send people to buy a lot of goods using several different identities, hoping to get as much as she could.

After arranging these things, there's still the issue of resuming work and production.

“The entire fertile land in the south has been destroyed, 70% of the houses are gone, all the crops for the season have been lost, countless mountains have collapsed, and the land is devastated.” Lin Rushu’s thin face was filled with bitterness.

Mu Wan, representing Xiao Zhixing, went to check the area and nodded, saying, "It's shocking; we don't know where to begin."

Mao Zhishan, the governor of Huzhou, who had just returned from an inspection tour, looked sad. "The area around Yuansha City is still okay, the floodwaters receded quickly, but the rest of the region is riddled with holes."

Xiao Zhixing rubbed his temples hard and said slowly, "There's no other way. We must rebuild from the ruins. I believe in our people and that they will be able to rebuild new hope from the ruins."

She made arrangements one by one, "Organize all able-bodied men to clear the fields that can be cleared, and prepare for the late rice season as soon as possible. For those fields that cannot be cleared, encourage them to be reclaimed, the more the better. I will ask His Majesty for a three-year tax exemption."

"As for housing, the Northern State Trading Company will transport a large amount of cement and provide each household with a fixed amount free of charge, so that they can rebuild their homes as soon as possible."

It's too early to say we live in a very comfortable place; having a place to shelter from the wind and rain is already a blessing.

Beizhou General Cement Workshop couldn't just provide free cement indiscriminately. They would give each household a small share to solidify the foundation, and then each household could build their own structure on top of that.

The disaster in Huzhou emptied her of most of her assets; it's heartbreaking.

No, we have to ask Zhao Yunqi for compensation. His private vault contains many rare items, and we must acquire some of them.

She felt a little better when she thought about it that way.

With food and lodging issues resolved, the follow-up resettlement problems for the major floods in Huzhou will be minimal.

At this moment, Wuxu finally arrived at Yuansha City.

The old Taoist priest sauntered into the county government office to see her. His Taoist robe was filthy. If Bai Mei hadn't recognized him, he would have been escorted away by the guards.

Xiao Zhixing raised an eyebrow, a sharp glint in his eyes. "Quickly invite the old sage in. How can we neglect him?"

She stood up and went out to greet them personally, with a warm smile and a friendly expression.

Wu Xu felt a chill run down his spine for no reason and dared not go any further: No, why do I feel like I'm a lamb entering a tiger's den?

(Thanks to @爱吃零食的曾小贤 and @用户 for their first donation!)